It was a crazy busy weekend of racing here in the Midwest. Here in Wisconsin there were sanctioned races on both Saturday (Menomonee Falls) and Sunday (Madison), plus a citizen's WISPORT road race (Whitwater) on Saturday. Just to the south, in Illinois, there was the increasingly popular gravel road race, the Leland Kermesse (Leland) on Saturday, then criterium racing in Chicago's Lincoln Park. Over in Indiana, it was the Little 500 weekend (271 arrests) at Indiana University in Bloomington, as well as the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Championships in South Bend, at Purdue University, with a team time trial, road race, and criterium. More collegiate racing was held in Iowa City, two more sanctioned races ran in Ohio, and three additional races were held in Missouri! There was no reason not to race if you really wanted to! We cover a few of these today.
WISCONSIN: Menomonee Falls - Menomonee Park Criterium - PHOTOSRESULTS - Held on a smoothly paved, gently twisting and rolling course around an old quarry, this is a local favorite springtime race. Former Wisconsin State Criterium champion Rob White (RACC pb GG), who rode for Kenda Pro Cycling the past few years, took the men's Pro 1/2 race while on the womens' side, it was once again TIBCO's Samantha Schneider, freshly back from the Redlands Tour, taking the win.
Jeremy Werbelow gives us his perspective on the 3's race (read more about his racing in the Madison recap as well!):
"The race was relatively uneventful from my perspective at least. It had parts where it was fast, but not crazy fast that I ever felt like my heart was going to explode. Then the times that it was going slow it was really going SLOW. Travis chased down a break easily and Brian chased down 2 or 3 breaks.
At one point I was talking to Travis asking him if he wanted to do a tandem attack. He was all for it, but this didn't happen because of the make up of the rest of the race. Ok, 3 laps to go, pretty slow, 2 laps to go Brian get on the front and pulls for the entire lap, 1 lap to Jeff gets on the and pulls for 3/4 lap. Then people started going through the "S" curves with the little rollers. I went with and then on the final roller I drilled it and went into the last corner first and I know it is a long way to the finish. I kept going as hard as I could, and then past just before the line. 2nd place, I am happy very happy with that. I was marked by the guy that past me, but oh well, that is racing."
"The Look"
WISCONSIN: Madison - Great Dane Velo Club Criterium (GDVC#2) - RESULTSPHOTOS - Recall, Jeremy Werbelow's second place in the 3's noted above, he -almost- got the win in this race, but ...
"This race was much harder than Saturday's race, with attacks and then more attacks. Finally a small break was out there, but it was eventually brought back. I put in plenty of hard efforts, but managed my matches well. I was on the front at 2 laps to go and knew this is not where I would like to be. I rode on the front very slow, but ready to go if someone was going to launch. It did then pick up a little, 1 lap to go, around corner 1 into the head wind, pace to really fast at all. Around corner 2 up the roller through the curve nothing to crazy so I start moving up and finding a opening. Over the crest started sprinting into the last corner way ahead of everyone. Again, a long ways to the finish. Now, what not to DO! I looked back and so I thought I had this huge gap and I started celebrating early hand off the bars and everything and then I was passed! 2nd place again, I wasn't gassed I still had more and I should have easily won the race. That is what I get for being cocky I guess. Not to mention the officials didn't like it either and they made sure to let me know. I am glad that they didn't DQ me. Time to move on!"
Jennifer Perricone (IS CORP) took Elizabeth Lauer (Kenda pb Gear Grinder) on the line in the very aggressive Women's 1/2 race. The men's Pro 1/2 was also very aggressive with everything brought back until about half way through the 1 hour event when 10 riders gained 20 seconds. It looked serious and they seemed to have a gap that would stick. With 5 laps to go, Frank Dierking (Machinery Row) put in a strong effort, but didn't have the legs to make it past 2 to go. All together on the bell, and while it's not clear what happened on the back stretch, it appears that they just -barely- stayed away with Rob White (RACC pb GG) taking the win (two in a row for the weekend) over Dan Ajer and Thompson Remo.
ILLINOIS: Leland - Leland Kermesse - RESULTSPHOTOS A big city race held in a small town, the Leland Kermesse has a large following by the Chicago crowd, and that enthusiasm appears to be spreading with riders coming from nearby states to participate in this unique event. The road race is held on a 25km loop that twists and turns through the flat Illinois farmland and is 40% gravel roads. Kristen Meshberg, winner of this year's women's race, gives us the insider scoop:
"The race is a 25K Loop consisting of windy flat barren roads with 3 gravel sections making up 40% of the loop. This year, the women and cat 4 men were doing 4 laps for 100K. The gravel's consistancy can vary wildly depending on what the weather's been recently. It can be deep and loose, or tightly packed, and if it's wet and sticky it gets all over you and your bike, and if it's dry it is incredibly dusty and gets in your lungs. Your positioning when you hit the gravel ends up making the race. Depending on the condition of the gravel, passing can be difficult or impossible, so if you can to the front on the gravel riders opening up gaps behind you can cause a split. When you hit the pavement, a fluid breakaway can be impossible to catch due to the wind. "
The men's race was 5 laps of the 25km course and the winning break went right from the first gravel section with 6 riders forming a substantial gap. With approximately 50k to go, David Williams (Competitive Cyclist) ventured out on his own and simply rode away from the others, a very impressive win on the loose gravel. David Williams seems to be a time trial specialist according to his team bio, and is in good form just coming off a solid ride at the Vuelta Mexico.
ILLINOIS: Chicago - Lincoln Park Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS On the shores of Lake Michigan they raced. Some did well ... John Mason (DiD Electrical), apparently a fairly accomplished Irish racer who is in town for ?? that won the Men's Pro 1/2, and Kristen Meshberg (Spider Monkey) who won the Women's 1/2 race (2 for 2 on the weekend!). Others didn't have luck on their sides, such as XXX racer (Checkers or Wreckers) Luke Seeman who appeared to have the Masters 1/2/3/4 race in hand after a 2 man breakaway.
Remember Jeremy Werbelow's mistake in the Madison Cat. 3 race also on this same day (mentioned above)? The photos and video tell it all.
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