Life is a Highway…I Want to Ride It All Night Long

Last week’s "race of panache" was a huge confidence boost early in the season, so I decided to venture out to South Beloit to line up for the Burnham Crit cat 3 field. As the first USA Cycling race, Burnham is generally the “Easter Sunday” of Chicago racing. You know how it goes, all the Catholics come out of the wood works for Easter Sunday. It’s almost a form of penance to roll out of bed early on that particular Sunday morning, dress up the kids in pastel outfits, and follow them around looking for eggs. That reminds me, I need to find those pastel outfits for next week…

Only the hardcore, overly ambitious racers drive up to Kenosha, but Burnham is the Milan-San Remo of the Chicagoland racing scene. For those of you who haven’t lined up for this Midwest Milan-San Remo, the Burnham Crit takes place on a bona fide car racing track- not the NASCAR type of track. This track was decreasing radius turns, no typography, sweet chicanes, and a long ~300m drag strip finish. The car skid marks on most of the tight turns serve as warning signs for inattentive cyclists. Early in the race, I had a guy come darn close to my left side midway through the chicane. Just as I was about to lean into the guy to hold my line, the rider managed to correct his line and apologize, explaining “I’m still trying to learn the layout of this course. The road just ran out on me.” Yes sir, there was some rubbing during this race, especially in the final 5 laps, but then again, in the words of Harry Hogge in "Days of Thunder","rubbing, son, is racing".

Last week, I chose to race with panache over results- well, this week was all about results. My strategy was to watch for breaks from one particular Burnham racer. You see, Burnham has hosted this race for 3 years and one particular team member owns this race like a dog that’s pissed on a fire hydrant every day for 3 years. Plan B was to sit in and contest the pack sprint. Let me guess what you’re thinking- what if this Burnham racer isn’t lining up for this race? Well, I noticed that the rider was sporting jeans and a sweatshirt once I rolled up to the line, so plan B was in effect. Oh, there were breaks, many breaks and most included some combination of xXx or Burnham racers. The field must have reeled in 10 breaks during the course of the 55min race- each time, my legs felt great and confidence ebbed for a solid placing.

“Five laps to go. Five laps to go” yelled the race official as the “gruppo compacto” rolled through the finish line. This was the moment of truth. I had been sitting mid pack most of the race to ensure I wasn’t doing too much work while watching out for careless riding. Time to move up. There was a right turn where the field slowed down considerably time and time again. I decided to latch on to a flyer on the left side and slide myself right towards the front of the pack. Working through a few openings led me right to the front of the pack behind two xXx riders- perfect positioning with 2 laps to go. Suddenly, a few riders explore down the left hand side and I see the black jerseys of xXx and Burnham among that group. The field surges in a futile attempt to reel in those drag racers, but the collective legs of the peloton are feeling the effects of 50min of racing and that group manages to gain a decent gap on the field.

At this point, many cyclists are racing cross-eyed at their limit and that immediately increases the risk of an accident. Guys were yelling as the scent of burned rubber and cork started to emanate from the field of 35 racers. Thankfully, no one went down in those final laps, but there were way too many close calls after 50min of clean racing. At one point, riders near me slammed on their brakes and I had no option but to slide back a few rows in the surging pack. No worries, I had one lap left to move up and knew a thing or two about that drag race finish. Bell lap. Bell lap. Bell lap. I start replaying all the amazing workouts that have led to this moment. Then, I start reminding myself that it’ll be the last time that I make this right turn and that left turn. I managed to move up to 15th place by the u-turn leading to the final turn- wasn’t looking like I would be on hand for the sprint as a results of the braking action during the previous lap.

The second that we rounded that final right turn, the field just surged with ferocity. “Way too early, boys,” I thought as I matched the surge while sitting in the saddle. At about 300m to go, I shifted into the 53x12, jumped out of the saddle, and summoned all my frustration from last year’s season. Riders were dying left and right as legs gave out from premature sprints. The scene was surreal. I had latched on to a Team Extreme rider who was flying through the pack. We came around at least 7 or 8 riders in the final 200m. The speed differential was unbelievable- riders were sitting up before the finish and I was flying by then at least 5mph faster. That final sprint was incredibly painful, but each passed rider gave me motivation to focus on the next rider instead of the hellacious lactic acid burn in both legs. BOOM. Finish line. Captured 9th place out of the field of 35.

Burnham racing will go down as a heaping load of vindication after an incredibly disappointing 2009 season. The top 10 result was a great validation of solid off-season training leading to 2010. This one will go a long way to keeping motivation up and reducing risk of burning out. Looking forward to more results!!! Regardless, I am definitely enjoying this highway. Good stuff.