Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Prairie State Cycling series presented by Sammy’s Bike Shop in St. Charles, IL




Last weekend was the inaugural Prairie State Cycling series kickoff event presented by Sammy’s Bike Shop in St. Charles, IL.  If you take a larger than life bike shop owner who is committed to his community and growing the sport of cycling and mix in a highly organized and professional bike race promoter you will get one of the most impressive first year racing and community events I have ever taken part of.  What’s even more impressive is that the volunteer manpower and much of the race prep work was all done by the brand new Sammy’s Cycling Club!  Hans Van Delft the clubs president and Sammy’s right hand man took this event and executed like only a seasoned club could.

The Sammy’s Elite Road Team had two goals our rookie year, win the P1/2 IL Cup and take over the podium for our own race. After checking off goal number one a few weeks ago the team shifted focus to this event. Once the event schedule was released I was pleased see that 3 of our 4 riders would have the opportunity to race in two events (this does not happen often for elite CAT2 riders). First event of the day for the team was the 50min CAT2/3 event followed by our full complement of riders in the 90min Pro 1/2 event.



As the race drew closer I kept a good eye on the pre-registration list keeping tabs on the riders in both events. About 3 weeks ago my jaw literally dropped open when I read over the list of Pro UCI teams registered for the Pro 1/2 event. The intelligent date set for our race was one week prior the Tour of Elk Grove a Chicago Pro National Racing Calendar event, aka one of the biggest, largest paying pro races in the U.S. our race just a week prior would be a perfect opportunity for these traveling teams to tune up before the main event.

After the bombs dropped in the p1/2 registration it was obvious our energy would be best spent in the 2/3 event. Dustin, Chris, and I entered the 2/3 race confident that all three of us were capable of winning this race and like all year would support our best positioned rider to do so.

The 2/3 race started as I thought, hitting 30mph on the straights and cornering around 23mph. I stayed toward the front rather easily for the first couple laps and tried to sort out the best lines around each corner. A few min down and 5 or so KS riders moved to the front and very obviously shot two riders off the front. I jumped around the block and closed the gap with in a half lap, Dustin saw this as a good place to attack and he went off the front with one other rider.

I poked around on the front as long as I could before the KS team felt it necessary to put in the work and pulled them back. As soon as Dustin was back and before KC could recover I decided to jump out on my own. I got a decent gap before I looked back to see if I had any riders coming with me, in hind sight I should have stayed on the gas hard to make sure the only riders that made it up deserved to be there.

6 riders made my wheel but only one who wanted to race, I knew this break would be my best opportunity to win and I was rather ticked that we had 4 turds in the group. Lesson #1 for the day, remove head from sphincter, talk to the other strong rider in the break and attack the crap out of the turds until they fall off and then make off with the non turds. Instead I drug out the inevitable by putting my head down and wasting precious matches that could have been used at a more opportune time followed by watching the group slowly catch our dysfunctional break. P.s. it’s ok to kill a break!  

Back in the group with 10 laps to go and I am starting to plot the next move as two riders with excellent TT legs go off the front. I wasn’t too worried since they didn’t represent large numbers in the group. With 4 laps to go, Dustin grabbed me, shot to the front and drilled it for 3/4 of a lap. I was slightly confused as to what he wanted me to do with 4 to go but if a teammate drills it for you at the front you seize the moment and hope your legs feel as good as Dustin hopes they feel.  Unfortunately, this move seemed to light the groups chase fire for me and the break quickly bringing me back and closing in on the break.

At this point I thought my cards had been played for the day, but then Dustin shot up the gutter with Chris in toe on the back side headed into the final turn. I quickly made it onto Chris’s wheel while Dustin killed himself to pull us up the gutter, just before the turn a few riders moved over hard putting me up against the curb and un-able to pedal and a small gap opened between Chris and I. That little gap is all it took to lose my position and free ride to the front. Fortunately, Dustin and Chris made it up before the turn and Chris was able to jump out and take 3rd on the line. It turns out the two man break had survived to the last 20 yards and one of the riders Gareth Reeves stuck it out and took the top spot, impressive.

Putting a Sammy’s jersey on the podium was the goal, of course the top spot was the aim but none the less we played our cards as hard as we could and the rest is racing.             



The Pro Race… (Abridged version)

It was obvious this race would roll at warp speed and if I was going to survive the full 90 min I would have to race SMART. The 4 UCI pro teams all had full squads to start the race including the newly crowned national champion. I have only had the opportunity to race at this level once before and I was retired early due to a dumb mechanical problem so I was determined to hang in and learn from these teams so I could return the favor to our local rivals down the road.  I spent the majority of the race in the last third of the pack I tried to move around as much as I possible to get a feel for the pack. A larger than usual break got up the road and nearly lapped the field which I find shocking because the field was rarely under 30 MPH, goes to show how much faster you can corner in a small group versus a 70 man field.

I ended up 33rd of 80+ starters and felt pretty good about the work I did and more importantly the work I didn’t do. Looking at my power file the next day I used approximately 20% less energy over 90 min averaging 28mph than I did averaging 27mph for 50 min. This is a clear picture of what sitting in vs. attacking means on your legs.

All that said and done I was still massively impressed with this event and want to thank my wife Corie, my family and friends who all came out to cheer us on and I want to especially thank Sammy himself for all the support he has shown this team.      

All the best,