Race: Altolab Lakefront Road Race
Where: Milwaukee, WI
Length: 75 miles
Course: 4.5 mile loop with 2 decent climbs
The last race I did of this length was Spring Prairie. And that one flat out sucked.
But today I felt stronger, faster, and more confident than 2 months ago, but still launching into a breakaway in a 75 mile race with hills would be suicide. The plan was to just hang around, mentally act like I'm riding a long weekend ride with friends and see if I felt good at the end to make a move.
I played my plan to a 'T'.
The race started and immediately there was a decent hill. Like always, I climbed it faster than most of my peers leaving me with less 'catch-up' work to do after the hill. The breakaway guys (typically non-sprinters) like to attack up the climbs, so theres usually always some sort of catch-up work needing to be done. That 'catch-up' work is what destroyed me at Spring Prairie. The hardest part of any road race in my eyes, is the 200 meters after a climb. Mentally, you check out at that point thinking"you made it over the climb, time to relax" when in reality the guys up front aren't letting up and you have to get back in your racing groove at a heart rate of 175 instead of 125.
The race continued through residential areas and through a feed zone where I recognized a fellow rider who opted not to race today, but rather get piss drunk and hand out bottles/food to select riders. It was a much needed laugh to start a 3.5 hour race as he was shirtless and hollering every time around the loop. We continued on the course to a fast snake-like descent that we certainly reached speeds in the 40mph range while curving. The first few times down I was rather hesistant with thoughts of Jens Voigt's crash in the TdF the day before in my mind, but gained a lot of comfort in the laps following.
After the descent was one of the more trying parts of the course as the leaders hammered it knowing there was a massive crosswind as we were now almost flush with the lakefront. The pack was always completely strung out for that quarter mile section before everyone gathered up and got ready for the second climb. This climb was much tougher than the first. It was longer with a touch of steepness at the end; still not much to write home about. Immediately following the climb, we actually raced over well paved sidewalk through a park which was rather interesting going 2 and 3 wide through. The rest of the course was fast. Very fast. And straight. Certainly my favorite part as we rarely dipped below 30mph on this false flat descent with a tailwind all the way through the start/finish line.
The race continued, the usual breaks got off and were immediately reeled in. That is, until a seemingly hopeless break of 2 shot off, and the P/1/2 race decided to pass us at that moment neutralizing the peloton of our race, giving the breakaway quickly a 90 second lead without thought. No one was ready to give a huge effort at the front, so the race for the win was already over. A few more guys were able to get off in small efforts to bridge the gap as no one really cared to chase them down either.
The last lap straightaway came, I positioned myself poorly, stuck on the inside with little room out, so I slowed up to the back of the peloton and gunned it to the front, literally taking first wheel. I looked around to see when the first guy to start his sprint would launch. Off to the right I saw somebody begin to wind up and BOOM! Off went the field. I gunned it instandly and felt amazing. Every stroke was as powerful as the last all the way to the line. No one came close to coming around me. Sure it was for 9th place, but had the pack come back together, there's no way I would have lost today. It was a great finish to a race that I had low expectations for and was primarily using as a tune-up for the Chicago Crit.
Stuck to the plan today, felt good, and gave it a go. Next up: Chicago Criterium.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Superweek - Whitnall Park Road Race
Date: 7/20/2009
Race: Whitnall Park
Course: Gorgeous course through a forest and golf course with one decent climb. 35 mile race.
Lets try to break the Wisconsin Curse: Spring Prairie 36th and a Schlitz Park DNF don't bring back very good memories north of the border.
Today I decided to hang with the pack, just like I always used to do, and wait for the right moment near the end to pounce. The course went through a golf course and forest; it really reminded me of a longer Eagle Creek course. The only real noticable trait of this venue was that at the end of the lap there was one big climb...but it was far easier than it appeared.
I had two teammates who kept trying to get off in breaks. None were successful as this course was fairly easy to real in those jumping off. I relied today on everyone else pulling back breaks as I just wanted to finish today and have a decent result to boost my confidence rather than 'go-for-broke' for the win.
Everything worked as planned. The last lap came, I felt great, I followed a wheel of one my guys up front and unfortunately had to pull a little bit on the last lap. This took a few ounces of energy out of my sails and may have cost me a few spots. A breakaway of 2 was way off at this point, though they were finally in sight with around 200m to go. We hit the hill and I jumped with everything. Just like Vernon Hills, this was a move to place in the top 10, not to win. It worked. A few guys passed me on the line, but I held on for 7th, yielding me 4 upgrade points.
I now have 9 official points with several very big point awarding races on the horizon. By placing well there, I now need to merely finish in the top 10 at either the Chicago Crit, the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove, or the Tour of Oak Brook in order to meet the 25 point upgrade minimum from a 3 -> 2 (as 16 points are awarded for 10th place in all of those races).
Each race throughout the year is given a prestige category between A and E. Most races throughout the year are either D or E's which mean you have to place in the top 10 or 5 to get any points respectively (Whitnall Park was a 'D' race). More prestigious races, including state and national championships are awarded points as high as 60 points for first, while awarding points all the way through 30th place! So, the bottom line is finish top 10 in one of the next 4 races (9+16=25).
Each of the 4 races coming up award points as follows:
Next up: Lakefront Road Race in Milwaukee. It's supposed to be a crit-like course with lots of turns...but its 70 miles long. I'm just going to use it as a training race for Sunday's Chicago Crit and simply hold onto the pack. If I exert any energy before mile marker 60 I'm toast. It's supposed to be one of the best venues in all of amatuer racing in the U.S...but I'm not looking forward to it...
Race: Whitnall Park
Course: Gorgeous course through a forest and golf course with one decent climb. 35 mile race.
Lets try to break the Wisconsin Curse: Spring Prairie 36th and a Schlitz Park DNF don't bring back very good memories north of the border.
Today I decided to hang with the pack, just like I always used to do, and wait for the right moment near the end to pounce. The course went through a golf course and forest; it really reminded me of a longer Eagle Creek course. The only real noticable trait of this venue was that at the end of the lap there was one big climb...but it was far easier than it appeared.
I had two teammates who kept trying to get off in breaks. None were successful as this course was fairly easy to real in those jumping off. I relied today on everyone else pulling back breaks as I just wanted to finish today and have a decent result to boost my confidence rather than 'go-for-broke' for the win.
Everything worked as planned. The last lap came, I felt great, I followed a wheel of one my guys up front and unfortunately had to pull a little bit on the last lap. This took a few ounces of energy out of my sails and may have cost me a few spots. A breakaway of 2 was way off at this point, though they were finally in sight with around 200m to go. We hit the hill and I jumped with everything. Just like Vernon Hills, this was a move to place in the top 10, not to win. It worked. A few guys passed me on the line, but I held on for 7th, yielding me 4 upgrade points.
I now have 9 official points with several very big point awarding races on the horizon. By placing well there, I now need to merely finish in the top 10 at either the Chicago Crit, the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove, or the Tour of Oak Brook in order to meet the 25 point upgrade minimum from a 3 -> 2 (as 16 points are awarded for 10th place in all of those races).
Each race throughout the year is given a prestige category between A and E. Most races throughout the year are either D or E's which mean you have to place in the top 10 or 5 to get any points respectively (Whitnall Park was a 'D' race). More prestigious races, including state and national championships are awarded points as high as 60 points for first, while awarding points all the way through 30th place! So, the bottom line is finish top 10 in one of the next 4 races (9+16=25).
Each of the 4 races coming up award points as follows:
| 1 - 40 | |||||
| 2 - 35 | |||||
| 3 - 30 | |||||
| 4 - 28 | |||||
| 5 - 26 | |||||
| 6 - 24 | |||||
| 7 - 22 | |||||
| 8 - 20 | |||||
| 9 - 18 | |||||
| 10 - 16 | |||||
| 11 - 15 | |||||
| 12 - 14 | |||||
| 13 - 13 | |||||
| 14 - 12 | |||||
| 15 - 11 | |||||
| 16 - 10 | |||||
| 17 - 9 | |||||
| 18 - 8 | |||||
| 19 - 7 | |||||
| 20 - 6 | |||||
| 21 - 5 | |||||
| 22 - 4 | |||||
| 23 - 3 | |||||
| 24 - 2 | |||||
| 25 - 1 |
Next up: Lakefront Road Race in Milwaukee. It's supposed to be a crit-like course with lots of turns...but its 70 miles long. I'm just going to use it as a training race for Sunday's Chicago Crit and simply hold onto the pack. If I exert any energy before mile marker 60 I'm toast. It's supposed to be one of the best venues in all of amatuer racing in the U.S...but I'm not looking forward to it...
Superweek - Schlitz Park
Date: 7/18/2009
Race: Schlitz Park Crit
Course: 44 laps with a good hill on a .8 mile course.
This race sucked.
If you weren't going uphill, you were flying downhill, or going 25 into a turn, or advancing position, or getting jacked up by the 1000's of bumps in the road.
I can climb faster than 95% of the guys out there, but I concede at this point, without proper training, at around hill repeat 25 my legs begin to haphazardly lock up quicker than most.
Bottom line of this race: I saw a group of 10 attack. They were stronger than the rest of the field. I tried to bridge (ride by myself trying to advance from one group to the next) for around a mile. I connected at the top of the hill with that group and severely tightened up. Race over. To make matters worse one of the bumps jarred my glasses off. I went back to find them, and someone had already taken them.
Leg strength will be priority #1 in one month.
Race: Schlitz Park Crit
Course: 44 laps with a good hill on a .8 mile course.
This race sucked.
If you weren't going uphill, you were flying downhill, or going 25 into a turn, or advancing position, or getting jacked up by the 1000's of bumps in the road.
I can climb faster than 95% of the guys out there, but I concede at this point, without proper training, at around hill repeat 25 my legs begin to haphazardly lock up quicker than most.
Bottom line of this race: I saw a group of 10 attack. They were stronger than the rest of the field. I tried to bridge (ride by myself trying to advance from one group to the next) for around a mile. I connected at the top of the hill with that group and severely tightened up. Race over. To make matters worse one of the bumps jarred my glasses off. I went back to find them, and someone had already taken them.
Leg strength will be priority #1 in one month.
Soldier Field Criterium #3
Date: 7/15/2009
Race: Soldier Field Crit #3
2 crashes in 3 races leaves the confidence with something to gain…
So, let’s try this again...only with one arm that’s fully functioning…
I arrived to the race and focused on nothing but cornering in my pre-race ride; I literally just spun in circles trying to get a feel for the bike. Quickly, I noticed that my gears were jumping around from gear to gear without me even shifting. I thought I’d try my hand at utilizing that SRAM Neutral support tent (why else would they be there?) and within 30 seconds my bike was in pristine shape. Some mechanics can just blow your mind with their skills.
Anyways, in pre-race Christian Vande Velde’s dad, John Vande Velde (a two-time Olympian himself) spoke in support of Chicago’s 2016 bid. Very cool to bring out someone like that during the Tour. His speaking style is just like Christians, pretty quick and in short bursts. This whole Olympics thing is working out really well for Chicago cyclists: first the Chicago Criterium, now the Soldier Field Cycling Series, next a new Velodrome in the city?
I positioned myself on the start/finish line in front of the field as I wanted to be at or near the front of the pack so that I didn’t get extremely burned out by the start/stop nature of being in the back end of a crit. Teammate Seth Meyer was quick to point out the 2 pros in the field. I had never raced against pros before. The race started out fairly quickly with Seth doing some heavy pulls and I quickly drifted back from the front to the middle of the field.
Every turn I gained more confidence, gingerly entering them and exploding out of each to make up for the time loss.
Each lap went by and I was quickly running out of steam. These guys were fast. By lap 15 (of around 50), I coughed and up came some food I ate an hour and a half ago. By this point half the field had been dropped. I focused on trying to maintain solid position. Every time I looked at the race clock, I was more discouraged as the clock hardly seemed to tick towards 0:00...so I stopped looking...and buried my focus on nothing but the back wheel of the guy in front of me, sometimes to the extreme of, "If this guy gets dropped, I'm getting dropped" banking on his ability to hold onto the leaders. This was the first crit I've done where there really wasn't an accordian effect. It was strung out single file the entire race.
At one point the pro drifted back and I jumped onto his wheel. You could just see how fast, smooth, and calm he was in the pack. That boosted the adrenaline a little bit. I remembered quickly back to my days of Little 5, and whenever I was riding one-on-one with the studs of the field, I always found that little extra. You forget about the pain and finally begin racing. We were under full lights by this point as the sun had gone down. The crowds around the start finish line had begun to gather. This was a 1/2/3 race. People cared about this race. Our team cared about this race as many teammates from other catagories stuck around to watch.
And I was still there.
With 5 laps to go I gained some energy and moved towards the front of the pack. One falty move can lose you 15 spots as I had found out earlier in the race, so I made sure to stick to the wheel in front of me. The last lap came and Tom Brinney, one of our guys, attacked and I let him go hoping he could stick it out for a 2nd place finish (as the first place guy was long gone). A chase ensued within 10 seconds, but by that point Tom himself was gone. The pace of the race flew and I was decently positioned. I negotiated the last corner 50 meters from the finish and thought "My god, I'm going to finish this thing". I started my all out sprint, gained some room on the guy ahead of me and crossed the line in 9th.
I was happy to finish.
Ecstatic to finish in the top 10.
I found out later that I had actually crossed the finish line in front of one of the pros. Not that if he wanted to, he couldn't beat me, but it felt good regardless, especially since I thought I was going to have to pull over 20 minutes into the race.
Something that happened in that race was the reason I train, the reason I still want to do something competitive. I don't know if it was the lights, the crowd, competing against the best..whatever it was, there was something there that was incredible. On the way home the Wednesday night fireworks at Navy Pier went off. It was one of those surreal moments of exhaustion coupled with complete satisfaction. I just sat on my bike and watched. What an evening.
Superweek - Elgin Cycling Classic
Date: 7/12/2009
Where: Elgin, Illinois
What: Elgin Cycling Classic (50 mile road race)
Course: Gorgeous course, a few big ring climbs, negotiable turns, one 180 degree turn
The race started and I positioned myself up front as immediately a 180 degree turn occurred where Katie and I saw several riders take spills in previous races (one of the reasons I stayed up front). Surprisingly, the turn wasn't difficult at all, but seeing as the race split up within one lap of it starting, I'd argue being in the back exiting that turn must have buried some guys who had to deal with the accordion effect.
There were a few long straights, a few long fast descents, and 2 decent big ring climbs and I felt great, scratch that, amazing the entire time. An attack shot off comprised of about 5 guys and one of ours was in it. Again, this reduced my role to helping let the breakaway last.
Lap goes by.
Lap goes by.
Unorganized chase occurs.
Nothing happens.
Last lap.
Wait, who's that up the road? F#$&! It's our guy! He popped and got dropped from the break. The speed at which we passed him and another dropped rider was like passing a cyclist in a car. All of the sudden xXx and a few other cyclists made their way to the front and started hammering, but it was too late and within a few short minutes of effort, the pack destined itself with a sprint for 4th. I positioned myself near the front, but this effort was crazy. Everyone was trying to outposition the field and by the time you found your spot, someone else was whizzing by, dropping your slot back. I found a spot about 7th wheel back entering the last sequence of turns. Negotiated the first well, maintain speed. Negotiated the second well, maintain speed. Negotiated the thi....my wheel slips, I catch.
At this point I'm going 25 miles an hour. I can either try my best to turn...thought over. BAM! Curb. Down.
The bike was fine. My arm and wrist really hurt, but they were fine. It just sucked again, because I was set up very well for a good run at another top 10 finish and lost it. Oh well. There are bigger fish to fry.
Where: Elgin, Illinois
What: Elgin Cycling Classic (50 mile road race)
Course: Gorgeous course, a few big ring climbs, negotiable turns, one 180 degree turn
The race started and I positioned myself up front as immediately a 180 degree turn occurred where Katie and I saw several riders take spills in previous races (one of the reasons I stayed up front). Surprisingly, the turn wasn't difficult at all, but seeing as the race split up within one lap of it starting, I'd argue being in the back exiting that turn must have buried some guys who had to deal with the accordion effect.
There were a few long straights, a few long fast descents, and 2 decent big ring climbs and I felt great, scratch that, amazing the entire time. An attack shot off comprised of about 5 guys and one of ours was in it. Again, this reduced my role to helping let the breakaway last.
Lap goes by.
Lap goes by.
Unorganized chase occurs.
Nothing happens.
Last lap.
Wait, who's that up the road? F#$&! It's our guy! He popped and got dropped from the break. The speed at which we passed him and another dropped rider was like passing a cyclist in a car. All of the sudden xXx and a few other cyclists made their way to the front and started hammering, but it was too late and within a few short minutes of effort, the pack destined itself with a sprint for 4th. I positioned myself near the front, but this effort was crazy. Everyone was trying to outposition the field and by the time you found your spot, someone else was whizzing by, dropping your slot back. I found a spot about 7th wheel back entering the last sequence of turns. Negotiated the first well, maintain speed. Negotiated the second well, maintain speed. Negotiated the thi....my wheel slips, I catch.
At this point I'm going 25 miles an hour. I can either try my best to turn...thought over. BAM! Curb. Down.
The bike was fine. My arm and wrist really hurt, but they were fine. It just sucked again, because I was set up very well for a good run at another top 10 finish and lost it. Oh well. There are bigger fish to fry.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Superweek - Blue Island
Race: Blue Island Criterium - Superweek
Length: 35 Miles
Course: Fairly clean roads, just under a mile long standard rectangle, pretty good crowds
Blue Island, the first amatuer race of the 2 week long Superweek series, would unnofficially kick off the true cycling season in Chicago with Superweek, Chicago Crit, Elk Grove, and the state and national championships in a months time.
We arrived at Blue Island with around 40 minutes until the race started. Katie and I got everything together, started walking our stuff to the start/finish line and pop...my front tire began to deflate, not something you want to deal with just before a race (not to mention my tire pump exploded no more than 5 minutes before). A mad scrambled ensued trying to find a pump and anything else needed to change out the tube. Luckily SRAM neutral support had a tent with pumps that I could borrow. Fastest tire change of my life. All this meant was no warm up, but in a 90 minute crit you can hope to warm up during the race.
The race began, I was at the back at the start/finish line and stayed near the back trying to get warm for the race. In retrospect, it may have been too far back as the accordian effect of the crit seemed to start taking its toll more quickly than I would have hoped over the hour and a half. We had a few breaks jump off and quickly get reeled back in until two of our guys, Peter and Jacque, jumped into a new break of around 9 riders.
Having two guys in a break is a massive advantage. In the waning moments you can attack with one and force the rest of the field to chase. As soon as the chase reconnects, the other can attack forcing everyone else again to chase wearing out the field. So needless to say, this was a break the team wanted to see stick.
This reduced my roll significantly. Essentially to let a break go, your team stops pulling altogether because the last thing you want to do is use any of your effort to pull back a break you want to see go. So, you sit back and let everyone else waste their efforts. A nice side-product of this is you typically get fresher, but for whatever reason I was feeling terrible. Maybe it was just a longer crit or I made too many efforts early, but I just felt like hell. In any case, we did such a good job of letting the break go, they lapped us with 1.5 laps to go.
It was incredibly confusing and the last thing you want to do is interfere with the leaders in a sprint, so I took it easy, put in a little effort and simply finished with the pack in 19th. Peter ended up winning the sprint for 1st, so the team was rather happy afterwards.
For whatever reason today was extremely tough, but the more I think about it, the more its because of poor positioning. Starting from the front would have saved me some effort and given me a shot to jump into the break as these days breakaways seem to be more popular than field sprints.
Up Next: Elgin Road Race tomorrow...
Length: 35 Miles
Course: Fairly clean roads, just under a mile long standard rectangle, pretty good crowds
Blue Island, the first amatuer race of the 2 week long Superweek series, would unnofficially kick off the true cycling season in Chicago with Superweek, Chicago Crit, Elk Grove, and the state and national championships in a months time.
We arrived at Blue Island with around 40 minutes until the race started. Katie and I got everything together, started walking our stuff to the start/finish line and pop...my front tire began to deflate, not something you want to deal with just before a race (not to mention my tire pump exploded no more than 5 minutes before). A mad scrambled ensued trying to find a pump and anything else needed to change out the tube. Luckily SRAM neutral support had a tent with pumps that I could borrow. Fastest tire change of my life. All this meant was no warm up, but in a 90 minute crit you can hope to warm up during the race.
The race began, I was at the back at the start/finish line and stayed near the back trying to get warm for the race. In retrospect, it may have been too far back as the accordian effect of the crit seemed to start taking its toll more quickly than I would have hoped over the hour and a half. We had a few breaks jump off and quickly get reeled back in until two of our guys, Peter and Jacque, jumped into a new break of around 9 riders.
Having two guys in a break is a massive advantage. In the waning moments you can attack with one and force the rest of the field to chase. As soon as the chase reconnects, the other can attack forcing everyone else again to chase wearing out the field. So needless to say, this was a break the team wanted to see stick.
This reduced my roll significantly. Essentially to let a break go, your team stops pulling altogether because the last thing you want to do is use any of your effort to pull back a break you want to see go. So, you sit back and let everyone else waste their efforts. A nice side-product of this is you typically get fresher, but for whatever reason I was feeling terrible. Maybe it was just a longer crit or I made too many efforts early, but I just felt like hell. In any case, we did such a good job of letting the break go, they lapped us with 1.5 laps to go.
It was incredibly confusing and the last thing you want to do is interfere with the leaders in a sprint, so I took it easy, put in a little effort and simply finished with the pack in 19th. Peter ended up winning the sprint for 1st, so the team was rather happy afterwards.
For whatever reason today was extremely tough, but the more I think about it, the more its because of poor positioning. Starting from the front would have saved me some effort and given me a shot to jump into the break as these days breakaways seem to be more popular than field sprints.
Up Next: Elgin Road Race tomorrow...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Soldier Field Cycling #2
So it finally happened...
I crashed.
Dozens of races and even more near misses; I had always found a way to stay rubber side down. Today was different.
I came into the Soldier Field Criterium skeptical of the course as its in a parking lot and rumors swirled of a pothole-filled turns. It had rained most of the morning and the course was still moist, but nothing serious, so I decided to sign up and give the 1/2/3 race a whirl.
I rode the course hard in the pre-race and it was beyond managable, nothing too difficult. If a turn was too tight entering, it had plenty of space on the exit to make up for any worries. It wasn't a 4 square typical crit course, rather resembled more of the letter 'C' riding around the outside of the letter. Anyways, I had several teammates in the race with me and we decided to send waves of attacks at the field in hopes of having one stick.
So the race kicked off, my first 1/2/3 race, my first race back after California, and my first race after the dreaded Spring Prairie failure...and I felt awesome. We sent a few guys out on attacks and they were brought back within a lap or so each time. I noticed some people had already been dropped, but the pace wasn't difficult by any stretch, my training ride with Matt Neibler and Drew Kushnick the night before was infinitely harder. Lap 10 of around 55 came around and I felt great. An attack launched on the front stretch containing about 3 guys. I was up front, felt great, no teammates were represented in the attack, so I decided to do my share. I went with the break. I caught the break. I entered turn 2 just as I had entered turn 2 nine times before...
And I'm down.
My wheel had slid out from under me. My carbon pedals ignited sparks as I slid through the exit of the turn similar to how you would see an IndyCar wreck at Indianapolis, but in this case, the left side of my body was on the ground sliding out, not the underside of a car.
First thoughts:
1) "The pack's coming! Get the bike out of the way!"
2) "Is my bike ok? Did I break my collarbone? Is everything still in its place?"
3) "There goes the pack, I think I can still get in this race! Handlebar looks busted..."
Quick Bike Scan: I get up and think about rejoining the pack, look down and quickly recognize my handlebars look bent. Who knows what else could be broken...FAIL
Quick Body Scan: I hear the medical staff yelling asking me "Are you alright?!"...I'm numb at the moment with adrenaline...so I ask them.
I check the collarbone area and feel some slight soreness, but its certainly in the muscle on the front of my shoulder so I'm safe there. I look at and literally feel all of my joints and limbs as I still can't really feel anything yet (though I know its coming - this is around 10-15 seconds after the crash, just as the pack passed) and luckily everything's still in its place. No medical bills or time will be wasted at a hospital! Just simply a painful shower following: PASS
Full Bike Scan: I take a full look at the bike and the only thing glaring is the bent shifter and some severely torn handlebar tape. I spun the wheels in an effort to diagnose if I had bent a $1000 rim, and both spun true, thank god. After sitting down for about 30 seconds, I jumped back on the bike, shifted around, put a little effort into the pedals, and everything checked out fine. I was able to physically move the shifter back into its place and the bike looks good as new, hardly a scratch on the $4000 carbon frame. MASSIVE PASS
I always knew that I was going to crash at some point or another, and knew that I didn't have quite the backup plan if either those scans failed, but luckily my bike and I live to fight another day. It's the risk of bike racing and I think all the riders in that race gladly accepted it...we're racing in a parking lot with wet pavement for god's sake!
I felt far less disappointed with the Soldier Field Crit than Spring Prairie for one outstanding reason: I felt amazing. I could see myself winning in a 1/2/3 race. I was hanging on for dear life in the 3's at Spring Prairie, but was in a break with the 1/2/3's at Soldier Field. That's promising. If I had felt terrible and crashed out, that might be my breaking point in cycling, but I felt awesome and it has renewed my energy towards the sport. I didn't think that would be the takeaway after my first crash.
I met some nice people after the crash. Talked to two people who knew Christian VandeVelde in high school and even rode with him in his hometown of Lemont, they said he wanted to be a golfer at the time. Very cool. Also met someone named Carter on the ride home. He did triathlons and looked like a pretty decent athlete. He stated he may be interested in bike racing but was worried about crashing...I think my hands dripping of blood and my white underarmor and bibs now stained red my have deterred him no matter how hard I endorsed it...
Anyways, I'm fine, the bike's fine, and we're going to be riding today down lakeshore trail, just laced with some scratches and bruises for a change. In terms of my next race, I'm debating about the UWW road race this Saturday. It would be good training if nothing else. So, we'll see. It just means it'll be tough to watch THE START OF THE TDF! I'm pumped.
Until next time...
I crashed.
Dozens of races and even more near misses; I had always found a way to stay rubber side down. Today was different.
I came into the Soldier Field Criterium skeptical of the course as its in a parking lot and rumors swirled of a pothole-filled turns. It had rained most of the morning and the course was still moist, but nothing serious, so I decided to sign up and give the 1/2/3 race a whirl.
I rode the course hard in the pre-race and it was beyond managable, nothing too difficult. If a turn was too tight entering, it had plenty of space on the exit to make up for any worries. It wasn't a 4 square typical crit course, rather resembled more of the letter 'C' riding around the outside of the letter. Anyways, I had several teammates in the race with me and we decided to send waves of attacks at the field in hopes of having one stick.
So the race kicked off, my first 1/2/3 race, my first race back after California, and my first race after the dreaded Spring Prairie failure...and I felt awesome. We sent a few guys out on attacks and they were brought back within a lap or so each time. I noticed some people had already been dropped, but the pace wasn't difficult by any stretch, my training ride with Matt Neibler and Drew Kushnick the night before was infinitely harder. Lap 10 of around 55 came around and I felt great. An attack launched on the front stretch containing about 3 guys. I was up front, felt great, no teammates were represented in the attack, so I decided to do my share. I went with the break. I caught the break. I entered turn 2 just as I had entered turn 2 nine times before...
And I'm down.
My wheel had slid out from under me. My carbon pedals ignited sparks as I slid through the exit of the turn similar to how you would see an IndyCar wreck at Indianapolis, but in this case, the left side of my body was on the ground sliding out, not the underside of a car.
First thoughts:
1) "The pack's coming! Get the bike out of the way!"
2) "Is my bike ok? Did I break my collarbone? Is everything still in its place?"
3) "There goes the pack, I think I can still get in this race! Handlebar looks busted..."
Quick Bike Scan: I get up and think about rejoining the pack, look down and quickly recognize my handlebars look bent. Who knows what else could be broken...FAIL
Quick Body Scan: I hear the medical staff yelling asking me "Are you alright?!"...I'm numb at the moment with adrenaline...so I ask them.
I check the collarbone area and feel some slight soreness, but its certainly in the muscle on the front of my shoulder so I'm safe there. I look at and literally feel all of my joints and limbs as I still can't really feel anything yet (though I know its coming - this is around 10-15 seconds after the crash, just as the pack passed) and luckily everything's still in its place. No medical bills or time will be wasted at a hospital! Just simply a painful shower following: PASS
Full Bike Scan: I take a full look at the bike and the only thing glaring is the bent shifter and some severely torn handlebar tape. I spun the wheels in an effort to diagnose if I had bent a $1000 rim, and both spun true, thank god. After sitting down for about 30 seconds, I jumped back on the bike, shifted around, put a little effort into the pedals, and everything checked out fine. I was able to physically move the shifter back into its place and the bike looks good as new, hardly a scratch on the $4000 carbon frame. MASSIVE PASS
I always knew that I was going to crash at some point or another, and knew that I didn't have quite the backup plan if either those scans failed, but luckily my bike and I live to fight another day. It's the risk of bike racing and I think all the riders in that race gladly accepted it...we're racing in a parking lot with wet pavement for god's sake!
I felt far less disappointed with the Soldier Field Crit than Spring Prairie for one outstanding reason: I felt amazing. I could see myself winning in a 1/2/3 race. I was hanging on for dear life in the 3's at Spring Prairie, but was in a break with the 1/2/3's at Soldier Field. That's promising. If I had felt terrible and crashed out, that might be my breaking point in cycling, but I felt awesome and it has renewed my energy towards the sport. I didn't think that would be the takeaway after my first crash.
I met some nice people after the crash. Talked to two people who knew Christian VandeVelde in high school and even rode with him in his hometown of Lemont, they said he wanted to be a golfer at the time. Very cool. Also met someone named Carter on the ride home. He did triathlons and looked like a pretty decent athlete. He stated he may be interested in bike racing but was worried about crashing...I think my hands dripping of blood and my white underarmor and bibs now stained red my have deterred him no matter how hard I endorsed it...
Anyways, I'm fine, the bike's fine, and we're going to be riding today down lakeshore trail, just laced with some scratches and bruises for a change. In terms of my next race, I'm debating about the UWW road race this Saturday. It would be good training if nothing else. So, we'll see. It just means it'll be tough to watch THE START OF THE TDF! I'm pumped.
Until next time...
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