Fall Fling Part 1

This past weekend the Fall Fling began with a crit Saturday and a road race Sunday. The Northwestern team was well represented both days with many new faces. Courtney, Scott, and I raced the crit which was an isolated oval with only one moderate corner. A heavy headwind on the back stretch did keep things interesting. I raced first with the cat 5's. The race was pretty uneventful until a prem let one rider develop a nice break and eventually won. I began the chase with 2 laps to get but was unable to get anyone else to take up the chase on the last lap. The field sprint passed but I managed to stay strong enough for 10th. Courtney raced women's cat 4 and worked well with her competitors to maintain a high pace and keeping a lead group of 5-6 riders. She sprinted for 2nd in the prem and 4th in the finish. Scott raced 1/2/3 but sadly Courtney and I weren't able to stick around and cheer him on.On Sunday the school was very well represented with veterans Hannah, Axie, Will, Ian, and Alex along with new racers Nate and Joe joining Courtney, Scott, and myself. This time the girls raced first with Axie's cat 3 girls racing with the Masters 50+. The race was fast and she did a great job of hanging with those crazy old guys to finish with the pack and the other girls. Hannah and Courtney had some drama in their race with a small crash dropping Courtney from the pack. Luckily no one was injured and Courtney rode hard to get back up to the next 3 laps to get back with the pack.
Will and Scott rode hard in an animated 1/2/3 race in which no large groups remained by the finish. Taking part in a break Will went out to an early lead. That break was caught but Scott took off with the next group. Will battled up to that break and the two of them kept in the mix to the finish with Will getting 4th and Scott just a little bit in back of him. With Ian, Alex, Nate, Joe, and I all racing cat 5 we were well in control of the race from the beginning. Ian and Alex fought hard to bring back the breaks. Nate did an excellent job of maintaining a top position for his first race. Ian had one scary moment when the rider in front of him pushed him off the road. Using his cross skills he kept riding and got right back into the field. I made a break for it on the last lap but no one was able to come with so I was out alone in a strong cross wind. Upon looking back after a stretch and seeing 3 riders on the front working hard to catch me, I decided it was better to sit up and take it easy. Ian, Alex, and Nate stayed with the top riders into the final stretch. I sprinted too early and ran out of gas but Ian and Nate finished in the top 10 of the field sprint. Joe took some time to adjust to racing with a large group but finished strong.

I hope Northwestern can bring an even larger group to the circuit race next Sunday!

Andy K>