Weekend Review

A multitude of races kept Midwest racers busy this past weekend. Each region had their own little race and riders pretty much kept it local so here's a quick recap to review the scene as a whole. Here in SE Wisconsin there was a pair of criteriums. Saturday had Velo Trocadero's race at Menomonee Park which has a 0.9 mile closed circuit around an old quarry. Every catagory had good representation and hard racing. Field sprints were the rule and the Pro 1/2 was won by IS Corp's Erik Loberg. From there, racing moved west to Madison on Sunday for the Great Dane Velo Club's (GDVC) criterium in corporate park, the same place racing was held last Sunday, but the direction was reversed.

Illinois riders headed south of Chicago for the Leland Kermesse, a farmland road race held on largely gravel roads that the city riders seem to fall in love with for one day of the year.  Verizon U25 p/b Geargrinder rode away with the Pro 1/2 by sending John Meyers and Ryan Freund off the front at the start and they were not seen again until after the finish, 75 miles later. “Ryan was killing it today. It felt like there were 15 miles where my entire universe revolved around Ryan’s rear hub- the only thing I could focus on.”

Minneapolis riders took to western Wisconsin roads at the Durand Road Race held under ABR rules, on a rolling 13.5 mile loop southwest of Eau Claire. (photo: SkinnySki.Com) Breakways seemed to rule the day over there where Pat Lemieux beat Jordan Roessingh in the Pro 1/2 race. Also present were top riders Adam Bergman and Duane Dickey.

The WISPORT Series that holds most of their events in central and northern Wisconsin had the Willard Friendly Century which is metric in length and included a racing clinic for newer riders. While no prizes were awarded, reports give the impression that this was race pace to the very end. 


Indiana had the Ceraland Challenge on Saturday and the Mooresville Criterium on Sunday, Michigan had the Ann Arbor Cycling Club put on their third Sunday criterium of April,, in their month long series, and in Iowa, Chain Reaction Cycling hosted the Eagle Point Criterium in Dubuque, over looking the Mississippi river. (this editor has some not so fond, painful memories from this one!) More news is needed from these events!

Edit: An XXX rider reports on his experience in Dubuque