Clipped pedals. Wind. Road debris. Squirrelly riders. Overcooked corners. Wrong turns. Panic.

All have been cited as reasons for crashes at Saturday’s Monsters of the Midway, which was marred by numerous falls and multiple ambulance visits. And although I’ve always been a fan of Monsters’ loose enforcement of categories, perhaps fields were also disrupted by riders racing a hair over their heads?

Whatever the causes, it’s a shame: Monsters is typically a safe course. What kind of carnage will we see once we throw in descents, technical turns and significant purses? (As I write this, I recall I wondered the same thing last spring.)

Results are not posted yet

— I expect our ABR friends are preoccupied with Tuesday’s tragedy in Kenosha —

so this will be an abbreviated wrap-up. What I glean from the reports, however, is that with a stiff tailwind on the homestretch, jumping early proved effective more times than not.

Juniors, women and masters results.

Race reports
Ed Amstutz (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+, 1/2/3): “I knew we wanted a long sprint with a heavy tailwind, so I called for Randy Warren to ramp it up earlier than normal.”

Charles Biro (Team Get a Grip Cycles; 30+, 3): “I just couldn’t close the last 50 meters

—

which, of course, was about how far from the front of the field I was when I launched my attack.”

Danny Beissinger (IIT; 3, 1/2/3): “I settled for 15th, but at least I stayed up.”

Kevin Butler (Wheel Fast Racing; 4): “The riders in front of me stacked it up and suddenly the rider directly in front went airborne. I had nowhere to go.”

Rob Curtis (Bicycle Heaven; 4): “The field was OK but there were some weird moves.”

Liam Donoghue (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “I launch back into the drops and grab his wheel, unsure if there’s a group chomping at my bits right behind. I will not be denied, kind sir.”

Devon Haskell (Team BH Racing; W-P/1/2/3): “It was fun crossing the line 1-2 in our first race back together and in front of the great UofC crowd.”

Ed Hernandez (North Branch; 3): “I’m no sprint specialist or breakaway-guru, but I do know a thing or two about leveling out the exertion highs and lows during the course of a crit.”

Chris Kinonen (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+, 3): “Riders repeatedly and dramatically swerved in random directions, causing someone else to do the same, and thus a mini chain reaction of swerving and braking.”

Sophia Lee (Tati Cycles; W-4, W-3/4): “I probably could have tucked behind someone for a while, but what I ended up doing was madly charge past them instead, screaming on the top of my lungs, kendo style.”

Henry Loud (Team Pegasus; 3): “I clicked up again and again. Then I had no more gears to move up. I was in my 53x12 and spinning it as hard as I could.”

Joe Schubert (Half Acre Cycling; 4): “I see two or three guys collide, bikes flopping every which way and that hollow ping of carbon rumbling toward me.”

Mike Shea (Spidermonkey Cycling; 30+): “Once the break was established and the rhythm hadn’t made my legs fall off, I even felt pretty good about competing with guys stronger than me.”

Shane Winn (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 1/2/3): “With about four laps remaining I started playing the team card a little.”

Photos:
Carolyn Golz
Gavin Gould
Waylon Janowiak
Matt Smith: 3, 1/2/3