End of the Road (season)

As the 'cross bikes are getting pulled out of the basement and riders are reluctantly doing some running to make sure they remember how to do it, let's do a quick review of what's happened in the past few weeks.

The WCA season wrapped up with the Attitude Sports criterium in Fond Du Lac on August 21st. Holly Mathews (unattatched) took the Women's 1/2 race with Rachel Roessingh (IS Corp) sinching the Women's WCA Cup overall. Pat Lemieux (Texas Roadhouse) won the men's Pro 1/2 and Ben Anderson (Team Wisconsin/MC2) sealed the WCA Cup overall competition. Thompson Remo (IS Corp) takes the Junior 18 boys overall over Patrick Diamond (Geargrinder) by just 3 points. All the WCA results can be found on their website and the FonDuLac reporter has a few photos.

The FondDuLac criterium was just a warm up for the weekend's big event of course, Midwest Sport's "Race the Lake", a 88.5 mile single lap around Wisconsin's largest lake, Lake Winnebago, on Sunday. Andrew Crater (Aerocat) took the victory check of $2,000 and with the help of a strong field, gets credit for setting a new course record time that comes along with a check for a cool $20,000. (that's no typo folks!) Steve Tilford was there the whole way with the leaders and gives a great blow by blow account of how it all went down. (the only decent photo I've seen of this glorious victory is here but I can't link to it, you'll have to go there and search for it yourself. Looks like I'll have to go next year and shoot some myself!)

The Kenosha track season wrapped up with Chad Hartley taking the 150 lap points race, the Bob Pfarr Classic bike at the Washington Park Velodrome July 27th. The Kenosha News has a nice article on this final night of racing (where this photo was found). The article states: " In his first Pfarr appearance, Hartley accomplished the feat of winning the Pfarr and the Mayor’s Cup, the Velodrome’s two signatures points races, in the same year. The last racer to do that was Jeff Senn, who accomplished the feat in 2001 and also in 1999. “I know I’m definitely one of the better track racers,” said Hartley, 29. “There’s a couple accolades that you can get during the year to really prove that, so I think this year I’ve gotten two.”  Collegiate track racers still have the Collegiate Track Nationals in Indianapolis on Sept. 23-25th. 2010 Wisconsin TT Champion Kyle Jacobson states that he's been practicing his head butts, so if you can make it down there, I'm sure there should be some exciting racing to watch!

This past weekend, ToAD organizers (Tour of America's Dairyland) put on a new race southwest of Madison - The Unnamed Epic, which was a 75 mile road/MTB race finishing on southern Wisconsin's highest point, Bluemound State Park. Starting in Mineral Point, the 200 some starters rode a combination of paved roads, bike paths, and private trails to Governor Dodge State Park,where, riders rode a lap on the rolling MTB trails, then it was back on the road, more bike trails, and more private land off to Bluemound State Park where they had to negotiate two laps of the very difficult MTB trails there, before finally summiting on top of the Mound. Roadies such as Pro Chad Hartley and others drove the pace hard early while later on, mountain bikers used their bike handling skills to make up time on the rocky single track.

At the half way point, teammates Adam Bergman and Pat Lemieux (Texas Roadhouse) had about a 2 minute gap over the nearest chasers and even this early in the race, time gaps were in the multi-minute range for the top 25 riders. Half way through their first Bluemound State Park lap, however, they were no longer in the lead, it was Max Anderson who moved up from about 5th to the lead. It turned out that Bergman had flatted at the entrance to the park, and Lemieux waited allowing Anderson to take a commanding lead. It's not over until you cross the line, however, and Anderson himself flatted allowing Lemieux to regain the lead somehow without his knowledge. Halfway through his final lap at Bluemound he quized the spectators: "Am I in the lead???" ... "YES YES! YOU'RE LEADING!"

 Lemieux took the win in 4hrs 48 minutes, several minutes over second place Michael Naughton, with Bergman rolling across the line in 3rd, and Max Anderson finishing in 5th. (RESULTS) Note that the overall results also have teams, tandems, and single speeds mixed in. One single speed racer was actually on a FIXED GEAR cross bike, who promptly collapsed onto the grass once he crossed the finish line.Chad Hartley slid out on a gravely road section and did not finish. Many riders probably wished they had a similar fate as they dragged themselves over the final miles of very difficult single track. Women's winner Lindsey Kriete flatted not once but twice, rolling across the finish line on a rim in 6hrs 0mins 26secs.  (PHOTOS)

Finally, for this report, Lance Armstrong was in Madison this past Sunday for their Ride the Drive event. Here's a short video of the speech he gave prior to the ride. Skip to 5:30 for Lance.



P.S.  My heart felt condolences to the family and friends of Pro racer Laurent Fignon who passed away today from colon cancer (VELONEWS). Certainly one of my cycling heroes as I grew up and raced myself.

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Take Two!

That was quick, I'm bringing back the Star! There is so much going on in the region and there is no central clearing house for the information, so I'll take another crack at it.

ChicagoBikeRacing.Com has a nice review of the Grays Lake, IL criterium held this past weekend. However, here's the rest of the story: In the morning of the race, the WI State Time Trial Championchips was held just a short drive north across the state line. That was won by IS Corp's Kyle Jacobsen (40k in 52:27 for an average of 28.43mph RESULTS). After being crowned WI State TT Champ for 2010, he drove down to Grays Lake to race where he hooked up with Tristan Schouten (Planet Bike) and the pair dangled precariously off the front of the Pro 1/2 field for most of the race to finish 1 - 2 (RESULTS). The next day, Schouten arrouse early and drove north to compete in the WORS MTB race, known as The Border Battle way up in River Falls, WI where he rode away from that field to win by almost a minute! (RESULTS)

Major props to Tristan Schouten for taking second at Grays Lake and following it up with a win at WORS, and also to "King" Kyle Jacobsen for first winning the Wisconsin State TT Championship on Saturday morning and following it up in the afternoon with a win in Grays Lake!

On other fronts, Cole House (BMC) is racing in France's Tour de L'Ain for his European Professional debut where he finished 70th out of 106 in the opening prologue in support of more experienced BMC team mates. Then there's Radio Shack's Matt Busche, in his first year as a Euro Pro, who just took 3rd in the Tour of Denmark ! Nice write up of that at Velonation. PROPS!

But wait, there's more! Team USA made a strong presence in the Junior World's Road race putting Coryn Rivera on the podium with the help of Illinois' Jessica Prinner and Wisonsin's Kaitlyn Antonneau (RESULTS). If you watch closely in this video, you can see Team USA closely marking moves of Russian and French riders in this year's championship race. PROPS!

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Adieu!

C'est le dernier numero du Peloton Star.

Au revoir!

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Good Luck Cole House!

Cole House (BMC) of Oneida, WI recently showed some good form during Superweek - winning the Whitnall Park RR plus getting on the podium at Downer Avenue.

 From the BMC Pro Racing Team page (http://www.bmc-racing.com/int-en/team/news/team/bmc-racing-team-names-cole-house-stagiaire.html)

American Cole House will spend the rest of the 2010 season as a stagiaire with the BMC Racing Team. His first race is expected to be the Tour de l'Ain, Aug. 10-14.

Prime OpportunityBMC Racing Team President Jim Ochowicz said House's promotion is chance for the Oneida, Wis., resident to show himself in the pro peloton for the first time. "It's up to him seize the opportunity and show what they can do," Ochowicz said. House won a stage of the recent International Cycling Classic and spent much of the spring racing with USA Cycling's Under 23 team. He is believed to be the first Native American professional cyclist.

Good ExperienceBMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said there is a big difference between amateur U23 racing and pro level. "It's a good experience for him and for him to see where we is and what we can expect in the future," Lelangue said. "The most important thing is for him to get experience on this level."

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Lakefront Road Race - video by Verizon U25

Best video so far. Great job. Also great to see the young generation enjoying the Long Course. Home to 7 national championships.

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Jonathon Cantwell wins the 42nd annual Superweek.

Along with his sixth stage victory in this year's series, a Superweek record, Aussie Jonathon Cantwell also won the overall competition for the second time. German Rene Birkenfeld (Steven's Racing) was third, and Frenchman Aurelion Passeron, who wore the yellow leaders jersey almost the entire time but fell ill in the final days, was third.

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Superweek - Cudahy

Good race yesterday. Report later this morning after I go to battle in traffic.

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2010 Superweek - Lake Geneva

For the first time in it's 42 year history, the Superweek series hit the scenic lakeside vacation land of Lake Geneva, which is certainly the most beautiful venue of this year's competition. Being smack dab in the middle of one of the busiest vacation spots in Wisconsin didn't go without it's logistical problems, but organizers, local authorities, and strong support of hard working volunteers pulled it off by putting on a safe, on schedule, and enjoyable event for all the racers and fans.

Oh, it was a sunny, hot summer day that put all the racers into stress, but that breeze off the lake sure was soothing! The course was a fast 0.8 mile rolling loop with mostly sweeping turns and was highly praised by all the racers. In the Women's 1/2/3 race, Greta Neimanas (XXX Racing) put in a late solo effort to come across the line first and take the win. The Men's Pro race was a wild affair with no less than 17 riders taking a lap on the field, and three getting two laps! Fly V Australia was a major player in the strategy as always, but once again they got shut out of the top three podium spots. Today it was the Aussie SHAUN McCARTHY (Garneau Club Chaussure) who stood on the top step, followed by Zachary Davies (Subaru) and Ryan Freund (Verizon). AURELION PASSERON (Garneau Club Chaussure) remains in yellow as the series leader, and BERNIE SULZBERGER (Fly V Australia) still wears the red points leader jersey.

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2010 Superweek - Willow Springs

It was a hot and humid day on Chicago's far south side as riders tackled the 3.5 mile circuit/road race course. A closed course that featured mostly smooth pavement and a long, nasty stair stepped climb with the finish at the top. The Pro men hit it hard as usual with 7 riders eventually escaping on about lap 3. By the end, they built up a 4 minute gap and it was Germany's Rene Birkenfeld (Steven's Racing) taking the uphill drag race over Aurelion Passeron (Garneau Club Chaussure). After them, it was just plain carnage as riders finished - completely spent, having just left their hearts out on the course. It was a hard race for all.

GALLERY    RESULTS

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Superweek - Day what ever - Richton Park

Loosing track of the days already. That's okay, as long as I'm in the right town. Major upsets in last night's Men's Pro race. The course is something like just under a mile that goes around a local park. Wide open and easy turns for the most part which kept the breakaways at bay, except for the Pro Men. Early on, 3 riders gained a lap and that looked like that was it. Half way, a few guys escaped - so what. Then a few more escaped - big deal. However, now with 12 to go ... WHOA! ... another four guys gained a lap ... then FOUR MORE gained a lap. Now there were 10 riders on the lead lap, and everything is topsy turvey! Fly V Australia thought they had it in the bag with Hayden Brooks and Jay Thomson up a lap and super stars Cantwell and Sulzburger fresh ready to lead them out to certain victory. Life is good mate! Last lap, and across the line it was Sulzberger then Cantwell for 11th and 12th ... then ... then ... Carlos Ospina (Colombia National Team) for the victory, BRYAN MCVEY (ReCycling p/b Ascension) second place, who is from nearby Arlington Heights, and third was Andrew Gonzales (Metro Volkswagen ).

Fly V got shut out!

However, Sulzberger is now in the red Points jersey, and Colombia's Ospina is now the series leader and wears yellow.

More photos HERE.

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Superweek - Day 2 - Geneva

I know that I've driven past here on the way to a cyclocross race, but this was the first time I spent in this town. It's pretty cool! As far as the racing, there was plenty of parking, lots of food available, the finish straight was very spectator friendly and for the final Pro race, there was a pretty sizable crowd enjoying Passeron's impressive victory (He rode in the Tour in '08 you know). The course was fast with turn three being quite tricky for everybody. It was a slight downhill right hander that got narrower in the exit, just a bit off camber with a double divot right at the apex that you could not avoid. A number of riders were shuttled off down the sidewalk, but props to them for not hitting the tree or ending up in the flowers. One rider almost went into the garage, but he got it stopped just in time. The Pro riders didn't have much trouble with it despite all the noise from bouncing carbon machines and shifting gears. Every lap it sounded like someone was going down, but I think only one rider took to the sidewalk.

That's all for now. Off to the far flung southern 'burbs (from here in Milwaukee!).

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Superweek - Day 1 - Beverly

Short and sweet. Good crowd of spectators, fair sized field (60-75?)- 28 finished (RESULTS) Five riders gain a lap, then Jay Thompson and a Columbian go off and also gain a lap. After a hefty prime, SULZBERGER and BURDZILAUSKAS go off again with Sulzberger taking it on the final lap. South African Jay Thompson was third (who will be racing in Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday - $15,000 purse for the Pro race!).

GALLERY

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2010 ToAD - The Aftermath (part III)

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Midwest represents at U23 Nationals

Not an exhaustive report by any means!

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2010 ToAD - The Aftermath (part II)

From Verizon U25:



Tour of America's Dairyland: Tour 10 - The Downer Classic from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.


Tour of America's Dairyland: Day 9 - Fond Du Lac from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

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2010 ToAD - The Aftermath (part 1)

Wow. That was intense. I have been to countless Superweeks which are even longer at 17 days, but this series beat me up. MUCH MORE to come, but I'm taking a day off to catch up on the humdrum activities of home. So, until tomorrow, check this out:

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ToAD Day 6 Sheboygan

Hello from Sheboygan where we just finished up day six of the 2010 Tour of America's Dairyland. It was a beautiful day, a little on the hot side despite being within view of Lake Michigan if you looked down the right street. Field sizes were down just a bit but not bad for a Tuesday, for example the Masters 1/2/3 still had 60 riders.

On the Pro end of things, Kiwi Mike Northey (Landrover/Orbea) took the sprint over James Stemper and two other's as they nearly lapped the field. (results not yet available). Since neither Sherer nor Hartley made the break, there is a re-shuffling of the overall and now Jimmy Stemper is wearing yellow! Pix from today are already uploaded at Peloton-Pix and I'll try to toss a few more on there when I get home

Cheers from Sheboygan!

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ToAD - Day 3 - Grafton

Short on sleep. Short on time. Keeping it sweet.

PHOTOS    RESULTS

I've got notes on what happened to who and when.

Will fill you all in later, time to hit the road!

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Video - 2010 ToAD - Grafton

Still looking for the person that got the finish sprint crash in the Pro race. That one we've got to see!

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2010 ToAD - Day 2 - Thiensville.

Day two of the 2010 Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD) for the Pro's, the first day of competition for all the other categories in Thiensville - about a half hour's drive north of downtown Milwaukee. Under beautiful skies, the Cat. 3/4 Women lined up to begin their journey across the dairyland. One of the traits that this series is becoming known for is that on every day, your category starts at the same time, on time. You can set your watch by it and riders love it. Riding as if she had wings on her back, Whitney Gagioli (Amore Vita) was the first to cross the line for every prime and first to cross the line for the win. It doesn't get any better than that!

Joe Curtes (Fuel Cafe), second yesterday, won the Cat. 4/5 with an impressive field sprint for his first victory of the season. Riders from local Team Extreme, who's shop was right at the start finish line, had a heavy presence in the Master's 4/5 with xxx riders present. One of the them hooked up with a Geargrinder rider and together they rode to 20 second lead that they held for the majority of the race. However, the hungry field would not let them go free to the end, and at the bell for the final lap, the pair was caught. Conan Foster, who just last week became the 2010 Wisconsin Criterium State champion, easily took the field sprint for his second win of the year. He's surely a marked man now!

Local power house team, IS Corp., who has had a heavy presence in all the area races this season, took the top two podium spots today with Kyle Adkins getting the win and Andrew Stoll placing second. Third was Douglas Bailey of Team Wisconsin/ MC2.

The Women's Pro event was next with last year's overall champion Jessie McLean (Verducci Breakaway) of Australia returning to the series. Numerous early attacks were unsuccessful as all were brought back until Team Type 1's Jacquelyn Crowell rolled away with authority after taking a $175 prime with 3 laps to go. Team Kenda's Kristen Wentworth gave chase and made up half of the 20 second gap with 2 laps remaining, but still hadn't bridged up to Crowell at the bell. In fact, Crowell now had 30 seconds on the field with Wentworth still at 10. Crowel took the victory easily, bu Wentworth was not so lucky as she got caught by the charging field sprint which was led by Kacey Manderfield (Wolverine), yesterday's winner and now leader of the series.

Now it is late afternoon, and the skies are looking more threatening as the Masters 1/2/3 race is run. Three riders got away early on and made it stick.(RESULTS for this race were not uploaded!) To the south, many cloud to cloud lightning bolts can be seen, some close enough to be heard and since the break was assured sucess, the race was shortened by about 10 minutes for safety sake. After a short break to allow the potentially dangerous weather to pass, a MTB criterium was held. A some what jovial mood was expressed by these riders, including series announcer Brad Sohner who continued to carry his microphone ans supposedly took a short cut eliminating half the course! The prizes were serious though, with winner Ric Damm (Ripon Cycling) taking home a $600 pair of wheels!

Day two of the Pro. series started under light rain, which cleared as the race progressed.  Three riders were allowed to escape very early. They were Rob White (Kenda), Mike Sherer (Verizon U25), and Daniel Zmolik (AXA) and built up a gap of 30 seconds through 3/4 of the race. With about a dozen laps remaining, Team Mountain Khaki put two riders on the point who turned themselves inside out to cut the deficit in half. With perhaps 8 laps to go the chase was on in full - 3 Mountain Khakis, 3 Aerocats, followed by 5 Kenda riders all in a line, drilling it.

Well, that put the final nails in the coffin, and the break was caught. Kenda's Rob White kept on it until the final lengths were eliminated. Now it's 3 laps to go, Kenda is at the front again, this time launching strongman James Stemper who also turned himself inside out to make this one count!

It was not to be unfortunately, as he was brought back on the final lap, with Aerocat putting their sprinting machine into top gear placing Juan Pablo DOTTI  in prime position for the win. Second place was John Grant (Texas Roadhouse), and third by just inches - Isaac Howe (Mountain Khakis).

More PHOTOS

Racing continues today in Grafton, 45 minutes north of Milwaukee and part of USA Crits!

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