Peoria Cycling Classic/IL State Crit Championships

 Q narrowly missed the state jersey!! Q and I talked a bit before the race and put in a game plan with a couple options depending on what unfolded during the race. The ultimate goal was to get Q in the Championship jersey. He has the innate fitness. I would do what I could for him toward the end per our plan.
Well, he ended up in a pickle early on. I was carrying a second bottle with just water to dump on my head and back if needed. It was a pretty humid day and my buddy Sean who raced about an hour and half prior to ours told me you better carry a 2nd bottle. Boy did we need it! on the second lap into the race, Q rolls up behind me and says "Shawn! I dropped my bottle!!" I said ok, roll up to me. after a couple short straights we hit the long back stretch and I motioned for him to come get my spare. The bottle was about 2/3'rds full so it should help. I would have given him my only bottle if I needed to, the goal was for him today.
For the first 2/3rds of the race I monitored and rolled top 10, Q tucked in back behind me. The plan had me towing him to the front at a predetermined point if we were together and keeping a smooth wheel in front of him. If we weren't together then he was still to make that move and go with another wheel he knew. When the time for the move came there was an attack off the front and we were not in proximity of each other at that instance. Q did exactly what a smart racer must do, no hesitation and just GO! He moved straight to the front, shut down the attack and settled in top 5. Out of turn 7 up the rise on the final lap he unloaded and went for it! He held it all the way to the line only to miss the top spot in the state by a narrow margin! 2nd would be our finish!! Job well done Q!! And congrats to a smooth strong junior Trevor Rolette on his podium right behind Q!! And congrats to Kyle Selph of Tower Racing on the state championship win and top spot! You're marked ;-) As for myself, I rolled in for a pack finish, spent! Fast race!!

Race Speed 26.0
My Ave HR 187, Max 198  WoW!

ToAD Stage 3, Tour d' Grafton

Not too much to report after the 40 minute mark. We had 66 starters line up for the Cat 4/5 race. This race was 50 minutes. My longest of the season thus far. Wasn't sure what to expect out of my legs since I had only been on the bike once in the last 2 weeks due to life getting in the way of training/racing. Felt fine the first 35 minutes and then just started to crack. More mentally than physically I think. But the legs were definitely not feeling too good any more. Not sure if it was the 2 gradual rises each lap adding up or the idiots unnecessarily braking in turn 4 every single lap not allowing you to use any momentum up the rise immediately after it. Probably a combo of everything would be my guess. I'm certain the First Endurance pre-race mix and EFS system saved my butt for awhile!!
Race went well for about 3/4's of it, ran top 10 for the first 30-35 minutes until I started cracking and drifted into pack fodder. The last prime with 5 togo, 4 at the line, is what did me in. Honestly, I was only about 60% into it mentally. There's been a lot going on at work the last 2 weeks so my head has been out of the game, I needed this race to start to get it back into it though more than anything, which it did. I narrowly avoided the typical cat 4 knucklehead pileup on the main straight at the finish line in the middle of the race. Went OTB with about 4 togo. Just rolled it in the biggest gear I could muster. DNFL & DNGL so that was good. I did get some good practice with clean safe chopping (which a Cat 1 friend taught me, thx John M ;-), just didn't time them right and made some errors with holding the gained positions. I've come into fruition with art of moving up now. It was great to have Tim, Matt, Sean, and the girls there and to be able to spend a little time with J before having to head back home. The girls will be staying the rest of the week for the Full Tour Deal. Props to Brian Witry of SpiderMonkey for getting a podium taking 3rd. Finished 41st of 66 starters.



Race Speed 24.6+

On tap: Peoria Cycling Classic/State Crit Championships








Photos: Jonathan "Chip" Gray

Tour of America's Dairyland: June 17-27, 2010

I'm racing Tour d' Grafton tomorrow, gonna be a blast. I've done this race once before as a Cat 5 and its a great race, venue, and the town goes all out. This will be my first time as a Cat 4. I have quite a few friends racing throughout the day and one of my best friends races in the P1/2 Twilight race at 6 PM. Next year I plan on doing 4-5 days of ToAD!!

Tour of America's Dairyland: June 17-27, 2010

Wonder Lake Crit

Wonder Lake Crit 4s and 30+ 4/5s

Great course up near McHenry with a good sized little lake for the backdrop on the main straight. On the way to reg J and I met Brian warming up for his race. Nice to put a face with the emails and auto racing videos! The race is held all on pretty narrow neighborhood streets (except for the main straight), no curbs, lots of mailboxes on the edges though and a few ankle biting haybales. The local residents were great, some having chairs out on the driveway cheering on all the races. It had a bit of Winfield Twilight feel to the atmosphere.

4s
Started relatively uneventful. Talked with Greg before and he said he would try to make or get in a move and I told him I’d watch for it and try to control the front a little bit (the best I could do by myself). There were a few SCW and a decent number of P-met guys present so hopefully if Greg goes with something one of those teams will be with him. My usual MO is to take the first few laps getting a feel for the course in a pack and testing the different lines through the turns, which I did. After a couple laps I found myself on the front so I just chilled. As we were approaching turn 2, I hear Greg tell me to move right, so I did and he came around with a solo kit. I soft pedaled through turn 2 and they got a little bit of a gap. I was managing to keep it a little slow and was hoping Greg and the other guy calmly started drilling it. As the gap grew a little more before turn 3 I had several guys come over the top of me on both sides. They weren’t going to let it go anymore. Fast forward to 2 to go, the pace picked up out of turn 2 and I was on it. I grabbed Trevor’s wheel from SCW and kept other riders at bay trying to take it from me, he was on the wheel of another SCW, the third SCW was nowhere to be found. We were somewhere in the 5-10 wheel. Bell lap:
The pace didn’t really jump all the much at the line as it sometimes does. However, out of turn 2 the ramp up began, I ended up sliding back about 5 spots, lost Trevor’s wheel but didn’t panic, we had a long straight before turn 3. I knew I had to get into firing range by turn 3 exit at the latest. Moving up was a little tough, not too bad though. I dove in the inside of turn three with the SCW and we hit the throttle hard out of 3 and through the big sweeper that is turn 4. Just dug it as hard as I could to the line. I ended up picking off 2-3 guys from turn 4 to the line, which wasn’t easy as it was pretty much a downhill run to the line! Ended up 7th right behind the good kid from SCW at 6th.

Race Speed:
Ave 24.3
Bell lap 27.8

30+ 4/5s
It was cool to have J in the pack and at the line racing with us. I put much more credence on her lining up and doing this race with the men then that 5 girl pseudo-track race she rode earlier. That wasn’t a race in my opinion and holding onto the men as long as she did, getting lapped and grabbing the whip as we came by her on 3 to go is a better ability assessment. Anyway, this race was directly after the 4’s so basically I rolled around after the 4’s back to the line, J cut off the first number, switched bottles, and lined up. I have never doubled up let alone back 2 back so I was a little nervous of the fresh legs that were present. Pretty much just raced in the pack, floated around a little bit. I didn’t really come into this race with a whole lot of expectation seeing as this was new territory for me. I felt ok for most of the time, not struggle free but not hard either. Pace picked up decently on the 3 to go and again on the 2 to go. I felt I was going to pop any second but didn’t, really didn’t think I had much left in the tank, when I hit the final stretch I realized I actually had just a little punch left. It was, however, too late to do anything with it. I didn’t know that Brian was on my wheel the last 2 laps, I would have towed him to the front and dropped him off. Sorry Brian. Oh well, I learned a lot from the day especially that I can double up and even go back 2 back if I want! Finished 18th overall, 12th of the 4's

Race Speed:
Ave 24.5
Bell lap 27.5

Quad Cities Criterium, Memorial Day 2010

This is my favorite race of the year! Fast, technical and made for those that have the cahones and skill to corner at speed. LOVE IT! For 2 of the 6 years I didn’t touch the bicycle 2001 to mid 2007, I rode a crotch rocket (GSXR-1000 for those familiar with them) all through the twisties of the Colorado Rockies. This race is as close to that as I have ever done and I dig it through and through!! This race is in downtown Rock Island, IL on Memorial Day every year and this year was the 45^th edition. The whole town comes out; it’s a story on the local news the night before and morning of. It is the cover of the local what’s going on paper the entire month of May. Vendors are everywhere.

For the racers, this race is known as the “The Cage Match”. We call it this because the ENTIRE course is at minimum double taped off with police tape and a majority of the course and corners are barricaded off with heavy gage wire fencing attached to immovable objects and HEAVY barrels. The course is an 8 corner hourglass shape, a smaller square attached to rectangle. Hence, “Cage Match”

The race…14 laps for the 4’s

Traditionally, the riders are staged on the line according to their registration order, first reg, first on the line. Kind of cool, no other race weekend does this. I staged front and center, 3^rd registered. Shooting for top 5, then top 10 if can’t hit the top 5 mark. Well, off we go, I dive into turn 1 4^th wheel, moderate pace. First wheel decides he’s going to give it a dig to turn 2; no one wants to go with him and neither do I. Also, no one wants to be in front! That’s kool and the gang! I’ll set the pace for a bit, I had a good warm-up, I’m feeling fine. I simply decide to cruise at a pace that is comfortable for me but not too slow. After turns 5 and 6, no one is coming over the top of me so I settled in and decided to control it for a bit. I turned my focus on the solo rider about 30 meters up the road, he still had yet to turn his head around and look back. He was at distance that I could close at will at any time I wanted. I decided I was going to just let him dangle out there. Coming out of turn 7 at the end of the second lap, he stopped pedaling and looked back. He had decided he had enough and if his intentions were to cause others to burn some matches early, it didn’t work. As we crossed the line to start lap 3 a few guys started to come around, just as I wanted. I let 3 or 4 come by grabbed a wheel and settled in. Now the plan was to roll top 15 the rest of the race, watch for the burners to ignite on the closing laps and go with it, on the last lap jump between turn 6 & 7, and hold it to the line!

     On lap 7 to go, all that changed! I was coming out of turn 4 on Trevor’s wheel from South Chicago Wheelman (he and I had been with each other the whole race so far, a good kid and a good wheel to be with) just like the last several laps. I felt the rear come off the ground a little bit from the bumps, no worries right. Well, after the 2^nd or 3^rd little chatter bump kerPOWW!! 

Gunshot in downtown Rock Island!!! Not Really. Immediately I let up, rolled to the curb, let the pack go by, and started my way to the pit. I had to move quickly though because no free laps after 5 to go. I had to go from turn 4 to the pit and some of it was going to be down the crowded sidewalk. The pack started 6 to go just before I get in the pit. I get into the pit and they start looking for my wheels, the “best” wheel pit in the Mid-west can’t find my wheels! To the point they are asking me if I’m sure I had some in there…..ummm YA I do! Ok, wheels found! I throw on my spare wheel, lock the skewer, spin the wheel and it won’t spin. It’s in the drop out crooked. Put the bike as I’m redoing it a pit volunteer tells me ‘its ok you got time’ and Merrick (?) the official goes “no he doesn’t, there goes his free lap!!” as he pointed to the pack going by! Crap! Lock the skewer!! I got the weakest push EVER! The tail of the pack is going into turn 1! I’m officially chasing now.

What happened next is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced in a bike race ever in my life. The entire crowd along the street from the pit all the way to turn 6 was applauding me and cheering me on!! I caught on the back somewhere between turn 6 and 7. We hit the line for 4 to go, I had hoped to be able to get a breather for a lap or 2 but the burners just got lit and the heat was slowing being turned up. Pace is fast and on this course there are only a few places you can move up when the pace goes up. We hit the line for 3 to go and I’ve managed to gain about 10 spots up from the “whip”. At 2 to go, it’s a battle to hang on, bell lap is even harder! I’ve had no break since my chase back on and there is no way I’m getting to the front now. I roll in with the back of the pack. Post race I talked to my SCW friend about what was happening up front those last 4 laps and he said they were single file. He finished in 5^th. As for me, I finished 42^nd out of 52 finishers, 59 started the day I believe.

Race Speeds:

Race: 26.0

4 to go: 27.5

3 to go: 26.6

2 to go: 27.0

Bell lap: 25.2 (I sat up from turn 7 on in)

Melon City Criterium Elite 4's

    My first race of the Memorial Weekend Bike Races was in Iowa was in Muscatine, IA on Sunday May 30, 2010. Saturday was the 'Snake' and I won't do the 'Snake' again until I get the weight down. Melon City is a unique crit in its own sense. It is a much much harder race than it appears to be. It is in a park adjacent to a community college and nice little neighborhood. It is somewhat a climber’s crit in my opinion. Its no Snake Alley by any means but it still a tough one regardless of the Cat you race. No real sharp turns but is basically a race up and down a good size hill in a circle! The unique (and fun!) part is the ‘Speed Hump’ at the very bottom of the downhill that if you want to carry your speed into the climb you need to bunny hop. I assumed that we were jumping the speed hump between 30-35 mph based on feel. However, after downloading my Garmin data, I was jumping it at 35-40 mph.

    As for the race itself, it was pretty uneventful. I wasn’t much of a player in it after 3 or 4 laps and then was just struggling to stay attached which I did for another lap and then dangled behind the MOTO for a couple more before I was ‘officially’ OTB (off the back) and OOC (out of contention). From there on it was just finish it out. On the positive side, I held on longer than I did last year where I was way off the back the 2^nd time up the hill.