Art Van CX

My road cycling skills don't necessarily translate into being able to go around corners even semi-quickly, but that's ok. I figure each week will be a learning process, and in a couple weeks I'll be able to hang with my best pal and CX coach, Tyler.

Again, my warm-up laps are feeling good, but once the race begins, I've tended to slow down quite a bit. As in all my life, my true goal is to feel a little more European everyday, and today's race was a good example of that. Not only did I bunny-hop a very small wooden plank in the ground on an uphill every lap, I was also able to ride through a pretty size-able sand pit every lap.

All my cross practice with Tyler is certainly paying off, where I have been losing ground is on the flat, real-bumpy sections. I think I may be running too much tire pressure, so all the little bumps in the ground are being exaggerated, which is throwing me all over the place, slowing me down.

This week of riding I'll certainly focus on working on these sorts of sections on various local trails, but the barrier jumping has been a strong point of mine. I'm certainly not losing any time getting off my bike, hopping, and getting back on, I'm losing a lot of time on the sections I would think I would excel at. I suppose the only way to continue getting better at cyclocross is to keep racing it, so I think I will.

I've been vegetarian for a little over a month now and that is going very well. I'm able to find something vegetarian at every place I've been, most places are super helpful in pointing out my options. These last two semesters of class are going by very slowly but I'll figure out how to get through them. I suppose this happens to everyone, but it seems like all the classes I'm taking are just to fill out my degree, I'm never going to use this stuff I'm learning in my life again.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 11th Overall 4/5 (48)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain!!) 7th AG (13)
6/1 The Waterford Races, Clarkston, MI 21st Overall 4/5 (24)
6/5 Grattan Race Series, Grattan, MI 20th Overall 'B' (37)
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)  1st AG (11)
6/14 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI 27th Cat 4/5 (40) / 30th Cat 3/4 (38)
6/15 Ada Crit, Ada, MI 16th Cat 3/4 (25)
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI DNF Cat 4/5 (81)
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI 16th Cat 4 (25)
9/7 Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross 18th Expert 3/4/5 (20)
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel) 2nd AG M 21-26 (9) / 10th Overall (322)
9/15 Art Van Sports Complex CX 14th Expert 3/4/5 (17)

Lots of pictures this week courtesy of our great friend Adam! Adam and his wife Jess were in the area so came by the race and took photos of Tyler and I. Thanks Adam!

Cheers! CE