Marvelous Monday

There were only two sanctioned events (non-MTB) held here in the midwest over the weekend - Patriot 'Cross, and Apple 'Cross.
ILLINOIS: Rantoul - Patriot 'Cross. Rantoul is over by Champaign/Urbana, so kind of in between everywhere. Promoted by Wild Card Cycling,  I don't think large crowds were expected for this first time event, but judging by the video, it looks like it was a good time.

INDIANA: Starlight - Apple 'Cross - Held down in southern Indiana, in an apple orchard, this race probably attracted mostly KY riders, then riders from Bloomington. Lindsay gives us a nice blow by blow of the women's race in her bog Trainin' On a Prayer:
     "The pace seemed a little slow through the first part of the course, so I passed her right before the apple orchard section (mmm, rotten apple smell). Unfortunately, I found myself being flung through the air at the exit of the orchard. A closer inspection on the next lap revealed a pretty large hole camouflaged by the grass that I'd failed to notice on my pre-ride. The cool thing was that while I scrambled to get back on the bike I realized that I gapped the field enough that I almost had time to remount and keep going without losing my lead, but I panicked at bit and didn't move efficiently enough. I tacked onto the back of the lead group and tried to regain my senses, but things got pretty crazy shortly thereafter ..."

No video from this year's event yet, but here's one from 2010.



As long as we're down in that part of the state, here's a POV video from last year's Bloomingcross, held in October 2010.

TRACK NEWS: This photo of Andrew Crater showed up on FB yesterday as he was racing on the Trexlertown, PA velodrome. Recall that Crater won the red, Points Jersey at this year's Superweek after starting the series late and chasing down the Asian Invasion of the strong Taiwanese team. Right behind him is Jackie Simes who had some successful racing of his own during this year's Superweek.

Riding continues at the Chicago Velocampus' 166 meter wooden track where they just completed the Collegiate Regional Championships. We'll try to get some news from that if possible.

This week's schedule:
9a-12p Open Training
1p - 3p Track 101 (beginner class)
3p - 5p Certification Class
5p - 8p Open Training