South Haven

No kids and no responsibilities for the weekend meant Gary Anderson and I could hit the quiet, open roads of South Haven, Michigan to our hearts' content.  It was glorious.

Tour of Galena

Tour of Galena
June 8-9, 2013

Here’s something you don’t want to hear when you first arrive to a race: “Mackenzie crashed while we were pre-riding the time trial course and he’s being airlifted to a hospital in Rockford because the hospital in Galena doesn’t have a trauma center.”  My initial enthusiasm to be in Galena for what is one of the best races in the area quickly dissipated and we spent the next several hours anxiously awaiting updates on his condition.  Thankfully, apart from a concussion and some bumps and bruises, we later found out that Mackenzie would be fine and was even back racing a few weeks later.  Nonetheless, it definitely cast a bit of a shadow on the weekend and the mood felt a bit heavier on Friday night before the start of the two-day stage race. 

Stage 1:  Time Trial

My goals for the weekend were pretty straightforward.  I wanted to be in the top 10 in the road race and get on the podium in the criterium, and I knew if I did that then I’d have a respectable finish in the overall omnium scoring.  Notice there was no goal for the TT.  I’ve only done a few time trials in my life and I despised every one of them, so I wasn’t overly optimistic or enthusiastic about the first stage.  Nevertheless, I put in a hard effort on the hilly 6-mile course.  I tried not to be too conservative but this voice kept creeping into my head whispering, ‘You still have a 65-mile road race later today...you still have a 65-mile road race later today…’  That voice probably cost me a few spots in the TT, but on the flip side it maybe saved my road race.  The highlight of the morning, however, was that my teammate Jason Senffner won the TT and would be riding in the overall race leader’s jersey later that day for the road race.  It was especially sweet because Jason had come with the primary goal of winning the TT and he did just that – with authority.  After the TT we packed it up and headed back to the house to eat, take a nap, eat some more, and get ready for the afternoon road race.

Stage 2:  Road Race

I knew our second ride of the day would be a brutal test for me.  65 miles with nearly 5,000 feet of punishing climbs is not your average Chicagoland race.  When you race and train in the Chicago suburbs all year it’s easy to forget what a hill even looks like.  We would be reminded today.  The history here is that I came to Galena last year and got dropped from the road race after just two of the three laps, barely able to turn the pedals over coming up the final climb.  With better fitness and a lot more motivation I was hoping for a much better outcome this year, though I was still maintaining a realistic perspective.  With Jason now sitting in the overall lead for the weekend, I just wanted to stay in the lead group and do whatever I could to help him stay up there as well.  The first couple 22-mile laps were fairly uneventful and the pace was manageable – Jason and I maintained good position toward the front and didn’t waste any energy trying anything crazy.  The fireworks began on the third lap as expected as several significant, though unsuccessful, breakaway attempts launched.  With seven or eight miles remaining we approached the final two climbs of the day, which I knew would be decisive.  I could feel the miles beginning to take their inevitable toll on my legs but I knew if I could get over the climbs with this front group I would be golden.  I didn’t.  The race shattered into pieces over the second to last climb with only ten or twelve guys in the lead group.  Jason and I stayed close over the top and worked hard together to claw our way back to the front of the race, rejoining the front group shortly before the day’s final short but steep hill.  This time I had to fight with everything I had just to keep my legs from cramping up and by the time I got over the top the lead group had ridden out of sight – probably 15 or 20 seconds up the road.  Jason and I had both been dropped again but regrouped quickly and began the chase, again.  At this point my only thought was that I had to get Jason up to the lead group or any hope of a solid overall result for the team would be lost.  So Jason and I took turns hammering on the front of a small chase group looking for the eight or ten guys up the road.  With only a few miles left in the race the lead group came into sight and suddenly it seemed possible that we might just catch them.  Finally getting help from one other rider we caught the lead group with maybe two miles to go.  Exhausted, we sat up to collect ourselves for what appeared would be a sprint finish with about 15 – 20 guys.  Though totally spent, I was thrilled with the sudden turn of events.  I’d gone from thinking the race (and omnium along with it) had slipped out of reach to being in position to contest the finish.  Never having finished the race, I wasn’t sure what to expect as we came into town so I moved to the front to give myself a chance.  After several tight turns through town the finish line came into view and I was right where I wanted to be.   A Burnham rider opened up the sprint and I came around him at the line but it was close.  Close enough that I wasn’t doing any celebrating until it was confirmed.  Sure enough a short time later the results were posted and I’d won my first road race.  It was a bit surreal and, frankly, I was shocked.  Totally unexpected, which made it feel even better.  Jason finished a solid 8^th so we would both be looking at good overall results if we played our cards right in the crit the next day.

Stage 3:  Criterium

It had rained off-and-on most of the day but by the start of our race the roads were just beginning to dry out.  Perfect.  Sitting in 3^rd place for the overall after my miracle road race win, I was in the fairly comfortable position of simply marking the two riders ahead of me and making sure I beat them.  Jason and I also had additional firepower for the crit with Dave Ross joining us.  Then it started to rain…hard.  Deluge hard.  I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in rain coming down this hard.  It made the second half of the race a bit of a nightmare but most everyone raced conservatively and except for a crash with one lap to go it stayed pretty safe.  The race stayed together and going into the final lap Jason hit the front and absolutely crushed it.  He literally hammered at the front the entire final lap - it was awesome.  I was sitting on Dave’s wheel about five wheels back feeling like this was the perfect position to take into the final turn.  As we rounded the rain-soaked final turn, however, Dave slid out and hit the deck and I had to brake hard to avoid doing the same.  By the time I regrouped and started sprinting the five who went safely through the turn were out of reach, but I managed to hold on for 6^th.  Jason was 4^th and moved up into 4^th in the overall while I maintained 3^rd. 

Winning two of three stages and landing two ABD’ers in the top five for the overall made for a surprisingly successful and memorable weekend of racing.  Definitely a highlight of the season.

Breaking Away

04.13.13  Lincoln Park Criterium
Category 3 / 3rd Place

My race almost ended a few minutes in.  There’s a 180-degree turn in the course where you have to slow way down and then stand and sprint out of the turn to get back up to speed.  On the second lap as I stood to come out of the turn my pedal clipped the ground – sending my rear wheel into the air and drifting to the right toward the curb.  Slam!  My wheel came down with a fury three or four feet to the right of where it took off and I narrowly avoided crashing.  Relief that I hadn’t crashed overcame the mild embarrassment for my error and I jumped back in as though nothing had happened. 

After missing out on the breakaway the previous week in South Beloit I was intent on getting it right this time around.  With Konrad, David and me representing ABD I knew we would have a good shot as long as we were paying attention.  Sure enough, three riders attacked and formed a decent gap just a few laps into the race.  I rolled to the front to make sure things didn’t get away from us and upped the pace a bit.  Looking back to see who was ready to rotate through I’m shocked to find a 30 or 40 meter gap has opened up behind me as we come up a short incline.  I realize that David and a XXX rider have slowed at the front, content to let me sneak away.  I figured it was probably foolish to go but I also figured if I got caught David or Konrad would be able to counter and make something happen.  I sprinted hard out of the hairpin turn and hammered until I made contact with the breakaway group.  I was joined along the way by another rider so we had five.  For the next several laps our lead grew ever so slowly.  There are points on the course where you can see across to where the other riders are so each time around I was looking to see how much our advantage had grown.  It wasn’t growing as quickly or as easily as I’d hoped.  In fact, I was quickly beginning to wonder whether I was going to be able to hang on to this breakaway group.  My companions seemed to be motoring along with ease while I was hanging on for dear life.  The thought of having to explain to my teammates why I got dropped from the winning breakaway, however, compelled me to do whatever it took to hang on.  I took weaker pulls. I passed on rotating to the front a couple times.  I knew full well they would try to crack me later but I just wanted to survive.  With three to go, the South Chicago Wheelmen rider attacked hard up the incline trying to shed us but I was able to claw my way back.  Things settled down as we came back together and everyone marked each other as we took the last two laps easy.  Thankfully this gave me a chance to recover a bit, though I was still pretty well cooked.  As we came into the final stretch all five of us were content to let a pretty straightforward sprint determine our fates.  I held on to the third podium spot by what seemed to be about a tire-width.  And it’s been a while since I was on a podium so I was glad for it.

Konrad picked up 6^th place with another devastating field sprint and David brought home 11^th.  The benefits and enjoyment of riding with and as a team became clear today.  Really looking forward to the rest of the season.

Back to the Bricks

03.23.13  Hillsboro-Roubaix Road Race
Category 3 / 9th Place

I made the long drive down to Hillsboro on Friday night to stay in a cheap hotel with a couple of our elite team guys who I didn’t know very well.  Andy and Bryan were already there when I arrived and when I came in I remember thinking, “Why do you guys have it so damn hot in here??”  Our hotel room had to be 80 degrees and, in hindsight, I’m guessing all three of us were quietly wondering why the others weren’t opposed to the oppressive heat, yet not quite comfortable enough with each other yet to question it either.  For my part, I was guessing these elite-level racers knew something I didn’t about the benefits of sleeping in a pool of your own sweat the night before a race.  Bryan had raced in Belgium, after all, so I trusted I was gaining some age-old Euro-Pro wisdom.  Finally, Andy couldn’t take it anymore and gently asked, “So…Adam…what do you guys usually keep your thermostat at in your house?”  Normally that would be an odd question but under the circumstances it made perfect sense.  “I don’t know, like 70, but it’s pretty hot in here, right?”  There was a collective sigh of relief as we realized none of us wanted it even nearly that warm in our room.  Andy turned it way down, and we called it a night.

After a Denny’s breakfast of oatmeal and terrible coffee we made our way to the race.  We were a little late to the start so Konrad, David, Joe and I lined up at the back of the field.  However, as the only London Olympics gold medalist in the field, Joe got a call-up to the front (I suspect this won’t be his last call-up of the year).  Through the first 30-mile lap we made it our goal to move up to the front, which wasn’t too difficult given the smaller-than-usual field size of 50-ish riders.  As the attacks started I could see Joe already putting in a lot of work on the front – there’s no question he had his head in the wind as much as anyone in the race.  Shortly into the second lap David got a flat and pulled out.  For a brief moment I contemplated stopping with him with the thought that maybe the two of us together could chase back, but I quickly came to my senses realizing that I would probably barely finish the race as it was, without putting in a crazy effort right in the middle of it.  Figuring that Konrad would be our best hope in a sprint finish I went to the front to help Joe make sure we kept the race together to the end.  We managed to help squash a couple breakaway attempts and then I found Konrad and said, “If we’re still together over the final climb just say ‘I’m here’ and we’ll see what we can do.”  I still wasn’t sure at that point whether he or I would still be around to contest the finish because the whole race typically blows up on the hill leading into town. 

We were well positioned at the base of the climb and I made it up and over without any issues.  It almost caught me by surprise when I heard it: “Adam, I’m here.”  Holy crap, Konrad’s here and we’ve got a shot at this!  I hit the gas as hard as I could down the hill and onto the brick road toward the final turn.  I didn’t want to take the front because it’s still a long haul from the final corner but we were sitting perfect in the top ten.  Coming through the turn I went inside but Konrad got bumped wide and there wasn’t going to be time to regroup.  Konrad kicked hard and was able to grab 6^th place and I came through for 9^th without much of a sprint left.  All in all, a pretty solid day of racing and a good start to the season!