Cherry Roubaix '09

By Ben LaForce

6 of the Chicago boys raced the Cherry-Roubaix races in Traverse city this weekend. Brian and I from get a grip and Newt, Luke, William and Liam from xXx racing. Newt hooked us up with a condo/lodge type place a few miles out of town. The weekend forecast promised lots of showers. Brian and I drove early friday to check out the road race course, of course it was hurricane outside but we gave it a go anyways.
Saturdays race was a 6 corner downtown criterium with a large section of pave. The day was horrible, rain all day long. By the time our race came things were completely soaked, and the day separated the men from boys... the boys stood on the side and watched the men race. The race starts and people get used to taking corners at speed, not brian. Brian comes from a mtb background so hes got the technical skills and made an early break with york and another guy. They held it to the line and Brian took 2nd in the sprint, I got 8th. Chicago took 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th on the day. Not bad for a field of 35.
Day 2, an epic 5 lap 60 mile course with as much climbing as any sane person could ask for. A break of 4 got up the road after 3 laps containing brian and luke. another lap later a bridge came from a shattered field up the s/f climb and 5 more joined on including myself. This group made it to the finish together (losing brian due to cramping). this was a really disappointing race because the course suited me well but was a little longer than what ive been training for. i havent been putting any long rides in this year especially the last couple months and i could feel it on the final lap. lap 4 i felt as strong as anyone in the break and confident i had a good chance at winning but lap 5 i began really struggling on the climbs and killing myself to stay with the group. By the time we got to the final climb I had nothing left, I told luke he was our only shot... i had nothing. i made it up the climb in 7th a good 15 seconds or so behind the rest of the group.

and thats the season... half ironman under 2 weeks away !!

Blue Mounds and Harmon Hundred Training Days

Blue Mounds training camp: Is it ever to late for a training camp? While there are still a few road races left in the 2010 season to stay really fit for there are other reasons to partake in a weekend full of riding the hills in the Blue Mounds area. How about good old fashioned male bonding, I mean team bonding. A two day weekend full of destroying or being destroyed by your ride mates on some of the best roads in the Midwest, hanging out in nearby Mt. Horeb and eating at a bar called the Grumpy Troll was certainly a great camaraderie and friendship booster. It was trollishly delightful? Without such fun and friendship what’s the point to calling each other teammates? These ties can and should outlast one’s racing career and it certainly transcends any present/future team affiliations. Thus, it’s never to late for a training camp. Tall and tasty troll burger with beer anyone?

The Wheeling Wheelmen’s Harmon Hundred: I was introduced to this ride last year and rode with Spider Monkey/former teammate Bryan Merrill, TT experts, Jim from ABD and Gary from VQ. The course rode into WI and right by the Spring Prairie RR course used for the WI State RR Champ race, thus it rode over many nice country roads with hills. Unfortunately this year’s event had a different start location and stayed south of the WI border. Last years event I would have rated 4 stars, this years event slips to 3 stars mainly because of a less safe and challenging route (more hills like the previous year please). Otherwise the service from the start to the finish from the volunteers was excellent and the route was easy to follow. I rode the first 25 miles in an hour trying to catch the Spider Monkeys who started 30+ minutes before me. After being reunited at the first rest stop we set out together for the next two 25 mile sections. The last 25 were spent riding with my WI friends Brooke and Peter Tampa. It was overall a good 100-mile training day. If you think that such rides are only for recreational riders know that local racing legend Scott Pearson our IL State RR Champ also rode the ride. What were you doing?

Elk Grove and Downers Grove

By Ben LaForce

Elk Grove was very very hard. I had a 300 watt average for the race after trying many breaks... nothing had a chance. The sprinters owned this race from the start with all the primes offered. I finished by coasting in with the pack. After this one Brian, Tim and I watched the domestic pros including flandis and mr. horner duke it out for their 98 mile race as we hung at the tent with beers in hand. I wish somebody told me how much more enjoyable this was than actual racing.

The Downers Grove course suits me fairly well as its not a pancake like so many other crits in the area. I tried for a prime about 15 minutes in and got nipped by inches then after another 15 minutes tried to get into a break but this race was owned by the sprinters too and i coasted across the line in the pack after a sketchy final corner i took it easy up the finish just happy to be upright.

Time to take it easy for a bit and get some swimming and running in so I don't embarrass myself too much for the half ironman and of course so cousin Jeff doesn't beat me.

Upgrade pending...

The Tour of Elk Grove

By Brian Hill

Yes I know I never ever post any race reports. Believe me this is only due to a lack of time as opposed to things to say. So today was the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove, which as most are already aware of, offers up huge cash purses to both Pro and Amateur racers. Let me start by saying I rolled into this one a little tired after racing aggressively on Sunday's (Chicago Criterium) and Wednesday's (Soldier Field Criterium) leading up to this. Didn't help either that friends had come to town and felt it necessary that sleep become a non-necessity. But with a stacked field and a $600 pay check to the winner, not to mention a ton of cash primes, the focus and determination set in quickly. I arrived nice and early, set up the team tent, and retrieved my number with ease. Things are looking good. Got a nice warm up in with Alex and Ben in a slight rain shower. Things are looking really good for me. No better way to eliminate a large portion of the field then to have the course do its part. Initially race plan was to sit comfortably in the field for the first 40 minutes and then move to the front for the last 20 minutes and see what we got. Well with the addition of the rain time to make a few adjustments, better stay closer to the front so the people can crash at will behind me as opposed to in front of me.

Race officials announce for all riders to the line and a young kid falls over trying to get through the gate causing me to be shuffled to the back of the field. No big deal the race is 60 minutes, plenty of time to move up. Whistle blows and to my surprise the junior rider to my left falls over causing a domino effect, which results in me crashing into the gap in the railing at 2mph shoulder first. A barrage of profanity flies out of my mouth followed up by a quick warning from a race official. Two seconds into the race and I am trying to calm myself down and take a free lap. Quick cut across the course and a little begging of the official and I am quickly reintegrated into the back of the field. Now the race has started. The first 10 minutes are somewhat similar. Sit in the top 15 of the field, Enter turn one at 8mph & sprint out at 30mph while riders hit the deck, Enter turn two at 8mph & sprint out at 30mph, Enter turn three smoothly move back around juniors and dumdums that crashed the line on the last three corners, fly through turn four and five safely in the top 15, hide from the wind on the home straight and refrain from contesting any of the $25 primes. Then I hear the call for a $100 prime on the next lap. Obviously I could use a $100 so I go for it and get pipped at the line. Realizing Ben has a better chance of taking out primes then I do I decide to lead him out on the next two opportunities. First one we fail to connect and I burn a little energy unnecessarily. Next one we are spot on. He is tucked in right on my wheel, I drive the pace up to a level that I know will shell anyone that didn't see it coming and we motor on for 1000 meters. 50 meters from the line Ben comes around me as well as two others and he is pipped at the line. Wasted energy again!

The rain has picked up and I quickly decide to go back to the original plan of hiding mid-pack and getting after it the last 20 minutes. Over the next 15 minutes I get the pleasure of watching people use the pavement in turn one like a slip and slide. Somehow Ben, Alex, and myself seem to avoid this practice like the plague. From this vantage point I get the pleasure of riding along with the less then skilled bike handlers and each corner seems to make me angrier and angrier. Perfect! We can use this to get away from the field and hopefully solo to the victory. I decide that I should be able to hold the field off for 5 laps maximum and begin to move forward. We pass by the start finish line and I see the lap counter at 6. Think to myself really already, I was hoping to hang out for a minute and then go. Well a plans a plan so I move up over the course of the next lap and then attack once we come onto the home stretch. The move it appears has surprised everyone and they let me go screaming up the right side close to the barriers. Head down I am determined I pass under the finish line, 5 laps. You can do this. Blaze through the corners, amazing how much easier it is when you are following your own line. My gap is hovering around 8-10 seconds. Pass under the finish line again, 4 laps you got this. Hug the barriers, try to stay out of the wind, and keep pressing. On the backstretch I hear the ever-familiar sound of another riders gears behind me. Quick glance and I see it is a XXX rider and we still have a gap. I motor on and then flip the arm for some help. Nothing doing, he appears to be spent and I have to just keep driving it. As I approach the finish line I see 3 laps to go. Awesome! Then I hear the announcers voice screaming. $200 prime on the next lap! $200 prime on the next lap!!!!!!! WTF!!!!! This is no good for the guy with a 8 second gap. Pedal harder! Pedal harder! Take every corner as fast as you can, risk it all. DO NOT let them think they can catch you for this prime and you just might make it to the line. 200 meters from the line a quick glance and I still have the gap. 100 meters from the line and I am thinking awesome I just won $200. 25 meters from the line I hear the whoosh of 5 riders blazing past me. Damn that was quick. Get back in the field and try to jump them again after a little rest. In the last 2 laps poor bike handling skills and rain really seem to kick it into high gear and become a factor. I'm in the top 10 and then 8 wide into a corner become the norm and I am in about 30th. Next corner a guy hits the deck and I move back into the top 15. Next thing I know we are entering the final two corners and I am sitting about 25th. Not good if you want to get paid. We are all lined up entering the final 500 meters and the guy in front of me loses the wheel and a gap is opening. Nope! Get around him and sprint damn it. Guys are dying left and right. I move into the top 20 and then watch carnage unfold 75 meters from the line as two XXX riders on my left get cut off. One hits the railing and the other flips over him and slams into the curb face first at 35mph. Slow motion kicks in at this point and for a split second I forget I am supposed to be sprinting. I blow through the line and instantly am thankful to have been able to keep the rubber side down. We will live to fight another day.

Superweek and Chicago Crit

By Ben LaForce

Last Thursday I tried my hand at another superweek race after the success of the lakefront road race. Athletes can be pretty superstitious, and what the heck I wasn't going to mess with success so I tried to mimic my morning from the lakefront race as much as possible. Breakfast at wildberry, no socks, no sleep, etc... The course was about a 1 mile crit which we did 30 miles of. The series leader (Marc) was at the race and I knew he was one of the key guys to watch if I was going to do well.

The race started and a few laps in Marc took off and I was the only one who went with him. We were away for 10 or 15 seconds only, the field would never let him get away. After about 8 laps a group of 8 got up the road and I saw it was a well represented break so the next lap I took off on the hill dragging a couple guys and we made the bridge. Geoff from leadout took control of the group and got us into a good rotation and gaining time on the peloton (which marc was in). Most of the group worked while some guys sat, we ended up gaining a lot of time on the pack and after dropping a few went to the line with 7. I managed to get myself in the 4th spot coming toward the winding finish line and sprinted first, with no one able to catch on soon enough!

Fast forward to yesterday and we have one of the biggest races of the year, the chicago criterium. This was its 2nd year being run, and my first crack at it. We had 7 get a grippers in a field of over 100. The race was very fast, about 27 mph and with no hard sections to really break up the group. There were a bunch of prime opportunities and even some that rewarded the 2nd guy across the line. I went for a couple and got one of them for $50. No breakaway really had a chance with the field pushing so hard until padfield snuck away with 3 laps to go. Get a grip got to the front in an effort to block and nobody in the field knew what to do or wanted to waste energy doing it.

Eventually burnham and team leadout with some help from others did a hard chase and closed the gap with under a lap to go. Right before the last corner things got tight while I was sitting in 8th or 9th place and a team leadout rider went down, I was immediately behind him slammed on my brakes and rode over his bike and flipped over my handlebars at close to 30mph. Somehow there was no serious damage and even the road rash was pretty minimal. The bike however got smashed hard and the handlebars jackknifed into the top tube on the fall and put a good ding in there. No finish for me, oh well but I got to do the whole race so overall a good experience.

heres an epic photo from ed white http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewwhite/3761347148/sizes/o/

Oh and one more thing, when racing in the city, park somewhere where you can ride to the race because $25 parking garages for a couple hours are no fun.

Racine Criterium - Superweek

By Chris Padfield

After Schlitz park my next Superweek race was the Racine Criterium. The course was a figure eight, think Proctor but shorter, with a little downhill/uphill between turns four and eight. The weather was sunny and warm to start for the thirty five of us in the Cat3. Going into the race I was hopeful that a break could stay away but wasn't going to be surprised if it came down to a bunch sprint. My plan was to sit tight until about twenty to go and then get serious about initiating some moves.

The race was fast from the gun and I wasn't on top of my game, making simple mistakes like letting gaps open through some corners. There were some early attacks and even a threatening looking break of maybe six riders that contained two which I was watching, but it only lasted a few laps before falling apart. About a third of the way through the race the wet stuff started to hit my glasses. Trouble.

At first it looked like it wasn't going to be enough to hamper the race, but it kept coming down just enough that the course turned into a slick mess of manhole covers, tile crosswalks and road paint. My tires were not inflated for wet traction (or just over inflated) and I almost washed out twice when my front wheel skipped into turn four and my rear slipped in turn one. For about two laps I seriously considered dropping out lest I actually kiss the pavement. Luckily though no one was interested in taking serious risks and the race progressed at a leisurely pace.

The rain did pass on though and with twelve laps to go I could see that it was just dry enough to take the turns at full speed again, but everyone was still continuing on like it was wet. Without putting more than a second's thought into it, which was probably best, I attacked. I took a quick glance back and no one wanted to come along and suffer with me, but that's cool, less to worry about.

As I passed the start/finish I saw eleven laps to go. Eleven laps. Man, WTF was I thinking. Here I am. Again. And again. Well, at least I'll have some fun with it and make people really do some work to chase me down. Taking your own line and slamming it through every corner, powering out of the saddle through the uphill, having people yell splits at you, all of that never gets old.

My gap wasn't anything threatening to start, probably sub 10 seconds but it started to grow with each lap. I knew I was in this for the long haul so I settled into a "comfortable" rhythm. I'm told my gap stretched out to about 20 seconds and then there was a serious concerted effort to bring me back. With about six laps left I was brought within striking distance of the peloton, but no one wanted to seal the deal, and my gap opened up again. Or so I'm told, I wasn't looking back.

With two to go and with the gaps being yelled at me at about twenty five seconds I knew I had this one in the bag. I was honestly surprised I pulled it off. Cruising across the start/finish I was ecstatic not only to win a Superweek race, but to win in front of my parents there who were in town from California.

Schlitz Park - Superweek

By Chris Padfield

This was my first Superweek race this season so I was extra excited for the extra duration and difficulty. The race was 44 laps of the 0.8 mile course, and about 1:15 total time, basically uphill on the front side with a steeper section to finish it off, downhill on the back with some very lumpy pavement on the downhill and through the bottom turns. I was off the front early with thirty something laps to go and had built up about a 30s lead(?) over six laps when i had a rear flat. It was an unintentional move, I basically just rolled off the front.

I lost a large part of my lead with having to slow down on the corners of the descent and the wheel change and was brought back shortly after reentering the race from my free lap. From there for the next twenty or so laps i stayed up at the front as some attacks went off and i made some of my own. Marc Howe and another rider went off with maybe 18 or so to go and i was unable to respond because i was still recovering and was forced to sit in. The two riders ahead never opened up more than a 15 second gap until maybe five more laps and more people started attacking out of the peloton, and it looked like it was now or never, so I attacked as well.

With maybe thirteen to go there were the two riders with a solid lead, a group of three chasing and then me about 5 seconds behind the trio. Over the next ten laps marc howe dropped the rider he was with and the chase was down to one rider maybe five seconds ahead of me. It was a race for second at this point and i just kept my own pace until I caught the lone chaser, a tiny junior. And no joke my front wheel maybe got a draft off this kid, and that was all. It was a pairing of the smallest and largest riders in the race. We stayed together until the bell lap when I attacked him on the hill, got a gap and held it to the end for second place.