After a ridiculously mild summer, the weather gods turned mighty cranky this weekend. The broiling began as soon as a light rain subsided in Grayslake on Saturday, and many a rider fizzled in the sizzle of Sunday’s oppressive heat in Glencoe. The only brief relief came in the form of a quick thunderstorm that interrupted Sunday’s P/1/2 race.

Some highlights:

• » With its sweeping turns, Grayslake isn’t a technical course, but poor Sean Metz (Apache) had an unfortunate run-in with a mailbox in the P/1/2 race, this after lapping the field with three others. He scrambled to a replacement bike but lost the lap he’d gained. Meanwhile, fellow break mates Ryan Freund (ABD) and Scott Pearson (Comcast) set off the front a second time, with Freund sprinting and posting up for a nice win — with one lap to go. Fortunately for Freund, he was still able to collect himself and sprint for the win a lap later, this time for keeps.
• » Bad luck also fell on XXX Racing-AthletiCo, which managed to get two riders in the break of the 3’s race, only to have both flat in the final laps, and it was ICA Cup leader Justin Armstead (Team Mack) taking the win in the sprint.
• » Team BH USA very nearly swept both day’s of women’s P/1/2/3 podiums. Kristen Meshberg single-handedly lapped the field Saturday while teammate Devon Haskell, in her first race back from another stint racing in Europe, also went off the front to solo into 2nd place. After going up a lap, Meshberg set to work leading out Madeleine Puissant to a sprint for 3rd. The next day, in a race shortened to 20 minutes after pausing for lightning to pass, it was defending champion Haskell’s turn to be off the front by herself (above). Meshberg then got to enjoy a free ride on the wheel of Jeannie Kuhajek (Team Mack), who valiantly pursued, only to have Meshberg come around in the homestretch for 2nd.
• » Burnham Racing made well-timed escapes in two races Sunday. In the 30+ 1/2/3 race, Jason Knauff and Andrew Rizzo (Comcast) slipped away a little more than midway through. They held a 20-second gap the rest of the way, with Knauff taking the win. An hour later, Julian Baumgartner did the same trick, but he lost his companion early and had to go solo for the last six laps. Meanwhile, teammate Nate Iden took the sprint for 2nd, a nice example of what can happen when you force the other teams to chase. And thanks to spending so much time off the front, Knauff and Baumgartner gobbled enough sprint points to win their respective sprint contests, contests that electrified the racing all day.
• » Team MS Racing also had a blockbuster day. It was active in all the lower-category races and showed its depth by sweeping the podium after a bunch sprint in the 30+ 4/5’s behind Erik Wiebe, Dan Cooper and Sam Schaefer. Later, Schaefer created a four-man break late in the 4’s race and won the sprint despite being outnumbered by two ABD riders.
• » Glencoe’s P/1/2 race stayed together with New Zealand pros Josh England (Subway-Avanti) and Hayden Godfrey (Subway-Avanti) going 1-2 in the sprint. Brian Cornelius (Landis/Trek) reeled off the day’s fastest circuit, a factoid for which we can thank chip timing, averaging 30.8 mph on the final lap to take 3rd. Mike Sherer (Alderfer Bergen) in 4th was the top local finisher.
• » Sherer had a successful Saturday, too, going 1-2 with teammate and Northwestern University student Will Nowak at the Warsaw Downtown Criterium in Indiana.

Full Glencoe a.m. results. Full Glencoe p.m. results.

Grayslake reports
ABD Cycling (P/1/2): “Ryan Freund turned a potentially embarrassing situation into another win.”

Kevin Butler (Wheelfast; 30+ 4/5): “This what separates us from our golfing and softball-playing adult-sports bretheren.”

Liam Donoghue (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3): “I wanted to get in a break and have it be more than me, myself and I off the front.”

Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; P/1/2): “There are a few things that I think accounted for my suckiness, but I’ll spare you.”

Madeleine Puissant (Team BH USA; W-open): “We decided to make it hot from the start and boy did we!”

Luke Seemann (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3): “We floated backward together, he daring me to surge forward and take a pull.”

Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless; 30+ 1/2/3): “There should be some good video of my substantial arse posted somewhere.”

Mike Shea (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4): “I knew as I was entering the turn that I was not going to make it.”

Grayslake photos
Andrew Rizzo

Glencoe reports
Julian Baumgartner (Burnham Racing; 3): “Coming up to the line amidst a sprint for a two-man wine prime I found myself in perfect position.”

Devon Haskell (Team BH USA; W-P/1/2): “It was a tough battle trying to stay away, but there were lots of people hanging out in the rain and providing encouragement.”

Joey Iuliano (P/1/2; Purdue): “Somehow in the next few laps became stupid and forgot those oh-so-nice lines I was taking just a few minutes earlier.”

Chris Koster (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “There were 300 meters to go and I think the others were not expecting to start the sprint that early.”

Derek Laan (Panther/RGF; P/1/2): “Ryan, Greg and I planned to race aggressively and hope a break went with one of us in it.”

Thomas Macneill-Zimmerman (Half Acre Cycling; 5): “I was defending my position and ready to sprint at any point.”

Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; P/1/2): “I just focused on my position and not making any moves unless I felt good enough to make them.”

Martin Michalowicz (Team MS Racing; 30+ 4/5, 4): “As I cleared the apex, I started to feel my front wheel skid. Now I knew I was in trouble.”

Will Nowak (Alderfer Bergen; P/1/2): “A rainstorm rolled though right before our race, which conveniently cooled down what had previously been an unbearably hot day.”

Joe Schubert (Half Acre Cycling; 4): “I was stuck in the accordion and found myself after the natural breaks after each corner.”

Frank Shapiro (Alberto’s; 5, 30+ 4/5): “In all my nervousness, I had forgotten to remove my saddle bag before the race. What a rube.”

Mike Shea (Spidermonkey Cycling; 30+ 4/5, 4): “Tactics. Hmmm.”

Stan Sterlinski (Half Acre Cycling; 4): “I felt crossing that line was a type of win itself at Glencoe, and I’ve got some great sunburn as my prize.”

Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless; 30+ 1/2/3): ” I attacked the field immediately after we caught them as I don’t generally like other people.”

Glencoe photos
Amy Dykema
Carolyn Golz
Luke Seemann
Frank Shapiro
Ed White