Downer Ave & Tomasz Pac 100 Lap Race

The Tomasz Pac 100 Lap race was last Thursday which is a race I won last year and helped Randy win two years ago, so needless to say our team's done very well here. Nikos and Johnny got off the front real early and were able to hover at the back of the field for the majority of the race. As they got off the front, I went to the front of the peloton and set false tempo and just watched the gap grow from a quarter lap to three quarters of a lap incredibly quickly. I tried to get off the front probably a dozen times during the race after that but no one was going to let me go. Johnny ended up winning which is a great first big win for him and the third year in a row our team has won that event. It's nice to have won it once because I don't feel like I 'need' to win it anymore.

I went up to Milwaukee on Saturday for the Downer Ave Criterium which is part of the Tour of the America's Dairyland Series, one of the major racing series held throughout the summer in United States. The field was incredible. Daniel Holloway, probably the best criterium racer in the county was there with his team, Rashaan Bahati was there, a former national criterium champion, Jack Bobridge was there - a stage winner of the Tour Down Under earlier this year, as well as a lot of local pro teams and high caliber guys. The crowd seemed lined 2 deep the entire course, it was the most electric atmosphere I've raced in in awhile, such a cool experience. I felt great the whole race, never under pressure at all. With 2 to go I was in a great spot, with several of the who's who in the race right in front of me but entering the first turn of the last lap someone directly in front of me had to get on there brakes which caused me to have to as well and I lost a dozen spots. From there it was just a matter of hanging on which was good enough for 30th. Really cool race and I'll definitely do it again next year.

Tomorrow we're driving out to Colorado Springs for the week of UCI/NTC racing. Looks to be about a race a day so hopefully it'll be a fairly relaxing trip otherwise.

Festival of Speed & the Red Robin Finals

The two UCI & NTC races over the weekend were at Trexlertown (Festival of Speed on Friday, Red Robin Finals on Saturday) and drew an incredibly talented field to the velodrome. It seemed like looking around half the field had olympic, world championship, world cup, national championship palmares to their resumes. The major race on Friday was a 72 lap points race with sprints every 6 laps. I was able to steal a few points early when I was positioned well. Unfortunately, after I grabbed some points a serious move attacked which I was in no position to follow after having given a good effort and that move ended up lapping the field. Its a tough game to try to figure out what to do - if you don't take points anywhere you won't place well, but if you go after points and a big move goes, you will miss out on a great result. The race ended up being what I'd consider the hardest race I've ever done. With about 30 laps to go I was just trying to hang on and find points where I could relax. I ended up 12th in the event of about 30 guys and I believe the 6th American. Good experience.

With a big rainstorm quickly approaching the race organizers decided to move the important races to earlier in the day, starting them at 4:00pm instead of 7:30pm. This was incredibly good news for Katie and I as we cancelled our hotel in TTown and figured we'd just drive as far as we could after the races ended - we just had to hope we actually got them in otherwise they'd be rescheduled for tomorrow. Anyways I felt really tired for these races and just didn't have a whole lot of gusto for them. I finished 13th in the UCI scratch race which wasn't terrible, I just probably could have done better if I was 'on it'. Great experience racing in that caliber of field and glad to have gotten the races in. We were able to make it to Cleveland on Saturday night and were home midday Sunday. Looking forward to being home a little while!

Midweek Racing out East

Two track cycling events were held midweek - a Pro-Am at Trexlertown and the Summer Solstice track event held at the Wall Velodrome in New Jersey not terribly far from where I was staying. The Pro-Am had just about the same level of competition as the weekend races as many riders who flew in internationally for the week (who had probably nothing else to do during the week in TTown) showed up for a little track racing on Tuesday night. The night went relatively well as I placed 4th, 5th, and 7th in the three races I did. But the most fun I had was on the last race of the night which was a 50 lap Madison. I was able to find a partner and had a blast using the banking to get up to speed quickly and sling him in and out. We didn't do super well, but it was good experience.

On Wednesday I traveled down to the Wall Velodrome to check out another track. It's short-track auto racing track that certainly has its drawbacks for cyclists, but is otherwise a fine venue for a spot race here or there. I won all the races during the evening and had a good time sitting in the stands watching the other races with Katie and Rick (her Uncle). It was nice to also remember that you're not terrible at this sport after the challenges that racing with some of the best guys internationally pose. Fun time and they even gave me some martini glasses for winning! Worth it.

Fastest Man on Wheels

Tonight was another big Class 2 UCI event in Trexlertown called the "Fastest Man on Wheels". Katie and I made the drive out from Chicago on Thursday, stayed in Penn State in a surprisingly nice hotel from hotwire, and finished the drive out Friday morning.

It was blazing hot during the day and just before the race the heavens opened and a nice lightning storm hit. The track in TTown, unlike the track in Northbrook, dries up in about 30 minutes which was incredible. Racing started only a few minutes behind schedule.

The main event for the night was the 24km (72 lap) UCI Points Race with sprints every 6 laps. I put on a 49x13 and it was butter for the event (thanks to Marcus at YoJimbos for letting me borrow). I tried to conserve energy and I think it was for the best as I was fairly cross-eyed by the end of the race. However, I made the breakaway move of about 9 riders that stayed away until the end. I sprinted when I was in good position and let the points go when I was out of position. I finished the race good enough for 9th which means I scored a few UCI and NTC points. I also grabbed a 6th and 7th in the Super Sprint Elimination and the 5km Scratch Race at the end of the night.

Good night of racing and looking forward to spending the day in Philadelphia today with Katie walking around and sweating it out in the 90 degree heat.

What's Up Next? 6/7 Edition

The next week of racing takes me back out east for a series of UCI and Non-UCI races. Katie and I are driving out on Thursday and coming back that next Sunday. Anyways, here's the schedule:

6/12 - Fastest Man on Wheels (Trexlertown, PA) - UCI Points Race / Scratch Race

6/16 - Fuji Bicycles Pro-Am (Trexlertown, PA)

6/17 - Summer Solstice Track Omnium (Wall Township, NJ)

6/19 - Festival of Speed (Trexlertown, PA) - UCI Points Race / Scratch Race / Madison (Day One)

6/20 - Festival of Speed (Trexlertown, PA) - UCI Points Race / Scratch Race / Madison (Day Two)

US Sprint Grand Prix

Made my way out to TTown for the first of a series of UCI races over the next couple of weeks held there. The field was exceptional headlined by Bobby Lea as well as many international riders (Italy, New Zealand, Canada off the top of my head). The UCI Scratch race was intense but a great learning experience. First, 95 gear inches isn't enough - plain and simple. Second, which is something I should have played better, but, conserve your energy more - there are a lot of guys in that race that get paid to do what they do - it's on them to bring the race back when a move goes up the road. Several times I put in decent digs to inject pace to bring back little moves that I had a bit of panic about. There was a 4 lap sequence in the middle of the race where I legitimitely was spinning out of my 51x14 (180 avg hr, 113 avg cadence, 34.0mph during that stretch). I'm fairly certain thats the longest time I've been above 180 this year and to put that gear in perspective, usually it has to be a super fast race at northbrook for me to put that kind of gear on...it simply wasn't enough yesterday. I ended up finishing in the 2nd group as 11 guys got up the road. Although it sucks that I came home empty handed points-wise, it was such a cool experience and I'll come into next week more prepared (as well as hopefully less under-the-weather).

There were two more races during the night with the same field - A devil's scratch (MNO until 12 riders left, then 5 lap scratch) and a 3km scratch race. I ended up surviving the MNO portion and finishing 9th in the Devil's Scratch. Doing MNO's on a track like that is so much nicer than Northbrook - I feel like if nothing else you know they're going to call out the right person. The last race of the night was a 3k scratch race. I tried to maintain position and move my way up as much as possible (which isn't really possible). I followed what wheels futilely tried to move up on the outside until they died and the next came around. I swear the sprint started at about the 1.5 to go mark and whoever could just power through the long effort survived it. I ended up finishing 5th which I was pretty pleased about. Expectations change quickly when you know what you're up against.

Looking forward to coming back out next week!

What's Up Next? 6/2 Edition

So the road season unfortunately is coming to a close for me as track season gets fully underway. This was easily the most fun I've had racing my road bike in years. I think a lot of it was the success I had, but probably moreso the teammates I had racing with throughout the last few months. It's really got me thinking about my goals for next year and whether or not attacking the road heavier would be a higher priority. Regardless...that's a tale for another time. Hopefully I'll be able to spot race a bit here and there but to recap the season: 1st's at Glencoe and East Dundee, a 2nd in the Fox River Omnium, a 5th at Elgin, 2nd in the field sprint at Monsters for 8th, and 3 Top 25 finishes at Joe Martin with a loss of only 2:03 to the leader rounds out roughly the last month of racing. I would have taken that 20 times out of 10 if you took me back 6 weeks trying to figure out how I'd not get time cut in the 110 mile road race in Fayettesville on the drive down.

My main objectives for the year kick off Friday as I'll be flying out to TTown Friday morning for a 15km Scratch Race later in the evening. Hopefully I can score some NTC points there and get a jumpstart on the competition for the remainder of the year. Details on the races will be posted here.

Schedule
6/4 - Northbrook Velodrome - The Madison
6/5 - TTown - 15km Scratch Race (UCI / NTC)

Now off to kick this cold I got while racing in the rain at Glencoe. Worth it.

Glencoe / Cobb Park Weekend

Well it was another good weekend of racing albeit the weather put a damper on the festivities on Saturday. Maybe next year it will be gorgeous like it usually is and we can enjoy the night time activities in Glencoe.

Anyways, I won the Glencoe GP 2/3 race on Saturday. I stayed up front the whole race. On the last lap Ben LaForce came around me with about two thirds of a lap to go and got me in perfect position. On the final hill a Sammy's rider jumped and I followed assuming that was the train. I stayed there until the last corner and jumped and got the W. Here's the video of the finish.

Cobb Park was on Sunday and the field was incredibly stacked. There were several domestic elite teams there along with many of the top criterium riders in the country. I did a pretty good job of staying nearer the front as I figured splits in the pack would happen. With about 12 to go a big move got away with most of the riders teams represented. I jumped hard and bridged to it in what I'll call the hardest single effort I've ever physically done. I rested for a few minutes and it looked like the move was away. I was getting pretty excited about sprinting against some of the best guys around but alas somehow the group got brought back. On the last lap I went down and my race was over - just some minor abrasions and stiffness, so all good. Really good experience today in any event.