Plenty New at The Grand

photos courtesy of Angy Snoop (angysnoop.smugmug.com)

"The Grand is a great race," said Scott Shelman of Sugar Bottom Bikes. "It was my favorite course last year.

"It’s not your typical open field grass course, with its almost single track feel through the wooded area, and not as much sand as you would think for being at a sand volleyball place.

​"It’s a good mix of power and bike handling, with lots of acceleration areas in the twistys and a few long straight power sections on the opposite side."

Challenging   but   not   scary

"I have only done a few cyclo-cross races," said Angy Snoop, "and The Grand was a perfect beginner course: pretty flat and not too technical.​"

"I'm a big wuss and fear anything but flat riding, but this course had enough to keep it challenging -- a board on the uphill to ride over, short up/down hills to the levy, sand pit, long start/finish straight stretch -- and not scare me away from trying.

​"The sand was intimidating, but I was determined to try my best and ride it.  I didn't succeed every time, but I was proud of trying and making it.

​​"The tight corners were tough to manage, but I wasn't going fast to begin with, so it didn't slow me down like it may have faster riders.

"The Grand is also great for spectators as it's in a small area so they can see you all over the place!"

So   What's   new   this   year?

This will be the third edition of The Grand, but the first presented by the Phoenix Syndicate. Race Director James Armstead explained: "We are a whole new team this year all from different groups and different experiences. We are really excited about this group coming together to make something really awesome this year. We aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but we found some new great partners to work with who really want to support the community and grow their brands!

It turns out there is plenty new about the race this year. "There has been some great work going on within the local Juniors scene, and we wanted to do our part. To help grow the next generation of racers as much as we can, we created the Garmen Partners Junior Fund, which will allow anyone racing in our Junior races to race for free.

"Stealing a page from Trek Cup, we are going go try and have a decent party area for people to hang out and experience cyclocross even if they aren't racing. We will have free beer, music, and of course awesome cyclocross.

"The venue is going to be better than ever this year. We've been out at the course the last few months making sure we can create the best course ever  this year and we will be changing a few of the staple features to allow us to grow and expand the course in a different way. Expect a little more sand, a bit more of a flowy course, and maybe a new opportunity to get off your bike ;).

Expect   a   little   more   sand,   a   bit   more   of   a   flowy   course,   and   maybe   a   new   opportunity   to   get   off   your   bike.

"The changes to the course will also allow us to open up the middle part where the food trucks were last year. We are going to have a few teams have tents there, some food, music, and will hopefully create a really awesome community compound for everyone to come together and have a great time together. 

"We are working through ideas for how the course will change day to day, although we aren't 100% sure we are going to "just flip the course" this year. Nothing is off the table!"

Womens'   clinic   Friday   evening

To start out the weekend of racing the Phoenix Syndicate is offering a free women's clinic Friday afternoon. "This idea came out of conversations with people while I was on the BikeIowa team," explained Armstead. "We just never got around to coordinating it all. One of the Phoenix Syndicate's foundations was to make sure we had 30% of our team be women at all times, and with that more and more of our focus has been around how to grow that group and ensure women have a safe place to come learn and experience the sport of cycling.

"The clinic will be a general walk through the course for anyone who is entirely new and wants to ensure they can ride/run all of the obstacles without getting hurt, or even for those who haven't raced in a few years who just want to have a quick look at the course while getting back into it all. Hopefully we see a good turnout!​"

The Grand is Friday, October 18 through Sunday, October 20 at The Sands Volleyball Club in Des Moines. Registration is on BikeReg.com.