So there's been some good racing going down lately, and I've been fortunate enough to partake in some of it. Last weekend I raced in both days at Elk Grove, IL. The course featured 5 turns, with turn 1 being a 180. I was feeling good and able to race decently well on both days. On day 1, I raced aggressively, narrowly missing out on several primes, and unfortunately missed the break of the day. I spent the remainder of the race trying to bring it back so my teammates could finish well in the sprint. Well, I failed in this attempt and the break did stay away, but my teammate Mike ended up 3rd in the field sprint, netting him 8th overall and a cool 400$.
Day 2 was better, and worse. I again felt strong, and again raced aggressively, featuring in some breaks that I thought had a chance to stay away, but alas, didn't. I was able to score a 50$ and 300$ prime, so I had that going for me, which was nice. Towards the end of the race, the pace apparently took its toll, and I ended up in some strange split of what ended up consisting of roughly 20 guys. I just sat on the strong riders wheels, and none of us did much work, but the pack was content to let us ride away. I braced for what I thought would be the race winning move, and alas, it came with ~3 to go. Matt Busche of ISCorps (who's pretty darn quick on a bike) attacked and then pulled off going into turn 2. I wanted to keep the pace hot, and clipped my inside pedal, taking myself out. There were no more free laps so I ended up a DNF. Bummer, as it could have been a nice result for the team. It was also the second time in my racing career that a crash was wholly my fault, and I took another rider down, so I did feel bad about that (sorry Brian Jensen!).
This past weekend's racing was a little more low key. Saturday was my sponsor's hometown crit in Warsaw, IN. This weekend was miserably hot seemingly all across the Midwest, and Warsaw was no exception. The course had four 90 degree corners, and measured a track-like .45 miles in length. I ended up lapping the field, along with two Texas Roadhouse riders, two Nuvo riders (Adam Liebo of Marian fame among them) and one other Lot rider. A roadhouse rider attacked the field, and 6 of us (minus Liebo) again reestablished ourselves off the front of the race. It all stayed together in the break, and I was able to fairly easily lead Mike out for the win in front of the sponsors, as well as hold onto second place myself.
Today was a local race in Glencoe, IL. I didn't see any other Wildcats there, which was too bad as this was a pretty cool venue that was super close to campus. A rainstorm rolled through right before our race, which conveniently cooled down what had previously been an unbearably hot day, while not so conveniently making the last 45 degree turn much sketchier. I didn't feel so hot, but tried my hand in a few moves, and failed in a few prime attempts. Nevertheless, I followed ABD's Ryan Freund (of IIT fame) with ~9 to go, and we somehow got a (relatively) big gap, along with a Subway Pro rider and a LOT rider. Each rider was hesitant to do more than their fair share of work (especially the Subway rider), which caused us to unfortunately get swallowed up by the peloton with 1/2 a lap to go. Luckily, my teammate Mike was up front for the sprint finish as he always is, and came in a solid fourth. I stuck it out for 9th, and thus was able to contribute a little more to the winnings of the team.
So, there you have it. I'd love to hear from the rest of you about your summer adventures, so please do post to the blog when you get a chance.
-Will
No comments:
Post a Comment