Leadout Racing » Win

Superweek Race 6/Chase Food Folks & Spokes(Cat. 3)

Leadout Racing — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:31:33 +0000

Today’s race was a straight forward four corner rectangular criterium with no elevation change at all. There was one corner that was a little tight, one that was a sweeper and two 90 degree corners. The only other distinguishing feature was a small chicane on the back stretch, but it wasn’t big enough to really cause the pack any problems. Mark, Peter, and I were finally reunited with Dan K who was back after going home for a few days. Due to the strange lack of organization in the field and the general feeling that we were supposed to do the lions share of the work because we were the most cohesive team we decided it was a good day to weld any gaps that opened up and keep things together for a field sprint so we could set up a train and hopefully get a win. There were a few moments when I was stuck on the front to long that I doubted our plan but with everyone chipping in it soon became easy to control things and bring everything back. Inside the last 15 laps I stayed in the first 10 places almost all the time and just stayed in position for the coming sprint. With between 5 and 3 Peter, Mark, and Dan materialized at the front and with two to go we lined up a wheel off the front and prepped for the last lap. Mark brought things up to speed shortly after 2 to go, Peter upped the pace and as we dove into corner 1 on the last lap two guys jumped in front of Dan K. At this point I got a little worried but he handled it awesome and pulled us back up to them easily. Dan dove into the last two corners with me on his wheel and as we sped onto the finishing straight the two guys in front of us pushed outside and toasted Dan’s momentum. I had the choice of braking and hoping he got it back or starting my sprint early, and opted to jump from about 250 meters into a headwind. As in Evanston I was worried about riders coming out of drafts but never saw anyone in my peripheral vision and took my second win of the week. This was another great effort for the team and they made the win seem far too easy. I owe all 3 of them a huge thank you. Dan managed to hang on for 10th, with Mark and Peter just sitting on the field and getting credit for the finish after their work was done.

GBK

Super Week Race 1/Evanston Crit(Cat. 3)

Leadout Racing — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:53:55 +0000

Mark, Peter, and I headed out to Evanston a little later than planned, and met up with Dan K. once we got down there. Things were a little hectic as we got down there, and we managed a very short warm up. Rolling to the start line Peter’s pedal broke and we lost 25% of our team and a big part of how we had hoped to ride. Mark and I tried to figure out a way to get him in the the race and showed up to the start just in time to line up in the very back of a big field. The first 5-10 laps were way to fast to move up much and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see the front of the race from my starting spot, and I really didn’t want to try and force it. My patience paid off and I was able to follow wheels up and stayed in the first 25 riders for most of the race, occasionally doing some work or showing my face at the front. With 5 laps to go Dan and I starting hanging out in the top 10 riders and did a fair amount of work to keep things moving along and our places safe. Going into the last lap I had lost Dan’s wheel due to some late race crashes and didn’t have a lead out. With about 700 meters and 3 turns to go the Alderfer Bergen lead out dropped a ton of speed and I decided to jump around them bringing a small group of riders with me and forcing others to adjust their positions and lines. I stayed on the front after going by them and flew into the last corner, and jumped shortly afterwards, about 300 meters from the line, somehow no one was able to come around me and I was able to hang on for the win! Dan rode awesome to take 8th while Mark finished mid pack, and Peter did an OK job as a cheerleader.

GBK

Hillsdale Circuit Race (Cat 3)

Leadout Racing — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:22:43 +0000

This was actually a fairly bittersweet race. It was a great race from an organization, course, weather, and result point of view, unfortunately the cat. 3 field was a disappointing 10-15 riders. They ended up mixing us with the Masters 45+ riders to give a larger field, which at least gave riders the ability to hide from the wind that was whipping across the open fields. The race consisted of 8 laps of a 3.8 mile course. The course was constantly rolling and had some open sections that were brutal with the wind. Mark and I discussed being patient and waiting for the right move before the race, but about half way into the first lap I found myself following Adam York’s wheel off the front and up to a small group of riders, and then we were off. The effort didn’t seem that hard, but we left the field in our wake, and eventually paired the break down to 4 riders, 3 cat. 3’s and Rob Iser a Master racer. Going into lap 5 we were informed we had 4+ minutes on the field, for some reason we kept on the gas. We didn’t play any games in the break and continued to all pull through up until the last lap, Adam and I had both noticed the other cat. 3 rider struggled when we hit the power climb on the back part of the course hard and decided that with a little coordination we could get rid of him there. On the hill I hesitated when he asked me to pull around him, and as soon as his cadence plummeted and his speed began to drop we took off knowing that 1st and 2nd would be decided between Adam and I. Rob lead out the sprint knowing he had already won the masters race, and I snuck around Adam with enough time to enjoy the win. Once the break was long gone Mark attacked the field and rode 3.5 laps alone to claim 4th for a very solid showing by the team. Hopefully we will see this race on the schedule next year with a much bigger field, and maybe a few more laps.

GBK