Sconni Weekend

Photo by Frye

Skibby, Jordan, and I hit the road this weekend for the Circuit of Sauk Road Race near Baraboo, WI on Saturday, and the LaCrosse Crit on Sunday.

Winds were brutal on Saturday, making the hilly circuit even tougher. Skibby and I raced Masters 1/2/3, while Jordan raced Cat 3. There is a steep climb right after the start, and I suffered. I chased back up to the field, as they hesitated in the crosswind. An ISCorp rider attacked solo, and no one reacted. We sat there for a while, and I decided to jump around the group in the dirt, and went for the bridge. Again, no one reacted. Eventually, Gordy Paulson bridged up to me, and the 2 of us worked together to catch Bryan from IScorp.

We drilled it down the hill with the tailwind, with the group close behind. I suffered again on the climb, as Chris Halvorson bridged across to Gordy and Bryan. The rest of the field rode by me, and I had nothing. Dang! I joined forces with a couple other stragglers on Lap2, with the Cat 3 group bearing down on us.

The Cat 3 field passed us on the tailwind climb, but to my surprise, no Jordan? Turns out he was having a bad day too. While I soft pedalled wondering what happened to Jordan, Skibby caught up, and motivated me to do a 3rd lap. I struggled, and eventually dropped back to wait for Jordan. He caught up to me on the far side of the course, and we rode in together.

I was proud of him for finishing on a day when most dropped riders, including myself, hung it up early (my race was 4 laps, and I only did 3. Jordan's race was 3 laps, which he finished).

Chris Halvorson eventually shed his breakaway partners, and soloed to victory. Skibby toughed it out, and finished all 4 laps too. Nice work!

We stayed in LaCrosse Saturday night, and woke up early for Jordan to race in the Juniors. 15 racers, 10 of them being from ISCorp. Jordan had the classic "marked man" race. He attacked multiple times, and caused splits, but no one else would help him sustain an effort. He did a good job of setting up for the sprint, and was able to get 2nd, behind 18 year old Thompson Remo, of ISCorp. Well done Jordan!

The Masters 1/2/3 race was my first crit of the year. I was able to move to the front and lead the chase 3-4 times during the race, so I was happy. It came down to a field sprint, which Chris Halvorson won. Scott Flanders scored a well earned 3rd place.

After a brief rest, I jumped in the Cat 1/2/3 race. I clung to the back of the field for 30 minutes, then called it a day. Timmer and Patty Cakes got in a split of 12 riders, then attacked them and got away. Later, and ISCorp rider joined them. Timmer jumped them before the last turn, and took the win easily, with Patty Cakes runner-up for the 2nd year in a row. Well done guys!

Speeds were high in both my races. 27.2mph ave in the masters, 28.5 in the 1/2/3's (at least for the portion I was in).