Indian Lakes Resort Saturday 40+

For the second straight year at Indian Lakes i found myself running to the pit within a couple minutes of the start.  This time it was the result of being forced to take a bad line out of one of the sand traps and while it was obvious it was a steeper exit i still misjudged it and endoed over the bars and got run into from behind.  Somehow my rear wheel got dislodged from the dropouts and i couldn't get it back in so I found myself running.

Fortunately this time the pit was closer and i had a pit bike but still i was just about dead last before i got back on the course.  On the approach to the pit the second time of the first lap neutral support was there standing with my bike, rear wheel all ready to go so I swapped back to my main bike.  I spent a couple of laps trying to make up as many places as I could.  Wind was a huge factor so drafting on the stretches heading south was a must.

Then I fell victim to trying to run too low of tire pressure.  I'm still running clinchers and love the challenge Open Tubulars.  I am also trying the latex innertubes and was thinking i could get away with a little lower tire pressure with the latex tube.  I did 35psi on the rear but about lap 3 on the approach to the sand traps a section of the clincher bead came dislodged from the rear tire and I was forced to run the same section to the pit again.  Switched to my pit bike and finished the race on that, trying to catch and pass the same 10 or 15 guys i had chased the first half of the race.

I ended up 36th and actually still had a ton of fun.  The SRAM support was awesome and only today did i realize I ended up with a new skewer on my rear wheel that i need to return.  I felt better than i thought i would given that I was racing on 4 1/2hrs of sleep due to having to work really late the night before.  It was actually a nice little experiment on how to prepare myself during the week for something like this.  I just made sure i got lots of sleep during the week.  If I hadn't had the mechanicals it's hard to say wether I would have felt the same riding further up in the field but all in all it was a good race.  I also really shortened my warmup and race day prep so i could get more sleep and I think that could have contributed to the mechanicals as I didn't have the time to go over the bike as well as I normally do.

FRG 06.24.07

The course for the Fox River Grove Cycling Classic is a great course...that is for the 14 other skinny riders in the cat 3 race who had a good 20 lbs on me. I realisticly have no chance in this race but after doing it this year i can't wait till next.

There is not more than 200m of straight road at any point during the 1.13 mile loop which makes this race very fun and interesting. The pain starts immediately. Just 100m from the start/finish line you enter turn 1 and beging the climb up Violet Ave. The first 200m of the 300m climb is a twisting banked road that must have an average grade of 15-17%. You don't even think of sitting down during this part. The remaining 100m or so is more or less a stairstep with a false flat leading into a 12%? climb the rest of the way.

At the top you enter turn 2 and begin the free fall back down a twisting, wide, newer residential street with a left turn at the bottom. While very fast this turn is really smooth and leads you onto another winding street into turn 3. More winding road with a little bit of an uphill into turn 4 which leads you back down to the start finish area.

Seeing that this course is only 6 miles from my house i've trained on this course several times. My goal was to try and ride the climb as smart as i could and stay in the main group as long as possible. I knew once things really got going i wouldn't be able to match the skinny climbers in the bunch so i tried to conserve whenever possible.

Laps 1 and 2 were just fine. I put myself as up front as much as i could at the bottom of the climb and rode my own pace up the first half of the climb. If a gap occured i was able to bridge it back on the not so steep, top part of the climb.

On lap 3 near disaster struck. I got stuck on the inside of turn 1 and as we headed up the climb i got bumped off the road onto the shoulder which consisted of 2 1/2" rocks. I had to stop and almost get off the bike. Then I had to remount and restart on the steepest part of the climb. By this time everybody was well up the road. I was pretty mad cause I did not want to get dropped like this. Fortunately I was able to not lose too much time and found my way back into the main group at the bottome of the descent.

Get a Grip(GAG), a team from chicago, had 5 or 6 riders in the field so on the second lap they sent a rider off the front. I think 1 other rider went with him and then the field settled down with the rest of the GAG riders controlling the field. I was totally fine with this cause that meant the pace would slow down.

This went on for several laps. Each time up the climb the gap i lost became a little bit longer and the longer it would take me to catch back on during the flat section. I knew the end was near.

About half way thru the race people finally got tired of just racing for 2nd place and the attacks came. This is where i got off the bus and said goodbye to the main field. A rider attacked on the climb and by the time i got to the top the field was gone. Now i was just riding by myself.

I contemplated dropping out but soon talked myself out of that. I thought, "how often do i get to fly down a descent with a good turn at the bottom. If nothing else just practice your descending skills."

After a couple laps on my own i started to see 1 rider and then a second rider up ahead. Each time up the climb I was gaining ground on them. Eventually I caught both and there was a group of 3 of us fighting it out for what would be 10th place.

Every time up the hill I would drop one rider and then the other but not enough that they couldn't get back on during the descent. So finally on the last lap I attacked the 2 and almost immedaiately heard one declare he was done. That left 2 of us.

I got a decent gap over the remaining rider but it wasn't enough to stay away. Between turns 3 & 4 he caught me and after leading him thru turn 4 he sprinted around me for 10th place, leaving me 11th.

All in all i had a lot of fun. It was one of the hardest races i've done but i really enjoyed it. Catching the 2 riders and making a little mini race out of it helped me along. I never thought I would be the one attacking on a climb like that even if it was for 10th place.

Can't wait till next year.

Parkside #2 Masters 30+

Today we made what is now the yearly March trek up to Kenosha, WI for my first race of the season. Due to scheduling we decided the best race to do was the Masters 30+ race at 1:30pm. More and more I’m leaning towards doing the 30+ races. For the most part they seem a little calmer with less crashes (more on this later) so I was wanting to see how I would do in this race to see if I’m going to focus more on 30+ versus cat 3.

We arrived at 12:30 so I by the time I got registered, made a quick trip to McDonalds for the kids, and then got back and got the bike and myself ready I only had a half hour to warm up. After 2 seasons I’ve never settled on a warm up procedure. Sometimes I ride the trainer, others I just ride the roads. This time I opted for the roads. I spun around for about 20 minutes then headed back to the start finish. The previous race was running late so I headed back out for another 10 and then went back to the start. We watched the sprint for the 40+ race and then took our warmup lap.

I had read some reports from last week saying that the course was really rough. I don’t remember it being too bad last year but during the warmup I realized all the sealed cracks that run across the road sunk down a bit. This made for a jarring course.

I lined up with the 40 or 50 other riders and the race started. For the first few laps there were constant attempts of breakaways but the overall pace wasn’t too bad. I just tried to play it smart and hang in there. I kept myself in good position but tried not to jump at every attack like I sometimes tend to do.

About half way thru the race there was a group of 4 or 5 guys off the front. It seemed like it would be a good group to get up to since the ABR 30+ crit champion was in that group. Just as I was bridging up to that group, on the hill between turns 2 and 3, the supposed calmness of the 30+ racing was interrupted.

Now I still can’t explain how the 3rd guy in a 4 man paceline can just go down while going up a hill but he did. Next thing I knew there was a fellow human lying straight across the road right in front of me. I had no other option but to keep going. Translated that means my bike stopped when it hit his body and I kept going.

Well I guess my ninja skills came into play because I did a nice tuck and roll and landed on my right side. I got myself upright quick enough to see my bike still flipping around on the pavement. The next thought of course is please nobody hit me. Luckily nobody did.

I grabbed my bike, took the waterbottle and threw it in disgust. I had to twist my handlebars back and my left shifter was bent in. I then checked my front and rear wheels and everything seemed fine. Just as I was hopping back on the bike I saw my water bottle that I threw. I decided to go grab it. It was a good thing cause I realized that in the crash I lost my other bottle.
As I rode the backside of the course my intention was just to get back to the start and then call it a day. But then I remembered the free lap rule. I bolted for the start/finish and went ahead and swapped out my front wheel. I didn’t need to but I wasn’t sure what the actual rule was so I just wanted to make sure I could get my free lap.

There was 3 of us who got a free lap and as the field went by we jumped back in. The rest of the race I just tried to keep in a good position and be ready for the sprint. I wasn’t expecting anything out of myself for the final sprint since I haven’t even done one sprint yet this year. Sure enough I got myself in a good spot going into the last turn and then started the sprint. I managed an 11th place.

Overall I’m very happy with the result. I could’ve done without the crash. The bike seems to be just fine but my wrist is pretty sore and the hip is bruised. Hopefully I’ll be back on the bike tomorrow or Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.
Ron