Estabrook Cyclocross Race
Sunday, November 4

Faye Hartmann takes the win in the women's race.	Frank Dierking leading the A race.
More photos . . . after the story.

Cyclocross comes to Milwaukee
What a great day!  What weather!  Is it really November?  Is this really cyclocross season?  Race number three in the Wisconsin Cycling Association Series was held at Estabrook Park in Milwaukee on a sunny day with temperatures near 60.

Estabroook Park is a long but narrow strip of parkland along the river.  The course was fast and dry and included one steep run-up which got looser and trickier as the day progressed.  The course included numerous barrier sections some of which included five or so barriers.  

I contend that this course gave the advantage to the road racers as there were less technical sections, fewer leaf strewn corners and was fairly flat in comparison with the first two races in the series.  With that said though, it was a great course in a great location.  Plus the juxtaposition of bikers in tights and fishermen in waders was perfect (you had to be there to appreciate it).

Hartmann gets her day at Estabrook
Faye Hartmann (Brazen Dropouts/Cronometro) took an early lead with Rebecca Cleveland (Green Bay) in hot pursuit.  However, today was to be Faye's day to win after a second place and third place finish in the first two races.  Rebecca didn't make it easy but slowly Faye opened up a gap and never gave Rebecca a chance to make up the time.  The series overall continues to be a huge battle and will surely come down to the last race with such a strong group of women contesting the series.

Rounding out the top three in the Women's race was Pattie Kaufman of Milwaukee who was hot on the wheels of Rebecca.  Top junior woman was Jenni Snavely who showed guts and determination in taking on the older women and racing at the same time as the B men.  We need more girls like her out racing!  Clearly if there was a prize for gutsiest racer Jenni would win!

Ryan continues to dominate C Race
A very large field of C racers set off but it was a one-man show from the start.  Finn Ryan (Brazen Dropouts/Cronometro) stormed away from the field and never let up.  Finn didn't want to have to come from behind for this win so he went out hard.  It was a good move and if I was a betting person I would put my money on Finn for the Series win.  

Ericsson wins B Race; Goodlund brings home third
Madison showed their cyclocross strength when John Ericsson (Brazen Dropouts/Cronometro) took his second win of the season at Estabrook Park.  John and a racer in a red jersey set the pace from the start.  With about three laps in, John made his jump and took over race leadership.  The racer in the red jersey made a valiant effort to close the gap but John never let up.

Unbeknownst to the leaders a fast moving train of riders lead by Travis Goodlund was bearing down in an attempt to shake up the lead.  Travis lead a strong chase group of about seven riders for the whole race.  Travis' work to catch the two leaders strung out the chase pack as he pushed the pace.  However, no one was able to match Travis as he sprinted in for third place.  The chase group of racers included Scott Topel (Brazen Dropouts/Cronometro) as well as 9th place finisher Jason Campbell (Chain Smokers).  Rounding out the top 15 was the often photographed David Bell (Chain Smokers).

The Frankie race . . . I mean the A race
I admit that I did not stay for the finish of the A race as lunch was calling and the race was held very close to the awesome Milwaukee restaurant called the Bean & Barley.

But here is what I saw before I left . . . Frank Dierking went out hard and the race started to quickly break apart.  Before too many laps Frankie had a nice gap on everyone else.  Ben Anderson stayed with him as long as possible and looked strong in second place when I left.  It was great to see Ben putting some distance on the field and on a mountain bike (writer bias towards mountain bikes is strongly acknowledged).

The next group of about 4 or 5 racers included Gene Tolli (Brazen Dropouts/Cronometro) who once again is showing that his move from B race to A race is merited.

Not to show undue favoritism to the Chain Smokers and Brazen Dropouts I should mention the large contingent of Great Dane Velo Club racers in attendance for the A race including Jason Landretti, Randy Bailey, and others.