Saturday was a good day to be a base-layer salesman, and the Craft rep who set up shop at the Spring Super Criterium in South Beloit did brisk business. As cold as it was, the weather was 85 percent less apocalyptic than forecast, and most of the day passed without a drop of precipitation. The woolly mice who stayed home missed out on some fine racing indeed.

Two teams in particular had outstanding performances. Tower Racing started the day by riding aggressively in the first of two 4/5’s races and getting Doug Braun off the front with a few other riders. Once that break was down to two, Patrick Dillon bridged a sizable gap to join him. They stayed off, with Braun outsprinting Andrew Otte (Purdue) for the win. In the field sprint, more Tower riders emerged from the pack like clowns from a clown car: 4th! 5th! 6th! 7th! 8th! 10th! Outside of a team time trial, have eight teammates ever finished in such close proximity?

XXX Racing-AthletiCo also took advantage of its numbers. Mountain-bike specialists Kyle Wiberg and Mike Seguin outkicked the field for 1st and 2nd in the 30+ 4/5. In the day’s second 4/5’s race, Dave Moyer launched a mammoth leadout out of the corner for Tom Briney, then held on for a comfortable 2nd. (See John Wilke’s photo of Briney’s barbaric victory yawp. It’s an early contender for photo of the year.)

Moyer wasn’t done: In the 3/4’s race, he and Julian Baumgartner (Burnham Racing) bridged to a break that would ultimately be reduced to them and Otte. From my perspective it looked like Baumgartner had a superior jump, but Moyer dug it out to come around just before the line. (Marek Serafin (Cracovia-Poland) won the field sprint for 4th. Surprise!)

The question now is, Who will win the World Bicycle Relief Team Challenge? Burnham Racing is no doubt at this very moment furiously crunching numbers.

And then the sleet.

Unpleasant wet stuff

— colder than rain, harder and more annoying than snow —

started to fall just as the P/1/2/3’s took to their start. Chief official Dave Fowkes heard no complaints when he knocked 20 minutes off their time. Fifty-five minutes later, anyone hardy enough to finish would find the folds of their clothing frozen hard and icicles hanging from their bikes. It was like something out of the 1988 Giro. If ever there were a race that called for hot showers, this was it, and many would take advantage of the opportunity.

As for the racing, I always like to see riders race above their category and succeed. In this race we saw it from Al Urbanski (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew), clad in zebra-stripe leggings and the Crew’s new Tron-inspired kit. He clearly was not intimidated by the 1’s and 2’s he was racing with, successfully atacking early in the race. Once he was joined by Andy Daley (Burnham Racing) and Chris Kelley (Team Get a Grip Cycles), it was lights out, especially as the cold chilled any motivation to chase. The three worked well together, staying together until the final sprint, shown above, which Daley, apparently not fatigued from a long, valiant but fruitless effort off the front of the earlier masters 1/2/3 race,  took for the win. Eventually the splintered remnants of the field trickled in and sprinted for warm clothes.

Other local wins: Leah Sanda (Flatlandia) and Jessi Prinner (ABD) both sprinted out of small groups to win the women’s 4’s and women’s open, respectively. Kaleb Koch (ISCorp)  soloed away from the juniors race, while Trevor Rolette (South Chicago Wheelmen) was tops among U15’s. And Adam Herndon (Team Beer’d) capped a successful week by winning the 5’s.

Full results.

Photos
Burnham Racing
Peloton Pix
Rachel Pomberg (With video.)

Race reports
Chicago Cuttin’ Crew (W-4, 30+ 4/5, 4/5, 3/4, P/1/2/3): “The bus was last seen heading to the aftermath of the Milwaukee Messenger Invitational.”

Elvis Falbo (Beverly Bike/Vee-Pak; 30+ 4/5): ” In a nutshell: Too much too soon!”

Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-open): “Time to start racing like Jens.”

Adam Herndon (Team Beer’d; 5, 4/5): “I have never sprinted that hard in any race. As I am coming to the line I know I have over taken him and I raise a fist in victory.”

Chris Kinonen (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 1/2/3): “I love the breakaway.  I think it is one of the best parts of bike racing, and it was fun while it lasted, despite my ultimate undoing.”

Bob Murray (Beverly Bike/Vee-Pak; 5): “It was a smart Idea at the time, but it didn’t work out.”

Avi Neurohr (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew; 4/5, 30+ 4/5, 4/5, 3/4): “I chase them hard, everyone lets me, but they stay away.”

Pascale Petro (Project 5 Racing; W-open): “With Jessi in the break and Kenda, I knew from the start that it would stick and I felt my stomach almost turn over at the prospect.”

Ted Ramos (Get a Grip Off Road; 30+ 4/5, 4/5): “That’s it for me. You won’t see me out there on the road for the rest of the summer.”

Leah Sanda (Flatlandia; W-4, W-open): “I let her go a little then I jumped and put in a super hard 20-second effort that overtook her as she faded. Win!”

Mike Shea (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5, 3/4): “I stayed tucked in, just happy to be along for a nice and smooth ride with riders that are confident and competent using their bikes to accomplish a goal.”

Zach Thomas (Half Acre Cycling; 3/4): “I was out there by myself, hurting myself and looking brave and foolish.”

Kyle Wiberg (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5, 3/4): “Ka Bam.”

Michael Young (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4/5, 30+ 4/5, 5): “Three races on five hours of sleep after racing the night before proved to be a little much for my body, and I had nothing left for the sprint at the end of my last race.”