You’d think that Chicago’s Burnham Racing would mix up its strategy just to keep things interesting for spectators, but no: It won Sunday’s Cat 3 state championship in hot and humid Peoria in much the same way it won in 2009 and 2008.

After lining up nine-deep, Burnham controlled the race before firing off solo fliers in the closings laps. As those efforts wore down the field, it kept its sprinters rested and in good position to pounce. This time it was Nate Iden‘s turn to capitalize, with teammate Chris Curran not far behind. Iden launched well ahead of Turn 7 to enter Turn 8 and the homestretch with a decisive gap, crossing the line with an enthusiastic

— if somewhat wobbly —

post-up.

Iden wasn’t the only one to make an early jump. Both women’s races splintered into small groups, and the winners made their final moves with two corners yet to go: Cathy Frampton (Project 5) took the 3/4’s and Heidi Sarna (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) barely fended off a surging Jeannie Kuhajek (Team Mack) in the open.

Of course, the earliest jump came from Dave Moyer (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) in the P/1/2’s. He slipped away from his 10-man break with 25 minutes to go and came so close to lapping a field thick with teammates that officials pulled the field early. Moyer, shown being congratulated above, extended his gap enough to finish with no one else in the photo, followed by Andrew Lister (Dogfish) and Hogan Sills (Verizon u25).

All eyes are on you once you’ve won a road race championship and been interviewed by the cycling media, but Kyle Selph (Tower Racing) was still able to score the Cat 4 double by outkicking Quentin Capista (Project 5) in a bunch sprint.

It took three tries, but after figuring prominently in both the 50+ and the 30+, Tom Doughty (Amgen-UBS) finally earned a 2010 jersey in the 40+, winning a two-up sprint against Randy Warren (XXX Racing-AthletiCo). Can’t say there were big surprises in the other two masters races: Verizon Wireless had only two riders in the 30+, but it played its cards perfectly and finished 1-3 behind Dave Stone and Chris Mosora, and Wayne Simon (Verdigris) won the four-up sprint to take the 50+.

In the juniors, Brandon Feehery (South Chicago Wheelmen) defended his 15-18 championship. Samuel Bianchi (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) finished 2nd to Jacob Schilling (Team Mack) but was the top Illinois rider in the 10-14, and Gina Johnson (Smart Cycling) won the girls race.

Full results.

Race reports
Burnham Racing (3): “Delivering a race into the hands of our sprinters is a gamble and a thrill.”

Shawn Delk (Project 5; 4): “I would have given him my only bottle if I needed to. The goal was for him today.”

Colm Flannery (Proctor; 40+, 4): “To heck with the consequences, I’m going to have fun, leave it all out there and do my tiny bit to let people know that they’ve been in a race.”

Cathy Frampton (Project 5; W-3/4): “On the backstretch of the last lap, wind in our face, the three of us eyed each other. You could feel how antsy we were getting.”

Arron Hampton (Psimet; 4): “Following a strong rider with excellent handling skills is always nice.”

Dave Moyer (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; P/1/2): “25 minutes is a long time to stay off the front in a state championship race, and I suddenly noticed that it was 85 or 90 degrees out.”

Peoria Journal Star: “Race officials said it was one of the most dominating victories in the race’s history.”

Scott Rosenfield (IS Corp; P/1/2): “When the move went in Peoria, I didn’t react. In fact, I don’t know when or how it went.”

Luke Seemann (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+, P/1/2): “The essence of bicycle racing had distilled itself into this break. As much as I wanted the race to be over, I didn’t want to let this moment go.”

Photos
Luke Seemann