Les Petites Victoires

slimC and I decided to go south to Tour de Champaign, one of a two-day series in the Champaign-Urbana area. It’s a well run event hosted by LPV friend Mark Swartzendruber, Scarletfire Racing and Wild Card Cycling. Unfortunately, life beckoned us to pick only one of the weekend’s races so we chose Saturday. As Mother Nature would have it, we selected the rainy day so our initial plan to double up races for training changed and we decided to make the most of our one Women’s race. Our plan was to be active with attacks and work hard, hoping to make others work hard.

We arrived just in time to register, change, and get in a quick rainy warm-up. It was our first local race of the season and it was nice to see the familiar faces on the line. It seemed all the Psimet ladies showed up (!) and the field was rounded out by a good number of women from Bloomington Cycles, Half Acre, xXx-Racing, Scarletfire, and Proctor.

The race began and we stuck to the plan. We fired off a couple of attacks and as we expected, Psimet  responded. The other women in the field were quick to cover moves early in the race. While slimC was on the front, a little move went that included two women from Psimet. I was a bit out of position to respond quickly but I worked and moved up to cover it. It was a group of five that got a little gap so we started to rotate through. I took a hard pull into the wind then Kelli Richter (Psimet) pulled through telling me it was just us two. It seemed the other three fell off pace and suddenly we were in that position where we go for it to make the break work or sit up. This is not my specialty and I can’t remember the last time I made the break but my secret season goal includes racing hard, outside of my comfort zone. So I went into the red. Round and round we went, working well together to keep a gap of about 40-50 seconds. With teammates back in the field to help halt any chase, we stayed away.

Knowing we were gone, my attention went towards winning this thing. I was determined to make my team proud. I expected Kelli to go early so as we hit the last lap, I kept an eye for an early attack. I chose the final turn as the marker for my move if she didn’t go by then. We climbed the little hill before the turn and Kelli had yet to jump so I rounded the corner on the inside and went for it. I saw Kelli’s Psimet wheel creep up in the corner of my eye but I was able to stay on the gas and cross the line first. Woo!

My thoughts immediately went to slimC back in the field. She was outnumbered by Kelli’s teammates but I had no doubt that she could take the field sprint. Sure enough, she made an early move into the wind and joined me on the podium. Double woo!

Photo credit: Rob Curtis
Taking the champagne from Champaign to go.

Next up, Monsters of the Midway. See you there. And after the race join us and partner Tenspeed Hero at J.P. Graziano Italian Grocery for a little part-ay. Come say hello!

No matter the outcome, any race raced in Wisconsin will have a good ending because we will buy some New Glarus beer on the way home. For this reason, and because it was a road race near the southern Kettle Moraine state forest named in Kardashian fashion, LPV chose north over south this final weekend in April.

We were to do six laps on a 7.2-mile gently rolling circuit. At three to go, it appeared the race would come down to a sprint, and JRho clearly had the legs to finish well, demonstrated by multiple “test” attacks that put considerable distance on the field each time. We determined she should stay rested in the second half and try to win the race by doing this one last time from just before the final corner.

Trek Team Midwest, ISCorp, and a solo Kenda rider who loves dirtbike racing, but is afraid of crits, helped keep the pace high for a good bit of the last lap. The woman drilling it on the front began to let up just as we were passing one of my landmarks on the long, downhill stretch before the final turn. It was a sign that read EGGS and JRho was on my wheel, so it seemed like a good time to put my head down and keep the pace up. After a minute or two, I feared I had misjudged the distance. Jannette was giving encouragement from my rear wheel, “Keep it up! Keep it up! Keep it up!” but I was at my limit. Several riders began to pass, and I hoped Jannette, in perfect position, could find another wheel to bring her to the finish line.

Somehow I found myself floating back to the front—it seemed none of the passing riders were ready to commit yet. It was a second chance that you rarely get in a bike race, Jannette and I nodded to each other and the lead-out was back on. We made it to the drop-off point safely in front, and I watched JRho take the last corner confidently and cross the finish line with a sizeable gap on local cyclocross talent, Corrie Osborne.

We drove home in high spirits—in part, because our six-packs of New Glarus were purchased with a portion of our weekend winnings, but mostly because successful teamwork is the sweetest small victory of all.

Full Weekend Results:
Saturday, 4/27/13 – Whitnall Park Criterium
Sunday, 4/28/13 – Kettle Moraine Klassic (not yet available)

Though I like to say that riding outdoors through the winter is well worth the extra maintenance time it requires, the ride-rinse-repeat cycle was beginning to wear on me come February. With great hesitation, I decided to let my Amira live inside this month. Though I knew she’d be in good hands with L.P.V coach, Eric Blankenship at the Human Performance Institute, I had some serious separation anxiety.

I’m happy to report that this arrangement is working out great though. The Amira is staying warm and dry (for now) and I am still enjoying every opportunity to ride outside thanks to the purchase of a cyclocross bike this fall. Saturday’s forecast looked so promising, I set my sights on the Indiana border and was looking forward to revisiting one of  W|C studio’s  Festive 500 rides.

As it happened, I worked up quite an appetite at Morning Bird Studio EB201, and my empty stomach had another destination in mind. After reaching the south end of the Lakefront Path, we made a bee line for Z+H, where I refueled with a Tenzing Norgay on the recommendation of my riding partner, who claimed this delicious breakfast sandwich as her favorite in last year’s report on post-ride food.

By the time I reached home, I had soaked up enough vitamin D to disappear my bike-washing weariness. Here’s my ‘cross bike, ready for bath time.