nixternal

I watched the Jr. race at Wood Dale and it was by far my favorite and it had a ton of support. It was a blast watching the super young kid from team Mack. He was hooked up with a young lady and they were sharing the pulling of each other. It was so cool to see. They even worked out sprints for Primes and they ended up sharing all of the Primes.

Thus far, all of the racing that I have been watching, juniors are my favorite. I also enjoy the 4/5 races the most.

Please, don't let that one race discourage you or your youngster. All of the junior races have had fans, and thus far Wood Dale really rocked the fans as did Arlington Heights. Also remember that a lot of the riders you are seeing in the juniors or 4/5 races are probably pretty new to the sport and haven't learned all of the aspects. You can always catch some team work going on, and even team work between different teams out there. It just sounds to me you caught one bad outting.

JPradun

Weird, there were thousands of people cheering for the little kids at Evanston...literally, thousands.

Psimet2001 

Werd. My 3 yr old forgot he was racing and just enjoyed riding and looking at everyone cheering for him. He was stoked.

Yesterday rocked.

Hipcycler

Saw a portion of the Men's 4/5 race on my Botanical Gardens crit course in Whitnall Park this morning, and waved a cop out of the way to save the racers too! Didn't see anyone I recognized though, and had to leave to get back to work (no day off today as in year's past...crap)

Pix here:

https://cycleciola.bravejournal.com/

dynodan22

I know cycling is a team sport . I know my boy loves cycling
did 25 miles with me the other day on 20" bmx
and only 8 years old. I just like to introduce him to other
aspects of cycling . I have no dream that he will be a
Lance Armstrong. I just like to give him a healthy sport
and stay away from the zealot soccer and baseball
familys. We will see he still young and road bikes are
really lacking for younger kids.By the way whens the Downer classic
held ?

Dynodan22

chevelle2291

Fixed. I get no love.

slim_77

Evanston is a fantastic venue for spectators. I wish I could have raced there...

how was the 4/5s & 3s? by that I mean, how many times did they need to stop the race(s)?

edit: nevermind...just read your previous post.

Sage23

Dynodan22, don't forget also that the spectators are spread out over the full course unlike baseball, etc, where they are all packed into one area.

Hip: Missed ya today. Things at work here got crazy and I didn't make it out until 3:00. Watched 5 laps of the Pro Women and off I went back to work. I did see Recursive (he was busy chatting so I didn't interrupt) and said hi to JW. I'll be back for a while tomorrow -- probably catch the start of the 3s.

Hipcycler

...was John W. wearing a dark T-shirt and shorts...the one with a big camera lens around his neck?
If that was him, a saw a guy matching that description sitting on Barn Hill early-on when I was there posing.

John Wilke

That was me. Didn't see you ... was wondering if you had something to do with that MetLife blimp that circled the area all day. Missed most of the Masters race ... I parked myself in the grass by the frog pond and took a nap. That Evanston race wore me out ... it was INTENSE. Of course I was there for 12 hours plus 4 hours driving time => nap with the frogs.

Recursive had a good ride, Pradun looked good, may have been in the money, not sure.

South African Team MTN won the Pro race - AGAIN. Hmmmm ... is that like 7 wins now??

Saw one Rock Racing rider. Not sure who it was. Should be a barn burner tomorrow night in Cedarburg.

Speedster22

4/5s was good too. A little crazy at the end today, but par for the course in our field. A lot of people popped halfway up in the climb and I figured on this so timed my sprint to start at halfway and worked out for me. Unfortunately someone almost swept my front wheel though the little chicane before the S/F and had to break. Coulda, woulda, shoulda....podium...ugh. 6th on the day and made my entry fee back for today's race with little lunch money left over ;-)

Couple rest days for me and will be back at it Thurs through Sun. Giddee up!

John did you get some shots of the 13 foot race barrier gate truck crashing into a 11 foot bridge in downtown Evanston!? LOL. Seriously though, nice work out there. I think there needs to be some host housing for you man!

John Wilke

Actually, I was just telling someone about that little mishap with the truck today. Things like that happen though. Heck, I did two laps through the parking structure before I could find my way out.

Host housing? Does Graham Watson stay with a host family? Hmmmm ??

recursive

I'm not that important. You can interrupt me. I'll be back tomorrow, so we can try again.

Today's race was much less tough than I was expecting. It seemed like the course had twice as much elevation loss than gain. It's usually the opposite.

Sage23

I'll look for you before your race. I can say this with a fair amount of confidence: I'll be the ONLY one wearing a tie!

Speedster22

+1

Uphill charge and then downhill recovery, over and over. Like intervals with ample recovery.

Hipcycler

So you were in the 4/5 early race that I was at?
If so, can you do me a favor and tell me this....five laps, right?
How long did that take you?

I'm trying to get something to compare myself to when I attempt the 'race' on my own later this week since that's one of my regular routes to ride.

recursive

3s did 14 laps in about 1:11

Hipcycler

.....sets bar too high for Hip!
However, if a 4/5 doesn't post a time here, yours may be my target!
14 times up that Barn Hill?
Ouch.

Did you see the hill climb picture in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel? You guys made the front page photo!

John Wilke

So that's who that media photog was: https://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/p...index=1&page=0

Speedster22

Hip---

Yup 4/5s... we did 11 laps of the 2.3 mile loop. Total time was 51:17 @ 24.6mph avg.

Hipcycler

Sweet.
Thanks Speedster...now I can go back there and see how bad I suck, but you've given me a great example of what to shoot for. If I make 16 ave for 11 laps I'd be happy.

Wish I would have known you were there...would have given a shout out....I was the poseur on the course in a black and white Madone with Quickstep bibs on...maybe you caught a glimpse.

May I ask....
Lap after lap up that Barn Hill....do you shift from the big ring to climb that? How do you approach getting up that thing at speed like that? I'd just like to pick your brain on strategy on that....thanks.

Speedster22

Really Barn Hill wasn't all that taxing as I thought it would be. Sometimes I would spin in 53x26 (I have a 11-26 SRAM Cassette) or I'd get up up the saddle and shift up a few gears, still training to maintain a relatively high cadence in the big ring. Only time I found my self in the small chain ring is when I hit a pothole and she flopped down. Realized that once I started spinning like a mad man on a slight downhill!

As far as approaching it, if you hit the corner right your momentum gets you a good head start, so try not to scrub the speed off before the corner, then either a few kicks out of the saddle and settle in or go all out!

Hmmmmm saw lots of Madones, but don't recall anyone where QS bibs. Maybe next time though!

Hipcycler

Thanks Speedster....speaking of that corner, I think I saved you guys on lap three yesterday....

https://cycleciola.bravejournal.com/

...you in any of my pix there?

aham23

^^^^ hey Hip when did you pick up a Madone! looked through the blog but didnt see a specific post on it. nice to see you back around here. later.

Hipcycler

This spring....she's sweet.