Quad Cities Criterium

Rock Island, IL was the venue for the annual Quad Cities Criterium and I must say that this had to be one of the best crit courses I’ve raced on. The course had eight corners and the streets were wide which made for extra-fast cornering and high speeds throughout the race. Rain started to move into the area prior to the cat 4 race but held off until we were finished. It would have been an absolute mess if it rained during the race because each corner had slick cobble-stone crosswalks and man-hole covers littered the course. Being that the rain did hold off we held a 26 mph average pace and pushing steady near 30 the last two laps. I sat in about 20 wheels back the entire race due to the high pace. I knew there would be no chance for me to try a breakaway with those speeds. Two riders did try to make a break about 4 laps into the race. They stayed away for about 6 laps and were quickly chewed up and spit out the back of the peloton. After managing to stay out of trouble throughout the race I moved up to about 15^th wheel on the last lap. I knew I had to make my move on the back stretch before the last 2 corners because the wind was a strong headwind after the 2^nd to last corner. I sprinted right when the front of the group was accelerating to the corner. I managed to pass about 6 riders before the corner and held my line and speed into the last corner. 150 yards was all we had before the finish line after the last corner but I managed to pick off one more rider. I finished 8^th in a field of approximately 45. It was a lot of work for a 4 hour drive each way, but the payout helped…

Blue Mounds Classic

The Blue Mounds Classic road race is known for its hellacious climbs and they were just that. The race was a true suffer-fest. 87 riders took to the start line when we rolled out at 10 AM Saturday morning. The weather turned out to be absolutely great with no clouds in the sky and a light wind. The first three miles of the race was downhill and the pace kicked up quickly. The centerline rule was in full effect and I got boxed in by a number of riders who were not interested in pushing to the front before the climb. Luckily on the right hander before the first climb the field swung wide and I was able to pass about 20 riders before the start of the climb. There were 3 good climbs on each lap of the race which consisted of the downhill start, 2 laps on a 8 mile loop, and the final 5 mile climb back to the top of Brigham County Park. A group of 8 (including myself) broke away on the first climb. Erik Loberg, 3 of his teammates and I worked together to fend off the other three riders and cover any attacks they made. Erik went on a break on the first climb of the second lap. Erik easily stayed away as his teammates and I worked to cover the other rider’s attempts to cover the gap. About half way up the final climb I launched an attack immediately after we covered the previous attack and managed to send three riders off the back. I continued to hammer up the hill but the other three riders behind me sat in. I tried to accelerate again about 200 yards from the finish but was completely gassed. The three went past with about 50 yards to go. I finished 6^th for the day. As always, this was an absolutely awesome race and look forward to next year’s suffer-fest.

Wheels on Willy Race Report

The venue for this week’s race was Capital Square in Madison, WI for the Wheels on Willy criterium. I’ve heard a lot over the course of a year about how this was an epic criterium that had to be ridden. The stage for the race is usually not the capital square however due to construction the race was moved.

Sunday turned out to be absolutely perfect for racing with pleasant temps, light winds and sunny conditions. Team Extreme had 4 riders in the cat 4/5 field including Patrick B., Mike H., Dan M. and myself. I rolled up to the starting grid a little late but managed to sneak to the front line all the way on the inside. This proved not to be a great starting spot as I had to sprint to get in a good spot for the first corner. The race was extremely fast from the start and didn’t slow down. We averaged around 25 mph for the race. I managed to stay mid-pack the majority of the race making sure to stay out of trouble. The corners were fast and you had to sprint out of the corner to maintain contact with the leaders. My legs and lungs were burning especially since it was the third day in a row with hard riding. There were not too many attempts at breakaways due to the high pace.

With about 6 laps to go I moved up through the pack to about the 10^th wheel. I noticed two riders going for a breakaway and I thought I would go and see if we could make it stick. After jumping out from behind a number of riders our three man group managed to pull off the front of the field. We were working together fairly well until with 4 laps to go both riders sat on my wheel not willing to work. I sat up and we were immediately swallowed up by the field. Our lead couldn’t have been more than 50 yards by the time we held up, the pace was just too fast. I managed to stay near the front until the second corner on the last lap. Moving around 28 mph downhill into the corner a rider came to my inside just before the corner and slammed on the breaks as he could not make the turn at such a high speed. He basically bottlenecked the corner and the riders on the inside including me had to slow, allowing the outside riders to cruise on past and sprint up the hill. It was an all out effort for myself to remain in the middle of the pack and sprinted to 20^th. That’s the way crit racing goes. At times you have some good luck and doors open up and other times the door is slammed in your face. We’ll see how the next race goes. Next up = Blue Mounds Classic. Anyone looking for some hills? There will be plenty…

Fast Race and Sketchy Riders

For my first time racing as Muskego, I got to get a taste of the hill that many mention when talking about racing at the county park. The cat 4/5 field started with approximately 40 to 50 riders or so and quickly became a strung-out mess shortly after the start. I didn’t start so well though, I had the worst time clipping in and had to one-leg it up the hill. I felt as though I completely forgot how the clip in pedals worked. Once clipped in, it was balls-to-the-wall to catch the pack and move to the front. I was feeling pretty good about 4 laps in and Mark Howe, one of his teammates and I tried to attempt a breakaway. It ended up to only be an attempt as the downhill on the backside of the course really helped the field stay in contact with us. I remained at the front sitting about 4 wheels back most of the race but wound up in front a number of times after the climb. The race remained at a high pace throughout the 45 minutes as multiple attacks came on the hill. This was the first race that I was in which many of the riders were very sketchy. Most didn’t know how to hold their line through corners and there was one individual who repeatedly cut me off. What goes around, comes around. He got cut off by another rider going into the final corner. The pressure was really turned on the last lap as coming out of the last corner the field became very strung out. I was back about 10-12 wheels and knew I had to start my sprint really early in order to move up. After passing 6 or so riders I wound up in 6th place. Luckily I didn’t drift to the left during my spring or I would have run my teammate Jeramey Werbelow off the road. I had no idea he was there until were about 10 meters from the finish when he came past me. Jeramey had a strong sprint at the end to finish 4th. Once again Team Extreme had riders in the top 10 which means more team points! Next up: Wheels on Willy in Madison...and possibly new kits too! Woot!

Baraboo / La Crosse Race Weekend

The great weekend of racing all began with the weather. Both Saturday and Sunday were sunny and fairly warm however Saturday definitely became a challenge due to the wind. The Baraboo Cat 4/5 race started off with a easy tempo until we hit the first climb. From the base of the climb a number of riders attacked which picked the pace up quickly and the field strung out and quickly broke up. Once our lead group crested the hill we put the hammer down and continued up the gradual uphill to the backside of the course. I sat in as the 5th wheel for the majority of the backside of the race until the second climb. Myself and another rider took off up the hill and continued to press the pace into the long downhill section. We pushed hard into the with at 40+ but were caught at the bottom of the hill as the main group worked together to catch. I remained on the front keeping an easy pace (and held up by the manure spreader) until the first climb on the second lap. David Paquette from the Wheaton team made a massive attack on the climb which no one countered. We left him go for half the lap and began working together to catch. We caught David on the downhill before the second climb in which he launched another attack which split our lead group into 3 smaller groups. I fell off the pace but managed to get some help from another rider who pulled me into the headwind downhill. I worked with that rider to catch a group of 2 riders in front of us and we sprinted into the finish. My legs were dead but managed to sprint to an 8th place finish. This was an absolutely challenging but awesome course. I still need learn not to work so much on the front and plan my attacks out better, but there’s always another race to try something new!

Sunday’s race in La Crosse turned out to be a fast paced pedal masher, however no one knew how to pedal through the corners. Way too often riders would brake hard into the corner and cause near chaos, especially when going into the corner 3 or 4 wide. One of my teammates Jeramey Werbelow was really working on the front to keep the pace high and couldn’t get rest of the front group to continue to hammer through the corners. I noticed that no one else wanted to work hard on the front so I took a flier hoping that the field would let me go. The flier didn’t last long as I unknowingly went at the start of a prime lap. Another rider flew past me and I was able to catch the wheel of Mark Howe (Gear Grinder) and sat in until the sprint for the prime. I took second on the prime lap to earn some bar tape. At least the flier I took wasn’t for nothing! The rest of the race I sat about 10 wheels back. On the last lap Jeramey worked hard to provide for a lead-out. As we hammered into the last corner I hit a nasty bump in the road (man hole cover) and skipped the back wheel out a bit. I unfortunately lost Jeramey’s wheel but managed to crush the pedals and finish just behind Jeramey in 4th place. I couldn’t be happier with the finish as I think I got lucky I didn’t wash out on the final corner and since my legs were hurting pretty good after Saturday’s brutal climbs.

Good job to everyone who raced this weekend, Team Extreme continued to show a strong presence. Let’s dominate again this coming weekend in Muskego. Go Blue Train!