Kenosha Velosport Spring Training Criterium #2, Pleasant Prairie, WI, March 18, 2012

Well, today felt like a step back.

We lucked out yet again with another unseasonably beautiful day for mid-March. Temps were in the low 70s with plenty of sunshine. Plenty of wind to go along with it, too, but I suppose that is a given.

Just like last weekend, I raced both the Masters 30/39 race and the Cat race. My plan for the Masters was just to sit in and get a respectable finish while keeping myself as fresh as possible for a strong finish in the Cat 4.

MASTERS 30/39

The 25-rider field started out a lot mellower than last week, but was surprisingly squirrely for an experienced field. On the 2nd lap a Velocause rider almost took me out when he made a quick move to the right without even looking. I had to swerve to the right, and fortunately my path was clear. But, yeah, I swore a little bit.

At 10 minutes in the attacks started coming fast and hard. I stayed with them, and at about the 26 minute mark I ended up in a 2-man break with a Velocause rider. That lasted a couple laps, and then we got absorbed. Instantly some more attacks came, and at that point I was just hanging on for dear life. At the 32 minute mark I got popped but got absorbed in a group of 6 or 7 other riders. With a few laps to go we caught back on to the field, but just barely. I blew up hard on the last lap and ended up dangling off of the main field. I ended up taking 17th out of 25, and could only hope that I had saved enough in the tank for the 4s race.

CAT 4

After a nice between-race warmup, teammate David Ross and I rolled to the line to find ourselves in a 10-man field. I am not kidding.

Seriously, what is going on? Here it was, an unbelievably warm, sunny day, with good racing a mere hour or so away from Chicagoland, and we had 10 guys show up for a Cat 4 race? Hung over from St. Patrick's Day? Afraid of being involved in a bad crash like last weekend? I don't get it.

But I digress. The official sent us off for our 35-minute race, and two KV riders led us around the course for the first lap. When lap 2 came around I did the gentlemanly thing and moved to the front to take a pull. I led for the entire lap, at which point I moved to the right to let someone else pull through. No one did. So, I figured "what the heck, lets do another one" and led for the entire 3rd lap. As we turned out of the start/finish, I moved to the right yet again. And no one came through. No matter what I did, or how much I slowed, I could not get anyone to pull through. I could almost here the pack say "no thanks, we like you right where you are."

After another lap of this, Dave came to the front and relieved me. Still, I was never further back than 3rd wheel. Eventually a Colavita rider came around, and we spent the better part of the race working together at the front. No one else did a thing until with about 8 minutes to go a Team Plus rider spent a few laps at the front.

With two to go, it was me and Colavita marking each other. We were still in the lead halfway through the last lap. About 3/4 of the way down the backstretch, he jumped. The riders that were just biding their time started streaming past me on the left. I was tapped out. I fought as hard as I could but had nothing. A Pegasus rider came around me shortly before the line, and there I was...the lantern rouge. A top 10 finish feels pretty cheap when you finish DFL in 10th.

Dave had another strong showing, though, taking 2nd, so another great result for him and the team. I'm betting we'll be seeing him in the Cat 3 field before this season is over.

So, it was a disappointing day, but lessons were definitely learned. Family is coming in from out of town, so I won't be able to make it up for the 3rd and final weekend of these races. Up next is the Burnham Super Spring Criterium at the Blackhawk Farms Speedway in South Beloit on March 31. I missed this race last year, since it was just days after our son was born. I'm looking forward to being out there again for the morning Cat 4/5 race and the afternoon Cat 4 race.

Kenosha Velosport Spring Training Criterium #1, Pleasant Prairie, WI, March 11, 2012

At long last the offseason was over and it was time to start turning the pedals in anger. First up, as usual, was the 1st weekend of the Kenosha Velosport training criteriums in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

The weather was unbelievably beautiful as I drove north to race in both the Masters 30/39 race and the Cat 4 race. I had come fully loaded for chilly weather, but in the end all I needed were shorts, a jersey, and arm warmers (and even those I could have done without). Temps were in the mid-60s, with a pretty stiff breeze that was going to hit us after turn 3 and continuing all the way through the start/finish.

MASTERS 30/39

22 guys rolled to the line for the start of the Masters 30/39 race. Given the great weather, I was really surprised at the low turnout. Now, since this was a race based solely on age, it meant that I could be mixing it up with anyone from a Cat 1 on down to a Cat 5. The Velocause team had a big showing in the field, as did Nova IS Corp. I was the only representative of Bicycle Heaven.

The pace was fast right from the whistle. The field instantly splintered into a few groups. There were a couple guys up the road, followed by a few more, and there I was with my heart in my throat trying to catch up to them. Right from the start I heard my brother's voice yelling in encouragement...he was going to be joining me in the Cat 4 field, and had arrived early enough to cheer me on in this race. The first 3 or 4 laps were crazy fast, and I was just hoping to hang on, while also being mindful of conserving my strength for the Cat 4 race.

The race did settle in to a pretty comfortable groove, and I was able to stay with the surges. Unfortunately, we let a 4-man break get away, and they stayed away to the very end. I kept myself comfortably in the peloton, trying to stay out of the wind.

On a side note, the difference between riding in a very experienced Masters field and riding in a Cat 4 field is like night and day. During the course of this 40 minute race, the only sketchy moment for me came when a rider directly in front of me blew a shift and his whole bike stuttered. He kept it upright, and on we went. Later in the race, two guys drifted into each other, but no biggie, neither of them reacted and they went their separate ways.

During the sprint I gave it what I had, but some of those boys were burning some much bigger matches than I have. I'm stuck with those small crappy cardboard matches that you find in a fishbowl at the Holiday Inn, whereas they have those big, long fireplace matches (and don't read anything Freudian into that...let's all be adults here). I eyeballed about 8 guys in front of me. And I was right...the group of 4 stayed away, 8 other guys beat me to the line, and I took 13th out of 22. All in all, not a bad showing and I still felt pretty fresh for the Cat 4 race. In between races, I warmed up with my brother and watched teammate David Ross crush the Cat 5 field in the sprint to take the win. First road win of the season for Bicycle Heaven! The first of many, to be sure...

Cat 4

A slightly bigger field rolled to the line for the 35-minute Cat 4 race...a whopping 25, including my brother (riding for Wheelfast Racing) and the aforementioned David Ross. who was OK'd by ABR to do that Cat 4 race. ABR tends to be more relaxed about the categories, especially for training crits such as this. There was a good mix in the field...some Half Acre, some KV, some Team Mack.

My plan was to sit in and do absolutely no work. I wanted to shake out the legs from my efforts in the last race, and conserve as much energy as possible for the sprint. And right from the start, that plan went out the window. Just like in the last race, there were attacks right from the start. And I worked hard to cover them.

I was feeling good. It was becoming clear that one of the good effects that all of those Computrainer classes had on me was my ability to recover. I could put in a hard effort to stay with a surge, and moments later my HR would be low, I wouldn't be gasping for air, and my legs would feel just fine. And you can tell from looking at some of the photos that have been posted...when I'm suffering, I tend to pull what I call the "Bucky Beaver" face, with my mouth gaping open and my front teeth bared. In the pics that I have seen from this race, I look calm, cool, and collected.

But I digress. As to be expected from a Cat 4 race, this was much sketchier than the Masters. Lots of near misses, contact being made here and there, guys yelling at other guys about how poorly they took a corner, etc. And coming out of Turn 4 the lead riders must have thought that they were in the Tour de France, for many a time we would follow a line that would take us to the right side of the road, but then they would instantly dodge all the way to the left side of the road and the field would snake right along behind them. Uh, guys, it isn't any less windy 10 feet to the left then it is on the right side of the road. Very bizarre, and very unsafe.

I hadn't seen my brother for much of the race, and just as I was wondering whether he was hanging off the back somewhere I heard his chipper voice right behind me, asking how I felt. He, too was feeling good and sitting pretty comfortably in the field.

With just a few laps to go I was still sitting right toward the front of the field, and was feeling great. My downfall came in where I was positioned, not in how my legs responded. When the final surge came along the backstretch, I was boxed in and couldn't escape. And then to make matters worse there was a terrible crash in turn 4. The wheels of a Half Acre rider slid out from under him, and I saw body hit pavement and bike fly into air. I was juuuuust far enough behind that I could hit the brakes (my wheels did briefly skid) and get around him. As I went by, I saw another rider plow directly into him. Not good.

In the end, I wound up taking 8th. A solid finish, but a disappointing one. After his Cat 5 win, David was able to bunny-hop to the grass to avoid the crash and ended up in 10th. Kev took 15th.

I can tell that I have the strength, now I just need to work on positioning. In the final laps I need to make sure that I always have an "out" so that I can escape the surly bonds of the peloton and maybe...just maybe...score myself a podium finish one of these days.

Geneva Grand Prix (Superweek), Geneva, IL, July 9, 2011

Wow, I am long overdue in writing up this report. I can’t really explain or justify the delay, since I did reasonably well in this race…at least, to a point. Do you remember that old Kellogg’s commercial where a bunch of wind-up toys are shown winding down, and Wilt Chamberlain (I think) cautions kids that the same will happen to them if they don’t eat a nutritious breakfast? Well, today I was one of those wind-up toys.

This was one of the early Superweek races, sponsored by none other than Bicycle Heaven. It was a challenging, one-mile technical 8-corner course that featured a very tight right-hand turn coming out of a brief downhill, along with several “kicker” hills along the way.

Since my team was the title sponsor, I did some volunteer work in the morning before my afternoon race. I was at the course early to help set up barricades and put cones in people’s driveways (so they wouldn’t go driving out onto the course). Then I spent some quality time as a corner marshal.

What I saw as a corner marshal wasn’t heartening. I watched the Cat 4 race get blown apart within the first 2 laps. The field absolutely shattered very early on, and it was clear that it would be critical to stay at the front of this race. The riders who could get through the tight downhill & right turn at close to full speed could just drill it while the unfortunate saps at the back would have to hammer to maintain contact.

After my corner marshaling duties were over, I headed to the parking garage to get in a good warm-up in the shade, and then it was go-time. The Masters 35+ 4/5 field had five Bicycle Heaven riders in it, and since we were sponsoring the race we got individual call-ups to the line. I even had a small cheering section…Stephanie brought Ethan over to witness his first bike race, and her parents and sister followed along.

Our field was relatively small, with fewer than 40 riders. We were scheduled for 20 laps, and as soon as the whistle blew we strung out with Bicycle Heaven leading the charge for about the first three laps. Bryan hammered away at the front, and I stayed glued to his wheel. The pace was fast, but I was feeling good. The corner after the downhill was pretty challenging…in addition to the road narrowing down, the pavement was less than stellar. You really had to hold a tight line and hope that no one pushed you into the curb.

I was feeling good for most of the race. The hills weren’t presenting too much of a challenge, and I was able to hold good position. The long start/finish straightaway was a good place to gain any ground that was lost, and I took advantage of this several times. Plus, I received some good motivation from the cheers of my adoring audience. Although I’m pretty sure that Ethan was just looking at the pretty colors.

But, as has happened far too often this season, at some point my body just decided to clam up and shut down. Today, it happened after 13 laps. There was a brief uphill leading into turn 8, and it was here that I found myself going backwards at the end of the 13th lap. I lost contact with the field, and despite a valiant effort to grab onto that last wheel, I ended up by myself for the remainder of the race.

The good news is that I was still able to push hard enough that the field never caught me. I rode out the remaining 7 laps alone, but never suffered the indignity of hearing the pace car lapping at my heels or getting whistled off the course by the officials. And when all was said and done, I took 22nd out of 28 finishers.

So, I didn’t get the results that I wanted, but I finished the day with my dignity (and skin) intact. Lots of racing still left this year…

Cobb Park Criterium, Kankakee, IL, June 18, 2011

After the debacle at last week’s criterium in Galena, I sought to do a little penance at Cobb Park. I had only pre-registered for the 12:00 Masters 30+ 4/5 race, but then I received an email the night before that the 11:10 Women’s 3 race was being replaced by an open Cat 4/5 race. So, I decided to double up and do one race right after the other.

The forecast called for scattered thunderstorms at race time, and as I warmed up on the trainer the clouds thickened and the wind increased. The sun won out, however, and the weather was perfect for racing.

I had raced here two years ago, and at that time we went around the 0.70 mile course counter-clockwise. This year, however, we were doing it clockwise…which I had no problem with, since the two-block long uphill from 2009 now became a two-block long downhill. Two thumbs up to that!

Open 4/5

30 riders rolled to the line for the 30-minute Open 4/5 race. As soon as the whistle blew, one of the Tati women flew off the front. A rider bridged up to her and together they held the field at bay for a few laps as we chased them down. Immediately I knew that this wouldn’t be a repeat of last weekend. I felt relaxed, and my legs were comfortably managing the tempo. I was able to easily maintain my position in front for most of the race, sitting anywhere from 4th to 6th wheel the whole time. It felt great to go bombing through the sweeping right-hand turn into the start/finish straightaway after the long downhill without touching the brakes.

Shortly after the first attack by Team Tati, another of their women launched an attack. She didn’t stay away, but it was clear that the riders in orange had every intention to race aggressively. One prime was called about midway through the race. A few riders got a gap on the field and duked it out for whatever they were giving away, but then let themselves be absorbed back into the peloton after the sprint, rather than seeing if they could keep the gap.

It was a very clean race…from where I sat, at least. Everyone was riding smart, and for the most part we were gruppo compatto. Even the chicane in turn two didn’t cause any drama, and there were no high-speed wipeouts on the fast corner after the downhill.

When the sprint came at the end, I gave it my all and ended up finishing 14th.

Masters 30+ 4/5

After a quick cool-down lap, I had just enough time to pull of my jersey, pin on my new number, suck down some Gatorade and a hit of honey (the poor man’s Gu), and roll back to the line. This time there were 50 of us ready to do battle. I still felt pretty fresh after the last race, so I went into those one with high hopes of being able to pull off a decent finish.

We had to start off with a neutral lap to allow an ambulance onto the course. For once, though, the ambulance was responding to a house call and not to a fallen rider.

After reassembling at the line, we were whistled off for another 30 minutes of aggression. The pace was faster than the last race, and the bigger field meant that we had to negotiate the turns and the chicane anywhere from 2 to 4 riders wide. Being surrounded by greater numbers meant that there was a bit more of the whiplash slowing and accelerating through some of the turns. Whereas in the first race I was able to negotiate the final turn without hitting the brakes, I often had to feather them this time around to make some minor adjustments to my speed.

Also, because of the greater numbers and the more aggressive riding, it was more difficult to maintain my position than it had been during the previous race. However, I was mostly able to keep myself up within the front third of the peloton. If I found myself slipping back, I would use either the start/finish straightaway or the long downhill to zip up the side of the field and back into a more favorable position. I was still feeling good, ad the legs were doing everything that I asked them to do.

I didn’t have the greatest position when the final sprint came. An 11-tooth cog would have been a big help, but sadly I was maxed out on my 12. Still, I was able to outgun a South Chicago Wheelmen rider and snag an 18th place finish.

So, I ended my day with two solid, if unremarkable, finishes. I felt great, and ended up doing six times more racing than I had managed at Galena (60 minutes’ worth as opposed to 10 minutes). South Chicago Wheelmen put on a great day of racing, and I look forward to returning next year.

Tour of Galena Criterium, Galena, IL, June 12, 2011

What could make a person drive almost 5 hours, round-trip, for a 30 minute bike race? For starters, the fact that this particular bike race is in Galena…the quaint mining town that was once home to General Ulysses S. Grant, and where President Lincoln once delivered a speech from the balcony of the DeSoto House. Having grown up about an hour away from Galena, it was the destination for many family trips over the years, as well as my 8th grade class field trip (and don’t ask what year that was, thank you very much).

So it was with much excitement when the Tour of Galena omnium was announced. Although I opted to skip both the time trial (I just don’t do ‘em) and the road race (hills and I don’t get along very well), I really anticipated the chance to race the criterium in the historic downtown area.

In hindsight, I should have stayed a tourist.

The course was, for lack of a better description, an elongated 0.7 mile teardrop, with a bottleneck on the backstretch leading into a really tight hairpin left turn going into the start/finish straightaway. I knew that this would string out field and subject the poor saps at the back to a dramatic caterpillar effect as the guys at the front hammered out of the turn. As I sat at the line with about 25 other riders, I told myself to get to, and stay up at, the front.

However, sometimes there is a disconnect between making the body do what the mind is telling it that it should do. I started off with great position, but let too many guys drift around me in the early stages of lap one. Perhaps I was a bit too tentative on the brick pave to be found in the sweeping left hand turn shortly after leaving the start/finish. Whatever the cause, I soon found myself way to far back. I should have expended some extra energy early on to get back to the front. That is an easy thing to say, but a hard thing to do. Especially when I realized that my legs felt like lead. I had nothing.

Just as I expected, the riders at the front just absolutely drilled it coming out of the hairpin turn. There was a speed display at the start/finish and I noticed during the 2nd lap (when I was still tenuously with the field) that we were zipping through at 27 mph. Every time we came out of that hairpin I had to stand up and mash on the pedals as best as I could to either stay with, or catch back onto, the peloton.

Well, to make a long story short, I found myself off the back at only six minutes into the race. It is very demoralizing to have the rear moto buzz past you as you suck wind. A South Chicago Wheelman rider grabbed on to my wheel, but with as fast as the field was going on such a short-distance course, there was no chance of us being able to work together sufficiently to catch back on. Not the way I was feeling, at least. And, sure enough, as we came around to the start/finish after 10 minutes, there was the friendly official with whistle in mouth to usher us off of the course.

In a fit of pique I grabbed my wheels from the pit and headed back to the car. Although I really should have stuck around and cheered on my teammate Bryan to his 11th place finish (sorry, Bryan!), I couldn’t stomach watching the rest of the race. I changed and wandered over to the Kandy Kitchen, a family favorite over those many years, to pick up some of the best malted milk balls in the world (I swear that the chocolate surrounding the malt ball is half an inch thick).

I thought that I had done everything right. I had done an easy-to-moderate 30 mile ride on Saturday to open the legs up. I hadn’t participated in the grueling road race the day before that many of the others in the field had raced. I got to the course early and got in a good warmup. The temps were mild and the winds were moderate (although you could feel them on that backstretch).

I hadn’t involuntarily DNF’d since Glencoe last August, and it is a horrible feeling. I knew that my training this season would take a back seat to the new addition to our family, and very rightly so. Still, I have been able to put in more miles than I thought that I would, and have been posting up some decent, if unspectacular, results. Which makes it that much harder to get pulled from a race. For some insane reason, the official race results show me finishing in 25th place. But I know better. I “finished” mo more than Mozart finished his Requiem, or Gilbert Stuart his portrait of George Washington.

Hopefully I can redeem myself at Cobb Park next weekend. Stay tuned…

Monsters of the Midway Criterium, Chicago, IL, May 14, 2011

I have been a little slow in getting this race report posted. The race was, after all, over a week ago. Why the delay, you ask? Well, because the race sucked. And I really have nothing deep about which to write. But if for no other reason than to have a comprehensive record of my season, here’s how it went down…

Why did it suck? For starters, it felt more like late March than mid-May. Skies were cloudy, temps were in the high 40s, and the wind was blustery. I had carpooled into the city with my brother Kev, and while warming up on the trainers we wondered aloud many a time as to why we were putting ourselves through this. Kev has his own reasons for mistrusting this race, having walked away from it two years ago with seven stitches in his upper lip.

As I pedaled away on the trainer, going nowhere, my lungs just didn’t feel all that good. Was it the weather? Was it something in the air? I tried to put it out of my mind, knowing full well that how I feel during a warmup often has no bearing on how I feel during the race.

63 riders had registered for the race, but only 52 rolled to the line. Bryan and Don were with me representing Bicycle Heaven. Kev was the sole Wheelfast rider. As to be expected, there were lots of xXx, Beverly Bike, Spidermonkey, and Rhythm Racing. We took off into the wind for 30 minutes of suffering.

The race was fast from start, as we drilled it down the long straightaways, trying to avoid the brutal cross wind. I just hung out at the back, not able to do anything to improve my lot in life. I would try to move up here and there, but my legs and lungs just weren’t doing what I needed them to be doing, and I never got up to where I wanted to be.

Having been in the “laughing group” at the back of the peloton the whole time I really can’t address what tactics were going on at the front. A couple of prime laps were called here and there. About 3 or 4 laps in I thought that we might slow down and relax for a few laps, but no dice. The front of the field kept hammering away and I just hung on for dear life. Poor Kev got popped and was pulled about 15 minutes in. He did cheer very loudly for me every time I came by, though.

One positive aspect of the race, though, is that for once there were no crashes. In stark contrast to years past, everyone was racing smart and safely. One unattached rider almost went down solo coming out of a turn…I don’t know if he had scraped a pedal or had come unclipped, but to his credit he kept it upright and no one plowed into him.

Sadly, with a mere two laps to go, my hopes of just clinging on for a pack finish were shattered. About halfway through the lap my body firmly said “nope” and the next thing I knew I was spit out the back. The crosswinds were so bad that as soon as you lost the protection of the peloton, you could kiss it goodbye forever. So, with Kev still yelling his encouragements I rode out the remainder of the race alone, finishing about half of a lap down from the field. Which meant that I missed seeing Bryan take 4th in the sprint.

I ended up being placed 29th. The officials “placed” the riders 50 deep, although not all of them finished (as Kev, in 47th, can attest). I also know that I wasn’t DFL out of the “true” finishers, since there were apparently a few groups behind me.

So, it was a disappointing day but there is still a lot of racing to be done. Now that the ABD Wednesday Night Crits at the Pelladrome have started back up, I’ll be hitting as many of those as possible. And I just registered today for the Tour of Galena criterium on Sunday, June 12. Stay posted…

Ronald Reagan Criterium, Dixon, IL, May 7, 2011

The 3rd annual edition of the Ronald Reagan Criterium marked the first time that I had participated in this race. A large part of my prior avoidance of this race was the fact that I knew it had some hills to it. Despite 4 years of training and racing in the Bay Area of California, Stephen and hills (at least at race speeds) simply don’t mix. But after sissying out on the Leland Kermesse, I had some penance to do. So, with a spiffy, newly-redesigned team kit in hand I headed over to Dixon.

The forecast had called for showers and moderate winds at race time, but fortunately the precipitation never materialized. Also, we were relatively well sheltered from the wind in downtown Dixon. Temps were pretty warm, so for the first time this season I rode sans arm and/or leg warmers.

The course was a figure-8 around the downtown area. After making a few right-hand turns we would be faced with a 2-block grinding uphill, with a couple of other, shorter “kicker” inclines before coming around to the start/finish again.

I can honestly say that this was the first race I have been in at which the field was treated to a history lesson at the line. The announcer went on for several minutes about the life story of our 40th president before we received final instructions and were whistled off by the official.

So, with Accept’s “Balls to the Wall” bouncing around in my head (very un-Reaganesque, I might say), I rolled off of the line with 34 other riders for the Masters 30+ 4/5 race. I was the only Bicycle Heaven representative in the field, along with a good showing from Psimet, xXx, Half Acre, Flatlandia, and others.

I was surprised to find myself feeling pretty good the first time going up the hill…and the next time, and the next. I worked really hard to shut the pessimistic “yeah, but just wait until the next time…or the 10th time” thoughts out of my head. As for the rest of the course, there were some rough areas of pavement, but for the most part the corners were wide open and everyone rode pretty safely. There was not (to my knowledge, at least) a single crash in the race. I didn’t even witness any near-misses.

After only 3 or 4 laps of “counting up the time,” the officials started counting down the laps. The first announcement that I remember was “13 to go!” I started using a mental trick that I picked up from my teammate Bryan on a recent training ride of sprint repeats up Johnson’s Mound. As we approached each climb, he had announced “only 4 more times after this one” as opposed to “5 more to go.” Knocking off one number, mentally, actually made a big difference.

The hill continued to feel good, and to my great surprise I was often able to gain position during the course of those two blocks. It was too bad, then, that I would lose any gains on the downhill and on some of the turns. I am well aware that one of my shortcomings is that I am reticent to bomb through corners at full speed, which means that I tend to scrub off bits of speed, which then results in loss of position.

I don’t recall any attacks going off the front, and if they did they didn’t stay away. From my position at the back of the field, it appears that we rode gruppo compatto the whole time. Going up the hill with 2 laps to go, I moved up the left side and got myself into the front third of the peloton. Of course, I failed to hold this position, and as we came around for the bell lap I was too far back again. The last time up the hill still felt relatively OK, but I wasn’t able to gain as much position as I would have liked. And then, after turning into the downhill the big surge started and the rubber band finally snapped. I started to fall back through the field, and in the end I finished dangling by myself, coming across the line about 10 seconds after the pack. I took 20th out of 25 finishers, so I was quite happy to find out that I had not been the lantern rouge.

All told, it was a great day for Bicycle Heaven. Justin took 4th in the 3/4 race, Jim took 13th in the Cat 5 race, and Adam took two primes in a row in the Masters 30+ 1/2/3 race before Patrick took the win with a throw of his bike (before going on to take 5th in the Pro 1/2/3 race). Next weekend is the Monsters of the Midway Criterium at the Midway Plaisance of the University of Chicago. Let’s hope that there will be fewer crashes than in years past…

Sherman Park Criterium, Chicago, IL, April 9, 2011

The 2009 and 2010 editions of this race had featured pouring rain but relatively few crashes. Unfortunately, 2011 saw the reverse…the weather was dry as a bone, but a new crash occurred every few minutes.

This race had previously been held in June, but this year it was bumped up by two months to accommodate a new racing series in Galena. As a result, the City of Chicago had apparently not had a chance to clear up and patch the road circling Sherman Park. The course was nothing but rough pavement and potholes. Untold numbers of cans of orange spray paint gave their lives to mark the rough spots.

I raced Masters 30+ Cat 4/5, and this was my 2nd race riding for Bicycle Heaven. Joining me at the line were Bryan and Scott. Mike had crashed hard in the Cat 4 race and left by ambulance. Best wishes go to him for a speedy recovery. A total of 76 riders rolled to the line for 35 minutes of racing. My brother, and former Wheelfast Racing teammate, had been waitlisted and ended up cheering for me from the sidelines.

The whistle blew and we flew off the line. 1/3 of the way through the first lap and I heard someone by me yell out “you’re flat!” I didn’t know who he was referring to, even though I had just ridden over a very rough patch of road. Within a few seconds, though, I started getting “that feeling.” I looked down and saw my rear tire mushroomed out. Great…a puncture on the very first lap. I threw up my arm and let the pack ride by me. As I gingerly rode back to the pit a corner marshal thought I had already been shelled off the back and shouted an encouraging “get up there!” I smiled and shouted back “I’m flat!”

I rolled to the start/finish, grabbed my spare rear wheel, and the helpful folks in the pit tossed it on for me. I clipped in and waited for the official to announce “the pack is coming…start rolling and merge in.” I inserted myself into the right side of the field and joined up with Bryan.

From that point forward, it was nothing more than a fight for survival. Over the course of the race there were at least four crashes. Only one of them occurred right in front of me, but fortunately the fallen riders were parting to the left and the right like the Red Sea and I was able to ride through the middle and sprint back up to the field. I found out after the race that Scott had been crashed early on but was able to rejoin the field, and that Bryan had to ride off into the grass after getting caught behind a crash.

Early on, after one of the first crashes, a xXx rider came tearing up the left side of the field, just past the start/finish, swearing like…well, much like I do during crashes or near-miss situations. I don’t know if he had been involved in the crash or was just venting at the general squirrelyness of the field. Either way, his displeasure was apparent.

Overall, I was feeling good, but I found myself tensing up just waiting for the next crash to happen. Despite the pre-race instructions to just ride straight over the rough patches instead of swerving to avoid them, I think that a lot of the wrecks were due to people disregarding that very advice and making very nervous, twitchy moves without looking.

As with previous years, I had problems keeping position on this course. It is so flat, wide, and oval that the pack is almost always five or six riders across. It is very easy to get boxed in for extended periods of time, and very difficult to extricate yourself from the masses.

At about 17 minutes in I was starting to feel a little tired. It wasn’t the “oh my god I’m about to blow up” kind of tired, but just a general sense of fatigue. I just tried to relax, grab a drink, and try to stay as fresh as possible for the finish.

With 5 laps to go I knew that I needed to move up. I was sitting midfield, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be. I was able to escape up the side and make my way closer to the front. And that is about the time when the “Red Sea” crash occurred. The front of the field accelerated like mad at the first sound of scraping metal, and I had to expend a bit more energy than I wished to catch up with them.

With one lap to go I found myself boxed in along the left side of the peloton. I could see Bryan up at the front and I wanted to get up there with him. Unfortunately, I was unable to escape and had to settle for a pack finish, but glad that I was still upright and with all of my skin intact. However, as I came across the line I heard the announcer say “and that was Bryan Fuller!” For the win! Scott had also been in great position with a few turns to go until a xXx rider swept across his front without looking, almost taking out his wheel.

My official placing was 20th, which was better than last year (38th) but worse than my 8th place finish in 2009. Of the 76 riders that started, only 48 finished. Quite the attrition rate, and my guess is that a lot of it was due to the crashes (as opposed to riders just getting shelled off and pulled by the officials as "out of contention").

Next up…the hell that is the Flatlandia Kermesse.

Sherman Park Criterium, Chicago, IL, June 12, 2010

The 2009 edition of the Sherman Park Criterium was marked by pouring rain, resulting in 40 minutes of eating road grime and furiously blinking the grit out of my eyes. Notwithstanding, I had been able to score an 8^th place finish. With only “scattered thunderstorms” in the forecast this year, I was hoping to avoid a repeat of the weather and to improve on last year’s finish. I had felt good at the Wednesday night crits this week, so I was feeling optimistic.

Kev and I carpooled into the city, and at registration I was presented with bib number 911. Kev joked that hopefully they wouldn't have to call 911 for me today. That goes without saying! After some confusion over Kev’s bib number got straightened out, we set up the trainers and got in a good warmup. With about 15 minutes to race time we headed over to the course. I was stopped by one of the registration guys asking “are you Butler?” They had screwed up mynumber, too. I was unpinned and given number 912.

Although the skies were overcast and it was very humid, there hadn’t been so much as a hint of rain. Until, that is, we headed out onto the course for our warmup lap. A few small plinks of rain splattered here and there, but nothing too worrisome. Then the wind picked up. And as we rounded turn four, the skies opened up and it poured. Great…2009 revisited.

The officials pulled us from the line, and everyone took shelter wherever they would. We were called back to the line about 10 minutes later. The organizers had shortened the Masters 30+ 4/5 race this year to only 30 minutes, which now I was thankful for.

About 60 riders rolled to the line. As would be expected, there were a lot of xXx guys, plus random pockets of South Chicago Wheelmen and Beverly Bike. Bryan was the only Bicycle Heaven rider, and the Psimet guys were totally AWOL, as was WDT. We were informed that there would be five prime laps, for a shirt, Clif bars, gift certificates, and cash.

The pace from the get-go was fast, but manageable. I spent the first few laps toward the back, getting into a rhythm and avoiding the potholes. Still, on the backstretch of the 2^nd lap I hit one of said potholes squarely in the center. I got a good jolt and prayed that I hadn’t flatted. Fortunately, the Tire Gods were smiling on me today and I remained fully pressurized.

Four laps into the race and I was tired of being at the back. I made my move up the right side of the field as we barreled through the Start/Finish and inserted myself into the front 10 riders. On the whole, this was a race of me gaining position and losing position. With no hard corners, the pack pretty much rode 4-5 riders across the whole time and we never strung out. I found that this made it difficult to escape the pack and gain any ground. This was unfortunate, because my legs were feeling strong, my lungs were clear, and my heart rate stayed pretty low. Not once did I ever feel like I was red-lining. Had I been able to get and keep good position, maybe I could have made something happen at the end.

Despite the conditions, it was a very clean race. I felt someone brush up against me once, and one time I moved slightly to the right and made a little contact with another rider. It was my fault and I apologized several times. No harm, no foul, and everyone kept going on our merry way.

Towards the end of the race I found myself way too far back again. Kev came up on my right side and announced his presence. I told him “I’m nowhere close to where I want to be.” I was boxed in, however, and there was no good way to escape. I had done a poor job of watching the lap counters and still thought we had several laps in which I could try to improve my position. As we zipped by the Start/Finish, I was surprised to see the lap cards set at “1.” I thought to myself “holy cow, this thing is almost over!” I was still boxed in with nowhere to go. I kept scanning for any opportunity to move up, but no openings presented themselves. I resigned myself to just staying upright and riding this one out.

In the end, I took 38^th out of 53 finishers. Another mediocre finish, which has been all too representative of this season. Still, it was a lot of fun, and it was great to have Kev riding strong in the field with me.

National Championships, Downers Grove, IL, August 15, 2009

A disappointing day.

The National Championship Criterium in Downers Grove is the high-water mark of the year for many cyclists. Everyone's seasons lead up to this very day. Having had an entire summer of unemployment to do nothing but train and race, I had high hopes for this day. Kev, Chris Hammer and I had registered for the Master's 35+ 4/5 race. Unfortunately, Chris got nailed with a bad case of pneumonia (necessitating an overnight stay in the hospital. So, just Kev and I rolled to the line with 73 other cyclists for 30 minutes plus one lap of racing.

The pace from the whistle was hot. However, the legs and lungs felt good. Having started with really bad field position, I was moving slowly up through the pack.

Disaster struck on Lap 3. Making the turn from Lane onto Summit (lovingly known, at least in the past, as "Mt. Fresca"), I found myself coming upon riders down in the road. I was far enough behind the carnage that I could scrub almost all speed...but not far enough to be able to avoid running right into it. I rode over the wheel of an ABD rider, lost all momentum, and tipped over right on top of him. I broke my fall by putting my left hand squarely onto his hip. I jumped right up, realizing that there was no damage to either my bike or my body. I hopped on the bike and accelerated like mad to catch onto the field.

This, however, was not to be. In hindsight, I should have tried to take a free lap. However, the officials can be merciless if there is no damage to the bike that requires fixing. You don't get a free lap simply by having been caught up in a crash.

I caught up to Kev, announcing "I'm on your wheel, Chief." We worked together for a bit, but at some point I rode him off of my wheel. The rest of the race was spent with a group of about 8 other riders (a diverse group including Bicycle Heaven, Half Acre, SCW, Tower, etc.). I can't say we exactly "worked together" as much as we just hung on for dear life. A spectator at the top of Mt. Fresca would announce our distance off of the main field. We heard anywhere from 24 to 30+ seconds. We had actually started to close the gap a bit when a prime lap was called. That put an end to any hopes we would have.

So, in the end we hung on to the finish. My official result was 46th out of 50 finishers. Disappointing, but at least I wasn't one of the 25 who didn't finish. And at least I suffered no injury in my minor crash. Like Cubs fans always say..."wait 'til next year!"

Superweek Arlington Heights Criterium, Arlington Heights, IL, July 14, 2009

Picture, if you will, one of those wipe-board signs sometimes seen in the workplace that says something like “Accident Free Since 2006” or “472 Days Since a Work-Related Injury.” Now picture one of them that says “Crash Free Since September 2004.” Lastly, picture Stephen slowly and sadly erasing “September 2004.”

As Sam Elliott once said in The Big Lebowski, “sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes…well, it eats you.” Today, I got eaten.

The course was a technical, mile-long, 8-corner course…a rough “figure 8” where the top half of the “8” stretched out for two long blocks, and the bottom half was a small square around a park. The weather was sunny and warm with a pretty stiff breeze going south for those long blocks after Turn 2.

Kev, Chris and I rolled to the line with about 40 other riders to do battle for 22 laps. Even after my hard effort yesterday, I felt good during my warm-up and was confident that I could post a good result today. However, it became clear after the start that today was going to be a struggle. The field almost instantly strung out, and the pace was hot…close to 30 mph. I was pretty far back in the pack, and was subject to the whiplash braking and accelerating through all eight of those turns.

The worst part for me was the acceleration out of Turn 8 and onto the long Start/Finish straightaway. The strung-out riders at the front could take that turn at full speed and mercilessly hit the gas, while we bunched-up riders at the back lost a lot of momentum in the turn and had to accelerate extra hard to maintain contact with the front riders. A few laps in and my legs were already screaming on that particular segment. I fought to maintain position, and moved up if I could. I did my best to hang onto Chris’s wheel, as he appeared to be riding strongly.

About 7 laps in and I was already starting that fatalistic “am I gonna be able to finish this thing” kind of thinking. Chris asked how I was doing, and I let him know that coming out of Turn 8 was killing me. He advised that I take the turn in a lower gear, spin through it, and then shift to a higher gear after we're already out of the turn, rather than pushing the high gear through the turn. I take this advice to heart for the next few laps.

I recall coming around to the Start/Finish and seeing that there were 12 laps to go. I think to myself “OK, almost halfway there, you can do this…” And then came Turn 8.


We were strung out, so I didn’t have to brake because of anyone in front of me braking. I remember pedaling through the turn to maintain as much momentum as possible. I was upright one moment...and then the next moment I was sliding across the pavement on my left hip and elbow. I saw Chris hitting the pavement in front of me. I remember apologizing to Chris for taking him down, as I was still sliding across the pavement. And, sure, there was probably some profanity in there, as well. I also remember mentally bracing for the impact of other riders hitting me, but fortunately that didn’t happen…I had slid out far enough to the right that anyone behind me could steer to the left and avoid running into me.

Fortunately, Chris only sustained some road rash on his elbow, and no damage to his bike. He was able to make it over to neutral support and get back in the race, where he finished with the field. As for me, my day was done.


Other than my front wheel getting popped off during the crash, and having both of my brake levers turned inward into the bars and getting scratched up, there was no real damage to my bike, either. My body…that is another story. The emergency crew was on me within seconds, checking me out and making sure that I wasn’t seriously injured. I was a bit shaky (that adrenaline was still pumping like mad!), but was pretty sure that my injuries were merely superficial.



I walked over to the support truck, where two EMTs checked me out, cleaned my wounds, and bandaged me up. I sustained some good road rash on my left elbow, the outside of my left knee, almost all the way down my left shin, my left hip, and some “road burn” behind my right knee. I count myself very lucky that there was nothing broken, nothing sprained, and that no stitches were needed anywhere. My shoulder is a little sore right now, and once the Advil wears off I’m sure I’ll be hurting elsewhere, too.


So, the million dollar question was “how did it happen?” It occurred so quickly that I couldn’t tell whether I had been bumped by another rider, or whether I went in so fast that my wheels just went out from underneath me. Turns out, it was neither…in the turn was a rough bit of pavement that formed a “lip.” I hit that undulation in just the right spot, which bounced my wheel as I was leaning into the turn at about a 30-40 degree angle, and thus ended my day.

The worst part (other than having crashed my own teammate) was finding out that there had already been several crashes in that exact same spot. In fact, Kev and I were speaking with a police officer afterward and she stated that she had pointed out that very spot to the race organizers and requested that they paint it with bright orange caution paint. The painting of such spots is de rigeur for our sport, so that we can quickly identify problem areas and stay away from them. However, when she pointed this out to them, they pooh-poohed it, saying “oh, that won’t be a problem!”

So now I begin the process of healing. As the Black Night said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “it’s just a flesh wound...’tis but a scratch.” I’m really wishing now that I hadn’t pre-registered to race tomorrow. We’ll see how I’m feeling, and how the weather holds out. Storms are predicted, so if I wake up and it is raining, I’m just going to go back to sleep and eat the entry fee.

STATS: I have none, because my Garmin apparently crapped out in the crash. All I know is that I got in about 11 miles of racing, and that we were often going at close to 30 mph. I would be curious to know what my heart rate was doing, but c’est la vie…

Superweek Richton Park Criterium, Richton Park, IL, July 13, 2009

Today was the second of four Superweek races that I had registered for. The weather was sunny and warm, with light winds. Joined by WheelFast Racing teammates Kev and Chris, we were scheduled to race for 25 miles around a 0.7 mile course in a residential area around Pierce Park. The course was a rough oval raced counter-clockwise, with three 90-degree turns and one sweeping turn. The pavement was mostly good, but with some cracks and patched areas.

With today being a weekday, the field was a little smaller than Saturday’s race…only about 40 riders rolled to the line. Again, there was a huge presence from Beverly Bikes/Vee-Pak, and decent showings from South Chicago Wheelmen, xXx, and WDT/Allvoi.

The lap counter showed that we would be doing 30 laps, so it was apparent that our race had been shortened from 25 miles to about 21. I really didn’t mind. Again, my goal was to sit in near, but not at, the front. I wanted to conserve energy, yet not be subject to the constant slowing and acceleration that plagues the back of the field.

The pace started off relatively mellow, but quickly accelerated to about 27 mph when two riders took a flyer off the front. Come on, guys…first lap? Really? They were quickly reeled back in, but the pace still stayed pretty high. Because the course was shorter than Saturday, and because we didn’t have long, six-block straightaways, we didn’t quite accelerate up to the speeds that we were hitting on Saturday.

About 10 laps in, a group of 5or 6 riders escaped and got a solid lead on the field. All the major teams were represented in the break, so this was a serious threat. A chase group took off to reel them in, and Chris was a part of this group. I saw him move up the right side to join the pursuit, and although the legs felt good enough to join the chase, I was completely boxed in and couldn’t grab his wheel. They slowly closed the gap, and eventually the rest of the peloton caught on and we were gruppo compatto once again.

Now that we were all together, I took this as an opportunity to gain some ground. I moved up toward the front of the field, and when the lead rider pulled off I found myself alone at the front. As we came by the Start/Finish with 15 laps to go, I was hoping to hear my name called out by the announcer (hey, I’ll take my moments of glory whenever I can get them). No such luck. I led the entire lap, despite having slowed down the pace a bit (into the low 20s) and moving toward the right side of the road after what I felt had been a decent pull. It seemed that the field was happy to let me hang out and expend more energy than I really cared to be expending at the time.

So I was still at the very front as we came around with 14 laps to go. Again, I hoped for some shout-out love from the announcer to make my effort somewhat worthwhile, but the guy was pretty tight-lipped. I led the field around for another whole lap before a Tower Racing rider jumped in front. Thinking he might be making a break that I might like to be a part of, I instantly jumped onto his wheel. But no breakaways here…he just rode tempo. Soon more riders surged around me and I let myself be swallowed up by the protection of the peloton.

With about 10 laps to go, I drifted back to Hammer, and he let me know that we were now at the back of the field. Huh? I didn’t see all that many riders in front of us…we must have shelled off a good number of riders. Unfortunately, by this point I knew that Kev was one of those popped riders. We lapped him, but he did manage to finish.

As soon as Chris let me know of our rearward positioning, I started to move up. Right in the middle of the next turn, however, my day nearly ended. A couple of South Chicago riders, and perhaps some xXx riders (Chris recalled seeing a few white jerseys) went down right in front of me. But for mere inches, I too would have been taken down. However, I hit the brakes just right (not too hard, not too soft), and my rear wheel bounced about two feet to the right. Not only did this keep me from stacking into the carnage, but it also positioned me facing perfectly down the street. I hit the gas and managed to catch onto the inevitable post-crash surge. Chris, too, managed to avoid the wreckage, and on we went.

Coming through the Start/Finish right after the crash, I started to get the sensation that my rear tire was either going flat, or that I had loosened up my rear wheel with my rightward bounce. We were still within the time allowed for neutral support, so I could have gotten a fresh wheel and been shoved back into the field. However, that can really screw up your momentum, and isn’t the ideal situation. So I made a few quick glances downward, and determined that a) my rear skewer was still firmly in place and b) my rear tire still seemed to be fully gassed. I shook it off and rode on. It turns out that it was just some rough, undulating pavement…Chris had encountered the same sensation in just about the exact same place.

The next few laps passed by without too much incident. Some of the corners were dicier than they should have been, and there was a fair amount of (mostly unjustified) yelling in the pack as to who was not holding their line. I managed to keep my position near the front of the field the whole time, and was happy that my legs hadn’t been fried by my two laps at the front. I hoped that my legs, lungs, and heart would all still be cooperating when we hit the last lap.

And how was that last lap? Shortly after we passed the Start/Finish, an ABD rider took a vicious flyer off the front. The field cranked up the speed to reel him in, and fortunately I still had enough gas in the tank to maintain my position. So, sitting in about 10th position, we negotiated the final turn and sprinted for the line.

I maxed out at almost 32 mph in the sprint, and managed to mostly hold position. Through squinted eyes and clenched teeth I eyeballed about 10 riders in front of me. I could see Chris moving up the right side of the field, but was more concerned about staying in front of the rider immediately to my right.

Prize money for this race went to the top 12 finishers. As I hit the line, I knew that I would be either just in the money, or just out of it. And I was spot-on correct…but on the “just out” side. I took 13th, but since it was Chris who took that 12th spot (netting a check for $20), I didn’t mind at all. I was just happy that, despite leading into the wind for way too long, I improved upon Saturday’s result by four spots…so if I can repeat that feat tomorrow, I’ll be in the top 10!

STATS:
Race time: 53:49
Distance: 21.47 miles
Average pace: 2:30/mile
Average speed: 23.9 mph
Max speed: 31.9 mph
Average HR: 172 bpm
Max HR: 186 bpm