Great Lakes - My First Criterium

Did my first crit today(ABR in Wood Dale IL.),what a rush!It was close to my house so I did a 20 min. warm up ride to the event,and then rode the course a couple of times before the race.Strong Bicycle Heaven presence at race(Scott K won:thumb:).Nick(XXX Racing)told me to line up towards the front and try to stay there during the race,don't drop off towards the back where you could run into sketchy riders.After the first lap I noticed my self drifting back so I found some opening and moved up in the pack.I felt really good I held my line,and was doing well on the slight hill of the course.Then at the end of the race a Bicycle Heaven rider went down on that hill and I ended up going into the curb to avoid hitting him.I didn't go down,but I unclipped and had to clip back in and started off slow because I was in a high gear.I thought for sure it was over for me because the pack was so far ahead,but I put the hammer down and caught back up with the pack on the back of the course.I burned all my matches doing that but I'm happy with a mid pack finish.18th out of 31-32 riders.

ride stats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7989154

Did my first crit today(ABR in Wood Dale IL.),what a rush!It was close to my house so I did a 20 min. warm up ride to the event,and then rode the course a couple of times before the race.Strong Bicycle Heaven presence at race(Scott K won:thumb:).Nick(XXX Racing)told me to line up towards the front and try to stay there during the race,don't drop off towards the back where you could run into sketchy riders.After the first lap I noticed my self drifting back so I found some opening and moved up in the pack.I felt really good I held my line,and was doing well on the slight hill of the course.Then at the end of the race a Bicycle Heaven rider went down on that hill and I ended up going into the curb to avoid hitting him.I didn't go down,but I unclipped and had to clip back in and started off slow because I was in a high gear.I thought for sure it was over for me because the pack was so far ahead,but I put the hammer down and caught back up with the pack on the back of the course.I burned all my matches doing that but I'm happy with a mid pack finish.18th out of 31-32 riders.

ride stats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7989154

Atta boy! :)

Rock on, that was an awesome race to watch. I caught the end of that one. I was at the corner when the one Bicycle Heaven dude blew his back tire. How he held on to it I will never know, or how the 5 right behind him didn't pass out or have a heart attack. When the tire blew there was a guy right there, and you could see the air exit the tire with such force that it actually blew the bushes that were on that corner. Really impressive.

Did my first crit today(ABR in Wood Dale IL.),what a rush!It was close to my house so I did a 20 min. warm up ride to the event,and then rode the course a couple of times before the race.Strong Bicycle Heaven presence at race(Scott K won:thumb:).Nick(XXX Racing)told me to line up towards the front and try to stay there during the race,don't drop off towards the back where you could run into sketchy riders.After the first lap I noticed my self drifting back so I found some opening and moved up in the pack.I felt really good I held my line,and was doing well on the slight hill of the course.Then at the end of the race a Bicycle Heaven rider went down on that hill and I ended up going into the curb to avoid hitting him.I didn't go down,but I unclipped and had to clip back in and started off slow because I was in a high gear.I thought for sure it was over for me because the pack was so far ahead,but I put the hammer down and caught back up with the pack on the back of the course.I burned all my matches doing that but I'm happy with a mid pack finish.18th out of 31-32 riders.

ride stats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7989154

Upgrade already, sandbagger!

Isn't it fun?

Related sidenote: The Bicycle Heaven rider who went down (Bryan) lost a bunch of skin but is mostly OK.

Wow....I knew Bryan went down but didn't know he was the cause - nor that it was his tire that blew. I've been telling him he needs some real tires. I am guessing I will be getting a few emails tomorrow as he goes pricing some out. :thumb:

Nice job Dan! Stick with it! It's a ton of fun isn't it? Just remember you can always be one of those BH riders :innocent: or so I've heard.

See all you guys on Tuesday at Penny Rd. Well everyone except J-Dub of course.

Congrats!!!! It is a rush!!! Today's cat 5 was good race. From the pace car, BH looked organized. Not like the usual cat 5 race. You had good advice but more important, you were able to act upon it.

Wow....I knew Bryan went down but didn't know he was the cause - nor that it was his tire that blew. I've been telling him he needs some real tires. I am guessing I will be getting a few emails tomorrow as he goes pricing some out. :thumb:

Nice job Dan! Stick with it! It's a ton of fun isn't it? Just remember you can always be one of those BH riders :innocent: or so I've heard.

See all you guys on Tuesday at Penny Rd. Well everyone except J-Dub of course.

Damn, he is the dude who crashed and then who blew a tire? Talk about bad luck. I am still thinking about that tire as I have never witnessed a tire explode like that before. It was about as loud as an M80 I would say, and the power behind it was the same.

Penny Rd. on Tuesday sounds good to me, though I am staying away from you hairless leg hippies! I will enjoy my slower pace with all the ladies :)

Damn, he is the dude who crashed and then who blew a tire? Talk about bad luck. I am still thinking about that tire as I have never witnessed a tire explode like that before. It was about as loud as an M80 I would say, and the power behind it was the same.

Penny Rd. on Tuesday sounds good to me, though I am staying away from you hairless leg hippies! I will enjoy my slower pace with all the ladies :)

I thought Colorchange was riding with us.....:innocent:

I thought Colorchange was riding with us.....:innocent:

:roflmao2:

I thought Colorchange was riding with us.....:innocent:

Oh great, I miss this weeks ride and you're already throwing me under the bus. I'll be riding with the ladies in Michigan this Tuesday. ;)

Great job, Dan! Glad you avoided the wreck. I have to confess as I was reading it that I was thinking ....hope he didn't end up like CC!!!!!!:lol:

Great job, Dan! Glad you avoided the wreck. I have to confess as I was reading it that I was thinking ....hope he didn't end up like CC!!!!!!:lol:

....by riding with the girls?







;) - why weren't YOU out there? :thumb:

I didn't know that it was Bryan who flatted after the crash,what bad luck:(.I did hear it and it was very loud,I think I was on the outside lane of the course when that happened.I don't know the last two laps of the race were a big blur to me.

welcome to the club, mridan!

Congratulations! I rode Wood Dale last year as my first race. I thought the Cat 5 race was super sketchy. It seems that the easier the course, the dumber people act in the peloton. I just didn't understand why we were braking for ANY of the corners on that course. I actually thought that a lot of the sketchy riders were in the first third of the pack, which threw me for a loop.FYI, I was the BH Rider who jumped with two to go. What was your kit/bike/etc?

Congratulations! I rode Wood Dale last year as my first race. I thought the Cat 5 race was super sketchy. It seems that the easier the course, the dumber people act in the peloton. I just didn't understand why we were braking for ANY of the corners on that course. I actually thought that a lot of the sketchy riders were in the first third of the pack, which threw me for a loop.FYI, I was the BH Rider who jumped with two to go. What was your kit/bike/etc?



I'm riding the blue Trek 5000
http://markkellerimaging.com/p98456269/h1377e74c#h1377e74c

I'm riding the blue Trek 5000
http://markkellerimaging.com/p98456269/h1377e74c#h1377e74c

Ahh, cool, I saw you actually, as I remembered saying "Groovy, I don't need to be all decked out in team garb to win this race" :p

http://markkellerimaging.com/p520265050/h1d3852e7#h1d3852e7

I am the Fred wearing tan shorts and a white shirt in the background :p

I was is the Cat 5 too and led the entire race!!! No one could catch me. Photo proof!! I'm the guy driving the pace car.

http://markkellerimaging.com/p98456269/h16f2a49a#h16f2a49a

I was is the Cat 5 too and led the entire race!!! No one could catch me. Photo proof!! I'm the guy driving the pace car.

http://markkellerimaging.com/p98456269/h16f2a49a#h16f2a49a

Photo proof....
Looks like Tim Mcgraw was driving the pace car :).