Cross is Fun

Sorry for the infrequent posts!

Last night we only had a few guys, but I think e might have had the most fun. We made the course longer with more features than weeks past and also had some spots where dropped guys could cut the feature and catch back on, still race wheel-to-wheel. Nothing better than attacking on a stretch of pavement to get a gap, turn around and see a rested dude who is about to throttle you! It was great!

Thanks to Jay for the 'Team Car'. Gotta get some photos up. Harder this week with one race. Also, note to Lee V. We added a few longer stretches for all of our roadie type dudes, making the laps both longer and a little harder. Super fun!

See you out there next week!

Chris

WCA Schedule 2010

2010 WCA Cyclocross Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 26-27: USGP Sun Prairie

Saturday, Oct. 2 Cross at the Domes of Mitchell Park (my wife inc)

Sunday, Oct. 3 Lapham Peak (Lake Country Endurance)

Saturday, Oct. 9 Grafton Pumpkincross (BVC Nomad)

Saturday, Oct. 16 Badger Prairie (5-9s)

Sunday, Oct. 17 Cam Rock

Saturday, Oct. 23 Kletzsch Park (Pegasus)

Sunday, Oct. 24 Whitewater (UW-Whitewater)

Saturday, Oct. 30 Halloween Cross (Velo Trocadero)

Saturday, Nov. 6 Estabrook (Hampshire Cycle Club)

Sunday, Nov. 7 Team Magnus Madison Cross Race Warner Park (Magnus)

Saturday, Nov. 13 Sun Prairie (Brazen Dropouts)

Sunday, Nov. 21 State Cyclocross Championships: Hales Corners (Hampshire Cycle Club)

This looks great, Excited to get to some new courses! Wonder what the My Wife Inc. guys have up their sleeves?

10/2 Race Report and Results

We're back in action! This Friday saw the return of Fall like conditions with temps in the 40s and 50s and rain falling intermittently. The course in Viroqua was perfect, hooking up in places as well as providing plenty of bike handling practice. Those who remembered to Pam their pedals and shoes were rewarded!

In the kids races it was the Faulters racing the Will/Alice family... a family battle that pitted brother and sister against brother and sister. Will powered to the front and took a commanding holeshot all the way to the finish. The real battle was for second place. Dominic and Hannah Faulter battled hard, followed by Teresa and Alice. Teresa looked like she had Dominic's number this week, setting up dinner table smack talk and bragging rights for another week. Alas, it was not to be, as Dominic brought her back after a bobble, additional crash and mechanical saw Teresa running up the switchbacks and into the finish. Meanwhile Alice had gone through similar trials on the course and struggled to get her chain back onto her bike after a tough slide on the backside of the course. Alice is a tough cookie and raced hard to the finish despite being gapped with a mechanical.

In the Intermediate race we saw some new blood from Madison. Unfortunately at this time I cannot find my notes from the race! Bummer... The two Madisonites were equipped with Cross bikes and a thirst for Coffee and Margaritas, that was certain.

Tom Faulter was back on the bike with Cameron and Will B. and Will filling out the roster. The dude from Madison was fast and consistent, laying down 5:30 laps, 4 of 'em to take home some Kickapoo Coffee, winners of Coffee.com's Micro Roaster of the Year! Tom was holding his wheel tough, but his converted Roadster's grass and mud friction brakes made staying with him difficult. Tom did hold off a hard charging Cameron who didn't have the same dominating form that saw him win consecutive weeks earlier in the season. Thanks for making the trip Cam! Behind them, the Wills were battling with the other Madisonite, who seemed to be enjoying her first Cross Race. Meg and Emma would have enjoyed another female beginner to ride and race with. Unfortunately, this left only the two boys named Will. The first of did a lap and came off the course... "This hurts!" he said. Once he was reminded that everyone was hurting, he proceeded to immediately caught Will B and said Madisonian.

The three of them continued to battle with Willy B taking it, Followed by our wonderful visitor with forgotten name. So it was pretty cool!

1. Guy from Madison

2. Tom Faulter, Vernon Trails

3. Cameron, Team Waukon Dentistry

4. Will B., VT

5. Woman From Madison

6. Will

Expert Race

With the course all broken in, the Expert race was expected to be quick, and it was. I think anyway, I was hurting!

In the first lap Chris N. and Lee V. opened a small gap on Dick, Jay, Tom and DFM (Dude from Madison) in the first Chicane and it grew at the barriers and through the second Chicane and descent. When Lee spilled in a greasy corner, Chris got another gap and it grew each of the 8 laps of the race until a last lap flat made it a bit more interesting. Riding in on a flat, Chris managed to hold off a hard charging Jay Skrede!

Behind Chris, Jay overtook Lee on the crash and chased hard for the rest of the race. Dick and DFM were chasing Lee hard, DFM attacked Dick, got a gap and Bridged to Lee and passed him on the switchbacks to the run-up, but Lee wasn't done. Surging to the barrier to the run, Lee caught and passed 10ft. in front of the finish! It was a thrilling race to watch as Lee, covered in Mud and snot galloped up the run up to finish in the money.

With the course wet, the race was exciting and technical to the finish.

Thanks to all who came out and helped take down the course in the rain!

1. Chris N., Wheaton

2. Jay Skrede, Vernon Trails

3. Lee V., Bikes To You

4. DFM

5. Dick, Vernon Trails

6. Tom F., Vernon Trails

More Video

Here are some more Videos from last week's races. Connor and Macy railing! Not Connor rocking the Jr-Jr run-ups. Sometimes it's faster and easier to run... and Connor illustrates this on the Jr. Level. My Breaks are squeaky!

Hard to Stop a rolling Train

Well another week has gone buy and Cross Fever is spreading... Alice and her brother Will are back from vacation and things are now officially rocking! We doubled the amount of racers we had last week in the kids races and had many more local MTBers who eventually may give it a shot in attendance.

In the Kids Race, 5-7

We had Macy Kuppersmith and Connor Vatland duking it out. Seriously! They were really going for it. While that race usually is kids who have just learned how to ride, these guys were racing, overcooking turns, running the hills. Very neat.

in the 8-11 Catagory we had

Will and Alice, Jakob, Rilah V. and Liam K., Connor doubled up and rode with the big guys as well. These guys did two laps of the full course and were very impressive. While Will and Jacob held back initially, soon they were off the front, with Jacob losing Will in the barriers. See above video! Jacob looks pretty good out there on a bike!

The Falters rolled in a bit late so we did a second round of races and they were awesome. The kids we glad to not just be wailing on eachother.

So it looks like the word is spreading, thanks Pete for twisting some arms out there!

More Bling...

Getting the Tubies on these guys was way harder than the EA70xs... Rather have it be too hard than too easy though.

All Show, No Go!

Lake 401mx, note the bling! Kangaroo leather and Boa...
Got some new gear... Look Carbon Quartz's and Lake 401MX. Dropped about 2 pounds from the 10 year-old shimano pedal and shoe combo. Shoes are thermo-modling, super comfortable. The Boa things was new, but so far it is very light and comfy. I use the power zones on the top and have zero slop.

The pedals were one of those instant upgrades. Put on the cleats, got the shim chart off the look

site and was up and running. Check out the review in this month's VeloNews, feel like Times, but are lighter and handle mud better. I am sold.

Flyer Time, The Hubbard Trail

Meg and I have begun work on the flyer for this seasons racing... wish us luck. The time-table is the end of the week. Maybe this Mac computer thingy has some sort of poster application? iPoster? Anyway, we are getting fired up and Meg is starting to work on her cross skills. Having a baby makes for some significant de-training, but Meg is a beast and loves to work out.

Pete Taylor continues to amaze me in how he has time to run a shop with 40 repair tickets at all times and still get excited about something that ultimately is more work. Namely, the Hubbard Trails of Maple St. Fame here in Viroqua.

Cindy Hubbard has donated a large chunk of land here in town for us to build trails on. And when I say us, I mean Pete and some vols. Pete now builds more trail than he does ride, something I cannot believe. We both have two kids, so his riding time is pretty precious. Every week he uses the tiny bits of spare time raking and swinging a pilowski(sp). Even cooler than that, Pete has made the youth of Viroqua the principal trail builders! The kids have put the most time into the trail, and that makes a great project even cooler.

So we here at Viroquacross are standing on the shoulders of giants once again. We are going to have our races at the Hubbard trails that Pete and others have scraped together. The good news is that any dollars made in profit will go towards the Vernon Trails not-for-profit group.

This means that if you are a beginner crosser or mtber you are going to have a pretty fun little course on your hands. Swoopy double and singletrack, barriers and a run-up all in a setting that is right in Viroqua but feels like the Backcountry. The course will ride like Gibbs Lake with a little less climbing and not as long. Not bad for a little guy! So again, if you are nearby and consider yourself a cyclist, come out and have some fun! Support young trail builders and trail systems and cycling in rural areas!

Trails in Viroqua

Went to the Hubbard Trail system at the end of Maple St. today in Viroqua on the Cross bike. Wow, we are going to have and awesome series this year. The potential is huge for this system to have a course that flows, is tough, and requires the ability to turn and stuff. While I like courses that are straight ahead affairs, there is something awesome about a course where you might have a bobble if you aren't on your game. That's why this is a practice series, so you can get a workout in while sliding around and running barriers.

So I went with Shane and Jacob and followed Jacob's line downhill. I had to remind myself that I was not a 60lb kid on 2.4 tires, but a 185lbs. dude on super-bald 32s, easy to remember when going sideways. It was fun and I think he was surprised to see me on his wheel. Easy to understand that, he is going to be a baller! Our time together ended when I thought we were going right but was wrong and rode off by myself... met them back at the shop afterwards.

The trails are all in and just need to be ridden to smooth out some, but the skeleton of a great system is in place. The kinda joint where you could go for a ride with the kids before dinner and get a good thrashing in and ride home. It's right in town but I felt like I was out in the backcountry. If you are in the area and want to get some MTB time in on fun and flowing fast trail, come on out and ask Pete at BlueDog Cycles where it is. 

Just awesome, Pete Taylor is making Viroqua into a little Boulder or something. Only better because it isn't Boulder, it's Wisconsin! If anyone from Boulder takes umbrage, just come out and do our races and check out the town! You'll love it till February... 

Final Tally and the End of the Season!

Hello fans of the Viroqua Cross Series!

We had a great second year of cross racing out here in Viroqua. Lots of new things came about this season that I really hope we can build on for next season.

The most notable was the girls race! Each week we had 2 new girls come out to give cross a try and the result was some exciting races and new category that looks to be our most competitive for next season. LuSa organics really made the races fun with really incredible prizes! While I'm not sure that every girl goes to bed dreaming of soap, the handmade lotions and soaps these guys put into their beautiful prize bags made a the entire podium pretty stoked when they opened their prizes! If it rains more next year they will be even more coveted. Thanks again to all the girls who came out to race and gave it such a hard push! 

Another great change this season was having the course at the Viroqua Elementary School. Thanks Bob Knadle for letting this happen and being so supportive of the series. I'm really excited to get more and more of those kids out and racing their bikes. More outreach is necessary... Scheming needs to take place on how to trick the kids into realizing that hurting on a bike is awesome. Regardless, having a steep hill, trees and pines to work with made the courses more challenging and fun to design. Last year it was figuring out how to make the course long enough, this year it was how to make it hard but not ridiculous. 

Lastly, thanks to Dan Marko, Nora and Heidi from the Vernon Memorial Wellness Center! This year I was all over the place and you guys made the series go with promotion and execution on race days. Heidi even rode a pretty rough race on day in a t-shirt and nearly froze to death. Next year Nora, you too will rock the barriers!

Thanks to Blue Dog for providing great prizes and course support, as well as counting laps so I could race on gameday. While I often wanted to stop, you guys would always yell encouragement and the number of laps. Having guys on BlueDog Customs is pretty cool, soon more dudes around the state will be on sweat custom steel...

To all of the other sponsors and racers thanks! Sibby's Ice Cream made the first set of Barriers and the run-up creamier and tastier. Ice cream goes well with Lactic acid.

Kickapoo Coffee! These guys came out to race and watch. The coffee was great and all the adult beginners went a little harder for a pound of the good stuff. These guys are constantly winning accolades for their excellent roasts and were in the finals for roaster of the year on coffee.com. Not sure if they took away the grad prize, but I know that they were in the running with with three others. 

Cyclocross Magazine sent out some banners, magazines and bells that the kids snapped right up! I wish I had saved some of the mags for me! Maybe I'll get one if they are on board for next season?

Thanks to Borah who w/Nora is putting together a champions jersey for the winners of each category on the year.

One Week Away...

Here comes Cross season! We're only a few days away from the first WCA race and the first of the Viroqua races. Should be a great season! The locals are fired up and getting on cross bikes. Marty and some of the Southern folk are gearing up as well. Lee V. has filled his tires with goop... Darrel Anders is leading Brin his handmade BlueDog customs rig! Pete is gluing tires, others are mad because he isn't making me do it. Dan's ordered numbers and tape. The barriers are clean and stacked, ready to go. Jay is getting his wheel situation taken care off. TJ, are you ready? Some folks are acting like this isn't the biggest Monday of their year, who are they kidding. Some Lax dudes might come down, Devon from Smith's is ready to go. Willy B. is reminding all of his friends that cross is fun! Mary Lake is bracing herself for the rush of registrants...

Basically the town is ready to rock. Here comes ViroquaCross, thanks to everyone who is excited to race, has put time and effort into making this a go for the second year. Thanks to the sponsors who are dishing out cool stuff to all the racers.

Refurbished Barriers

So here are some shots of the barriers coming together for another season. My brother in law cruised up here and knocked out some serious work around the house. While we were at it, we got rid of some old paint by painting the barriers. Two birds with one stone.

Yeah, so about the peach color... Well, we thought the paint was orange, and as it turns out it was more peachy-colored. Oh well, we have plenty of white barriers so the peach one will be for the primes. Some are white others more peachy. Tomorrow we're going to put some stencils on 'em. Maybe make them more, tough? Not that there's anything wrong with peach...

Sponsor For Girls Race on Board, LuSa Organics!

Great News, LuSa organics is coming on board as the sponsor of the Girls Race in the VMH ViroquaCross Series.

This race is open to all girls and the prizes for the top three girls will come from LuSa Organics! Very cool as they are a local business that makes a fantastic bar of soap as well as some other very cool organic product. They can be found at there site, click on the logo, as well as the Viroqua Co-Op and I think at the WholeFoods in Madison. Check 'em out as they make great products! I've used the lotion bars for a while and they are great for the dry winter months.

Thanks to Rachel for sponsoring the event! I'm really hoping that the girls specific race really takes off!

Early Promotion!

Thanks to Nora and our Title Sponsor, The VMH Wellness Center for putting this together! She is super!

Another New Sponsor! Link Fixed!

So as of yesterday, these guys are now on board! Really feels pretty cool to have a cyclocross specific sponsor for the series. Look for subscription primes and Magazines at the races. The coolest part of this is that the kids who have only ever done our race will see how big cross is and maybe feel a part of the larger culture. That is a good thing as this is a healthy and fun lifelong sport/addiction. And while they may grow up with a strange hankering for chips and abbey, they'll offset it with a thirst for barriers and mud.

Now The link works so click on it!