TUESDAY THURSDAY CLUB RIDES

  Tuesday night, 6:00, Crab Apple.  This is approximately a 21 mile ride, but there are some built in short cuts if light is a concern for that distance.

  Thursday night, same time, same place.  Around Da Lake With or Without The Snake.  

  There has been extensive discussion about how to make our rides better, more accommodating,  But it is what you do, not what you say that matters. That said, let's be sure that if new folks join our ride, we make sure they know the route, understand safe ride etiquette and that riders are not left behind.  Most people do not travel to a group ride to ride alone, am I right?  Let's be good ambassadors for cycling.  

FRIDAY NIGHT CRUISER RIDE

  Cruiser ride means we ain't going far, we ain't going fast, and if you are in a full spandex kit with aero bars and carbon wheels, you are going to feel funny.  If you don't feel funny, we definitely need to talk.  Come on any bike that rolls.

  Friday night, Woodstock on the Square, 6:30 PM.  Food and drinks post ride, location yet to be determined.  

RACE RESULTS

Doing It In The Dirt

  Lots of TREADHEADS made their way north for the first of the WORS races, Iola Bump and Jump.  It sounds like at least one of them got his bumps.  A great showing from our local riders.  

  Heather Rainer Peat, her son Rider and Kerry Gonzales all found their ways to the podium. Heather graced the podium in second place, Rider and Kerry each in 4th.  Kerry raced a single speed, some how oblivious to the fact that being able to select which gear is most appropriate for the terrain and obstacles is a good thing.  

  Ray Nelson placed 8th overall, and Jerrod Collier was 3rd in his age group in Cat 1.    

  Jack Spende was 10th in the Citizens' 11-14 age category.  

 Greg Clausen placed third in his race, and his wife Ann finished 8th.  

 

  Also racing the TREADHEAD colors were Rich and Mike Mennenoh.  

Republished without express permission from Mike The Bishop's Facebook page;  Long boring race report. So today I drove three hours north to Iola Wisconsin for the first WORS race of the year. I had originally planned to bring the whole family but things changed and I drove up by myself. I wasn't super excited about the 6 hours of driving for 2 hours of racing but I figured I had been planning this for a while and I should go get it done. On my way up I stopped at Starbucks in Franklin. There was a long line and I did notice that there was a nice girl in front of me in the next car. When I pulled up to the window the girl at the window explained that the girl in front of me had paid for my coffee so I was good to go. That has never happened before and definitely put me in a better mood for the rest of the trip. When I got to the race it was great to see old friends that I had raced against 2 years ago when I did the series. We caught up on things and realized that most of us had upgraded and we would be racing each other in Category 1. For those that are not into cycling this is the highest level of 5 with the exception of being a pro. This basically means that we have to race with the pro riders but we only see them for about 10 seconds. Our goal was not be last in the race. The pace and climbing at the start of the race was brutal and I was not ready for it. I started in DFL but actually started to move up on a couple climbs. Some guys had to put a foot down on one of the climbs but I was able to make it through the slight mayhem and move up. I was doing well but on a huge climb my buddy Jerrod went past me and I decided to jump on his wheel since we have ridden together before. Since I drove up that day I had not ridden the course and had no idea was was around each corner. Well it bit me this time. On the following downhill there were some massive roots that you have to take on the right but I went left and was eject off the bike. At this point everyone started asking if I was OK. When you are on the ground and bleeding it is nice to have your fellow competitors concerned about your well being. It was very encouraging. I told them I was fine and managed to jump back on my bike. At this point I noticed my handlebars were not exactly pointed straight down the trail so I had to stop again to get them fixed. Another friend came by encouraging me to keep going and keep strong. When I finally got going I was almost DFL again. After a crash you are a little shaken up but I just kept thinking about my friend's comments and it kept me going. I was able to catch and pass a couple of the guys but after the third lap I started to get super hungry. Usually I eat tons before a race but this time I kind of forgot. During the race I had 5 Gu's and a large bottle of electrolytes but it did not stop my stomach from imploding. I tried to keep strong but I can see from my data that my effort just kept falling as the mile built up. It wasn't my day. I got 5th out of 9 in my age group but like 45th out of 58 overall. Before I went my buddy Butch said, I hope you like sand, and he was right. The course had tons of sand and was quite dusty when you were in a pack. I also almost ran over a snake that decided to cross the trail in front of me. That doesn't happen very often. The temp climbed over 80 degrees which I think is the first time this year that I have ridden in anything that warm. Even with all of my troubles and excuses I really had fun. It was great to be out on a bike pushing my body as hard as I can. It was also nice to be with friends that are fierce competitors but truly look out for each other.

On The Road Side of Things

  Last weekend, Andy Schmidt represented in fine fashion down at the Joe Martin Stage race in Arkansas.  He won the up hill Time Trial, was the only one to break 10 minutes, followed his winning team mate, Simon Jones to third on the Saturday road race, and seemed to be a lock on winning the General Classification that was determined in a crit on Sunday.  Some how, another Schmidt, 23 year old college student Tyler, was up the road in a break. But it appeared from the materials provided by race officials that he was not a GC threat.  Imagine everyone's surprise when it was discovered that he was in fact in contention.  The other Schmidt ended up winning the GC by two seconds.  All of us who have had our legs torn off by Andy know that he could have regained those seconds anywhere in his sleep.  Maybe not the result he wanted, but we are proud of him!  

  This week, Andy raced in La Crosse Wisconsin.  Results to follow later.  

THINGS TO DO

    Sunday, June 14th, 34th Annual BCLC Ramble.  This link is to an Active Registration page, but all the details are there.

  Previous posts have a host of other rides and links.  But it is a worth a reminder for the Blackhawk Back Roads ride on Memorial Weekend. Expect a group of TREADHEADS on the Saturday ride.  

  Likwise, check back later and I hope to have some informal rides posted for the weekend.  

Be Sure To Keep The Rubber Side Down,

Gary