Tour of America's Dairyland - Recap

The Tour of America’s Dairyland consisted of 10 races in 11 days. The Tour was professionally organized and run like clockwork. All races were on time without any exception. Huge props to the organizers on hosting such a spectacular Tour.

The Tour began with a grueling race in Blue Mounds, WI. This first race was pure pain for 44 miles with over 4,400 feet of climbing. There are not too many places in WI that you can find such a monster climb and set up a race that challenges every level of racer. The cat 4/5 race was fast from the start and really got crazy once we hit the climbs on Pinnacle Rd. and Blue Mounds Park Rd. I felt good the first lap and managed to hang in 5^th place, working with another rider as the break group got split up. With 15 miles to go I started to cramp which really slowed down the pace and I felt as though I was dragging an anchor. The final climb was nothing but hell all the way to the line in Blue Mounds Park, but at the same time it was absolutely awesome knowing I finished the race in 6^th place.

Friday brought on the Waterloo Criterium which was a 1.6 mile loop that included a slight hill near the end before a bit of technical cornering. The pace was high from the start and was increased with the generous primes offered throughout the race. With one lap to go two riders tangled bars and both went down causing a large crash. I kept to the outside of the mess and was able to enter the sprint at second wheel. I was really feeling the previous race and didn’t have much of a sprint left but smashed the pedals to finish in 6^th place for the second day in a row.

Saturday was the Giro d Grafton. This race is known to be fast and includes 6 corners and two minor uphill stretches. This race was nothing but fast and sketchy. About 5 laps into the race a crash occurred behind me that split the field for a lap or two. With two laps to go the pace was driven higher by the ISCorp team. On the last lap, ISCorp took over the roads and made the race extremely dangerous. There’s a difference between riding aggressively and dangerously, and they only rode dangerously. This was so bad that one of their teammates dumped it in the last corner almost taking out one of their teammates. It wasn’t worth trying to pass the last two corners so I sat up and finished 18^th. Good race and happy to have kept both wheels on the pavement.

Sunday brought the Tour to Manitowoc, WI. This criterium was held on a wide open 4 corner course. Between two teammates and I, a plan was developed the night before to attack together with 8 laps to go in the race. We executed on making the break but it didn’t go as planned. I started the attack and one of my teammates followed up with a giant pull on the backside of the course. After his pull, I was expecting another teammate but was surprised to see a rider from the Wheaton team who took a small pull and put me back on front. I was hung out to dry at this point and my legs were burnt out. We sat up and the peloton quickly swallowed us up. The last lap was ridiculously fast but I managed to maintain contact with the leaders. Sprinting the whole front stretch I was able to pull off a 9^th place finish. Not too bad for the fourth straight day of racing.

Monday was a day of rest. Thank goodness for that!

Tuesday was hot, very hot and very sticky. Everyone knew they had to be well hydrated the whole race and pick up bottles each lap in the feed zone. There were a few break attempts however none were able to get more than a 20 meter gap before they were reeled in. Like clockwork when we hit the feed zone, someone attempted an attack. My first attempt for a bottle wasn’t pretty… at 30+mph it was hard to hang onto the bottle. I managed to hang on but the impact of my hand grabbing the bottle blew the top off and there I was trying to drink as much as possible without a top. My attempt for a bottle on the next lap went okay as the bottle did not explode but I did lose my handle on the bottle, kicking it between my feet each pedal stroke. I nervously jammed the bottle in the holder sideways to make sure I did not lose another bottle. On the last lap of the ten mile loop one rider took a massive attack, gutsy but he had to know he wouldn’t be able to stay away. The peloton quickly caught him and ramped up the pace into the final corner. A hole opened in the field and I was able to move up to 5^th wheel. After the final corner I sprinted up the hill and over the crest and finished a half a bike length out of 1^st place. 2^nd place and the best finish so far on the hottest day of the Tour. Can’t complain and very happy. Too bad 1^st and 3^rd places never showed up for the podium. No podium pics for me. Maybe next time!

Wednesday brought about another hot and muggy day to the Fond du Lac criterium which was held downtown. This was a very interesting race being that I moved around through the field quite a bit and did a bit of work on the front. With 8 or so laps to go, Mark Norton went on a flier up the right side of the back stretch. I was marking every move he made so I bolted out of the field on the left side. By the time we reached the front stretch we opened a decent gap and I told Mark there was no looking back, we had to try to make the break stick. Throughout the race the peloton was breaking through each corner. Knowing this Mark and I blasted through the corners and opened up an huge gap on the field. Mark hung out on my wheel and didn’t do a whole lot of work but I was in no position to let up because I would have been devastated if we got caught. Through the final corner Mark came off my wheel and beat me across the line. 2^nd place for the day and I was happier than a kid in a candy store because it was the first time I saw a break in the 4/5’s work, and I got to be part of it. Awesome day!

Thursday brought us to the city of Sheboygan for a critierum that I was sure would eat some skin due to the last corner. The course had 3 wide open corners and a tight finishing corner that really made for some interesting racing the last few laps. I hung out mid-pack the whole race and didn’t do an ounce of work. A break got away mid-race and held to about 3 laps to go. On the last lap I moved up positions and was looking back to see if anyone was making a move. Coming up the right side of the back stretch I saw Patrick glued to a wheel that was blasting up. I jumped across the road onto Patrick’s wheel as we made the final turn with ease. The rider pulling us through was spent and Patrick opened up a monstrous sprint that he took all the way to the line. At the time we crossed the line we thought Patrick had the win but unbeknownst to us Anthony Phillips broke out of the breakaway and took the win by a huge margin. Huge props to Patrick on the 2^nd place. I finished 4^th on the day.

Going into Friday’s race at Greenbush I was 10 points down on the leader and knew I had to bury myself to close the gap. The road race consisted of 4 laps on a course that included a few steep climbs and one long drawn out climb that really didn’t help break the field up. The 4/5’s stayed together the whole race even with a few break attempts, one of which I tried but failed as I was quickly swallowed up. The middle of the rest of the race was pretty uneventful until the final 2 miles. I was feeling pretty good going into the last two miles where the two steep climbs resided. The riders were extremely antsy and many blew their load on the first climb. Going into the final climb things started to get dangerous and I moved to the centerline knowing I would have the whole road should I get pushed out. We blasted up the final climb and I hung onto an ISCorp rider’s wheel in which the rider provided a great slipstream. I sprinted to the line on the outside and managed to pass 6 riders with 50 meters to go. I finished 6^th on the day and gained 8 points back on the overall leader.

Saturday brought out a ton of riders from all over, many of which had fresh legs and haven’t raced in a few weeks. The field of 60+ riders came out to participate in one of the greatest criteriums Wisconsin racing has to offer, the Downer Classic. The race started off fast and finished fast, there was no letting up. Constant breaking in the corners and sprinting on the straights took a huge bit out of my legs. I managed to keep my skin intact on what could be known as a skin-eater critierium. Many riders were sketchy and the rough pavement only led to an increased possibility of crashing. I didn’t have the gas in the tank to launch a huge sprint and rolled in 16^th. Two places behind the overall leader and losing two points on the day. Hopefully Milwaukee will fix the pavement for the Downer Classic in the future, it would help to save a lot of skin…

Finally, yes, FINALLY. The last race of the Tour was upon us as we rolled into Waukesha for what was going to be a showdown between Mark Norton and I. Starting the race only 4 points down on the leader I knew I would have to pull something off, but I didn’t know exactly what. Nervous as can be we rolled to the starting line where the announcer didn’t help my nervousness. Calling Mark and I out and letting everyone know that it came down to 2 points for the overall only led to increased nervousness. I finally settled into pace a few laps into the race and remained about 6 to 10 wheels back in the field. The course for the race was awesome with a great downhill right-hand corner that led to a wide open final corner. The wind helped in keeping any breakaways from sticking and it came down to the final sprint. My legs were feeling great and I moved up to 3^rd wheel with 3 corners to go. Coming into the off-camber right hand corner on the back side of the course a rider took the inside gutter into the corner cutting off my inside line. Another rider was coming around the outside and I got pinched. I had to slow to prevent a pile up and fell back 6 wheels. I hammered through the last two corners and sprinted with everything I had to finish the final crit in 6^th place. The overall leader placed three wheels behind me. I couldn’t believe it but I missed tying the overall leader by one point and the win by 2 points as Mark would have won if it came down to a tie-breaker. There was no time for me to be upset as I gave it everything I had and was completely exhausted.

2^nd overall in the cat 4/5 for the inaugural Tour of America’s Dairyland. I can’t wait until next year.

Props to all the Team Extreme riders who participated in the Tour. Team Extreme again showed their strong presence putting three riders on the podium across two categories. It couldn’t have been done without the help of all teammates, a true testament of a strong team. Great job everyone, let’s do it again next year!

State Criterium Championship

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for racing with warm temps and light winds in Ripon, WI. The course setup for the State Criterium Championships included six corners, one minor climb, and a long false-flat to the finish line. The cat 4/5 race was delayed a half hour due to a serious crash on the last lap of the prior race which allowed me to get a little bit more warm-up time in. The race was fairly fast with a lot of sprinting up the short hill but the corners were painfully slow. It was a brake-smashing party on every corner! Truly unbelievable… we are halfway through the racing season and people still haven’t figured out how to pedal through corners. As the race progressed I moved around in the field and waited to see if there would be an attack. There were no serious attacks throughout the race so it was quite an easy race to stay near the front. With 3 laps to go I made a good pull into the hill but went way too hot and shallow into the corner and almost sent myself into the outside curb. The final two laps I sat in about 10^th wheel. On the final lap with 3 corners to go a rider in front of me skipped his back tire out over a manhole cover and caused a 4 man pile-up. I should have moved up past this rider earlier because he was consistently skipping out on that corner. Due to the crash 7 riders opened a gap around 40 meters on the rest of the field. It was a sprint from there… I was able to catch one rider at the line to finish 7^th. I’m happy with the top 10 finish but at the same time bummed because I would have been there for the sprint for the win and a chance at some Rippin’ Good Cookies. Oh well though, there’s always the 10 races in the Tour of America’s Dairyland for a potential win.

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!