6 of the Chicago boys raced the Cherry-Roubaix races in Traverse city this weekend. Brian and I from get a grip and Newt, Luke, William and Liam from xXx racing. Newt hooked us up with a condo/lodge type place a few miles out of town. The weekend forecast promised lots of showers. Brian and I drove early friday to check out the road race course, of course it was hurricane outside but we gave it a go anyways.
Saturdays race was a 6 corner downtown criterium with a large section of pave. The day was horrible, rain all day long. By the time our race came things were completely soaked, and the day separated the men from boys... the boys stood on the side and watched the men race. The race starts and people get used to taking corners at speed, not brian. Brian comes from a mtb background so hes got the technical skills and made an early break with york and another guy. They held it to the line and Brian took 2nd in the sprint, I got 8th. Chicago took 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th on the day. Not bad for a field of 35.
Day 2, an epic 5 lap 60 mile course with as much climbing as any sane person could ask for. A break of 4 got up the road after 3 laps containing brian and luke. another lap later a bridge came from a shattered field up the s/f climb and 5 more joined on including myself. This group made it to the finish together (losing brian due to cramping). this was a really disappointing race because the course suited me well but was a little longer than what ive been training for. i havent been putting any long rides in this year especially the last couple months and i could feel it on the final lap. lap 4 i felt as strong as anyone in the break and confident i had a good chance at winning but lap 5 i began really struggling on the climbs and killing myself to stay with the group. By the time we got to the final climb I had nothing left, I told luke he was our only shot... i had nothing. i made it up the climb in 7th a good 15 seconds or so behind the rest of the group.
and thats the season... half ironman under 2 weeks away !!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
since last time...
Elk grove was very very hard. I had a 300 watt average for the race after tried many breaks... nothing had a chance. The sprinters owned this race from the start with all the primes offered. I finished by coasting in with the pack. After this one Brian Tim and I watched the domostic pros including flandis and mr. horner duke it out for their 98 mile race as we hung at the tent with beers in hand. I wish somebody told me how much more enjoyable this was than actual racing.
The Downers Grove course suits me fairly well as its not a pancake like so many other crits in the area. I tried for a prime about 15 minutes in and got nipped by inches then after another 15 minutes tried to get into a break but this race was owned by the sprinters too and i coasted across the line in the pack after a sketchy final corner i took it easy up the finish just happy to be upright.
Time to take it easy for a bit and get some swimming and running in so I don't embarrass myself too much for the half ironman and of course so cousin jeff doesn't beat me.
Upgrade pending...
The Downers Grove course suits me fairly well as its not a pancake like so many other crits in the area. I tried for a prime about 15 minutes in and got nipped by inches then after another 15 minutes tried to get into a break but this race was owned by the sprinters too and i coasted across the line in the pack after a sketchy final corner i took it easy up the finish just happy to be upright.
Time to take it easy for a bit and get some swimming and running in so I don't embarrass myself too much for the half ironman and of course so cousin jeff doesn't beat me.
Upgrade pending...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Superweek and Chicago Crit
Last Thursday I tried my hand at another superweek race after the success of the lakefront road race. Athletes can be pretty superstitious, and what the heck I wasn't going to mess with success so I tried to mimic my morning from the lakefront race as much as possible. Breakfast at wildberry, no socks, no sleep, etc... The course was about a 1 mile crit which we did 30 miles of. The series leader (Marc) was at the race and I knew he was one of the key guys to watch if I was going to do well.
The race started and a few laps in Marc took off and I was the only one who went with him. We were away for 10 or 15 seconds only, the field would never let him get away. After about 8 laps a group of 8 got up the road and I saw it was a well represented break so the next lap I took off on the hill dragging a couple guys and we made the bridge. Geoff from leadout took control of the group and got us into a good rotation and gaining time on the peloton (which marc was in). Most of the group worked while some guys sat, we ended up gaining a lot of time on the pack and after dropping a few went to the line with 7. I managed to get myself in the 4th spot coming toward the winding finish line and sprinted first, with no one able to catch on soon enough!
Fast forward to yesterday and we have one of the biggest races of the year, the chicago criterium. This was its 2nd year being run, and my first crack at it. We had 7 get a grippers in a field of over 100. The race was very fast, about 27 mph and with no hard sections to really break up the group. There were a bunch of prime opportunities and even some that rewarded the 2nd guy across the line. I went for a couple and got one of them for $50. No breakaway really had a chance with the field pushing so hard until padfield snuck away with 3 laps to go. Get a grip got to the front in an effort to block and nobody in the field knew what to do or wanted to waste energy doing it.
Eventually burnham and team leadout with some help from others did a hard chase and closed the gap with under a lap to go. Right before the last corner things got tight while I was sitting in 8th or 9th place and a team leadout rider went down, I was immediately behind him slammed on my brakes and rode over his bike and flipped over my handlebars at close to 30mph. Somehow there was no serious damage and even the road rash was pretty minimal. The bike however got smashed hard and the handlebars jackknifed into the top tube on the fall and put a good ding in there. No finish for me, oh well but I got to do the whole race so overall a good experience.
heres an epic photo from ed white http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewwhite/3761347148/sizes/o/
Oh and one more thing, when racing in the city, park somewhere where you can ride to the race because $25 parking garages for a couple hours are no fun.
The race started and a few laps in Marc took off and I was the only one who went with him. We were away for 10 or 15 seconds only, the field would never let him get away. After about 8 laps a group of 8 got up the road and I saw it was a well represented break so the next lap I took off on the hill dragging a couple guys and we made the bridge. Geoff from leadout took control of the group and got us into a good rotation and gaining time on the peloton (which marc was in). Most of the group worked while some guys sat, we ended up gaining a lot of time on the pack and after dropping a few went to the line with 7. I managed to get myself in the 4th spot coming toward the winding finish line and sprinted first, with no one able to catch on soon enough!
Fast forward to yesterday and we have one of the biggest races of the year, the chicago criterium. This was its 2nd year being run, and my first crack at it. We had 7 get a grippers in a field of over 100. The race was very fast, about 27 mph and with no hard sections to really break up the group. There were a bunch of prime opportunities and even some that rewarded the 2nd guy across the line. I went for a couple and got one of them for $50. No breakaway really had a chance with the field pushing so hard until padfield snuck away with 3 laps to go. Get a grip got to the front in an effort to block and nobody in the field knew what to do or wanted to waste energy doing it.
Eventually burnham and team leadout with some help from others did a hard chase and closed the gap with under a lap to go. Right before the last corner things got tight while I was sitting in 8th or 9th place and a team leadout rider went down, I was immediately behind him slammed on my brakes and rode over his bike and flipped over my handlebars at close to 30mph. Somehow there was no serious damage and even the road rash was pretty minimal. The bike however got smashed hard and the handlebars jackknifed into the top tube on the fall and put a good ding in there. No finish for me, oh well but I got to do the whole race so overall a good experience.
heres an epic photo from ed white http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewwhite/3761347148/sizes/o/
Oh and one more thing, when racing in the city, park somewhere where you can ride to the race because $25 parking garages for a couple hours are no fun.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Unprepared to win
pic by John WilkeToday I raced the Lakefront Road Race, superweek's 7th race. Usually I'm a little unorganized going into races but today was really over the top. I left my house and 9 and got to the race in plenty of time... so far so good. When I got there I realized I didn't have cash so I had to pay by check, extra fee = $46 to race. I forgot socks so I raced without any (gross), I had a flat front tire so I went to the neutral start to be told like a 5 year old to bring a tube until they finally felt bad enough for me and helped me out. I thought it was a crit so I brought only 2 gels and a skinsuit, and to top it all off I had only 3 hours of sleep. Not too condusive to having a good race... but somehow it worked.
The course was a 2.2 mile lap which we did 23 times totaling 50 miles. It started with a 30 second winding climb then at the top it took a near 180 and was fairly flat with a slight rise to the downhill which was snaking and technical to a 90 at the bottom where the wind hit you in the face for the long finishing straight. The race started off fairly easy with a lot of people attempting to break away but nothing stuck. With 18 laps to go 3 guys got up the road and got themselves a 35 second lead. I knew the break had a chance as nobody was chasing it so the next time on the climb I attacked hoping to get a couple guys to come with to bridge up... nothing. I was in no mans land 10 seconds ahead of the break and still too far to bridge solo. I didn't care anymore so I just went for the break. After 2 laps of chasing, slowly but surely I caught one guy from the break who was just dropped and we worked together for a few pulls. As the 2 leaders were only 10 seconds away on the hill I gave it a good push leaving the guy behind and I soon caught them. After a short rest I jumped in the rotation and the 3 of us worked really well together.
For the 17 remaining laps it was probably as close to sharing an equal workload as you could have asked for. We all knew our strengths and pulled hard on different spots on the course to keep our gap. The peleton got close at one point and after that effort the gap started growing again up to almost 2 minutes. There were attempts off the front but nobody caught us so we went to the line together. I knew I had a decent sprint as long as there wasnt a pure sprinter in the group so I took off at about 150 meters and when I looked up I was the first one accross the line!
Friday, July 10, 2009
2nd half of the year
every once in a while i go to the velodrome for intervals, today was as perfect as a day could be.
I've been able to get an awesome first half of the year in (arizona, california, new team) but there's still plenty left. no great results yet to speak of (a couple 4th's) so im hoping that with all the crits coming there will be some good news around the corner. After taking a look at the next few months I've selected some key races and will fill in others as time comes closer. I'm always excited about the august illinois crits but am really looking forward to the 2 tri's planned after that. September is a half ironman in minnesota with my cousin jeff. i still don't swim but as soon as downers grove is over i swear im gonna practice. the other tri im really looking forward to as well, it's the kickapoo dam triathlon which is done by paddling the first leg with a teammate (my dad), then breaking off and riding 14 miles followed by running a 5k. they should provide a good mental break from riding the pizza cutters every day.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Recap sunday
After Saturdays road race Chris and I both knew we had 2 fun days of racing in and realized we had one more in the morning. The thing was it was only going to last about 20 minutes... and it did. The circuit race was 4 laps around presque isle which is exactly 2 miles around. With such a small race in the morning we decided to have a few drinks which led to quite a few more and before you knew it we were both drinking all night long. When morning came we did our regular prep of oatmeal (no coffee this time) and headed over to the race. One of the best things about this whole series was that we could ride to every race in 5 minutes from Garrett's.
Anyways the course consisted a small flat section a big hill and gradual downhill and a couple sharp fast turns into the finish. Going up the hill I attacked and got into a break of 5 which was looking strong for a lap but at that point people stopped rotating and crossing the line for lap 2 we were reabsorbed with the pack. At that point Chris made a brilliant move and attacked, with one other guy he stayed away from the pack for the remaining 2 laps and out muscled his break partner for first. This put an awesome cap on a really fun weekend!!
Anyways the course consisted a small flat section a big hill and gradual downhill and a couple sharp fast turns into the finish. Going up the hill I attacked and got into a break of 5 which was looking strong for a lap but at that point people stopped rotating and crossing the line for lap 2 we were reabsorbed with the pack. At that point Chris made a brilliant move and attacked, with one other guy he stayed away from the pack for the remaining 2 laps and out muscled his break partner for first. This put an awesome cap on a really fun weekend!!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
BikeFest thru saturday
Fridays crit was, as expected, another awesome event. The cat 3 race fielded between 35 and 40 racers from Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. The race was pretty hard and we lost about half of the field before the end. My goal from the start was to get into anything that looked threatening and if the race came to the line together to hit the base of the hill in first and try to hold it to the end. I ended up hitting the hill in 3rd and finishing in 4th after getting passed by 1 half way up.
Saturdays race was the State Championship road race and was the typical sbf 55 mile race which starts by climbing the mountain. The race stayed together for the first 20 miles on the way out and once we turned at gwinn the attacks started coming. A bunch of attempts were sucked back in and eventually a decent one of 3 started drifting up the road. The break sat anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute ahead of the peleton and was well represented by the 3 largest teams. The break managed to hold it to the end, big props for that, and took 1,2,3 leaving the field to vie for 4th place. I took 6th in the sprint for a 9th overall.
Tomorrow is the circuit race, 4 laps around presque isle's hilly loop. I have no idea where i stand overall... 5th maybe? Tomorrows race update to follow.
Saturdays race was the State Championship road race and was the typical sbf 55 mile race which starts by climbing the mountain. The race stayed together for the first 20 miles on the way out and once we turned at gwinn the attacks started coming. A bunch of attempts were sucked back in and eventually a decent one of 3 started drifting up the road. The break sat anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute ahead of the peleton and was well represented by the 3 largest teams. The break managed to hold it to the end, big props for that, and took 1,2,3 leaving the field to vie for 4th place. I took 6th in the sprint for a 9th overall.
Tomorrow is the circuit race, 4 laps around presque isle's hilly loop. I have no idea where i stand overall... 5th maybe? Tomorrows race update to follow.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Holding off the rain
Saturday after work I quickly drove an hour south to a small town called Winfield. I was going to try the ABD directed Winfield Twilight criterium. The atmosphere right away was better than most races. The course was nothing like a monsters or vernon hills but included a nice gradual climb of maybe 5% followed by many tight 90's decending into a left hand turn to the finishing straight. I think this course is what my body was built for: a crit, technical and with a repetitive annoying hill thrown in for good measure. The catagories were split up a bit different than usual and the field was 2/3 combined.
We had 5 get a grip guys in all, chip, chris k, chad, dave and myself. to spare the boring race details, i missed a prime by a couple of feet because i race wayyyy too conservative. and i was alone for 2 laps, with about 7 to go and couldnt hold as fruend and janowiak came by when i was drifting back towards the pack. i coasted across in 11th of a field of 46 and considering the field i wasnt too upset.
afterwards at the top of the hill a bunch of houses were grilling out with food for the racers, i had a couple hot dogs, pasta salad, a cupcake it was pretty neat and made the $35 entry fee well worth it. after doing this race and experiencing the course and atmosphere i would definitely put this race into my top ten... that list coming soon.
heres a shot of the p/1/2 field and the tents at the top of the hill
We had 5 get a grip guys in all, chip, chris k, chad, dave and myself. to spare the boring race details, i missed a prime by a couple of feet because i race wayyyy too conservative. and i was alone for 2 laps, with about 7 to go and couldnt hold as fruend and janowiak came by when i was drifting back towards the pack. i coasted across in 11th of a field of 46 and considering the field i wasnt too upset.
afterwards at the top of the hill a bunch of houses were grilling out with food for the racers, i had a couple hot dogs, pasta salad, a cupcake it was pretty neat and made the $35 entry fee well worth it. after doing this race and experiencing the course and atmosphere i would definitely put this race into my top ten... that list coming soon.
heres a shot of the p/1/2 field and the tents at the top of the hill
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Duluth Classic 2009
Thursday night, Padfield, Brian and I met at steak and shake where Brian (the guy who doesn’t eat fast food) had just finished off a double bacon cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake. We loaded up, I feel like we had enough bikes to be a small pro team, 3 of us X 2 bikes each, a roadie and a tt. We drove up to Madison to get a couple hours out of the way before the long drive in the morning.
Friday morning we enjoyed the continental breakfast offered at the econo lodge and went on our way up north. We arrived in Wrenshall, Wisconsin, the site of the time trial, at about 2:30… we didn’t go off until almost 7. We went inside the unmarked building I remembered from last year and saw a couple people from the race stunned to see racers there so early. There were a few others ready to sign in too since they went off at 5:30. They told us to come back later so we went and drove the course to check out what would be dishing the pain for the next 30 some odd minutes. Eventually we got checked in and we chose our camping spot for the next 5 hours. We picked a luxurious parking spot which offered an adjacent grassy area with both sun and shade. I got out the stand and started setting up my tt bike with the power cable and a few other odds and ends I needed to do to get the bike ready as it pretty much hadn’t been ridden since the same race last year. Chris and Brian, much more prepared with their equipment all set to go, laid out and took naps in the sun. As our start times neared we changed and began warming up. Brian was first up, he was on Kevin Corsello’s (G-a-G owner) tt rig, a custom carbon and ti Serotta with 808s and a zip cockpit... lets just say it wasn’t a piece of crap. I was a few minutes later with Tony being my 30 second man I knew it would be a hard challenge to catch anybody. Last of the team was Mr. timetrial himself chris padfield. As expected he lit up the field with the only time sub 37 minutes. Brian was a bit of a wildcard being a mtb’er and came in an incredible 2nd only ~10 seconds behind padfield. I didn’t touch their times but put in a solid effort for just under 39 minutes for 17th place. After the race we drove to our host house, where we stayed with some college girls for free… not a bad deal.
Saturday morning the results were posted from from the tt and it was confirmed we were going to be the target of the others teams attacks as we were holding the 2 top spots. Saturdays race wasn’t a really exciting one. It was 3 laps of 17 miles on a course that didn’t have anything to help separate the field. We patrolled the race really well and let a couple of guys lower on GC sneak away to snag some bonus seconds toward the end. We questioned other teams tactics when we saw numerous downhill attacks which quickly got swallowed up by the field. A racer not far behind padfield put in a good effort and unfortunately took the field sprint and the 10 bonus seconds that came with it, moving him to a dangerously close 7 seconds from Chris. The worst part of the race which we didn’t find out until the results were posted was the 30 second time penalty given to Brian for crossing the center line, we tried to talk to the lady official who posted it but she wasn’t having it, its ok Padfield walked in on her changing. With a big boy stage the next day we went to our favorite burrito union for the 2nd time in two days to refuel. That night we did our usual of compression tights (padfield), elevated legs (brian and I) mixed with lots of relaxing and drinking water.
Sunday was the 2nd most crucial stage of the race (after the time trial of course). It was 5 laps of a 12 mile loop with a 1km leg burner 10% climb that lead to the s/f and rollers throughout most of the rest of the loop.
After the first lap, a break of 3 (lower gc guys) went away on the hill and gained up to 3:30 on the field. The entire race Brian was putting in monster pulls to keep the peloton moving along. The gap slowly decreased with attacks from the group and then the serious work took place when two Brone (2nd on gc) domestiques and both get a grip domestiques (brian and i) worked together to real the group back. Another high gc guy took off as the 3 were down to less than a minute but the 4 at the front quickly shut the group down with 1 lap to go. I turned around for the first time just after the start finish with 1 to go and realized the group that started with over 40 racers was down to about 25. A few other attempts were made on the final lap, 1 of which stuck and worked in our favor as he ate some of the available bonus seconds. The main field crossed in little groups with chris and I in the pack 4 seconds behind the solo guy. Brian, content after all his work, took it easy on the last hill and came in with the next group at 13 seconds. All in all a good stage as some people were finishing 10+ minutes back and Chris retained the jersey to fight another day. For dinner we were looking to carb up. We tried to support the local economy but I guess the local economy took a break as the restaurant was closed. Instead we drove a bit out of town and hit up an olive garden where each waitress was required to wear a topsie turvy with a 4inch hair lift.
The final morning began at 6:30, we left some biciclete wine and a card for our gracious host, Juliana and left with a full car to the criterium in Cloquet, Minnesota. The stage was new from last year. The course had 1 fast and technical turn right after the s/f line and 1 short kicker roughly 150 meters long with a hard right turn at the top that lead into the finish line. The race was so close that there were two guys in contention of the gc that by taking bonus seconds for a top 5 in the crit would win the overall. We let a break go with about 18 laps to go that didn’t consist of one of these guys. With 3 laps to go brian lead up the hill and then chris took off at the top making a run for the stage. The brones team domstiques immediately chased as their guy was close in gc and could win it all with a top 5 finish. Chris was caught with 2 and a half laps to go and immediately the brones leader attacked. While Chris was getting caught Brian and I both yelled to him to hop on the attack but it came from behind and he missed it. I jumped on brones’ wheel as he broke and followed him around for a lap. Immediately brian then went to the front of the pack and gave it everything to close the gap. He did with 1 and a half to go and brones was sufficiently tired. The solo break stayed away and the rest of the group (that didn’t get dropped) came into the line hard and together but neither of the two important gc guys took a spot in the top 5 meaning padfield held on to his gc victory by an incredible 1 second!!
The race could not have been any closer and the last stage was a tough effort that showcased a lot of teamwork. We received a lot of complements for our racing for the 4 days. I was really proud to wear the Get a Grip jersey.
Friday morning we enjoyed the continental breakfast offered at the econo lodge and went on our way up north. We arrived in Wrenshall, Wisconsin, the site of the time trial, at about 2:30… we didn’t go off until almost 7. We went inside the unmarked building I remembered from last year and saw a couple people from the race stunned to see racers there so early. There were a few others ready to sign in too since they went off at 5:30. They told us to come back later so we went and drove the course to check out what would be dishing the pain for the next 30 some odd minutes. Eventually we got checked in and we chose our camping spot for the next 5 hours. We picked a luxurious parking spot which offered an adjacent grassy area with both sun and shade. I got out the stand and started setting up my tt bike with the power cable and a few other odds and ends I needed to do to get the bike ready as it pretty much hadn’t been ridden since the same race last year. Chris and Brian, much more prepared with their equipment all set to go, laid out and took naps in the sun. As our start times neared we changed and began warming up. Brian was first up, he was on Kevin Corsello’s (G-a-G owner) tt rig, a custom carbon and ti Serotta with 808s and a zip cockpit... lets just say it wasn’t a piece of crap. I was a few minutes later with Tony being my 30 second man I knew it would be a hard challenge to catch anybody. Last of the team was Mr. timetrial himself chris padfield. As expected he lit up the field with the only time sub 37 minutes. Brian was a bit of a wildcard being a mtb’er and came in an incredible 2nd only ~10 seconds behind padfield. I didn’t touch their times but put in a solid effort for just under 39 minutes for 17th place. After the race we drove to our host house, where we stayed with some college girls for free… not a bad deal.
Saturday morning the results were posted from from the tt and it was confirmed we were going to be the target of the others teams attacks as we were holding the 2 top spots. Saturdays race wasn’t a really exciting one. It was 3 laps of 17 miles on a course that didn’t have anything to help separate the field. We patrolled the race really well and let a couple of guys lower on GC sneak away to snag some bonus seconds toward the end. We questioned other teams tactics when we saw numerous downhill attacks which quickly got swallowed up by the field. A racer not far behind padfield put in a good effort and unfortunately took the field sprint and the 10 bonus seconds that came with it, moving him to a dangerously close 7 seconds from Chris. The worst part of the race which we didn’t find out until the results were posted was the 30 second time penalty given to Brian for crossing the center line, we tried to talk to the lady official who posted it but she wasn’t having it, its ok Padfield walked in on her changing. With a big boy stage the next day we went to our favorite burrito union for the 2nd time in two days to refuel. That night we did our usual of compression tights (padfield), elevated legs (brian and I) mixed with lots of relaxing and drinking water.
Sunday was the 2nd most crucial stage of the race (after the time trial of course). It was 5 laps of a 12 mile loop with a 1km leg burner 10% climb that lead to the s/f and rollers throughout most of the rest of the loop.
After the first lap, a break of 3 (lower gc guys) went away on the hill and gained up to 3:30 on the field. The entire race Brian was putting in monster pulls to keep the peloton moving along. The gap slowly decreased with attacks from the group and then the serious work took place when two Brone (2nd on gc) domestiques and both get a grip domestiques (brian and i) worked together to real the group back. Another high gc guy took off as the 3 were down to less than a minute but the 4 at the front quickly shut the group down with 1 lap to go. I turned around for the first time just after the start finish with 1 to go and realized the group that started with over 40 racers was down to about 25. A few other attempts were made on the final lap, 1 of which stuck and worked in our favor as he ate some of the available bonus seconds. The main field crossed in little groups with chris and I in the pack 4 seconds behind the solo guy. Brian, content after all his work, took it easy on the last hill and came in with the next group at 13 seconds. All in all a good stage as some people were finishing 10+ minutes back and Chris retained the jersey to fight another day. For dinner we were looking to carb up. We tried to support the local economy but I guess the local economy took a break as the restaurant was closed. Instead we drove a bit out of town and hit up an olive garden where each waitress was required to wear a topsie turvy with a 4inch hair lift.
The final morning began at 6:30, we left some biciclete wine and a card for our gracious host, Juliana and left with a full car to the criterium in Cloquet, Minnesota. The stage was new from last year. The course had 1 fast and technical turn right after the s/f line and 1 short kicker roughly 150 meters long with a hard right turn at the top that lead into the finish line. The race was so close that there were two guys in contention of the gc that by taking bonus seconds for a top 5 in the crit would win the overall. We let a break go with about 18 laps to go that didn’t consist of one of these guys. With 3 laps to go brian lead up the hill and then chris took off at the top making a run for the stage. The brones team domstiques immediately chased as their guy was close in gc and could win it all with a top 5 finish. Chris was caught with 2 and a half laps to go and immediately the brones leader attacked. While Chris was getting caught Brian and I both yelled to him to hop on the attack but it came from behind and he missed it. I jumped on brones’ wheel as he broke and followed him around for a lap. Immediately brian then went to the front of the pack and gave it everything to close the gap. He did with 1 and a half to go and brones was sufficiently tired. The solo break stayed away and the rest of the group (that didn’t get dropped) came into the line hard and together but neither of the two important gc guys took a spot in the top 5 meaning padfield held on to his gc victory by an incredible 1 second!!
The race could not have been any closer and the last stage was a tough effort that showcased a lot of teamwork. We received a lot of complements for our racing for the 4 days. I was really proud to wear the Get a Grip jersey.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
LaRue Denzer LaRue
This past saturdays race was an epic course for sure. 7500 feet of climbing in 48 miles was on tap for the cat 3 race. Unfortunately bikers are pretty big sissies so this awesome/ brutal race only fielded 19. The race was a half lap followed by 2 full laps. I hit a new 5 minute wattage on the half lap then soon after the s/f line had trouble shifting. I couldnt figure it out, eventually my bike skidded me to a stop. I hopped off to check it out and noticed my wheel was out of the drops. My skewer came undone. I tightened it and chased back... but to no avail. I kept the field in my sights nearly to the start/finish line again (20 miles) but could never close the gap. As I crossed the line I looked right and saw tom and derek wathing the race. I was mentally done so I stopped and went and caught up with them. I worked on my bike today. Its ready to rock for duluth.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
update on a few things
I'm looking forward to the Denzer race this weekend. The course has been switched up some since last year but it still showcases the monster -leg breaking- climb and a good amount of ups and downs throughout the rest of the lap. Last year I was just happy to finish the race, it was one of my first cat 3 races. There was a small field of maybe only 15 or 17 guys which made for a tough race. This year I've been training much "better" and these past two weeks have been good too, i'm feeling strong, so I think with a little luck and smarts I have a decent chance of getting my first cat 3 podium. Also and this is the best part I can't wait to see all of the marquette guys coming down for the race. Haven't seen them since I left in December so it will be a fun time.
In the "non-bike" related part of my life I got a job as the head of the electrical department at Lowe's. Its a full time position and after not really working for the last 6 months and with the way the economy has been I'm just happy to have a place to go for 40 hrs a week. It should add some structure to things but allow me more freedom too to be able to travel to races easier and soon move into my own place!! ya ya we'll see.
Duluth is only a week away. I got my schedule from Lowe's today and being memorial day weekend of course I'm scheduled. I don't know what to do about this one. I don't want to jeopardize the job but I've paid over $100 for the race. I'm bringing it up tomorrow so I'll know one way or the other by then.
In the "non-bike" related part of my life I got a job as the head of the electrical department at Lowe's. Its a full time position and after not really working for the last 6 months and with the way the economy has been I'm just happy to have a place to go for 40 hrs a week. It should add some structure to things but allow me more freedom too to be able to travel to races easier and soon move into my own place!! ya ya we'll see.
Duluth is only a week away. I got my schedule from Lowe's today and being memorial day weekend of course I'm scheduled. I don't know what to do about this one. I don't want to jeopardize the job but I've paid over $100 for the race. I'm bringing it up tomorrow so I'll know one way or the other by then.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Winona Lake and Vernon Hills
saturday: winona lake road race, great time, nice update HERE by aspen.
sunday: vernon hills, sprint finish. a lot of well represented teams. we raced aggressively but nothing was really given a chance. pack finish.
sunday: vernon hills, sprint finish. a lot of well represented teams. we raced aggressively but nothing was really given a chance. pack finish.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Iowa City
Just got back from a really fun weekend of racing (rr and crit) in Iowa City with Chris and Aspen. The road race was ~15 miles outside the city in a Mennonite town with horses and carriages. The cat 3 field raced 4 - 13 mile laps on a windy and rolling hills type course. None of the hills proved severe enough to cause a break in the field and it turned out be a rather boring race due to that fact. When the sprint came guys were all over the place and way across the yellow line even though the rule was in effect, Padfield was the only one on our team who could get decent positioning and came across in a respectable 8th place (without cheating his way to good positioning i might add!). aspen and i were caught back in the middle of the pack.
Day 2 was a .8 mile crit with a steep downhill with a somewhat technical 90 degree turn at the bottom followed by a steep big ring climb. The day was pretty windy but the wind was only really felt on a couple short stretches after the climb. A breakaway took place at a smart point just after a prime when most of the field was gassed and no one responded. This was about lap 5 of our total 25 laps and the guy stuck it out to the end with a 30 second gap on the field. Aspen put in a really hard effort for about half a lap trying to break away with one other guy but the field wasnt gonna let anyone else get away and we went to the line together. The team had talked about the finish trying to figure out where best to be and we managed the field sprint pretty well. Aspen pushed really hard the last time after the hill and i couldnt catch his wheel. he rounded the final corner in 2nd and won the field sprint while i rounded it in 4th and took 3rd in the field sprint giving us 2nd and 4th on the day. padfield raced strong all race and had bad luck with a mechanical with only a couple laps to go.
overall im really happy with how the weekend went. we raced hard and are learning each others strengths and weaknesses and learning to race better as a team. the weather was great too, couldnt ask for more! next up winona lake rr and vernon hills gp
Day 2 was a .8 mile crit with a steep downhill with a somewhat technical 90 degree turn at the bottom followed by a steep big ring climb. The day was pretty windy but the wind was only really felt on a couple short stretches after the climb. A breakaway took place at a smart point just after a prime when most of the field was gassed and no one responded. This was about lap 5 of our total 25 laps and the guy stuck it out to the end with a 30 second gap on the field. Aspen put in a really hard effort for about half a lap trying to break away with one other guy but the field wasnt gonna let anyone else get away and we went to the line together. The team had talked about the finish trying to figure out where best to be and we managed the field sprint pretty well. Aspen pushed really hard the last time after the hill and i couldnt catch his wheel. he rounded the final corner in 2nd and won the field sprint while i rounded it in 4th and took 3rd in the field sprint giving us 2nd and 4th on the day. padfield raced strong all race and had bad luck with a mechanical with only a couple laps to go.
overall im really happy with how the weekend went. we raced hard and are learning each others strengths and weaknesses and learning to race better as a team. the weather was great too, couldnt ask for more! next up winona lake rr and vernon hills gp
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
knee/ iowa
I haven't ridden in 3 days due to a pain on my inner right knee. I have been icing and stretching it though in hopes to be able to race this weekend in Iowa. Padfield, Aspen and I will be driving there friday and racing a 52 mile RR on saturday followed by a 25 lap crit on sunday. A report to follow...
Monday, April 6, 2009
hillsboro roubaix 2009
The one time a year when the midwesterner gets to try their hand at a spring classic of their own. This was my first crack at Hillsboro Roubaix and the race didn't disappoint. With massive fields (100+), a great course and weather, and organized race directing there was nothing more i could have asked for... except for maybe 1 thing, but i'll get to that in a minute. The cat 3 race was three 22 mile laps on a mostly open, flat and narrow course until the last mile or two of each lap which consisted of 2 hills and brick pavement.
My plan was to stay up because I had heard it was a hard course to move up in the field and with the winds you didnt want to be "stuck" when the field split. I don't remember exactly when but roughly half way through the first lap a break was attempted with about 10 guys, unfortunately no get a grip representation. As the group was riding, up the road stood an official with his palm up telling the field to stop. "This is your last warning" he said, "no one over the yellow line." There was no yellow line and the road was 10 feet ride so this made the rule hard to enforce. The important thing is that with the officials decision he essentially solidified the break that was a few seconds up the road to one that was now 30 seconds or more ahead. This happened two more times for two different reasons, passing the masters field and a truck and trailer sitting at a stop sign on our side of the road.
I got into two failed break attempts and wore myself out pretty good. On the third lap Aspen got away with Luke (XxX)and another guy (???) and managed to put a lot of time into the leaders in a short time even catching some stragglers from the break but nonetheless coming up about a half of minute behind at the finish line, he took 9th. So yeah the thing i could have asked for is if just one of those "official stops" had not occured with the break still rolling at full speed maybe Aspen would have had a chance at the overall, oh well what can you do. Padfield spent 15 minutes on lap 2 (the fastest lap) catching back on after a mechanical... absolutely insane! Even after all that work he put in some hard digs on the final lap. Uwe also finished the race, something that judging by the results was hard enough on its own. Coming into the final hills I stayed on the left to move up the hill fast and stay with the front group. Going over the cobbles and on the finishing straight I got lucky and picked some good wheels and took the field sprint for 12th place. Even though we had only 1 top 10, overall I would call the race a success as it was our first time racing together.
oh one more thing, caad frames are crazy stiff. my ass still hurts from that thing (no jokes... its too easy)
My plan was to stay up because I had heard it was a hard course to move up in the field and with the winds you didnt want to be "stuck" when the field split. I don't remember exactly when but roughly half way through the first lap a break was attempted with about 10 guys, unfortunately no get a grip representation. As the group was riding, up the road stood an official with his palm up telling the field to stop. "This is your last warning" he said, "no one over the yellow line." There was no yellow line and the road was 10 feet ride so this made the rule hard to enforce. The important thing is that with the officials decision he essentially solidified the break that was a few seconds up the road to one that was now 30 seconds or more ahead. This happened two more times for two different reasons, passing the masters field and a truck and trailer sitting at a stop sign on our side of the road.
I got into two failed break attempts and wore myself out pretty good. On the third lap Aspen got away with Luke (XxX)and another guy (???) and managed to put a lot of time into the leaders in a short time even catching some stragglers from the break but nonetheless coming up about a half of minute behind at the finish line, he took 9th. So yeah the thing i could have asked for is if just one of those "official stops" had not occured with the break still rolling at full speed maybe Aspen would have had a chance at the overall, oh well what can you do. Padfield spent 15 minutes on lap 2 (the fastest lap) catching back on after a mechanical... absolutely insane! Even after all that work he put in some hard digs on the final lap. Uwe also finished the race, something that judging by the results was hard enough on its own. Coming into the final hills I stayed on the left to move up the hill fast and stay with the front group. Going over the cobbles and on the finishing straight I got lucky and picked some good wheels and took the field sprint for 12th place. Even though we had only 1 top 10, overall I would call the race a success as it was our first time racing together.
oh one more thing, caad frames are crazy stiff. my ass still hurts from that thing (no jokes... its too easy)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Arizona
Well, AZ is almost over and I'm not totally sure I'm ready to come back. I've had the chance to ride lots, hang out with a bunch of my cousins who came down for spring break, and meet some pretty cool people at work.
The training is coming along quite well and I got a good test this morning at the Superior race, a 62 mile out and back road race with lots of rollers and one long hill that we hit on the way out and again on the way back. The first half was really slow but the 2nd half the pace picked up and people started getting dropped. When the group was down to about 10 guys we were part way up the big climb on the way back. It was a pretty hard pace but I felt ok, then... I dropped my chain.
I didnt blink and got off to put it back on and try to chase back. I managed to catch a few stragglers who were falling off the pace but never caught back with that front group. Three of us crested together and worked to catch those guys but we didnt make it. Another joined and four went into the line, I took 2nd of that group but wasnt happy with that since I had more sprint but wasnt clear on where the line was.
Anyways it was a training race and was really happy that my fitness was not a limiter in my performance and I managed to learn a couple of things. One, make sure my bike shifts better, dropping that chain probably cost me a couple spots and also know where the finish line is, going for it when you dont even know where 'it' is, isnt a good move.
The town of Superior was so beautiful I wish I had my camera. There were HUUUUGE mountain cliffs surrounding the entire town.
Wednesday, I start the journey back to Chi and friday (hopefuly I'm there by then) I get my Cannondale built up!!
The training is coming along quite well and I got a good test this morning at the Superior race, a 62 mile out and back road race with lots of rollers and one long hill that we hit on the way out and again on the way back. The first half was really slow but the 2nd half the pace picked up and people started getting dropped. When the group was down to about 10 guys we were part way up the big climb on the way back. It was a pretty hard pace but I felt ok, then... I dropped my chain.
I didnt blink and got off to put it back on and try to chase back. I managed to catch a few stragglers who were falling off the pace but never caught back with that front group. Three of us crested together and worked to catch those guys but we didnt make it. Another joined and four went into the line, I took 2nd of that group but wasnt happy with that since I had more sprint but wasnt clear on where the line was.
Anyways it was a training race and was really happy that my fitness was not a limiter in my performance and I managed to learn a couple of things. One, make sure my bike shifts better, dropping that chain probably cost me a couple spots and also know where the finish line is, going for it when you dont even know where 'it' is, isnt a good move.
The town of Superior was so beautiful I wish I had my camera. There were HUUUUGE mountain cliffs surrounding the entire town.
Wednesday, I start the journey back to Chi and friday (hopefuly I'm there by then) I get my Cannondale built up!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
a new world...
twitter! subscribe to me so i can tell you more than you wanted to know http://twitter.com/benlaforce
this means you: g-force, topher, the real mccoy, langer, blu, and anyone else who reads this!
this means you: g-force, topher, the real mccoy, langer, blu, and anyone else who reads this!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hors Category - Mt. Palomar
Some shots from watching the final stage of the tour 200 meters from the KOM summit on Mount Palomar...
elk man leading the peloton
hamilton sittin in the pack
LA
Me on the climb and Nacho Libre running up Palomar
elk man leading the peloton
hamilton sittin in the pack
LA
Me on the climb and Nacho Libre running up Palomar
Sunday, February 15, 2009
AZ straight thru
Drove to AZ straight through with the pops, including fill up time it took 28 hours and lots of red bull.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Judson and more
This about sums up my ride saturday:
I knew having a long drive to arizona the next couple of days meant I had to get a good ride in. It started with a drive down to winnetka for the Judson ride. They start off quick so I planned on going early to get a warm up in. I got there at 7:50 and still wasnt dressed... damn no warmup. The day was beautiful. Weather was mid 50s and the sun was out, the ride turnout was upwards of 40 people... wait let me correct that 40 fast people. It did rain the day before and there was plenty of standing water on the roads. So the ride gets off and I get caught in one of the front groups off the main pack... on my cyclocross bike! It was totally nuts and I wanted to cry for most of the ride. Fearing my masculinity would be questioned I held in the tears and kept riding. After about 45 minutes of all out drilling it I couldnt hold it anymore and got dropped. Damn, I didn't know the route and didnt see any of the other riders behind. About 5 minutes later I see my dad riding to his group ride which started at 9. Perfect, I joined on that for another 45 miles. This was gonna be easy... a bunch of old guys. Nope, more pain starting the 2nd half of this ride. By the time we finally made it back to the park I was shot. Unfortunately I had another 10+ miles south to winnetka. Those were awfully slow. I got the big ride in I wanted... off to az!
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I knew having a long drive to arizona the next couple of days meant I had to get a good ride in. It started with a drive down to winnetka for the Judson ride. They start off quick so I planned on going early to get a warm up in. I got there at 7:50 and still wasnt dressed... damn no warmup. The day was beautiful. Weather was mid 50s and the sun was out, the ride turnout was upwards of 40 people... wait let me correct that 40 fast people. It did rain the day before and there was plenty of standing water on the roads. So the ride gets off and I get caught in one of the front groups off the main pack... on my cyclocross bike! It was totally nuts and I wanted to cry for most of the ride. Fearing my masculinity would be questioned I held in the tears and kept riding. After about 45 minutes of all out drilling it I couldnt hold it anymore and got dropped. Damn, I didn't know the route and didnt see any of the other riders behind. About 5 minutes later I see my dad riding to his group ride which started at 9. Perfect, I joined on that for another 45 miles. This was gonna be easy... a bunch of old guys. Nope, more pain starting the 2nd half of this ride. By the time we finally made it back to the park I was shot. Unfortunately I had another 10+ miles south to winnetka. Those were awfully slow. I got the big ride in I wanted... off to az!
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
New Year New Fit
First post of 2009 and the weather couldn't be any more depressing. BUT... there is good news. I went in to the Get-a-Grip fit studio downtown today to get my race fit from Adam. First time checking out the studio and it was pretty sweet, the fit took about 2 hours and included lots of measuring of from the waist down, checking flexion, cleat movement, fit on a really movable serotta fit bike, and spin scan analysis. I ended up getting new cleats because those needed to be replaced about 6 months ago and Adam told me it was time. My seat was raised about 1.5 cm, I purchased a 120mm stem before I had a 100mm one, and another thing I'm supposed to do is get some 40cm bars as im using 42's now.
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