Cross the Domes, Hudson - Day 1, Munson Park Night Race

PHOTO: SRAM

WISCONSIN: Milwaukee - Cross the Domes. RESULTS  Absolutely perfect weather greeting riders for the first WCA race of the 'Cross season. Early pix are in on FB from Melissa Putzer. Results are notable for having 64 racers in the Cat. 4 race. Congratulations to Samantha Schneider (TIBCO) and Brian Matter (Gear Grinder) in their victories in the Pro 1/2 fields.

The series continues today, and I think this photo, taken this morning for the River Hill Park CX, is the first time SRAM has ever been in Kewaskum!

River Hill Park 10/2/2011 (PHOTO: Dan Dolney)

Men - Pro/Cat 1/2 - 19-29
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	234.94	Brian Matter (1 - Cat1)	Sheboygan, WI		85929	2	Team Geargrinder
2	243.40	Matt Shriver (2 - Cat1)	Madison, WI		110703	22	3D Racing Team
3	251.85	Isaac Neff (3 - Cat1)	Madison, WI		200724	5	KCV Cycling Club
4	260.31	Scott McLaughlin (4 - Cat1)	Chicago, IL		72722	15
5	268.76	Kevin Klug (5 - Cat1)	Chicago, IL		220282	14	The Pony Shop
6	277.21	Travis Braun (1 - Cat2)	Madison, WI		285469	28	1
7	285.67	David Reyes (2 - Cat2)	Chicago, IL		211512	16	Bloomington Cycle Racing Team
8	294.12	Michael Hemme (6 - Cat1)	Chicago, IL		153182	13
9	302.58	Chad Hartley (1 - Pro)	Fox Point, WI		126996	27	Kenda Pro Cycling pb Geargrinder
10	311.04	Luke Batchelor-Clark (3 - Cat2)	Madison, WI		93290	23	Magnus
Women - Women Pro/1/2 - 19-29
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	287.12	Samantha Schneider	West Allis, WI		170980	3	WPT TIBCO to the Top
2	307.66	Abby Strigel (1 - Cat2)	Madison, WI		202434	1
3	328.21	Sarah Huang (2 - Cat2)	Kenosha, WI		225258	9	ISCorp Cycling Team
4	348.75	Antonia Leal	Waukesha, WI		130161	14	Planet Bike
5	369.29	Corrie Osborne (3 - Cat2)	Mequon, WI		298510	11	ISCorp Cycling Team
6	389.83	Patricia Kaufmann (4 - Cat2)	Whitefish Bay, WI		18621	13	My Wife Inc.
7	410.38	Meredith Peterson (5 - Cat2)	Madison, WI		248348	12
DNF		Alyssa Severn	Madison, WI		325718	4	Magnus

Faulkner Wins (Photo: MCF)

WISCONSIN: Hudson - Hudson Double Cross - RESULTS Part of the Minnesota Cycling Federation series, but held just across the Mississippi, this was day one of the two day series. MCF writes: "It was a beautiful sunny day with light winds, and cool temps. The course layout was significantly different than last year, eliminating the single track and "ditch of death" that everyone seemed to complain about last year. They added more off camber, and a hard run-up. The sandy uphill was back, along with the tough grind up to the finish.  That, combined with the uneven prairie ground made for a particularly tortuous course. You could see the "hurts so good" look on riders faces as they rode through the finish area each lap."

The Category 4 field began with 54 riders, 40 in the Cat. 3.

Men - Cat 1/2
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1		Craig Faulkner	Mendota Heights, MN	0.043033981481481	244650		Crossniacs
2		Christopher Fisher	Inver Grove Hieghts, MN	0.043593240740741	182827		Crossniacs
3		Andrew Pierre (1 - Cat2)	Minnetonka, MN	0.044718981481481	170142		A race
4		David Oachs (2 - Cat2)	Woodbury, MN	0.045047337962963	116923		Big Ring Flyers
5		Matthew Petersen	Minneapolis, MN	0.045718981481481	244920		Balance Cycling/Eriks

Matias Perret (PHOTO: BikeIowa.Com)

IOWA: Pella - Dirty Wooden Shoe PHOTOS RESULTS Bike Iowa writes: "Another Great day of Iowa Cyclocross.  A little morning rain, didn't hold back 70+ racers a the inagural "Dirty Wooden Shoe" near Pella today. A deceptively twisty course proved to be tougher than most thought as the soft ground, tight turns and run-ups ate up one's energy with each lap.  KUDOs to the race organizers (David & Jacob) of the Pella Racing Team for putting on a great race today. "




MICHIGAN: Monroe - No results yet from the Munson Park night race but we do have some video.






ILLINOIS: Chicago - If you're commuting in the Windy City, be sure to bring your life jacket!

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

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Elite Track Nationals - Midwest Results

Joeseph Berenyi (PSIMET)

CALIFORNIA: Carson - Elite Track Nationals - From USA Cycling:  "In the paracycling individual pursuit races Aaron Trent (Colorado Springs, Colo./Speedfix Racing) won the men’s C4 contest while Joseph Berenyi (Oswego, Ill./PSIMET Racing) narrowly edged Mark Gyulafia (Portland, Ore./Guinness Cycling Team) to win the men’s C5 competition. In the men’s BVI race, the duo of Clark Rachfal (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis Bicycle Racing Team) and David Swanson (Tucson, Ariz./White Mountain Road Club-Landis-Trek) topped the podium. Michael Farrell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) outsprinted William Mitchel-Chesebro (Carmel Valley, Calif./VRC-NOW-MS Society) to win the men’s C3 race. The team of Karissa Whitsell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lisa Turnbull (Springfield, Ore.) defeated Kimberly Borowicz (Evanston, Ill/Smart Cycling) and Kristen Meshberg (Lyons, Ill./ABD Cycle Club) to emerge victorious in the women’s BVI race. In the women’s C2 race, Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo./Time Warner Cable Sport Racing) showed why she is the reigning world champion by catching silver-medalist Barbara Buchan (Boise, Idaho/US Paralympic Team). Greta Neimanas (Colorado Springs, Colo./Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY 12)(formerly from Chicago) narrowly edged Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, Ala.) to win the women’s C5 competition.

Women’s Keirin
1. Dana Feiss (Telford, PA/CPT-Home Depot Center Team)
2. Shelby Reynolds (Cypress, TX/Sugar Cycles)
3. Melissa (Missy) Erickson (Durango, CO/RockyMounts~Izze Racing)(from MN)
4. Erin Glover (Portland, OR/Bike Central)
5. Anissa Cobb (Portland, OR)

Men’s Sprint
1. Michael Blatchford (Cypress, CA/Rubicon Cycling-Team Rubicon-ORBEA)
2. Giddeon Massie (Cypress, CA/Cody Racing)
3. Kevin Mansker (Long Beach, CA/Momentum Coaching Group p/b Atomic)
4. James Watkins (Bakersfield, CA/Momentum Cycling Powered by Hawk Relay)
5. Matthew Baranoski (Perkasie, PA/Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA)

Men’s Team Pursuit
1. Ian Moir (Long Beach, CA/SEAL TEAM 3) 4:24.220
1. Mathew Lipscomb (Decatur, GA/ SEAL TEAM 3) 4:24.220
1. Gregory Daniel (Englewood, CO/ SEAL TEAM 3) 4:24.220
1. Paul Lynch (Colchester, CT/ SEAL TEAM 3) 4:24.220
2. Zack Noonan (Kutztown, PA/BROADMARK CAPITAL KE) 4:30.045
2. Roman Kilun (Oakland, CA/BROADMARK CAPITAL KE) 4:30.045
2. Daniel Harm (Southworth, WA/BROADMARK CAPITAL KE) 4:30.045
2. Phillip Gaimon (Tucker, GA/BROADMARK CAPITAL KE) 4:30.045
3. Austin Carroll (Orange, CA/FUN BOYZ) 4:32.817
3. Jake Hansen (Portland, OR/FUN BOYZ) 4:32.817
3. Zachary Kovalcik (Portland, OR/FUN BOYZ) 4:32.817
3. Al Urbanski (Portland, OR/FUN BOYZ) 4:32.817
4. John Tomlinson (Chicago, IL/CHICAGO) 4:35.332
4. Larry Stoegbauer (Evanston, IL/CHICAGO) 4:35.332
4. Liam Donoghue (Chicago, IL/CHICAGO) 4:35.332
4. David Moyer (Chicago, IL/CHICAGO) 4:35.332
5. Collin Berry (Huntington Beach, CA/1 YOUNG GUY & 3 OLD) 4:35.587
5. Keith Ketterer (Camarillo, CA/1 YOUNG GUY & 3 OLD) 4:35.587
5. John Walsh (Playa Del Rey, CA/1 YOUNG GUY & 3 OLD) 4:35.587
5. Kevin Phillips (Redondo Beach, CA/1 YOUNG GUY & 3 OLD) 4:35.587

Women’s Team Pursuit
1. Jennie Reed (Seattle, WA/OUCH PRO CYCLING) 03:27.448
1. Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, CA/OUCH PRO CYCLING) 03:27.448
1. Sarah Hammer (Temecula, CA/OUCH PRO CYCLING) 03:27.448
2. Ruth Winder (Lafayette, CA/TEAM UNKNOWN 03:46.218
2. Elizabeth Newell (Oakland, CA/TEAM UNKNOWN 03:46.218
2. Jennifer Triplett (Manitou Springs, CO/TEAM UNKNOWN 03:46.218
3. Lana Atchley (Huntington Beach, CA/COG CYCLING) 03:54.002
3. Kate Wilson (Los Angeles, CA/COG CYCLING) 03:54.002
3. Neva Day (Manhattan Beach, CA/COG CYCLING) 03:54.002

Men - Para - BVI
1. David Swanson (Tucson, AZ/White Mountain Road Club/Landis/Trek) 04:32.4
1. Clark Rachfal (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis Bicycle Racing Team/ABRT (Annapolis Bicycle Racing Team)) 04:32.4
2. Kevin Meyers (Greenfield, WI) 04:46.9
2. Robert Springer (Sturtevant, WI/Team Wheel & Sprocket) 04:46.9

Men - Para - C1
1. Anthony Zahn (Lincoln, NE) 04:51.5

Men - Para - C2
1. Brett Weitzel (Salt Lake City, UT) 04:50.2

Men - Para - C3
1. Michael Farrell (Colorado Springs, CO/) 03:34.8
2. William Mitchel-Chesebro (Carmel Valley, CA/VRC/NOW-MS Society) 04:11.0

Men - Para - C4
1. Aaron Trent  (Colorado Springs, CO/Speedfix Racing p/b Zubaz) 04:59.1
2. Sam Kavanagh (Bozeman, MT/Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club/Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Archite) 05:04.0
3. Justin Widhalm (Fountain, CO) 04:33.9
4. Jeffrey Martin (Oceanside, CA) 05:23.8
5. Brian Grenier (Pine Knoll Shores, NC/Racing 4 Kids Foundation p/b Window Gang Racing) 05:39.4

Men - Para - C5
1. Joseph Berenyi (Oswego, IL/PSIMET Racing/PSIMET Elite) 05:06.5
2. Mark Gyulafia (Portland, OR/Guinness Cycling Team) 05:08.0
3. Jason Paxton (Cibolo, TX) 03:44.5
4. Zachary Linhardt (Oklahoma City, OK/Oklahoma City Velo Club) 06:28.4

Women - Para - BVI
1. Karissa Whitsell (Colorado Springs, CO/Paralympic Cycling Team) 03:51.4
1. Lisa Turnbull (Springfield, OR) 03:51.4
2. Kimberly Borowicz (Evanston, IL/Smart Cycling) 04:15.7
2. Kristen Meshberg (Lyons, IL/ABD Cycle Club) 04:15.7

Women - Para - C2
1. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, CO/Cody Racing Team) 02:05.8
2. Barbara Buchan (Boise, ID/US Paralympic Team) 05:00.8

Women - Para - C3
1. Laura Sobchik (Santa Monica, CA) 05:10.6

Women - Para - C5
1. Greta Neimanas (Colorado Springs, CO/xXx Racing) 04:03.1(From IL)
2. Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, AL) 04:04.0
3. Kelly Crowley (Redwood City, CA/Metromint Cycling) 04:10.4

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Weekend Preview - Domes, Kewaskum, Hopkins, Negaunee

Here's this weeks races courtesy of Cyclocross Magazine:

PICX Day 3	10/01/2011	Gordon Moore Park, Alton	Illinois
CrosstheDomes	10/01/2011	Mitchell Park, Milwaukee	Wisconsin			more info
GearFest CX	10/01/2011	Eastwood MetroPark, Dayton	Ohio			more info
GearFest CX	10/01/2011	Eastwood MetroPark, Dayton	Ohio			more info
Omaha CX Weekend Day 1	10/01/2011	Swanson Park, Bellevue	Nebraska			more info
Omaha CX Weekend Day 2	10/01/2011	Swanson Park, Bellevue	Nebraska			more info
Hopkins Park	10/02/2011	Hopkins Park, Dekalb	Illinois			more info
John Bryan	10/02/2011	John Bryan State Park, Yellow Sp...	Ohio			more info
Cascade Park CX	10/02/2011	Cascade Park, Elyria	Ohio			more info
River Hill Park CX	10/02/2011	Kewaskum	Wisconsin			more info
Iron Cross	10/02/2011	Old Town Negaunee, Negaunee	Michigan			more info

WISCONSIN: Milwaukee/Kewaskum - Saturday's 'Cross The Domes finally kicks off the local Wisconsin cyclocross season. Don't let the city park venue lure you into a false sense of bravado. This course is a tough one with a double sand pit traverse and a wicked climb. Sunday's River Hill Park 'cross up in Kewaskum is a totally new race about an hour north of Milwaukee and should be exciting.






ILLINOIS: DeKalb - Hopkins Park - Race #2 of the Chicago Cross Cup. Check the links for further info but I challenge you to find directions. Gotta play with the Google Map I guess. Always a good time however!

MICHIGAN: Old Town Negaunee - Iron Cross - Way up north (guess they aren't skiing yet) is the second race in the UPCROSS series.

Q: "Where the hell is this?"

A: Old Town is the recently re-opened caving ground on the West side of Negaunee. In the 1960's several homes began to sink into the ground from too much mining. Everyone was forced to relocate. Today, the area is a modern day ghost town complete with foundations, staircases to nowhere and lots of unused blacktop. The Heritage Trail also runs through Old Town although we won't be using any of that for the event. Formerly CCI property, it is now owned by the City of Negaunee who has given us permission to use the property for the event.

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2011 Iceman Cometh Pump Up

Brian Matter & Amanda Carey celebrate their 2010 victories

MICHIGAN: Traverse City - Iceman Cometh Challenge - With the weather about to change for the worse this afternoon, it's probably a good time to take a quick look at this race. The description on their site reads: "The Iceman Cometh Challenge is a 27 mile point-to-point mountain bike race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan. Held traditionally on the first Saturday of November (except for years when the first Saturday of November is the 1st), the 22nd annual Iceman will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2011. Over $54,000 in cash prizes and $10,000 in merchandise prizes will be awarded." 

With victories in the 2011 Ore-2-Shore and the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40,  last year's Iceman champion Brian Matter is the favorite to win and duplicate the 'Triple Crown' of MTB racing that he won last year. Brain Matter has been racing this race since 1993 and has won it three times: 2004, 2007, and 2010.  Last year Cyclingnews wrote: Tristan and I asked each other, 'how are we going to win this thing?'. We're Midwest guys, and we couldn't let these guys come and take our big prize money."  US$10,000 was on  the line for both the men's and women's races, with $3,500 going to the winner of each race.
Matter and Schouten did manage to snag the top prize money. After a series of counterattacks by the top racers in the lead group, Matter launched his own effort. The others, marking each other, let him get a gap and it was just enough. "I knew Tristan wouldn't chase me down," said Matter. The others waited a little too long and Matter's move, with four miles remaining, stuck until the end. "For the first three minutes (of my attack), I was seeing stars," said Matter. " After that, I took a few deep breaths and I followed the lead moto and pedalled as hard as I could." 

In only 6 weeks, we will find out who is the 2011 Iceman.

PHOTO: TrainingPeaks.Com

Watch more video of ICEMAN Cometh Challenge on cyclingdirt.org


Watch more video of ICEMAN Cometh Challenge on cyclingdirt.org

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Peloton Star Crossword #3

Crossword puzzle #3 based on the latest cycling news here in the Midwest.
(answer key)

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Cross the Domes, more Planet Bike Cup video, Bart Wellens

WISCONSIN: Milwaukee - Cross the Domes- Organizers report that the Specialized Demo Truck will be on hand all day Saturday as well as the Clark Square Neighborhood Initiative.














WISCONSIN: Madison - USGP Planet Bike Cup - Cyclingdirt.Com now has the full Elite Men's race feed video posted so you can watch it now in case you missed it live. This is great footage, check it out! Also, Greg Ferguson posted this nice piece of the Women's race.

Planet Bike Cup, USGP Sun Prairie WI, 2011 from Greg Ferguson on Vimeo.

Speaking of Bart Wellens, did you know that he had his own reality TV show? No, it's not in English, but it is pretty interesting.He starred in the reality television series 'Wellens en Wee' on Flemish TV-channel VT4. In this series, Wellens together with his parents, Lucien and Wiske, and his other teammates are shown in their daily lives and preparations for the weekend races. 

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Busche at Worlds, more Planet Bike Cup, Indy CX

DENMARK: Copenhagen - World Professional Road Race Champs - Wisconsin's Mathew Busche (Radio Shack) reflects on his first time at Worlds where he feels he didn't contribute much and looks forward to the rest of the season."I'm traveling home from Copenhagen, and I have to be honest by saying I am less than satisfied. I don't know what my expectations might have been going into the race, but leaving here knowing I did nothing for my team is a horrible feeling."

WISCONSIN: Madison - Planet Bike Cup - Sheboygan's Tristan Schouten (CyclocrossRacing.Com) writes about his Planet Bike Cup race and his travels for his team out west to Star Crossed. "I knew 500ft into the race on day 1 that I didn't have it and despite giving it everything I couldn't go harder than 70% it felt like. I lost ground the whole race, couldn't ride with anyone and felt off balance in every corner. It was ugly and very frustrating as I was hoping to ride a bit better on the home course. Sunday came and so did the wind, rain, thunder, lighting, and hail. By the time we raced at 4pm the course was well beyond destroyed with a 2-3" layer of mud and slippery slimmy corners."

Also from Sheboygan (sort of an east/west Sheboygan County thing), Brian Matter (Gear Grinder) writes in his blog "Jumping Head First into The Mud" about his Planet Bike Cup experience and gives us a blow by blow recap of the race: "It was a super hard mental transition going from Chequamegon to lining up behind Bart Wellens 6 days later.  I had really only been on my cross bike 2 times off-road, I didn't get to do any local races beforehand, and I didn't really know how I was going to perform."

photo @ D Marchewka photography

                                                          Kaitie Antonneau warms up.

Todd Prekaski’s Photo

INDIANA: Indianapolis - Bloomington Velonews gives us a great wrapup of the double header of 'cross racing in that part of the Midwest, the Indy CX weekend. "The OVCX series rolled on this weekend with two races in Indianapolis. Saturday's race at Brookside Park featured a slightly slick "power course" with multiple road sections and three dismount points per lap: the famous old stone stairs, a fallen tree, and of course, the regular barrier section. The light rain that spit on and off throughout the day on Saturday started up in earnest in the evening and fell steadily through the day on Sunday. This turned what would have been a pretty flat and straightforward course at Fort Harrison State Park into an epic mudfest for the afternoon races." It's a great read, check it out.

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Schneider Second in TD Mayor's Cup (USA CRITS)

PHOTO: Michael Foley

MASSACHUSETTS: Boston - TD Mayor's Cup - As reported yesterday, Team Tibco's Samantha Schneider of West Allis, WI got second place in the final race of the USA CRITS series in Boston on Sunday. This was her first podium in the series, sealed her first place in the Maxxis Tires Best Young Rider competition, and earned her 5th in the overall. Michigan's Theresa Cliff-Ryan won all three of the races in which she appeared (Athens, Charlotte, and Binghamton), and finished 4th overall. Carrie Cash Wooten (Mellow Mushroom), of St. Louis,Missouri finished 11th overall

1. Jen McRae (787 Racing)
2. Sam Schneider (Team TIBCO)
3. Coryn Rivera (PB&Co)

Samantha's younger sister, Skylar Schneider (Tibco), who is the current 13-14 year old Junior National Champion, who recently won the Gateway Cup Criterium in St. Louis for her age group, also raced in Boston in the juniors competition, and placed 39th.

Note that the 3rd race in the series was right here in Grafton, WI. You can read a full recap of the Giro d'Grafton, part of the Tour of America's Dairyland on the USA Crits webpage.

Samantha (Photo: M. Foley)

Skylar (Photo: M. Foley)

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Weekend Recap - WisSport Worlds, Indiana St. Mary's 'Cross

WISCONSIN: Fountain City - WisSport World Championships. In the WisSport Worlds (bicycle racing for the normally obsessed) Cam Wilcox (Big Ring Flyers, on the right above) just eked out a win over a hard-charging Mike Bobusch to claim the World’s win and jersey. On the womens side, Julie Phelps (Big Ring Flyers) took the win and worlds jersey, capping off a day that saw her win the women’s TT title as well (uncontested).

INDIANA: Larwrence - St. Mary's 'Cross - PHOTOS are available from this race taken by our friend Kevin Lillard.

Cylocross racing: wishtv.com

MINNESOTA: EC3 River- EC3 River's 'Cross - RESULTS

IOWA: Des Moines - Capital City 'Cross - Two days of racing action in Iowa. Photos on their Flickr page, results promised soon. Brief write up on BikeIowa.Com









MASSACHUSETTS: Boston - TD Mayor's Cup - FLASH! Wisconsin's very own Samantha Schneider (TIBCO), fresh off of a European racing stint, get's second place in the final of the USA Crits series on Sunday.  Photo from Velonews. More on this tomorrow. (Gotta teach these photogs how to crop!)

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2011 USGP Planet Bike Cup - Monday Morning Edition

PHOTO: Travis Miller

WISCONSIN: Madison - Planet Bike Cup - Belgian winner Bart Wellens brought his wet, muddy weather along from home, but saved it for the final show on Sunday, smearing the local park with a thick coating of slimey, gooey "Here's mud in 'yer eye, Yanks!" There's no shortage of great photos, so let's just get right to the videos. (Photo by Travis Miller.)

Bart Wellens (CyclingNews.Com)

Results per Daily Peloton:

RESULTS PRO WOMEN 
1. Katerina Nash, LUNA
2. Georgia Gould, LUNA
3. Nicole Duke, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
4. Mo Bruno Roy, Bob's Red Mill
5. Caroline Mani
6. Kathy Sherwin, Stan's No Tubes Elite Cylcocross
7. Meredith Miller, California Giant Cycling
8. Kaitlin Antonneau, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
9. Pepper Harlton, Juventus Cycling Club
10. Teal Stetson-Lee, California Giant Cycling 
USGP Series Leader: Katerina Nash
AVID Shorty Ultimate Holeshot: Caroline Mani 
 
PRO MEN 
1. Bart Wellens, Telenet-Fidea
2. Jonathan Page, Planet Bike / Blue Bicycles
3. Ryan Trebon, LTS
4. Rob Peeters, Telenet-Fidea
5. Christian Heule, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
6. Jamey Driscoll, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
7. Ben Berden, Ops Ale- Stoemper
8. Geoff Kabush, Team Maxxis / Rocky Mountain
9. Jeremy Powers, Rapha-Focus
10. Troy Wells, CLIF Bar USGP Series Leader: Bart Wellens
AVID Shorty Ultimate Holeshot: Rob Peeters 

For complete results visit USGP Cyclocross

Great photos by one of the local cycling officials: Nikki Cyp

 

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2011 USGP Planet Bike Cup - Sunday Morning Update - Video - Interviews!

Raining cats and dogs again here in Milwaukee. I don't think Madison is going to escape it today.
Great interviews. Very insightful.









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Gateway 'Cross - Planet Bike Cup - Worlds Report

WISCONSIN: Madison - Word from the race site is that the course is tacky but drying. So, while it may be raining quite a bit where you are (as it is here in Milwaukee, complete with thunder), it appears to be a great day at the USGP Planet Bike Cup. In fact, check out this FB video  uploaded just a few minutes ago. The sun is shining! Don't forget to check out the live streaming video this afternoon courtesy of CyclingDirt.Com.
  

MISSOURI: St. Louis - 2011 Gateway 'Cross - More photos are appearing from this inaugural event. Check out this great set from Rob Ballou of University City, MO. and some more from Jeff Yielding. As always, be sure to read Steve Tillford's blogging about his time at the race. His net winnings after paying the entry fee ... $0.02. 

RIDER UPDATES:  Just a few updates on some riders from the midwest, and riders who have made their mark here. Alexey Vermeulen (Pinckney, Mich./Prochain) rode the Junior World Championship RR in Denmark earlier today, finished 56th out of 170 starters, solidly in the main bunch. Just posted a few minutes ago, Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Colavita-Baci p/b Cooking Light) finished 18th out of 146 starters in today's Women's World Championship RR. Mathew Busche (Wauwatosa, WI / Radio Shack) will be racing tomorrow in the Men's race. One of the regular European riders that compete in Superweek, is Austrian racer, Andreas Muller, who specializes in 6 day races across Europe. He was just given a sportsman award in his home country., the "Träger des Goldenen Verdienstzeichen der Republik Österreich" (Read about it in his blog). Lastly, 2011 overall Superweek champion, Chun Kai-Feng, is racing with his Team Action Cycling in the Tour of East Java.

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Planet Bike Cup Madison LIVE STREAMING VIDEO!

Heads up for all those who aren't at the venue this weekend, Cycling Dirt will be streaming video both Saturday and Sunday from the USGP Planet Bike Cup in Madison, WI 

LIVE Schedule (CST)
Saturday
2:30PM Women's Preview
2:45PM Elite Women's Race
3:45PM Men's Preview
4:00PM Elite Men Race

Sunday
2:30PM Women's Preview
2:45PM Elite Women's Race
3:45PM Men's Preview
4:00PM Elite Men Race

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First Day of Fall - Friday

Short on time today, so this will be brief. It's official. First day of fall. It's 'Cross season!

Peloton-Pix.Com

ILLINOIS: Fox River Grove - Hot off the press! The inaugural Norge Ski Jump Cyclocross to be held at the Norge Ski Club ski jumps on Saturday, November 19, 2011. Bravo to Team PSIMET for coming up with this most unique location! The mind races as one thinks of the course possibilities!








2011 Gateway 'Cross Cup





This weekend:

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Weekend Wrapup Wednesday

Today, we'll do a final wrap up of this past weekend's action, then tomorrow a report on tonight's Gateway Cross Cup in St. Louis and a preview of the UCI USGP scheduled for Wisconsin this coming Saturday and Sunday. As you will see, there is a LOT of cyclocross racing here in the Midwest.

Mike Sherer (Pony Shop)

ILLINOIS: Chicago - Jackson Park - Do they love 'cross in Chicago? Ask one of the 680 riders that participated in the kickoff race to their Chicago Cross Cup season. There on the left, that's Mike Sherer (Pony Shop), winner of the Pro 1/2 race at Jackson Park on Sunday, treating himself to some fine Michigan fishing on Monday. Next up, this coming Sunday, is Hopkins Park in DeKalb and immediately following the sanctioned racing, is the Official Unofficial Illinois State Single Speed Cyclocross Championship (OUISSSCC).



A nice POV video of the 4As. Great start, lots of crashes, PSIMET gets passed.
Watch the whole thing and see the mud consume the camera.

But wait there's more! Don't forget there is still some road racing to do in Illinois with the Fall Fling Stage Race (points based omnium) put on by ABR. $6,500 in prizes!

Saturday, Sept. 24: Pella Factory Criterium - West Chicago, IL

Sunday, Sept. 25: Maple Park Time Trial - Maple Park, IL

Saturday, Oct. 1: DuPage Tech Park Circuit Race - West Chicago, IL

Featuring Kids' Races for Riders 12 & Under @ 1:00 PM!
9.19.11 - RIDERS: Please note updated start times for this Circuit Race!

Sunday, Oct. 2: Wood Dale Circuit Race - Wood Dale, IL

MICHIGAN: Houghton - Sherman 'Cross - UPCROSS.Net has a nice summary of the Yooper action plus links to all the photos taken. Looks like a great start to their season. You sure can't beat the lighting system they got to use for their night time event.. Next up in the series is this coming Sunday, Sept. 25th at the Al Quaal Trails in Ishpeming. $10/race, no charge for kids.
MICHIGAN: Waterford - Waterford + Tommy Tsunami Cyclocross - The spirit is alive and well in eastern Michigan as they just wrapped up a Sat/Sun double header.  jbhancock in his blog Back To Racing, gives us the story: "Double this weekend at Waterford and MMCC for the new Tommy Tsunami race.  Waterford was tough as always.  It was the tale of two races - the first 30 minutes were ok but the last 30 minutes were rough.  Too bad the 1/2 race isn't 30 minutes long.  Scaling the flying rhinover gets old quickly.  A new staircase could make all the difference there.Sunday was the Tommy Tsunami race at MMCC, which was held in conjunction with their fall festival.  The atmosphere was pretty neat - there was a car show and a few bands playing throughout the day.  The course was mostly what we had planned out with a few changes, including a brief singletrack / rooted section that shook things up a bit.  Jeff Adamcik, Mike Seaman, and I pushed the first lap pretty hard.  Going into lap two Mike and I were feeling the effects of Saturday's race and Jeff got a gap.  Soon I was chasing alone and it would remain that way for the rest of the 9 or 10 laps.  I slotted in 2nd and was pretty happy with that considering the difficulties from Saturday." Next up for them is the Red Zone race at Saginaw Valley State University on October 9.

PHOTO: Jack Kunner

MICHIGAN: Grand Rapids - Plaster Creek + Highland Park - In western Michigan, the eight race Krisscross Series just finished their second weekend of racing at Highland Park. PHOTOS Also, just recently added is a three race series in Southwest Michigan/South Bend, IN area called  RUNUP Cyclocross beginning October 9th.



INDIANA: Indianapolis - The Indiana CX Cup begins this weekend with the  Brookside and St. Mary's 'Cross races.

MINNESOTA: Minneapolis - The Minnesota Cycling Federation begins their season this weekend as well with Saturday's Cross Conspiracy in Corcoran and Sunday's EC3 River's CX in Maple Grove.

IOWA: Des Moines - This past Saturday was Iowa's season opener at Cory's Irish Cross in Bondurant. PHOTOS with more posted on their Facebook page. Next up is the two day Capital City Cross in Des Moines this coming weekend. Check the Bike Iowa / Cross website for more info.






Speaking of racing 'cross ... this dude can RIDE!

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Joeyyyy! Bike Crash Part II

Short post today, we'll catch up on the news tomorrow. I think most of us have seen the video from the Starcrossed race where Joey goes flying head over tea kettle trying to cross the barriers at speed. That original video was posted by Bikehugger.Com. If you read their story about the video, they allude to a second view that is buried in the middle of a longer video. Why not see both at the same time? I give you:

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More Chequamegon Monday

WISCONSIN: Hayward - Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. Well, you can't get anymore 'first person' than from the man who won, himself! Brian Matter writes in his BLOG: "I did it again!  Smart racing and the best fitness of my life just won me my 4th trip to the top of the CHEQ FAT TIRE 40 podium and 3rd in a row!  I wasn't sure how things would shake out with very elite competition in the field, but in the end they actually made it a little easier than normal." He breaks down his win to fitness, equipment, skills, and smarts. It's a very good read with some great photos.

"...  The next right hander is tough....I set up, look for my line and see CVV w/ a flat tire.  One more spot for me....Immediately to the back to wait for Telemark road.  2 miles of downhill dirt road and a lead group of 3 rotating through.  J-Mac starts rubbing the cramps in his legs and Olheiser does the same!  WOW I CAN WIN!"

Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Cervelo) leads

It sounds like Steve Tilford still has the bit in his teeth and is looking to win it again. He writes: " Brian Matter is a force to be reckoned with here. Maybe I don’t have it in me to beat him now, but I’d like to get to the end of the race and see if that is the case." No doubt that he still has a chance.








MISSOURI: St. Louis - Hermann 'Cross ALL THE RESULTS PHOTOS Congratulatons to Kelly Benjamin for sweeping the weekend in the Women's 1/2/3 category.

Women 1/2/3
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	270.79	Kelly Benjamin	Kansas City, MO		184788		KCCX Fuji
2	292.64	Carrie Cash Wootten	Saint Louis, MO		163561		Team Revolution
3	314.49	Sunny Gilbert (1 - Cat2)	Chesterfield, MO		239522		Big Shark

Women 1/2/3
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	269.48	Kelly Benjamin	Kansas City, MO		184788		KCCX Fuji
2	294.77	Sunny Gilbert (1 - Cat2)	Chesterfield, MO		239522		Big Shark
3	320.06	Carrie Cash Wootten	Saint Louis, MO		163561		Team Revolution

ILLINOIS: Chicago - Jackson Park Cyclocross - RESULTS  PHOTOS Mike Sherer came out of the gate hot and won his first 'cross race of the season. The Pro 1/2/3 was one of the smaller fields racing yesterday, with -only- 39 riders. Cat 3 - 95 finishers, 4A - 94 finishers, 4B - 85 finishers. Impressive!

Men - 1/2/3 Place Rider Team Hometown
1 Mike Sherer Glencoe, IL
2 Isaac Neff KCV Cycling Club Madison, WI
3 Kevin McConnell Mercy-Specialized Iowa City, IA
4 Scott McLaughlin Chicago, IL
5 Kevin Klug The Pony Shop Chicago, IL
6 Brian Conant The Pony Shop Dekalb, IL
7 Michael Hemme Chicago, IL

MICHIGAN: Houghton - Sherman 'Cross - PHOTOS Cyclocross comes to Houghton! Racing under the lights at the football stadium for the first time, it looks like those Yoopers had a great event.













Lastly for now, the hottest viral video on the net.
JOEYYYYY!!!

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Fireworks Sunday - Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival News

Photo: Cycling News Forums

WISCONSIN: Hayward -Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival - The was lots of pre-race hype over Christian Vande Velde riding the race this year and that hype turned to out to be warranted as the pair of Vande Velde (Garmin) and Jason McCartney (Radio Shack) lit the fuse early and let the fireworks fly the whole race. SkinnySki.Com has the call:
"“They set the tempo and blew everybody off the back,” said second place Michael Olhesier (Juwi Solar). "

As the story goes, the pair drove the race from the gun, thinning the contenders down to just a handful by the Fire tower hill. With less than seven miles remaining, the pair of Pro's had a gap, but Vande Velde flatted,  and McCartney, who was suffering from cramps, got caught. Matter came up first in the sprint over Olheiser while McCartney crossed a few seconds later.

Also, check out Steve Tilford's first person account of the action along with some excellent photos.

" I guess Jason just kept drilling it. Christian started pulling too eventually. Christian said that he was pulling on one of the gravel roads, Boedecker at 51kph and 550 watts. Shit."

This win is the second in the Triple Crown of midwest MTB racing which Matter won in 2010. Next up is the "Iceman Cometh" which is a 27 mile point-to-point mountain bike race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan. Held traditionally on the first Saturday of November (except for years when the first Saturday of November is the 1st), the 22nd annual Iceman will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2011. Over $54,000 in cash prizes and $10,000 in merchandise prizes will be awarded.

SkinnySki.Com has a ton of general photos, no photo of Matter's win yet. Will keep looking. 

MISSOURI: St. Louis - Hermann 'Cross Day 1 - Here are the RESULTS from day 1. It appears that the turn out was good and there's still a full day of racing yet to come.

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