On July 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 Catherine and Sarah participated in the Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic (Superweek). From Friday the 13th through Sunday the 15th, we stayed with Don and Peggy Jorgensen and their children in Blue Island, Illinois outside of Chicago. Blue Island went all out to make us feel welcome, holding a barbecue on Friday night for the riders and lining the course for the races. Claire Jorgensen generously donated her room for us to stay in and we enjoyed chatting and watching The Tour de France with the family.
Superweek in all its entirety seemed not as much about the racing as the experience.
After being thoroughly spoiled with the welcome barbeque's and pancake breakfasts, Catherine and I set out to conquer the first race of the series, Blue Island.
The flat four corner crit seemed a good introduction back into racing after our three week hiatus. Lining up at the start line was a strong representation of teams hailing from all corners of the United States. Among them, the powerhouse Cheerwine had brought three of their riders. With one up on us we knew it would be a challenging week.
Before the battle began with Cheerwine, we were faced with challenges of our own. Catherine got caught up in a crash on the backside of the course coming away with only a couple of bruises and mild road rash. Then only a few laps later another crash occurred taking Catherine down again. What luck!
Thankfully for the rest of the race the girls managed to stay upright on their bikes. The race decidedly came down to a pack sprint as we aggressively vied for position on the last lap. It was a long windy sprint coming into the finish and Catherine set herself in position for the lead-out. Kelly Benjamin from Cheerwine jumped early into the headwind and made it difficult for the lead-out we had tried to set up. I jumped, but Kelly was able to hold her sprint to the finish. I finished second and Catherine finished 7th. Not a bad day, but we wanted better.
The next race was in Bensenville, IL. Another flat crit with only a few more corners.
Kelly Benjamin was in the leader's Jersey after the first race, so we knew what we were up against. The race started out fast and aggressive and never seemed to let up. There were a series of threatening attacks that Catherine was over all day. If she wasn't in them then she was forcing the pace and chasing them down. With only 7 laps to go, Catherine drove a break that seemed promising. The field was hot on them, but the break was so strong they maintained a gap that only came back with two to go. Then it was everyone's race, and it reflected it . The field was fighting for position with every last bit of energy they possessed. Catherine again set up for the lead-out, but as the field closed in the group came over into the barricades. I got knocked on my bike and knocked out of position. I chased back up to 5th wheel by the final corner, but it was too little to late. I would have to settle for 3rd. Almost there, but luckily we had 3 more days of racing.
On the evening of the 15th we traveled to the Cudahy area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where our new host, Barbara Johnson was waiting for us. The next day our legs were feeling the travel and the racing and we decided not to race in the rain, thinking of the long week of hard racing ahead of us at the Tour de Toona. Barb’s beautiful garden and the family of bunnies (including 4 babies) were just the restful environment we needed. Later in the day we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, using the passes Barb’s friend had secured for us. It is an amazing building and the Pissaro exhibit and large contemporary collection are fantastic. In the evening we took a spin and ran into our Cheerwine buddies Kelly and Sarah, who teased us for playing hookie.
The race on the 17th was held in the Whitnall Park Botanical Gardens and featured a steep hill, winding descent, rollers and slightly uphill finish – like a shorter version of New York’s Central Park races. We rode to the race (well, Sarah rode to the race and I rode half way until my tire got ripped to shreds by some glass and I had to hitch a ride with Al, an elderly gentleman on his way to buy supplies for a Knights of Columbus picnic – thanks Al!) and with some help from our friends at SRAM (thanks Jose!) got ready to rumble. Sarah initiated a couple of attacks but soon discovered that Cheerwine was unwilling to work with her. Catherine bridged up to a group of riders and ended up riding through them and was off the front alone for a couple of laps before a series of attacks brought the field back together. On the final laps, the fight for Cheerwine sprinter Kelly Benjamin’s wheel was vicious and Sarah got bounced around like a ping-pong ball between the eager riders vying for position. Meanwhile, Catherine was attempting to lead it out from the front, unaware of Sarah’s troubles behind. Catherine ended up 4th and Sarah managed to stay upright despite having to unclip as a result of a particularly hard hit.
On the 18th we raced at the Proving Grounds in Lyons, WI. The 9.7 mile course has many rollers and a kicker hill into a flat finish. Sarah started the attacks off and in the next lap Catherine attacked and then countered herself, eventually forming a break of 4, including Sarah Uhl, Christen King and Sydney Brown. The group worked together, steadily increasing the lead over the field, which gave up chasing after a lap. In the finish, Catherine positioned herself well and managed to out-sprint Sarah Uhl for the win. Yippee! Sarah was 5th in the field sprint.
On the 19th we took advantage of the late race time to stage the first annual Cheerwine vs. Aaron’s Egg-off. Chefs Sarah and Sarah whipped up eggstraordinary creations for the hungry judges. In the end we decided we couldn’t possibly decide on just one winner since both the smoked salmon-poached egg on goat cheese crostini and Southwest breakfast burrito were eggceptional. That afternoon we raced the Shorewood Criterium, a flat course with a fun chicane and some very bumpy sections. The community there is very supportive and crowds lined the streets, offering up premes every couple of laps. Catherine and Sarah eagerly gobbled up several of these. Catherine went for the field sprint, getting second place to Kelly Benjamin, while Sarah worked hard during the race and ended up 11th.
We’ve had a great time here in Milwaukee/Chicago! Thanks so much to our hosts the Jorgensens and Barbara Johnson! Thanks as well to the SRAM mechanics for all your help, to Jordan of Rock Racing for feeding us at the road race, to Sven’s Coffee Shop for internet access and to The Palomino for switching from the Brewers game to The Tour!
The "egg-off"
Altoona's 2007 Top Ten
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