Got this one ready, glued new tires, and left it in the car.
Just a short report, with lots of photos of a bike I didn't use this weekend, just for your cross viewing pleasure. Traverse City was the center of the Michigan Cycling Universe this weekend with Single-Speed festivals, Street Sprints, Crits, Road Races, and yes, even a Cyclocross Race!
Am I going to be sorry for using a carbon bar again this year?
The race was put on by the good folks of Twin Bays Cyclocross, and while the draw wasn't as good as they would have liked (due to all the other events during the weekend), I have to say that the course was absolutely first rate and these people know how to rock a dynamite cross course. The course was next to a beer festival (we were supposed to ride through it but that got nixed just prior to the race) and twisted around the grounds of the old State Hospital just west of downtown. Totally taped, with a wide variety of surfaces including pavement, gravel, grass, sand, a great layout of turns, stairs, a ride through a building, a sand berm, and a fast blast through through the woods, this thing was a total gas - a rival for some of the Tailwind courses and better than anything you'll race locally.
Yeah I didn't turn this one in anger this past weekend, but I did do some testing on gear ratios. I was changing chainrings as soon as I got home.
It's always great to get the first race out of the way. I usually suck at the first one and last one of the year, so I was anxious to get this one in the books. Plus there were a few things I wanted to test - and a first practice race is the place to test your gear under fire.
Is there anything prettier than fresh tubular cross tires? I must be crazy, 'cause yeah ...
Anyway, my results weren't too bad, and I was turning the cranks, and it was a lot of fun. Man it's so good to have the season rolling! Met up with some 'cross fantatics from the Chicago series and they invited us down to some of their races, which have become absolutely huge. Hope we can make one of them this year.
Didn't sit here this weekend. Rethinking this seat already.
Anyway, hats off to the Twin Bays Cyclocross folks for a great start to the season. They made one beautiful rocking course, all they need to do now is refine their promotions, get the right dates, plus nail few other details down, and I can see some weekends of racing in Traverse City are on the way.
Surly - I realize that I am pretty biased... but the riverside park course last year was pretty awesome. HUP put on a pretty cool race... and Holland was Epic. Having the race on the football field is probably the coolest venue anywhere in the state... although last years course was way better than the 1st year there....
ReplyDeleteThere's a big difference between courses here, east-side and beyond. The courses here are fun and great backyard-grass roots affairs, with some of their own novel ideas thrown in, but you can tell when somebody with experience lays out a course. The guys that did the TC race were from Portland and had done a few - and it showed.
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