Race Report: KissCross, Holland, MI

Thanksgiving tradition for many Michiganders, like myself, begins with watching the Lions lose, followed by eating way too much, freezing in the woods waiting for that trophy buck, and getting a Christmas tree. This year may have started another Thanksgiving weekend tradition... Cyclocross!

Michigan has a decent cx series dubbed Kiss Cross, and their finale was held this past weekend in Holland, MI. Cross weather finally arrived, about a day too soon, for fair weather fans like myself. I was actually getting used to the 60-degree weekend weather we've seen so far in October and November. I was hoping for a couple of more unseasonably warm weekends to end the season. Welcome to cross weather! Rain! Mud! Wind! Mud! Cold! Mud!... and more Mud!

Fortunately, the entire course was not a quicksand-type terrain. Unfortunately, however, these sections consisted of running up stairs...

I started and finished in nearly the same spot, coming in 12th/51. Not a lot of passing going on. I was passed by someone trudging through the muddiest spot, while I was actually riding it. Maybe he had the better strategy...

Even though the November weather and true cx conditions finally showed up, and I actually had to race in long sleeves, I still managed to have a ton of fun. Looking forward to Montrose this weekend and hopefully one last bit of pre-cx-season weather...

Mike