tjayk

i guess i'll start the thread again.

i'll be doing the road race tomorrow. if anyone wants to carpool from madison, i'm doing the cat 4/5 race, and plan on leaving asap after the race.

john - if you'll be there - this time i'll be wearing my new endeavour jersey, red helmet, and riding the orange/white trek 1000.

good luck all.

Frunkin

I'll be there in the 4/5 race too. I'm bringing two guys who have never raced, but keep showing up on our shop's group ride.

Anyways, hopefully we won't putz around the first few laps and we actually drop some people. I don't know how this hill compares to either of the baraboo races, but hopefully the field will shatter.

JPradun

I wish, but apparently I have to be at O'Hare by 4:30. Not possible with the time the cat3 race starts.

I'll do a double loop of the harper ride to make up for it.

CyLowe97

I thought you moved up into Cat 3 or something like that?

By the way, I'll be there, too. Don't shatter me too badly. It'll be my first go at pinning on a number.

Look for the guy on the blue Felt and the plain white and light blue jersey.

Frunkin

I got denied. I'll talk to Heidi post race tomorrow and see what she can do. I am going back and forth between wanting to do superweek as a 3 or a 4. I feel like racing the 3's would be two weeks of hurt and being dropped, but I could actually get some results in the 4/5 races.

tjayk

i rode my bike to the shop to get my front wheel trued, then i walked home barefoot instead of waiting (clipless pedals ya know). now i have blisters on my feet, and probably some broken glass embedded in my foot. at least somewhere was open today...

what are you guys planning on eating/drinking? i was thinking about not eating and just having a bottle each of water and gatorade - but i will probably bring a gu i suppose.

John Wilke

Is there a feed zone? 40 miles - probably not. I'd go two bottles + Gu. I'd think that you shouldn't have to feed for under 2 hours of racing. 70+ miles is a different story!

Batteries charging. Gonna be a L O N G day!

Frunkin

1 bottle water
1 bottle heed
2 gu's

should be a good time

Hipcycler

correct.
...see my other thread about the recon four laps on the course I did yesterday.

recursive

3s race is 54 miles. I'll bring at least 3 bottles of something and a gel flask.

CyLowe97

Wow. I was deep in the learning today. And it didn't last very long, either.

How'd the rest of you do?

Frunkin

I guess I sprinted for the bell lap. Flyer said 8 laps, ref at the start said seven. I basically blew up after sprinting for the line. I got 21st ish. Not my best race ever, but I've been on my bike 4 1/2 hours in the past two weeks.

Good to meet everybody today too.

CyLowe97

The official clearly said 7 laps before the start, both when up in front and when he walked down the side of the field.

That's bunk.

Frunkin

Word. I wasn't the only guy that got screwed either, but **** happens and I was kind of just about to be dropped and my sprint was less than spectacular.

John Wilke

Just rolled in the door. Hung around for the Pro 1/2 finish. Early pix in a few mins.

John Wilke

Here's a few early pix. I shot 1200+ pix and I still think to myself ... "Is that all I got??" But once I start cropping them down, the good stuff appears.

Tjayk and Hip:



Hip and I think that's CyLowe97 over on the right:



I HAD to take this one:





Hip leading CyLowe97 up the climb. Dunno what happened to that dude. Dropped chain? Actually, I have a neat series here ... I could probably make an animated GIF of you climbing up the climb, Hip!





And 1st and 2nd in the Pro 1/2. As if there was any doubt who it would be:



Great weather, great course, and excellent turnout. A fun day.

recursive

Good race.

We (3s) caught the 1/2s and much confusion ensued. I don't really know how I ended up, but I was at the front of some group with a good-feeling sprint. Maybe top 10.

Then I cruised over to the casa de hip for some patriotic festivities.

On the way home, I saw (barely) an unlit mountain biker on hiway 59.

Sage23

Nice job to all, especially those first-timers! That hill looks like a killer!

CyLowe97

Just for journalistic accuracy, that's not me. I was in the 4/5 field, but if you have one of the back of that pack at the start you'll see me there.

Thanks for being out there!

Hipcycler

Never before have I had such a good time having my arse handed to me on a platter!

Awesome humiliation.

Fell off the back a bit first time up the climb. Worked my butt off and quickly grabbed the pack again. I did the entire first lap at the back of the peloton, and the view, the sound in there through the canopy of trees on that course was wonderful.
I went through the st/fin line with the group at speed.

Second lap was real interesting.
Lost the group up the climb again, but this time could not catch them. That's the thing...the intensity of the group is over my head. They're just riding tempo...I'm blowing up and still can't keep up. Great respect.

A real nice moment came when the 4-5's, who started later, caught me. Suddenly I'm swallowed into the lead pack. No one yelled....I did just fine. In fact, two guys said things like, "Nice job man....Keep going, good job."

I really appreciated the kind words and the encouragement.

Third lap, Cylowe, who started in that group, caught me too.
All I heard was, "This is humiliating."

I knew my family was waiting for me to play boat captain at the lake house for a big family party...I had my taste of racing and was all alone and blown up anyway, so I pulled off after three laps.

Great time with CyLowe and his family afterward....recursive spent the evening dining/drinking/fireworks with us as well.

Congrats to him and teammate Randy King....You guys rock.

JDub -- thanks for getting a shot of me. I think that was you offering me water on the last climb of the day for me, wasn't it? My brother, I appreciated the words of encouragement soooo much...thank you...and thanks for taking all these pix at these races...awesome work.

Let me pull a couple of pix and post later....hang on...

Hipcycler

Here's a shot of CyLowe and me at the post-race party...a picture taken by his little girl!



...and here are the girls...


Later that night, after his big 54-mile 'learning session'....Sir Awesomeness stopped over for food, drink and fireworks. Unfortunately, the only known photo turned out blurry!

John Wilke

I believe this is CyLowe97 in hot pursuit of Hip (confirm?):





... and some folks just make it look TOO easy ...



Time for a quick ride myself, then it's off to the TT.

aham23

nice job folks. im totally jealous that you got your race groove on.

however the best picture of the bunch is these two little rockstars.



later.

CyLowe97

Confirmed.

Look, ma, I'm a racer!

John Wilke

Pretty decent turnout for the TT today. ~50 riders ??? Nice course, rolling, twisty just south of yesterday's road race loop.

You had your roadies:





Your speed freaks:



And if you're really fast:



Yeah, there were a few.

You know, you get in a rythm on how fast to pan with the riders ... but once in a while, you hear the bike whistling through the air ... and whoooosh ... he's gone!!

See 'yall at Superweek.