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.