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 45th 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, 3rd 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 4th 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!
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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 2nd or 3rd 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 5th. As for me, I finished 42nd 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)
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