My roommates and I decided to make the trip up to Muskego, WI (just south of Milwaukee) to race the Matt Wittig Memorial Race. It worked out well that we were able to double up racing today with the Cat 3 race and then have some time to chill out before doing the Pro/1/2/3 race. The course was awesome with smooth roads that went around the outside of a park. The whole course was just over 1 mile long. There was a climb that was a little over 100 feet each lap so it was just like doing a hill repeat workout. They had the finish line right at the top of the hill as well. There were about 40 starters for the Cat 3 race which was a pretty good showing considering the possibilities of bad weather. I was very excited to race Cat. 3 for the first time, and didn’t really know what to expect. The race started off pretty quick with people trying to attack the hill each lap to try and get away. There was no chance of this happening because right after the hill there was a very fast descent where we were hitting almost 50mph. After about 25 minutes of attacking/following attacks I decided that I should try and conserve for the inevitable field sprint. I made sure to keep my position and sat between 3-6 wheels back for the next 20 minutes. On the last lap Eric (my teammate from DePaul) hit the front and stretched the field out big time. From about 1/4 mile out I jumped with two other guys to hit the hill first. I was able to come around both of them on the hill to take the win. It was probably the longest sprint I’ve done all year. I also got a very nice trophy commemorating the guy the race was named after who died during the race a few years ago.

After an overflowing Peanut Butter and Nutella sandwich and a good hour nap we lined up to race the P/1/2/3 race. It had gotten a little colder and had been raining lightly so it wasn’t great leading up to the start, but right when we got to the line the sun came out and we were able to dump a bunch of the clothing that we thought that we were going to need. The race started off pretty calm…for 100 yards…until the attacks started going off the front. The winning break formed at about 15 minutes in with a couple of riders from IS Corp and an Italian Pro from the Amore e Vita team. People then tried to bridge for the remaining 45 minutes, and were all unsuccessful. I tried a couple of different attacks but nothing was able to get a significant gap. I was pretty drained by the time the field sprint came around and rolled in the middle of the field. My DePaul teammate Sean did very well in the field sprint coming in 14th place. A very good day of racing, and good prep for races to come.

-Nick