MSG Series Finale: The World is Turning
The weather was a factor again in the finale of the 2009 MSG Cyclocross series. The previous weeks snow left lots of ruts in the earth and at 19 degrees, became frozen ruts. The men and women 4’s kicked off at 10:30 with to the sound of a train engine horn! The frozen ground made for a very fast course but somewhat treacherous in rutted sections. This was the day for the bike handlers with 37 turns over the distance of 1.56 miles.  There was never any doubt who the winner was going to be after one lap as Jeff Carlson took a commanding lead, eventually winning the race and clinching the overall in the CX4’s ( I smell an upgrade). As temps warmed toward the afternoon and the Pro race the ruts began to soften and collapse making for slick and tricky corners which leads us to one of the best races I’ve witnessed all season.

The highlight of the day was the three up battle in the Pro race between Andy Applegate, Eric Wondergem, and Mike Stewart. Andy, a seasoned Cyclocross, vet soon grabbed the lead and was joined by Mike Stewart  who is only in his second year racing cross. Both men opened  of about 20 seconds. that looked impossible to cross. However, the gap started to tumble once Wondergem dialed in the turns  and learned where he could use his Treefarm like power . Over the course of two laps of the 60 minute race Wondergem had Joined the leaders. The leaders settled in with Applegate setting a high tempo and with 4 laps to go Wondergem launched sinew stretching attack and was off the front by 10 seconds, the pain was evident on Wondergem’s face as he tried to hold on to his lead, but Applegate used his experinces to slowly real him back pulling a redlined Stewart with him. Wondergem dangled of the back a couple of bike lengths as Applegate drove hard. It looked like the all or nothing attack had netted Wondergem a goose egg.  Applegate continued to put pressure on both Wondergem and Stewart through all the twists and turns seemingly taking control of the race. The last lap proved to be the strategic one, as Wondergem dangled of the back he was slowly recovering and when they hit the climb for the last time Wondergem attacked again. This time Stewart popped and faded out of contention leaving Applegate struggling to hang on to Wondergem. Soon the tie was severed and Wondergem pulled out another 10 second lead coming off the top of the course and through the final maze of turns to take the win and solidifying his lead in the series over all for PRO1/2. Appegate rolled in 10 seconds back and received a deserving round of applause as did Stewart for his impressive third place.

We always do something special for the last race of the series and this year we had our first ever Chilly Chili Challenge! 5 Different kind of chili showed up and was ravenously devoured along with chips and drinks. With high temps only in the 30’s the chili was a big hit. Being the final race also meant overall awards. This year saw the return of the Shelton Pittman trophies for the overall winner in 8 of the MSG categories. These are hand made by Shelton from old bike parts and this year included a high wheeler, a wind chime (that actually chimed), and a rose made completely of chain and gears, truly works of art.