Season Opener - Kenosha Spring Crit. #1

The 2010 season has begun! Approximately 200 riders representing different ABR categories competed in Kenosha's Lakeview industrial park under partly cloudy skies. Temperatures rose to 50 F degrees but the north east wind off Lake Michigan kept a chill in the air. That wind, which the riders faced head on in the back straight, also put the sting in their legs. As one rider put it: "That wind is no good if you have any ambition to do anything today."



In the morning races, Sam Schneider (Tibco) took the Women's Open catagory over Elizabeth Engwis (Kenda) and Carrie Keperrick (Nova Cycle). Other winners in the morning included Heidi Stangl (Tri Wis) in the Women's 4 and  John Acker (Wheel & Sprocket) in the Masters 30-39.

In the Junior Men 17-18, two riders - Lukas Verzbicas (Multisport Madness) and Parick Diamond (Gear Grinders) broke from the field early and made it stick. As Diamond got dropped by Verzbicas, it was Team Extreme's Greg Krieger  who bridged the gap, rode through Diamond, but was not able to catch Verzbicas who won all alone with a handsome lead.

The Men's Cat. 4 and 5 races, which often seems to be the premier event of the day, was well attended with riders representing all parts of Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. 

Perhaps with legs warmed up in the junior race, it was Verzbicas,  Diamond, and Krieger at the front applying pressure early on but fresher legs were not having any of that and, through a crash on the back straight, it came down to a field sprint.




Russel Georgeson (Hayes / RPM) was first, followed by Michael Geitner (Extreme) and Greg Krieger (Extreme) who took the tight sprint for 3rd. Although that strong wind continued to blow in the rider's faces while going up the back straight, the Men's Cat. 3 race was quite animated. Several riders attacked on lap one followed by other attempts to escape, but none got more than 10 seconds. None until diesel powered Chris Padfield cranked it up and simply rode away from everyone.

Midway through the race, several riders got tangled up right at the Start / Finish line and went down. One Team Psimet rider was hurt badly enough to be taken by ambulance to the hospital for evaluation. Word on the street has it that he will be okay and we wish him the best for a fast recovery and hope he can ride again soon. Meanwhile, Padfield continued on his mission for a victory which he took handily. 
In the 'Premier' (?) Pro 1/2 event a small field rolled of the front together but two riders quicky put them to shame by riding of the front and lapping them by half distance. 

Behind the speedy duo, a group of four chasers continued their pursuit. These included Padfield, Luke Seaman (XXX), Tim Pacholski (Trocadero) and (?). This quartet also lapped the field remnants by race end. 
(Once official results are posted, I'll fill in the missing rider names. Springtime races wrap up quikly at the end of the day so these are not readily available.)
In the end it was (?) taking the sprint over (?) to win the Pro 1/2 season opener.