With the season nearing its halfway point, overall standings in the UPCROSS Series are anything but certain. At last weekend’s race at River Park in Marquette, some familiar and some new faces made their way onto the podium. Throw in a couple of absences by riders with high placing in the series, and you’ve got the makings for a serious shake up.

The River Park course, traditionally flat and fast, gave racers plenty of opportunity to open it up. Long, grassy straight-aways and sections of dirt road put riders on cyclocross bikes at a clear advantage, though some narrow singletrack featuring a steep, rocky climb along with some sandy stretches gave those on mountain bikes a chance to make up lost ground. New, high-tech barriers with a strong magnetic field pulled old skool riders on steel bikes to the tarmac time and again, crushing morale, draining strength and bending frames. Rumors of a barrier model capable of causing mayhem to riders on carbon fiber and aluminum were unconfirmed at press time, but the steel-bike coalition is hopeful. Though organizers and racers alike long for some down-and-dirty cyclocross weather, sunshine and warm temperatures again dried up any hopes for a mud bath.

Claiming her second race in a row was in the B class was Mary Conner, who finished the contest ahead of Tammi Lehto. In the A race, Nicole Alexander likewise took first for the second week in a row, again finishing ahead of Andrea Pernsteiner. Christina Bennett clocked her best finish of the season with third. Amy Michaels and Kay Wood rounded out the top five. Wood is holding onto third place in the series standings, with Alexander and Pernsteiner battling for top honors.

In the men’s C race, Bruce Pletka of Houghton took the win. With Steve Hackney moving to the B class, the C category is wide open. Returning to the cx battlefield with a vengeance was Steve Kuhl, who finished strong ahead of Mike Sauer. Taking third was Andrew Rickhauer, who had his best finish of the season. Leader of the B series, Jeremy Pletka, suffered misfortune with a lap to go and dropped from second to the back of the field. Moving into the number-two spot in the series standings was Matt Belic. Rickhauer’s third place on the day was good enough to leapfrog him from fifth to third in the B class.

For the first time, Marquette was skunked on the podium of the A-race. Working hard to take his first UPCROSS win and tighten his grip on the series lead was Aaron Swanson of Ashland, Wisconsin (unattached). Swanson sensed weakness in the disorganized field behind him early on and motored away, riding out the race alone. Further back, Red Jacket rider Tim Kostner of Houghton and Paul Belknap, also of Ashland, worked together to ride through flailing elbows and leaning shoulders to open a gap on the remainder of the field. As the race neared its end, Kostner put the hammer down and rode away from his breakaway companion for the best-ever finish of a Red Jacket in the A race. Finishing behind third-place Belknap (Bay Cycles) was Dave Grant (Ace), with his best UPCROSS finish ever, who out rode Sisu Cycles rider Jesse Bell.

The UPCROSS Series continues Oct.23 and 24 in Copper Harbor with the third annual Keweenaw Cup. For details, including lodging info, see www.keweenawcup.com.

Results now posted.

Check out Matt Palomaki's photos on the Sisu Cycles blog!