This last month has been a blast!  2008 was our first year racing as a club, but it was mostly Robson Snyder (Robo), Joel Boelke (JB) with Steve Gerber (Gerbs), Randel Schmidt (Boo) and myself as semi-regulars plus a couple of non-regulars. Already in the first month of racing in 2009 I think we have more races logged than all of last year total.  The five from above along with Brandon Manske (BMAN -- or just TheB), Don Callander, Chris Hamilton (the Hammer), Cory Binder, Eric Sundstrom, Andreas Scholz, Dan Hawkins (the Hawk), Aaron Wiens (AW), Jeff Thompson and Ben Johnson (Mr. Beau Dacious) have all pinned on numbers wearing the IC3 colors already this year.

Anyway, here is a taste of one race that we did last night -- the Opus Crit Series Cat5 race -- as told from several different first hand angles (check out our forum at TwinCitiesSpoke.com for more race reports):

From Me:

The start of that race may have been the most fun four minutes I have spent on the bike this year!

Before the race I heard some riders saying that with the wind, any strong group that got away would probably stay away since no one would want to work to bring them back. So, as we were approaching the start finish line after the first lap I was moving up fast through the pack when two guys went off the front. Knowing TheB would grab my wheel I hit the gas and crossed the gap by the top of the hill. Not only had TheB gone with me, but Cory had jumped on too. By the bottom of the hill the two who had started the move sat up. I could not sit for that, so I buried myself up the hill and around the corner. TheB was whispering sweet nothings of encouragement, but I was spent. Just then Cory rocketed past and as everyone came by me I could see the look of hurt on their faces. TheB and Cory still had a little gap at the top and I was settling into a painful rhythm knowing there were seven laps left.

It was so much fun to know the mighty orange was hurting the rest of the field. I found out later that the duo had been caught before the line and didn't score any points. It didn't matter to me. We had made a point that we were not just here to ride tempo -- we mean business. I also learned that Ben Johnson (Mr. Beau Dacious himself) had "lead out" the last lap and really crushed it. Yet another statement!

It was a lot of fun and our work didn't go unnoticed -- someone had mentioned to Cory about what a strong team we have.

I am much more comfortable being super aggressive than sitting in the pack waiting for someone to crash in front of me. Look for me to continue to make "stupid" moves this season. Who knows, something might stick. Besides, it makes me smile.

From Cory Binder:

Opus 5/5 Race Recap: “Beau Dacious shatters the field”

This was my first experience at Crit Racing, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Like Tim said, it is a lot more fun to be protagonist in the race rather than sit in…so the IC3 decided to play a few cards in the race last night. They may have been the wrong cards and we probably should have talked about what cards we would play beforehand, but it was fun being in the game rather than sitting out.

The game started on lap two when Tim went to the front on the climb heading towards the start/finish. Bman was sitting on his wheel, so I moved up and got behind Bman. It looked like Tim was trying to position the B for some points on the next lap, so when he tired, I went to the front hoping we could get a gap that would last through the next lap. While we strung out the group, we couldn’t get a gap, and I tired heading up the hill into the finish…a less than ideal setup for Bman. First Sprint Lap = no points

The pace relaxed after the 3rd lap and didn’t really get going again until the Second Sprint Lap (Lap 6). Most of the field must have been a little tired from the pace because no one moved as we made the turn into the climb and most of the group stayed together. I moved up on the outside but started a little too far back to be in the best position for the sprint. Second Sprint Lap – 5th place = no points

On lap 7, I was riding in around 10th position when Ben “Beau Dacious” Johnson rolled up and asked who we were working for. We decided we were going to try and lead out Bman, who was sitting a few riders behind me, but probably neglected to tell him the plan. As we headed into the final lap, two riders went down in a crash right next to me on the inside, one of them actually falling into me. I managed to stay upright, but the crash separated the field and left Ben and I in a lead group of only 14-15 and Bman behind because of the crash. No one pushed the pace on the downhill section as we positioned ourselves for the final time up the hill into the finish. As we made the sharp turn at the bottom of the climb, Ben exploded in an attack on the outside. I wasn’t ready for him to go that early, so I lost his wheel almost immediately. However, the attack shattered the field as riders scrambled to cover the move. Guys were all over the road and I just tried to find a wheel to take me into the finishing stretch. A few guys tired towards the finish, but I couldn’t find the top gear and finished a wheel outside of the points. Final Finish Lap – 4th place = no points.

At the end of the day, IC3 came away with no points, but we played some cards and made our presence known with aggressive riding at the front and with a vicious attack into the finish. Congrats to everyone who came out and raced and thanks to everyone who came and cheered on the group.

From Ben Johnson

Criterium with no crashes = fun

Probably the most fun $26 I have spent in a LONG time. Here is my recap...my writing style leaves something to be desired so I apologize in advance:

Kind of a thrilling, semi tiring, fast kind of a fun. Nothing remarkable for me personally happened in the first 8 laps but trying to stay somewhat out of trouble by staying kind of off to the side somewhat in the middle of the pack. I had ZERO expectations coming in other than have a little fun, try not to crash me or others, and get my Heart Rate freakishly high. I forgot my HRM so I dont have the data but really did not feel overly exerted until the end. Like others said the pace was relatively steady from the start with a little bump up on lap 3. I was nervously a little giddy and my HR elevated and first felt a little winded at the line on that lap but then got back into a groove for the next 5 laps as I had no plan to try to get sprint points. Lap 9 is where the action was for sure. I kind of asked BMan and Cory what the plan was as we were all kind of somewhere between 10 and 25 most of the time if I recall correctly.

So with no real "plan" we started lap 9 and I was kind of on the outside most laps with and outside of the wind...meaning that I tried to tuck in on the NW corner of the oval so to speak as the wind was coming from the South West...not to the inside line as I maybe was there for 1 or 2 times around and found it was not much further and much safer just outside. Plus I am built for speed (my manly 215 lbs on carbon = speedy on down and flat and slow up em) on the downhill and flat sections so the first 2/3 of each lap I was in my domain so I just wanted open road on the downhill and then maybe a fast wheel or two in front of me on the flat on the North end while hanging on up the hill to the finish line. About 1/8 of the 9th lap in I heard a bunch of yelling then felt my rear wheel get hit and then heard a nice fast clicking noise on my rear wheel. One of the crashers hit my cadence sensor that is on my lower rear triangle to read my magnet that is on my left crank and also it doubles as a speed sensor that reads the magnet on the rear wheel. It was bent in and making a ton of noise at first. Once I realized it was just noise and I did not think that my wheel was dangerous or out of line I knew that I could fix it in a mile. As I got to about the 3/8 mile mark at the bottom of the hill on the North end I did not see BMan but pulled up to Cory and asked if he was feeling good and if he wanted a lead out (note to readers...I have only seen this on TV but never have actually done one). He said sure and I was on the outside approaching the NW Corner and then I took off (way too fast way too soon in retrospect on about every level) and I was actually in the lead for the West side of the course (which was a total thrill/adrenaline rush) then blew up just starting the hill to the finish on the SW corner of the course. I knew that I did not have the gas to finish with that pace up the hill so just started to slow up but am guessing/hoping that I caused the front of the field to panic a little (I hope that they were saying to themselves, “who is that fat guy in the Orange jersey that just blew past us. Can he possibly stay in the lead til the end?”) and that was worth it all right there. I finished probably like 15-20 or so but think with a little better timing and a little less hill to the finish (meaning that I had 150 yards left in the hill with the lead instead of 250 yards. I could have handled a little more pain but was beyond what I could give) and a little slower or more of a building lead out then Cory or myself could have done a little damage.

We averaged just under 24 for 8 miles and finished in 20 minutes with a top speed of 35.1 according to the old Garmin…I made it to my daughters soccer practice while picking her up at another field by 6:30.

Was a total blast and hope to do 1 or both of the remaining rides and get a podium for an Orange Crush teammate or myself. It was not too hard and just the thrill of doing it with a big group was worth it. Only damage from the race was dirty teeth and sore cheekbones (from smiling so much and at speed!).

massalsa

Ben