The best new chamois cream-evar!!! You should getcha some...I no longer spend the time, money or effort to go out for the Quad Cities weekend. I have no teammates which means I just get worked over in a women's field - not very positive. Instead, I opt to do the ABD Masters weekend in Wood Dale with my PACT/Dishnetwork teammates. Yeah, the self-proclaimed 'old guys.' The same ones that beat my ass over and over - which makes for fun, positive, hard racing. In addition to some daily payout there's an omnium so it's to one's advantage to work hard and finish well every day. As a team we had a great showing each day with Jim, Andy, Ziggy, Victor, Richard, Tommy, and Mike coming out for at least some if not all of the weekend. To provide every detail of each day would make for a really long post, so I'll do some summarizing, in the interest of keeping it brief.
Day 1: The break got away with PACT representation (Mike) with about 10min and 3 laps to go. Things had been pretty fast to that point. The field sprint developed nicely as Mack led things out into the final two turns. I felt good about my chances in the sprint, sitting fourth wheel when Don Lowe rolled his rear tubular in front of me. I had about a tenth of a second to make a choice: run him over or lean left and hope he sticks to the road. Fortunately for me, he stuck to the road and I finished 8th on the day. Mike ended up 3rd so our work to contain things paid off with a strong finish. I know Don went and had some things sewn back together and he's got to be pretty sore. Don, I'm so sorry you went down - feel better soon. I rode in the back of the 40+race after the 50+ ended and finished safely with the field. Tired legs!
Day 2: It seemed like today was even harder than yesterday and I wasn't really feeling the love. Things were very animated and the usual suspects were killing each other til the break finally escaped, again with maybe 10min and 3 laps to go. We had Mike up there so our work was done. After they were away, nothing much happened in the field except a lot of slow so the break caught us with a few laps to go. Everything got crazy and fast going into the final sprint but I managed to finish well enough to take 7th on the day. Mike did a good job too - taking 4th out of the break. I didn't do the 40+ which was a wise choice given that I felt like ass.
Day 3: Probably the best course of the weekend - a 1.6mi circuit that combines the Saturday and Sunday courses into one loop with a short rise before the final turn. We had three riders (Mike, Richard and me) in good position in the overall so getting strong finishes for all of us was important. I tried an early attack that was covered by two others and we stayed away for a little while but Mike put in the attack that successfully got him away for the remainder of the race. Tom Doughty bridged to him and we put the brakes on anything that twitched in the field. In the end, I was hosed in the sprint by a couple guys nearly bouncing off each other before the last turn so my finish pretty much sucked. It was all okay, though, because Mike took 2nd on the day and secured 3rd overall for himself. Richard's finish helped him to a 6th place overall and I managed to earn enough points for 7th overall.
I'm mostly pleased with how my weekend went. I would've liked to make the break the first and second days but both times I was boxed in on the wrong side of the road when things got hot. Big picture tells me to just be content and look to what's next. Racing with guys like Tom Doughty, Mike, Jim Host, Wayne Simon, Brent Emery, Andy Kerr, Bob Downs, Fabio Orlandi and the Mack boys makes me stronger, faster and smarter. Thank you for killing me, tools - you guys ROCK.
Also, many thanks to ABD and ABR for all they do to make this a great weekend of racing - all of the racers truly appreciate your efforts!
Day 1: The break got away with PACT representation (Mike) with about 10min and 3 laps to go. Things had been pretty fast to that point. The field sprint developed nicely as Mack led things out into the final two turns. I felt good about my chances in the sprint, sitting fourth wheel when Don Lowe rolled his rear tubular in front of me. I had about a tenth of a second to make a choice: run him over or lean left and hope he sticks to the road. Fortunately for me, he stuck to the road and I finished 8th on the day. Mike ended up 3rd so our work to contain things paid off with a strong finish. I know Don went and had some things sewn back together and he's got to be pretty sore. Don, I'm so sorry you went down - feel better soon. I rode in the back of the 40+race after the 50+ ended and finished safely with the field. Tired legs!
Day 2: It seemed like today was even harder than yesterday and I wasn't really feeling the love. Things were very animated and the usual suspects were killing each other til the break finally escaped, again with maybe 10min and 3 laps to go. We had Mike up there so our work was done. After they were away, nothing much happened in the field except a lot of slow so the break caught us with a few laps to go. Everything got crazy and fast going into the final sprint but I managed to finish well enough to take 7th on the day. Mike did a good job too - taking 4th out of the break. I didn't do the 40+ which was a wise choice given that I felt like ass.
Day 3: Probably the best course of the weekend - a 1.6mi circuit that combines the Saturday and Sunday courses into one loop with a short rise before the final turn. We had three riders (Mike, Richard and me) in good position in the overall so getting strong finishes for all of us was important. I tried an early attack that was covered by two others and we stayed away for a little while but Mike put in the attack that successfully got him away for the remainder of the race. Tom Doughty bridged to him and we put the brakes on anything that twitched in the field. In the end, I was hosed in the sprint by a couple guys nearly bouncing off each other before the last turn so my finish pretty much sucked. It was all okay, though, because Mike took 2nd on the day and secured 3rd overall for himself. Richard's finish helped him to a 6th place overall and I managed to earn enough points for 7th overall.
I'm mostly pleased with how my weekend went. I would've liked to make the break the first and second days but both times I was boxed in on the wrong side of the road when things got hot. Big picture tells me to just be content and look to what's next. Racing with guys like Tom Doughty, Mike, Jim Host, Wayne Simon, Brent Emery, Andy Kerr, Bob Downs, Fabio Orlandi and the Mack boys makes me stronger, faster and smarter. Thank you for killing me, tools - you guys ROCK.
Also, many thanks to ABD and ABR for all they do to make this a great weekend of racing - all of the racers truly appreciate your efforts!
