I am now racing the Superweek crits in Wisconsin and Chicagoland.  This 18 day race series consists mostly of 100km (62 mile) long crits every night.  There are a few road races in the mix but most of them are crits.  The fields are usually large and strong with several U.S. pro teams and several european and foreign pros as well.  Many racers refer to it as ‘the best training around’ and it certainly is.

My first race was Tuesday night in Arlington Heights, IL and I didn’t do very well.  It was an 8 corner figure eight crit and I started out very well but by 30 minutes into it I was at the back of the group and had to close down gaps on the two long straight aways.  I felt fine in the corners and moving around the pack though so that was good.  Finally about an hour and 10 minutes into it (or after 32 of the 60 laps) the bottom just fell out and I was dropped from the group.  In a matter of about a mile I went from feeling fine to having nothing more that I could give.  It was a bit of an odd experience.

So I said hi and thank you to my Aunt Karen, Uncle Duane, and two cousins Beth and Meg who were there watching (and who are also putting me up while I’m in Chicago) and then I went to cool down and say hi to some of the many other dropped riders.  In the end only about 40 guys finished out of the 80 or so starters.

Wednesday night saw another crit this time in Bensenville, IL.  I was motived and ready as I almost had a breakthrough race on this course last year.  The field was a bit smaller as some of the guys were taking an off day and we only started with about 55-60 guys but it was still going to be an incredibly tough race as it was very windy.  20 mph winds like back in Texas did in fact make the race very tough.  I went back and forth the whole race between feeling good and struggling.  Sadly I missed each of the main 3 breaks that got away.  The first on lapped the field before the second break even got away.  Then the second break got away and a short bit later the third break rolled away.  I should have made it into the third break and then again I should have made it in a move that bridged up to the third break but both times I hesitated a fraction of a second and it was too late.  I did however salvage something as I attacked with 9 laps to go (6.5 miles) and one guy, Andrew Baker (Mountain Khakis), came with me.  We got away from the field and were able to hold them off.  At first I don’t think Andrew, whom I know from the Giro NJ and Richmond crits, was going to work with me as he had teammates in each of the breaks up the road but in the end he did work with me pulling for about 250 meters into the wind every lap while I did the rest of the work.  Not exactly even but then again he was in a position to mostly sit on and that’s racing.  We ended up staying in front of the small pack and Andrew came around me for 23rd while I finished 24th.

Not a great result but not too bad especially considering how hard the race was and that the last 9 laps were done off the front.  And hey it was in the money which is always nice.  I think only 38 guys of the 55 finished and some very strong dudes either did not finish or finished back in the main pack so it was certainly an ok race for me.  It was a shortened race of 70km though so hopefully I will find the endurance for the longer 100km races of the rest of the series.

I will now race another crit tonight in Shorewood, WI before taking Friday and Saturday as rest days in Chicago.  Thursday night will be tough though as it should be back to a large field and there are already $4,000 in primes.  Hopefully I can bring my A game!

Results can be found here.

Thanks for reading, -andrew-