Superweek 2011 Wrap-Up Part 1

This race report is little late in posting but also a long time coming.  Superweek 2011 was a breakout period in my relatively short cycling career.  I accomplished some long standing goals and did some things I never thought possible.   Racing only 4 times throughout the two weeks, I accumulated enough points to finish 7th in the overall standings with two podium finishes and my first win!

The Geneva Grand Prix was the first day of Superweek on Saturday 7/9 in Geneva, IL.  The day started brutally hot and I was glad to be in the first race of the day.  After waiting in an unholy long line to sign in I did not have much time to warm up but was able to ride the course once to see what it was all about.



Sitting in the peloton

The course was a short and technical 8 turn circuit with a slight uphill grade on the backside leveling out for a nice sprint finish.  I knew that with such a short technical course riding at the front would be key and gaining position in the peloton would be difficult.  At the start I was able to move up and sit in with the other riders.  With such a big field many were twitchy going into the turns but by staying up front I was able to maintain speed through the corners.



Snapshot with 2 or 3 remaining

With three laps to go I was up front in the first 6 wheels hammering hard.  The pace was not letting up and there was no breaking in the corners.  Coming into the final backstretch I accelerated on the uphill portion just before the final turn.  Taking it wide (as was my plan) leaving myself a nice open stretch of road as most of the riders took the turn tight on the inside.  One rider from XXX swung wide and I was on his wheel.  With 50m to go I jumped out of the saddle and moved left between the rider and the barrier.  For a split second I thought I was going into the barrier but I was able to split the gap and come around the XXX rider at the line to nab 3^rd place.  In the photo on the right the eventual winner can be seen in blue on far left.  2nd place is in green / white putting water bottle back.  XXX rider that lead me out is on far right directly in front of me.




My first podium ceremony!

I was ecstatic!!!  After two 4^th place finishes and a 5^th I finally had my first podium.  I was so happy I could not contain myself.  After waiting what seemed like (and actually was) an hour the official called for the top 3 riders to come to the stage.  Behind the stage we were given sports drinks and asked a few questions about the pronunciation of our names and team.  Then before I knew it I was on the stage and the announcer was saying my name.  I couldn’t believe it.  It seemed awkward to be raising my hands above my head but all the same I could not stop smiling.  The announcer finished with the 2^nd and 1^st place riders and as the 1^st place guy put on his winners jersey I could not help feeling a bit of jealousy.  But that was quickly forgotten when I picked up my prize money and congratulated the other guys on a great race.  Little did I know what was in store.  Full race data can be found here.

Classic Pose!