The Highs and Lows of Bike Racing: Memorial Weekend Races, Part 2

Quad Cities Criterium, Rock Island: The Low

This has been and probably will be one of my favorite races in the entire Mid-West. It is also notoriously one of my most unlucky races. If you’ve read previous race reports you know.

Turn 1, start of 1st or 2nd lap

The Mark of the "Cage"

Easy race report from my perspective, mostly its a crash report because once again in the 4s we have the Talladega “Big One” right as the race starts heating up. I should have seen this one coming though. I don’t know where my brain was at. I was here at Rock Island to win, period. I have the form to take this bad boy this year and I was going to win. Yeah I know thats pretty cocky but I could back it up! Race was going according to plan I was exactly where I wanted to be and moving into position as we were hitting the line for 3 to go, all cylinders were firing beautifully and ready to go deep. We come out of turn 8 and I’m moving up to position on the outside. Then I hear it start on the right side of me. Here we go, the big domino standard Cat 4 bunch crash. I’m hoping its far enough away that I can thread the needle and make it through. ALMOST, late in the crash sequence, a split second after I tried to accelerate to push through it, I get a wheel in my face. Nowhere to go, everyone on my right was on the ground, the guy that was in front and to the right of me is now heading to the pavement in my lane and his rear wheel is head high. I hit him, turn toward the cage, tuck my elbow and arm into my side, turn my face away from the cage and go into it. 

The most common comment I heard among observers from within the racing community “that’s the biggest crash I’ve ever seen!”  

My race is over. I get up and some dude is all tangled in my bike. I get him untangled, do the standard quick body and bike check. Flat front tire. I hear Kenny say over the PA that if anyone gets up and finishes that they would get placed. So I do that. I am pissed beyond words for couple reasons. One, I’m pissed that I didn’t move up immediately after the turn instead of hesitating and doing it halfway down the straightaway, so its ultimately my fault I was caught in this mess. Secondly, I should have seen this coming. When you have 17 juniors ( age14-16 in a race of 50+ starters, this type of massive crash is inevitable. I am all for juniors racing but this was ridiculous and too many Juniors were in wayyy over their head. This is flat out dangerous Cat 4. Success in this race had absolutely nothing to do with fitness and everything to do with luck. Each of the two laps prior to the “Big One” there was a crash and us veteran racers were already telling the guys to chill the F’ out and be smart and safe! But does that really register to 14,15, and 16 year olds? Answer: NOPE! And it really sucks for those of us who are trying to get upgrade points and get out the hell out of this Category. Crashing is part of racing bikes but this was a complete waste of a race and a joke because there’s a whole pack of kids in the race who can’t ride yet. Period.

Bike and skinsuit fine. Couple bruises and a cage mark on my shoulder, that’s it. Massive pileups like this will be common when you have this many low end Juniors in a race in an Elite race. If I sound a little bitter its because I am, if I sound a little pissed its because I am.

On Tap: Tour of Americas Dairyland. turning the pedals in anger....

The Highs and Lows of Bike Racing: Memorial Weekend Races, Part 1

Memorial Weekend Bike Racing

Well, this year we decided to deviate from our standard full Quad Cities weekend of Snake Alley, Melon City, and Rock Island. Instead, I opted to race locally at the ABD Masters Memorial weekend in Wood Dale on Saturday, take Sunday off, and race Quad Cities Criterium in Rock Island which is one of my favorite races of the season even though I notoriously have bad luck there. This year was no exception.

ABD Masters Weekend: Saturday, Part 1, "The High!"

I won’t lie, I was a touch nervous going into this race, excited at the same time as well. This was going to be a little bit of a test for my fitness and see how long I can hang. I was racing the 30+ Open, I knew going in there was going to be few serious Mid-West gunslingers on the line. And there were. The likes of Erik Tomlinson (my friend and cat 1) who won it last year, my boy Tim “Quadzilla” Henry from my team, Wayne Simon, Ryan Zook, Scott Pearson….you get the flow.

The course has a small rise out of turn 3 up to turn 4, the last corner, then a downhill run to the line and a big sweeper to head back to turn 3. Fast and very fun course on good road surface, this could easily become a favorite of mine.

Myself, Tim, and Chris Soltis line up for this race. Mitch was there racing the Masters 4s looking like he's been riding a bit, and MIA Andy is no longer MIA, but present and racing. Racing well as he usually does I might add. It was really nice to see those guys.

When you are nervous going into a race, one of the things that helps keep it in check is to have a simple plan, that makes it easier. My plan was to roll in the pack with a little sliding room if I needed it, and finish with this high-powered pack. The radar doesn’t look too hot but I go and get my number anyway, I don’t have issues racing in the rain (in fact I can hold my own pretty well in the rain), just not a big fan of warming up and standing on the line in the rain. I warm up on the north course, just enough to wake the legs up knowing I was headed into 50minutes with some fast guys. On the line we have about 40 of us, give or take. Somewhere between 10-15 minutes in the sky opens up and never stops again. We take off and head around the course, I settle into a spot in the middle. As soon as we hit the line to complete the second lap, BOOM! Here come the attacks. No playin around with these guys. Nothing like the Cat 4 races I am stuck in right now. When these boys attack….ITS AN ATTACK, guys snake all across the road covering and the entire pack goes single file. Not just the first 5-10 guys like the 4s. I was actually able to jump on one attack that came up the opposite gutter so I swung over hard and fast to grab onto it, you never know. I jumped around a few guys that were a little more timid in the wet corners that was necessary for me. They seemed to be ok opening and closing a gap every time through the sweeper. I wasn’t willing to expend the extra energy. I was holding on well, about 40 min into the race I rolled up beside Tim to offer a ride to the front now, because I still didn’t know just how fast this thing was going to get but I knew it was coming soon. Soon as I got next to him, bam, pace goes up and I have to settle in. I could just hear Tim inside his head when I rolled up “OH SNAP, look whos here!” haha

I hang on just fine. We hit the bell lap, I hang in there with pace increase and get a pack finish, actually placed in front of a few guys. Very successful race for me, it gave me a little more confidence that I can hang in 50minute race with a little hill and 27mph ave speed with the some heavy hitters. I think I might have been the only Cat 4 in the race. I’m hard pressed to think of a race that I have had more fun in.