2018 LAPT Lion Cross

Here’s the Cat 3 Masters 35+ podium. No, I’m not on it!

It’s now a theme: 3 cyclocross races, 3 bad starts. And I’m left wondering where I would be if I could sort out those first 30 seconds. I rode really well today, but I could manage only a 15th Place finish in the Cat 3 Masters 35+ race at LAPT Lion Cross. The official results show 18 riders. I know that behind me there was at least 1 more guy whose name doesn’t appear, but that’s splitting hairs. I need to worry more about who’s ahead of me. For the most part, though, they’re simply faster.

Held at Waterford Town Park in western Racine County, Lion Cross was a new event on this year’s schedule. The organizers staked out a fast, flowy, fun course on a field with no natural features to exploit, and they made excellent use of a manmade sledding hill that seemed to grow taller with each lap. I really enjoyed my race, largely because I could stay on the gas for almost the whole course. I didn’t hear a single brake squeal from anybody. And I had people to chase and to evade for the entire race; I wasn’t on another lonely solo ride after Lap 1.

Scott Hoyer (Great Dane Velo Club) was today’s winner, followed by David Studner (Trek Midwest Team) and John Orlikowski (unattached). With that trio well out of reach, my race came down to a spirited duel with Mike Roth (Team Wheel & Sprocket). I closed a big gap and overtook him on the penultimate lap, but I couldn’t drop him. In the closing moments of the final lap, he outran me on the sand volleyball court and there just wasn’t enough racecourse left for me to retake the position.

So, now I’m on weather watch. I want to saddle up again next Saturday at PumpkinCross in Grafton, but the forecast shows almost nothing but rain. I might be training in the home gym a few times in the week to come.

Congratulations, Little Badger!

Racine native Kaitie Keough conquered a star-studded field today to win Jingle Cross, the Telenet UCI World Cup cyclocross race in Iowa. And it didn’t come down to a sprint; Keough finished a comfortable 31 seconds ahead of her closest chaser. At 26, Keough is now a veteran racer at the top level of the sport, but today’s victory was her first in a World Cup event.

Jingle Cross attracted some of Wisconsin’s amateur racers too. Nevertheless, turnout was good for today’s WCA event. In prior seasons the WCA was reluctant to schedule an event on the same weekend as Jingle Cross. Today I was grateful for an opportunity to race close to home.