Glencoe Grand Prix (IL State Criterium Championship) - 6/25

This year was my first doing the regular course at the Glencoe Grand Prix in Glencoe, IL and being the Illinois State Criterium Championship and on the NRC (National Racing Calender) this race was sure to bring the best of the best in talent for all categories of racing.  I always love these big events because it exponentially increases the level of excitement as a rider.  The timing is through electronic chips attached to the front forks of the bike, there were two stage platforms with announcers giving real time details of the race and the entire course was closed with barriers barring the names of all the sponsors.   

The course features 10 corners with a big decent and climb on the backside about 1k from the finish.  Points and prizes are given at various points along the way for "King of the Mountains" and "Best Sprinter" as well as the state championship jersey for the overall winner.  With all that hardware at stake all the best riders were present and motivated to put in a stellar performance.

After arriving, signing in and getting my timing chip I did a brief warm up on the trainer before heading over to the course to do a few practice laps.  The race was right after lunch so the course was open much to my surprise.  After a few laps I knew the next hour was going to be quite a challenge.

From the gun the pace was intense.  Normally, at the start I can sit in the pack fairly easily and get into a groove.  However, by the first corner I had dropped back in the pack and feeling the accordion effect at every turn.  On the flats the pace picked up to about 26 mph but then dropped to 19 or 20 around the corner.  As the race progressed more and more riders were spit out the back due to this constant acceleration and deceleration.

Halfway through the race the sprints were announced.  I was sitting the middle of the pack which was strung out in a long line with no chance of contesting the sprint points.  As the race progressed I began to move steadily up in the pack until I was sitting somewhere in the top 10.  I could tell most riders were reaching their limit and with three to go I was at the red line but feeling good.  With two to go we hit the long backstretch and I hit the gas and accelerated into the top 5 spots.  This allowed me to take the corners at much higher speed and maintain it into the next straight.  At the bell lap I hit the gas again and  could feel the lactic acid burning my legs but at the same time a burst of adrenaline fueled me on.  We took the final corners at full speed and hit the last hill climbing out of the saddle.  I could see the other riders fading.  At the top of the hill I maintained speed while trying to gather what little energy I had left for the sprint.  Going into the third to final turn my whole body felt like Jello.  For a second I lost my concentration and my front wheel hit the back wheel of the rider in front of me.  With no panic at all, I held my line and so did the other rider.  I was able to pull back with no further incident.  I shouted an apology which was my punishment considering I could barely breath.

With one straight to go before the final turn I accelerated and took the lead going into the final turn.  I took the final turn in 1st place as fast as I could go.  With the finish line in sight I gave it everything I had.  As one then two riders went around me I pushed as hard as I could.  With literally meters to go two other riders came around me and I went from 3rd to 5th in half a second.

 

Cat 4 Finish

Its funny how great you feel after finishing but the pain doesn't go away quickly.  I had to take a cool down lap but even that didn't clear the lactic acid from my muscles.  Feeling better after about 15 minutes I went to the podium to congratulate the winner and apologize again to the guy who I almost crashed out.  He's a great rider who I've raced with before and held no hard feelings.  It certainly was a hard effort and I paid for every moment of it.  Finishing 5th overall was a great accomplishment and I was very happy overall.  I hope to build off that result in the next couple weeks as Superweek begins.  Here is the final race data from the race.