Today the biggest cyclocross races on the planet were right here in Wisconsin. The UCI World Cup came to Trek’s corporate headquarters in Waterloo, and by car that’s just an hour from my house so of course I went! Trek has hosted major cyclocross races before, but this is the first time Trek’s event has been included in the UCI World Cup. That’s the top level; it doesn’t get any bigger.
Reigning world champion Sanne Cant pulled away late in the women’s race. Racine native Kaitie Antonneau Keough took 2nd ahead of fellow American Ellen Noble, who out-sprinted defending World Cup champion Sophie de Boer for 3rd place. The elite men’s race was over almost before it started, as Mathieu van der Poel delivered a dominating performance. US national champion Stephen Hyde was the best of the American men today, finishing 18th. The event featured equal prize money for men and women, plus free admission for all spectators.
Many southern Wisconsin communities set all-time highs this weekend—today was the hottest September 24 ever here in West Bend—and obviously 90° is very hot for the fall/winter sport of cyclocross. In Waterloo a lot of racers suffered terribly before collapsing at the finish line. It’s weird to think that their enduring impression of Wisconsin will be its unbearable heat. When the Wisconsin Cycling Association’s cyclocross series resumes next Saturday in Manitowoc, the high temperature will be something like 63° … and possibly much cooler if the wind shifts a little and comes off Lake Michigan. The WCA series has been on hold since September 10, yielding the stage to the UCI events in Iowa City and Waterloo.
A Change In My Plans
Yesterday afternoon I went to Greenbush for a final practice session before the WEMS Championships on October 7. It did not go well. It was not fast. It was not fun. Greenbush is an endless rock garden and not a course on which I can do well. So, there will be no WEMS Championships for me. A couple of days ago I removed the Stump Farm Trail Races (October 29) from my calendar—I can’t live with that $50 entry fee—so this is the end of my 2017 mountain bike season. I’m putting PumpkinCross on my schedule for October 7. I’m really enjoying cyclocross right now, and that race at Lime Kiln Park is the closest race to my home. It would be silly to miss it.
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