We have a pretty full slate of upcoming races from now till Labor Day, with nearly all of them here in Central Indiana. Tis the season for late summer crit action!
July 18 - Bloomington Grand Prix (Indiana State Crit)
July 26 - 11th Annual Zionsville Grand Prix
Aug 8 - Eagle Creek Fast Crit & TT
Aug 9 - Ft. Benjamin Harrison Circuit Race
Aug 15 - Mass Ave. Criterium
Aug 22 - Marion Classic Criterium (Indiana's first NRC race!)
Aug 23 - Village of West Clay Classic
Sept 4-7 - Gateway Cup (St. Louis, MO)
Sept 5 - The Reid Hospital Depot District Twilight Criterium
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Parkview Cycling Classic, Tour de Champaign, Tour of the Valley
Last weekend we had guys racing in three different races in three different states. Yancey and Romain headed up to Ft. Wayne for the inaugural Parkview Cycling Classic - a downtown crit that circled the recently built Parkview Field (minor-league baseball stadium). Nice size field with around 45 riders, and good course with one gradual climb (a city-block in length) and 6 turns. The Neither of us were have particularly a great day of racing, and both finished mid-pack
Slattery and Jolivette raced Sunday at the Tour of Champaign, a downtown crit in Champaign, IL. Both riders managed to miss a number of wrecks in the last few laps, and Slattery managed to finish in the money, with a 13th place finish. Jolivette finished safely in the pack.
Kramer headed west to Cleveland, OH for the Tour of the Valley - a TT, RR, and two crits held over three days. Don't yet have the details on how things went, but I'm sure Drew represented well.
Slattery and Jolivette raced Sunday at the Tour of Champaign, a downtown crit in Champaign, IL. Both riders managed to miss a number of wrecks in the last few laps, and Slattery managed to finish in the money, with a 13th place finish. Jolivette finished safely in the pack.
Kramer headed west to Cleveland, OH for the Tour of the Valley - a TT, RR, and two crits held over three days. Don't yet have the details on how things went, but I'm sure Drew represented well.
Indiana State Road Race
We kicked the month of June off with the Indiana State Road Race, which for the second consecutive year was held in Fishers. The course for the day consisted of 9 laps on a 7 mile circuit through rural eastern Hamilton County - a flat course, with one very short, but rather steep hill. We had nearly the whole team in attendance (Slattery was away in Ireland), and were confident of our chances of some high placings amongst the 77 riders that lined up at the start. On the first lap, Reed successfully ignited a break of 4-5 riders, who quickly got a 1-2 minute gap on the field. With a teammate up the road, the rest of us positioned ourselves at the front of the pack, to ensure that we could easily respond to any attacks. The break eventually got caught about halfway through the race (kudos to the Gray Goat team, who missed the break, and put a number of thier riders on the front of the pack to do a majority of the work in bringing the break back) and all indications were that things would end in drag-race sprint to the finish (long straightaway leading to the finish line). With about 2.5 miles till the finish, we were well positioned for the upcoming sprint, with Reed and Jolivette both sitting in the top 10, and Yancey, Romain, and Kramer not far behind. But, our good fortunes quickly reversed - Jolivette and Yancey were both struck with debilitating cramps going up the small climb before the finishing straight, knocking them both to the back of the back. Then, Reed flatted less than a mile from the finish. Kramer ended up as our top finisher, coming across in 26th place. Disappointing to see is all ride a strong race for 60+ miles, and have so much bad luck in the last three miles. But, that's bike racing.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
O'Fallon Grand Prix
Behind the eight ball a bit on the race reports. Here is a recap from O'Fallon Grand Prix from May 3oth.:
Yancey, Reed, and Kramer head west to O'Fallon, IL (located just east of St.Louis) for the O'Fallon Grand Prix - a 68 mile road race along the rolling hills of the Mississippi valley. Before I get into the details of the race, I want to give props to the folks in O'Fallon for putting on a such a great race - extremely well organized, attentive course volunteers at every corner, excellent course (23 mile loop, which we did 3 times, that had 1000 feet of climbing per lap, 22 turns, and a 50mph decent, per lap.), and even a goodie bag for each racer. We'll definitely be going back next year, and highly recommend this race.
First lap was fast and furious with a number of small attacks, but no one having any luck in getting away: Yancey was off the front with a few other riders for a short period of time, and Reed put in a handful of attacks in hope of establishing a break. Things calmed down a bit during our second lap, with the pack maintaining a pretty consistent pace for the next 23 miles. Just as we started our third and final lap, Reed launched a solo attack, and immediately got a small gap (2o seconds) which he maintained for the next 3 miles or so. 4 riders then bridged up to him, and and solidified a five rider break. Over the next 18 miles, the break would eventually dwindle down to just two (Reed and a rider from Burnham Racing out of Chicago), with the remaining riders being absorbed by the pack, which had been dwindled down to just 17 riders (40 started the race). Reed hung on for a very impressive 2nd place finish (You the man Russ!!!), and Yancey rolled in within the pack, which finished about 1 minute down from the two man break. Kramer fell victim to the heat and intensity during the the last lap, but stuck it out to finish the race. A real race of attrition, with 1/4 of the starters DNF'ing. Great racing, and a great result for Reed!
Yancey, Reed, and Kramer head west to O'Fallon, IL (located just east of St.Louis) for the O'Fallon Grand Prix - a 68 mile road race along the rolling hills of the Mississippi valley. Before I get into the details of the race, I want to give props to the folks in O'Fallon for putting on a such a great race - extremely well organized, attentive course volunteers at every corner, excellent course (23 mile loop, which we did 3 times, that had 1000 feet of climbing per lap, 22 turns, and a 50mph decent, per lap.), and even a goodie bag for each racer. We'll definitely be going back next year, and highly recommend this race.
First lap was fast and furious with a number of small attacks, but no one having any luck in getting away: Yancey was off the front with a few other riders for a short period of time, and Reed put in a handful of attacks in hope of establishing a break. Things calmed down a bit during our second lap, with the pack maintaining a pretty consistent pace for the next 23 miles. Just as we started our third and final lap, Reed launched a solo attack, and immediately got a small gap (2o seconds) which he maintained for the next 3 miles or so. 4 riders then bridged up to him, and and solidified a five rider break. Over the next 18 miles, the break would eventually dwindle down to just two (Reed and a rider from Burnham Racing out of Chicago), with the remaining riders being absorbed by the pack, which had been dwindled down to just 17 riders (40 started the race). Reed hung on for a very impressive 2nd place finish (You the man Russ!!!), and Yancey rolled in within the pack, which finished about 1 minute down from the two man break. Kramer fell victim to the heat and intensity during the the last lap, but stuck it out to finish the race. A real race of attrition, with 1/4 of the starters DNF'ing. Great racing, and a great result for Reed!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Eagle Creek Traditional Crit
Unfortunately, not a lot of good news to report from last weekends Eagle Creek Traditional Crit, so I'll keep things short and sweet. A group of 8 riders escaped off the front about 25 min or so into the race - we had no representation in the break, and waited way to long before trying to chase it down. There were a number of very strong riders in the break, and working well together, they established a quick gap which they held for the remaining 45 min of the race. No excuse for us to not have had a least one rider in the break....definitely not our day to shine.
Props to Slattery for riding strong in the 1/2/3 race later in the afternoon - we just got to teach him that he doesn't need to always lead out the final sprint :-) Drew and Yancey also did double duty, but didn't quite have the legs to finish out the second race.
This weekend we'll be heading down south for some crit racing in Lousville, KY. That is assuming that it eventually will stop raining. If not, we'll have to resort to racing paddleboats down the White River Canal. Geez...
A few pic's from Eagle Creek for your viewing pleasure:
Props to Slattery for riding strong in the 1/2/3 race later in the afternoon - we just got to teach him that he doesn't need to always lead out the final sprint :-) Drew and Yancey also did double duty, but didn't quite have the legs to finish out the second race.
This weekend we'll be heading down south for some crit racing in Lousville, KY. That is assuming that it eventually will stop raining. If not, we'll have to resort to racing paddleboats down the White River Canal. Geez...
A few pic's from Eagle Creek for your viewing pleasure:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Back In Action...Cerland Classic
It's finally time to see if all that time on crankin' out intervals on the trainer in a sub-freezing garage was worth it. I sure hope so....
The 2009 racing season finally got underway here in central Indiana on 4/18 at the Ceraland Classic in Columbus, IN - a nice little 70 minute circuit race held on a 1.4 mile rolling loop in Ceraland Park. Our CAT 3 race pretty much went as expected - numerous attacks from riders hoping to initate a small break, but nothing more sucessfully than a couple of guys dangling off the front for a few laps with a gap of less than ten seconds. Things got dicey halfway through the race when a mid-pack wreck sent a number of riders to the asphalt - Romain, who was smack dab in the middle of the rucus, somehow managed to stay upright, despite the fact that his rear break caliber got sheared in half. Yancey took a nice detour through the grass and luckily avoided the carnage. Race ended in a mass pack sprint up the gradual climb to the finish line, with Slattery storming into the top 10 with a 6th place finish. Romain, Yancey, and Reed all finished safetly in the pack.
Russell and Yancey decided to get in little extra racing, and jumped into the 1/2/3 race later in the afternoon. Russ bowed out around the 45 minute mark to make sure he was not late to his daughters birthday party (what a family man!), and Yancey held on for 1 hour until the legs finally gave out. 60 miles of crit racing will do that to you.
Thanks to John Bennett for the photos!
It's 'go' time...
Slattery getting aero.
Yancey displaying pain.
Romain rockin' the half zip.
The 2009 racing season finally got underway here in central Indiana on 4/18 at the Ceraland Classic in Columbus, IN - a nice little 70 minute circuit race held on a 1.4 mile rolling loop in Ceraland Park. Our CAT 3 race pretty much went as expected - numerous attacks from riders hoping to initate a small break, but nothing more sucessfully than a couple of guys dangling off the front for a few laps with a gap of less than ten seconds. Things got dicey halfway through the race when a mid-pack wreck sent a number of riders to the asphalt - Romain, who was smack dab in the middle of the rucus, somehow managed to stay upright, despite the fact that his rear break caliber got sheared in half. Yancey took a nice detour through the grass and luckily avoided the carnage. Race ended in a mass pack sprint up the gradual climb to the finish line, with Slattery storming into the top 10 with a 6th place finish. Romain, Yancey, and Reed all finished safetly in the pack.
Russell and Yancey decided to get in little extra racing, and jumped into the 1/2/3 race later in the afternoon. Russ bowed out around the 45 minute mark to make sure he was not late to his daughters birthday party (what a family man!), and Yancey held on for 1 hour until the legs finally gave out. 60 miles of crit racing will do that to you.
Thanks to John Bennett for the photos!
It's 'go' time...
Slattery getting aero.
Yancey displaying pain.
Romain rockin' the half zip.
Friday, July 4, 2008
McCormicks Creek RR
The last week of May and the first couple weeks of June saw no local racing on the calendar, but we've still been putting in plenty of time on the bike - we've been able to get in some long training rides over the weekends, and have gotten our weekly dose of intensity at the Tuesday/Thursday Butler-Hinkle hammer-fest. The Indiana State Road race had originally been scheduled for June 14, but the race had to be rescheduled (new race date is July 19th) due to the thunderstorms that pounded central & southern Indiana the entire weekend.
Myself, MJ, Jolivette, Slattery, and Robison were all up bright and early on June 22 to make the trip down to Spencer, IN to race the McCormick's Creek Road Race, held on a 4 mile circuit with a series of 3 short, back-to-back-to-back climbs you hit every lap. Usually, road races start out kinda slow, as everyone takes the first couple of miles to warm up the legs before the hammer starts to drops - not so with this race. There was no 'casual roll-out' - the attacks started immediately, which resulted in probably half the pack getting dropped in the first two laps. At the start of the second lap, three riders attacked and were able to get a decent gap. I was able to bridge up solo, and catch on just before we hit the 3 climbs. We had gotten a large gap in a very short period of time, but we were not working well together, which usually spells doom for break. Sure enough, we were caught within a few miles. For the rest of the race, the whole team rode a tactically strong race - we were always well positioned riding in the top 1o of the pack, covered any attacks, and pushed to keep the pace high. The only thing we didn't do right was nail the last 200 meters - about 2 miles from the finish, two riders escaped off the front, and Jolivette and I went immediately to the front to reel them back in. We caught them with maybe a half mile to go. Slattery came charging up the right side of the road, yelling at us to grab his wheel. Jolivette and I latched on, and the three of us were sitting top five, hitting is as hard as we could with the pack strung about behind. Things were setup great, but we hit it a bit to hard too early, ran out of gas, and got swarmed by the pack with 200 meters to go. Even though we blew the finish, we had ridden by far our best team race in years. Hopefully, it a sign of good things to come!
Myself, MJ, Jolivette, Slattery, and Robison were all up bright and early on June 22 to make the trip down to Spencer, IN to race the McCormick's Creek Road Race, held on a 4 mile circuit with a series of 3 short, back-to-back-to-back climbs you hit every lap. Usually, road races start out kinda slow, as everyone takes the first couple of miles to warm up the legs before the hammer starts to drops - not so with this race. There was no 'casual roll-out' - the attacks started immediately, which resulted in probably half the pack getting dropped in the first two laps. At the start of the second lap, three riders attacked and were able to get a decent gap. I was able to bridge up solo, and catch on just before we hit the 3 climbs. We had gotten a large gap in a very short period of time, but we were not working well together, which usually spells doom for break. Sure enough, we were caught within a few miles. For the rest of the race, the whole team rode a tactically strong race - we were always well positioned riding in the top 1o of the pack, covered any attacks, and pushed to keep the pace high. The only thing we didn't do right was nail the last 200 meters - about 2 miles from the finish, two riders escaped off the front, and Jolivette and I went immediately to the front to reel them back in. We caught them with maybe a half mile to go. Slattery came charging up the right side of the road, yelling at us to grab his wheel. Jolivette and I latched on, and the three of us were sitting top five, hitting is as hard as we could with the pack strung about behind. Things were setup great, but we hit it a bit to hard too early, ran out of gas, and got swarmed by the pack with 200 meters to go. Even though we blew the finish, we had ridden by far our best team race in years. Hopefully, it a sign of good things to come!
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