Memorial Weekend Recap

I did three things this weekend:
- Raced at Frankenmuth
- Fed the Cascades Cycling Team at Leelanau
- Raced at Gaslight

It's been a fun weekend.

Frankenmuth Race Report

Frankenmuth went really well for me. Since the race started at 7:30AM, I had to wake up at 4:30AM and leave by 5:00AM. Standing on the start line, I felt more like taking a nap rather than racing my bike. Once the race got going, I felt better, though.

As usual, a bunch of people launched attacks right from the start. I followed a few attacks, staying on Danny Klein's wheel. A few of us got a gap but the pack brought it back right away. As we re-approached the pack, Kyle Jacobson of ISCorp / UW Milwaukee attacked and passed us. I knew from collegiate season that he had a big engine in him and that he could ride in the wind well, so I yelled at Danny to jump on his wheel. Danny seemed complacent with letting Kyle go (probably because he didn't know Kyle's strength) so I jumped around him and bridged up to Kyle's wheel.

Kyle and I worked together for a while, maintaining a few hundred meter gap on the field. At one point, it looked like the gap was coming down and I felt like sitting up. Kyle kept pulling strong, though, so I stuck with it. The pack must have decided to stop chasing because all of a sudden our gap started widening. After a while, they were out sight. Kyle and I worked together really well. He's a stronger rider in the wind, so I had to work hard to stay with him.

On the third lap, a group of three was getting pretty close to us so Kyle and I sat up to rest so they could catch us and give us more power. Once they caught us, we started riding even faster in a strong rotating paceline. The group consisted of two ISCorp riders, a rider from Raisin Rack, a Torelli rider and me.

On the next lap, Danny Klein and James Bruce bridged up to us (I don't know how - we were absolutely flying with the pack nowhere in sight). They were both pretty spent from their hard efforts.

We continued to work together well. On the last lap, in the final headwind section before the tailwind, an ISCorp guy really nailed the pace. Danny, Bruce, and I couldn't hold it so we ended up dropping. As the three of us turned into the tailwind section we looked to our right to see a small, menacing speck in the distance. We worked together through the tailwind section (catching Kyle), trying to keep that speck away from us, but those red, white, and blue Rite-Aid colors just kept getting closer. As we turned into the last leg, Jake Rytlewski of Rite-Aid was quickly gaining ground on us.

We all rode hard up the final uphill, with James Bruce pulling hard. As we turned the final corner, Kyle nailed the pace around James. I tried to follow but I couldn't close the bike-length between us. As I dug deep, that red, white and blue jersey creeped by me about 200 meters from the finish. He just barely got around Kyle to take fourth place. I ended up sixth for the day. Matthew Busche, of ISCorp, who nailed the pace in the headwind section, took the win.

Leelanau Race Report



Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to ride in Leelanau this year, and I'm thinking that was probably for the better considering almost every strong rider from Michigan didn't finish. Instead, I fed the Cascades Womens' Cycling Team in the feed zones.

Helping out their team was a really fun and interesting experience. They're a great group and I enjoyed helping them, even though I couldn't understand what many of them were saying (they're all from Montreal and many of them only speak a little English). Julie Bellerose (who rode for U of M this season) took the top place on their team, coming in at 13th. Her teammate, Veronique was not far behind in 15th. Considering the strength of the field this year, they all did really well.

For me, the experience of being at a race but not racing was really unusual. It's a different kind of stress trying to help riders rather than racing. There's less pressure, but I still have an important task to do. Getting from the first to the second feed zone was especially stressful because there was very little time to do it. Luckily, I successfully navigated the back roads and made it to the second feed just in time for a parched Julie and Veronique to roll by.

Overall, I'm really grateful that Equipe Cascades gave me the opportunity to help them. Additionally, watching the mens' race has shown me what level I'll need to reach to be able to ride with the big guns if I have the opportunity to race next year.

Gaslight Race Report

Gaslight also provided a good bit of enjoyment this Memorial weekend. The race started with a quick pace, with a lot of small attacks right from the gun. I followed a bunch of them, but none seemed to stick. A few laps into the race, a strong group of around five riders had a good gap on the group. One of my teammates (I think) yelled for me to get up there, so I made my way to the front of the peloton and jumped. I opened a nice little gap and made it about three quarters of the way to the lead group before pulling off to let the rider following me take a turn. I was happy to see my teammate Bruce Rivera right there. He finished the bridge and we made it to the fast group. Both he and I needed to recover, so we sat in for a few seconds. I took an inventory of the group and it looked very similar to the lead group at Frankemuth.

Two ISCorp riders pulled through really hard and the Raisin Rack rider (from Frankenmuth let a gap open up). I was still spent from bridging that I couldn't jump across the gap. In retrospect, I should have at least tried to close the gap, because those riders ended up riding away for the win.

The rest of us just floated back to the pack. I sat in for a while as more attacks went. Another group with Bruce Rivera got up the road, so I went to the front of the peloton and did a little blocking and covering.

By the end of the race, all the money places were up the road, so people seemed less determined. On the last lap, I jumped on a move by John Sammut and Luke. Luke had asked John to get him away from the pack and up to a dangling lead group. John pulled hard but stalled out, leaving the chase up to Luke. Unfortunately, we just ended up dragging a bunch of Jet Fuel guys with us. Luke pulled off and I sat up when my teammate, Terry Palmer, jumped around us. I moved over and let the pack go by me to coast in. Bruce ended up sixth and Ken Vernier got 14th - in the money.

Overall, this has been a great Memorial weekend.