Belgium Shores come to Mi -- Stony Creek CX!

Love, Hate. When I think of Stony Creek, those are the first 2 words that come to mind whether it's a mountain bike race or cyclocross race. And this year's Stony CX race did not disappoint -- Love, Hate.

It started out as a great day. My wife, daughter, son, mom, and dad all came out for the race and I did not want to disappoint. Both Nolan and Makenna raced, and walked away with Medals! Nolan racing in the C race again. It was great having all the family there along with everyone else cheering and yelling as the race went on. I was really able to feed off their enthusiasm as I rode past them and saw them cheering me on. Thank you!

The race actually went well for me today, but it was one of the toughest races to date for me in the tailwind series. Stony is usually thought of as a flat, fast, roadie style course. But this year the course was ran backwards. There was the notorious sand, and this year you could ride certain sections and run the rest. Then shortly after the sand, you came into some Kentucky style power zapping mud for about 100 yrds followed by a switch back climb. So to say the least, the course took it's tole on me.

The start was interesting. It went from a 30 ft wide paved section down to a 6 ft bike path. So with 30 guys chasing a hole shot, it was a little nerve racking. My goal was to go into the course either 1st or 3rd. I nailed that, but this popped my heart rate. Clint Verran and Dan Gerow went off the front and took the lead. I could not hold on and just tried to maintain 3rd position and catch them later when I recovered. I stayed in 3rd for the first few laps and then started to feel like I was going backwards. 5 guys were breathing down my neck like hungry pit bulls, and I could feel them and see them coming. The group contained Mark Caffyn, Ben Christan, and David Johnson. David made the first move in the mud section. He went through it like he was floating. He quickly pulled away, but I was on my limit and could not counter. Soon after on a down hill section with a switch back at the bottom, David lost control and went down. I quickly responded to this and attacked. When I went by, I saw that his rear tire popped out the bead. So I sprinted as hard as I could to make sure there was no chance for him to get on. This increased the gap again, but not for long. Then it was Mark's turn with Ben in tow. I could hear them braking behind me. As I got to the paved section, I could increase the gap. But it would shrink in the sand and mud. Going into the 2nd to last lap, It was now Ben on my wheel and Mark just off the back. I dug deep! I knew my family was here to see me so I wanted to do my best. I tried to stay on the front of the group and make them feel the same pain as I was. It seemed to be working. I now had a very small gap again going into the last lap. This was it! As my tires hit the paved section for the last time, I popped my chain up into the big ring and sprinted the full length of the starting chute to try and grow the gap as big as I could, even if it was only 5 seconds more. It seemed to be working. Mark was no where insight as I made the first turn into the grass, and my gap to Ben grew to somewhere around 15 seconds maybe more. I pushed hard through the sand, the mud, the hills, the barriers, all of it. Ben started to close the gap, but I knew it was going to be too much. I came onto the paved section for the last time, and could not see him. I just wrapped up another 3rd but a very, very hard earned one.

My hats off to Dan Gerow for a 2nd place finish! His best result of the season. Clint wrapped up the day with another hard fought 1st. And Ben Christian got his first B class podium with a 4th place!!! Andy Brown stepped back up into the big boy class and looked very strong and right at home with the Elites. And Curt Potocki kept his podium streak alive with a 4th place today. Finally, if there was any one that deserved a 1st place finish it has to be Shawn Schaffert. Shawn put it all on the line today. His face said it all, and he never gave up! WOW what an effort!

I jumped in the single speed race again today. And actually had a good race. I was able to hang with Wayne Cook for all but the last 2 laps and earned a 4th place out of 7 for my efforts. Congrats to JB for his 2nd place in his first single speed race! And way to go Chad Schut for coming all the way down from Traverse City with your boys to hang out with the TSB crew and race the new single speed! It was fun. Just remember less endurace training, more high intensity training!

Next stop Bloomer Park CX!

Iceman Suprise!

This was my forth Iceman, and boy was it great. To start with, Jason and Jackie Schneider turned what is always a great weekend into one weekend I will never forget. They played host to the team all weekend by putting several of us up in a Mansion on Elk Lake. Cooking the team dinner and organizing Party central at the Iceman Finish line with burgers, hot dogs, snacks and oh -boy corn bread! In addition, Jackie's sisters and extended family, Curt's wife and cousins all came out to cheer us on! That support is incredible and always goes a long way. So thank you very much!

As for the race, I was Surprised.

The Iceman race has been very good for me in the 4 years that I have done it. I have worked my way up from beginner to Expert and have never finished out of the top 10 in my first 3 years. But going into this year's race, I was not expecting much since 1, I was not training for it because my main focus has been on the Cyclocross series. And 2, it was my first year racing Expert so I figured I would get my "you know what" handed to me. So my goals were realistic and as follows.

Beat my personal best time from last year of 1:56 (even with a longer course)
Try to fall somewhere in the top 20

My stretch goal -- break 1:50

Waking up on Saturday morning, I felt great. Checked the temps outside and could not believe how warm it was. Since we were closer to the start this year, I procrastinated a little and got a late jump on getting to Kalkaska. 5 miles down the road, I realized I had forgotten my water bottles! Now the panic started to set it. Back to the house and about 30 mins before the start of the race. We got to Kalkaska Middle school with about 15 mins to the start. I got my bike and started sprinting toward the start line even though I did not know where it was. I found it with about 10 mins before the start. What a great warm up. This caused me to line up in the back row with 100 plus people in front of me. The raced started and I instantly started to make my way through the pack. As we approached the middle school, I was some where in the middle. The course then narrowed down to about 10 feet. This caused panic up ahead and clogged up the field behind due to a few crashes. So stopped and waiting to get through, my 4th Iceman was not off to a good start. Once I began to pedal again, it was back to picking people off. Into the woods and to the first sandy climb, more people crashing in front of me. This time I had to hurdle my handle bars to avoid the worst of it. I ran up the hill and remounted again. From here I put in a huge charge to make up as much ground before the big hills and to distance myself from the folks that appeared to be on a bicycle for the first time. And I was flying! By the time I made it to Williamsburg Rd, I had just felt like I was warming up. So I pushed even harder. Picking more people off. I finally settled into a small group that was putting in the same effort. I tired to pull away at one point but they were up for the challenge. This was a mix of Experts from 3 different age groups. I was able to push the entire way, and not kill my heart rate. It spiked on Anita's hill, The Icebreaker, and Wood chip but I instantly recovered within seconds and shifted back up into the big ring and carried on. With 1K to go. I was feeling strong as hell so I turned it up one more notch and flew all the way to the finish line. I rolled across the finish and check my computer and it showed 1:49 and some change! I did it, I actually broke the 1:50 mark!!! I could not believe it! When the final results were posted my time was 1:49:38. And this was enough to take 9th place in Expert 30-34 out of 70 racers!!! Again, I could not believe I had just cracked the top 10 in the Expert class what a day!

Congrats to all my team mates that raced and finished. There were some personal best times. Some first timers (way to go AKA) and some folks that "just finished" another great ride in the woods.

Special props to Adam Naish -- What a race 4th in Expert Men 30-34! WOW!
Chad Schut -- Breaking the 2 hour mark and finishing his 20th ICEMAN! Chad is one of only 6 people to have raced in all 20! This is amazing!

ICECROSS ---

The day after the Iceman featured a cyclocross race at Timer Ridge where the Iceman finish is. So I could not resist the temptation to race again! The race was kind of cool. They used the Sno-cone course so it was very fast. The fields were small, but hey it was the first time this race was held. Remember, the Iceman only had 35 racers at the 1st one and this year it had close to 4000! I raced in the B class and finished 4th out of 10. Not bad for tired legs. JB Hancock made it out for the elite race and also finished 4th. There were a few more Tailwind CX faithful racing Mike Seaman 6th in elite, Terry Ritter 5th in elite, Randy A. taking a huge 2nd in the C race, and Derrek W. taking a 4th in the C race.

Well looking on the race weekend, these were just training days before I start my actual race period. So based on the results, I should be ready to rock at Stony Creek and Bloomer CX. I just got to stay away from all the sick people out there...

Curt Potocki's Big Day! Vets Park CX Day #1 and 2

After several years of almosts, mechanicals, injury and health type issues, Curt finally nailed a podium today and in commanding fashion by doing it at one of the toughest courses you could ever race CX on -- Veteran's Park in Ann Arbor. There were slippery hills you could not ride, mud, wind, rain, mud, temps in the 40s, mud, barrier, and a filed of 25 plus. Curt went with the lead group and they soon started stretching out the field until they broke off the front. Then Curt and Shawn (Cannondale Midwest) stuck together sitting in 3rd and 4th and continued to grow the gap between them and rest of the field. With a lap to go, Curt made his move and attacked to force a gap. It worked! And he was able to hold on to it all the way to the finish for 3rd place! Way to go Curt. You deserved it.

As for me, I was able to keep my podium streak alive also. But it did not look very good at the start. Right from the whistle, I got into a touch of wheels and elbows do to a lead rider not holding his line and there was no where to go. So I held my line and pushed back a little. This caused my front wheel to latch onto his rear derailleur so I went for a free ride until I started hear my spokes pinging. OH S&#T! That can't be good. I was able to finally free my wheel. By this time I had drifted back to somewhere around 10th or 12th place. My heart rate was going crazy and I was not making up any ground. I finally settled down and started picking guys off one at a time. I made the most ground on the 2 run ups and technical sections of the course. I made it back up to the 4th and 5th place guys. One of which was Andy Brown. He looked to be in difficulty and fighting with mechanical issues. So I did not waste any time and passed him. His team mate stuck with me for the rest of the race. We rolled around the course for 2 more laps together increasing our time on everyone behind us, but we could not catch the 3rd place guy. On the last run up, I tried to use it to force a final gap and sprinted up as hard as I could. It worked but he was able to latch back on. In the final flat section, he attacked and pulled around me. It was too much for me to respond. But I did make a little bit of it back up. Going into the final straight right before the line I was about 15-20 feet off of his wheel. He stood up and sprinted. I responded. But could not reel him in. He beat me for 4th by 2 seconds. But Still a great day with another 5th place!

In additon to Curt's big day. I want to make sure I recognize Kevin Skipworth for his 5th place in the C-40 plus race today. This is Kevin's first Podium for Cyclocross in the Tailwind Series. And it is a good indication that Kevin will be ready to light up the ICEMAN next weekend! I hate to say it Kevin, but I think your hooked. You will forever be a cross junkie. I see a new bike in your future....

Day 2 - Curt double dipped and pulled out another 3rd place by making a charge in the last lap to get away from Brad Lako, which allowed him to coast across the line without any pressure. Way to go again Curt!

As for me, I had my best result to date in the B-class with a strong 3rd place! It was a little dryer and faster today at Vets park, and the course was also a tad shorter. I got a much better start and sat in 3rd place for a good majority of the race. A few attacks came early from a few Rhinos, Wolverines, and Clint Verran who just crushed us today to get his first CX win! Way to go Clint. I did not panic and let them all slip back into the field on the long climbs and run up. Then I set my sights on Andy Brown, the current series leader. Lap after lap, I slowly reeled Andy in but was never able to control 2nd place. Andy's biggest move of the day was to go over the barriers on the long run up and then hop back on his bike and ride to the top. A risky move I felt that would waste a lot of energy if he did not nail it just right every time. One time he fell over trying to clip into his pedals. The last 2 times, he was able to put a small gap into me. We both pushed through the race the entire time as hard as possible and kept a good lead over the main field. In the final few meters Andy was the strongest of the day and slowly slipped away for 2nd place. But This was the strongest CX race I have had this year and probably one of the strongest ever! So there it is 3rd place.


I felt so good after my 3rd place that I jumped into the Single speed race for more punishment. Nothing to report here other than, I finished. I did'nt get lapped, and I took a much needed cookie hand up from the fans! Thanks. I was rewarded for my efforts to carry my carcass around the course for another 45 more mins and got 5th place.


Looks like I will be in good form heading into the Iceman and Icecross next weekend. Now just to try and keep all those sick people out there away from me.

US Gran Prix of Cyclocross - Derby City Cup!

I finally made it to the USGP of CX! And what a great experience it was. Not only was the racing top notch and super competitive, I had a great time hanging out with the MI faithful, JB, Curt, Mark, Wiz, Jeff, Matt, Pete, Ann, Marne, Mark, Jay, and Mike. The promoters do a great job putting this race on. The venue was awesome for being on a golf course, and everything from food and lodging was right at our finger tips. We drove all morning through the rain and finally got to KY around 2:00 PM. Curt and I could not wait to get out car and preride the course. With in 5 mins, we saw Tim Johnson riding through the hotel parking lot, then Ryan Trebon, then Wicks, then.... It was like this the entire weekend. Pros everywhere, and they were all really cool to talk to.

The course did not look that difficult. But was very thought out and technical. Just not a lot of hills. But what it lacked in elevation, it made up for in MUD! All the rain kept the course very slow, slick, sticky, and down right muddy all weekend. In fact this was the muddiest conditions I have ever raced in. So it was a huge learning experience for me.

Day 1 -- I was nervous as hell! I was front row with 109 racers breathing down my neck! Thank God that JB Hancock was right next to me on the line. talking to him and the Wiz right before the start really helped me calm down and focus on having fun. The whistle blew, and instantly I could not clip into my pedals. I went from 1st row to about 6 row in a few pedal strokes. Into the course the pace was fast and elbow to elbow. the skinny guys passed me like I was standing still. I was able to grab onto the back of Mark Caffyn's wheel and hang on. Trying to pedal through the mud, made my quads burn the whole time and my heart rate never came down until the 3rd lap. Mark pulled away a few times, but I was able to reel him back in and finally make a move to go around him and stay away. I finished 47th. I was very happy with this result, considering the size of the field and the level of competition!

Day 2 -- Feeling better and ready to do battle. JB and I got the same start position on the line. The whistle blew and this time I got my pedals right. About 4 strokes in I was at the front of the feild and accelerating! JB was the only one that was able to come around me in the field of 100 and he was off the front already putting in a gap. I was still in 2nd going into the barriers, but I could fell the pressure coming from behind. I held a top 7-10th position for about a 1/2 lap, until the skinny guys started passing me again. I tried to power through the mud the entire race to kepp as many folks from passing me as possible. I felt better than the day before and thought I had a better race. I improved to 45th. Not exactly where I thought I would end up. But still happy with the result and the overall experience of the weekend.

Vets Park is this weekend. And I am in another peak. I am hoping that my USGP experience makes me stronger and better for the rest of the season. Then it will be off to the ICEMAN the following weekend!

Tough luck for JB. He had a person step into his rear wheel on day 1 and "my" tire came off of his rim on Day 2. Other wise, he looked rock solid.
Jeff and the Wiz looked great! Wiz scoring a W on day 2 and Jeff rocked 3rd both days
Curt rocked a 37th out of 110+ riders on day 1! Look for curt to sniff out the podium before the end of the year!

Lower Huron Cyclocross!

Fall is in the air!!! The air was crisp, the grass had frost, and trees were all in peak color. Maybe this is why I love racing CX at Lower Huron Metro Park. This place is beautiful, and just reminds me of all that cyclocross is about. Fast flats, Deep sand, and that crazy steep run up. This is the place where I got my fisrt podium a few years ago, so maybe this is why it is a special place for me to race. What ever it is, I have a few more reason now to call Lower Huron one of my favorite places to race cyclocross!

I began a quick build last week to top off the fitness going into the USGP, Iceman, and then the State CX championship. So going into the race, I was not sure how I would feel or perform with the extra training load throughout the week. According to my training schedule, this was just another training day, a throw away race. But as I mentioned before, I love racing here, so In my mind I wanted to do well. On the way down, I felt rested and the legs were snappy. I lined up in the first row, figuring I could take advantage of my power on the paved straight away, and grab a spot in the first few positions going into the grass. It worked great! The pace was quick, and then the top 4 guys just in front began to shadow box and no one wanted the lead. This kept the group very large with 8-10 racers for about 3 laps. And it helped me recover well from the fast start. Then a few guys dropped back, and a few others joined ahead. I kept my position for the entire race. The top 3 guys were always at my finger tips. I kept the power coming and put in some huge efforts to grow the gap behind me, but I could never catch the top 3 guys. Clint Verran joined me again and passed me, like the previous races before. But in the last lap, I popped it up into my big ring and chased him down by closing a 200 yrd gap. This was my last ditch effort try and gain one more spot. It may have been too much, I rode with Clint for as long as I could. But he just slightly slipped away. He took 4th by about 50 yrds. And I nailed a solid fifth with a huge gap over 6th place. I could not believe it, another podium!

I spent a lot of energy trying to catch the lead guys in the 1st race, so lining up in the single speed class was tough. I just rode my race, and tried to keep the power going for as long as I could and not get caught by any single speeders behind me. With 3 laps to go, I dismounted before the sand and some how caught the buckle on my right shoe. It snapped off! I finished the race with a shoe that felt like a loose slipper. But I was able to hang onto 4th in a field of 6 racers.

Next stop USGP of Cyclocross -- Derby City Cup. Kentucky Here I come!

The Stars and Moon Align for Muson CX - Night Time CX Racing!

This was the first time the Tailwind Series has put on a night time CX race, so there was a lot of buzz in the air. In fact everyone was really excited, to the point that it was one of the more festive CX races I have been apart of in a while. The fans were all screaming, drinking, playing on the hill and ringing cow bells all night long. Munson is not the best race course for CX, but with the lights it gave it a special element that you can't get anywhere else. All I can say is, it was fun and I hope that Robert is able to do it next year.

As for the race, This was the last week of my top fitness so I was hoping for something special. The B-race was big again with 28 racers, and a few top guns and sleepers came out to join the party. Mentally I was ready and thought I had a good game plan. I wanted to take the hole shot, power up the 1st climb in the first 100 yrds of the race to blow the race apart early and then force a huge gap. Well, I did just that but there is 45 mins of racing. From the whistle I managed to sprint from the start line to the first climb from the 2nd row. I was sitting in 5th at the top. The first round through the barriers, one of the guys in front of me slipped and did not recover, so now I was in 4th. A little bit farther, through a 90 degree turn another guy misjudged the turn and jack-knifed his front wheel and I managed to skate by him clean. Now sitting in 3rd, I turned on the power! The 1st and 2nd place guys dangled in front of me like a carrot, but I could never catch on their wheel. However, I had a huge gap on the rest of the field. This was going good and I was able to continue putting out the power. Then I noticed that there was a group of 3 riders behind me trying to close the gap. The problem was I was all by myself in no man's land. After the 3rd lap, the gap got smaller and smaller and I was out of touch of trying to catch the 2 in front of me. I was still maintaining, but slipping a little each lap with my power out put. When I finally got caught by the small group, the 3rd guy had already dropped off and was slipping back into the main field. After the catch, Andy Brown attacked and put a huge gap into me and the other Rider Clint Verran. Clint tried to catch his wheel and I followed. Neither of us were able to catch Andy, and I ended up losing Verran's wheel. I was able to hang on to a very "happy" and "earned" 5th place! I am totally surprised at my performance for CX so far this season and hope I can continue to keep the streak alive.

Race 2 -- I don't know why I keep doing this but I doubled up again for the single speed race. I had about 10 mins to get ready from the end of the B-race since the Elites were going to be the last race of the night. At the start I already had no gas left in the tank. But I was able to push my bike around the course at a decent pace. I felt fine until the last 2 laps when a nasty cramp started in my left hammy. I could barly walk over the barriers but I managed to finish the race. It was enough to hang onto 5th place again.

With my next race being in 2 weeks, it is time for some quick extended rest, followed by another quick build before Iceman! This should be enough to stay strong, and carry my fitness into the finally few weeks of the cyclocross season leading up to the state championships! At least it sounds good in writing....

Thanks again Steve Balogh for the great pictures!

Ithaca Grand Prix of Cyclocross!

What a great race! JB Hancock, his wife, and family have really come up with something special in the middle of Michigan. With all the features of a world class cross course, and the flare of events like the Iceman that really some up the culture of bike racing, the Ithaca GP of CX is a must do event for anyone that truly enjoys cyclocross. If you have not made this event yet, please add it to your calendar for next year -- and thank me later. Team Sandbag was fortunate enough to help present the race, and what a great year to do it! By the looks of the results, the race had doubled if not tripled racers! So if we're lucky again, hopefully we will be invited back to host next year's event. Another cool thing about presenting the event was that it really got our team involved by helping out, learning a little about racing and setting up for cyclocross.

The day of the event was perfect. We had several team mates in the C-race. Curt who finished a very strong 5th in a large field of 24, Benny, Lee and of course Nolan doing the race for the 2nd year in a row and taking home 2nd place in the Junior class! In the B-class we had TP and myself. And In the Single Speed class, we had Brad doing his first ever CX race and finishing a very strong 6th place! And because I don't know any better, I had to double up and hopped in the SS class also.

At the Start of the B-race, I was feeling gooooooooood! it was a fast start and a prime on the line. I really did not want to blow myself up on the prime, but once we went I was sitting near the front. Then Eric Kohler pulled past me on his single speed and took the cash. I was still setting near the front and marking all the fast guys in the class and looking for wheel to sit on. We went through the amphitheater stairs in a large group. I jumped on my bike, tried to take the inside corner. Touched a wheel, and then jack knifed my wheel and went down. A few guys landed on top of me, and by the time I got up I went from top 5 to about 14th. I did not panic, but I had my work cut out for me. So I turned the power on and started picking off riders one by one. Even though I was using a ton of energy to get back into the game, I was feeling stronger and stronger. I made my way back up to 6th place and was ready to make my move to take 5th and then my rear tire popped! NOT AGAIN!!!!! And this time I just rolled past the pit! So that meant I had to run and entire loop with my bike on my shoulder before I could grab my pit bike again. So needless to say I finished dead last.

But there was hope! I still had the single speed race to do. I there was any amazing 15 racers in the class! WOW! Again the whistle blew and I found myself pulling the lead to the prime and here comes Eric Money Bags! Quickly the fast guys sorted things out. Eric was gone off the front, Wayne Cook as fast as every right behind him. Some guy I don't know, and Pat Russel. I was able to stick on Pat's wheel for most of the race, in which I was very happy to do. Pat is fast and can whoop on me any day of the week. So to hang with him lets me know where my training has taken me so far! A few laps around the park and I was still sitting in 5th. The the 3rd place guy stopped in the pit and grabbed his pump. I took advantage of this and put the power down to try and grow a gap as big as I could. I was able to stay away for the entire race, but was letting Pat slip away in the final 2 laps. I came across the line in 4th place with a large gap. So I felt like I redeemed myself and had a great race. Especially going into the Munson CX night race next weekend.

If I can keep air in my tires, it is game on at Munson!