Super Week 2003
The International Cycling Classic

Hi gang and greetings from Superweek. For those wanting to keep score at home, results and such should be posted @ http://www.internationalcycling.com, but I'll do my best to relate the races as the happen from my unique perspective in the middle back of the Cat IV field.

Big thunderstorms hit Downers Grove at 4:45 AM, waking me from a very sound sleep and causing me to spend the next 45 minutes before the alarm went off worrying that my first day of Superweek would be contested in a maelstrom. After a hug and kiss from Kim, off I went at 6:30 accompanied by light showers. Rats. At least I brought spare shoes. In any case, the tri-state buzzed along and before I knew it I was off on the country roads with sunshine and clearing skies - and most importantly - dry pavement. After arriving in the MGA Proving Grounds, I put the bike together and head off to register where I run into another intrepid Wheelfast member, Tony. Cool. Always nice to have company.

At registration they can't find me, but remember my name and so hand me my number and check me in. Hopefully that will be sorted tomorrow. Tony and I get ready and spend the next 10 miles rolling nice circles around the test track. I'm feeling pretty good. We'll see what happens.

We line up, get our instructions and then head out for 40 very rolling miles. None of the hills are hard, but they add up. There is a bit of a breeze - enough to keep you thinking about position, but not enough to really hurt. Good news. Lap 1 is
squirrely. As expected, everybody is jittery and there is a variety of ability levels in the Cat IV field of probably 50 riders. I probably contribute a bit as well, over-correcting at one point and getting pushed back into my previous spot. Ok. My fault. Lap 2 seems a bit quicker. I'm sitting in the back half, unable to really move up without grossly going over the center-line. There is enough of that crap going on already and I don't want a DQ on Day 1. As we roll through the feed zone, I see Tony who is hanging on quite well in his first race after a bit of a lay-off from racing. There are plenty of attacks and a
few get 100-200M down the road, but with the hills, nothing really sticks.

Lap 3 goes pretty hard. I'm looking at my computer and find us cruising through this downhill section at over 40 mph. We make a left turn, pick up a bit of a tail wind and spend the next couple miles strung out doing 30. The racing is picking up. As we come through on the final lap it gets pretty tough. An attack is made in the feed zone and we're flying with 10 miles of racing left. We hit the rollers pretty quickly, but I hold my place and try to advance on the edge. This works fairly well and I'm now sitting in about 30th. Ok. Hopefully I can
move up a little more. We hit the downhills hard and it looks like there's a rider off the front. The chat at the back is unconcerned as we're cranking out 40 again and we should
regroup. We're really cruising now as we come through the feed with less than 2 miles to go. One of the riders in front of me grabs a bottle. Now, why would you grab a bottle for the final two miles? Guys are chucking bottles all over and this kid is taking on more weight? We make a couple of tight turns and things are ok. A little dicey, but I'm ok. Then as we make the left hander to approach the road into the grounds, somebody
screws up and apparently takes the right (to his credit we've turned right 4x now - but the officials were pretty clear in the finish directions!). A guy goes down. I'm still ok and in the Top 30. I'm hoping to move up, but we're flying. I count over 20 ahead as we hit the final climb up to the S/F and come in for somewhere in the uppers 20s. Not in the money, but a decent
ride.

We did the 40 miles @ 23.5 mph and I spent only 10 minutes of the 1'41" anaerobic so I'm feeling pretty good about my fitness right now. We'll see how tomorrow goes, though.
Chris - thanks for the call today! Today would not have favored you - once again we were braking on over and during the climbs.

After the race I headed over to Lake Geneva where I had a little picnic of Bugles and a PB sandwich. Then, I followed it up with a caramel sunday at the Artic Circle in Williams Bay. The AC is a cool 50s kinda diner that was built in 57 in the shape
of an igloo. Odd, but cool. And at $1.85 for a big sundae, definitely worth the stop.

Tomorrow brings Whitnall Park. Hopefully good things will happen and I can get and keep myself in that elusive Top 20. Anyway, hope all of you are well. Cool tidbit from Milwaukee, today's newspaper up here gives Superweek more coverage (nice article and photo) than the TdF - even with Lance's off-road adventure yesterday!

-- 30 Lap Legs in a 31 Lap Race --

Today saw us in Hales Corner at Whitnall Park. A really nice park and botanical gardens just SW of Milwaukee. We faced very sunny skies and the accompanying heat. No worries for me, I like it that way. The course is great: A sharp right turn just after the S/F leads us onto a block long climb. We then make another narrow right turn and face a gradual uphill before doing a quick descent into a curve followed by another block-long climb. Finally we get the payoff - a fast heavily shaded run-in to the S/F. We would be hitting 35 in the
darkest section of the course in a field of roughly 60 riders. I like this course and I hoped that the 3rd time would be the charm. We would be riding 31 laps of the 1.1 mile course for
34 miles of racing.

After the obligatory announcements, we set out. The early tempo was high, but I felt pretty good. I was able to move up when I felt I needed to and generally was feeling ok. There were a few attacks, but with the fast descent, nothing could stick. I was never really able to get to the front, but figured the final wide uphill would give enough space to move and I used it a few times to escape the back of the pack and move up.

With the heat and the length of the race, I kept guzzling Cyto and taking the occasional shot of honey hoping to keep the legs topped up. But, with 5 laps to go my needle was nudging toward Empty. I told myself, "Hey - it is just 5.5 miles till the
finish - you /can/ do this." Another guzzle of cyto and we hit 4 to go. I just kept counting them down hoping that I could nurse the energy and be able to have a great finish. 2 laps
to go and I stood on the hill and still had a little gas, then we came 'round for the bell lap. Now, on the prior lap my "low gas" light flipped on and I knew that really hitting empty was imminent, but I figured I could do one more. I stood on the hill and the legs felt really tired - we rounded the turn and the attacks started to go. I pushed to keep in contention and the tank ran totally dry.

Now there are plenty of times after a shower and food I've second-guessed how I have finished a race. could I have gone just a little harder? moved up sooner? But, today there is none of that. I ran the tank dry - there was nothing - absolutely nothing left in the legs. Unfortunately that came with 2/3 of a mile to go. I was able to use the downhills to keep up some speed and rolled in just behind the pack, missing the wreck
that took two riders down about 200M from the line. I was disappointed, but that is tempered by the knowledge I gave it everything I had. For a 34 mile crit, we avg'd 24.5 mph. While not quite Downers Grove fast, it was nearly 3x as long.

I've been hoping that the gobs of protein I've been consuming (trying for 60+ g's/day) will help me recover. Between expired jogmate, Trader Joe's protein powder and gobs of Jiff (choosy moms choose jiff) I think I'm making my quota. In order to get
back the energy for tomorrow I've also had ice cream, a ton of fig bars, bugles, pretzels, more cyto, and will shortly wolf down a pizza. The beauty of this whole endeavor is that I can eat enough for several people :-)

So, tomorrow we head to Humboldt Park. This course is my nemesis. In two attempts, I've been lapped out on both tries. It isn't much more difficult than today's course, but the initial climb is 2 blocks long. Hopefully I can muster the strength needed.

Today's race was in Humboldt Park. Sun greeted us again and the times started climbing up. The course featured a really tight right hand turn followed by a two block long climb. The remaining corners were super wide. I checked in, put the bike together and rode the course. Legs felt ok - not great - but at least ok. So, we'll see what happens. I'm 0-2 at this course and hoping to break the curse.

After Heidi gives us the instructions, about 40 or so set out. We hit the hill pretty good and suddenly we discover since our warm-up somebody broke a beer bottle in the middle of the road. Everybody dives out of the way and I think we only
had one flat. I figured it would be carnage with all of the broken glass.

The tempo stays high and I'm sitting in. I'm feeling tired, but keep hanging on. It is a 35 mile race or 41 laps. Another long one today. I keep trying to stay out of the back, but two guys escape and put 20 seconds on us. Now we're single file and I'm hangin' by a thread. A few laps of that and my thread snapped. Here I was 15 miles into the race and for a practical purposes, it was over. Foiled again at Humboldt Park. I hooked up with 2 other riders and we started working together. The breakaway suddenly had 1 min on the field! We're getting caught. Ugh. I finished with 20 miles @ 22 mph. I was disappointed, but tomorrow's another day.

Tonight I'm heading over to the Scargill's for dinner and tour coverage! Thanks, Rich! I can't tell you guys how encouraging the emails have been! Thanks!! Rick, I did have some fruit this morning ... no veggies, though :-)

Tomorrow's stage is at Brewer's Hill near the old Schlitz brewery. Four corners with a short steep hill approaching the line. I ended up 25th there last year so we'll see what
happens.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for racing. A 10 degree drop in temp made for terrific conditions. The Brewer's Hill neighborhood is undergoing a bit of a renaissance and the homes look better each year. We were very near the old Schlitz brewery and a stone's throw from Pabst. Any race
that includes the word "hill" in it's title scares me a tad, but I've been here twice before. The course is wild. The first turn is probably 50 yards out from the S/F and we make a left. A block or so later we make another left and this street has rough shoulders with really nice asphalt down the center. Exiting the corner onto the asphalt made it a much
quicker ride. Now on the backstretch we descend for two blocks gaining more and more speed before we make a left at the bottom of the hill. This corner is an obstacle course of sewer caps and bumpy pavement. We keep the speed going until the final turn that features a nice manhole cover right in the middle! Yikes! Then it is a steep block-long climb that
ends probably 50 or so yards from the S/F. It is a tough course to navigate. And, to make it more exciting, we'll be doing 40 laps! Just before the start, my back bottle cage sheers off at the base. Guess I'll be taking but one bottle today so thankfully it isn't hot!

I was joined by John Wryza, a little tired from the 24 Hours of 9 Mile, perhaps slightly drugged from antibiotics, but looking good enough to race. We lined up with about 50 others for the instructions and off we went. The speed was fairly quick as we started to drop the weaker riders. I'm doing ok and feeling ok given that at this point I've now got 95 miles of racing in for 3 days and probably another 25 miles of warm-ups as
well. The hill isn't so long that I can't just hop into the 53x23 and spin if needed to stay in contention. About 6 laps in I get the wrong line out of turn 4 and smack that man-hole with my front wheel. Uh oh. I come up the hill ok, but as I hit Turn 1 I realize that my wheel is flat. I'd anticipated this and had drifted back so that I could safely look at it and as I started the turn, the bike didn't want to turn. Crap. I'm only about 50 yards from neutral support, so I hop off and run back for a wheel change. The mechanic slams in a fresh Campy Proton wheel and as the field goes by, I'm thrust back in the action. The rim is slightly wider than my Sun rim and I need to adjust to having the brakes grab a little sooner. The wheel is also feather light - sweet!

I'm still feeling ok at the half-way point and I ride up to John who has been at the front nearly the entire race. I figure he'll be a good wheel, so I stick up there. Finally we get 5 to go and I realize that I'm still near the front and things are good. The laps tick down. Finally we get the bell! Cool. I've got one more lap in these tired legs - I know I do. Then, right before Turn 1, a rider unclips from the pedal. Chaos. I lose spots. John has a tense moment as well, but hangs in there. We come down the hill and I'm still there, but now out of the Top 20. Ugh. We zip through the final two turns without incident and head up the hill one final time. I hang in there, but am now out of the money. John rockets through Turn 4 in 5th, but loses a little ground to take home 14th and some cash. Good ride John!!

So, after 4 days and 155 miles on the bike, 125 of which were spent at dizzying speeds, I'm ready for a few days rest. I'm dying for a flat criterium right now so I'm hoping to hit Matteson on Tuesday, then if others are doing Kenosha on Friday I'll head up. Finally, I'm hitting the Lake Front short course on Saturday and the Superweek finale at Whitefish
Bay on Sunday.

I wrapped up Superweek 2003 with 3 back to back races: Kenosha, Milwaukee Lake Front and Whitefish Bay.

Chris Hammer and I headed up to Kenosha Friday morning, getting stuck in some horrendous traffic and arriving at the race only about 45 min before the start. We were joined by John Mahr. After checking in, we did manage to get about 5 miles of warm-up into the legs so I was starting to feel ok. I would guess there were about 50 guys on the line for 40 laps of fun. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day for racing.

After Heidi gave us our instructions, off we went. The early part of the race was plenty fast. I hung on and just tried to stay out of trouble. Chris slipped out a bit on the second turn of the first lap, probably causing the rider behind, namely John, a bit of panic, but he kept it up. The speed continued to be high and until the half way point, I was feeling a bit maxed. Finally, the legs came around and Chris and John stayed close. Unlike last year, we didn't have 12 year olds in our field, diving
into corners on the inside where the simply didn't belong. The quality of racing in the IVs really has been quite high - sure we're touching our brakes a little more than needed into the turns, but it has been a surprisingly safe Superweek. Finally with about 4 to go, I journey up near the front with John Mahr. Playing Super-domestique John inquires what to do, and I ask him to just stay where he is, sheltering me from the wind. He does an awesome job of this for the next few laps. Thanks, John! Chris is behind me and Lance from Hinckley is next to John. Finally we get the bell and I've still got good position. We get through the first two turns and things are looking good. As we hit the final two turns of the race I start to anticipate the inevitable wreck and probably cost myself a Top 18. Had I stayed on the gas and taken a little more risk I think I'd have exited on Chris' wheel and been able to catapault into the money. But, alas it was not to be. Lance took 20th and I rolled through in 25th, picking off as many guys as I could. I had an avg of over 25 and I think Chris might have found a 26 avg in his data. For a long crit this is incredible.

After the race we hung out on the course and watched the Juniors, Women, III's and finally the Pro I II. In nearly all of the subsequent races and break got away to lap or nearly lap the field. Unfortunately, I did not drink enough water. Late in the day I started to get a headache and then sucked down half a gallon of fruit punch with some corn-nuts and fig bars.
A burrito, sausage and cotton candy probably didn't add to my proper recovery. Chris' buddy Steve brought out some beers which we consumed from water bottles. Nothing like a malt based recovery beverage. I started feeling a bit better. After getting to meet Chris' son back at Hammer House, I headed home and to bed. The alarm was going to ring way too early.

With a 9:32 start time, we left Downers at about 6:50. We sailed up to Milwaukee to find the lakefront cloudy and cool. This course featured a steady climb with a switch back at the top, followed by a long long straight-away that was met with a tight decent onto the lakefront road to the S/F. Oh, that stretch had a head wind. Marc and Kyle showed up so it
was nice to have some company. A decent field lined up and then we departed. I didn't feel bad on the climb and for the first few laps I felt pretty good. We were going really hard into the headwind and I saw 34 mph one moment when I glanced down. I imagined the pace would drop a bit, so I hung tough. After the hill, the guys at the front stayed on the gas and forced those of us back in the field to really push hard to
maintain contact. I knew this was part of Marc's strategy so I expected it a bit, but I was really struggling. After hitting the base of the descent the pace continued to be sky high and finally I started to fade.

On about the 7th of 15 laps, I came unglued on the climb. My body finally said enough was enough and I was smart enough to realize that blowing myself up one last time made no sense with another race on Sunday. I saw Kim at the top of the climb and let her know that I was taking one more to cool down. As this was happening, it started to sprinkle. My decision to abandon was now even simpler. If the rain began in earnest, it would be treacherous on the course. After my cool down lap I packed up and then watched Marc come in 14th. Great job, Marc!!!

Kim and I headed out for lunch at Beans & Barley and then after a brief stop at Kopps for frozen custard arrived at Sprecher Brewery for the tour. For those of you looking for a fun afternoon, the Sprecher tour is great. While the tour itself is informative, the sampling of outstanding beer at the finish is nearly worth the drive to Milwaukee by itself! We checked
into the hotel, I showered, and then we headed to Downer Avenue for the Pro I/2 race. Kim and I found a 6 pack of good beer and collapsed in the grass to watch the race. After the race we headed back downtown, hit Stout Bros brewery where we had a little more beer and some food. I should be recharged for tomorrow after plenty of tasty malt-recovery
drink.

I woke with a clear head and upset stomach. I think 3 days of junk food was catching up with me. The raspberry muffin wasn't tasting good even though it was a pretty tasty muffin. I couldn't finish the chocolate muffin. It wasn't hangover and usually I have a cast-iron stomach. I'm still feeling it today, so perhaps something on Friday got me. Chris and Rich Scargill arrived so there were 3 of us in our blue & yellow out there. We checked in and then did a decent warm up. The course was tight and technical. A wide S/F turned left and suddenly we lost a lane! So as we exit on the right side we've got to come way back left. This will be tricky. The narrow street saw some speed before braking hard into the next left that featured a small water cap that dipped a good inch or better below the grade. There's a pinch-flat in wait. The back stretch was fast, with some bumps, manholes and a line of soft tar down the middle. Not a good place to let the mind wander. The finally turn was a bit irregular. For whatever reason there was a little island that thankfully they coned-off so that we only had one way to exit the turn. But, some rough pavement made for a tricky exit. At least Turn 4 was easy
and with a decent line you could pedal through for the sprint to the line. About 60 riders lined up and for a some, it appeared to be their first race. Yikes. A tricky course with newbies. A mental note was made to get up in the field quick. Finally, we were off. Lap 1 was turned at an insanely fast pace - the guys at the front looking to burn off anybody
that wasn't ready for some speed. We were doing 30 - flat out. Lap 2 was no better. And the fun continued. It was insanity. There was never a break from the work. At about 7 or 8 laps in I was next to John Diefel from Hinckley and made a comment about the pace having to relax. A couple laps later when we eased to 28 he pointed out that I'd gotten my wish.
This craziness continued lap after lap. It did ease back a touch more and Chris was able to make his way up to me. Rich was close ahead. At 12 laps to go I realized that I could finish - until then I kept wondering when the heart would fail and I'd find myself going backwards. On the backstretch some guy managed to get a bottle between his seat tube and carbon rear wheel. The bottle exploded - water or some fluid was all over my face and the bike was making this sort of thucking noise as only carbon can make. We all figured his wheel had exploded, but Kim said he was able to continue. Wow. Finally they tossed out a prime with 3 to go. Now it was getting hard, but I had okay position. According to Kim the main sponsor of this course was insistent about another prime - wanted it on
the bell lap, but the announcer talked him out of that and at 2 to go we got another prime. Again, we were flying. I saw Chris move to Rich's wheel and I snagged Chris. Then, I got picked off in Turn 1. Rats. I stayed close and was looking for a gap to get back to his wheel. As we rounded 4 for the bell the field split left and right going up each gutter. I picked left. Wrong move. We had to get back right for the tight turn and had to hit the brakes. Crap. Stayed on the gas for the remainder, but couldnt' crack the 25. We avg'd over 25 again for an hour.
With shorter crits on the horizon this should leave us with great fitness. Superweek is as hard as it gets so hopefully we're ready for some good things to happen when we're back to facing just local talent rather than national guys.

One note, Michael Anderson from Bonduel WI crushed everybody in the IVs and once he had sewn up the series, upgraded to Cat 3. I did a quick search and discovered he is but 17 years old. A name to remember certainly.

John Wryza and Marc Taylor put Wheel Fast in the money on several occasions which is awesome. If I've got the list right, Scott Taylor, Tony Cerda, John Mahr, Marc Taylor, John Wryza, Chris Hammer, Rich Scargill and I all raced various stages of Superweek which is a terrific turnout. I'm sure each of them has a different story to tell about the racing, but I think everyone would agree that it was hard. I'm not touching my bike today, but will be back at it tomorrow at Mattesson. I
really want to thank everyone that turned out over the various races. As they say, misery loves company.

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