One of the harder parts about this race was having to make the decision to do it or race the MTB at Fort Custer.  All of my kids list the Fort as one of their favorite races, so their minds were already made up.  I made the tough decision to go to Cone by myself while the rest of the family did the MTB thing.  The other hard decision was which wheels to use.  I thought about using the new Bontrager Aeolus D3, but figured they would be way too stiff on the bumpy gravel.  I ended up using the Bontrager RXL and could not have been happier.  Geoff and I packed up his dwarf-sized vehicle and headed out around 6:00 the morning of the race.  We had planned to arrive early and take a lap of the course.  We did arrive early, but it was easier to stand around and talk then do a whole warm-up lap.  We rolled the first half mile of gravel then turned around and headed for the start.  The memories of the race are pretty fuzzy as the lack of oxygen and gravel flying make it difficult to focus during the race.  I will try to recount the important events as I remember them.

Lap 1- Nice, easy roll-out but once the gravel is in sight guys start swarming the front.  Once we hit gravel the pace increases and stays there until we hit pavement.  I find myself off the front with another guy and then he looks back and has a panic look.  We missed the corner to the second section of gravel and we begin to chase.  I think the group slowed down and waited for us as we catch back on before we hit pavement again.  It was a ton of work to catch up, but not too much harm done.

Lap 2- Kind of a replay of the first except the gravel was even faster this time.  Lots of attacks, but nothing comes of them.  Geoff comes up next to me and is having issues with his wheel and lets me know he is going to get a replacement.  On his way back he also gets a flat and is never seen again.

Lap 3-This is where I am pretty fuzzy.  I remember the Spin guy in orange going off the front alone, but Mac joined him some how and I honestly have no idea how it happened.  I know there were attacks and lots of chaos, but I think he disappeared for a while and very few people realized it.

Lap 4- Nice easy pace even on the gravel.  I now know why, because Bissell was letting the break, that few people knew about, go.

Lap 5- A group gets away on the second gravel section and some of us begin to rotate at the front and try to get them back.  Tom and I are the only teammates working and Tom tells me he will do the work and I should relax a little.  I take his advice and hide while they pull down the windy finishing straight.

Lap6- I go to the front on gravel and before I know it I have caused a separation.  It is just me and 5 other guys.  Adam York and I are the only ones without teammates up the road, but a little pleading and we get some help from the other guys.  We finally catch the group in front of us, but Mac and the other guy are long gone.  We finish out the lap with a few attacks, but nothing real strong and guys are getting pretty tired.

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.

Dan K

-Nick

This past Saturday was the UW Milwaukee Road Race in Greenbush, WI. They held the race out in the Kettle Moraine State Park which was very hilly and quiet, which made for a great course. It was my second race in the Men’s A category, and my first ever 80 mile road race. Thankfully the weather was a gorgeous 70-75 degrees and sunny all day. The race started off fairly calm for the first three or four miles and then the hammer dropped. There were a flurry of attacks and counter attacks for the next 10-15 miles until the right combination of people were away. This ended up shredding the field by over half by the 40 mile mark. The weather began to heat up and I ended up drinking 7 bottles during the race, which meant we got some good practice navigating through the craziness of a feed zone. After coming through the feed at mile 70, someone skipped it all together and tried to attack into the first major crosswind section. This caused a big split amongst those who were left and really hurt the legs. After catching the break, it was a nervous run in to the finish with everyone looking at each other wondering who was going next. There are two big hills within a quarter mile of the finish, followed by a false flat and then downhill sprint. My teammate Sean and I followed a group of 4 others up the climb. We had a good gap and I knew we were in the right place. Sean had a gap of about 15 feet on the other 4 in our group over the last hill, so I took the lead of the pace line behind him and started to soft pedal. The other guys figured this out pretty quick, but it gave Sean a nice gap for the downhill sprint. He ended up winning the field sprint for 5^th place, and I came in with the four others chasing him for 10^th place.

-Nick

Nick Fochtman took the road race victory by attacking on the very 1st lap and he stayed away the entire race almost entirely on his own, he was only joined near the end by a Purdue rider who he easily took the the win from. I started my sprint too early and ended up 4th overall.

Today was a hilly crit course at UofM and nothing was able to get away and in the final sprint I was able to take 1st, and Nick was in the top 10

Peter