Video Special: Snake Alley Weekend

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Muscatine (Melon City), Quad Cities (Rock Island)

IOWA: Muscatine - Melon City Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS - The 34th annual Melon City Criterium, held in Weed Park, was held this past Saturday, May 27th, the 3rd day of racing in the 4 day series. There must be a rule that any race held within 10 miles of the Mississippi River is to be run on the side of a hill ... Week Park is no exception. It is a one mile loop that sends you downhill at 35mph, *over a jump*, around the turn, and then back up again to the finish. Joe Biker of The Best Bike Blog Ever describes it: Did I mention the bump? It isn't as much a bump as it is a speed hump - you know the ones you have to cross head to Ault Park (Cincinnati, OH) that you can't see and nearly eject you while you are warming up when you forget they are there? Now you have the picture. Every lap you are hitting these things at 35 mph, many folks are catching air, some folks are pumping over it, but no matter how you look at it, you are hitting this thing hoping your friend next to you is better at landing a jump than Evil Kneivel at the Grand Canyon. 

Photo: Chronis Vanias

It was a hot day in Iowa on Sunday, the official high temperature in Muscatine was 97 degrees and that forced many riders out early. In fact, the Pro 1/2 race had 145 starters, but just 87 finishers (58 DNFs, 40% of the field). Seemingly not bothered by the heat in the least was winner Alex Vanias (Bissel-ABG-Nuvo). - 3rd overall in the West Michigan Stage Race, 3rd in Saturday's Snake Alley, plus a win and a 2nd at Joe Martin, who's wallet is growing fatter by the day this summer.

Men - Pro/Cat 1/2 - Senior - 15--99
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Alex Vanias (1 - Cat1)	Leroy, MI		291766		Bissell-ABG-NUVO/Indianapolis Cycling Club
	2		Luca Damiani (1 - Pro)	Macedonia, OH		256765		UCI CT: Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team
	3		John Grant (2 - Cat1)	Louisville, KY		193579		Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team P/B Motorex/Kentucky Flyers Cycling Inc
	4		Paul Martin (3 - Cat1)	North Royalton, OH		207549		Panther p/b Competitive Cyclist
	5		Oscar Clark (4 - Cat1)	Atlanta, GA		221975		Team United Healthcare Georgia/The 706 P/The 706 Project
	6		Zach Reed (5 - Cat1)	Edwardsville, IL		29400		Dogfish Racing Team
	7		Daniel Holt (6 - Cat1)	Atlanta, GA		63559		Team Type 1- Development
	8		Ryan Aitcheson			354334		Panther p/b Competitive Cyclist
	9		Michael Wilcox (7 - Cat1)	Salt Lake City, UT		78544		FFKR Architects Racing/Velosport Racing
	10		Chad Hartley (2 - Pro)	Fox Point, WI		126996		UCI CT: Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team

Women - Cat 1/2/3 - Senior - 15--99
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Debbie Milne (1 - Cat1)	Belden, MS		84776		Absolute Racing Team
	2		Sarah Huang (1 - Cat2)	Kenosha, WI		225258		Exergy TWENTY12/Exergy Twenty12
	3		Briana Clark (2 - Cat1)	Carmel, IN		200504		Racing For Riley/KCV Cycling Club
	4		Jessica Prinner (2 - Cat2)	South Elgin, IL		225342		ABD Cycling Club
	5		Nicole Mertz (1 - Cat3)	Robbinsdale		367685
	6		Elizabeth Lauer (3 - Cat2)	Whitewater, WI		290993		Team Kenda presented by Geargrinder
	7		Hayley Giddens	Milwaukee, WI		380901		ISCorp Cycling Team
	8		Jennifer Rife (2 - Cat3)	Saint Paul, MN		345626		Birchwood/GIS
	9		Jeannie Kuhajek (4 - Cat2)	Crystal Lake, IL		316598		PSIMET Racing
	10		Andrea Pether (3 - Cat3)	Lake Geneva, WI		343188		ISCorp Cycling Team/Nova Cycle Sports Foundation Inc dba ISCorp Cycling Team

Photo: John Schultz / Quad City Times

ILLINOIS: Rock Island - Quad Cities Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS - On Memorial Day, the circus moved north and across the Mississippi into Illinois for the 47th annual Quad Cities Criterium (HISTORY). 134 riders started this day in the Pro 1/2, and it was Chad Burdzilauskas (Texas Roadhouse) who took the win in a photo finish sprint over Kenda's Luca Damiani after a long lead out by Burdzilauskas' team mate, John Puffer.  (Video interview) The Quad City Times writes:  Moments after Burdzilauskas won Monday’s Quad-Cities Criterium, the skies let loose with a downpour. By the time he was ushered back street side for the podium presentation, less than two dozen were there to witness him accept his flowers and champagne.
“They take away from all our glory, right? I finally win a race and its been like all year. The next thing you know it rains,” Burdzilauskas joked. “I almost didn’t even get any kisses from the girls.”

Quad Cities Online covers the race superbly (great article and some awesome photos):  

So Puffer led Burdzilauskas around the next four laps, allowing his teammate to break the 20 mph winds behind him.

"Then, with two (laps) to go, Panther Racing took over the lead," Burdzilauskas said. "Paul Martin just drilled it as hard as he could. That's when I jumped on his wheel to sit in fourth or fifth.

"I was biding my time until the backstretch. Don't tell anyone this, but you want to be first on that second to last turn if you want to win here."

Men: Cat 1/2/Pro
Place	Bib	Name	Age	City	St	Team
1	43	Chad Burdzilauskas	34	Indianapolis	IN	Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team P/B Motorex
2	115	Luca Damiani
3	11	Ryan Aitcheson
4	57	Daniel Holt	31	Atlanta	GA	Team Type 1- Development
5	85	Oscar Clark	23	Atlanta	GA	Team United Healthcare Georgia/The 706 P
6	86	Ryan Sullivan	28	Nashville	TN	Team United Healthcare Georgia/The 706 P
7	87	Ryan Knapp	28	Columbus	IN	Panther p/b Competitive Cyclist
8	32	Andre Vandenberg	22	Boone	NC	Astella Oncology p/b ABD Cycling
9	37	Erik Meier	22	Baraboo	WI	Team Wheel & Sprocket
10	123	Bryan Fosler	25	Madison	WI	KS Energy Services / Team Wisconsin
11	102	James Baldesare	42	Kent	OH	Cleveland Clinic Sports Health - RGF pb Felt Bicycles
12	30	Jacob Rytlewski	30	Brownsburg	IN	Astella Oncology p/b ABD Cycling
13	13	Matthew Brandt	24	St Charles	MO	Gateway Harley-Davidson
14	26	Brandon Feehery	20	Homewood	IL	Astella Oncology p/b ABD Cycling
15	122	Robert White	35	Brown Deer	WI	RACC pb GG
16	117	Jeff Bradley	51	Davenport	IA	Velosport Iowa /American Equity

Photo: Cathy Frampton

Quad Cities Online again gives a great recap of the women's race (and awesome photos):

In a real win-win situation for both, an out-of-gas Milne bargained for that spot with Prinner to assure the two would avoid a final-lap scramble for prize money by the pack.

Unknown to Milne until after the chase, the in-race negotiation allowed the 43-year-old to rank as the big winner of a holiday weekend full of racing in the region.

Milne exited The District of downtown Rock Island as the Nature Valley Pro Chase winner, earning an all-expenses-paid trip to this summer's Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Milne won Muscatine's Melon City Criterium on Sunday and finished fifth in downriver Burlington's Snake Alley Criterium on Saturday.

"This is an awesome opportunity. I'm really excited," Milne said.

Ditto for Prinner after earning the $417 top women's winner's check during the annual Memorial Day bike races.

"I hope this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things," Prinner said.

(Video interview from the Quad City Times)


Women: Cat 1/2/3/Pro

Place	Bib	Name	Age	City	St	Team
1	23	Jessica Prinner	20	South Elgin	IL	ABD Cycling Club
2	27	Debbie Milne	43	Belden	MS	Absolute Racing Team
3	21	Hayley Giddens
4	3	Kristen Meshberg	42	Lyons	IL	Spidermonkey Cycling
5	24	Katie Spittlehouse
6	6	Briana Clark	30	Carmel	IN	Racing For Riley
7	18	Terra James	32	Minneapolis	MN	Angie's Kettle Corn/Angry Catfish Bicycl
8	19	Emma Bast	26	Minneapolis	MN	Speedfix Racing p/b Zubaz
9	4	Zoe Reker	20	Littlecanada	MN	ISCorp Cycling Team
10	7	Jeannie Kuhajek	39	Crystal Lake	IL	PSIMET Racing

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2012 Snake Alley

IOWA: Burlington - Snake Alley Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS -Saturday, May 26, 2012 was the 30th annual Snake Alley Criterium in Burlington, Iowa. Attracting racers, this year, from 25 states and 2 Canadian Provinces, this race is still a defining event in many racer's careers. If you're a REAL racer, then you HAVE to race the Snake at least once. (AR, AZ, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, OH, OK, ON, PA, SK, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY)

The 4 day weekend of racing began on Friday with the Burlington road race. 95 miles for the Pro 1/2s. Jacob Rytlewski took the win in style by coming in solo, breaking away from the leaders with six miles remaining. The Iowa Hawkeye reveals: "We were in a big group and nobody was working together so I just attacked and got a gap," Rytlewski said. "I thought if I kept going hard maybe they wouldn't work together to chase back on so I could go by myself."

Luzadder knew Rytlewski was not coming back.

"I kind of knew once he got 100 meters, he's not coming back. He's a pretty strong rider," said Luzadder.

Category 1-2 Pro

1. Jacob Rytlewski, Brownsburg, Ind.; 2. Weston Luzadder, Indianapolis; 3. Zach Reed, Edwardsville, Ill.; 4. Bob Stumpf, Bonel, Pa.; 5. Ben Anderson, Madison, Wis.; 6. David Hauber, Clarksville, Ind.; 7. Robert White Jr., Brown Deer, Wis.; 8. Michael Sencenbaugh, Carroll; 9. Andrew Otte, West Lafayette, Ind.; 10. Paul Deninger, Iowa City.

11. Josh Gillinghan, Thunder Bay, Ontario; 12. Billy Jones, Milwaukee, Wis.; 13. Mike Sherer, Glencoe, Ill.; 14. Spencer Oswald, Dubuque; 15. Daniel Holt, Atlanta; 16. Jim Vandeven, Crystal City, Mo.; 17. Adam Kaye, Ann Arbor, Mich.; 18. Nicholas Ramirez, Normal, Ill.; 19. Ryan Sullivan, Nashville, Tenn.; 20. Matias Perrett, Iowa City.

21. Andrew Lister, Springfield, Ill.; 22. Brian Rach, Chilton, Wis.; 23. Willy Zellmer, St. Louis; 24. David Carpenter, Norwalk; 25. Matt Zimmer, DeWitt.

Then on Saturday came the big one - the Snake Alley Criterium with it's famed cobble stoned climb of 5 switchbacks and pitches reaching 21%. Paul Martin (Panther p/b Competitive Cyclist) came up the victor in the Pro 1/2 event in his 15th try.  Again, The Iowa Hawkeye gives us the full story (check the Hawkeye for more race stores on other categories including Cat. 5!):

He started in 84th position in the 118-rider field.

Martin's and Aitcheson's teammate, Chris Uberti, stayed near the front early, as various riders attacked off the front, testing the chase group. Each time, the lead was reeled back in, and the game started again.

By lap 10 of the 20-lap race, Martin had worked his way into the lead. He and Luca Damiani opened a 20-second gap on the chase group.

Just a couple of laps later, the duo had been caught and brought back into the pack. That is when Martin, Aitcheson and Neff broke away.

"Ryan's a superfast sprinter so I knew when we were with the guy in the orange jersey (Neff) we probably had the advantage if we just kept a good tempo and kept him fresh for sprinting," Martin said. "He was so strong with four laps to go, he was just riding the other guy right out of our group."

By lap 17, Martin and Aitcheson were on their own and pulling away from the field. But they did not know that.

"Frankly I wasn't sure we were in the lead," said Martin. "I thought there was still someone up the road. Our teammates on the hill confirmed (we were leading)."

All that was left was deciding the finish order for the teammates. But when they came down Jefferson the final time, instead of picking up speed and sprinting to the line, they held hands and rode across together.

"I'm oldest so I called the seniority card," said Martin, who at 39 is 19 years older than his teammate. "Our team, he's a sprinter and we're going to be leading him out all season long. That's one of my duties. This is one of the few races I have a chance to win. He let me have it."

PLACE	NUMBER	NAME	CITY	STATE	CLUB
1	84	PAUL MARTIN	NORTH ROYALTON	OH	PANTHER/RGF PB FELT BICYCLES
2	50	RYAN AITCHESON	KITCHENER	ON	PANTHER P/B COMPETITIVE CYCLISTCYCLING CLUB
3	63	ALEX VANIAS	LEROY	MI	BISSELL-ABG-NUVO
4	71	ISAAC NEFF	MADISON	WI	5NINES
5	7	ANDREW DILLMAN	FAIRDALE	KY	TEXAS ROADHOUSE
6	14	ZACH REED	EDWARDSVILLE	IL	DOGFISH CYCLING
7	20	TRISTAN SCHOUTEN	PLYMOUTH	WI	ISCORP
8	85	NICK FREY	FORT COLLINS	CO	BOO BICYCLES
9	88	DANIEL HOLT	ATLANTA	GA	TEAM TYPE 1 DEVELOPMENT
10	65	WESTON LUZADDER	INDIANAPOLIS	IN	BISSELL-ABG-NUVO
11	23	CHRIS UBERTI	CINCINNATI	OH	PANTER/COMPETITIVE CYCLIST
12	5	BRIAN JENSEN	LAWRENCE	KS	TRADEWIND ENERGY
13	113	MATIAS PERRET	IOWA CITY	IA	ICCC
14	19	DAN AJER	FITCHBURG	WI	GREAT DANE VELO CLUB
15	60	LIAM DONOGHUE	CHICAGO	IL	XXX RACING
16	102	PAT LEMIEUX	ST. PAUL	MN	KENDA 5 HOUR ENERGY
17	67	MAC BRENNAN	EAST JORDAN	MI	BISSELL-ABG-NUVO

Photo: Unknown - Facebook

For the women, it was the Little Badger (Le Petite Blairelle),  Kaitlin Antonneau coming up with the goods in their Cat. 1/2/3 race. Second place was Jeannie Kuhajek, the New Zealand rider racing for PSIMET on her 'winter' break.

PLACE	NUMBER	NAME	CITY	STATE	CLUB
1	16	KAITLIN ANTONNEAU	RACINE	WI	EXERGYTWENTY12
2	17	JEANNIE KUHAJEK	CRYSTAL LAKE	IL	PSIMET RACING
3	19	EMMA BAST	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	SPEED FIX P/B ZUBAZ
4	3	KIM EPPEN	IOWA CITY	IA	MERCY SPECIALIZED
5	27	DEBBIE MILNE	BELDEN	MS	ABSOLUTE RACING/MSMOC
6	22	HAYLEY GIDDENS	MILWAUKEE	WI	ISCORP CYCLING TEAM
7	15	LEAH KLEAGER	OMAHA	NE	MIDWEST CYCLING COMMUNITY
8	14	NICOLE MERTZ	ROBBINSDALE	MN	UNIV OF MINNESOTA
9	18	TERRA JAMES	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	ANGIE'S KETTLE CORN
10	13	BRIANA CLARK	CARMEL	IN	RACING FOR RILEY
11	24	ASHLEY JENSEN	KENOSHA	WI	IS CORP
12	8	ANDREA PETHER	LAKE GENEVA	WI	ISCORP
13	26	VANESSA CURTIS	IOWA CITY	IA	IOWA CITY CYCLING CLUB
14	7	KELLI RICHTER	LIBERTYVILLE	IL	PSIMET/ENZO'S
15	23	ZOE REKER	LITTLE CANADA	MN	ISCORP

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Elgin Classic, Fox River Grove, West Michigan Stage Race, Kenosha Track

Photo: Tiffany Freund

ILLINOIS: Elgin - Elgin Cycling Classic - RESULTS PHOTOS - A western suburb of Chicago, Elgin has a long history of bicycle racing, going way back to the '30s and beyond. From the Elgin - Chicago race that ran for 30 years, to the more contemporary Four Bridges of Elgin, the legacy continues with a new race put on by Team PSIMET as part of a two day omnium series. It was pretty much a day of locals racing, but considering the size of the city, the talent pool can be pretty deep. There were a few exceptions to that as well. They included Alex Bowden of Team Type 1 in the Pro 1/2 mix, Sven Stolz of Gothenburg, Sweden who took control of the 4's race, and Jeannie Kuhajek of Tazman, New Zealand who is here during her 'winter' to race here in the Midwest with the PSIMET Elite Women's Team. As part of a two day omnium, points were awarded on certain laps that would go towards the overall competition. This is the first 'points race' of any sort held on the road here in the Midwest in some time since Superweek stopped doing them some 20 years ago. 

Men - Cat 1/2/3
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #	Bib	Team
	1		Ryan Freund (1 - Cat1)	Lake In The Hills, IL		279249	805	Enzo's-PSIMET
	2		Nicholas Ramirez (1 - Cat2)	Normal, IL		296749	811	Enzo's-PSIMET
	3		Tim Speciale (2 - Cat2)	Woodstock, IL		293350	813	Enzo's-PSIMET
	4		Christopher Curran (3 - Cat2)	Springfield, IL		282543	804	Sammy's Bike
	5		Bryan McVey (2 - Cat1)	Arlington Heights, IL		264045	834	Astella Oncology p/b ABD Cycling
	6		Alex Bowden	Solana Beach, CA		245698	803	Team Type 1 - Sanofi

Women - Cat 1/2/3/4
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Jessica Prinner (1 - Cat2)	South Elgin, IL		225342		ABD Cycling Club
	2		Jeannie Kuhajek (2 - Cat2)	Crystal Lake, IL		316598		PSIMET Racing
	3		cathy frampton (3 - Cat2)	La Grange, IL		275322		Project 5 Racing

Photo: Peloton-Pix

ILLINOIS: Fox River Grove - Fox River Grove Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS OMNIUM Most certainly the toughest course on the Chicago area circuit these days, encircling the 70 meter Norge Ski Club's ski jump - the oldest operating ski jump in the United States - still going after 105 years. (There's a ski jump in Chicago??? - Yup!) This course is a brute with a relatively long climb reaching pitches of 15% followed by a fast twisty decent.
Alex Bowden of Team Type 1 took the win today, but fell short in the Pro Omnium which was taken by local rider Ryan Freund (Enzos). Kiwi Jeannie Kuhajek of Team PSIMET got her first win in the USA this 'winter' taking both the stage win and the omnium title.

Men - Cat 1/2/3
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Alex Bowden	Solana Beach, CA		245698		Team Type 1 - Sanofi
	2		Ryan Freund (1 - Cat1)	Lake In The Hills, IL		279249		Enzo's-PSIMET
	3		David Moyer (2 - Cat1)	Chicago, IL		273323		xXx Racing

Women - Cat 1/2/3/4

Place

Name

City, State

USAC #

Team

1

Jeannie Kuhajek (1 - Cat2)

Crystal Lake, IL

316598

PSIMET Racing

2

Jessica Prinner (2 - Cat2)

South Elgin, IL

225342

ABD Cycling Club

3

Kimberly Gialdini (3 - Cat2)

Downers Grove, IL

289833

PSIMET Racing

Photo: WMSR

MICHIGAN: Ada - West Michigan Stage Race - RESULTS PHOTOS PHOTOS  The Second Annual West Michigan Stage was a two day, three stage event that awarded winners for individual stage performances as well as overall.  This was a single event that was broken into 3 stages.  Racers must complete the previous stage in order to advance to the next stage. Daily Peloton: The WMSR consisted of three events: a 7.2-mile time trial at Chief Hazy Cloud Park near Ada; a second stage on a 0.9-mile criterium on a closed-course at Kent Intermediate School District at Knapp Street and the East Beltline; and Sunday's final stage—a road race consisting of 30, 60 or 90 miles, depending on the rider’s racing category. Sunday’s road race began at the Flat River Grill in Lowell. The event offered $8,000 cash awards.

Piecing the action together from the results posted - Team Bissel was the team to beat in the Pro 1/2 with Alex Vanias taking the TT win in 14:40 and Nathanial Willams second in 14:50. However, in the criterium, Team Bissel got skunked placing no better than 8th with Chicago racer Liam Donahue (XXX Racing) taking the win along with a 10 second prime and the 30 second bonus for the win. Despite Nathanial Williams placing a distant 17th, he did pick up a 20 second bonus which, in the overall, turned out to be the winning move. In the 90 mile road race, none of the top 3 place any better than 23rd, Donahue had Willams marked and lost less than a second to him in the field sprint, but in the end Williams topped Donahue by 6 seconds overall.




WISCONSIN: Kenosha - PHOTOS - Tuesday was the second day of competition in the 2012 track season at the Washington Park Velodrome in Kenosha. A fair turnout of racers populated all categories. The main event was a Pro 1/2/3 (men and women) 65 lap scratch race. Pro rider Chad Hartley (Kenda / 5 Hour Energy) gave the rest a lesson in speed work by lapping everyone else at least once and easily took the win.

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Sauk County Tower Tour Road Race

WISCONSIN: Baraboo - Sauk County Tower Tour - RESULTS PHOTOS - A "Tour" they called it, but it was more of a tour of your inner fortitude and grit as you applied yourself to the 1100 feet of climbing per 15 mile loop, in the first 90 degree day of racing this year. 4400 ft of climbing, in total, for the 60 mile Pro 1/2 race, up and over Devil's Crown, a 1500ft high knob of rock poking out of Wisconsin's glacial scenic countryside. It was another epic road race put on by the Baraboo Sharks Cycling Team. You may remember their other races they've promoted, such as La Rue - Denzer - La Rue, and Circuit de Sauk. All wicked courses in their own right, but this one topped them all.

This time, you started at the top, quickly dropping down a breath taking 500 ft descent that twisted through the trees. Turning right at the bottom, it was followed by several miles of gently rolling terrain past farm houses and barns, across the creek (now you know you're at the bottom), then UP. Up the stair stepped climb back to the finish line that's perched at the very top of the Crown. There were sore legs aplenty after this race.

The Pro 1/2 event started off as most road races do ... an easy pace and lots of chatter. A course like this lends itself to a natural selection, however, and the field was constantly being split and reformed as it rolled up and over the steep climbs. Numerous attacks were launched, but none were successful until 17 year old Jordan Cullen (Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) of Hudson, WI got off the front with several others. Jordan himself describes his win: I counter-attacked when we caught the break and I was followed by one rider and we caught a rider that was about 15 seconds ahead of us.  The 3 of us began to work really well and quickly got a very sizeable gap.  After cresting the finish climb one of the guys in the break came apart, and drifted off the back.  I continued to work with my remaining breakaway companion for the next lap, but started to notice he was getting pretty tired.  I decided to attack with 12 miles to go and I was able to stay away until the finish with a one minute gap on a chase group of four.  I am really glad to have won my first race in Slipstream-Craddock colors and couldn't wish for a better team to ride for! 

More interesting racing occurred in the Men's 3's race. Just as the field was spotted climbing up to the line for their finish, a local farm truck crossed the line going the other way and started heading right towards them! The chief referee quickly got the driver's attention and got him to back up, but WHOA! don't block the finishing camera! Jordan Mathes (Wheel and Sprocket) crossed the line first, easily beating second and third to the top of the final climb. But WHOA! again ... protests are being fired from other riders who claimed that Mathes violated the center line rule in the final 200 meters. It was hard to see 200 meters down the hill, plus the fact everyone was distracted by the pickup truck incident, so numerous riders were interviewed including Mathes himself. Photos were looked at, and after a lengthy discussion, Mathes was relegated to 3rd. He obviously had the legs to be in contention for the win, so that seemed like a fair decision for all.

 Mathes continued to show his good form the next day in Madison, taking the 3's race at Wheels on Willy criterium which will be covered in the next article later today, along with many other races held on this very busy weekend!

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Video Special: Tour de Grove, Cleveland Velodrome

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Tour de Grove, Muskego, Monsters of the Midway

It's always a challenge to find good race results on Monday morning, but here's what's being posted from another very busy race weekend here in the Midwest.

Photo: Velonews

MISSOURI: St Louis - Tour de Grove - RESULTS PHOTOS - Easily the largest race of the Midwest this weekend, the three day Tour de Grove drew top riders from around the country to race for cash and points in the USA Crits series. According to the Velonews report, team Vanderkitten dominated Friday's Women's race, but it was Wisconsin's very own Samantha Schneider coming up with the sprint win, putting another notch in her belt for 2012 wins. Cole House, of Oneida, WI came up just one short of a win, placing second to Brad Huff and St. Paul's Colton Barrett pulling through in 5th.

Men - Men Pro/1/2
	Place		Name	City, State	Time	USAC #		Team
	1		Charles Bradley Huff		1:08:03.000			Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
	2		Cole House	Oneida, WI	1:08:03.000	183112		Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
	3		Alejandro Borrajo	Lemon Grove, CA	1:08:03.000	288134		Jamis/Sutter Home
	4		Shane Kline	Bally, PA	1:08:03.000	192584		Mountain Khakis/SmartStop
	5		Colton Barrett	North Saint Paul, MN	1:08:04.000	224589		Optum Pro Cycling
	6		Justin Williams (1 - Cat1)	Los Angeles	1:08:05.000	197316		CashCall Mortgage

On Saturday, 18 year old Kaleb Koch (IS Corp) tops the talent in the 200 meter street sprints, beating sprint notables such as Colton Barrett, Josh Carter, and James Carney. Robert Forster of  United Healthcare took the Pro Criterium.

Men - Men Pro/1
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Robert Forster	Santa Monica, CA		12056		United Heath Care Pro Cycling Team
	2		Hilton Clarke	Santa Monica, CA		187710		United Heath Care Pro Cycling Team
	3		Luke Keough	Sandwich, MA		229135		Mountain Khakis/SmartStop
	4		Justin Williams (1 - Cat1)	Los Angeles		197316		CashCall Mortgage
	5		Charles Bradley Huff					Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
	6		Colton Barrett	North Saint Paul, MN		224589		Optum Pro Cycling
	7		Emile Abraham (2 - Cat1)	Atlanta, GA		222021		Latino Cycling Team
	8		Chad Hartley	Fox Point, WI		126996		Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team
	9		Ryan Knapp (3 - Cat1)	Columbus, IN		161263		Panther p/b Competitive Cyclist
	10		Benjamin Chaddock	Walla Walla, WA		261002		Team Exergy

Racing continued on Sunday at the Dutchtown Classic, but official results have not been posted as of yet (Monday morning)(do they do that at the TOC?)





WISCONSIN: Muskego - Early video from our friends at Big Ring Flyers



ILLINOIS: Chicago - More early video out of the Monsters of the Midway.

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The Red Army, Marian University

WISCONSIN: La Grange - You've seen the results, you've seen the photos, now get into the head of Team Wisconsin/KS Energies (Aka: The Red Army) and see what Joeseph Maloney has to say about his win a few weeks back. Be sure to read his entire post.

 By this point we were well organized as we had just all moved up to the front to pull the break back. We were able to put a guy into every break and play the tactical game for 2 laps. We had a lot of times where we were able to have 2 guys in a small break. But they all came back. The dominant teams were us, Rhythm Racing, and LAPT, having Michael who had gone in the solo break at GDVC #1 with me.  One of these teams was always left out in the break so they never quite got away. Until on the final lap on the back stretch a Rhythm Racing guy got away around the corner and I followed hard. We opened up a 10 second gap pretty quickly and decided that this was it. We put our heads down on that stretch and got probably 20-30 seconds. Not much but a comfortable gap on the last lap. On the final stretch the RR guy was starting to fade so I did most of the pulling. I was in kill mode for sure.

...

It was an exciting victory to say the least. I was looking for a victory like this. A hard race one where the win wasn’t something I could get just for being the strongest. And by no means was I the strongest. A lot of the Rhythm Racing guys were crazy strong. But we won in the end. We won because we worked well as a team and played the right cards at the right time. That on top of a little bit of good luck with me getting into the break with a guy that I was stronger than. It all came together at once and for that I cannot thank my teammates enough.

UTAH: Ogden - US Collegiate Nationals - Katie Antonneau gives us a review of this year's nationals and what it's like to be part of the winning Marian University Team:

 A lone rider from Cornell was off the front for a solid part of the race, only to be caught as we started climbing the five-mile climb on the big loop. I started the climb in the front with Heather Fisher from CU Boulder, Rachel Warner from Lees-McRae, and Fort Lewis’s Sarah Sturm. About half a mile into the climb Fisher was already putting the hurt on the three of us and gaps were opening up. I climbed alone but tried to keep Sturm and Fisher in sight. I knew mentally that I was going to have to suffer to get over this climb. We don’t have mountains in Indiana, ya know! I was third over the top of the climb and rode hard to try to catch Sturm. I caught her at the bottom of the descent and rode hard to the finish with her. I finished second and sealed my omnium win.

I am happy to have been able to defend my criterium and omiumn titles.
We also defended our team omnium title. I am so proud to be a part of a great collegiate program both men and women. It’s such an honor to be part of a real team effort.

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Old Capitol, LaCrosse, Goshen, Cone Azalia, Champaign-Urbana

Photo: IowaBicycleRacing.Org

IOWA: Iowa City - Old Capitol Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS - Featuring a time trial and road race on Saturday, then in the heart of downtown Iowa City, the Chris Lillig Memorial Cup Criterium on Sunday this has been a staple in area racing for 35 years.

Brandon Krawczyk (Revolution Cycle and Ski) took both Saturday's Cat 1/2 road race and the final criterium (and probably the overall omnium) this year over a hard working Brian Eppen and Matias Perret. Krawczyk said of the race:
“The Iowa City cycling team, they’re a great group of guys and they’re real strong and they were doing their best to ride me off their wheel,” Krawczyk said. “So I had to be on the defensive the entire day. So if it looked like I was doing nothing, it’s only because I was hanging on. “Brian Eppen is riding really well, so is Matias. I just tried to keep breathing, ride smart and stay sheltered and do as much work as I had to, but not too much.”

Men - Pro/Cat 1/2
	Place		Name	City, State		USAC #		Team
	1		Brandon Krawczyk (1 - Cat1)	Waukesha, WI		232232		Revolution Cycle and Ski
	2		Matias Perret (1 - Cat2)	Iowa City, IA		292569		Iowa City Cycling Club
	3		Brian Eppen (2 - Cat1)	Iowa City, IA		121702		Iowa City Cycling Club

 WISCONSIN: LaCrosse - LaCrosse Fitness Festival Omnium - RESULTS PHOTOS - Incomplete results and just scattered stories coming out of this three day omnium held just up the river from the Iowa City races on the same weekend. It featured a road race Saturday morning over in Minnesota which had one huge climb, followed later that evening by a 2.4 mile uphill TT going up Grand Dad's Bluff in Lacrosse. Then on Sunday, it was the criterium on the banks of the Mississippi in downtown Lacrosse. The Pro 1/2 road race was won by IS Corp's main sprinter Josh Gillingham who podiumed down at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas last week. Second was Alexander Meyer (Grand Performance) who also races for the University of Wisconsin and recently won the Purdue Collegiate "A" race in April, followed by Maxwell Anderson (LAPT) who got third again last year in the criterium and who also podiumed last year in the USA Collegiate National's road race.

Photo: East Hills Velo

INDIANA: Goshen - I Love Goshen Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS - This second annual Friday night , twilight criterium, appears to be a well represented race associated with the city's weekly Friday night "First Friday's Celebration" which included food vendors and live music. Team Upland Brewing Company gives us a blow by blow of the final laps:

"Then, with two to go, Kyle got taken out in a crash… on a straightaway. What, dudes? I was a few riders back and was able to get around the crash without losing any momentum. Then I realized I was the only Upland guy near Ryan and we had 2.5 laps to go. So I would be stuck trying to lead him out.
With a lap to go I was a few riders behind Ryan and fighting to move up as a team at the front - either Bissel/Nuvo or Bissel’s masters’ team - had things strung out over 30mph. On the backstretch, a gap was opening a rider in front of Ryan. I gritted my teeth and slid out into the wind, shouted “SHEAN, GET ON MY WHEEL” and closed the gap. By the 2nd to last corner, I was in 9th wheel and Ryan was right behind me.

150 meter straightaway. No time to move up unless I’m going to chop the last corner. I don’t know if I want to do that with Ryan on my wheel. Too late to re-consider, we hit the finishing straight.
300 meters to go. I get out of the saddle. I try to accelerate to give Ryan some kind of springboard to catch a few guys ahead and maybe hit the top 5. No doing. I have nothing left. I swing off, he sprints in for 9th. I finish 11th, nobody else behind us for a few seconds. The 20 guys left in the pack after the crash were strung out over the course, the last lap was that fast.
Still, both of us were in the money. As a team, we did everything we wanted to and only had some bad luck with Kyle’s crash."





I Love Goshen Criterium
Goshen, IN
May 4, 2012

Men - 1/2/3
Place	Rider		Team	Hometown
1	Matthew	Light	Alderfer Bergen	WARSAW	IN
2	Jeffrey	Pendlebury	Cleveland Clinic	FREDERICKSBURG	OH
3	Derek	Witte	ABG-NUVO	GRAND RAPIDS	MI
4	Jeremy	Grimm	CLEVELAND CLINIC SPORTS HEALTH / RGF PB FELT	ORRVILLE	OH
5	randall	rodd	Wolverine Sports Club	WEST BLOOMFIELD	MI

More war stories from the Cat 3 race HERE. 

Photo: Kroske Archives

MICHIGAN: Milan - Cone-Azalia Road Race - RESULTS PHOTOS - The self proclaimed "Paris Roubaix of the Midwest" or "Michigan's Gravel Road Race" held near Ann Arbor. One rider from Lead Out Racing describes it: The Cone Azalia Road Race is a race that truly exemplifies Michigan; a grid of flat, notoriously horrible roads, and farmland all around. WSI-Team Active describes it: Cone-Azalia is a part rough pavement, part dirt road, all wind exposed box of madness. Nowhere to hide. No gain - all pain.

A 10 mile loop that's 40% gravel with the likes of Panther's Paul Martin hitting the pedals hard on each gravel section. Dan Korienik gives us the blow by blow:

Lap 7- Paul Martin flex’s his muscle’s a little and hits the gravel super hard.  I’m not sure about everyone else, but I was just about at my limit.  Thankfully the pace slows a little and everyone settles in for the finish sprint.  The group has about 12 guys and I’m not sure if anyone is a sprinter.  So, rather than wait for the sprint I start it.  In my normal fashion it is probably a little early, but it almost worked.  I am sitting almost dead last and decide to go with 300 meters left.  I think I caught a lot of guys by surprise as I was able to get a pretty good gap.  I am sprinting strong and can see one wheel coming up.  I try to hold them off but my legs aren’t working with me and I am caught by Derek Graham at the line.  Just finishing the race without mechanical troubles is good, but finishing 4th is awesome."

Mac Brennan, freshly back from Joe Martin, who also raced at Menomonee Falls, GDVC #2, took the win at Hillsboro - Roubaix, get's the win again.

Men - CAT 1/2 MEN
	Place		Name	City, State	Time	USAC #		Team
	1		MAC BRENNAN	East Jordan, MI	02:56:57	243416		BISSELL-ABG-NUVO/INDIANAPOLIS CYCLING CLUB
	2		ROB THOMPSON	Lakewood, OH	02:59:46	311256		SPIN
	3		DEREK GRAHAM	Lake Ann, MI	03:00:52	102695		BISSELL-ABG-NUVO/INDIANAPOLIS CYCLING CLUB
	4		DAN KORIENEK	Grandville, MI	03:00:53	288930		LEADOUT RACING
	5		SVEN BAUMANN	Lake Orion, MI	03:00:53	378155		WOLVERINE SPORTS CLUB

ILLINOIS: Champaign/Urbana - CU Weekend - RESULTS RESULTS PHOTOS - A two day weekend of racing in central Illinois featuring two criteriums that are quite popular with the Windy City folks. Since Chris Uberti and Team Panther were instrumental in both wins, Saturday and Sunday, let's let him tell the story:

Saturday returned to the traditional 4 corner flat wide open campus crit. Things played out exactly how you'd expect such a course to play out, nothing got more than a 10 second advantage. Going into the closing laps Aitchenson and I were arguing about who felt crappier and would sprint. I eventually won, pulling seniority and American-ness and lead him out for the sprint, which turend out pretty well since he won.

Sunday:

By 15 or so laps to go (around 20 minutes left in the race) I was seriously hurting. I was doing my own threshold to stay on JJ's wheel and we'd go about 5 mph slower every time I'd pull through then have a pretty hard time getting back on the wheel. The 90 degree heat and humidity (the first hot race of the season) also amplified my deteriorating ability to ride fast. Knowing the rest of the team behind was putting in work to cover attacks and keep things locked down I decided to sit on to try and recover a bit. I also heard over the speaker that another Panther rider was chasing in a 2 man group at 20 odd seconds behind us (we were also 20-30 seconds off lapping the field, but small group sprints are kinda my thing and I didn't want to be involved in any last lap nonsense).

With some 4 odd laps I tried my hand at pulling through again with some pretty painful results.

JJ attacked on the back side of the course just as I pulled off but I was able to catch his wheel. As we came onto the finishing straight I jumped and took the Win.

Photo: Liz Brunson

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Cobb Park

Short report this morning. Guess we've got it covered.

ILLINOIS: Kankakee - Cobb Park Criterium - RESULTS PHOTOS - At least someone got decent weather this past weekend!

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Kettle Moraine Klassic

Lets start this off with a BANG.

WISCONSIN: La Grange - Kettle Moraine Klassic RR - RESULTS PHOTOS - A new race put on by the UW - Whitewater Cycling Team. A different course than used in previous years. There was a small roller ski race on this loop once a few years ago, but this was the first time a bike race has been held here, hopefully not the last because although it was not brutally hilly, riders really enjoyed it and the turnout was excellent.

The start was staged at the Nordic Trails cross country ski trails parking lot, right across from the John Muir MTBing trails, both of which are inside the Kettle Moraine State Forest ... a thousand acres of forest in southern Wisconsin.The finish was just up the road a mile or so, but a very pleasant cool down ride surrounded by 100 ft high pine trees. In the Masters 1/2/3 race, three riders got away early, Dan Holsen (Heavy Pedal), John Van Susteren (LAPT), and Brian Rybaric (IS CORP). They worked a tight rotation and quickly disappeared up the road as the pack happily chatted away, enjoying the scenic ride. It looked like they were gone for good, until the last 7 mile lap when one rider shouted "Where's the break?" as they got the bell. The picture tells it all ... the break of 3 *just* making it to the line before the pack with Dan Holsen taking the win over Van Susteren and Rybaric.

The category 3 race was very animated as well, but no one could break free until the final lap when, with two miles to go, Joseph Maloney of the KS Energy "Red Army" went for it solo. He highly credited his team for keeping it together and setting up his win, but still, he kept the charge at bay over a rolling, twisting last few miles, stating later that John Kunert (GDVC) (seen here in second place) was yelling "I'm going to get you!!". A well deserved win for the entire Red Army of KS Energy.

Finally, in the Pro 1/2 men's race, it once again came down to a sprint after 65 miles of hard riding that left many sitting on the side of the road early. Dan Ajer (GDVC) was the fastest of the final 5 that escaped up the road, taking the win today.

Next up ... Chicago's Cobb Park and the rest ...

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