Fox River Grove 5/20

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Known for the Norge Ski Jump the town also plays host for the Psimet Fox River Omnium.  Its a multiple day points road race for the bikes.  The first day was in Elgin and I attended the second day in Fox River Grove.  The race was a Criterium, with a monster climb right out of the gate.  There isn't much elevation to train on within city limits so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.  I woke up early and packed up the Go Fast bike and was about an hour early for my 10 am race time.   Perfect for pre riding the course.  In my smallest chainring and largest cog I crawled up the incline at 9 mph.  It was probably a good 2-3 min climb.  Once at the top the winding suburban subdivision street, complete with hay bales padding mailboxes, there was a wide and smooth down hill allowing me to easily reach speeds north of 30 mph.  If you were confident you could really lean into the corners taking them at speed without hitting the brakes and slingshot yourself into the next climb.  I rode the course a few times planning where and when to shift to higher and lower gearing.  I felt my confidence building.  I lined up at the start/finish and eaves dropped on racers' plans to kill themselves to grab points and fall back.  I was collecting all this race intelligence to make my own plan.  The whistle blew and the climb started.  I let the points racers go figuring I would pass them late.  At the summit I geared down to gain any lost position, banked in the corners and then shifted to my small chainring on a false flat of the course only to drop my chain.  My legs spun like a silent movie sped up for comedic effect.  I didn't know what happened right away, was I just in too high a gear?  Nope.  I had to stop.  I pulled off to the side forcing another rider into the grass.  Sorry bud.  The intangible happened.  All that strategy now meant nothing.  With the adrenaline pumping, and not wanting to unclip entirely from my pedals, it took me 3 tries to get my chain back on.  I went from the front of the peloton to the back in the longest 15 seconds ever.  I got back in the action passing one or two riders and then came the climb again.  There would be no passing on this beast.  There is a cheering section on the left.  I'm being yelled at to go faster, stand up on those pedals, pass that guy.  Equal parts encouragement/annoyance.  I'm at the top, I take a deep breath and down shift.  My legs are shaking but I'm determined to pass everyone in sight on the way down.  I take every corner on the inside and sprint on the straightaways.  I will regain my position.  Now more climbing and no passing.  My manhood is now being challenged by hecklers/cheerleaders.  At the summit I go for my water bottle.  The sugary sports drink makes my lips sticky and its an extra effort just to open my mouth, I wish it was water.  I'm passed and I can't even be bothered to use his draft I so I over take him on the down hill along with a hand full of other riders.  Finally I see some teammates.  The top 20 must be right around the corner.  More climbing.  The cheering section.  I don't even know how many times I've done this now.  With a glance, my bike computer read the ride time at 22 min.  This is either the finial lap or I have one more to go.  I'll give it all I got just in case.  I sprint to the finish.  Its the last lap.  The run out is strait ahead and I'm so happy I don't have to climb that hill again.  I finally see the riders ahead of me.  I was kidding myself, there are a lot of riders in front of me.  If I cracked the top 20 Ill be happy...wait, no scratch that, I'm happy now.  I don't have to climb that hill any more.  Where is the water?

Matteson and Hyde Park Crit Racing

Last weekend I couldn't get down to Champaign Urbana for the bike racing so I decided to check out the Matteson Tuesday Night Race series.  I love these races.  The first Criterium race I ever competed in was here.  Of course I lived on the south side then and it was so much easier to get to.  If I lived down there for sure I'd be a regular.  3 races 1 night back to back to back.  They start at 6pm so leaving work early is a must.  I staged my bike at my folks house and took the Metra to their house where they picked me up and drove me to the race.  The South Chicago Wheelmen host the night at the ACE Hardware paint factory at Central and Rt. 30.  Its a 4 corner course with wide 90° corners.  I raced in the B group set up for Cat4/5 racers and had a great time.  I had 2 top 5 finishes and posted the in the 1 spot in the finale which placed my at 3rd overall for the night.  Its such a fun evening of racing.  Its pretty chill and everyone there is out for a low key, smart race.


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Racin' 'Round the 'ol Paint Factory

On Saturday I pointed the compass south to my old neighborhood and competed in the Monsters of the Midway race.  My event wasn't until 4:30pm but the women's race was at 12:30 so I packed a lunch and cheered on 6 of the Half Acre women.  The entire race the clouds opened up and rained on them and there were plenty of spills on the four corner course which broke up the field and scattered racers in small packs 15 seconds behind each other.  Robin H. was able to hold on to the lead group and earned herself a podium finish at 3rd.

Photo Thanks to Velogrrl

 I missed most of the Men's category 4 race warming up for my upcoming cat 4/5 heat.  However I did manage to see a handful of slips and slides.  I'm told there was a line for the ambulance to get cleaned up after.  My race started out wet and quickly dried up as the laps were counted down.  It was a pretty fast race and I was doing my best to stay in the front 5 but I didn't see myself gaining a whole lot of ground.  After sprinting for a mid race prime (prize) I was reminded of a conversation I had with Mike A., the road race captain, about breaking away.  I decided to give it a go and I sprinted like a madman about half a lap in front of the field and held it for almost two laps.  Once the pack caught up to me I settled in for a mediocre finale.  With most of the fuel out of my tank I stood up for a sprint and crossed the finish 20th.  Little did I know Mike A. was going to convince me to line up for the second race.  Had I known that would have been an option I probably wouldn't have gassed it so hard.  Erica pinned a new number on me, Mike hydrated me and Bevan gave me an energy bar.  They should have slapped my ass and yelled "giddy up" as I rode to the start line.   It was all good fun.  The second race started and I settled in the back of the pack and started taking the turns.  Eventually I progressed to the middle and then I found myself in the top ten.  At this point I had my legs back under me and feeling good when a rider veered into my front wheel with his rear.  It was on a straight away and I had some room to move but my recovery took me into his wheel 2 more times in the matter of 3 seconds.  I didn't panic and was able to stay upright, much to my amazement and to the pleasure of the riders behind me.  I had a solid sprint to the finish and grabbed the 9 spot, happy to be in one piece.  The team went out for dinner and drinks afterward and I spent the night pretty geeked about the day of racing.

Photo Thanks to Velogrrl

Photo Thanks to Velogrrl 

Cobb Park 4/29

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I must really be digging this racing action.  Little habits are changing and forming like spending the evening carb loading for the morning's race.  I even decided to spend the night at my sister's house in the south 'burbs on Saturday night so I would only have a 40 min drive to Kankakee on Sunday allowing me to sleep in for an extra hour.  The only bummer with that was no carpool with the team.  Unlike last week I got to the race early enough to ride the course before the start time.  The criterium was set up great with a long stretch along the Kankakee River and then through side streets of a historic homes district, with some tight 90° turns, a dog leg, and a nice sloping curve that was uber fun.  Besides overdressing for the race I felt great going into the start.  If last week taught me anything it was to stay with the lead right out of the gate so I stuck to it this time too.  The tempo really picked up after lap 7 and one of the tighter turns I tried to pedal through and struck my inside pedal on the pavement.  It was never more evident that I was surrounded by five racers at speed.  The sloping turn became more and more fun with every revolution.  If you found yourself on the inside corner you could really lean into it and pedal out of the turn and gain a ton of ground.  I did this the second to last lap and it shot me to the front five competitors.  It was the key to a nice finish.  With that in mind, I don't know what happened on the last lap 'cause I ended up on the outside and took the turn wide for the final sprint.  As I got on it I saw a top ten finish slipping away and gave out a rebel yell as I pedaled.  I do believe that war cry freaked out some other riders.  In fact teammate Mike H. the only other Half Acre rider in the pack told me so.  Not a big deal for me, you should hear me on the crux of a climb.  I'm nothing but grunts.  No harm no foul it kept me in the top ten at 9th and quite possibly encouraged Mike to get away from me fast.  He came away with 7th.  Two Half Acre riders making up the top ten.  I like the way that looks.

I stuck around for the women's race to cheer on the Half Acre ladies.  They put a great race together and I like cheering.  The race made for some great photos too.