Dave Babcook RR
This race is one of my favorites. Not because it has huge crowds or a spectacular view of the ocean, but because the start is just a couple miles from my childhood home in Elkhorn, Nebraska. It is also a race that I have won, and helped teammates win. Learning from the criterium the night before, I knew the game about to be played with me. Fortunately, the tables got turned....
Just after the neutral roll out, two of my great friends and former team mates (Chris Spence, Cat 1 & Chet Henry, Cat 3) attacked the field (note that is was a 1, 2, 3 race with the 3's picked separately). I just kept on rolling in the pack and made no effort to chase. Mile after mile went by and I could not help but smile knowing that the pack expected me to do the chasing (Sorry dudes, I don't chase friends even if we wear different jerseys). After a couple laps of lollygaging at the front, one of the non-Nebraska riders came up to me quite frustrated and asked me why I wasn't chasing. Holding back laughter, I simply told him I don't chase friends. Within seconds, several riders bolted from the pack and the chase was on. Over the next couple laps the gap came down from several minutes to just a couple. Then Trek shattered the field up the hill on lap 5 of 10 and now there was my buddies up the road, two Trek guys (Kansas), Jay Thomas (fellow Nebraskan), Other guy from Kansas, and Ckark Preeby (Iowa) with me, and the rest of the pack chasing us but down. The next lap, we worked pretty hard to establish a gap. Jay Thomas flatted after a lap or so in the break :-( Then on the next lap, a small micro-storm came through. It may have lasted all of 2 minutes before it was sunny again. So we just kept rolling through.
Then a funny thing happend on lap 9.... an official came up to us and told us that the race had been "called." None of us know what that ment or what we were supposed to do. But the offficial made it clear that the rac was over. So the group rolled back to the finish line to learn that during the micro storm, they shortened the race. However, the officials didn't even know we were on the course. So long story short, we told the officials what had happened and they made it a four-way-tie for 2nd place.
Monday in Chicago
Google Maps = 32 minutes
Google Maps "with traffic" = 60 minutes
10 MPH on the Freeway = >120 minutes = missed the race
Tuesday in Arlington Heights
Pretty good race all things considered. Got in 3 break attemts that lasted quite a bit. Crashed again, but no damage to me or the bike. at 1 lap to go sitting 5th wheel, then got squeezed. I will figure this out eventually though. Each race I feel better and better. Oh well, I was in the money! 24th
-Timmo
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