Monday, April 23, 2012

April 22- Alderman James Cappleman's 46th Ward Lincoln Park Criterium

Someone caught my Grrr Face.
Titled Grrr by: ewwhite
Race Day comes again.  This time at Montrose Beach.  The first races I attended were organized by my team and this race was set up by the racers at xXx-Athletico.  They are a pretty large team.  I think I see at least one of them every day on the lakefront path.  Complete with announcers and a pace car it was apparent this race was not a training or intro to racing race.  I planned to get to the event early to ride the course before it was being raced.  I knew the races were back to back and I would have no time to scope it out before my start time.  However with freezing temps I figured any knowledge I would have gained would not have benefited cold bones.  The time was better spent eating and keeping warm.  With a lousy warmup ride I got to the course, registered and found the new Half Acre Team tent waiting for me.  I tossed my messenger bag inside ditched my water bottles and started riding around to keep loose.  I had invited a cheering section consisting of a half a dozen or so relatives that gladly froze while rooting on Half Acre racers.


View xXx Lincoln Park Criterium in a larger map
 
 Team captain, Mike A., tipped me to position myself away from the wind at certain spots and it helped tenfold throughout the race.  The course contained a hairpin turn that was at the bottom of a hill.  After the turn my climb slowed me down a few positions but was easily regained positioning myself with riders between me and the crosswind.  The tip was the difference maker that kept me in contention for the half hour.  Surprisingly, the pace was extremely manageable and had I not taken the lead earlier in the race I might have placed higher but I'm pretty geeked with a 7th place finish.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Trek to Three Floyds Brewery

The Riders at Queen's Landing
Making the trek to Munster, Indiana is one of the mainstay bike rides in Chicago's bicycle touring community.  Having grown up nearby and being extremely familiar with the area its a wonder why I have never made the trip before, by car or bike.  It was high time to join some friends and make some new ones on the ride down.  So on Saturday the 10th of April I did a brewery to brewery bike ride.  I began at (a still closed) Half Acre at 9:15am and met up with a group of riders at Queen's Landing across from the Buckingham Fountain at 10:30am.  We introduced ourselves and waited for the rest of the group and hit the path south at 11am.  Along with a few Half Acre teammates there were another handful of riders all as nice as can be.


View Three Floyds Trek in a larger map
The bike path ends at the South Shore Cultural Center so we took the street bike lane on Rt. 41 down to the Burnham Greenway bike path.   I have never been on this path and loved it.  It bisects the East Side Neighborhood and the town of Burnham Il. The bath abruptly ends and turns into Ave O which then becomes Burnham Ave. where the two towns meet.  We continued south on Burnham Ave until State St where you can head east or west to meet up with an unknown Indiana bike path to the east or pick up the Burnham Greenway path again to the west (recommended).  The path ends at the state line so the best bet is to take Ridge road east to Calumet Ave and head south.  The brew pub is across from the Centennial Park in an industrial corridor.  If you choose to take the eastern route which we did on the way down I would suggest exiting the path on Columbia Ave south.  It dead ends at Rt. 45 and that is where you can pick up Calumet Ave just to the west.  Its about 25 miles from Queens Landing and a 35 mile one way trip for me starting in North Center.  Its a great trip unfortunately the kitchen at the brew pub is under construction and the BBQ they were serving was way overpriced.  For $12 dollars a four inch bun with a couple cuts of pork roast and a bag of chips did not cut the mustard.  The beers I had were excellent Belgium style ales and most of their fans are in love with beers hoppy enough to wake the dead i.e. Zombie Dust so for y'all its a super treat.
Some of our group split off to take the Metra Electric Line back to the city.  Its about 10 miles to the west in Flossmoor Il.  Which incidentally also has a brew pub in it.  I could have made it a Triple Brewery Trip.  Hey, I might be on to something there.  The rest of us bought some beers to imbibe along a secluded point of the path for the ride home.


Peel back some layers.

Pit stop with the Chicago Skyway in the background.

Underneath the Skyway is the Burnham Greenway Path.






As the sun was coming down we got back into city limits and as we cornered the South Shore Cultural Center heading north we got the big skyline reveal which really made the entire trip top notch.  About a mile later I got a flat.  Booooo.  We were back to it in no time and we one by one peeled off the path to go home or make evening plans.   

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Recap of Gapers Block Crits March 26-29

Monday the 26th I took my "Go Fast" bike to work it would be the first of 4 days the commuter bike would be neglected. The messenger bag was called to duty, packed with a big lunch and I rode to work in my team kit. The commute to work has always been shared with a variety of people donning their bicycle team's jerseys. Today I would be one of them. The "Jeep Affect" was apparent less than a mile into the lake front path. Team xXx racers, of which there are many, would pass and nod or hand signal as they would pass my Half Acre adorned torso. Through out the day I felt I knew something that everyone at work had no clue about. I split work early and rolled out onto the lake front path and immediately met up with a guy named Brandon from Team Pegasus who was also riding down to Calumet Park for the crit racing. Having only been to the park once it was a godsend for someone to lead the way. Once registered with the number 128 pinned on my back I took some revolutions on the course and realized how cold it was and the sun was still going down. With the pre-race warm-up completed I lined up next to some teammates on the start/finish line listened to the race official's safety talk and then the whistle blew. What happened next is now one of my new favorite sounds, all in unison for a second and a half a field of 40 racers clipped into their pedals. The race was on. The first turns were unnerving but I fell into a rhythm and began to understand the ebb and flow of the race along with how fast the races really are. 30 mph was not uncommon. Then I heard my new least favorite sound. There was a wreck right behind me. It sounded like a garbage disposal trying to grind up a fork. It is not a sound I want to hear up close if you know what I mean. A few laps later one of my teammates, Ross, was right beside me with some nasty road rash where pieces of his jersey and shorts used to be. Clearly he got wrapped up in the crash and caught back up to the field, what a monster! The last laps came along with tiring muscles, however I found myself in the front of the pack and I didn't want to be there so I slowed my pace.  Unfortunately as I did this the pack sped up and I did not have the gas to keep up. I fell back and finished by myself in the bottom half of the field. The rest of the night, now humbled, I volunteered with the rest of my teammates to marshal race corners and help out with tear down or the course. Teammate Ian offered to drive me home which was a great way to recap what each of us did wrong. Both disappointed with our race we agreed tomorrow would be better.

The next day was more of the same but with a carb heavy lunch and lots and lots of fluids all day long. The weather was perfect and I got in a solid warm up. Once the race started I kept to the inside corners and dug a little deeper, breathed like there wasn't enough air the atmosphere to fill my lungs, and stayed on the wheel of my teammates. As we rounded the last corner, I caught the inside and it shot me ahead of some strong riders.  I sprinted like a maniac for the finish. Ian got on my back wheel and I pulled him to a 6th place finish and as I crossed the line I had grabbed the 8 spot. Flying pretty high the conversation on the ride home was all positive.

Day three was cold and I had dressed for warm and I felt it was the fastest race of the series. The course was also reversed so we were now making right turns. This changed the dynamic in one huge way. The stretch to the finish would be a 60 yard straight away. I stayed as close as I could but I just couldn't keep up. I swear I was pulling 30 mph just to keep the field in view. I found a rider from Team Tuxedo Thunder that was struggling with me so we made our own pack and raced against each other which made for a fun sprint between the two of us. The results put me in the middle of 40 racers for the night. Thankfully I had some friends to cheer me on that night as it gave the night some extra meaning.

The finale of the series was the best yet. It was the coldest night and I dressed better and warmed up with pants and a jacket on. The pace was perfect.  The course was familiar and my jitters were at a minimum. Breathing went well, I took my corners smart, and all of us Half Acre Teammates were in a blue train at the front for a half lap. Feeling good as the final lap cowbell rang I tried to corner wisely and as the final turn came I was on the outside which I would have thought was a bad move but I had a wide open view to the top 3 sprinters so I sped up and started my sprint. Unfortunately the finish line was misjudged by about ten yards. As is topped out on my sprint no longer able to accelerate I held my pace as Ian passed me. It was an exciting finish that I felt good about. Ian checked the standings and came back with a big ol' smile on his face. He placed 6 and I placed 7 with fellow teammate Sean in at 8.

This bike racing stuff is a blast but chilling with the team is really where its at.
Check out the photos here and official news and standings here