Monstrous Midway 2009

I love the Monsters of the Midway crit that University of Chicago's cycling team hosts each year. For me, 15 years ago now, it was the first Cat IV crit I finished after I got my upgrade and I love the history of the course, racing up and down the Midway Plaisance, home to the fabulous amuesements of the Columbian Exposition 116 years ago. This is one of my favorite crits every year and despite the tight turns, I've escaped unscathed, each year. In fact, in 15 years of racing, I've only wrecked twice, both with little damage to my body. Yesterday, my luck ran out.

About 100 riders lined up to contest the Cat IV race. Stephen and I rolled to the line after getting talked through the course by Ed from Tower Racing. It was good to know where the trouble spots would be. Also in the yellow & blue of Wheel Fast Racing was Cully, newly a Cat IV. We quickly moved up as we rolled out. We charged through the turns and then with a good headwind, battled the half mile trip north. The guys at the front wanted to push the pace and it was a hard first lap! I found my rhythm, figured out where I wanted to be, and found Stephen nearby. Good.

I was doing ok, the tempo was fast, but it was settling in and I figured that with the reduced race time of 30 minutes + 2 laps (miles) I'd be fine. We rushed through the Start/Finish and headed into Turn 1. I don't know quite what happened, but there was a pile up outside and I ran out of room and piled into the back of the crash. I fell and jumped up checking my bike, extricating my front wheel from another's handlebars. Crap.

Now I'll take a step back for a brief moment. Today was the day I'd race a 20 year old Cannondale 3.0 - the late 80's early 90's classic criterium bike. Bryn had purchased it in the Spring of 90 when we were freshmen at Illinois and I got him hooked on cycling. When he upgraded to a Bianchi, remember these were the days of Moreno Argentin, Stephen took possession of the black Cannondale. When he moved away, it came to my basement and as the saying goes, "Possession is 9/10ths...." After sitting idle for years, this past winter I set out to update it a bit. I had some 8 speed Shimano 105 still from my upgraded Bianchi and so scoured eBay, hit a bike swap and cobbled together a pretty nice looking bike with some carbon to soften things up. Finally, I crowned it with a set of Easton EA50SLs and Easton bars & stem from our sponsor. It looked gorgeous and it proved to be a fun crit bike, solid and stiff.

I spun my new front wheel that now had probably 4 or 5 miles on it. It rubbed the pads. Oh no. My heart sank, but there was no time for sorrow, I hustled back to the pit and with the help of Rodney Anderson, a fellow rider I've known for years, I switched to my back up wheel, a good Mavic Open Pro I purchased from Chris a year ago. As the field came round, the 5 or so of us from the wreck slotted back in the field. Stephen found me and again we were racing. The adrenalin bump was good and I felt ok. Surely this race would be over soon enough.

With the headwind, the guys would pour on the gas out of T2, but couldn't sustain and a few times as I felt like I was about to popped, I rode right back into the group and recovered fine on the remainder. So, with 2 laps to go to the finish, I rode right back in. Then, all hell broke loose.

The riders in front of me stacked it up and suddenly the rider directly in front went airborne. I had no where to go. I couldn't swerve lest I take more riders. I've always been able to skirt the wrecks. This time, no dice. I piled right in from behind and got tossed up and over the top going from 25 mph to 0 in the space of several feet and landing right on my face. The thuds, oomphs, screams and such of the carnage that followed just didn't register this time. I was one of those thuds & oomphs and I was bleeding all over. I got to the side of the course and somebody dragged my bike off the course. A rider lay in the road across from me. I sat there, a bit dazed, bleeding on my gloves trying to ascertain where it was coming from. Nose? No. Teeth? Seemed to be there. My lip. I wouldn't learn till later, but my lip was split badly and face scraped. Suddenly Kim was there.

Bits and pieces of memories: somebody gave me a napkin; a man gave me a handkerchief to mop the blood; a Triple X rider gave me a water bottle to help; a rider in black named Mike gave me a bit of triage and helped calm Kim. Stephen rode by on the cool down and didn't know I'd wrecked. He asked if I was ok, and Kim replied no. It took forever to get an ambulance and finally we made the decision to try and get to the ER ourselves. At first I thought I could make Good Sam, but that wasn't a great idea and so we headed a couple of blocks to University of Chicago Hospital's ER.

I cannot say enough good things about the doctors and staff that cared for me. They were absolutely outstanding. In a few hours time they had me sutured up and out. One of the other victims from the wreck was next to me and he was doing a bit better from when I'd last seen him in the road. He had his IV, but otherwise Mark from SCW seemed to be doing better and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Kim and Stephen stayed by my side and kept me positive and pretty relaxed. Not being able to see the damage, I know now that they had to have been trying to keep a good face on. Thanks!! One person needs a special thank you and that is Brian Boyle from SCW. He noticed me in the waiting room and came over to chat and kept our minds off things and gave some aid later, too. It was really great of him to help. Honestly, in a moment I really needed people, from Brian, to Mike, to Stephen and Kim and the guy that gave me a handkie, people helped. A lesson to remember the next time I see another rider go down.

The spare front wheel of the Cannondale was completely destroyed save the hub. It was amongst the worst pretzels I've seen of a wheel. So, three wheels need to head to Bicycles Etc. for some work. Otherwise, the bike seems ok. Between the ER and the wheels it was an expensive day in the sadddle. But, I'm ok, skin heals, the stitches will come out, the wheels will get fixed, and I'll be racing again soon enough I suppose. Two wrecks in one race are hopefully enough bad luck for one season!

Thanks for reading,
Kevin

A lonely ride

After just having been in Belgium last month, I can say with certainty that Flatlandia's Leland Kermesse lived up to its goal. The rural course proved surprisingly similar to Flander's fields and the creek cuts bore a startling resemblance to the old trenches of the First World War. It was also relentlessly windy, with rain, and a sector of gravel. It was incredible.

I met up with my brother Stephen and after check-in we warmed up for a bit on the trainers. The wind was blowing steady at about 20 mph and the skies were heavy. It had the promise of an epic day in the saddle, and strangely we welcomed it.

Somewhere between 20 and 30 Cat IV's departed for a neutral roll-out with another good group of Cat V's behind. After we hit the S/F it was time to race and a rider in a burnt-orange jersey attacked. In a heavy crosswind it was suicide to imagine going 40 miles solo, but he gave it a go. Stephen and I sat in as the field rolled at 18 mph. I could do this all day. I hoped.

We turned into a mixed cross-headwind and went single-file. There was no shelter. My heart rate climbed up. I was on the nose of the saddle. It began to rain. Finally we picked up the tailwind and my heart was going 185. Crud. The speed picked up and we were doing 30 mph and I was frying. Then at 6.6 miles into 40, I came unglued. I was alone.

The gravel sector was fine. Growing up riding the roads around German Valley I knew that the crown would be smooth and hardpacked and though I kept toying with running fatter tires, I decided that I could ride 700x23's on my Bianchi. The gravel sector was fun and I came off it, rounded the turn, passed the S/F and was on my way for the second lap.

Now alone and facing the 20mph winds I was struggling. Mentally I was shattered. I couldn't wait to quit. I recalled Andy Hampsten's famous quote, "I was hurting so bad it was like a meditation." I was going hard - at 12mph. I was being passed by riders coming from behind. Even if allowed to mix and ride with them, I was so gone I couldn't have stayed on a wheel. I had to ride my pace. It was the 2001 stage to Pla d'Adet all over again. Then I picked up the tailwind. Suddenly I was riding 23mph and felt .... well .... good all things considered. As the miles ticked down, I decided that I had time to turn in another lap. I cruised over the gravel and turned for lap 3.

Lap 3 was manageable because I knew that this really would be the final lap for me. I plugged along, steady as a turtle. The wind was still vicious, but I kept the pedals turning over. I kept looking at the computer as I saw the distance go down. The tailwind was again a blessing and with new wings I flew along. In the final stretch of gravel I noticed the sky turning dark. I cruised through it, turned to go to the S/F just to let them know I was retiring, and then slowly pedaled back to my car.

I should have pedaled faster. As I leaned the bike up against the trunk, the heavens opened, the god's barked and threw fire at the earth, and in the blink of an eye I was wet. I pulled wheels off, through the bike and wheels in the trunk and dove in the car. Stephen was still out there - completing Lap 4. Oh Crud.

I changed into dry clothes in the car and pulled out as the rained slackened. There, in soaking wet WFR yellow & blue, was Stephen. Looking happy. He said they got the rain in the gravel sector. He figured he'd probably done about 10th overall. He thought it the hardest race he'd ever done.

I averaged a speedy 17 mph and spent an hour with my HR in Zone 4 so for fitness, it was a good outing. The course was great and I highly recommend that we plan on racing this next year! Flatlandia put on a terrific race, the ABR officials for hanging out in rainy conditions, and I really thank all of them for giving us the opportunity to have such a great time!

Spring Break 2009

From Bruges 2009

I know I'm not in college any longer, and even still I only had one great Spring Break (1992 in Ireland), but it is always nice to get a way for a week after a long winter. 2008/9 was a really long winter. We planned the trip in the cold of Door County at the Whistling Swan and after not settling on a warm destination, chose Amsterdam as it was easy to get to via United and decided to visit Bruges Belgium, too. I'll include 3 albums to browse of Bruges, Flanders and Amsterdam. Favorites were the Flanders Fields tour and Cambrinus where they had 400 beers of which we made it through 20. It was great to see new places and drink new beer!

Photos
Bruges
Flanders Fields
Amsterdam

I do enjoy Heineken more now after touring their brewery and having a great experience! The Van Gogh museum was fascinating in its special exhibit of Starry Night and the artistic journey that led to that painting. We did visit the Anne Frank house, though I've not read the book. The emptiness of it was touching given what occurred.

Citizen M Hotel Amsterdam Airport just defies description. The bathroom "tubes" recall Star Trek, yet I'd stay there again as it is convenient and Amsterdam is an easy jumping off point to the rest of Europe.

Like all vacations, the time passed too quickly. Next stop for me, San Francisco.

Kevin

If it is March, we're in Wisconsin ....

With the Spring kick-off of racing on Sunday, Chris, Stephen, Trevor, John Mahr and I rode on Saturday on the frontage roads. None of us had functioning computers, but we spent a couple hours outside remembering how to draft and turn and generally just having a good time on our bikes on a great spring day. I'd guess we turned in somewhere between 25 and 30 miles just based on time, but who knows? who really cares? So on we go to Wisconsin ....

It was a great day for racing. Only about 30 or so guys in this ABR race, though, which was weird. I don't recall seeing a USA Cycling event, but I never get those emails after having had a license for 15 years. Wheel Fast Racing had 5 guys flying the yellow & blue: perennial WFR stalwarts Chris Hammer & John Mahr, Stephen Butler back after 2 years away from the sport, WFR newcomer Derek Held, and your reporter, Kevin.

The course was an industrial park just east of the Culvers in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin, a new venue for the Spring series that has traditionally been held at UW Parkside. The day was about 50 and sunny with a bit of a breeze. Racing my faithful Bianchi, I chose to go aero over light, and picked the Bontrager clinchers over the Campy tubulars. The course was roughly D-shaped and had a slight uphill on the S/F. My goal was simply to sit in, stay out of the wind, stay upright, and get to the finish with the field. Lofty goals, I know.

Nearly off the bat at rider attacked and we were going single file. My legs a bit fatigued from Saturday complained and I knew if this pace continued, I'd be cheering before the finish. Thankfully it bunched and I got inside and out of the breeze. Then Derek attacked early and towed us around for awhile, stretching his legs. As he came off, Chris made a jump soon after and got about 30 yds in front for a lap or two. Stephen put himself at the front of the line and tried his best to preserve Chris' move. We caught Chris and quickly it again was Stephen and Chris riding the front with Derek nearby and John and I a few spots back.

A couple of guys attacked after Stephen and Chris had taken a big turn on the front and we just couldn't chase. A few guys put in some turns, but nothing concerted. Derek, Chris and Stephen stayed at the front of the action, but the break was gone. The course was pretty safe to navigate and except for T4 being slightly - and I mean slightly - tight, the race was really safe. There was a crash out of that corner on the final lap, but I didn't even see it! Usually guys would hit it on the rise, but with the headwind and hill, it was easy to ride right up into the thick of the action. We counted the laps and maintained contact with each other. I made my stupid mistake glancing inside through a turn and drifting in just a touch, causing the rider right on my inside that I didn't realize was there, to put his bars in my ribs. Oops. We were both fine. He was cool. No harm, no foul.

With the race winding down, John attacked with 3 to go to soften things up and then Chris countered shortly after we caught John, but the result was that Chris was a little too spent to sprint and then Stephen got boxed in through the turn and lost places rather than crash. I lost track of Derek and John in the last lap. Don't know how we finished. It was fun, though. I had an average speed of 22 and some change and average HR of 168. It was a good return to racing.

Looking back we needed to organize better in the final laps. We were slightly haphazard and everybody had great thoughts on what needed to be done, we just didn't communicate to one another well enough to take advantage of the situations. We probably should have had a conference at 4 or 3 to go and lined it up for the final lap. I had enough left to take one final turn and John and Chris clearly had some punch. We just aren't used to having 5 guys in prime position on the bell lap. That will come. We discussed coordinating the attacks better for the subsequent races so we probably need to have an end-game as well. It will come. It was a blast racing as a team! We'll get better!

I won't be at #2, but should be back for #3 assuming my plane lands on schedule Sunday morning and I can get the bags packed and the bike loaded up.

Kevin

Christmas 2008

From Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Drive to Dekalb - Views of Winter

I can't believe how the Fall rapidly receded into Winter and how we now have had sub-zero weather and several winter storms. I have only had one flight canceled so far this season, but that was due to a mechanical incident and not weather. Will my luck hold? I can't even enumerate the places I've been. My United miles runneth over, though.

I need to post some pictures of our trip to London and Paris over Thanksgiving. We had fish & chips for Thanksgiving dinner and didn't really miss the turkey much! I cannot say enough about the Evensong service at Westminster Abbey. If in London, at 5PM most days, the choir sings the service and the seating is but a few feet away from where nearly all the Kings and Queens of England have been crowned. Sitting in an 800+ year old space, surrounded by the tombs of the greatest citizens of the Empire, listening to the choir sing in Latin is simply marvelous.

The holiday season has been busy. Click here for some pictures of the drive to Dekalb on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morn. It was nice to spend time with family and friends on both sides of the family. Click here for some Prairie and Iroquois River pictures.

Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year!
Kevin

Germany - Jewish Museum - Final Night

Hi Gang,

Last night in Berlin. After we packed up and returned to the hotel we ventured out to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The museum itself was beautiful in a very modern sense and the exhibits were technically very well done if multimedia is your thing. It covered the history of the Jews in Germany and Europe and the repeated pattern of persecution and assimilation. I found it surprisingly light on the Holocaust and almost feel like I missed something! After wandering back nearly to Checkpoint Charlie for a cab we headed back to the Ku'Damm and had dinner again at the Block House. Susann was again our waitress, taking Joe back to show him the t-bones, which was rather amusing. Dinner was good, but then it was time to pack and so we headed back to the hotel to get ready to depart for Frankurt. Here are some photos from last night!

Back home today .... can't wait to get a little sleep on the plane and get back home!

Germany - Funkturm & Schloss Charlottenburg

Hi Gang,

Took a walk yesterday ... a long walk, but it was nice to see a bit of Berlin or at least 6 km worth! Click here for the photos The Funkturm used to be the highest structure in Berlin and was referred to as their Eiffel Tower. It is right in the center of our convention center and so to step outside where the smokers gather puts you right at the base of it. You'll also see a view shots of our booth and surroundings. I commenced my walk and discovered a bike shop as large as a Dominicks or Jewel-Osco! But with the exchange rate not so much in my favor, I was able to avoid temptation! And I've got enough bags coming home! I then wandered into a cemetery for a look around. The graves were often lettered in gold which made the names pop out easily. Finally after a few more street shots, we get to Schloss Charlottenburg, early 17th century and I believe at one time the largest palace. Of course it was bombed heavily, but rebuilt. A few more street shots and my walk was complete, my feet tired. We'll see what today brings.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin