and one for Psimet. Keep building 'em Psi !

http://peloton-pix.smugmug.com/photo...22_gZr9r-M.jpg

OOOOooooooooooooooooo.........me likey. Nuetral support rocks.

Thinking of taking a day off work and doing one of the superweek road races. Which is the best or most enjoyable? i.e. least crit-like. Which has the most hills? (hills are good).

I'm thinking in terms of safety #1, atmosphere, sheer hardness and something to do for mrs. F afterwards.

btw, I had intended to do Elgin but there's a local MTB race here that day and local races should always be supported first. Will do Elgin if it rains (MTB race has already been postponed twice because of downpours and the 24hr trail use ban)

Holy Hill is the closest to a true road race, although the hills are limited to big-ring rollers. Lakefront and Whitnall Park both have more challenging climbs, if only because you do them so much more often since the laps are so short.

Safety-wise, Whitnall Park is nice because it's open road. I recall only one crash at there, and that was when a pro took herself out by over-rocking her handlebars in the sprint. Lakefront has some tricky turns and fast descents. Holy Hill is on typical Wisconsin county roads -- nothing too narrow or dangerous, although this was where a truck killed a rider off the back of the 4/5's race in 2006.

All of the above are true, but I suggest the Long Course at Milwaukee because:

(in no particular order)

1. It's right in Milwaukee, so the Mrs should have plenty to keep herself occupied. Plenty of shops either downtown or on the east side. Art museum is just up the street.

2. It's a course with a deep rooted history including multi national championships. Greg Demgen won here, Greg Lemond I believe won the Jr champs.

3. It's the ONLY time Milwaukee's lakefront is completely closed to traffic and you can really enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of the lake.

4. It's full as h*** ! :lol: From the start you sweep up the tennis court climb - big ring, but a stinger. From there it's past the feed zone (slight uphill) into the St. Mary's (hospital) downhill which has one switch back then a zoomy left turn at the bottom. It feels like you pull a full 'G' here. A flat section follows, riding the wrong way on a divided street, then UP 'The Snake' - a shaded, tree covered, twisty climb, big ring maybe, but more likely a 39 x 17. Steep enough to hurt, flat enough to be climbed fast. You'll feel this one. Over that, back onto the flat on top of the bluff - catch your breath if you can because it's time for the Gun Club descent (actually the Gun Club is long gone now) which is a 54 x 11 if you've got it - wind it out - flat out hammer time onto the flat. 40 mph? Sure! Tuck and go - you drop 100 feet - flat out. No turns - no speed limit. A solid mile and a half of pan flat into the finish follows. String out the pack if you've got the legs, or prepare for a massive field sprint as the two lanes widens into four.

(ohhhh, the stories we could tell from this course! Cat. 3/4 combo fields with 150 riders. Curb jumping, massive pile-ups, spokes through cheeks! :eek: ... :roflmao2: )

No, I don't want to scare anyone, but you will NOT find another course like this one - anywhere.

http://www.internationalcycling.com/...s/lakelong.gif

http://www.internationalcycling.com/...ongcontour.gif

I guarantee, every one who rides this race will come away with some great stories to tell of their own!! :lol:

Sounds like fun. I'm definitely doing both lakefront courses, but I'm not sure what else I'll be signing up for.

Great Feedback. Lakefront course is sorely tempting. Unfortunately, I have my annual performance review that day. Wonder if my boss will reschedule?

Sat - champaign, il
Sun - champaign, il

Tue, July 14 Arlington Heights Criterium New Race! Arlington Heights, IL
Wed, July 15 Ray Basso Bensenville Criterium Bensenville, IL
Thu, July 16 - Daytime Lake Front Road Race (Short Course) Milwaukee, WI
Fri, July 17 Hammer Nutrition Tour of Holy Hill Hartford, WI 1.75hrs

Sun, July 19 The NorthShore University HealthSystem Grand Prix Evanston, IL
Mon, July 20 Wheel&Sprocket Whitnall Park Road Race Hales Corners, WI 1.5hrs

Wed, July 22 AltoLab Lake Front Road Race Milwaukee, WI 1.5hrs
Thu, July 23 Racine.org Criterium Racine, WI 2hrs

The madness begins tomorrow people.

My official schedule (meaning I've already registered):

Elgin 4/5
Elgin Masters 4/5

Arlington 4/5
Arlington Masters 4/5

Evanston 4

Then the Chicago crit which, I know, should not be in this thread.

Heading up to ride the Elgin course on Saturday am. Should be fun.

Hey John, how's the Fondy crit video coming? Can't wait to see that one!

I'm pretty sure you want the video from sheboygan. The guy who had the camera MIGHT have been slightly behind you when you took the field sprint.

Ummmm ... :innocent:

I'll get back to you on that. :p

Trying to finish Frunkin's Bluemound video tonight. :love:

OOOOOOooooh I didn't even think about that one! That'll be a good one too!

Feeling obligated to talk about the ToAD and how awesome they are! We just got a priority mail package from them today. My fiance and I had hosted two riders, Fred Stamm from Metromint and Ryan Parnes from Webcor / Alto Velo, for the series. We got a nice thank you package in the mail with two t-shirts, a water bottle, poster, a ToAD sack bag, and the green recycling bags they were handing out at registration. SUPER COOL. Super professional people there at the ToAD. We have hosted teams at our home for the past three years for other series in town and have not gotten any where near the appreciation the ToAD has shown to their volunteers and riders.

Rock on ToAD, rock on!

:thumb:

Big future for this series.

^^ I hope so.
I met a gentleman yesterday who's on the Wisconsin milk marketing board and when I said "I'm looking forward to next year" he said "we're not going to be a part of it next year". He didn't sound negative just matter of fact. Hopefully ToAD doesn't have any issues finding a major sponsor for the series. With the connections the organizers seemed to have I doubt it will be a problem.

Well, that's too bad. I wonder why. (they prob. needed better photos)

I guess that's the end of ToAD then. Maybe it will be the Circuit of Wisconsin.

:roflmao2:

Yeah, he didn't elaborate except for saying he wanted more races in or closer to Madison. Kinda weird.

Looking forward to CoW next year.

We should be careful, this is how rumors get started.:)

Don't forget that the series was established this year (as the Midwest Cycling Series) before a title sponsor was found. I wouldn't worry too much yet.

In Blue Island, as the women lined up for their first race, Superweek announced that they just landed a title sponsor for woman's series. But, then again, SW always runs just a little behind schedule with everything. :D

Nothing wrong with two series, assuming they don't kill each-other. I'd love to see one or the other (or both) go NRC. Superweek makes sense because of the Chicago Crit at the end of the schedule. TOAD could follow Nature Valley.

Alas, just one man's crazy dream . . .

Vote for your favorite pic !

Took me forever to get a decent poll posted, but it seems to work.

Most of the photos I chose were from ToAD, so that's why I put this announcement here.

Please vote!!

I could care less about superweek. Only reason I did some of the races is because the team paid for it.

I might not even go next year.

Number 4 hurts just looking at it. :eek:

Fixed that for ya. :p

Why so down on Superweek? Locations? Promoter? Level of competition? Bad experience?

It's a free country. Maybe Pacholski will show. :)

Hey?

I'm putting this one in for the "year in review" poll. It's not quite done yet.

:D



http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...test4small.jpg

Holy shizznit. #4 is definitely a pic how much bike racing can hurt.

And half of them sprinting on their hoods!

Thanks.

Superweek didn't fix anything this year except a few of the courses. Most of them were still crappy: bad neighborhoods, industrial, TERRIBLE roads...

They had a couple good road races, and a couple good crits. That's great for a one-day race, but this is a 16-day stage race. If you can't get good locations for most/all of them, then don't hold them. Simple as that.

It was expensive to race. Pre-registration was ridiculous and I wouldn't even think about registering the day-of. With some of the park entrance fees, it wasn't surprising to hit $50-$55 for a single road race.

They cut payouts. This is the biggest one that pissed me off..and I was debating for a long time whether to open a lawsuit or not. If you advertise that a certain amount will be paid to the riders, YOU HAVE TO PAY IT. There were NO clauses on the website or their race flier (for cat 3) stating that payouts will be cut if less than a certain number of people showed. Want to cut payouts? Fine. Tell us beforehand, offer us a refund, or at least offer us the difference in entrance fee. Uh, bait and switch.

They cut race distances, AGAIN. Rarely did we do a race that was the proper time/distance. If you advertise xx miles, do it. If not, give us a refund for the amount you didn't allow us to ride. Cut our race by 20%? Cut our entrance fee by 20%. Try to get away with advertising like that outside of cycling. Bait and switch, again.

Last year they bounced checks. This year the beginning checks were faulty and had to be cashed at their bank. In Milwaukee. That's not an easy drive. I actually talked to the teller and he said, "Yeah, I have heard a lot of bad things about this company." WHOA! Even the bank teller is saying stuff like that!

This was all here last year, which is why the level of competition was crap. I'd be very surprised if they make it after next year. ToAD will have a lot more business, and many fewer people will be racing the lower categories.

No comment on the actual promoters...you can guess how I feel about them with the above points.

This is actually the first I've read about all this. It seemed to me that when Superweek ended, everybody just disappeared. Burn out? Fed Up? I dunno. It's been a long season seeming peaking for ToAD.