Gettin' Paid - Yeah Bouy!

The Tour of Hermann was not in the cards this weekend. Instead, Wendy and I enjoyed a leisurely couple of days around the house. After spilling my guts at Hillsboro for 90 miles last weekend and 2 good training days this past week, my legs are feeling stale. This all comes at end of a good training block, so that is to be expected.

Teammate Kevin Severs has been crushing the collegiate racing tract all spring and he was racing in Iowa City. AJ Turner and the Iowa Cycling Club were hosting the event and they added a couple of non-collegiate divisions. Since the course was already set-up for racing, why not?
Josh Wandery and I decided to go over and jump in.

Kevin had already won the road race on Saturday and finished a close 2^nd in the Sunday criterium earlier in the day to Tony Olson of Minneapolis.

Set in a newish residential neighborhood, the criteruim course was a short, around .5 mile loop, with a punchy climb and 90 degree turn into the finish line. I told the boys, to win the sprint; you need to go into the final corner on the front.

Several of the Iowa “A list” were down in Hermann, MO including our own Paul Denninger and Chad Bishop, along with many other guys with good early season fitness, so the field at Iowa City was limited, but there were still several perennial favorites like Jim Cocran, Lee “socks” V, AJ and Andy B. In addition, Brandon Krawczyk of Wisconsin and Tony Olson - Grand Performance, Minneapolis were on hand to animate things. All total there were only about 30 guys in the cat 1/2/3 race.

At the start line, I always take a quick scan of the other guys in the race and decide who to mark, who will be pack fodder who will be off the back. When referee Brett Griggs said “go” and Brother Severs shot off like a banshee, I had a feeling there would be few surprises.

Brendon attacked repeatedly – finally getting a good gap on the field; a suitable gap to bridge to. I hit the stick (that’s for Jed), and took AJ Turner and Tony Olson in tow. Within a few seconds we had a 4-man breakaway!

Kevin and Josh did good duty sitting in with the main field, and it only took a few laps on the short course before the four of us had lapped the field.

At the start finish line they started counting down laps – 23 to go! I was worried about chasers catching us, so I asked Kevin to move to the front and keep things rolling. Josh was not in the group of lapped riders and I was worried he’d had a mechanical problem. He was riding so strong. After the race I learned that he was in no man’s land and finished 5^th. Nice work for his very first criterium.

Coming up the final climb, Brandon went first and I caught his wheel rounding the final corner – exactly what I said “not” to do. And, in fact, in the short 150 meters to the finish with a headwind, I could not come around him at the line and had to settle for 2^nd.

I waited a few minutes to pick up my winnings envelope. Tucked inside was a twenty and a ten dollar bill. I asked the pretty cashier to exchange the twenty for 2 tens so I could split the cashola with my boys - $10 bucks each. I love making a living as a pseudo pro cyclist.

Thanks to The Iowa City Cycling Club, and referees Mark Guthart and Brett Griggs for a very well run event.  

Next up, Squaw Creek on the 29^th and then Iowa City Weekend. I’m looking forward to having a full squad on hand for both events!