WEEKEND OF CHICAGO BIKE RACES

Ali Engin Photography

Leland Kermesse Road Race, 4/21/12 
The roads were dry on Saturday morning for the Leland Kermesse road race. It was a chilly 50ish degrees with about 9mph winds which usually isn't strong enough to worry about, but on a course as flat and open as Leland, you don't want to have to fight your way through the wind in front. My race was 2 passes around a 15-mile loop, 1/3 of which consisted of loose gravel roads. There were 27 Cat 4 women, and 4 juniors who started with us as well. I was late to the line and was a little nervous about having to start at the back of the pack. Being new to this race, I didn't really know what to expect from the course. And not being familiar with any of the Chicago racers forced me to be a little more perceptive than usual to try and figure out who's got a good wheel to follow, who's letting gaps form, who looks like they're gonna attack, etc.

Thankfully, the first mile was a neutral rollout so I had time to get into a better position and make some observations before any attacks were made. It seemed like forever before we reached the first gravel section and I was beginning to wonder if there was actually any gravel in this race or not. When we finally reached the first gravel section, our group started to get strung out and into a single-file formation so that we could ride in the slightly smoother, more flattened car tracks. Passing meant having to ride out of the tracks and into the rough, looser gravel, so it was critical to get on a good wheel through those sections. The group managed to stay together through the first 2 gravel sections (as far as I could tell), and then it started to break up on the last gravel section right before beginning the 2nd loop.

I started that last gravel section farther back than I wanted to be, but I was hoping that if I just stayed glued to the wheel in front of me, that we would all end up together still starting the last lap. I should have known that was the prime time for attacks. I was just staring at the wheel in front of me and couldn't really tell what was going on up the road. When I started back on the pavement, I passed the person in front of me to see a huge gap. Crap. So I booked it up to the next wheel and we worked together and caught another person. I actually thought we were the ones attacking, and then I noticed a big group way in front of us that we were actually chasing. So I was in the first chase group with 2 other girls. We eventually caught another so that we were four.

#471, Katie Tomarelli (Kinky Llama Racing), was great, and acted like the personal cheerleader of the chase group - motivating us to keep going, asking how we were doing, and encouraging us that we could catch the break away. But when we were coming up on that first gravel section again, I was beat and discouraged. I didn't know how many girls were up the road, and I was really disappointed that I missed the break. I let my exhaustion get the best of me for a moment and fell off the chase group. I kinda figured my race was done at that point... I was tired and I was not looking forward to having the energy drained out of my legs again through the gravel, so I was ready to give up. I started on the gravel really slow, and then the wind hit me. I was on my own, just moseying around at like 12mph so it didn't take long for the 2nd chase group of 3 to catch me. I hesitated for a second, and then decided I'd better grab onto their wheel because that wind totally sucked.

I stayed with this group the rest of the way, recuperated in their draft, and managed to take some pulls. #474, Lindsay Zucco (Team Bicycle Heaven), was a beast on the gravel sections! She took the lead on each of them, plowing through them like a cyclocross champ, so that we were able to catch up to the 1st chase group again (the one that I dropped off from), and finish the sprint all together.

I didn't have much left for the sprint, and finished in the middle of that group of 6 or 7. Later on, I learned that there were 5 in the break away, so we had been sprinting for 6th, and I ended up 9th. Road races have never been my strong point... I always tend to lose strength around 20 miles in, which is of course where I blew up in this race as well. But I'm happy that I got back in it, and proud to have finished 9th in a strong field of 27.

Full Leland Kermesse Results

Lincoln Park Criterium, 4/22/12 
Cat 4 Women's Race
I was a little nervous about racing a crit again so early in the season for a few reasons: My recent crash shook me up a bit (at the Mellowdrome crit in Asheville); I haven't had a lot of cornering experience yet this year; And racing against such a large field (24) of girls I don't know made me a little uneasy. But I signed up and soon I was in the familiar rhythm of the crit course.

The 2012 Lincoln Park crit was a great course to gain confidence and get back into the swing of things. It featured mostly wide, sweeping corners which you could take at full speed, one narrow 180 degree turn to really master your cornering abilities, and then a finishing straight into a headwind of about 20-25mph. It was a mostly sunny day, around 56 degrees, but that wind made it feel freezing! I had to wear tights, 2 long sleeve tops, and my skull cap to keep warm.

After a little pre-race peptalk and advice from the Leadout guys, Bryan Kuyper, Mike VandenBerg, and my studly husband Mark Hotchkin, I was instructed on what line to follow to best attack that 180 degree corner. It took the first few laps to get it, but then I started to gain ground on that corner, which built up my confidence. I stayed in the group the whole time, took pulls, and chased down some break attempts. At one point there were 3 of us with a little bit of a gap off the front, and I yelled up that it was just us 3, but we couldn't get organized in time, or nobody wanted to, and we got caught within seconds. Bummer. In hindsight, I maybe should have gone around them and forced the attack or something.

They gave out a TON of primes there... I think there were 4 or 5 cash primes in our 35 minute crit. I didn't go for any though, because I was hoping to save something up for a podium finish. I was in great position for the field sprint - like 3rd wheel back - but I went to the inside to get a little block from the wind, and the winners sprinted around on the outside. I didn't have the legs to come out into the wind and get on their wheel, so a bunch of girls came around me at the end. I ended up 7th out of 24 in the Cat 4 women's race.

Women's Open 1/2/3/4 Race
I was debating about doing the Women's Open 1/2/3/4 race, because it was several hours later, it was a 50 minute crit which is way longer than I've ever done, I just wanted to nap in the warm car, and because I figured I'd get dropped within 2 laps since a girl who got 2nd at Track Nationals, Kristen Meshberg (Spidermonkey Cycling), was signed up for that race. In the end, I figured it'd be good practice, I might as well see how long I could last, and I knew I'd have to stick around till the end anyway for Mark's races.

I actually was very pleasantly surprised by my performance. There were 17 girls. Kristen Meshberg made a break away about 20 mins in I think, and about 5 girls went with her but couldn't hang on to her wheel for too long, so they formed a separate group behind her. I don't know how I missed that break, but the rest of us bridged up to their group pretty quickly, so then we were all together again with just Meshberg off the front. She was on her own for the rest of the race, and almost lapped us.

I don't think I raced very smart in this race... For some reason I could not get that 180 degree turn down again, and I lost ground every time and had to push it out of the corner to keep up. Plus I took too many and too long of pulls, especially for not having any teammates with me. And I should have sacrificed it all for a prime, especially the one they gave out with just 3 laps to go... it was for $50 and I wouldn't get that much in prize money anyway... but alas, I didn't go for it. I got pretty tired after that prime lap though, because we were nearing the end, and I fell off the back of the group by a few seconds, but managed to keep catching back on.

I finished last in the field sprint but there must have been some stragglers off our group, because somehow I beat 6 people. When I got back to the car, Bryan & Mark said they thought I looked really strong out there... so that made me feel good. I was happy to stay with the group and learn a few things. I ended up 11th out of 17, and 2nd amongst the Cat 4s.

Full Lincoln Park Crit Results