Sherman Park Race Report

I had extra motivation Saturday for my second ever Sherman Park Criterium.  Method had some great team support from Bill, Garry and Mark as well as my mom and fiancé.  It sure makes a difference when suffering in front of a crowd rather than by yourself.  Warm-up for this race was a little longer and more intense due to the shorter duration of the race.  Being only 35 minutes it was important to start firing on all cylinders.

Warming up for Sherman Park

In the starting blocks I really didn’t feel any nerves.  I looked around and began to recognize some more familiar faces from past races.  I noted Rhythm Racing and Tati and marked a few guys I knew would be tough.  The free lap uncovered what I knew was already going to be a problem.  The course was a disaster!  Two years ago it was pretty chewed up and two more Chicago winters didn’t do it any good.  To the credit of XXX they patched it up, by still loose asphalt was everywhere and potholes at every corner.  I knew the race was going to be dangerous and to stay at the front.

That me right behind the guy in the yellow

Off the gun I accelerated to the top 10 spots and tried to stay there as long as possible.  Maintaining position was hard because the peloton was very nervous and twitchy, especially over the very bumpy roads.  I had to ride very aggressively to hold wheels and maintain position.

About half way through the race a prime lap was signaled.  I have never gone after primes and did not hear what it was.  Halfway through the lap the saw that there was no one off the front.  On the back turn I accelerated and rode to the front of the group.  Going into the last corner there were 5 or 6 guys ahead of me on a small breakaway.  As they drove into the final corner they cut me off sharply as I was taking an inside line.  But as they came out of the corner they pulled wide which allowed me to come up on the inside.  I saw they weren’t sprinting and knew the line was only 200m away.  I decided what the hell!  I stayed in the saddle and did a short 20 second burst of power.  I powered by the break on the far inside out of their view.  As I passed them I saw the lead guy jump but it was too late.  I nabbed him at the line to score my first prime!  YEAH!

Riding Easy in the Pack

After that I recovered and rode back into the pack.  With 4 to go we were coming around the back turn when a rider made a shady move and took a sharp right directly into my front wheel.  I heard the sickening sound of crunching metal and carbon and my body clinched up!  I waited to hit the pavement picturing my front spokes disintegrating.  As he pushed me further right, someone hit my back wheel too… from then on it was pure chaos.  I heard riders going down behind me while I fought to stay upright.  Somehow my wheel stayed intact and I didn’t fall.  After a quick examination and assessment I couldn’t see any further damage.  The pack had passed me but I was able to accelerate back on and continue racing.

After that I was in poor position to contest the sprint and had somewhat lost my nerve.  One of the riders who went down behind me was seriously hurt and my bike was questionable.  I managed to make it up to the front again for the sprint but was in no position to contest the top 10 places.  After the race I noticed my front skewer was flipped open and my back derailleur cable was all chewed up.  The bike certainly showed the signs of battle damage.

Founders of Method Cycles Garry Alderman and Matt Bosman

I went and claimed my Chicago Velo Campus Polo shirt and checked the results.  24^th out of 71.  Later in looking at the stats I realized the race was much faster than any previous.  My full results are here.  Can’t wait for Vernon Hills in a few weeks after a short break and some work on those intervals!

Hillsboro Roubaix 2011 Race Report

Hillsboro Roubaix 2011

I always look forward to this race as it usually brings the best weather of the year and the first sunburn of the year.  This year’s Hillsboro Roubaix did not fail to deliver on either.  Packed up the car Thursday night so I could leave right from work Friday.  Headed out around 5 pm and drove straight to Litchfield, IL where I stayed in a hotel overnight.  After finding that the only rooms left were smoking I spent a restless night nervously awaiting the brutal effort that I knew was coming.

Up early Saturday morning, I got a good breakfast of granola with fruit, pancakes, and some OJ.  I know I have no reason to be nervous but yet I am anyway.  I head over to the race around 9 am to get my number and sign in.  I walked around chatting with old teammates and others until about 11 when I had to get ready.  No need for a huge warm-up since the race was 58 miles.  Did about 15-20 minutes on the trainer then headed to the start line.

In the gates everyone is nervously looking around and sizing up the competition.  I see old teammates and recognize the fruitless tactic of trying to be first off the line.  With a 1 mile neutral start, position at the gate is irrelevant.  I see the race officials getting their motorcycles ready and the pace cars staged out front.  Oh man here we go!!!

 Race officials getting their motercycles ready

Pace cars staging at start line

The neutral start is nice.  It makes clipping in and getting up to speed a little easier.  Still neutral we head down a steep descent and pretty much rode my brakes all the way down.  The pack was going extremely slow and at the bridge where the race goes live no one made a move at all.  It seemed for the first 15 minutes or so the pace was steady and slow.  Race officials were enforcing the center line rule so the peloton of 105 riders was squeezed into one narrow lane of traffic.  Moving up in the pack was nearly impossible without crossing the center line and risking being kicked out of the race.  I stayed relaxed and steady and stayed to my plan of not wasting energy, staying hydrated, and keeping up nutrition.

Finally after about 30 minutes I made a move and rode the center line up to the front of the peloton.  When the pace increased I wanted to be ready and near the front.  Sure enough moments later a few guys attacked and the peloton reacted… the race was on.  The pace quickened continually until the last big climb going into town.  After bombing down a descent you fly across the river bottom then hit the climb back into town.  The climb starts gradual then levels off for about 300m then hits a really steep section.  Legs searing I crest the top of the hill…  

Heading into the last lap the pace was quick but I was feeling good.  All of a sudden I felt a pang in my calf.  Cramps!  I have always had a problem with them but I thought I was keeping hydrated.  Apparently not.  I took some salt tabs but they did no good.  I tried to play it easy and stretch out but that did no good either.  All of the sudden at about mile 30 a group of 5 guys went off the front.  I hit the gas and for what seemed like ages and was really 10 minutes I burn all my fuel reserves to stay on the back.  Flying around corners at a murderous speed I let everything hang out to make the selection.  When I thought I could not turn the pedal one more time, I made a final burst and made the bridge to the lead group and was able to take a breather for about a minute.

After everyone in the group was able to assess the damage we saw about 25 riders had made the selection.  In a great tactical move a group of riders immediately counter attacked and went off again.  For most of us this acceleration was too much to match.   We were racing for 2^nd…. Or probably 4^th or 5^th.  We tried to maintain a steady gap with those lead riders but they were too fast and were able to stay off.  The rest of the group rode together and worked well going into the final climb.  I knew this was where I wanted to make my move.  At the base of the climb I attacked from about 6^th wheel.  I accelerated and climbed like a Mountain Goat.  Unfortunately my cramps came back to haunt me.  At the peak my legs totally seized up and quite responding.  I had to sit back down and try to recover before the next big climb.  The next climb did me no favors and I had to stay in the saddle to keep the cramps from stopping me dead. 

Here is a picture of me on the final climb.  I'm in the red and white jersey

At the peak I just had to keep telling myself to “keep going”… “keep going”  You bomb down and hill and hit the cobbles for a tortuous run in to the finish. This was where I lost the legs and got passed by a number of riders.  Going around the final bend you hit flat pavement and you can see the line about 1k in front of you.  With every ounce of effort I had left I managed what could not really qualify as a sprint.  I held position and did catch 1 or 2 guys.  Sweet relief…. the finish line.  I did a brief warm down and went to assess my final position. 

Picture of me post race.  The smile is of relief!

Ended up finishing 20^th out of the 105 man field.  Not my highest finish of the year but pretty respectable considering the talent in the field.  Full race stats can be found here.  Glad to see a guy I know from racing last year finished 2^nd overall.  So that was awesome to see.  Overall a great day of racing… came back with a nice sunburn and great memories. 

Can’t wait to do some more riding as a team and introduce others to this wonderful sport. Cheers, Matt