Four races have come and gone since the last post and the racing has been going strong. Two weekends ago was the Wheels on Willy criterium which is normally held in Madison, however due to construction the race was moved to a business park in Fitchburg. I carpooled with one of my teammates whom participated in the 3's and 1/2/3's races with me. The wide open course offered up fast racing but because of strong winds, no breakaways were able to be established without being reeled in on the backstretch. In the 3's race I positioned horribly going into the final corner and sprinted from anywhere between 20th to 25th position to finish 6th. The 300 to 400 meter sprint felt great and was my best sprint of the year. The 1/2/3's race was also fast and I worked only to survive. Hanging on I was again able to put in a decent sprint but didn't move up any positions. 26th for a result.
This past weekend offered up two days of racing, the first in Hartland with rainy and wet conditions to being the 3's race. The field stayed together the entire race. Any break attempt was quickly stifled. The race came down to a field sprint, soft of. Approaching the final wide open corner (and I mean WIDE), the first two riders crossed up wheels and hit the pavement slowing the entire field, except for one... the person those two were trying to lead out. It worked for them the wrong way but they got the win. Myself and another competitor sprinted it out for 2nd place in which I was able to muster out the battle by a few bike lengths. I didn't even think about racing the 1/2/3's race due to the weather, which ended up to be a wise choice going into Sunday's race in Sussex.
The Sussex course is located in a business park and has a decent climb up to the start/finish on each lap. The 3's race started as usual with a number of futile attacks by individuals to feel out the field. After two repeated attacks by one team, I saw an opportunity to jump off the front and start a break (make everyone race my type of race). I was boxed in but a wide driveway was coming up on the right. I took the gutter through the driveway and sprint off the front of the field into a strong headwind. By the time I reached turn 4 I had over 100 meters on the field. I put my head down and drilled it solo for one lap and then noticed there were 4 chasers coming up to me. I let up allowing the chasers to catch on and we quickly began working together to further distance ourselves from the field. Each lap we continued to gain time. By the final lap our break was down to 4 and had over 1:40 on the field. At the start of the final lap one guy in the break jumped, none of us reacted and he was off. I was sitting on the front and being given the hook. After pulling half the lap I knew no help was coming so I veered to the right quickly and slammed the brakes. The two went on by and I was able to jump on the back and save some for the finish. I shit hooked the two up the final corner when it was an all out sprint to the finish. I was quite tired and pulled of 3rd. Great result for starting a break solo.
I tried the 1/2/3's race immediately afterward but was completely cooked. I hammered out 1.5 laps and pulled the plug. "That was a waste of 10 bucks!"
Great racing though over the last two weekends. Memorial Day weekend races are upcoming this weekend with Snake Alley (epic) on Saturday and the Quad Cities criterium on Monday. Two fantastic races. If you've never heard of Snake Alley, look it up. (www.snakealleycriterium.com)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Doubling Down
Doubling up the races this year will be the theme for me leading up to the Tour of America's Dairyland coming up in mid to late June. The Matt Wittig Memorial Criterium was help in Muskego Park this last Saturday, on a day that was cool and cloudy but had the sun make an appearance later in the afternoon. I participated in the 3's and 1/2/3's races in which I went into without much of a game plan. That's usually never a good idea when going into a race but this wasn't one of my favorite courses and it hasn't treated me well in the past.
The 3's race started out quickly with numerous attacks coming on the uphill by the start/finish. About half way through two broke off the front that the field hesitated to chase. A lap later, two Team Wisconsin riders set themselves up well to send one off the front while blocking those behind from joining the break. I was one of those unfortunately positioned and all I could do was watch. Before we knew it, that rider had joined the break and we didn't see them until the race was done. So it was down to a field sprint for 4th place. I sat about 15 wheels back going into the final 90 degree corner and allowed those in front to sprint too early. Passing riders as we neared the line, I engaged my sprint just before the final riser to the line and managed to pass 3 additional riders to finish 6th. Hey, 3rd in the fields sprint. I'll take it.
Next up was the 1/2/3's. There was no slowing down in this race until we finished 75 minutes after we started. I just sat in the field the entire race using it as a good training ride. The pace was high and we occasionally had accelerations on every part of the course. No rest for the wicked. I wasn't position well at all for the finishing sprint but as we came through the final corner the two riders in front of me both had nothing left. A gap opened between the leaders and myself and I gave it all I had left to cover. I caught the field just as they launched their sprint. With nothing left I sat up and rolled it across the line. 26th. Good enough for day's work!
This upcoming weekend brings about the opportunity to compete in the Monster's of the Midway in Chicago on Saturday and Wheels on Willy in Madison on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will hold up, but if it rains, there will be no racing! Yes, fair weather racing for me. That's all folks...
The 3's race started out quickly with numerous attacks coming on the uphill by the start/finish. About half way through two broke off the front that the field hesitated to chase. A lap later, two Team Wisconsin riders set themselves up well to send one off the front while blocking those behind from joining the break. I was one of those unfortunately positioned and all I could do was watch. Before we knew it, that rider had joined the break and we didn't see them until the race was done. So it was down to a field sprint for 4th place. I sat about 15 wheels back going into the final 90 degree corner and allowed those in front to sprint too early. Passing riders as we neared the line, I engaged my sprint just before the final riser to the line and managed to pass 3 additional riders to finish 6th. Hey, 3rd in the fields sprint. I'll take it.
Next up was the 1/2/3's. There was no slowing down in this race until we finished 75 minutes after we started. I just sat in the field the entire race using it as a good training ride. The pace was high and we occasionally had accelerations on every part of the course. No rest for the wicked. I wasn't position well at all for the finishing sprint but as we came through the final corner the two riders in front of me both had nothing left. A gap opened between the leaders and myself and I gave it all I had left to cover. I caught the field just as they launched their sprint. With nothing left I sat up and rolled it across the line. 26th. Good enough for day's work!
This upcoming weekend brings about the opportunity to compete in the Monster's of the Midway in Chicago on Saturday and Wheels on Willy in Madison on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will hold up, but if it rains, there will be no racing! Yes, fair weather racing for me. That's all folks...
Friday, May 6, 2011
Living and Riding
The last few weeks have come and gone like the blink of an eye. My baby boy William is growing and changing greatly on a daily basis. We've been getting a lot of great smiles from him which makes every day that much better. William is up to 9 lbs. and gaining!
Spring is finally starting to come around in terms of the temperature and the good amount of rain and recent sunshine is sure making the grass grow. I'm going to have to spend some time riding the lawn mower this weekend rather than turning the cranks on the bike. There's plenty of yard work that needs to be done to clean the yard up from winter including picking up the ridiculous amount of branches that got brought down. At least I have plenty of firewood and kindling which will make for some great evenings by the fire over the course of the spring, summer, and fall.
Training on the bike has picked up again after a short stint away from riding. We went to Ohio over Easter to visit some of Amy's family and then I had to travel to Dallas for work for a few days. All this travel led to a full week off the bike; however, with that bit of a break I feel stronger on the bike than ever this year. I participated in a criterium practice held by one of my good friends and teammate in West Bend this last Tuesday. We had about 12 participate and had a great series of short races. Last weekend I was also able to get in a great 96 mile ride around southeastern Wisconsin joining two rides on Saturday morning and continuing on my own from Holy Hill up to my hometown in Horicon. 5 good hours of time on the bike sure helps with endurance training!
Tomorrow I'll be participating in my first race in almost a month down in Muskego. Hopefully the rain will hold off otherwise I will hold off the racing until next weekend in Chicago and Madison. Additionally, I hope gas prices start to recede a bit to make the travel to some races less costly. A number of races might get cut out of the schedule if the cost to get to the races is more than any of the payouts can cover. At the end of the day though it should be a fantastic year of racing, especially with my newest fan William coming to the races!
Spring is finally starting to come around in terms of the temperature and the good amount of rain and recent sunshine is sure making the grass grow. I'm going to have to spend some time riding the lawn mower this weekend rather than turning the cranks on the bike. There's plenty of yard work that needs to be done to clean the yard up from winter including picking up the ridiculous amount of branches that got brought down. At least I have plenty of firewood and kindling which will make for some great evenings by the fire over the course of the spring, summer, and fall.
Training on the bike has picked up again after a short stint away from riding. We went to Ohio over Easter to visit some of Amy's family and then I had to travel to Dallas for work for a few days. All this travel led to a full week off the bike; however, with that bit of a break I feel stronger on the bike than ever this year. I participated in a criterium practice held by one of my good friends and teammate in West Bend this last Tuesday. We had about 12 participate and had a great series of short races. Last weekend I was also able to get in a great 96 mile ride around southeastern Wisconsin joining two rides on Saturday morning and continuing on my own from Holy Hill up to my hometown in Horicon. 5 good hours of time on the bike sure helps with endurance training!
Tomorrow I'll be participating in my first race in almost a month down in Muskego. Hopefully the rain will hold off otherwise I will hold off the racing until next weekend in Chicago and Madison. Additionally, I hope gas prices start to recede a bit to make the travel to some races less costly. A number of races might get cut out of the schedule if the cost to get to the races is more than any of the payouts can cover. At the end of the day though it should be a fantastic year of racing, especially with my newest fan William coming to the races!
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