_ _ _ _ _ _

Tracking Chicago Transfers

2010-12-08T10:34:00.002-06:00

Twitter gave me a great idea today (thanks Nikki and Lou) lets track Chicago Transfers!

Its on each of you to fill this out honestly....

Here is where we are at so far!

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Why I ride - CX Style

2010-11-16T07:57:00.000-06:00

The background for a good old set of sunrise cx intervals! Milwaukee WI
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Caption Contest

2010-10-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

What in the world is going on here?

Leave your thoughts in the comments

Photo Credit Nerobo on Flickr

Time to learn how to ride fat tires!

2010-09-18T09:48:00.002-05:00

Its almost here!

2010-09-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

2009 Chicago Cyclocross Cup from Heather Jurewicz on Vimeo.

If this video doesn't get you ready I don't know what will!

(as tweeted by dznutz)

A little caption contest!

2010-09-07T22:12:00.001-05:00

All right what is going on here? Leave your caption in the comments....

More poduims? yes please!

2010-08-31T16:24:00.002-05:00

We came to Dixon rolling 5 deep in the 3/4's and 4 deep in the 4/5's. With numbers like that in a small race you should be able to put together a team plan that puts one of your guys on the podium. I always try to make podiums the goal. With so many of our races coming down to sprints its so hard to produce victories in this sport it takes prefect luck. However with good team tatics and attentive racing it is very realistic to expect podiums if you have the fitness.

The course was altered from the 8 corner gem of last year due to some serious construction. (it would have made for a good CX barrier). This year we had a wide open, but bumpy 6 turn course with a slight rise on the backside into a downhill final turn and a uphill sprint finish, extremely unique. The course was a blast, some technical areas, but nothing really dangerous. You could hammer through most of the turns when you felt the need.

3/4's Race
In the 3/4's race we lined up with 5 guys. Michael Shea, Dan Pollard, Matt Riezman, Brandon Diffenderfer, and I were going to work as a unit to take a podium spot. I felt terrible most of the race, breaks attempted to get off and the pace was rather brisk, Brandon and Shea were holding strong position; Dan and I were doing my classic tail gunning act and Matt was throwing up in some dude's lawn. Panda express as your pre-race meal really?

I took a free lap due to a mechanical with about 15 laps to go. Small breaks got away but the field remained attentive and brought everything back within a couple laps. With about 5 to go a two man group was about 200 or may 300 meters off the front and I thought what the hell I hadn't done anything this race I might as well try and bridge. I attacked up the left side of the rise and I saw Shea coming up the right side. I thought if I could get a small gap he could come over the top and block while I tried my bridge. However my efforts got me on the front of the group but no further. I thought I would take a long pull and see what happened. I pulled for about a lap and tried to pull off on the rise, and that I did. Directly off the back. I chased for about two laps until the group was out of sight. When the pack goes out of sight its like a punch to the stomach, you know your day is over.

I am told on the last lap Brandon took an outside line to attack the group grabbing a 3rd place finish, Shea took the inside line and got pinched finishing a respectable 10th. Shea commented after the race how impressed he was with Brandon's abililty to read the race on the last lap. For a Cat 4 rider to get a podium while racing against some really strong 3's is really impressive!

4/5's Race

In the 4/5's we decided we would ad-hoc the strategy with all the riders from the first race less Shea. I was really impressed how we stayed close to each other and talked during the race. It was 39 person field so moving around was going to be an issue. Dan, Brandon and I maintained mid-pack position and Matt hugged the front of the group in an impressive display of racing. With about 5 to go we knew it was time to start sticking our nose towards the front of the group.

We moved up for a few laps and then with three to go at the start finish line someone flipped the squirrelly switch and bike handling went to hell. A couple ridders tumbled into the fence, the pucker factor in the field was high. I got shuffled back and saw Bryan Cael he said "its getting nuts up there", I thought it sure is. So on the rise I attacked up the left side again. Same result, it ended at the front of the group. I saw a rider in front of us, he was chasing after his crash but I didn't know that. I got to his back wheel and he sat up. I soft peddled or two strokes and then dropped the hammer through the rise. I was trying to string out the group for a full lap to allow Brandon and Dan to spring attacks on the rise. I put everything I had through my bike and bombed each of the corners. I felt great about my lines and the pack snaked behind me. I dropped a maintained a strong tempo until we crested the rise, and then BOOM!!!!!! I blew up, and faded to the right as Brandon attacked just to the right of me and barely to the left of the curb. We grassed hands and he flew off the front of the group. I saw Dan follow from the inside and I knew my job was done. They were first two through the last two turns and we Brandon held on for 3rd in the long sprint with Dan holding his wheel for 4th. A great team effot nabs us another podium and another top 5.

We have had a great run as of late, we are really getting the hang of team tatics and figuring out proper execution. I am really proud of what we have accomplished this year. Now time for the chiCROSScup with a diversion for the Fall Fling and problably a rest week or two... probably not.

Thanks for to Dixon, great event! Look forward to a return trip. Thanks to Julian, Justeen and Brandon's family for the cheering sections. And Juilan when you yelled move up, I really was trying but I was really tired.

All photo credit to Justeen.

Why you should watch the Vuleta...

2010-08-27T11:29:00.000-05:00

As Neil Browne so eloquently stated "The red-headed stepchild of the Grand Tours is almost here"

Yes its time for the grand tour that lacks the luster of the Tour and the Grio, but that doesn't mean its not going to be an exciting race, here are ten reasons to watch the Vuelta de Espana.

10) Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) - This kid is the best hope for another American GC contender (sorry Levi you have to attack to win). After a strong spring this is his first Grand Tour, maybe looking for a stage win?

9) Cervelo's last stand - With the demise of the Cervelo Test Team will the current roster look to show off for other directors or will a unified unit work for Sastre on the GC and set up Hushovd on the sprints? They sure ask a lot out of their team.

8) Menchov's investment in his future - With Menchov leaving Rabobank at years end a third win at the Vuelta would make his paycheck next year just a little fatter. My guess is he will follow wheels and grind out another Grand Tour Podium, but will it be the top spot?

7) Play along on Rouler Derby - What you don't play rouler debry? You are missing out! I still don't quite understand how the betting odds work but its a lot of fun, and when you run out of points, you just borrow more. And if you have the best ROI on the Vuleta you won't win a spanish bottle of wine just like my roommate didn't win a french bottle of win for that AG2R pick he pulled out of his ass....

6) The Schlecks are back together again - Andy is racing for Frank, and well I was just looking for an excuse to use this picture again. Sweet pose guys, it really shows off the noodle arm syndrome many of us cyclist suffer from. But seriously they are pretty good and they are racing, its their Saxo Bank swan song.

5) Its still a grand tour - This is the last Grand Tour of the year, there will be drama, there will be great summit finishes, and explosive sprints. Not to mention every stage is on US TV on Universal Sports.

4) CVV - He has hit the ground more than anyone over the past two seasons, he considered retirement after crashing out of the tour, after crashing in the tour de sussie, after crashing out in the giro... you see what I am saying? If he can just stay upright that would be a good start. In an mind blowing development CVV is a among the favorites to show at the Vuelta on rouler derby, who is making that bet????

3) A Liqiugas double? - Can Nibali or Kreuziger win another Grand Tour for the underrated Liqiugas team. They bring one of the strongest teams to the race and people forget they won the team TT at the giro. They already have two podiums this year at the Giro can they get two more?

2) HTC - Garmin butt heads again - That's right folks the mighty train of Mark Cavendish will go head to head with the improving train of Tyler Farrar in final km's of the sprint stages. It got downright violent at the Tour when Renshaw and Dean famously butted heads repeatedly and then Renshaw tried to pin Farrar on the boards. Lets watch them battle it out again, but hold your lines guys.

1) Team TT Late Night - Starting at 1000pm (GMT) the back drop for the opening team TT should be amazing. And how doesn't love a team TT, if done right its a thing of beauty, if done wrong its hillarious. It starts tomorrow at 3pm on Universal Sports. I will try and avoid the results until after my races it Dixon tomorrow afternoon.

Enjoy the Vuelta

Is there rehab for this addiction?

2010-08-18T11:26:00.000-05:00

I read a fascinating interview with former US Postal/Discovery and Rock Racing rider Michael Creed. He is currently looking for a new team as his current contract with Team Type 1 is not cutting it. I highly recommend you read the interview. It is heavily laced with a discussion of doping, which is annoying but there are some really amazing quotes littered throughout the interview. I found the quote below the most interesting:

“When I do quit the one thing I’m really going to miss from racing is that exhausted feeling after a race,” he says. “If you’ve ever been at a stage race and you drop out and you can’t fly home immediately there are these things that give you pain and every pro will tell you that it hurts. When the guys eat their race meal, or walk to the bus. The worst is being in the bus after the race and hearing them talk about the race. They have that really dehydrated sunken look and you want that so bad. It’s addictive.” Michael Creed (From a cyclingnews interview posted 8/18/10)

Until you have experienced that feeling of complete exhaustion you can't understand just how addictive it truly is....

Ask and you shall recieve

2010-08-17T07:19:00.002-05:00

I spend my Wednesday nights taking part in the MidWeekGem alongside Chicago Cross Cup Director Jason Knauff. This year will be my first year participating in the cross cup and I asked Jason to announce that on the website, and he did just that (see post below). Check out the cross cup this fall, if you don't ride come heckle!

"- And finally… apparently we were wrong and no one is getting ready for CX season… which is a crying shame because we were really looking forward to another great season. Lucky for us, rumor has it Andrew Zens (of CBR fame) will be racing for bacon in the 4B’s. However, if you’ve ever seen Andrew near Pratt and Ridge after the Wednesday night MidWeekeGem then you know Andrew might be looking for something besides bacon during the carnival. Will this be your first season racing CX? We’d love to hear from you and what you’re doing to get ready. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below."

Check out the ChiCrossCup website today for a big announcement....

Grayslake Race Report: By Dan Pollard

2010-08-09T11:05:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday was the Grayslake Cycling Classic located in the Prairie Crossing subdivision in Northern Illinois. The course is approximately 1K long and is in the shape of the letter U with three wide, sweeping turns and two tighter 90 degree right handers. This course layout allows the pace to get and stay high, as we would find out soon enough.

Andrew, Drew and I would make the trip north together, meeting up with Brandon at the race. Drew has been on excellent form lately and had some great results during Superweek, including his first win at Geneva. And Andrew was coming off a podium finish last week so we agreed the team would do what it could do to put me in a position for a result.

The race started off with call ups for the top 10 in the Illinois Cup standings since this was the final Cup race of the year. After staging well the last few races, I got stuck towards the back and knew I would spend the first part of the race working my way to the front. When the whistle blew I set to work getting up to the front. The pace immediately was high and the field was strung out single file working its way around the course. On the first three laps gaps already started to form as the pace was slowly spitting people out the back. I could see Drew and Brandon sitting in great position in the top 10 for most of the first half of the race, but I didn't see Andrew. I didn't think anything of it until the pack came around through the start finish and I saw Andrew in the SRAM neutral support pit. I would find out after the race that he clipped his pedal and went down on one of the first laps, luckily, outside of some more road rash, he was ok.

Before the midpoint of the race I had finally made my way up to the front and comfortably settled in the top 10. A few small breaks would try to go up the road but would never get more than a few seconds on the field and the crosswinds on the backside of the course made it extremely difficult to maintain a breakaway. The race was pretty uneventful from there until 3 laps to go when the pace visibly slowed as everyone seemed to be saving themselves for the final sprint. Drew went to the front a couple times to keep the pace high and the field strung out. The main field was still together as we crossed the start/finish line for the final time. Drew, Brandon and I were all sitting top 20 at this point and we started to move up the field to try to position me for the final sprint.

On the final straight-away Drew took a strong pull and went to the front and gapped the field, with me right on his wheel, according to our pre-race plan. Turns out Brandon was the victim of someone taking a bad line through the final right turn and he was pushed off the course into the grass, so the Monkey lead out train was now just Drew. He pulled into the cross wind and put me in great position to start my wind up for the final sprint into the inside of the U. I wasn't sure how big my gap was when I pulled around Drew, but I may have taken off a little early as the finish would prove to be about 50m too far for me. I came around the second to last bend in first place with John from Rhythm Racing on my wheel. John took a quick pull on the front and then I rotated to the front and saw Quentin from Project 5 go flying by. I tried to spin up to catch his wheel but couldn't catch on, and a gap slowly was opening up between him and I. Coming into the finishing straight I was in second place. I didn't look back because I was hoping I would have enough to hold on. Turns out, I didnt as I got swarmed just before the line and rolled across for a 9th place finish.

Even though I didn't end up with the result the team and I wanted, I'll take Saturday as a learning experience and put the lessons learned to use in my next race. Thanks to Drew, Andrew and Brandon for the team effort, next time hopefully I can get the result. Thanks also to the residents and volunteers of Prairie Crossing and all those involved for running a well organized and on time event.

Grayslake Race Report Cat 4

2010-08-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

The pavement won today. I clipped a pedal in the second 90 degree turn. I wasn't able to hold it up hit the ground again.

I took my free lap and got gapped off the lead group. Joe from psimet and I tried to get to the back of the group. We lost sight after a couple laps and that was all she wrote!

26th place finish and a really sore body... Ugh!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

We came this far, we might as well make a statement!

2010-08-02T11:01:00.000-05:00

Alright so 6 weeks back some yahoo from Wisconsin rode up under my teammates Bryan's handlebars and crashed him out resulting in a broken arm. After five weeks of recovery and one week on the bike he was ready to roll up the start-line again. A three man wolfpack (Bryan, Dan and I) ventured to Indiana for Parkview Cycling Classic put on by the Men of Steel Racing team. We would throw down in 3/4's race followed by a 4's race.

The course was really nice, huge corners and relatively smooth, besides the 6th corner where there was a bunch of road furniture. If you want a better description of the course check out our preview.

3/4's race
We all agreed after the race that was a pretty uneventful race. We had 50 starters and guys were getting dropped quick! Dan held tight up front most of the race, but then he dropped his pink Vision Quest water bottle. Bryan and I moved around a little bit but settled towards the back of the pack. We were all together coming into the last lap, but we put it on cruise control when a rider in front of us clipped a pedal in the downhill corner and somehow remained upright. The pucker factor was high on this near miss. I finished 20th, Dan was 23rd and Bryan 25th. One more race to come.

Between races Dan and I decided with a small field anything less than a podium spot would be a failure in the 4's race.

4's Race
We were on a mission. Dan and I line up on the outside or the front row and on the whistle we come over the top of the group. Dan starts setting the tempo. As we approach the rise I takeover. We are trying to show that we are going to be the guys that dictate the race. I attack, we stay off the front for a about 2 laps, maybe less. Dan attacks, Bryan gets hung out to dry on his attempt, nothing really sticks. We were all over the attacks from the start. After about 15 or 20 mins the race settles.

Early in the race some guy rode right into me and starting freaking out and screaming. I said "I need you to clam the fuck down!" And then everything was fine, thanks to my 2 Randy Warren safety clinic's I don't freak out when someone starts bumping me. He later told me he thought we had locked bars, no harm no foul.

For the first time we rode together all race. With about 12 or 13 laps to go we all go to the front and push the pace. Pre-race their had been discussion about trying to split the field, and this was our best attempt. We all pulled through once and then settled about 5 wheels back. With 6 laps to go the pace slowed again, Dan hammered to the front took control. At this point Bryan tells me "I'll get you to turn 5". Dan comes back to me and tells me he's done. I tell him to stick Bryan's wheel.

These guys were setting me up, I started to get really nervous. I thought if Bryan gets me to turn 5 what the hell do I do between 5 and 6?

With 1 to go the bell rang and Bryan went to the front and did his best George Hincapie impression. He killed it, at the top of the rise he looked back to make sure we were still close to his wheel we sate 3rd and 4th wheel. He hammered the downhill and we were single file coming into turn 4. He picked up the pace as we came into turn 5. He peeled off and Dan kept me 4th wheel as we hit turn six. However somehow a lapped rider was in the way. He actually took the inside line! I jumped outside and a rider came to my inside. I was 4th coming into the finishing straight which had a stiff head wind. I exploded out of my saddle. I checked my inside and it was clear so I swung to my left, I opened it up. I passed the rider directly in front of me and I was now on the podium but then I ran out of real estate. The computer said I got it up to 35.7 mph in the sprint, I'll take that. Had the last turn been cleaner who knows what happens.

Dan and Bryan both finished in the top ten giving us 3 top tens for the day. We achieved our goal of a podium and we really races strong. Not to mention we finally figured out what to do at the end of a race. All and all it was a good trip even if we did sit in my car for 7 hrs.

Thanks to the Men of Steel Racing Team, Parkview and all involved in this event. The opportunity for a 3/4's race was the best part of this event. I really enjoyed the low cost racing as well 2 races $38.

On the podium finally!

2010-07-31T21:33:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the spidermonkey leadout train of Bryan "I only do classics" Witry and Danny "just throw the damn bottle" Pollard I was able to claim a spot on the podium at the Parkview Classic in Fort Wayne Indiana. They delivered me fourth wheel to the last corner and I was able to take down one rider to finish 3rd. Dan held on for 6th and Bryan claimed 8th after a lap of dragging the field at a blistering tempo. Huge thanks to the teammates today, I did the easy part!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Parkview Cycling Classic 1.0

2010-07-30T19:38:00.007-05:00

Criterium: Check
6 Turns: Check
3/4 at 2:45pm: Check
Cat4 at 6:30pm: Check
Shoes: Check

A few lone wolves are heading to Indiana tomorrow in search of ~~strippers and cocaine~~ 2 races of fun. Its my first race back, and i'm excited.

Boogity Boogity Boogity, Lets Go Racin'!!

Saturday's Race

2010-07-30T16:46:00.000-05:00

Myself, Bryan and Dan are heading to Fort Wayne Indiana to tackle the Parkview Cycling Classic. We will have an opportunity to race twice on Saturday which was attractive to us. The course is 1k long with 6 turns, updates to come.

Note to fellow racers, when planning to race in Indiana consider the effect of time zones in your travel plan.

Its transfer season!

2010-07-29T09:07:00.001-05:00

We have reached one the the most interesting parts of the pro-cycling season, transfer season. With the biggest names in the sport likely on the move prior to the 2011 season including the entire 2010 TdF podium this could be one of the most important transfer seasons in years.

Over next couple weeks I'll look at the options available to the top riders on the transfer market. Today I will focus on the biggest name on the market Alberto Contador.

Word out of the Contador camp is that negations with Astana are stalled (according to velonews), and El Pisterlo is ready to ride for a new team in 2010. So where will he end up?

Quick Step

Patrick Lefevre, Quick Step Director, was hot after Contador last year. So we should assume the same will hold true this year. Quick Step showed at the Tour they could compete at the biggest race of the year without its biggest star, Tom Boonen. With the addition of a few climbers, namely Navarro and Noval, this team could be capable of defending Alberto's back to back tour titles. Not to mention this Alberto would take some pressure off Boonen and allow him to focus on the classics, where he truly shines.

Riis Team (old Saxo Bank)
Next season Andy and Frank Schleck will be riding for a new team out of Luxembrog built around them. They are most likely going to take a bunch of the Saxo guys with them. So this leaves a large hole in the Bjarne Riis lead team. With Saxo Bank ending its title sponsorship after this season some new sponsors will be filing the void and the team will go on, at least that's the word on the web. One of the rumored title sponsors for next season is Specialized (along with Sunguard), Contador has a personal contact to ride Specialized next season, hmmmm...... And Rhis is the type of director who can lead the second half of Contador's career, seems like a really good fit.

Garmin - Transitions

Jonathon Vaughter has openly gushed about Contador for years and rumors are that he would have signed him prior to the the 2009 Tour had Astana folded. So will Vautghers be able to sign him this time around? It seems unlikely. This team is influx, with CVV in the twilight of his career it looks as if the team is putting its resources behind Tyler Farrar. The fit wouldn't be great, but some pieces could be brought in to make a GC push for Contador. Not to mention they have a lot of money from the sale of Wiggo and you could always throw Ryder "weight of a nation" Hesjedal on the open market and fetch a pretty penny for him while his stock is through the roof.

Radio Shack

This isn't going to happen, but it would make the most sense. He is familiar with the team and the director, even if they don't always see eye to eye. This team doesn't have a true GC rider for the 2011 season (do you really want to go into 2011 with 36 yr old Andres Kolden as your top rider?) The team would be solid and the management would be steady. But then again if you read Bill Strickland's book Tour de Lance you would be lead to believe that all of Contador's ex-teammates don't really care for him. (And there is that whole investigation into the team's owner and director)

I think these are the only legitimate options for Contador now lets see what happens, my bet is on the Riis Team (Sunguard - Specialized). Let me know where you think Contador will end up next season in the comments section.

The tour is over, what does a cycling addict do?

2010-07-26T23:15:00.002-05:00

Now that the tour is over I am not sure what to do. So here is what I came up with, a poll of sorts. I think it would be interesting to find a little bit about the people who read this blog. So I am going to list my favorite riders in pro cycling, and then I am going to ask you post your favorite riders in the comments. Lets see how it works.

Favorite Domestique - A rider whose main job is to help the team leader win the day's stage, or the entire race. A domestique may pull the leader up to a breakaway, or pace them up a steep climb. If a team leader gets a flat, a domestique may even be called upon to give up their front or rear wheel and wait for the team mechanic, saving the leader precious seconds. (via Tour of Americas Dairyland website)

Jens Vogit - The only true hardman of cycling!

Favorite Sprinter - The guys who bang all the way to the line, they battle for space and explode out of gaps and make it look easy.

Tyler Farrar - Its great to have an American sprinter for an American team and they are building a rice leadout train for him too. He really came into to his own at the Giro this year.

Favorite Team - No explanation needed, right?

Radio Shack, I really like Johan Brunyeel. He is a master tactician and succeeds a lot more than he fails. I like the American angle of the team too. Horner, Lance, Levi, Matt Busche and Taylor Phinney is on his way up too. They also did a nice job winning me some rouleurderby points in the Team Classifaction (now I can payoff my debt!)

Favorite Classic Rider - The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. In the last few years, the five most revered races are sometimes described as the 'Monuments'.(Via wikipedia.com)

Big Tom Boonen, the three time Paris Roubiax winner hammers the cobbles like no other. He abuses other riders when the days get tough and if it comes down to a bunch sprint he is still one of the fastest wheels in the pack.

Favorite Grand Tour Contender - The guys who compete for the overall at the biggest events in cycling. .

Andy Schleck showed me something this year. He brought it this past Saturday in the Time Trial even pushing Contador to his limits. If it had not been for a slipped chain and a terrible prologue the tour may had ended differently. Better days are ahead for Andy Schleck, I will even predict that yesterday was the last day Alberto Contador will ride into Paris in Yellow. 2011 the Year of Schleck!

So Copy and Paste this list into the comments and fill it out.

Name
Chicago Cycling Team
Favorite Domestique
Favorite Sprinter
Favorite Team
Favorite Classics Rider
Favorite Tour Contender

The Office at Le Tour

2010-07-26T16:29:00.006-05:00

Did you guys know that Steve Carell actually won stage 9, not Sandy Casar, (FDJ).... He apparently isn't leaving the office to pursue movies...

pic: velonation.com/sirotti

Race free weekend

2010-07-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Making Statements: Three Cheers to Versus

2010-07-25T11:04:00.004-05:00

Fun Tour... Even the last stage was not without controversy when Lance decided to show some fashion sense which turned into JerseyGate. But I will say, Versus had some really good coverage, its sad that its over. I really enjoy coming home from work and watching the stage of the day-it was a good 3 weeks. This commercial was one of my favorites, the full version only seemed to air during the morning showings of the stage in between breaks from Paul and Phil.

Based on my recent twitter readings, it seems that Christian VdV will be headed to the Vuelta. Maybe a Chicagoan on a podium? Plenty of climbing to come...until then.

For the love of the suffer,
bryanW

A remarkable performance

2010-07-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

Over the last two and a half weeks I have completely changed my opinion on Andy Schleck. Prior to this tour I thought of Andy as Frank's brother. They were a package deal. However when Frank lost control of his bike and broke his collarbone on the cobbles everything changed. As Frank lay on the side of the road Andy's wings took dreams. Spartacus powered across the cobbles with Andy in tow giving him an advantage of 30 seconds over his main rival. The ball was in his court at the Tour de France for the first time.

Without his brother by his side he continued to impress. In the Alps he launched a vicious attack during stage 8 that pushed his competitors to their limit (including a certain Spaniard) resulting in his first stage victory of this years Tour. He took yellow after the rest day on stage 9 by launching several attacks aimed at Mr. Fingerbang. Finally after trading attacks they called a truce and pushed the pace to the finish in order to put time into the rest of the field. He wore Yellow for 6 days losing the jersey due to a debatable attack from Mr. Fingerbang. It been discussed enough so I will leave it at that. (Photo: © Sirott)

So that left it to today, the queen stage with the finish atop the famed Col du Tourmalet. Everyone knew Andy needed to get at least a minute and a half in order to have a chance to wear yellow into Paris. Schleck left everything he had on the Tourmalet attacking with 10k of climbing remaining. He tried to ride Mr. Fingerbang off his wheel with countless accelerations. The Spaniard didn't flinch matching each of the accelerations, and finally countering with an acceleration of his own with about 4k to go. Schleck quickly closed the gap with about 3.5k, but his tank was empty. In a class move Mr. Fingerbang didn't contest a one up sprint with Schleck at the top of the Tourmalet, giving Schleck a unforgettable victory. (Photo: © Roberto Bettini www.cyclingnews.com)

Schleck's attacks up the Tourmalet were jaw dropping. As he rode through hoards of screaming fans in all sorts of costumes (I am partial to the banana, its classic) he continued to dish out pain by setting a brisk pace all the way to the line. He left everything he had on the mountain and after today I am a fan of Andy Schleck. (Photo: © Roberto Bettini www.cyclingnews.com)

Making Statements: Stage 16 Jens

2010-07-20T20:33:00.007-05:00

Jens being Jens. If you look up hardman in the dictionary you get this picture.

So then the broom wagon pulled up and was like, “Do you want to just get in?” And I said, “Oh no, I don’t need YOU!” But there I am with blood spurting out my left elbow and no bike. Finally, the race organizers got me a bike, but it was this little yellow junior bike. It was way too small for me and even had old-fashioned toe-clip pedals. But that is the only way I could get down the mountain, so I had to ride it for like 15-20 kilometers until I finally got to a team car with my bike.

pic:bicycling.com

vid: Saxobank

Making Statements: Chris Carmichael

2010-07-20T08:16:00.002-05:00

Beyond The DebateMy struggle is that for seemingly every defense of one argument, there’s an equally valid counter-argument. There really doesn’t seem to be one answer that’s clearly right or one that’s clearly wrong. In the end, and even though it’s directly contradicted by the Lance/Ullrich situation on Luz Ardiden in 2003, if I had to make a decision today I would say that it would have been nice to see Contador wait for Schleck, but I don’t think he was obligated to. The decision to press on, however, may well haunt Contador later in this race or in the future.

The peloton has its own sense of justice, and if the riders feel that Contador was wrong, they may find ways within races to let him know. I don’t mean they’ll do anything malicious like push him off the road, but they may decide not to work with him in a breakaway, or that they’ll chase him down to prevent him from winning when they otherwise would have cooperated with him. Perhaps in next year’s Tour, or in a stage later in this race, a rider who might otherwise work with Contador in a small group will decide to just sit on.

You have to remember that even though many fans only see riders like Sammy Sanchez or Andy Schleck once a year during the Tour de France, the riders see each other week in and week out for years. Many of the men in the Tour have been racing each other for the better part of a decade, some even longer. Many have raced together on the same teams, or will in the future, as contracts and sponsors change. The actions you take in races determine how you are perceived in the peloton, and over time you build a reputation based on fairness, competence, safety, work ethic, and friendliness. The night after a stage like today, we can all talk about the immediate implications that Schleck’s mechanical problem – and Contador’s response - had on the race. But right or wrong, the long-term consequences of Contador’s decision will be decided by the peloton.

Chris Carmichael

Making Q & A Statements: Lantern Rouge (sp?)

2010-07-14T20:16:00.010-05:00

Fun Tour so far, no?

Q: How do you spell Lantern Rouge?
A: Lanterne Rouge

Q: What does Wikipedia know about the Lanterne Rouge?
A: The Lanterne Rouge is the competitor in last place in a cycling race such as the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the caboose of a railway train, which conductors would look for in order to make sure none of the couplings had become disconnected. (Couldn't have said it better myself.)

Q: Who is currently in last place in the Tour?
A: 181. Adriano Malori (Lampre) at 2:02:29, respectable.

Q: Does Adriano have a large enough gap this early in the Tour to hold off 180. Anthony Roux, FDJ, at 2:00:46?
A: I have no idea...

Q: Does it make you proud that an American has never come in last?
A: Hell yea!!

Q: Are you going to get a loan @rouleurderby to bet on it?

A: Hell yea!!

Special not appropriate @work question...
Q: Did @NeilRoad tweet something special tonight?
A: No comment

Keep the rubber side down,

The Diaster that was Willow Springs

2010-07-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

This was a course I was excited about. However in bike racing some days you have it and some days you don't. Today was one of those days where I just didn't have it. Lots of squirrels in the field today, and to be honest I was one of them. I sucked today!!!!

My teammate Drew took 2nd, which was great because it at least made the trip not a total waste.

Really enjoyed hanging out with the Rhythm Racing guys before the race watching Andy Schleck throw fire on the field at the tour (I really don't want to see el bitchelero in yellow in paris), thanks to 2 Bici for the accommodations.

Well after 15 races in 26 days not to mention a trip to Matteson for the Tuesday Night Training Races I think its time for some rest. One more good day of training and a couple of High Lifes then I am putting the bike down for at least two days followed by a rest week next week.

DJ is rocking some serious socks!

2010-07-13T12:57:00.002-05:00

Those are glittery silver socks!

Fun fact: when DJ wants to go home he just clicks his heals and says "there is no place like home"

DJ you are my idol!

Superweek Kickoff in Gevena

2010-07-12T22:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday myself and three teammates (Drew, Dan and Matt) headed down to Geneva Illinois, a great destination or a bike race. In my opinion the best place for a race is in a town's downtown area... and today that is where this race took place.

Superweek is always tough racing. When people drop $40 to race their bike its seems to add speed and aggression, these aren't always the best things in a 4/5 race (more on that tomorrow).

The course was interesting to say the least. Two of the corners were made of bricks and the third turn was terrifying. There was a downhill off camber right hand turn into a narrow street, amazingly in our race everyone seemed to navigate this corner without anyone touching the ground.

We prepared for the race by trying to combat the heat, which was tough. It was sooo hot we had to use a mitten full of Enzo's buttonhole for extra protection (it smells like thin mints!)

A full field of 75 took to the line, this race was loaded with newcomers which was evident early on in the race. I staged well, but in retrospect I should have lined up behind Dan or Drew. Something I will make sure to do in my next race.We all rolled off the line for a 25 lap race, ohhh the joy of superweek. Due to a failed clip in I was swarmed when the official started the race (pretty sure the clip-in this is a mental block at this point).

As we hit turn 3 for the first time it seemed that everyone puckered up good, but somehow despite trying to jam three or four wheels through the turn we all made it. As the race went on we got better at taking this turn, but the hardest part was that there really wasn't a clean line through it. This seemed to be the consensus from everyone I talked to; including Phillip Mann a Bahati Foundation rider who finished top ten after being off the front for 75 laps!

I raced pretty well, I moved up a couple spots each lap. I knew superweek races are long and there was no reason to blow up early. I took advantage of my ability to power up the hill and moved up four or five spots each time. After a couple laps the attrition started and riders were being shelled off the back, about 4 or 5 guys a lap.

The group remained extremely strung out all day, something that rarely happens in a 4/5's race. My teammates Drew and Dan raced amazing, they held top 15 position all race. This is something I really need to focus on, until I figure out how, my race career will not progress. I dodged a couple solo crashes and managed to chase back on with ease. I was feeling good as the laps passed.

With about 5 to go I knew I needed to move up, I was sitting about 5 wheels back from Drew and Dan with 2 to go. I moved up again on the hill and started to try to navigate my way to Dan's wheel. I was moving up the left side looking for a clear lane to start to set up for the sprint. At this point the field had been whittled down to about 30 riders. As we approached the final turn all hell broke loose. From what I gathered someone tried to put a wheel where it had no business being. Bumping occurred, someone freaked out, and the next thing I knew bikes and bodies were flying in every direction.The sound of a crash is horrifying, the sight of your friends from other teams laying on the ground is depressing and the fact that this happens almost every week is ridiculous. I was able to find a path through the carnage by grabbing a fist full of Ultegra breaks and throwing my ass back in order to stabilize myself, but a gap had formed. I could see Dan and Drew had made it through, what a relief!

At this point I was with Bryan from Verdigris, we took turns trying to pull ourselves back into the race that was running away from us but we had no such luck. I was extremely jittery after seeing what had happened the lap before. I did my best to make the turns as clean as possible. Bryan and I simply wanted to make it to the line safely, as we did just that. He crossed 16th and I followed close behind 17th.

As I cooled down I saw Dan and Drew, I knew they did well. I yelled "how did we do?" Dan said "Drew won!" I screamed with excitement, he then said "I was 4th!", what a day! When the results were posted we saw that Dan was pipped at the line by about a half of an inch and finished 5th, still an incredible result. (Photo Credit: John Wilke)

Having a teammate win is a incredible feeling. Now I only wish I could have done something to help him out during the race, well maybe next time.

Another great day of Superweek

2010-07-12T16:53:00.000-05:00

The good times keep rolling, Geoff Scott claimed his first Superweek top 10 with an impressive 9th place finish, I crossed the line close behind with a 13th place finish and Ken competed hard as he always does, and he makes it look soooo good.

Drew remains the overall 4/5 leader after his stellar weekend.

Drew and I will be heading out to Willow Springs to tackle the road race.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Making Statements Stage 8: Say it ain't so...

2010-07-11T10:50:00.005-05:00

Today was a tough stage to watch... Our American hopeful for this year’s tour seemed to have all of the good luck from 7 previous tours reverse in a treacherous Karmic pattern. As the stage went up, the Lance of old was no where to be found. It begs the question: When should heroes call it quits….????

Lance pic: pez

Jordan pic: a popular search engine

Big Day!

2010-07-10T19:21:00.002-05:00

Today at the first race of Superweek my teammate Drew Kushnick took the top spot of the podium.

Just as I predicted in an email to my teammates yesterday (see below)

1125 am a spidermonkey rocks the top spot of the podium

Dan Pollard raced incredibley holding top ten postion nearly the entire race crossing the line 5th, about a inch or two behind the 4th place finisher.

I avoided crash after crash to finish with another top 20 (17th) and Matt "DJ Wheel Crusher" Reizman held tough as he works to integrate himself into the competitive Chicago 4's race scene.

A race report and some thoughts about the Cat 4 crashing problem tomorrow.

Must See Video

2010-07-08T15:42:00.003-05:00

Just sharing a quick link that I found today on Twitter (via Neil Road, he's a big deal in the cycling world just ask him!) these are video summaries of tdf stages with great music too!

http://therobbyy.com/2010.html

Sweet Goat Neil!

After posting addition

Neil has asked that I also add his "GQ" picture, so here you go Neil. Then again he is probably drunk so he won't even remember the request, the Tour De France drinking game got crazy today when we added "drink every time a rider throws a bottle". Check out tomorrow's live tdf chat, its really fun especially on a flat stage

The beauty of a clean sprint finish

2010-07-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

Today we were treated to one of the most beautiful displays in sport, a clean sprint finish. The previous three days of the tour were dreamed up by the ASO in order to add suspense, but at what cost? The cost was the pure instantly of a group sprint to the line and today we were reminded of that.

Another factor that made today's sprint incredible was the winner was not inevitable. Over the past two seasons when it came down to a sprint finish we all knew what was about to happen. The HtC/Columbia/High Road lead-out train would get on the front of the race and deliver the monster from the Isle of Man to the line. It would game over once Cav's made his jump from Renshaw's wheel.

Today things changed, the HtC train was intact with 2km to go, three strong men driving to pace setting up their leader (he does wear 11). And then something happened; a bunch of other teams got involved. With 1.5km to go Lampre jumped to the right, HtC tried to tact onto the wheel. Then all the teams starting getting involved. Sky thought they had a chance at a much needed win (screw Rupert Murdoch and his empire), Thor and company started trying to find position to gobble up more points toward his the green jersey defense, not to mention Garmin threw the kitchen sink at the field using all of Farrar's lead-out as sprinters.

For a moment Thor and Cavs bumped as their lead-out men gave a last effort. Petacchi jumped, McEwen followed and it was clear Cav's couldn't match their monster acceleration. Petacchi crossed the line and blew a kiss to the sky.

It was everything a sprint should be, chaotic, tense and unpredictable. We should have more of these in the coming days and I look forward to it. Especially since the result is uncertain now that is no longer a king of the sprints.

Photo credit © Roberto Bettini

Stage 4: Taking me Home

2010-07-06T20:27:00.005-05:00

As the peleton rolls away from famous cobbles of the classics, Stage 4 starts the journey away from North France in a flat sprinters stage from Cambria to Reims. It just so happens that a certain suburb near the finishing stretch is where my ancestors call home. Witry-les-Reims is a commune in the Champagne region of France (insert typical joke about ancestors being booze hounds which makes me a booze hound....blah blah blah). However, I feel I'm allowed to play my horn here: toot toot.

Oh yea, the mayor's name is Detrainge Yves...what a stud!!

The King and El Bitcholero

2010-07-06T13:58:00.001-05:00

El Bitcholero may be a big winner today, but I think the remaining Shleck and Cadel Evans are the biggest winners. And does anyone really trust Vino?? We are only 4 days in and look at all the fun we've had.....

And although the King maybe down i don't believe he is out, all it takes to change the race is a mistimed flat....

On a sidenote today was not a great day for my rouleurderby bets!

Making Statements Stage 2: Quick Step

2010-07-05T18:39:00.011-05:00

Quick Step pulled on some non-blue and white jerseys today as Sylvain Chavanel took the wet and wild Stage 2 out of an original 8 man break including teammate Jerome Pineau. Pineau fired rockets with Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) towards the polka-dot banners and claimed the KOM jersey. Something tells me they will have some champagne flowing tonight at team dinner. Chapeau!!

Safe to say Quick Step showed up to make some week 1 statements.

ToInfinityandBeyond will have further 'Making Statements' throughout Le Tour.

What the hell versus??

2010-07-04T20:17:00.001-05:00

I have seen a lot of complaints about the versus coverage. I guess I just don't think its that bad. Especially if you watch the live version @730am (set your dvr and extend the recording for 30 to be safe).

Now here's my beef with versus, they are calling this tDf the "most epic tour ever". How can that be, we are one stage and a prologue into this tour, we don't know if it will be epic! Versus you are better than that.

Now stop calling this race epic its the most over used word in cycling!!! I might write more on this later in the week.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

He's back...

2010-07-04T14:32:00.000-05:00

Who's getting excited? Two days of racing are in the books, the next big day looks to be Tuesday on the cobbles. I have a hard time believing a certain spanish climber is going to have a good day on the cobbles (think about mayo and that was only 4k worth)
Velonews says tomorrow has the potential for a big surprise ie breakaway win. Not to mention we need to watch for who crashes out. If guys starting going down on the big teams that could be a game changer.

I love July!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Well thats a way to spend a Saturday!

2010-07-03T19:30:00.000-05:00

So today is Saturday, there was a bike race within 30 mins of my house, what do you think I did this afternoon?? This was an ABR race hosted by project 5 racing, which excited me. It meant that I could draw a sword and clash with the 3's today after my 4's race. What I didn't know is that a crash in the 4's would combine the 1/2/3 field into one talented field, scored separately (more on this later)

I was accompanied by my teammate Mike Meyers, this would be the first time he turned the pedals in anger all season (I now owe Phil Liggett a nickel for use of his favorite saying)

Cat 4's Race

Mike and I took the line and I felt good. The Chicago boys were in the house, Sean and Q of Project 5, Joe and Rob of Psimet and Bryan Fuller of Bicycle Haven. Not to mention an army of Tower Racing fellows in their sharp new kits The course was very similar to Sherman Park (no turns) however it was in a neighborhood. I love a neighborhood race where the front yards are filled with people watching the sport I love for the first time and that was the case today.

The race wasn't the most exciting race ever but good enough. Without corners it was more about if you could do a long burning effort as opposed to the constantly sprinting out corners like I did at ToAD. So when they called the first prime about 5 mins in I went for it. I attacked about 3/4 of a lap from the finish. I fizzled out and the pack caught me about 150 meters from the line (better to have tried and failed then to have never tried at all (word of wisdom from a veteran racer).

I decided I would sit in for the rest of the race and see what I could throw done the in the sprint. Sean and Q of project 5 (our gracious host for the day) took fliers and each held they gap for about 2 or 3 laps. These are guys I like racing with so if they can hold an extended break I was willing to concede the win and go for it in the field sprint. So with one to go we were all together. I knew I needed to move up, and I did but I moved way too far up. I was know on the front dragging the field around the course on the last lap.... not a good thing. I really didn't know what to do so I figured I would ride a steady tempo until I saw guys come around me and try to grab a wheel and take it to the finish. This seemed like a good plan, until it actually happened. Guys swarmed me on each side and when I got out of my saddle it was over. I didn't really have a kick left. I rolled in 19th, another top 20, but I wanted more today. Mike rolled in one spot behind me, well done sir!

Great learning experience, lessons are noted and I will take it to the start line next time I line up.

1/2/3 Race (the big boys)

So whenever I have an opportunity to test myself against what I consider superior racers I jump at the opportunity. So I was excited about throwing down with the 3's today. The surprise that the 1/2's would joining us was pretty exciting. I mean there was some fire power at the line. Cesar from Iron Cycles, Luke of CBR fame, Ryan Freund of VzW and ToAD Stage winner (his photo graces the month of July on my CBR calender which hangs in my kitchen) and a guy from Helen Cycles who had raced the entire ToAD Pro series.

So we started, and I quickly realized that I was still in my small ring! This could quickly become an issue, but after a couple failed attempts to shift up to the big gear I was there. I was at the back of the pack so I needed to move up. It was easy to move around on this course so I quickly found myself towards the front of the race. It appeared that the Helen Cycles racer was making a move about 2 laps in, I thought what the hell, I'll give it a go. We got a little off the front but we were quickly pulled back. (goal one of the day was to make an attempt to get in a break, check).

I was actually pretty tired at this point. The 1/2's races are crazy when guys are trying to get a break off the front. After several failed attempts to form break a group of about 8 or so got clear including Ryan, Luke and Cesar (I think Q was in there too). After a few laps of chasing the gap had grown and the group was out of sight. I thought the pace had slowed so I asked the xXx racer next too me "did we just concede the break?" He replied "yep" I said, "Thanks, I'm new to this having a break up the road, that doesn't happen in the 4's". At this point I didn't have aspirations on a strong finish. For me a pack finish behind the break would be an incredible accomplishment.

I took a pull or two. I could the Helen Cycles racer was getting frustrated, so pulled through again and took my last pull and moved myself to the back of the field. With 1 to go I tried to find a comfortable spot to hang out, and then it got hot! I mean really hot!!! These guys fly. I was quickly was funneled to back and realized I wouldn't be sprinting today. I rolled in with the pack and a smile on my face. The congrats from my friends after the race was my reward. I would be re-missed if i didn't mention Alex from the Recycling Team, he was a great familiar wheel to follow all day, which really helped ease my nerves.

I rolled around the course to cool down and chatted with Luke, I was so proud of what I had just accomplished and I am pretty sure it was written all over my face. Looking back at today I realized just how far I have come in a year, it actually makes me kind of emotional to think about. I have always loved sports but until I found cycling I was never really able to compete at a high level in any of them but thanks to countless hours in the saddle I can push myself farther than I ever imagined.

I took one more lap around the cousre and made sure to thank all the locals for letting us race in their neighborhood.

(Now I am getting on my high horse) Everyone should be doing stuff like this, as races disappear from the calender with greater frequency we as a cycling community need to do everything we can do be good citizens where ever we race. The responsibility lies with each racer to be an outstanding citizen and give back to this great sport.

Big thanks to Chip Gray for coming out and rolling around with the 4's after his master races in order to help our team by coaching us through the race, you are constantly giving back to a group of young racers and it doesn't go unnoticed.

Also thanks for all the encouragement from the sidelines during the 1/2/3's race, it was amazing to hear.

Floydgate, tDf style

2010-07-03T10:37:00.002-05:00

So I read the wsj floyd article online yesterday evening, and for some reason I felt compelled to buy the hard copy today and give it another read. Here are a few of my favorite quotes and my take on the whole thing.

In response to allegations that Lance and fellow US Postal riders took part in private strip shows and cocaine use (by his lawyer Tim Herman).
"Mr Armstrong had no contact with strippers or cocaine."

Wasn't Tom Boonen on postal about that time....

Most interesting revelation: US postal allegedly sold team issued Trek bikes to fund the doping program. Landis alleges that team bikes (about 60) were sold to raise funds for the team doping program and not given to riders as they should have been. Trek admitted some bikes were sold, but nothing more.

Floyd said "not a jet, I want a bicycle. That's not too much to ask for?" In response to a jab by Armstrong referencing the personal jet lance utilized (and landis rode in on occasion)

Hardest thing to read:

Chad Gerlach's statements about systematic doping (who is an addict like intervention appearances addict, which rupert murdoch's newspaper fails to disclose)

"I believe it because I have seen it personally.... Its just a systematic thing" in response to the landis allegations.Chad doesn't accuse anyone in particular.

Now here is my take, Landis is spiteful. He admits he doesn't understand why he is the only one who doesn't get a second chance (he should call ricco or rasmussen they could both relate. I feel that spite and revenge are his true motives.

However, its clear through failed tests and countless rider accounts that there was a couple decades in cycling that were really dirty. I've come to terms with that as a fan. I choose to look forward to the next three weeks of racing with child like excitement and not focus on the past, its a lot more fun that way.

Not to mention i got a bunch of rouleurderby bets going!

Full disclosure I am a fan of Lance Armstrong.

My chance at being a CBR Celebrity

2010-07-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Luke at chicago bike racing for doing an interview with me about my 10 days of ToAD, I promise this is my last ToAD post.

http://www.chicagobikeracing.com/index.php/site/post/andrew-zens/
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

My look back at ToAD

2010-07-01T17:54:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take a chance to you look back at the things I learned through my 10 days of racing, top ten style.

10) ToAD makes your kit and shoes smell, I mean really bad! If you plan on doing a long race series make sure you have multiple kits!

9) Mental exhaustion is harder than physical exhaustion. A race series is stressful and the mental grind really starts to take its toll towards the end of the series.

8) Have a book to read throughout the series. You need to recover each night and sitting around reading a book with your feet up worked really well for me. I read the new Bill Strickland book "Tour De Lance"

7) Take time to meet the people in the pack. I made sure to try to get to know some of the Wisconsin racers, and that didn't hurt when I needed a helping hand in the pack. It was great to get to know Dave Racine Hampshire Cycling Club throughout ToAD.

6) Try to sleep. Its hard, you hear free wheels when you close your eyes, you dream about the post up you want to do the following day. Find the time to sleep, I was really bad at this probably averaging around 7hrs a night (at most)

5) Write race reports, every race is a story and without a race report you may forget some of these stories. And believe it or not people read them, really people do read this blog it not a joke. Don't be afraid to utilize twitter as well. Twitter is strongest tool for updating people on races. It is also the key to the future of this sport in this country, in my opinion (more on that soon).

4) Buy air fresheners from Cosco. You are going to need to stock up on these because your car is going to stink! If you played football in high school think about the smell of your locker room, that's what my car smells like.

3) Be a host family. It's actually really fun. My parents will concur after hosting myself and 5 Chicago racers from 4 Chicago teams last saturday night (even if your basement floods the day your are suppose to host its still fun). My parents are considering hosting a pro team next year.

2) Thank everyone. I mean everyone, from the women your checked in registration daily to the announcers who tried to make every race exciting even when they were far from it. Make sure to thank the officials who stand in the sun to watch sprinting lines and the SRAM neutral support guys who are willing to help keep your bike in top shape. Most importantly thank the locals. Say good morning to everyone you pass, show them that you are thankful that they opened up their town for you that day.

1) Have fun, the growing focus on points and upgrades can really take the fun out of racing. It important to remember that racing your bike is a blast. If its not fun then all you are doing is riding in circles. Note this upgrade obsession is a Chicago thing, I didn't hear one Wisconsin rider talking about upgrades all week. (well except that we were all glad Travis was going to have to upgrade after ToAD).

My final thought: This was an incredible experience, not only did I learn a ton about racing I learned that I can push myself past my limits. I realized I am a strong racer, I just need to remind myself of it and go for it. Well now its time for the rest of my season.

A message from Snoop

2010-07-01T10:53:00.001-05:00

I saw this and couldn't help myself!

More ToAD Fun

2010-06-30T13:29:00.001-05:00

This link was sent over by Dave Racine from Hampshire Cycling Club, a damn good racer!

Downer Classic Races Stopmotion from Sam Dodge on Vimeo.

More ToAD

2010-06-30T09:35:00.003-05:00

I have really enjoyed the vZw videos that were made throughout ToAD last week. Here's the is the Downers video from last Saturday.

Tour of America's Dairyland: Tour 10 - The Downer Classic from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

VzW Videos

Day 10 - Carl Zach Classic

2010-06-30T00:04:00.000-05:00

And sometimes you don't have it!

The previous day I raced hard, and lets say I ignored recovery (its good enough for obama!)

On about the 3rd or 4th lap a rider crashed in front of me. I would have to chase again, fail!

I got popped, I got lapped twice, that hasn't happened in a while.

The field blew up and Drew took second in the field sprint for 6th. I crossed 25th. It was over 10 race 10 days. Wow!

Tomorrow i will post a look back at ToAD, a season goal accomplished. I am really proud of this accomplishment. Now where are my keys I keep losing them (see DZ quote)

Day 9 - Downers Avenue Classic

2010-06-29T23:44:00.000-05:00

The previous night my teammate Matt rolled into town and on race day Drew arrived via Amtrak, it was good to have teammates to race with. At our level the value of teammates has less to do with tactics and more to do with motivation. So having some friends in the pack was a welcome change. When I arrived on the east side I saw some more familiar faces. It was nice to have xXx's John Wolthers, Iron Cycle's Ted Ramos and Adam and "the Doctor" from MS in the field as well as the regulars from the week Dave, Travis, Lionel, Nate, Jared, Craft, the iscorp army etc....

The course is fairly well know, its been a superweek course for a while. I had never raced the course, but I knew it was going to be tough. I had heard about "the corner". I knew with the weekend here fresh legs would attendance. I was going to have to work hard.

The race started with a quick jump from Travis, Lionel and an Iscorp rider. I was in no position to take a pull or follow an attack yet so I slotted in and tried to take the turns clean. I saw Drew was sitting up in the top ten, I knew when I saw an opportunity I should join him. The corner was interesting, everyone took it really slow so the hardest part was sprinting out of it. Some intresting lines were being used, but it wasn't as bad as expected.

On the 3rd lap I moved up to the front to take a pull and try to bring down the gap. I thought Travis had the talent to ride away from the field and with Lionel up there two anything was possible. So I took a pull and moved back into the pack. As we hit the back stretch I saw a rider jump to the left I jumped too. If we could bridge across we might really have something. And a small group would be able to navigate the turn much smoother than the nervous chasing pack. In all reality it wouldn't have stayed away but worth a shot. As we hit the third turn we were attacking, the other rider didn't give me a clean line. I was carrying a good bit of speed and I CHERUNDOLOED the turn. I adjusted my line didn't freak out and all was good. Had I went down I would have taken a great deal of the pack with me, I couldn't have that. As we came up the front stretch the pack latched onto my wheel. I felt a hand up on my hip (when i dip we dip you dip.....) I saw the tweety bird shoes and knew it was Adam. I pulled a little longer and then moved back in the field.

With about 13 laps to go as we came into the corner the rider in front of me touched wheels, he had no chance. He slid out right into my line. I threw my ass back and grabbed a hand full of breaks and remained clam. The corner was huge so I just kept going straight narrowly avoiding the sliding rider (do your wheel touch drills gentlemen). I saw the field sprinting away from me. I knew it was gut check time. I powered the bike up to another rider who was trying to catch back on. I knew primes were being handed out like epo on the fiesta bus so the pack would sprint and then slow. If I maintained a steady tempo I would be able to catch back on after a prime, hopefully. And that's just what happened. After a smooth two lap time trial I rejoined the field. I was happy to be back. I rolled up to Drew and said "lets chill here and head up with 5 to go" I drank some water and recovered. Drew moved up to limit the sprint out of the corner. With about 3 to go I tried to move up, but I just couldn't. The chase had really ended my chances that day and the previous 8 days of racing were beginning to take their toll.

The sprint looked pretty clean from my respective. I was within 25 meters of the winner, but that a big gap in a bike race. I gave it my best effort, but it wasn't enough. I finished a respectable 23rd, Drew was 7th and Matt hit a pole. This was probably my second favorite crit race of the week, behind the Grafton Race. It was a great racing atmosphere. Only one more day, what was I going to do Monday?

I would like to thank my parents for hosting 5 members of the chicago racing community on Saturday night with only one working shower. Have you ever tried to get 6 racers through the shower starting at 1015 on a Saturday night? The morning pre-race breakfast will be something I will remember about this series. Four different teams bunked at my parents place, I think it says something about our community (xXX, CCC, Iron Cycles, Spidermonkey)

A blast from the past!

2010-06-29T15:38:00.001-05:00

The Evolution of Cycling

ToAD - Day 7 Greenbush Road Race

2010-06-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

So I learned something at ToAD, I prefer road races to crits. Its not that I don't enjoy riding in circles, I am just not great at it. I after ToAD I realize how important positioning is, without good positioning you can't have success. The hardest place for me to hold position is through turns. In road races there are fewer turns therefore I didn't drift back as much. Okay enough about what I leaned, and more about the race.

People kept telling me that "this year we are running the course backwards". I didn't do this race in the previous year so that meant nothing to me. I hadn't scouted the course at all, not the elevation not where to turn. I knew the key for me today was to give max effort. I had some good prerace advice from a fellow chicago racing veteran that really helped, sorry that stays between us.

The course was a 9.8 mile loop with some nice rollers, not really steep but long. We would do 4 laps, about 40 miles. It was a 9:15 am start.

There were a bunch of fresh legs in the house including a strong Chicago crew including Captain Davey Jones, Gentleman John Wolthers of xXx, Sir Ted Ramos and Master Chase Negley of iron cycles as well as King Quentin Capista of Project 5, and others I have failed to mention. One of the things I like about the Chicago racing community is that when we are out of the state we seem to work together to dictate the race. I think its fair to say that in Greenbush we did just that . I would be re-missed if I failed to mention Travis Miller (Brazen Dropouts) the Leader of the overall and Dave Racine the two strongest veteran riders in the race who raced hard day after day. Not to mention the endless army of Wisconsin juniors that showed to throw down daily (there are so tiny yet so fast). So there was a strong field of 50 plus who took to the staging area.

The first lap was nerve racking with quick descents and weaving turns it was hard to anticipate what was about to happen in front of you. I tried to stick in the pack and learn the course. I felt like I was going to die, and quickly realized that I need to move up. I also noticed that there was about a three mile stretch with a strong cross wind. I noted this cross wind section would be a good place to move up if needed on the last lap. It seemed like Davey, John and Ted were all over the front during the first lap, Travis rode near the front as well. I knew this was that was the place to be.

On the second lap I used a steep hill climb right after the start finish to improve my position. I was now amongst the stronger riders. It calmed my nerve, these guys took good lines, kept the pace high and flew down the descents (max speed of 46 mph this day). And then I dropped a bottle, I cussed and thought that could be my race. I finished one bottle on lap 1 and threw it in the feed zone. So now I was down to one bottle of gatorade for the last 2 1/2 laps or more than 25 miles and it was warm. This was not ideal! I maintained my strong position throughout the lap and planned to move up and do some work on the third lap.

I need to note here that I did an excellent job of feeding throughout the race, 4 gels, one sleeve of shot blocks, a bottle of Gatorade and a 1 bottle of water. Not to mention a bunch of shot blocks on the start line.

Okay lap 3 I felt great! I was up front the whole lap, I even drove the pace for a while and at one point I looked back and saw a small gap and thought, this is the last place I want to be. I sat up and the pack rode back to my wheel and I continued my pull. At one point I draped my hands over the bars until I hit a tar strip which caused a serious pucker. As we came into the cross wind section I knew I wanted to hide out and get out of the wind. I moved back about 10 wheels and recovered. The key to this course was to recover on the back side so you could hammer it on the front side. We crossed the start finish and heard one to go.

I remained in good position going into the first right hand turn and then I started to realize how hard I had been working. I was struggling but the pace remained steady and I was okay. Then with about 6 miles to go an attack went off to the right, it was that dude from Matteson who's name escapes me at the moment. The field jumped but I couldn't. I spun as fast as I could to hold the back wheels as they flew past me. I was dangerous at this point, I rose my right hand moved to the back and rode my own pace. When I got close to the pack I rose from my saddle and attached myself to a wheel. I recovered until we hit the cross wind section, I then moved to the left and put my face in the wind. I passed about 20 guys and moved into about top 15 and latched on to King Quieten's wheel. I wanted to hold this position and move up to around top ten as we hit the final turn into the uphill finish. We flew through the bends that made up the back side of the course. We hit the base of the uphill finish as a group of about 20 or 30, we all jumped as we sprinted to the line. A group of about 15 of so crossed the line within 10 bike lengths and I crossed in 14th, by best ToAD result thus far.

I was proud of the way I raced. When I crossed the line I had nothing left, completely empty. I did a light spin with Dave Racine and we discussed just how exciting that race was. How much fun we had and how much we loved a good road race. This was racing bliss. Sure its great to win, but its also great to race.

"Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me."
Tim Kabbe "The Rider"

ToAD catch all

2010-06-27T00:40:00.001-05:00

So heres a quick summary of whats been going on.

Day 6 - Waterloo - Great course, little hill, easy corners and smooth roads. The race was tame and attacks were rarely made, none successful. I was in better position than previous crits coming into the final hill but got stuck behind someone braking up (who does that) and crossed the line 18th - got some series points to add to Road America. This was a good race, but its becoming clear that I lose position in corners on a regular basis and that leads my inability to crack the top ten. Its something I need to focus on during my trips to Matteson.

Day 7 - Greenbush - Hardest race I have ever done, I turned myself inside out to finish 14th in a pack uphill sprint. Great Chicago crew in the house 6 of the top 15 places. Great race, full report to come. More series points.

Day 8 - Fond Du Lac - Four corners, really short, really wide, really windy, really fast. Won a prime, dropped a chain in the last lap and crossed 25th (not excuses, just what happened but in bike racing you need to make things happen or you don't make statements.)

Day 9 - Downers Ave - Best racing atmosphere of the series. Interesting course, some would call it classic. Avoided a crash with 9 to go as the wheel in front of me tumbled to the ground (you shouldn't fall just cause you touch wheels, i am not saying i'm just saying). Chased back on over two laps and thought i was about to cough up blood from the effort. Early on I went to the front and did some work. Failed to hold good position and crossed 23rd. Drew got 7th.

Day 10 -- 12 hrs from now i will be racing my bike!

ToAD Day 5 - Sheboygan Crit

2010-06-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Okay I haven fallen behind on my race reports so this is going be short.

This was my first day racing without a teammate, the hardest part is now I have motivate myself. So I decided I would attack early and often. I would try to establish a break and I would commit to the break. If it didn't work and I got dropped so be it, I would drop out and start preparing for Waterloo.

So on the backside of lap 1 I attacked, some one came across with me and I was to cross the finish line on the first lap. Then we got caught, I attacked again and one of the IScorp jr's came across with me. This sort of stuff continued for the first 35 mins. I think I attacked or followed an attack 7 or 8 times in the start of the race. On my last lap it felt like everyone was trying to bridge to someone and after gettting out my aggression I couldnt grab a wheel. I rolled off the back, as I saw the judge on the back side of the course I gave the universal sign for "i'm done"

Now time to rest up for Waterloo.

Waterloo Cat 4/5: Tour of America's Dairyland

2010-06-23T18:46:00.007-05:00

With a crash forcing me to abandon ToAD a little earlier than planned, I had some free time on my hands during the races...The video is a psuedo-one-lap recap of the Mens Cat4/5 ToAD stage in Waterloo today 6/23/10.

bryanW.

That might be the queen stage, ToAD Day 4 - Road America Road Race (maybe circut)

2010-06-21T17:53:00.002-05:00

Today the ToAD pilgrimage took us to Elkhart Lake to the Famous Road America Race course. This was billed as a road race, I consider it a circuit race but who really cares. It was something different than what we had done the previous three days. The course was amazing, wide and perfectly smooth. It was super fast and some great uphills as well (180 ft f climbing, 8 laps, yikes!). The NASCAR nationwide series was in town to race on the track on the previous weekend and the smell of burned rubber was in the air.

Over the past couple days I have been super passive, I tail gunned and suffered from it. I vowed today would be different. After the race yesterday someone mentioned that I needed to be more aggressive. I had been called out, so from the start I tried to ride in the front of the group. I tried to make attacks, I tried to disrupt the best Cat 4's team I have seen in a while. With Bryan high in the overall I wanted to try to make the Brazen Dropouts work hard today. These guys have dominated the race and have the overall leader. So with a strong Chicago crew in the house today I took it upon my shoulders to be the work horse. I wanted to make them work up a couple hills and chase me at least once or twice.

The first couple laps were pretty uneventful, I rode in the top 10 or 15. I tried to make sure that I was ready to follow any attack and chase someone down if they started to get farther off the front than i thought was comfortable. I felt extremely focused and at ease. I climbed most of the hills out of my saddle, it was just more comfortable and the weight of the zipps made climbing significantly easier.

With 4 to go I sprung my first leg stretching attack, it was up the first short steep hill, I flew out of saddle and stomped up the hill, I was quickly rejoined by the pack. I allowed myself to get shuffled back to around Bryan and sit behind him to recover. With 2 to laps to go i repeated my attack from before. As we came up to the start finish for with 2 to go the pace got hot! The start/finish was on a long steep uphill, so I started to wrestle my bike (think cadel's mountain style) to hold my position in the front of the pack. A small group with some of the stronger riders had created a gap. I swung to the left and grabbed the wheel of John from xXx, a very comfortable wheel. He was sitting on Bryan's wheel and the Chicago train had been assembled with two to go.

As we approached the downhill we had closed the gap and I was finally able to relax. I recovered for a minute by John and Bryan and went back to the front to make sure the group stayed together, or at least that i was going with anyone who made a move. As we approached a flat section I moved off the front a little but was quickly pulled back (when I wagged my elbow I realized I was pulling the pack). The race remained together and slowed as the group seemed to acknowledge that this was going to come down to a mad dash up the the big hill to the finish on the last lap.

As we reached the base of the final climb I heard a crash and I saw Bryan hit the ground. It was now up to me. I tried to stay in my saddle as long as i could as this was a really long finish, advice i had seen for the fox river grove race. When the pain was too much I jumped out of my saddle and started passing people as I mashed my pedals to the finish. I finished strong but I had nothing left and in bike racing that is all you can ask. The official results said 17th, but i think there were some mistakes, not worth the protest I was proud of my result and my aggressive racing.

Now the downside my teammate Bryan broke his arm when someone came under his handle bars and crashed on top of him. So I am waving the spidermonkey flag solo till Friday so expect one aggressive racer.... i'm not saying, i'm just saying!

Another day riding in circles, Appleton Crit

2010-06-20T19:25:00.001-05:00

Today's adventure took us to Appleton Wisconsin for the third stage of ToAD. The course was a classic four corner crit, very similar to Blue Island. It turned out to be a really face race (word on the street was about a 25 mph average); what it wasn't was an interesting race. By no means am I complaining about the course its just sometimes races are kind of boring.

Now here's what happened: First we turned left, then we turned left again, and again and again, then we crossed the start finish, we did this for about 50 mins, at high speeds, and we cornered well a nice change of pace from the previous two days. I continued my attempted to tail gun each lap, struggled on the last lap and wound up 34 out of 50 something. Bryan held his position mid pack all day crossing the line 16th. All and all good day and on to the road race tomorrow.

Highlights from today

1) Somewhere around lap 5 or 6 a old man walked into the middle of the course, and the field refused to slow. The man stayed out of the pack but I really thought he was going to walk right into the group and wreck each and everyone of us.

2) On the Giro Havik prime lap the announcer mentioned that it looked like Jared of xXx really wanted those glasses, he even said that he thought Jared should jump for the prime. As we came across the line Jared won the prime sprint.

Should have more to report later in the week.

Grafton Gone Wild

2010-06-19T22:21:00.017-05:00

Friday's bike race wasn't very much fun in retrospect. I had a rough encounter involving a turn, a pedal, and some guys yard on turn 2. I only managed 2 points for the overall so hopefully today was going to be different.

Before the race I remembered why I had taken vacation time to race my bike: it’s a shit ton of fun. We listened to loud music on the way to the race, warmed up like we didn’t have a care in the world, and lined up determined to have fun. Turns out, the front is more fun than the back. Not because it’s easier, but because I get a more relaxed vibe when I can see the front of the field. So immediately, I went to the front.

With fifty minutes the going rate in ToAD, the first 20 minutes are about staying hydrated and relaxed. All the juniors can take the $20 coffee house primes and I’ll keep my matches for the sprint. After all, the overall is something I would enjoy…

The race went on and we all scurried around the course. I saw a few Chicago-mates in the group and was sure to hold their wheels. I never really let myself get below 20^th during the race and settled in nicely with 8 laps to go.

4 lone wolves created a classic wolfpack and the group let them dangle until about 2 to go. The pace got hot and I stayed top 10 and let everyone else bring the break back, I stay tucked in knowing the wolves would be caught. I realized we had sucked up the last wolf with about a half lap remaining and I was sitting right behind yesterday’s 3^rd place rider.

I took the final turn in about 7^th wheel and kept my head high through the turn to mark the riders ahead. 2 guys jumped way too early and a few of us let them lead us down the road. I saw my lane on the far left and went. I had a lot of ground to catch up and eventually threw my bike for 3^rd…

Thanks to the cheering section, always awesome hearing your name from the side.

bryanW

ToAD day #1 - Thiensville Fiddleheads Coffee Criterium

2010-06-18T21:07:00.001-05:00

These updates (lets call them race reports) may be a bit short but I am doing to try and do one of these for each of ten races over the next week and a half.

First race was in Thiensville which is more or less where i grew up (grew up in mequon but whats the difference right, just ask the people who live in mequon they will tell you) It was a pretty simple four corner crit. The field was about 45-50 deep, not racing a ton in Wisconsin many of the riders were unfamiliar, but I would expect by the end of the weekend its going to be clear whose wheel to follow.

The race started and I struggled to clip in (see every race report), the pace was brisk on this hot, hot Friday. I have recently been plagued with a crashing problem, as such my nerves are a mess and every turn seemed to be a slow dance around the curb. Followed by a extreme acceleration time and time again but thats crit racing isnt it? In turn two about 20 mins into the race my teammate was run off the road into a resident's yard. The resident arose from his chair and yelled "Get off my lawn!!!!" Okay so that didint happen but it makes for a better race report. He calmly regained his position within the pack about a lap later. The plan was to get Bryan a win today (he will also be a guest blogger throughout ToAD), but I couldn't do anything to help. It sucks when you have a plan and you can't execute.

The race was actually pretty boring, primes were again being handed out like condoms at a post prom party hosted by Mark Churma. (Thanks to Extreme Ski and Bike for the generosity with the primes)With 5 to go I really wanted to move up but found I couldn't. I need to overcome these nerves tomorrow. With 1 to go a small gap formed between myself and the pack, I regained my pack position going into turn 2 and I thought I could make a jump to the inside and help spring Bryan but I botched the turn and the rest was history, I rolled across with a poor showing (officially DNP). The good part is that I have another shot at the game tomorrow, and the next day and the next day... this is going to be a fun week or racing my bike.

Now I have to get some rest before I head over to watch the pros rip that course apart, chance of rain could add some intrigue, so if you are in the area come check it out; "I'm not saying I'm just saying!"

Thanks to today's cheering section, always good hearing your name.

ToAD Fiddleheads Coffee Sprint Finish

2010-06-18T20:45:00.001-05:00

Here is some video I took from the finish of the Fiddleheads Pro Crit, part of ToAD.

A three man break was chased down with somewhere around 5 to go, attacks followed but a sprint finish was the result on this flat fast course taken by a guy from Aero-Cat who's name escapes me.

.

10 days

2010-06-17T23:34:00.002-05:00

You can do alot in ten days. You can watch the entire series’ of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm at least twice each, although you could end up finding yourself in constant three pronged hilarious situations. You could drive across the country two and half times. OR you could save all of your vacation time and race your bike in Wisconsin.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of an attempt. An attempt to conquer an inner deamon, almost inner burden of truth, the evil question of...could my body survive a stage race?

ToAD isn’t a stage race with the Big Boys like the Tour. But ToAD is still 10 races at my caliber for 10 straight days. I don’t have a full support squad, I don’t have a massage every day, but I like a good challenge.

Did those training blocks work? Did I get enough miles in? Did I forget my shoes? Who knows, who cares, and please God no…. Boogity Boogity Boogity, Lets Go Racin’!!

bryanW

ToAD kickoff in shorewood and a win by Chicago's own...

2010-06-17T22:38:00.005-05:00

Tonight marked the start of Tour of Americas Dairyland with the Shorewood Crit in lovely downtown Shorewood. Today was the only pro-only day of the entire series.

The course was more or less a four corner crit with an s like turn in turn 3. With strong representation from the bahati foundation team (featuring the afroed man pictured to the left) and kenda-geargrinder (inculding defending champ chad hartley) the pace looked fast. It helped that primes were being handed out like jello shots at a keg party.

Attacks went off time and time again, but nothing stuck, bahati himself even charged off the front a few times in the early stages of the race as you can see kenda followed each of his moves. With about 4 or 5 to go a break including chad hartley of kenda gear-grinder, ryan freund of vzw u25 (2010 Chicagobikeracing.com calender cover boy) and some guy from south carolina or something like that (that guy didn't get much love from announcer so I don't know his story).

The break containing freund and hartley (less the dude from SC) remained off the front as they came around the final corner. Chasing behind them was hard charging field including a hungry bahati (I mean that team needs all the cash it can get). Freund held off Hartley in a one up sprint for the win with Bahati rounding out the podium by taking the field sprint.

Exciting racing all night, pretty cool to see some of the guys that I race with on tuesdays out at matteson swinging with some of the best crit racers around.

Till tomorrow where the when the fun starts for me! That's right tomorrow I start my Tour of Americas Dairyland and ten days of racing.

You should read Steve Tilford

2010-06-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a small sample of his writing, and this is a guy who has raced a lot of races.

We, the TradeWind Energy Team always try to ride offensively. I’m not too much into defensive riding. It makes for a boring race that isn’t fun. We don’t chase. If we miss the break, we missed the break. That is when the racing occurs, when the break is forming. Ride at the front and race when it is hard. That is what bike racing should be in my opinion.

My Melon City Cat 4 Race Report (from the sidelines)

2010-06-04T09:18:00.000-05:00

After a missed line on the down hill at the Snake the previous day I was in no condition to race the following day at the Melon City Crit, its a shame the course would have been good for me. So instead of racing i thought i would shoot the race and put together a race report for you all (thats y'all to my kansas friends) to watch, hope you enjoy what i put together. Oh and if you like the song check out Broken Bells (dj Dangermouse and the guy from the Shins) its a excellent album!

Melon City Cat 4's Getting Air!

2010-06-01T21:35:00.001-05:00

Melon City Women;'s 3/4 finish

2010-06-01T21:29:00.000-05:00

Congrats the Cat 4 Snake winner Ryan Fay

2010-06-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

The awards for winning the snake are a stuffed snake a brick and cold hard cash, you earned them Ryan.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

If you like riding on gravel this is for you....

2010-05-20T10:24:00.001-05:00

The Gravel Metric Invitation from OC Imageworks on Vimeo.

That's an exhausting weekend!

2010-05-17T14:32:00.000-05:00

3 Races 18 hrs..... and Rocks in the middle

A little taste of the weekend

2010-05-17T12:27:00.000-05:00

The Chicago racing season is in full swing! I spent my weekend sprinting out of corners at monsters on Saturday afternoon and suffering from oxygen debt after pulling my fat ass up the climb at fox river grove on Sunday Morning. Here are a couple videos from the weekend:

Race Reports and more video coming soon.

Thanks to my shop!

2010-05-09T21:53:00.001-05:00

Big thanks to Roscoe Village Bikes or RVB as the cool kids call it. This past weekend I was forced to put my rear wheel to rest, it was a good ride mr race lite!

Alex at rvb did his best to try to revive this trusty wheel. Once the efforts failed to make the wheel true (or remove the large dent from the breaking surface) it was clear that it was time to pull the plug. Lucky for this bike racer alex had a 32 spoke aluminum clincher (mavic open pro rim with an ultegra hub if you are into that type of thing) laying around the shop. Thanks for hooking up the wheel and dealing with all my neurotic bike requests (too many to list here).

Mothers Day

2010-05-09T12:26:00.000-05:00

Happy mothers day, especially to my mom.

A view from the milwaukee lakefront (a good reminder of why I ride)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Friday!

2010-05-07T14:23:00.001-05:00

If you dont laugh or smile after watching this video there is something seriously wrong with you!

Notice at about 45 seconds the guys notices the ladies..... priceless

That Ended Quick....

2010-05-03T16:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday's race took place in Vernon Hills, several Spidermonkey racers took the start line and I would like to congratulate Trent Williams for a 7th place finish in the 5's, excellent work.

The Vernon Hills course is fairly simple, two sweeping turns (if you can ever call them that) and two real turns, one of which would end my day a 1 1/2 laps early. The day started with bad news when my team mate and post up legend Mike Shea sent me a text message that informed me of his crash in the masters race, bummer.

After a good warm up with several teammates we took the line (Bryan, Chase, Dan, Ken, Brandon, Geoff and myself). The race started and I got stuck behind a rough clip in, and of course botched my clip in, something new and different (see every race report i have ever posted). As we headed towards the first real turn the group bunched, and gingerly got through the turn and then sprinted to the next turn, clear evidence the chicago cat 4's crit season was in full swing....

The group was actually pretty safe, i saw a little bumping and some interesting lines through the turns but i didnt feel like a crash was an inevitability as i had in previous weeks. For the first couple laps my positioning in the pack sucked, i mean it was really piss poor. I was literally in the back of the pack and worked my ass off around each of the turns, now that is racing stupid. But after about three laps i remembered i knew how to race and positioned my self midpack, i made my way through the group on the right shoulder and found myself behind my teammate geoff who said "come on zens lets go". I followed geoff to the outside of the pack and found myself either on the front or slightly off the front as we made our way into the first sweeping turn when i saw chase jump to the outside of the group, i attempted a block, unsuccessfully, no break was established. I retreated to the middle of the pack when Bryan lit a match to claim the $10 prime. As he returned to the middle of the pack i made a comment to him and the next thing i knew a small gap had formed between bryan, myself and the rest of the racers (note to self, no comments with 2 to go). As we easily regained our standing in the group we approached the second turn with a lap and a half to go. I positioned my self to the left and took a great line through the corner, unfortunately two riders a few wheels up were bumping through the turn and rode into the curb causing a 6 or 8 man pile up, which included yours truly. I tried to ride around the pile but it happened too fast (it always does) and i endoed on to a fellow racers drive train, i have the teeth marks in my back to prove it, and you can see where i landed from the chain ring on my jersey. I pulled myself off the ground and checked that everyone was okay, which they were, and then inspected my equipment to ensure that i wouldnt be bike shopping next week. The bike was okay, but one of my crashmates sacrificed a zipp 303, what a shame. The best part of the crash occurred when my teammate Dan asked me "is my skinsuit okay?"

So thats how that goes my first DNF of the year, at least there wasn't a hospital visit and I didnt have to figure out if there is a way to "fix" carbon, so i will give it a shot again next week.

Thanks to DJ Ryan, Maggie, Jenna, and everyone else who made there way to the race to support the team. Thanks to Eric for the savvy pre-race advice, you were right. And thanks to RDS for a well run event.

Keep the Rubber Side Down,
Zens

This guy raced against Andy Daley last year!

2010-04-27T10:46:00.002-05:00

Last year these were the highlights for Matthew Busche:

2009 Highlights (from his RadioShack profile) 1st – Wisconsin State Road Championship 1st – Sussex 1st- Chiropractic Partners crit. 1st- Chiropractic Partners time trial 1st – Tour of America’s Dairyland 1st – La Rue-Denzer-La Rue 4th – Stage 4 – Tour of Utah 5th – National Championships Road Race 5th – Stage 3 – Vuelta a Chihuahua 6th – Stage 2 – Univest GP 7th – Overall – Tour of Utah 9th – Overall – Univest GP 9th – Prologue – Vuelta a Chihuahua 10th – Stage 6 – Tour of UtahDo these race names look familiar???? I mean this guy was racing against the one and only Andy Daley

Well this year Matthew goes out on group rides with the likes of "Big" George Hincapie and Chicago's CVV and his team is owned by some guy with a little experience in big bike races

If you want to read about what its like to go from racing at the same races as us to racing in Europe with the best athletes in the world check out his blog, http://matthewbusche.blogspot.com/

I enjoyed this post about eating..... or lose his love for eating

Thanks to my teammate Danno for turning me on to this blog!

All to be Govorner of Texas

2010-04-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

My teammate Bryan wants to be the governor of texas one day, this is so important to Bryan that he wont be spotted without a united states flag lapel pin when he is suited up. I mean if that pose doesnt say future governor of texas i dont know what does. Bryan cares so deeply about sitting behind the governors desk in austin texas that he even purchased a red white and blue helmet. Up until the Whitnall Park Spring Classic this past weekend bryan had sported this red white and blue helmet refusing the adhere to the Ken Mitchell's stringent fashion instructions. (notice Ken's tires match his hoods which match his wrist band which match his shoes which match his kit which accent his helmet which is accented with a hat that go well with his socks which are the same shade of black as his sunglasses)

Now that Bryan has switched over to a conventional racing helmet has he ruined his chances of ruling the state of texas? Check out the difference in bryan's appearance in the pack, how will his fans pick him out of the group? In the past all they had to do was look for the red white and blue of bryan's helmet, it was easy to spot. Kids called him captain america and adults saluted him as he passed. Will this treatment continue with bryan's new lid? It is yet to be seen but it is clear that bryan is finally looking more pro and adhering to the strict spidermonkey fashion policy. I mean Bryan captured a second place in his first race in the new dome a clear indication that looking pro makes you faster.

Whitnall Park Spring Classic

2010-04-24T19:32:00.003-05:00

The alarm rang early, the gear was packed, i brewed some coffee and then we went racing. Dan, Bryan and myself ventured up to Hales Corners, Wisconsin to do a little bike racing today. I would provide a course description, but I prefer to leave that to the expert. (If it wasn't for the outstanding preview i am not sure i would have dragged myself out of bed this morning)

When the week started the idea of racing my bike this weekend sounded awful, i had a disappointing race the weekend before; mainly due to user error. But then the weekend preview came out on Chicagobikeracing.com, and Dan and Bryan stated chatting about a Saturday trip to Wisconsin, and the next thing i know i was racing today.

Before the race Bryan insisted that our plan for the first couple laps should be to sit in, relax and then formulate a strategy to attack this course. With 80 feet of climbing a lap it would be important to conserve our legs for a final push towards the line. However, as the race started (I had a terrible clip-in again today, thanks for asking) Bryan charged to the front, with bryan driving a medium pace I took the opportunity to go off the front, not with any sort of vigor but enough to open up the legs and erase the nerves.

It is very important to mention the weather today, the weather happened to be a important factor in today's race. It was cold (about 7 degree Celsius) with a rain shower that picked up in intensity as the race neared its conclusion. In order to deal with the wet and cold conditions Dan and I decided to layer on the Mad Alchemy embrocation that Bryan had brought with him (thanks Mike Shea). Embrocation is fun, if you've never given it a try i highly recommend it, its the gift that keeps on giving (or burning).

Okay enough about embrocation back to racing. After my little leg opener the field settled in. I made a point to care more about my position in the pack today, and for the first couple laps i made sure to sit near the front (not on the front there is a big difference) to avoid any nonsense that that was sure to happen in the back of the 4/5 pack, there was a crash at some point but i cant provide any details (it was behind me). I stayed in the top 20 for most of the day and avoided my tendency to slide to the back of the pack for no reason; great success, but would it pay off?

All the attacks (i don't remember many) were chased down, and with 4 laps to go it was time to figure out how to make a statement today. Its at this point I made sure to find my way to the back of my teammates wheels, its just more comfortable to race wheel to wheel with your training buddies. I knew that I should stick like glue to the back of bryan's wheel, he would be able to take me to the promise land. As we charged through the start finish the the bell rang and it was go time, last lap, time to HTFU. We jockeyed for position on the down hill side of the the course, I was sitting top ten as we entered the final turn into the first of three uphill sections. The attacks started up the first hill, I mashed my gears to stay glued to the bryan's wheel through the first and second hill, at this point i am pretty sure a gap of about 5 or 6 riders was established. As we crested the final hill I turned the pedals with everything i had in order to maintain contact with the group. The group remained together as we came down the hill and the sprint began. I was sitting on bryan's wheel but i couldn't come over the top, Kaleb of IS Corp took the sprint ahead of Bryan. I rolled across 4th, my best result in quite some time. The car ride home was fun (got to love when Journey comes on the radio, right?), its always good to come away from a race with two top 5's and (hopefully a couple of upgrade points).

The course was awesome the repeated hill climbs really took it out me today, registration was smooth and the races were on time, thanks to Team Wisconsin for putting on a fantastic event.

Next week, its time for Vernon Hills, lets hope we can have some more results.

Happy Friday

2010-04-23T13:23:00.002-05:00

this has absolutely nothing to do with cycling but it will make you laugh!

Leland Kermesse

2010-04-19T20:24:00.004-05:00

I'm not exactly sure what the final distance tally was, but the 60 or so miles we traveled were rough.

We set out in a normal fashion for a day in the sun...and the wind. The race blew up halfway through the first lap and somehow I found myself in the second chase group. We stared at Popper and his group up the road, followed by another group...and then my group (introductions to follow). I counted 10 guys up the road and new that unless we sucked up a guy we were racing for eleventh; the pace of the front group was too fast to be caught in the cross winds and gravel.

As we made the right hand turn for the third lap I took inventory (because I am ~~an auditor~~ in the professional service industry by day) and counted four friends and gave them a unique identifier:
1) John "I have purple jawbones and a giant Redbull in my pocket"
2) Yeomen "How far is this race?(smile)...How much left? (smile)"
3) Mike "I'm wearing what appears to be an offwhite long sleeve T-shirt under my jersey"
4) Tyler "Yea, I'll have a sip of that Redbull, thanks!"

We rode in a paceline that was determined to not get caught. We chased the whole the second lap and the groups ahead of us just fizzled, but we didn't exactly lose energy or tempo. We rotated to the left...then to the right...then road over gravel...then we did it again...and so on and so forth. 3 hours in the saddle is a long time. I loved every second of it.

I wish I was behind popper going into the gravel for the first time...

For the love of the suffer,
Bryan Witry

That's my racing mustache!

2010-04-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

Like I wrote about on thursday, I wore a mustache for my race this last weekend. The race didn't go all that well but the mustache was amazing! I went with the Cozza, that guy knows how to grow a mustache.

Race report later today, it wasn't a good race!
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I got a beard, its going to be some sort of mustache, but why type?

2010-04-15T10:40:00.001-05:00

So for the last two weeks i have been growing a beard (not sure if choosing not to shave is really growing a beard but lets go with it). I think the beard needs to be no more, but before that happens I want to race this weekend with some sort of interesting facial hair, preferably a mustache. Here are some great mustaches, which style should i choose? Let me know what you think in the comments.

The DZ Nutz Stache'

The many staches of cozza

The Costner (think American Flyers)

The Pirate (rest in peace Marco)

The Floyd

Great Hillsboro Race Reports Lines

2010-04-14T15:01:00.000-05:00

As for me, I wandered around in road shoes 6 miles west of town, almost stepped on two snakes and shot the breeze with some corner marshals before I finally got scooped up by the organizer after the race was declared done. I rode with dude and helped him with announcements and picking up signs. I also pushed a stuck car out of the mud, hopped a ‘faster’ truck ride back into town and arrived 2 hours later to get the news. It ended as a hot contest in which Mike lost by a reported “coupla hundred yards”.
Jeff Perkins of the Cutting Crew

Hillsboro 2010

2010-04-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

The outlook calender was set for an 8am appointment back in February to register for this race and last Saturday the race finally happened, and then the pain happened. This race was all that I expected, hilly, rough roads, tough turns and the bricks, oh the bricks is where it all went wrong for me.

We traveled to Hillsboro on Friday afternoon. I rode down with my teammates Dan and Bryan. Its always fun to go on a racing road trip, except of course for the hotel stays (avoiding the Super 8 next year). When we arrived in Hillsboro Dan, Bryan and I went for a pre-ride of the last hill and the bricks section that lead to the finishing straight. The bricks didn't seem that bad, I had been making a point of riding a brick section on my training route to ready for this race. The last hill was bigger than I expected, but all and all I wasn't too concerned about the finishing loop, mistake! This loop would turn out to be the end of my race on the first lap.

Race day arrived and the excitement my was high, we had our morning coffee and breakfast and heading out to the course to meet up with the rest of the team (Ben, Trent, Drew, Brandon, and Chase). We had a six man Cat 4's team for this race, my game plan was to hang on for the first lap and then see what I had left. I had packed myself with food that morning and had three bottles (2 gatorade 1 water), 4 gu's and 3 shot blocks with me for the race. At 58 miles eating and drinking on the bike would be critical to success.

Dan making a nutella and banana sandwich and the rest of our prerace supplies.

We all started staging for the race about 25 minutes before the start, everyone wanted good position to start the race as the roads were narrow and moving up during the race was going to near to impossible. Standing in the staging area for that long was torture, I tried to stay loose before the race and luckily I was staged next to a bunch of the cuttin' crew guys those guys bring the fun, I mean come on they come on a bus!

The race started and we set out for a 58 mile race, the longest distance I have ever raced. We weaved our way out of town and when the neutral start was over we hit the gas, well kind of. The field seemed to slow regularly and taking the turns in the middle of the pack was unnerving, around one corner I lost my back wheel a little and felt the bike start to go sideways, I un-clipped the the inside pedal to stabilize and steadied the bike saved the turn and sprinted back into the pack. I found my teammate Dan and he helped me find a safe postion about mid pack where stayed for much of the first lap.

The turns didint get any easier as pace picked up, I looked down and realized we were coming into the last 1/3 of the first lap. The race was stressful, I buzzed a wheel, the roads were tough and life midpack was not easy. I remember looking up at Bryan and Chase who sat top 20 nearly all day and thought, those guys are riding great races, I need to get up there. However moving up at Hillsboro is no easy task (unless you are too cool to obey the center line rule, there were a bunch of you out there). As we came into the final hill I made a move to try to gain position, I shifted into my small ring. This may have been a mistake, but I had to keep a high cadence and dodge all the riders who couldn't keep the pace up the hill. I thought I had climbed up the hill well, but a small gap had developed between my front wheel and the group that would decide the race.

As we turned towards the down hill leading into the bricks the gap had grown, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the race ahead of me, and then I realized the race was riding away from me. It was all about to be over, it was crushing. As we flew towards the bricks I remember thinking "I should be freaked out, I flying down this hill on a piece of really expensive plastic toward a road made fully of bricks" but that thought went away quick. As I hit the bricks I made a last ditch effort to try to get back to the group, I hammered across the bricks, losing a bottle full of gatorade to the bricks, damn!
As I made the final turn off the bricks into the finishing straight I was done, I had gone so far into the red trying catch back on I could barely turn the pedals. As the pack continued to ride away from me I thought how cruel of a sport cycling is, its so demoralizing to watch a group ride away, they look so close but they just keep getting smaller, and then it hurts more.

Off the back a gruppetto formed, we attempted to start a rotating pace line, it wasn't until this day that I realized not every team practices rotating pace lines, thanks for Bryan Merrill for teaching me how to do this it saved my life that day. Our gruppetto grew in size and but the number of people wanted to actually pull threw did not. I put a lot of effort into pulling the gruppetto, as the pack rode away I promised myself that I would finish this race and I would not stop racing my bike. A big thanks to Paul Miner from Spin Doctors for monster pulls that saved me during the last 5 miles. As the gruppetto came to the final hill I gave it everything I had, made it into the final turn with four others and as we raced our way across the bricks I looked under my arm and saw that the spin doctors rider was spent, I felt bad that guy worked his heart out. I finished 44th out of about 110 or so riders, I had finished the race, worked as hard as I could. I crossed the line in terrible pain, and felt empty, if it wasnt for the 20oz coke I had in the cooler and the cliff power protein bar Nate threw at me i am not sure i would have made it. The coke was so good that when I saw my buddy Jared from xxx (whom I had just spent the last 1 1/2 hrs riding next to off the back with) I told him "you got to try this, its the best thing I have ever had.

This race was epic, it really felt like i was riding a classic, with the narrow roads, dodgy turns and brick roads not mention the daunting distance. Thanks to everyone who was involved with putting this race on. I can't wait to go back next year!

The most impressive feats of the day came after the race, on the way home all the Burnham boys and spidermonkeys stopped at the steak and shake for a feast, it was a great meal and a very impressive displaying of eating. I am not sure that I tasted my food, quite frankly i think i inhaled everything they put in front of me. In the picture notice the veteran move on Dan Pollards part, he ordered a chicago style hot dog as a side cart to his burger, we were all envious of his brilliance.

We flew what Eric tagged Air Iden on the way home, we sat coach, but it was still a smooth ride.

Later that night I ventured out for a night on the town, that's right my roommate and I completed a 58 mile road race, drove 4 hrs home, and then went out to party for his birthday, the picture below was taken about 230 am, a mere 18 hrs after the day started.

Well next up another Tuesday in Matteson!

Keep the Rubber Side Down
Zens

The Hillsboro Recovery Ride

2010-04-12T20:03:00.002-05:00

Tip for the day, make your recovery ride after a race fun, for example ride through the park and take pictures mocking the statues.

Hillsboro 2010

2010-04-12T11:48:00.002-05:00

Its almost time for hillsboro!

2010-04-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

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Opening the Matteson Season

2010-04-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

Last night I made the trip down south the Matteson Il, the South Chicago Wheelman put on training crits around the Ace Hardware Paint Factory. There are three races of various length around a 1km oval with sweeping wide turns, points are accumulated for the night, but results aren't why I race there. Matteson is where you learn to race. When I stated racing last year I was terrible, I would get dropped. My excess weight and lack of fitness were my main racing limiters. By late May /early June I had taken care of the excess weight and managed to improve my fitness, but I still wasn't racing very well. I quickly realized that I was simply scared to turn in the pack. I would lose position and burn myself out chasing back to the group. So I went to Matteson and somehow a night of racing there fixed the problem. The pressure free atmosphere really clammed me down, and I was able to work on my turning, after that night at Matteson my fear of turning in the pack was gone and I was able to hold the pack in races, I learned how to race that night.

Last night's training crits kicked off the SCW Tuesday Night Series for the season. The weather was great, 80 degrees at the start, however the winds were strong. Here is a summary of the three B (4/5) races from last night.

Race 1: 8 laps - Riders attempt to strech the field's legs with an attacks (self included), nothing succeeds, field calms down, a few riders pull threw, pace is nice, ken from Bellum Racing rides away from group to the win.

Race 2: 18 laps - Pace starts quick, I attack early just to have some fun, others attack, all is brought together, others attack, with 2 to go Ken attacks, I almost cook the second turn of the last lap trying to chase down Ken, have to touch the brakes to readjust, i save it. Ken rides away to another win.

Race 3 -8 laps - I attack from the start (after saying at the start "I refuse to chase Ken this time"), open a nice gap, scw guy comes to work with me, wind sooo strong it dies after one lap, for the next 3 or 4 laps I continue with attacks that go no where. Ken rides off the front to another win. I finish 3rd in the sprint.

All and all it was a great workout, threw down a bunch of attacks which was a goal for the night, worked the legs and got a out of work riding in the wind, that will be good prep for the race this week.

Hope to be down on the southside again next week.

Tonight the Wednesday Night Ride begins, see you at JJ Peppers.

Why you should race Matteson by Luke

Happy Flanders Day or Easter

2010-04-04T08:38:00.000-05:00

7am ride to tower with a pass of the cobbles!
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What you missed this afternoon

2010-04-03T18:54:00.000-05:00

Since the rain made riding this morning unpleasant I went for an afternoon ride on the lake front path with a detour to northerly island.

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Nice Work Matt!

2010-04-03T12:25:00.000-05:00

Matt Smith is very proud of this sign.

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So if I have permission I can have a gun?

2010-03-31T19:58:00.000-05:00

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Burnham Super Crit Cat 4/5's - The Circus Race

2010-03-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

According to race director Jason Knauff "this was the 4b's race (think the circus race during cross season)" well it sure didnt feel like it! My teammate Drew started the race off like a cross by attacking from the start, i attempted to go with him, but we were quickly caught by the pack.

The pace is intense, i get shuffled on and off the front, everyone is trying to rip the legs off each other, everyone wanted this race to be fast, it was going to make it safer and i wanted to do my part to push the pace. So did the rest of my teammates, drew, dan, trent, keith, bryan, and todd all took hard pulls and attacked ensuring that the pace remained high.

The pace remained high as bryan pulled some of his typical moves by hunting for the last prime of the day, a new sram chain. (he pipped chris jensen of half acre at the line) Chris and i seemed to spend a lot of time durning the two races of the day next to each other, chris said that was because liked the smell of the embrocation sean of burnham gave me earlier in the day, great product.

With a lap and a half to go i throw down an attack or what was suppose to be an attack, i got about ten meters off the front and ended up pulling the pack into the final turn, except the next thing i know i am in the grass and i hear bryan yell "what are you doing in the grass" i think "how'd i get here?"

None the less i got dropped after my adventure in the grass, i spent the last lap trying to chase down the pack who were soooo close, but really they were really far away, the bridge back never happened and i crossed the line 38th off the back, it happens, i raced hard and two days later i would be diagnosed with phenomena, so i guess finishing two races was an accomplishment enough.

It was a great day of racing, thanks to everyone who came out, especially all the spidermonkey fans inculding my Dad and Greg Witry (who sported a rakish derby).

Next race is Hillsboro, cant wait!

Burnham Super Crit Cat 4's - "the crash-fest"

2010-03-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

What a way to start the usa cycling racing season! The race was great even though what seemed like half the field forgot how to race over the winter which turned into quite an issue on the last lap where crashes seemed to happen around every turn, but by the grace of god and a trip into the grass i crossed the line 18 spots behind my teammate Mike Shea who won the race and had the best post up of the day.

FUN FACT - Mike has been thinking about this race since January.

Okay here is what happened during the race from my view:

First couple laps, speed up with wind at our backs, slow into the wind, the pack struggles to get through the s-turns without taking each other out, speed up again with the wind, repeat.

I think the fourth lap; Guy crashes, it was going to happen again.

1 to go, move up to find some teammates and start to try and get the lead out train ready for shea

CRASH, Shea has to go into to the grass, i realize he might not be able to make it back for the sprint, i get out of the saddle to try ot connect to the back of bryan's wheel, who has dan in front of him.

Dan and Bryan and I are lined up on the for the sprint, CRASH - I dodge left into the grass, come back on the road look to the right and see shea sprinting to the front, he takes off, i power as hard as i can to the back of bryan's wheel, and we cross the line arms raised as shea celebrates his first 4's win

What a way to start the season!

Congrats to Mike "get off my lawn" Shea for the first spidermonkey win of the season!

Burnham Super Crit Cat 4's

2010-03-28T08:49:00.002-05:00

thanks to Geoff Scott for manning the camera

Burhnam Super Crit Cat 4/5's

2010-03-28T08:47:00.000-05:00

thanks to Geoff Scott for manning the camera.

Burnham Super Crit 3-27-10

2010-03-27T22:37:00.001-05:00

video by Geoff Scott and Andrew Zens

And the Victory Goes to Mike Shea!!!! (Burnham Super Crit Cat 4's)

2010-03-27T21:09:00.006-05:00

A BIG thanks to Geoff Scott for taking great video!

Photo by Little V

Making breakfast for tomorrow's super crit

2010-03-26T18:14:00.001-05:00

Nutella and banana bagel sandwiches, delicious!
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JENS!!!!!!!

2010-03-25T13:50:00.002-05:00

Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) wins the Volta Catalunya's fourth stage.

How do you not love this guy???

What you missed last night: The Drake @ Night

2010-03-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

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Time to boycott PTI

2010-03-18T19:24:00.000-05:00

See what Tony Kornhieser thinks of cyclists.... Last time I watch his show, he should stick to sexually harassing his co-workers (ie hannah storm)

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/what-a-complete-f-ing-idiot-armstrong-25415

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Training @ Night (insider soldier field)

2010-03-18T12:58:00.001-05:00

Last night I was able to right into the soldier field concourse, its was awesome, here are some pics. I did a couple laps around the concourse, one of the coolest night rides I have done so far this spring.

Kenosha Training Crit Pics

2010-03-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

Photos by John Wilke (http://www.peloton-pix.com/Road-Racing)