MSU/Michigan

Michigan State Road Race: The "Road Rampage" was as brutal as ever, with the 1.2 mile stretch of dirt road being the defining feature. The dirt stretch was relatively compact and stable, but there were a few large potholes and some "quicksand" to make it a nailbiter every time we pushed through it. Mark and Jordan saddled up for the C race, which fractured into several small groups after the first 4.4 mile lap. Jordan was in the main bunch chasing a 2-man break and solo chaser for the rest of the race. Mark was in a separate group a few minutes back. Jordan ended up taking third in the bunch sprint for an excellent sixth on the day, and Uncle Mark rolling in mid-pack. The As and the Ds were on the course at the same time. Marty and Josh both spent a lonely day riding most of their 18-mile race solo, learning not only road skills but some cross as well. Seth and I lined up for the 12 lap A sufferfest, and the attacks started the moment we hit the dirt. Headed straight for a huge hole, I instinctually bunny-hopped and just barely held it together. Seth was a few wheels back and did not have the same fortune. I heard the sickening crack of a carbon wheel, and when I didn't see Seth anywhere in the pack, I had a sinking feeling that he had gone down. By the third lap the course was neutralized around the area of the hole as a full EMS squad was out and Seth was on the stretcher. It turns out he faceplanted hard enough to crack his helmet, but after a day in the hospital, he was released with nothing more than some bad road rash and bruised ribs. We're all hoping for a speedy recovery so Seth can laugh and breath deeply again! My race was ugly, as I slowly wore down and dropped out just past halfway. I dropped out after nearly half the field already had, so it wasn't terrible, but nonetheless another failed road race.

U of Michigan Circuit Race: The 2.1 mile course whipped around the Engineering campus and featured a fairly steep hill that caused significant attrition in each race. Marty and Josh improved significantly in the D race, with Marty finishing further away from lanterne rouge, and Josh charging to a 26th place. Some more training and these guys will be spicy! Jordan again raced comfortably in the C bunch, and learned a few things about sprinting while cruising in for 8th place. That's 2 top 10s for Mr. Ross this weekend! Uncle Mark was fried by the hill and after flatting his rear just before the start of the race, he flatted his front on the last lap before the hill. Rough stuff, but Uncle Mark took it out on a Redamaks triple swissburger later that evening. I was riding solo in the A race, but Seth was at the top of the hill cheering me on. Poor positioning at the key point of the race left me off the back with about 20 minutes to go and I rode solo before getting scooped up by two other big boys, and we motored to the finish. I missed the points by one spot!! Given the caliber of the riders finishing in front of me though, I'm happy with the result and driven by the fact that I'm so tantalizingly close to having the fitness of truly elite riders.

Notre Dame

RR: The Notre Dame road race was a flat, pot-hole ridden course with a decent hill at the end of each 10 mile lap. The weather was pleasant and some great bike racing went down. None of this mattered because I am an idiot. A dumbass of the highest form. I left Mark and Josh standing in the UIC parking lot for 2 hours (from 5am to 7am) while I slept through my alarm. This meant they would miss their races. So instead of rushing to South Bend, we made the best of the situation and stopped for some Mickey Ds breakfast, where I ordered a big OJ. Fast forward 3 hours as we begin the neutral roll-out. It is at this moment 3 hours later as our race is beginning that I realize I haven’t peed since before our breakfast stop. The A race was to be 70 miles (~3 hours). 25 miles in and I was feeding a tree. Like I said, idiot. “Anyone who wants to be a can't-hack-it pantywaist who wears their mama's bra, raise your hand.” -Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez Seth was also at ND this weekend and came in a great 8th place in the A race. He rode hard up the Buffalo Rd. hill each lap and eventually jumped into a 4-man chase group late in the race. It was a long, long race, and Seth demonstrated that he is quickly returning to top form again.

Crit: The Rum Village criterium course was in the forest, subtly hilly, and wicked fast. Josh jumped into his first race as the sun was rising (sappy symbolism??). He started off strong, and rode in the lead group for quite a while, despite never having ridden in a race, let alone a pack, before. Uncle Mark was cruising in the Cs, but an early pile-up drove him low. As he was trying to escape the carnage, something slid in front him and it was another case of OTB. Mark was all good, with little more than some bruises and a broken cleat to show for it. Seth and I were ready to rock the A crit, and decided before the race that though the chances of a break getting away were slim on such a fast course, he would try to get in one and I would stick more with the pack and hope for a sprint. Our prediction was right and Seth made several moves to be in the break, though they were roped back. I made a strong effort to chase after the moves when Seth was recovering in the pack, making for a fast, fun race. I ended up getting boxed by a lead-out man in the dicey bunch sprint stuck in 5th gear, and Seth decided to play it safe and not contest the sprint. All in all a solid weekend for us in the As. Seth scored some decent points in the road race, and I sprinkled some on top from the crit. Nationals here we come!!!hahaha

Depauw

Road Race: The 8 mile loop around Heritage Lake was fast and hilly, with a brutal headwind down the start/finish stretch. Taylor’s D race was again marred by frustration when another rookie (this one rocking Zipps and a Cervelo..b/c obviously what you ride in the Ds will make you faster by at least a power of 3) took a corner at mach 2, lost it, and caused a pile-up with Taylor included. He was no worse for the wear, though hungry for some results after having good position twice now. In the Cs, Rutger “aka the Stache-man” finished as the lanterne rouge. No worries though, as this was his first race ever, and he missed the D start. So he held it together, took a C bib, and rode his race to completion. A tough first race for a fresh racer, but a learning experience nonetheless. Jordan and Mark also raced Cs, and after riding strong in the peloton, got tangled in a last lap crash. Jordan, an experienced cyclist but first-time racer, got initiated by going OTB and banging up his front wheel. Both of them got it together and cruised home for a mid-pack finish. Big Mig (Can) again showed his road racing prowess by taking some huge pulls throughout the B race, and then sprinted in for 4th in the brutally long final straight. I DNF’d the A race by trying to work at the front beyond my means and popping. The only postive was that I found my breaking point and can play it smarter next time.

Crit: Flat 4 corner crit with some bumpy corners. Pretty standard right?? Not with a blasting 30mph steady wind to make things interesting. Taylor and Rutger both lost contact with the main D field in a race, like the rest of the races that day, that was marred by attrition. Jordan and Mark again were looking strong in the Cs, but a mid-race crash (UIC rider who caused it shall remain anonymous) brought them both to the ground. After that, it was more or less game over. Big Mig held it together and stayed in the main field to make it through his race, making him the only UIC rider to finish that day. The A race was a disaster. The field blew apart quite early, leaving me in no-man’s land for a while. A chase group to the main chase group formed out of about 5 riders and we worked well together to get back up to the group of about 20 for a few laps. I got gapped on Turn 4, which was wet and potholed, as we were approaching the big group and I could not muster the courage to take it at speed. It wasn’t long before I was pulled and only another 2 laps before the big group we were chasing got pulled. 30 minutes into a 60 minute race, and only a baker’s dozen or so remained out on the course. Ouch.

Murray State

Murray State hosted the first race of the MWCCC season, and being in southwestern Kentucky, it was a huge draw for us up north to escape the cold for a few days. We ended up bringing terrible weather and bitter cold along for the weekend.

Road Race: Everybody survived the technical, fast 16 mile circuit with little fuss. In the Ds, Taylor survived through his first race ever, and is looking to develop steadily through the season as he gains experience. Mark was also looking to stretch his racing legs and made it through the ice cold 32 mile C race. UIC’s top performer on the day, Can, motored away from the peloton as a part of 2-man chase halfway through race. He eventually shook off his chase partner to finish sixth in the 48 mile B race. The 64 mile A race settled drastically after a break of 5 or so got away and the schools with the biggest cohorts were satisfied with its composition. Attrition was pretty high and entering our last lap a freezing rain storm dumped painful ice all over us. Chilled and excited just to get into some warm clothes, about 5 miles to the finish my rear tire blew out and I got swept up by the broomwagon (a nice lady from the local CB radio club in a minivan). Grr!

Crit: The criterium was amazing. Maybe about 5 others were in agreement with me on this, and many individuals and teams protested this race entirely. 16 corners. 2 hairpins. Water and ice. Well under a Km. Few races have been more technical than this petite monster. In the D crit, Taylor was riding top 10 for 2 laps when the guy in front of him bit it on a sweeping downhill turn. Taylor met the ditch, got terrible placement, and blew up trying to regain position. That’s racin’. In the C crit, Uncle Mark found a rhythm and avoided carnage to finish mid-pack, making him the only person to finish both races on the squad. In the B crit, Can’s powerful diesel engine couldn’t get any momentum with all the inconvenient turns the race organizers had laid out. Try as he might, his trailer forced him to make wide right turns in the name of safety so that his fragile cargo could be delivered. In the end, the course got the best of Can when his tire slipped off his wheel and he wiped out. Lining up for the A crit, I had not crashed in a race in ever in my short (<50 races) history. I had a solid clip-in and surged for the first corner. The guy in front of me obviously don’t watch NASCAR because he decided to brake while he was turning>>loses control>>regains controls by pushing off me as I’m bailing. After using the skin on my hip, knee, and ankle to come to a complete, comfortable stop, I took my free lap and got great placement. Just like the earlier crits of the day, the field blew apart very quickly and I spent nearly all of the race solo chasing down a slew of popped riders. Even after being lapped by the strong lead group of about 6, I rolled through the line in 12th, but it was a rough day for UIC.

Murray State Road Race

The first season of the race was in Murray Kentucky this past weekend. Season's average temperatures for Murray is around upper 50's, however we brought the cold with us. The morning of the race was 32-35 and rainy. After registration and warm-up, we started to line up behind Men's A, and Women's A racer. Our starts were given 5 minutes apart.

I couldn't clip in as fast so I started at the back of the pack, no problems though it was a neutral start behind the pace car. The real race started after the first turn. Right after the turn the group stretched and sit on a nice double file group. It was a small group compared to the other races of the day, probably below 20 riders. The race was 48 miles, 3 loops in a 16 mile giant loop, with one climb. We had warned by previous groups about the climb; 'definitely a small chain ring', 'maybe a quarter mile'. We completed the first lap uneventfully, couple of attacks but nothing to worry about. I actually used those attacks for my advantage and moved forward in the group. Before the end of the first lap be caught the Women's A bunch and passed them. When the second lab began I realized the the drizzling rain had stopped, now we knew the course so pace was a little bit higher than the first one. As I expected the main attack came on top of the big hill. I had no problem climbing it in the group's pace but I didn't have anything left to respond the attack, so I let the two riders go. Their teammates immediately blocked the group, I was thinking 'that's good now I can recover'. The road was as wide as three abreast, so no one could takeover the four abreast blocking riders for a while. After a hairpin turn other riders jumped to catch the break away. I was still trying to recover from that climb and nowhere close to attacking, and saw three more riders gone. But I wanted to move forward cause I know there would be other attempts the catch the breakaway. I didn't really see this happening but this was the only explanation I could think of: as I was accelerating to move forward the group was blocked again so I ended up riding away from it. Instead of slowing down to let the group catch me I decided to catch the guy in front of me. I shifted up, put my forearms on my handle bars, tucked into an aero position and start hammering, as I caught the guy in front I looked behind and saw the group far away. I let him stay on my wheel for a while then sat up so he could pull. He was a smaller guy, definitely not a diesel engine like me, and wasn't happy with the situation, chasing the breakaway. Only in a couple of minutes I heard him shouting 'Hey let's wait up for Mike', I turned back saw another guy trying to catch us. Mike was a bigger guy and as he caught us, he picked up the pace. When the second lap was over it was Mike and me. Before the hill Mike was telling me we were going above his threshold. Now come on, it is either your threshold or we are gonna get caught. I climbed the hill for the third time, Mike next to me, in the easiest gear and the slowest of three laps. On top of the hill, where the guys attacked 16 miles ago, where my lungs wanted to stop breathing, it started to rain again. I was trying to encourage Mike but he was cooked. One more mile and Mike looked back and said 'They are coming'. I had worked too hard, if I'd let them catch us I had no chance in the sprint finish. So did what I had to do, dropped Mike and time trialed into the finish just by myself, 6 more miles to go. Rain turned into snow, my legs were resisting to move any faster, snow flakes started to accumulate on my glasses. I was shifting into the highest gear downhill and trying to keep the cadance up uphill. At the long stretch before finish I looked back, they were still too far to catch me. I shifted up two more gears stood up while on the drops accelerated into the finish. I placed 6th after the five men breakaway.

It is probably the worst thing to say after a race 'I would have..., I should have...' but I would have jumped while the other three did to catch the breakaway and I shouldn't let them go.

The result is not bad at all, top ten finish in the first race of the season, probably some points. Good start!

ps. Photo is from Sunday's crit, no rain no snow obviously buy icy corners...