Madness Monday

WISCONSIN: Fond du Lac - Race the Lake. So another edition of this newcomer to the race calendar is complete (3rd Annual?) with a wild finish that hopefully will not be repeated. Andrew Crater was present to defend his title from 2010, and Rahsaan Bahati was there as well to make sure he didn't. Recall in Bahati's video yesterday, that he shot as they 'raced', that the speed was only 22mph. That became the deciding factor in the results because that allowed the second wave to catch the first/Elite wave. The catch was described by one rider as being like a 'bull in a china shop' as the second wave charged through the first on their way to certain victory. This catch created a ~100 rider monster that charged towards the finish and crashes were being reported everywhere. The last second dodging of cones was one cause of crashes and because of this, I believe, many riders, with the pedigree to win, simply sat up.  Early reports on Facebook exclaimed that Bahati had won, but looking at the official RESULTS, he is listed as 11th place. What happened? Well, the rules don't state exactly what time gap is placed between the groups, but evidently while Bahati won the field sprint, 10 riders including the 'winner' Doug Callies (name misspelled in the results), had a better time. So, the race payed out 10 places ... Bahati is first across the line, but since he's 11th, he doesn't get any money??? No, according to the RULES, only riders in the Elite wave are eligible for the money, so Bahati still get's $1,800 for the  'win' of 11th place. Looking through the results you can see many top racers well down the sheet indicating that they probably simply sat up rather than contest a wild and dangerous field sprint. So, Doug Callies ... who is he? Is he a triathlete? An Ironman? Nope, he's a 50 year old Cat. 4/5 from Beaver Dam, WI who has been racing for two years. Credit given to him for being on good form recently, but a 50 year old Masters 4/5 racer beating the likes of Bahati and Crater in a 90 mile race? Uh, that's not right.      There was a $500 prize given for the KOM at High Cliff State Park, half way through the race, and while we do have video of that KOM, it's not at the finish line, so we don't know who actually won that prime at this time. We do see just how large the field is at the half way point and you can only imagine what it was like during the charge back home into Fond du Lac for the race finish.



That's it for now. More information from the weekend will trickle in later and we'll catchup on the happenings then.