Fall Colors Fest - Kettle

Here is Kenny's race report....

First time racing the Fall Colors Festival at Kettle Moraine.
Team: Iron Cycles
Rider: Ken Dorado

Earlier in the week prior to the week I checked out the forecast near and around Kettle Moraine. The weekend forecast of the Kettle Moraine - Fall Colors race started out looking pretty grim. Here's what I discovered: Rain Thursday - Wind Friday - Rain Saturday. I wasn't looking forward to a muddy race and slogging back home with pruned up fingers and some other unmentionable body parts.

Closer to race day the weather lightened up enough for me to get a glimpse of hope for a fairly manageable race. I pulled the trigger and decided to race it.

- The 25 Miler -

I rode up with some friends (Anthony and Felbert) who ride the local trails and make this event the race to make every year. So, I followed in the hype and chose to ride the 25 miler. Least to say I'm glad I did it.

By the time we got to Kettle Moraine we had about 30 minutes to spare - register, pre race pee/poop (which ever is your fancy) and line up. Oh yeah, I forgot, part of my pre race regimend is to check and recheck my equipment and gear... so I got to the bathroom with 4 minutes to spare at the line. As I rode up to the line, the smell of burger patties being grilled and music filled the air. A very festive and upbeat ambiance. I ended up about 50 people from the front out of a crowd of about 95 riders.

One more thing ...

Oh yeah, I should probably include warming up in my pre-race prep, that day I ended up using the first part of the race as a warm up and gauge to see where I was at in the pack.
And they're off ...

I easily sped away from the riders behind me and avoided a couple of crashes with riders who may have touched tires. I also encouraged my friends, who rode up with me, as I cruised by them. Once the first section of the race was out of the way (the Brown Loop) we entered into the first section of the Blue trail. If you've never been to Kettle Moraine, I recommend you go and get aquainted with the trails. The Blue Loop has got alot of what a mountain biker looks for in a ride (minus mountains). This is a fast, hilly, rocky, sandy, technical, fun, annoying and pleasing (once you complete it) loop to ride.

Since it's been about 2 years since I've ridden this trail, (which happened to only be one time) it's safe to say that I have no clue what the race was going to look like. I basically used the first half of the race to navigate and use the riders ahead of me as guides - yeah there were alot of riders for me to use as guides. I passed - and got passed by - riders, so it was a bit of give and take.

Throughout the trail system, the conditions of the ground vary from dirt, sand and gravel. At one section, Sandy Bottom, I ended up challenging a tree at a corner... bad choice... I ended up getting a little bit of shell shock, had to give up two spots (one which I regained) and did a quick health check to make sure nothing was broken. Aside from a sore shoulder, cut ear, and remounted front wheel all was good. I used that opportunity to take a couple of quick breathes to gather myself and rehydrate.

And they're off ... again ...

As I mentally marked where I body slammed that tree, I targeted myself to take catch up and take on those who just passed me. Shoot, I worked hard for those spots, I planned on getting them back.

Which way? That way! <- or ->?

Literally, you know you're not going hard when you end up at an intersection and have a conversation with another racer trying to figure out exactly what the race directors were thinking when they laid out a misleading intersection. Don't get me wrong, they had signage but it was either not enough or too little. Two directional signs with one pointing straight and another pointing right, both next to each other. At the time I was already going straight as I asked about 5 times "Straight or right? Straight or right?"... an easy 2 minutes lost and about 5 spots given up with that debacle.

Thankfully, there was someone there the second time around. The answer was to go straight and then the trail loops around. Hopefully if they choose to use that route again they build a bridge there next time or just reroute.

... Rinse and repeat...

Feeling good about knowing that I'm more than half way through with the race, I push lap 2 a little harder. After passing the start/finish line, I came up to one of my friends, Felbert. I rode and chatted with him for a little bit. Thinking "Did I just lap him? Am I that wicked fast now?" - now this was going to bug me for the rest of the race and annoy the car poolers on the way home. Oh well (more on that later), thinking that I theoritcally may have lapped him, it gave me some more juice to tread on and see if I could catch up to Anthony.

... Side to side and around the corner ...

As I pushed myself harder I caught up to a couple more 25 mile riders (red numbers)... this was a good feeling considering I was still getting over a cold and I was ready for biological warfare with all the snot rockets I was firing off throughout the race. I even caught up to a good number of 14 mile riders (blue numbers) who started 30 minutes after I did. They were kind enough to pull over to the side. One (minus bike) even flew over a berm in a hasty attempt to get out of the way. **chuckle**

... Conquering fears ...

After flying through most of the second loop, I passed Sandy Bottom where I crashed, caught up to more 25 and 14 milers and battled up the technical climbs. (Note: baby head rocks, as I call them, are a pain in the butt to navigate around, you're better off riding over them if you can)

... Thank you mister course marshall ...

By the time I got to the intersection for the second time, there was a course marshall directing traffic, again riders were intersecting as though there was a stop light there... not cool but I guess it's part of the race (really my only gripe of the race).

I finally got to the final and most dificult hill of the race, a rutty and rock ridden section, I passed up a rider who was conversing with hecklers about her morning breakfast. It went something like this... "You can do it! This is the last hill before the end!" They said to her. "I just had McDonald's for breakfast...'gurgle'..." She said, walking the bike up. As I rode by her, I honestly admitted that I had McD's too and then some, she politely said that I hope I _____ it out... Well you could fill in the blanks.

... Time for a final pose ...

On the down hill right before the trail head (finish line), I posed for the photographer going about 20 miles an hour. Probably not the best idea but it's an indicator that I know I'm having a good time - which is important to me.

I ended up finishing 40th out of 87 (not counting DNF's)

... Done ...

BTW - We concluded that I did not lap Felbert, he passed me up when I was trying to figure out to right or straight in the first lap at the misconstrued intersection. Anthony, DNF'd due to a mechancial - putting down too much torque to the cranks.

Lesson's Learned
- Preparation is key
- Ride within your means
- Have fun
- Pain is weakness leaving the body

Church Cross - ready for a new season

Ed, Chase, Brandon and I completed our pre season preparation with the Church Cross practice race at a super secret location along the Des Plaines river trail.

Here is all you need to know about Team IC as we head into the 2010 season.

Ed - he flats a lot, but he should be fast once he learns to ride a little more delicately.

Brandon - He's fast. He has hardly raced at all this summer but he is going to come out of nowhere and surprise a lot of people.

Chase - This guy could be rookie of the year. If he knew how to pre-register for races, I would pick him to be the next Russ Kuryk in the cat 4A's.

Me (Ted) - I've spent a lot less time training for tri's this summer and spending that time cycling. I'm theoretically faster than I've ever been, recording new highs in my 1 min. and 5 min. power output in the past week. Unfortunately on a power profile chart that puts me just slightly above the level of an untrained slug. Racing savvy and bike handling are my forte anyway, but still, the power is better than last year.

Based on our team practices and late summer races, there's a whole bunch of other IC riders to watch out for. Look for Katie, Kristina, and Beebe to make big improvements this year.

party over here, party over there

The Chicago Cyclocross Cup kickoff party is at Iron Cycles tonight from 4 - ????.

Stop by to say hi and get some food and drinks.

Vuelta a Berwyn

Yesterday I completed my 3 week Vuelta a Berwyn. The tour consisted of 24 straight days of riding on average 3 hours a day in and around the Chicago-land area. Stages included mountain bike races, cross races, team rides, Spider Monkey rides, night stages, off road stages, a time trial, 2 a days, etc.

I finished the final stage with Ed Bagley but he had to get swept up by the sag wagon due to a broken crank arm. So I had to complete the tour alone, no fans lining Sacramento Boulevard as I rode the final few miles home.

The legs are tired. And so is the butt. Why do I think of Wayne Simon every time I apply chamois cream?

Now it is time to rest and then start training for cross.

xXx Relay followup

With the first day of CX racing for 2010 under my belt I had to report in. I have spent my summer thinking about cross, and it was everything I was looking forward to!

Although, yesterday was the first day I can remember in a long time (since I was about 7 years old) that I was wishing were older! One year off from being able to race Masters, and without a female partner for the co-ed, I was left with only one choice: the 1/2/3 race.

I had low expectations but high hopes going into the race. I've shed a ton of weight for this season and added some power to boot, but with guys like Mike Sherer, Mike Hemme, Scott McLaughlin, Brandon Leech, Newt Cole, etc etc, I knew a top-10 finish would be more than good to satisfy me.

Derrick took our first lap, and even though he had a great LeMans-type run, I botch up the hand off a bit. The organization of handing up had changed since he went to the start line, but we were off.

Finishing his first lap we were in 13th place, not a bad start at all! When I took off I had two guys immediately ahead of me, but they were working together on the fast sections and I was just out of touch about 40 feet behind.

Coming out of the only technical section, a set of off-camber turns and a barrier, I stood and sprinted along some pavement and closed the gap on those two. We then had a toilet bowl, a couple more turns, a barrier, then a long straight. I went all out and got around both of them on the straight just in time to tag off to Derrick.

A few more laps go by, and now the field is spread out. For me that's the hardest part, making yourself sprint with no one around. But out of each corner I tell myself: if you aren't sprinting you're losing time, because someone else is.

About 10 laps in a guy ahead of me washes out in the toilet bowl and rolls both of his tubbies. Something has changed in my thinking because even though we were going hard through there, I didn't dabble a bit, changed my line, and stayed really smooth. I thought that put us in 10th.

A few more laps down and I hear the bell for Derrick, which means I get the last lap. Knowing this was it, I went all out. I looked down at my Garmin less than 1 minute into the lap and my HR is 187. Awesome. This is what I needed.

I throw my bike over the barrier, remounted quickly and was off to the off-camber section. This has been getting looser and looser because of all of the riding, but I wasn't about to run it! I clicked into my small ring and stayed back on my rear wheel: no problem.

A couple more hard sprints, a few more corners, and it's over.

9th place for Derrick and I in the 1/2/3 race. Take out a couple of teams that we all knew would be top-5 (assuming no technical issues) and we were better than I could have hoped for.

Now back to the grind, a couple more good weeks of training and starving!

(Photo credit to Nikki Cyp)

Sexy is Back

Photo: Nikki Cyp

To kickoff the start of the cyclocross season, XXX Racing hosted a unique tag team cyclocross race in Jackson Park.

Iron Cycles represented in a big way with riders in almost every category race throughout the day.

The weather was super hot and for the Co-ed race Katie, Kristina, and I decided to race in briefs for aerodynamic advantage and to stay cool. We looked super hot as well if I do say so myself.

I wanted to race shirtless and Sharpie my number on my back, but Katie said there was some kind of rule that required racers to have sleeves covering their arms. Next year I am going to outsmart the officials and go with a Speedo sans shirt and arm warmers.

I don't know if results matter much in this race, but it looks like we had some pretty good results. Kristina continued her streak as the podium princess and was on the podium twice today, with Katie in the woman's open, and with me in the co-ed open.

It's going to be a fun season.

Palos Meltdown

This past weekend Iron Cycles had a big turnout at the Palos Meltdown.

Making his dirt debut in the Comp class, the indomitable Steven Van Deven won the race. Also making her mountain bike debut after an 8 year hiatus, Kristina Young finished second overall in the Sport race (1st Age Group).

Watch out for them this cross season.

Also racing were Derrick, Tim, Mike and I. Additionally, Sophia was instrumental in providing race support and cookies for weary racers.

Soldier Field 4/5 A

On 8/17 the Soldier Field Cycling Series held its makeup from the June rainout. A bit of rain was in the forecast, but aside from a few drops it missed us for the 4/5 races. The A race, which was the later of two scheduled 4/5 heats, included me and two other Iron Cycles teammates: Chase Negley and Ken Dorado.

I talked to Chase before the race and we had the same plan, ride near the front 5-10 positions to avoid any crashes and react to moves if they occurred. Chase being the stronger and more experienced rider, I hoped to help him out if possible.

Chase and I lined up in the first row next to each other. The first few laps were fast and I was anywhere from 3rd to 6th wheel. During the 5th lap, which was a prime lap, I sat in second wheel going into the back straightaway. This was into a headwind and as the guy pulling peeled off, I attacked and brought a couple other riders with me. Coming around the last turn I was passed by a Cutting Crew rider (who had won the first 4/5 race), who took the prime. He eased up across the line and me, a XXXer and another rider passed him. As we made the second turn, one of the guys said "we've got a gap, let's go" and they began pushing a bigger gear to see if they could make the break stick.

I went with them through that 6th lap. As we went onto the 7th, I lost their wheels and looked over my shoulder, finding the CC rider. He came around me and took a pull, where I sat on his wheel about 30 seconds but I couldn't hold that either. Meanwhile a chase group of about 5-10 riders caught me. Part of that group shot ahead, while about 5 of us stayed grouped together.

After maybe another 5 laps I was cooked and couldn't hang onto their wheels. I ended up soloing the last 7 laps by myself and averaged 24.4mph. The leaders finished were half a lap ahead of me, while we all had lapped the back 1/3 of the field twice.

My legs definitely were still hurting from racing at Glencoe on Saturday and doing 76 miles on Sunday.

Lesson learned: the tactic worked, as the prime lap attack I made created a split in the field, but I didn't have the legs to stick on a wheel and recover enough to stay up in the breakaway or the second group.

The race came down to the small break, with a 3-man sprint to the line. Chase said he basically just ran out of road and had to settle for second, still a great finish for Iron Cycles. Here's a pic of the 4/5 podium from our race.

-Henry Heisler

ChiCrossCup Title Sponsorship!

After about 157,987 nagging emails to Jason Knauff, we have landed the sponsorship!

Keep an eye on the blog and our Facebook page for updates on equipment, races, training, etc.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

We hope you have big plans, and in observance we're making some plans as well!

This weekend, we'll have the following special hours:

Friday May 28 - 9 am - 7 pm

Saturday May 29 - 10 am - 4 pm

Sunday May 30 - 10 am - 4 pm

Monday May 31 - 10 am - 2 pm

Enjoy the weekend, the weather is supposed to be beautiful!!

The Reader Best of 2010

Ever thought we were doing a good job for you? Feel free to help us out in return!

http://bestof.chicagoreader.com/list/3

New blog coming, new site around the corner!

We know, our website has been lacking, but it's for good reason: we work on bikes, not computers! I think we're pretty good at bikes, but our web design is lacking, and you know what, we're ok with that!

But, we do have some good stuff coming, thanks to some of our bike shop friends.

Stay tuned, more is coming!

Spring Classics - Leland

A whole bunch of IC riders headed out to the far, far suburb of Leland for the Leland Kermesse. I'm not sure what Kermesse means, but I'm pretty sure it is Flemmish for crappy roads.

Before the race Jason Meshberg offered sage advice to get to the front before the gravel because those at the front will put minutes into the rest of the field right away. I told my teammates to mark the strong guys, especially the cyclocrossers, because I had a feeling they would be the ones drilling it in the gravel. I also had a feeling the first break to get away would stay away for the rest of the race.

About 2 or 3 miles into the race, before we get to the gravel I'm talking to Larson. He drops back behind me to get a better draft and then I the sound of metal and carbon I pavement. I turn around to say, "hey Larson, did you see who crashed?," but I see no more Larson. Damn, taken out by a pot hole.

In the first gravel section, I'm not in great position in the group but I'm on Russ's wheel. I know that even if we get gapped here we can work together to move up. Next thing I know, a XXXer crashes for no apparent reason other than sliding a little and takes out Russ. I swerve into the ditch and save myself. This race is so chaotic. Where are my teamates at?

It seems like the group stayed together after the first gravel section. I move to the front and sit on Ben Popper and Mike Hemme's wheel. Sounds pretty weak, but this was my race strategy. I figured they would get anxious and go soon. Once we got to the gravel sections with a tailwind they went and I went with them hitting speeds over 35 mph. We exit the gravel and look back, there are just five of us left. I can't believe everybody got popped that easily, but the guys in the break are exactly the guys I expected to be in the break, Mike (CXer), Ben(CXer), John(CXer), and Patryk(Rookie).

John is the captain of the break and he organizes us into a paceline and we go to work putting time into the field. The first two laps were so hard I thought I could blow up at any time. Hemme fell off the pace and then Ben. Two laps to go and it is just the 3 of us. A chase group was no where in sight.

Knowing Ben and Mike are behind us I know they could catch a second wind if they can get some recovery when a chase group catches them, so I keep drilling it everytime I take a pull. Patryk flats about 2 miles from the finish and then it is just John and I as we make the last turn and cruise in to town.

It's a gentlemany sprint where John rides next to me and says that he doesn't want to sit on my wheel and then go around me at the end. I tell him it's all good, and do what you gotta do. I gauge the crosswind and go to the right side gutter and start riding hard leading out. John comes around me and I hope to get a nice draft on his right hip. It would have been a good strategy if I had anything left in the legs, but I get nipped by a wheel and take second.

It was a pretty good day for IC. Russ was 9th and Jordan was 10th. Tim was 10th in the 1/2/3 and Katie was 5th in the 4's.

I wish there were more road races like this. Big thanks to the Flatlandia crew for hosting such a great event.

Race Report 3/28/2010 C.O.U.G.A.R. Crit in Joliet

Ken, Jake, Katie, Chip, Kristina, Ed, Brandon and I went down to Joliet for the Cougar Crit this Sunday. Below is Kristina's race report:

First and foremost, a GREAT BIG THANKS to all the people who made the race possible, South Chicago Wheelmen, USA Cycling, AutoBahn Country Club and all the other cool people I don't know.

Race #1 A Good Pull

Ok so this was my second crit in a long time, the first being a Gapers Block Crit on Wednesday. I roll up with my trusty steed, a late 80's Bianchi (5sp Nuovo Record with downtube shifters...Brandon asks me "WHAT'S THAT!?" when he sees it). I got it at a yard sale for $50. I smile all excited but I have to say I was feeling a little silly lining up next to a full line of shiny carbon rigs with Zipp wheels, powertap hubs and the like. This was the womens 3/4 race. But I decided eh whatever I'm learning and who knows maybe I'll surprise somebody. So we go, and with a bit of trouble clipping in I manage to join in with the rest of the group at a light peppy pace mainly spinning and settling in and getting nice and comfortable with the nasty wind on the back stretch of the roughly 1.5 mi. course. Everybody is going along just fine for a while, a couple of small jumps here and there by some of the ladies just to see if we're all paying attention. We lost the team Pegasus rider that way and the headwind became her only companion. With 3 laps to go and no one obviously wanting to pull the group...case in point...when the front rider tries to pull to the side and let someone else up, the whole group would just stay right behind her...I decided to try and see what it was like and pulled the group. I felt good there for the 1st quarter of the lap, so I figure hey why not pull a littler harder and see what happens? Katie jumps on my rear wheel and I pick the pace up and hold it for a while...then I feel the wind in the back stretch...I'm getting tired, so I try and pull to the side to see if somebody, anybody wants to relieve me at the front...Nope nobody. Three times I try and move over to no avail. But Morgan decides shes gonna make a move and attacks, Katie and everyone else pretty much rush to catch her and leave me in the dust alone and close to imploded. Somehow I manage to keep it together and catch up in just under 2 laps and was with the group on the last lap, but I just didn't have any left in me to sprint to the finish, and that was that. My teammate Katie Isserman though, managed to sprint to a win in the end and landed a big win for Iron Cycles, so I was just glad to be around to see that. Lesson learned, if your going to pull hard w/ 3 laps to go you better be sacrificing yourself for a teammate, don't get any ideas of still placing well, especially if you get dropped.

RACE #2 The Wind and I are Good Friends Now

So after paying the extra $10 and no calls from the hubbie pleading for me to come home and relieve him of the kids, I decide to do the Womens Open Race. My legs were still aching from the race 2 hours prior so I knew deep down this was gonna hurt. And well it did. Right of the line. I couldn't clip into my pedals, I think the shoe covers were keeping the cleat from locking in initially. That on top of the cat 1/2 riders deciding to sprint at the start, pretty much took me out instantly. So I viewed the remainder of the race as a real hard training ride and learned to love the wind. Props out to Niki Cyp for cheering me on that one time, it really made me feel better. I was considering pulling out at first but that tipped the scales to stay in it. That and in the first race, the little juniors pretty much braved the wind by their lonesomes the whole time, why couldn't I? The guy in the lawn chair in the back stretch kept me company too, he was cool. I managed to not get lapped until later when I had a dropped chain cus the FD threw too far and the lead breakaway, Kristen? and Stacy rolled by me super fast. Four laps later same story, dropped chain and the main group lapped and hung with me a short while but their pace was too quick for my winded self. Yet again I was left to my own thoughts and encouragement and rolled to the end as fast as I could and tried to sprint out whatever I had in me to the end. Honestly I was just happy that my bike held up and didn't disintegrate on me. After a long talk with the wind...the wind thinks that I should train on the Bianchi, but maybe show up with something that has more than 10 speeds and weighs 10 lbs less next time. I have now decided to name the Bianchi "Headwind".

Cheers!

Kristina

Brown County Road Race

Jake and I drove down to the Bloomington, IN area for a taste of some early season Midwest road race action this past weekend. Here is his race report:

Brown County Road Race

Ted and I made the drive south to Nashville Indiana for the Brown County Road Race. The course was a closed 6 miles loop inside of the state park. It starts with a screaming descent, followed by two climbs, about 200 ft each, and false flats back to the finish.

Only 11 of us showed up at the line for the Cat 3 race. I didn’t get a chance to pre-ride the course, so when it was off, it was all new territory. The descent caught me off guard and I had trouble finding a good line. Basically, you are going 50+mph, then you need to stick a steep right followed by a sharp left, then its smooth sailing. I actually got dropped but managed to bridge back up as I can now see the descent lines clearly from the others in front of me.

After the first climb, it is only six of us remaining. To be honest, I feel terrible. I had food poisoning less than a week before and I am not 100 percent back on form yet. Coming into the next lap and series of climbs, I’m worried I might actually be the next to drop off the peloton. I managed to pace myself really well and stay at the front on the climbs feeling much better.

Finishing the climbs on lap three, I get to the front and keep the pace up, hoping to shell anybody on the fence. The 15y/o junior (Andrew dillman, redzone cycling) takes my cue throws down a punishing attack. I am the only one who goes with him. Eventually the race gets back together, but other 4 guys are clearly fatigued from the attacks.

On lap four, we finally shell one of the riders making it 5 of us. On lap 5 he manages to claw his way back up to us at the foot of the climbs. Unfortunately for him, he lasts about 5 seconds before we drop him again, as well as several others.

For the remainder of the race it is just three of us, 15y/o, some 130lb guy and me. I keep the pace hot on the last climb hoping to sail away, but it’s not enough to break anything up. Instead I just get stuck on the front. I’m on the front for almost two miles. I flick my elbows begging for somebody to pull through. I start riding erratically, slowing then accelerating to no avail. Then 15 y/o attacks hard and makes a huge gap. We chase and it comes back together with about 300m to go. 15y/o makes the jump, I grab his wheel, but ultimately run out of real estate. He wins by less than a wheel length. My calves cramp like crazy and I feel like I never really got the full power into my sprint. Oh well, it was a great race, clean course and a few points toward upgrading.

-jake

A new begining is near

Everyone here is excited about the new season. Fancy bikes are being built and race schedules are being planned.

If you haven't seen the new Storks, they are sweet.




Derrick is hold up an Absolutist 1.0 complete with SRAM Rival. Yes he is holding it up with only 1 finger. The bike weighs in at 17.3 lbs with pedals and pink bike computer. Just image how light that thing would be with some race wheels on it.

Nasty.