2009 Race the Lake

Team Extreme brought out a about 7 riders for the 2009 version of Race the Lake around Lake Winnebago. The race is a 90 mile pedal smasher which features smooth roads, one touch climb at High Cliff State Park, and rolling hills on the east side of the lake. 5:45 AM was the start time for this beast of a race and the beast definitely claimed some individuals as the race progress. The first 1/3 of the race was extremely fast with an average speed over 30mph, mainly due to the wind being at our back making it easy to hold this pace and keep the heart rate fairly low. There was one monster pileup when riders crossed wheels. I took the route through the ditch in order to keep myself on the bike. Close one but made it through! Once we turned to the east at the north end of the lake everyone had to compete with the wind. There were some tricky cones scattered throughout the race also marking the center lines which everyone repeatedly forgot about; hitting the cones and causing crashes... Idiots! The race really broke up with the wind and the climb at High Cliff State Park separated the elite riders from the rest. I made my first mistake climbing the hill at my own pace; however, I was passing numerous riders but I should have sprinted to hang on to the back of the lead group as they were hammering up the top portion of the hill around 30 mph. Off the back I went and struggled for about 8 miles on my own until a group of 7 caught me. Our group worked well to catch the lead group and I settled in near the back to rest a bit. My second mistake came when I took a bottle of water from one of the support vehicles. The lead group made a surge as I was handing the bottle back and off the back I went again. This time, there was no catching the front group. I lost the front group at about mile 60 and ended up working with 2 others until mile 80. Going into the final 10 miles our group of 3 was caught by another group of 6 riders. I sat on the back resting and taking my turn on the pulls. I was fortunate to have Tom Schuler (former 7-Eleven Pro rider and now coach for Team Type I) in my group. After having a training session with him earlier in the year, I knew who's wheel to follow going into the finish. As we neared the finish I latched onto Tom's wheel as he pushed the pace for the sprint. I jumped off Tom's wheel with 50 meters to go and tipped him at the line. Unfortunately, the timing chip says I was .01 seconds behind him for 35th place. Either way, it was a great race and I sure look forward to it again in 2010. It's a great race and I recommend others to participate next year.

DNF - Mauston Road Race

It was a short race on Saturday, Aug. 15th due to a broken chain on the first major climb of the race. The Mauston race was the second stage in the Polka Dot jersey contest for the Wisport Menzel racing series. To say the least, the broken chain and finally the DNF left no chance to win the jersey in 2009. Fell short in 2008 and now again in 2009. We'll give it a go again in 2010...

Glencoe Grand Prix - First Cat 3 Race

The Glencoe Grand Prix was the site of my cat 3 debut and it was a blast. 50 minutes of hard sprinting in the sweltering heat and humidity. I wasn’t on top form due to lack of sleep (camping in the heat and rain) but I gave the race all I had. Throughout the race I moved all over the field; from the front to the back, to the front and back again. The pace was higher than I expected and we consistently sprinted to the low 30’s out of each corner. The majority of the race was nothing special… just going in circles. With 5 laps to go I moved to the front of the field and stayed there until the beginning of the final lap. A group of 10 or so riders sprinted up the left side of the field and drove the pace into the 30’s. I went from 5^th wheel to the back of the pack in a blink of the eye. I did what I could to hang on but at the high speed the field was moving it was hard to gain any positions. The outside line was the best place to be in the final corner which helped as I was able to pass 4 riders. Then it was up to the sprint and I had nothing left in the tank. Somehow I managed to pass another 2 riders to squeak out 26^th. The entire race was clean with no crashes but a lot of bumping shoulders. Someone once told me that cycling wasn’t a contact sport… Boy, they were dead wrong! I’m happy as can be with the pack finish and now have extra motivation for training rides. Next up is the Mauston Road Race for the Wisport Series on Saturday, Aug. 15th and the 90 mile Race the Lake Road Race on Sunday, Aug. 16th.

Moving Up In The World

After what I call a great season in the Cat 4's I've decided to upgrade to Cat 3. The upgrade request was sent this morning! I've been thinking about it for a couple weeks now but after the Elk Grove race I made up my mind that there's no time better than now. I figure that I will be able to use my experiences that I will get in the upcoming Cat 3 races to give me more motivation to work harder on the bike this coming winter. Whether I get shelled out the back, become pack fodder, or actually finish in the top 10 in these races, all results will be welcomed experiences... as long as I don't lose any skin that is! Can't wait, all I have to do now is find a campground in either northern IL or southern WI so that I can do the Grayslake and Glencoe criteriums this upcoming weekend.

Tour of Elk Grove Criterium

The 2009 running of the Tour of Elk Grove brought out a full field of riders at the start of the Cat 4 race on Saturday. Weather conditions were not the best with a strong west wind and light rain showers persisting throughout the race. The race started as usual with a number of attacks but nothing able to open a gap. The rain started about 3 laps in which immediately caused a number of crashes on the slick cobbled crosswalk at the 180 degree corner. My teammate Jeff G. unfortunately fell prey to these cobbles the first time around but many more followed suit. Later in the race 4 riders go into a break that I thought wouldn't stick because we were only about 15 mintues into the race. I was wrong because the winner of the race couldn't be caught, we were only able to track down 50% of the breakaway. I rode a clean race staying out of trouble until the final lap. At the 180 corner, two riders went down in front of me (story of my season) I came to a complete stop as everyone tried to navigate around the downed riders. I hammered back up to speed and found myself sitting about 20th wheel in the group. On the back stretch I sprinted up to second wheel and held the rider's wheel in front of me until about 200 meters to the finish line. I made my decisive move and went all out into the strong headwind. I was going like hell up the right side to win the field sprint and take 3rd in the race but to my dismay, two riders came screaming to my left and just got their wheels across before me. It was a disappointing set of circumstances to be caught like that right at the line but I was satisfied with my 5th place finish.