One of the summer’s most exciting weekends is upon us with four great races near the Quad Cities, three days of masters racing in the suburbs and a new stage race in Wisconsin.

The weekend’s jewel is the legendary Snake Alley Criterium on Saturday. The course features a steep, famously crooked switchback paved with brick, followed by a steep, technical descent. As the day goes on, the hill becomes a spectacle as rowdy spectators badger and cajole riders struggling to navigate the climb, and it’s looking like perfect weather. (Tradition in the Pro/1/2 race is for fans to hand cold beers to racers as they throw in the towel.)

The race plays out almost like cyclocross: The sprint comes at the beginning, not the end, and packs will immediately disintegrate into small clusters of riders. Success hinges on being among the first to the Snake on the first lap, lest you get bottlenecked behind the inevitable crashes and overmatched riders. Get forced to dismount and you’ll be half a lap down by the time you get to the top. And if you’re not passing people on the way up, you’re doing something wrong.

My personal experience notwithstanding, the descents are fast but safe. Find a good line early, lay off the brakes and trust your bike.

Once the race starts, riders will be too fried from climbing the Snake to think straight, so it’s important to have a reliable routine for getting through the rest of the course. This turn-by-turn guide from Steve Thordarson (Smart Cycling) is essential pre-race reading. Read it. Memorize it. Tape it to your stem.

The weekend stays hot with big, popular criteriums in nearby Muscatine, Iowa, and Rock Island, Ill., the latter of which is affectionately known as the “Cage Match.”

New this year is the Tour of Elkhart Lake, an omnium stage race near Sheboygan, Wis., with a crit on Saturday, a flat road race around an airport on Sunday and a time trial on Monday.

Locally, ABD is hosting not one, not two, but three days of masters racing in Wood Dale, each day on a different loop. The categories start at 30+ for both men and women, with separate races for beginners.

Friday Wapello-Burlington Road Race USAC road race Burlington, Iowa Distance from Chicago: 4.5 hours

Saturday ABD Memorial Day Weekend Masters Race ABR criterium Wood Dale, Ill. Distance from Chicago: .5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2008, 2009

Tour of Elkhart Lake Criterium ABR criterium Elkhart Lake, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2.5 hours

Snake Alley Criterium USAC criterium Burlington, Iowa Distance from Chicago: 4.5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

Sunday ABD Memorial Day Weekend Masters Race ABR criterium Wood Dale, Ill. Distance from Chicago: .5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2008, 2009

Tour of Elkhart Lake Road Race ABR road race Elkhart Lake, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2.5 hours

Melon City Criterium USAC criterium Muscatine, Iowa Distance from Chicago: 4 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

Monday ABD Memorial Day Weekend Masters Race ABR criterium Wood Dale, Ill. Distance from Chicago: .5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2008, 2009

Quad Cities Criterium USAC criterium Rock Island, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 3.5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

• » ABD’s Wednesday series returns for at least one more night. Brownie primes are promised.
• » Registration is open for the Spring Prairie Road Race, Wisconsin’s state championships. Historically this has sold out in the lower categories, even with a separate field for out-of-staters, although that may change this year with our own state championships the day before.
• » The Superweek schedule now has a second TBD: The Sunday Palos Hills race no longer appears.
• » Inside Northwestern’s cycling program.
• » Only 18 more Cat 5 spots at the Sherman Park Criterium.
• » In 10 years of commuting and training on the lakefront I’ve never felt unsafe, so I’m willing to classify this week’s violence as anomalies. Nonetheless, stay alert and aware of your surroundings out there.

It was a particularly hot weekend of racing.

The temperature was above normal, too, and Sunday’s heat combined with an unplanned 180-degree turn to make the Urbana Grand Prix an attrition fest

— only 24 of the 54 P/1/2 starters finished —

  but it also allowed for several exciting breaks, including a three-man break in the 3’s that lapped the field, won by John Whipple (Tati Cycles) in a remarkably close photo finish.

Other highlights from the weekend:

• » The P/1/2 races drew some of the strongest teams from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, including Panther, Texas Roadhouse and Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. On Saturday, however, it was host Verizon u25 that put on the clinic at Saturday’s Tour de Champaign. After a furiously fast first few laps, it got two riders into a five-man break. With five laps to go, Ryan Freund, above, was able to get clear, cheekily tapping on an imaginary wireless device as he crossed the line. Behind him, teammates Will Nowak and Mike Sherer won their respective sprints to take 2nd and 6th. Nowak saved enough gas to finish 2nd again on Sunday, with Sherer and Freund also landing in the top 10.
• » Patrick Fasse continues his hot streak in the 30+. He won Sunday’s in Urbana after getting away with Steven Broglio (Verizon Wireless) from a surprisingly small field.
• » Another week, another impressive 3’s race for IS Corp. After being off the front for much of the race, Scott Rosenfield (IS Corp) and Joe Tortorelli (Verizon Wireless) clung to a small gap to start the bell lap. Suddenly Chazz Martin (IS Corp) burst from the pack and came to Rosenfield’s rescue. Together they stayed away with a comfortable margin, with Martin sitting up to allow Rosenfield a well-deserved win.
• » Kyle Selph (Tower Racing)  burst on the scene last year, winning his first four 5’s races, including twice at the state road race championships. He’s picked up where he left off, winning Saturday out of the 4/5’s bunch sprint.
• » A good weekend for Jason Rassi (Wild Card Cycling): He finished 2nd to Selph Saturday, then won the 4’s on Sunday.
• » Julio Jacobo (PYOC) had a good weekend in Wisconsin. He won Saturday’s 3’s race in Hartland, then placed 6th Sunday in Sussex.
• » Also in Wisconsin, XXX Racing-AthletiCo won a 35+ 4/5’s race for the third week in a row, this time thanks to Curtis Eldridge in Hartland. He also placed 4th in the 5’s.

Saturday results
Tour de Champaign
Chiropractic Criterium

Sunday results
Urbana Grand Prix
Sussex Criterium

Champaign reports
Adam Herndon (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4/5, 3/4): “I tried to stay at the front so as to stay out of the mess, but was still being unnecessarily bumped and cut into.”

Joey Iuliano (ReCycling; P/1/2): “I remember seeing a pile in the exit of the corner, people braking, some screaming, me fish tailing, and then someone plowing into my rear wheel.”

Will Nowak (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “The three remaining riders tried to organize a chase and I did my best to disrupt it.”

Rob Raguet-Schofield (Wild Card Cycling; 3/4): “The brutal accelerations wreaked havoc on my tired legs.”

Hogan Sills (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “I did manage to get one prime, but after that I was toast and finished towards the back.”

Tim Speciale (Psimet; 3/4, 3): “Close, but no cigar.”

Joe Tortorelli (Verizon Wireless; 3): “So, so, so close, although I had never been so far into the ‘red’ as I was in that break.”

Champaign photos
Liz Brunson
Luke Seemann
Verizon u25

Urbana reports
Cathy Frampton (Project 5; W-3/4, W-open): “Holy crap. A 180-degree turn? Seriously?”

Adam Herndon (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “The last lap was the dumbest lap of racing I have done.”

Will Nowak (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “The three remaining riders tried to organize a chase and I did my best to disrupt it.”

Hogan Sills (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “In our pre-race meeting we likened this race to a flat Snake Alley in that the race would only be at the front with gobs coming off the back.”

Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless; 40+): “Certainly in all fields, it was a tough-guy race.”

Joe Tortorelli (Verizon Wireless; 3): “A hard, hard race.”

John Whipple (Tati Cycles; 3): “There were eight laps left and it looked like the race was going to turn into an attack fest.”

Urbana photos
Liz Brunson
Paymon Danesh
Mark Novack
Verizon u25

Prolific Midwest racer Duane Dickey (Mercy-Specialized) says he expects a two-year suspension and possibly a lifetime ban after refusing a drug test when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency visited his home in Cokato, Minn.

Dickey was first suspended in 2002 for testing positive for phentermine, boldenone and nandrolone at the 2001 Tour of Guatemala. In the years that followed he endured medical calamity after calamity, as documented in this magazine story, including the removal of a brain tumor, removal of his colon and multiple surgeries to repair a twisted intestine.

He nonetheless returned to competitive cycling and in 2006 received a three-year therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the drug regimen he now had to follow. He says he re-applied to start the 2009 season, but USADA never issued the exemption, instead demanding additional medical information.

This year he re-applied. “Once again they kept asking for more,” he says. “I didn’t understand this as nothing has changed with my health and it never will change, at least not for the better.”

In early April, his doctor’s office faxed the requested information to USADA.

USADA had not yet issued him his TUEs when it arrived Tuesday, May 11, for out-of-competition testing. Knowing he would test positive, Dewey says, he declined, and as a result he was told to sign a form acknowledging that he faced a two-year ban. “Maybe that was a bad choice, but it’s too late now.”

Dickey says this was the first time he has ever been asked to be tested in the United States.

Monday, less than a week after the visit, Dickey received e-mail saying his three-year TUEs had been approved.

“The whole thing just seems weird to me,” Dickey told me last week. “Why would they come after me like that? They knew I didn’t have my TUEs in place, yet they came anyway knowing I would either not take the test or test positive.”

In 2008 Dickey won both the P/1/2 and the 30+ at the prestigious Snake Alley Criterium. In what may have been the last race of his career, Dickey won the P/1/2/3 race at Sunday’s State Fair Criterium in Des Moines, Iowa. The week before he placed 3rd in the time trial and 5th overall in the 1/2’s at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas.

On May 1, Dickey raced the P/1/2 Circuit of Sauk in Wisconsin. A rider in the chase group tells me that after a long, devastating pull to start the last lap, Dickey said “Have a good race” to his fellow riders, turned around and returned to the start/finish area.

We get crits in both directions this weekend: Champaign and Urbana to the south, Brookfield, Wis., and Sussex, Wis., to the north. I’ve not done any of them so I can’t offer much insight. I’ll note, however, that Champaign and Urbana have some of the biggest purses we’ve seen this year, with $2,000 and $3,000 going the the P/1/2 races. Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless)  promises a festival atmosphere, complete with live music and adult beverages. Saturday’s race has a shorter schedule, culminating with a twilight P/1/2 race, but Sunday’s more technical course has a full slate of fields and is part of the Illinois Cup.

Saturday Tour de Champaign USAC criterium Champaign, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours Previous wrap-up: 2009

Chiropractic Criterium USAC criterium Hartland, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2008, 2009

Sunday Urbana Grand Prix USAC criterium Urbana, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours Previous wrap-up: 2009

Sussex Criterium USAC criterium Sussex, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2008, 2009

» Tonight is the Ride of Silence to remember those injured or killed in traffic.

» Tonight is also the last scheduled night of racing in West Chicago. ABD reports that if enough people turnout, the series will be extended.

» Velo City hits the Kenosha velodrome Saturday. Winners are eligible for round-trip airfare to Guatemala for the Cycle Messenger World Championships.

» Northbrook Garner Bicycle Club is organizing Wednesday night track sessions for juniors, starting June 16.

» The Chicago Cyclocross Cup has announced a preliminary 2010 schedule. And I have it on good authority that XXX Racing-AthletiCo is planning an extra event in Jackson Park on Aug. 29.

» One of the lovelier ride invitations you’ll ever receive.

» Samantha Schneider (Tibco) visited Glencoe South this week.

» Registration recently opened for the June 6 Wonder Lake Lakeside Criterium and the June 19 Cobb Park Criterium.

» Anti-bike terrorists strike in Maryland.

Various correspondents are starting to refer to this weekend as KAWOR: Kick-ass Weekend of Racing. Who am I to argue? It was pretty splendid indeed, and many racers showed good results on both days.

I can’t possibly shower praise on all who deserve it, but here some of this busy weekend’s highlights:

• » Where on earth did Andrew Bates (Olympia Orthopaedic) come from? That may be what Mike Sherer (Verizon u25) spent Saturday evening wondering. Bates of Evanston outkicked Sherer to take the sprint win from a giant P/1/2/3 field at Monsters of the Midway.
• » Verizon u25 would have its chance to celebrate in its new kits the next day at Fox River Grove: Teammates Sherer, Will Nowak and Ryan Freund were three of the final five-man selection in the P/1/2 race — a selection created in part when Brian Dziewa (ABD) set off as a rabbit on the first lap, setting a blistering pace up the hill — with Nowak getting free for the win and Sherer cleaning up behind him for 2nd.
• » Stacy Appelwick (Bouledogue Tout Noir) continues to show the great form she took to the Tour of the Gila. On Saturday she solo’d away midway through the women’s 3/4’s, then took 3rd in the women’s open sprint. She repeated the feat at Fox River Grove, winning the 3/4’s, then beating Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia) in the two-up sprint for 2nd. (Jessi Prinner (ABD), fresh from her latest European tour, took 1st after being able to stick with the men’s 50+ leaders racing concurrently.)
• » Patrick Fasse (Bicycle Heaven) took the lllinois Cup 30+ lead by winning at both Monsters and Fox River Grove. Ed Amstutz (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) nearly pulled off the masters double, too: At the base of the final climb of the Fox River Grove 40+ he blasted free of a four-man selection for the win, a day after finishing 2nd to Fasse in the 30+.
• » Monsters was good to ReCycling: On a course made for sprinters, Henry Loud won the 3’s in emphatic fashion, and teammate Justin Lyons took the 4’s in a close bunch sprint.
• » Ian Murray and William Pankonin of XXX Racing-AthletiCo got some great results in the lower categories over the weekend. Murray won the 4/5’s at Monsters and stayed away from the mayhem in the 4’s to grab 2nd. While he was enjoying the flattest course in the Midwest, Pankonin was having his way on the hilliest, Wisconsin’s La Rue-Denzer-La Rue. After making a final group of 4 in the 35+ 4/5’s, Pankonin rode away on the final climb to take his second victory in as many weeks. (He also won the 35+ 4/5’s at last week’s Muskego Criterium.) Fox River Grove brought Murray and Pankonin together in the 4’s, where they overcame two escaped riders in the last turns to go 1-2.
• » The 3’s race at Fox River Grove was larger than in years past, and despite individual efforts to get away it stayed together more than usual, too, yielding a rare group sprint, taken by David Reyes (Bloomington Cycle), above.
• » Dustin Morici (Bloomington Cycle) of St. Charles is not a rider we’ve heard much about but I suspect we’re bound to hear more: He attacked on the final La Rue-Denzer-La Rue climb to get a clear 4/5’s victory, then finished 3rd in the 4’s at Fox River Grove.
• » There weren’t many Chicago riders at Madison’s Wheels on Willy, but we swept the 3’s race with Chazz Martin (IS Corp), Joel Friedman (Bicycle Heaven) and Ryan Zook (Comcast) going 1-2-3 in the sprint. It yielded a very impressive post-up, as captured by John Wilke at Peloton-Pix. Note Martin’s elegant, understated “modified crucifix” posture: confident and firm yet humble and relaxed. Obviously someone has been practicing. Equally impressive, however, is Friedman behind him, offering the first standing ovation I have ever seen in competitive cycling. Two class acts here.
• » Wilke reports that Martin crashed out of the P/1/2/3 race, but teammate James Bird finished in 13th, an impressive result given the size and composition of that field.
• » How long did it take for the Fox River Grove 5’s field to detonate? Not long at all. Video compliments of Omar Patalinghug (Unattached).
• » Slowly but surely Fox River Grove approaches its potential for Alpe d’Huez-like spectator encampment and merriment. Tati Cycles did a fine job chalking the climb this year, and this video shows some tifosi practicing their cyclocross heckles. (Just three months to go, friends.)

Saturday results
La Rue-Denzer-La Rue
Monsters of the Midway

Sunday results
Fox River Grove
Wheels on Willy

Monsters of the Midway reports
Stephen Butler (Wheelfast; 4): “I had to stand on the pedals and jam out of the corners every time we turned into the long straightaways.”

Rob Curtis (Psimet; 4, 4/5): “There was a lot of groaning and bitching like usual.”

Shawn Delk (Project 5; 4): “I had that sixth sense creeping in. You know it, that crash feeling. I had avoided all of them for some time now.”

Mike Ebert (Verizon u25; P/1/2/3): “I could tell it was going to be tough.”

Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-3/4, W-open): “I’m not ashamed of a pack finish in that race. It was the hardest flat race I’ve ever done.”

Nick Gajewski (Rhythm Racing; 4/5): “Jittery riders, sketchy maneuvering, and the always fun yo-yoing out of the corners.”

Arron Hampton (Psimet; 4/5, 5): “In a blink of any eye

— or is that a tap of a brake —

20 riders could fly past.”

Adam Herndon (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4, 4/5): “With everyone in the front turning to look back at the crash while going fast in to the turn, I kept my head forward and yelled at people to do the same.”

Jason Knauff (Burnham Racing; 3): “Unsatisfied with a DNF I continued on a bit angry.”

Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia; W-open): “We had yet another fun, active race.”

Ian Murray (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4, 4/5): “I was Cavendish, not Haussler; so I kept my head down and drove through the line.”

Ella Neurohr (Unattached; 10-14): “‘PLOOPY!’”

Peloton Star: “It would take a magic combination of riders to escape today.”

Matt Riezman (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5): “Around 20 minutes in, my brain finally turned on.”

Grayson Smith (Rhythm Racing; 4/5): “Lots of hooting and hollering through the competition.”

Tim Speciale (Psimet; 3, P/1/2/3): “Someone’s arm rammed into my right leg.”

Monsters of the Midway photos
Jeff Chen
Katie Cook
Peloton-Pix
Mike Rich
Tati Cycles
Andrew Zens (video)

La Rue-Denzer-La Rue reports
Brian Koeneman (Wheel & Sprocket; 35+ 1/2/3, P/1/2): “‘Mind over matter.’”

William Pankonin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 35+ 4/5): “I looked back and saw a nice big gap.”

Fox River Grove reports
Ron Cook (Project 5; 3): “For the final four laps it became a game of how many riders can i pick off.”

Ryan Fay (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “I was liking our odds for something special.”

Kim Gialdini (Flatlandia; W-3/4, W-open): ” I hit the climb. My legs were burning. Push, push push. Close that gap! Go Go Go.”

Adam Herndon (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4, 4/5): “I went in knowing that I was going to be just surviving not winning.”

Jason Knauff (Burnham Racing; 3): “It’s too bad the strongest guy in the race missed the podium by one spot. I guess that’s Cat 3 racing in the Midwest.”

Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia; W-open): “The amazingly strong Stacy Appelwick, in her second race of the day, caught me and I hung onto her wheel for dear life to the finish.”

Ian Murray (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4, 4/5): “I had my eyes fixed on the two leaders.”

Avi Neurohr (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew; 40+): “I was racing against guys with hyperbaric chambers and national titles.”

Will Nowak (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “I was pretty confident that Mike would have the race locked up if we all went to the line together, but why risk it?”

William Pankonin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “After the turn, we both jumped and sprinted in to the line.”

Matt Riezman (Spidermonkey Cycling; 5): “I finished, I was not last, and it hurt the whole time.”

Grayson Smith (Rhythm Racing; 5): “If I could do this race twice a month I’d be there every weekend.”

Tim Speciale (Psimet; 3, P/1/2/3): “Hammer up the hill, go down, try again.”

Fox River Grove photos
Katie Cook
Eric Goodwin
Chris Kinonen
Ian Murray
Grayson Smith
Verizon u25

Wheels on Willy reports
Peloton Star

• » Harold Kelly once fixed a flat for me, and I’m glad I had the honor. The Cycle Smithy fixture passed away last week.  A memorial service is scheduled for July 10.
• » As Dave Fowkes focuses more on official development, accomplished coach Steve Thordardson (Smart Cycling) becomes the ICA’s upgrade coordinator.
• » In Spain, junior national time trial champion Jessi Prinner (ABD) placed 2nd in the road race and won the time trial at the Tour of Costa Brava.
• » In France, Greta Neimanas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) won five races — and 100 pounds of ham—at the Urt International Paracycling Challenge.
• » Scott Rosenfield (IS Corp) eloquently reminisces about his first season of collegiate cycling.
• » Discounted rooms are available for next weekend’s races in Champaign.
• » Verizon u25 put together two fun videos from the Vernon Hills Grand Prix. In the first, Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless) single-handedly drags two riders across a large gap, including eventual winner Waylon Janowiak (Verizon u25). Then watch the picture-in-picture view of the last two laps as Janowiak and Will Nowak (Verizon u25) beating up on the six-man break.
• » ABD has released information on its Memorial Day weekend masters races.
• » Entering the Memorial Day fray this year is the Tour of Elkhart Lake, an ABR-sanctioned omnium near Sheboygan, Wis. Previously a two-person event, the time trial stage has been changed to an individual time trial.
• » The Tour of California starts Sunday. As always, Rouleur Derby is your spot to make it interesting.

This is shaping up to be one of the better weekends of the year. Four great races over two days, with something for everyone. I regret I can’t do all of them.

Saturday is the familiar Monsters of the Midway criterium at the University of Chicago, just off the lakefront path. This year the race falls under USA Cycling sanction and joins the Illinois Cup. The course is a basic flat rectangle. Breaking away can be difficult because it’s impossible to get out of sight. But consider bringing GPS: Each year someone manages to take a wrong turn during a race. Go figure.

The final corner is about 300 meters from the finish. I’m never one to judge a sprint well, but I recommend taking note of the wind during the race.  If it’s in your face off the lake, be a little patient and prepare to jump wheels up to glory. Otherwise, a tailwind may let you start your sprint out of the corner.

Tati Cycles has some notable primes, including various Rapha products and a custom frame for the winner of the women’s 3/4’s.

Note that the both the 5’s and 4/5’s races have filled.

Sunday’s Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge is one of my favorites. It’s a course as fun to watch as it is to ride, and I feel it’s gradually growing in reputation. This year it does not conflict with the popular Giro d’ Grafton, so I hope turnout improves.

The heralded ski-jump climb starts not far from the start. Ascending will take 45-60 seconds, depending on your legs, too long for most of us to tackle out of the saddle, so sit for as much of it as you can. The steepest pitch is at the bottom. You need to approach the turn in your small ring and one of your bigger cogs

—

better to spin for a few seconds than to be overgeared and risk a shifting mishap. Halfway up it becomes a series of shallower stair steps. Get back into your big ring as soon as you can.

Over the top it’s smooth, fast sailing all the way to the bottom. If you’re gapped, it’s possible to hammer down the hill to regain contact, but be quick about if. If you don’t get back on terms before it’s time to climb again, your next gap is going to be even bigger.

The finish line is about 150 meters from the final corner. Winners will be either sprinting out of that corner or, more likely, zipping up and performing an elaborate post-up.

Farther away on Saturday there is La Rue-Denzer-La Rue, perhaps my favorite road race in the Midwest. The course was revised last year to add even more climbing: Each full lap throws more 1,250 feet at riders. Fields that do the lap-and-a-half version—for a total of three climbs—will climb about 1,900 feet.

The first climb is about 4 miles long, mostly around 3 percent to 4 percent in grade. The second climb on each full lap is 3 miles long but pitches up to about 7 percent for good sections of it. Each one will shake things up, but fields tend to dawdle in between. If you find yourself dropped, don’t panic. Ride well and work with others and there’s still a good chance to regain contact.

This second climb is followed by a false flat and then about a 4-mile downhill dash to the start-finish area. If you go over the final crest with a good gap, ride like hell and don’t look back until it’s done. Otherwise, prepare for a fast downhill sprint.

I’ve theorized that La Rue-Denzer-La Rue doesn’t get the turnout it deserves because many riders will want to save their legs for Sunday’s Wheels on Willy criterium in Madison, and I can’t entirely blame them. It’s a fantastic course

— reminds me of the late Downers Grove course, with a good uphill on the start/finish stretch —

that gets great support from the neighborhood, and the past two years more than 80 riders have entered the P/1/2/3 race, a big turnout for a local criterium.

Saturday Monsters of the Midway USAC criterium Chicago Distance from Chicago: 0 Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

La Rue-Denzer-La Rue USAC road race La Rue, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 3.5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

Sunday Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge USAC criterium Fox River Grove, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 1 hour Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

Wheels on Willy USAC criterium Madison, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2.5 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008, 2009

 

Veteran racer and recent ABD rider Josh Carter (Hotel San Jose) won the Division I criterium in Madison on Saturday, earning himself a national championship on behalf of Midwestern State.

A late break was not caught until the final lap. USA Cycling reported that Carter, a recent transplant to Texas and an accomplished sprinter, carried a large gap from the final corner to take the win.

Julio Jacobo (PYOC) finished 19th, riding for the University of Wisconsin.

Northwestern’s Will Nowak (Verizon u25), who appeared in Friday’s Sun-Times, was off the front for a good portion of Friday’s road race, but he did not finish. He may have been one of the many riders to succumb to a flat on the cold, wet Blue Mounds course.

Full results.

• » USA Cycling previews this weekend’s collegiate national championships in Madison. Among the local schools representing will be Northwestern, which qualified as a team for the first time since 2007. Hit them hard, friends, and hit them low. Go, Northwestern, go.
• » At Sunday’s Vernon Hills Grand Prix, ICA technical director Dave Fowkes noted that he would be enforcing the new USA Cycling Rule 3D4: “Riders who have lost contact with the field and are then caught by a breakaway from the field may not lead ...  Riders off the front of the field may not accept assistance from riders who have lost contact with the back of the field ... Lapped riders may rejoin and race with the field.” (Reasonable people may disagree, but I feel it is bad form — and potentially dangerous — for riders off the back to reintegrate with the field, and even if they do not pull I feel it is extremely bad form to join a breakaway. If you’re dropped, take your lumps and ride alone or with other dropped riders.)
• » There is still space at Monday’s Rahsaan Bahati dinner in Skokie.
• » After a successful debut last week, ABD’s Wednesday night series continues tonight. Meanwhile, Soldier Field Cycling hasn’t made an official announcement but it has updated its schedule page: Go ahead and circle June 23, July 14 and Aug. 11.
• » Registration for July’s Allvoi Cup is imminent.
• » Universal Sports will charge $15 to stream the Giro d’Italia. Have you made your Rouleur Derby picks yet?
• » Steve Tilford (Tradewind Energy/Trek Stores) and I agree: Keep your hands to yourself.
• » Best flier ever.

Highlights from a busy weekend of racing:

• » Verizon u25 had a cracking weekend as several of its riders get ready for this week’s collegiate national championships in Madison. At the Fat & Tire Skinny Festival in Indiana, Will Nowak a close 2nd to Hillsboro-Roubaix winner Chris Uberti (Panther) in Saturday’s road race. In the next day’s criterium it was Mike Sherer‘s turn. He would get 2nd after being in a group that lapped the field early in the race. Also on Sunday, Verizon u25 animated the P/1/2 race at the Vernon Hills Grand Prix. After the field split and then came back together, Waylon Janowiak and Nowak were off the front in a group of six, with Janowiak taking the win.
• » Verizon’s elder statesmen fared well at Vernon Hills, too: Mark Swartzendruber and Dave Stone made the break in the 40+, with Stone taking the win, and Steve Broglio finished 2nd to Paul Swinand (Comcast) after the two of them slipped away in the 30+.
• » Sunday was a good day for Patrick Fasse (Bicycle Heaven): He made that final break of the P/1/2’s, finishing 2nd, and won the field sprint for 3rd in the 30+. Same for Ricardo Otero (WDT-Allvoi): He lost a close sprint to Stone in the 40+, then held on for 6th in the P/1/2’s
• » A few riders tangled at the bell of the women’s 3/4’s race at Vernon Hills, but fortunately road rash appeared to be the worst of it. Gina Romero (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) went on to take the win. The women’s open race was also a bloody affair, although more benign: Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia) found herself with a mysterious bloody nose mid-race. It didn’t stop her from going solo for the last several laps for a clean win, however.
• » I was counseling riders to be patient in the sprint at Vernon Hills, but long sprints won both the 3’s and 4’s races. Shows what I know about sprinting. Matt Haiduk (Bicycle Heaven) took the 4’s (photo above) and Nate Iden (Burnham Racing) won the 3’s, a repeat of 2009.
• » Omar Patalinghug (Unattached) takes us on a video tour of the final lap of the 5’s race. Two of the Verizon u25 were geared up for video, too, but it hasn’t left the editing studio yet.
• » Some good results from young ISCorp riders: Chazz Martin (ISCorp) got 2nd in the 3’s at Vernon Hills, Northwestern University’s Scott Rosenfield (ISCorp) won Saturday’s 3’s road race in Indiana. Meanwhile, young Trevor Rolette (South Chicago Wheelmen) placed 3rd in Sunday’s 4/5 criterium in Indiana.
• » The two crosswind sections at Saturday’s Circuit of Sauk near Baraboo, Wis., proved almost as formidable as the course’s two big climbs, and the strong, gusty wind left at least one rider ruing his choice of deep-dish wheels. (He would spend the evening researching how to remove grass stains from helmets.)  XXX Racing-AthletiCo didn’t get a win but came close all day: Ian Murray and Liam Donoghue placed 4th in the 4/5’s and 3’s, respectively, and William Pankonin followed a top 10 in the 4/5’s with a 3rd in the 30+ 4/5’s, just behind Tom McNulty (Tower Racing). In the P/1/2, Dave Moyer won the sprint out of first chase group to take 3rd.
• » Sunday’s Kenosha Business Park Criterium was lightly attended, but PACT/Dish Network made a good showing and dominated the results.

Full Saturday results
Fat & Skinny Tire Fest Road Race
Circuit of Sauk

Full Sunday results
Kenosha Business Park Criterium
Vernon Hills Grand Prix
Fat & Skinny Tire Fest Criterium

Fat & Skinny Tire Fest Road Race reports
Will Nowak (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “I never like to sit on a group, but we are racing for first place.”

Mike Sherer (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “The race started off fast and aggressive.”

Chris Uberti (Panther; P/1/2): “The race got out to a really fast start. And by fast I mean real fast, there was no joking around in this race.”

Circuit of Sauk reports
Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-P/1/2/3): “I spent the rest of that lap alone, battling the wind, catching and dropping a stray racer.”

Ryan Freund (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “It appeared to turn into a game of let’s watch Cole House from the BMC team attack and then chase him down and wait for him to attack again.”

Kim Gialdini (Flatlandia; W-P/1/2/3): “Crosswind takes me away. Almost fell off my bike.”

Brandon Meinke (Team Pegasus; 3): “Everyone was battling for protection from the wind, even if it meant riding in the dirt.”

Ian Murray (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “I battled to maintain contact over the top and thought to myself, ‘What is going on?!?’”

Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia; W-P/1/2/3): “ISCorp did a beautiful attack. It was so impressive I took notes on ‘how to attack at the end of a race.’”

William Pankonin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4/5, 30+ 4/5): “I only hoped that ‘the man with the hammer’ would stay away from me.”

Kenosha reports
Ron Cook (Project 5; 30+): “This race was basically a chance for Kevin and I to play tactics a bit and try to come out with a win from a four-man break.”

Vernon Hills reports
Shawn Delk (Project 5; 4): “Race went along uneventful for the most part, kind of sloppy, a lot of bumping and wheel rubbing.”

Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-open): “I hate crashing, but it’s part of the sport.”

Brian Dziewa (ABD; P/1/2): “At one point my face was tingling from either lack of oxygen or lactic acid, not sure which.”

Elvis Falbo (Beverly Bike/Vee-Pak; 4): “Now I know what two rams feel like when they butt heads and get stuck.”

Waylon Janowiak (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “I was honestly scared with the amount of power he was putting out bridging the gap.”

Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia; W-open): “Blood was spewing everywhere and I couldn’t get it to stop. It was very embarrassing but I really did not want to let it to ruin my race.”

Matt Riezman (Spidermonkey Cycling; 5): “After three laps of accordion fun time, I started to feel the work in my lungs and legs.”

Jared Rogers (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “At four to go the lights and sirens went off and it was time to leave the lounge.”

Mike Shea (Spidermonkey Cycling; 30+): “I’ve been in that position 43 times and each time I’ve adjusted. Luck ran out yesterday.”

Grayson Smith (Rhythm Racing; 5): “The cranks shifted beautifully and I stayed in the big ring the entire time.”

Tim Speciale (Psimet; 3): “Black jerseys were constantly smacking the peloton in the face with attack after attack.”

Mark Swartzendruber (Verizon Wireless; 40+, P/1/2): “Track racing is hard and fun and gallant and all that, but a criterium is not a damn points race.”

Andrew Zens (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4): “I tried to ride around the pile but it happened too fast.”

Vernon Hills photos
Luke Seemann
Matt Smith: 3, 40+
Tim Speciale
WDT
Ed White

Fat & Skinny Tire Fest Criterium reports
Mike Sherer (Verizon u25; P/1/2): “Sunday was a wet and crazy crit.”

Stacy Appelwick (Bouledogue Tout Noir) placed 3rd in the women’s 3/4’s at this weekend’s prestigious Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.

Appelwick made the elite selection in both of the long, hilly road races and won Saturday’s criterium. Her rivals made up time in the time trial, however, and Appelwick wound up 27 seconds down in the general classification, 4 minutes ahead of the next rider.

A handful of other local riders made the trip, too, with the top result coming from Chris Mosora (Verizon Wireless), who placed 6th in the 40+ criterium and finished 25th in the GC.

And some of you may remember Minnesota’s Jonathan Toftoy (Synergy), who won a handful of races at the Gapers Block Crit Series. He won the 3’s overall after winning the time trial and winning the Day 2 road race

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with a 9-minute gap over 2nd place.

The next big national stage race is this weekends Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas, and I know of more than a dozen local riders making the long trip.