Snakes, Melons, and Quads. Hell Yeah.

by Mike The Snake Alley criterium kicked off a race packed weekend for the crew. We parked the Cruiser above the brick switchbacks of the "snake" and snagged a spot mid-hill for one of our couches -- a prime cheering/heckling position.

Molly was the first to race and showed some true grit and resilience by finishing despite having to pull over after cramping up.

Later Max, Avi and myself lined up in the 65 man 4's field. As expected, the start was fast and chaotic as everyone scrambled for position heading into the narrow climb. I found myself behind Max near the back of the field for the first lap. It can be difficult to pass riders on the snake and for the first two or three laps I had trouble navigating around slower riders. Finally, around lap five, I came around Max and started to bridge between the isolated groups of riders up the road. Sometime around lap eight I made contact with the lead group and was able to sit in on the flat sections for a couple of laps. With two to go I took the lead heading into the switchbacks.

As I rounded the bend I could hear the roar of my teammates as they realized I'd made my way to the front of the race. I've read that riding HED wheels can motivate a rider to climb harder, but they've got nothing on the energy some screaming teammates with a cowbell can generate. Cresting the hill I'd managed to open a small gap on the rest of the field, but by the time we crossed the start/finish for the bell lap the group was back in my draft. I managed to find myself fifth wheel heading into the final straight, but my legs weren't up for the sprint. I crossed the line eighth. Max had cramped toward the end of the race and had to pull out, while Avi narrowly missed a payout finishing 17th.

But Avi wasn't done. He immediately lined up with the 30+ open field for another 12 laps. Sure, he may have been off the back after the first circuit, but a few laps later the chants of "A-vi, A-vi, A-vi" began to gain steam. By lap ten the chant could be heard all the way at the start/finish area as the spectators along the snake saluted his efforts. Avi climbed the snake 22 times in his back to back races.

Up next Al Urbanski worked his way from the back to the front of the 3s for 16 fast paced laps. Al managed to move from 35th to 20th in the first half of the race before gaining eight more places on the final descent and sprint to finish 12th.

Sunday we raced the Melon City Crit.

At Monday's Quad Cities Criterium Molly helped create an early break. Two riders managed to attack off the front of the group, but Molly and two others gave chase through the eight cornered course. The riders stayed away, but Molly unleashed one of her trademark sprints to finish fourth. Another great finish for Godlufski and the crew's best result of the weekend.

In the Master's 4/5 race I managed to stay upright and corner my way to eighth place. Later, in the 4's race Jeff handled the quick, technical course brilliantly staying in great position through-out and finishing tenth in the field followed closely by Max who picked up 16th place.

In the 3s the efforts of Stan and Al were thwarted by a wet course and several crashes.

All in all, a wonderful weekend of bike racing. Special thanks to Molly's family (Kathy, Ray, and Bruno) for opening up their beautiful home to our team and being such amazing hosts. And to Bradley and Rachel for their physical, emotional and spiritual support.

(Photo credits: Bradley, Michael Kelly, South Chicago Wheelmen and Brian Morrissey, xXx Racing)

...and now a word from our sponsors

Racing isn't cheap. It's no secret that we can use all the help we can get. We're lucky, though. We've got partners in this, sponsors that are down with what we're trying to do, and they're helping us get there one way or another.

So we've made some changes to the site in 2009, to get more eyeballs on them. So do yourself a favor, check them out, over on the left side of the page...yeah, keep going, all the way down. Because they're not just supporting the crew, they are supporting Chicagoland racing. Those prizes and primes don't grow on trees.

With that said, we're gonna take a short commercial break: Get yourself over to the Lake Cycling warehouse sale on Saturday May 30th. You shouldn't just go because they're local, and they support local teams like us. You should go because they'll have good stuff cheap. 1315 Sherman Place, 10-5. Grab the flyer for more info.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming. We'll have a full writeup of the Iowa adventure shortly.

Northbrook opening night!

It was a great opener. The weather was beautiful, the competition was intense and the crowd was excited. The lovely Miss Gavin-Smith was not always as serene as Mr. White's photo would suggest (thanks Ed). She was out working for her teammate Molly, the master of the 700 meter sprint (said to be "ri-donk-u-lous" by some) and claiming her stake at a 4th place tie in the omnium.

 

Molly got the top honor in the Women's 4s. She snatched 1st in the scratch race and 1st in the Win-n-Out. Very exciting displays of strength and aggression in the long sprints to victory.

Al was the top performer on the men's side. After a 9th place finish in the scratch, he bounced back to counter a break set up by Jeff and Brean in the points race. He and Dave Moyer went on the long journey ahead of the pack and Al earned himself 2nd place followed by a victory in the Win-n-Out. Al got 2nd in the evening's omnium.

Jeff was third in the omnium with a 4th place finish out of a 4 wide sprint in the Scratch, a 4th place in the points race, and a go-go gadget throw for 2nd in the Win-n-Out.

Bre got his money's worth by partaking in 4 events on the night. He got 6th in the scratch, 5th in the 4's points, a top secret result in the Master's race and rounded out a great team performance in the Win-n-Out at 5th. His omnium result in the 4s placed him at 5th for an early step in his season.

The fans were fantastic! The bus was full capacity and even a couch made it out to the infield. Big thanks again to Ed White for fantastic photos of the crew. Word is grilling is a must for this upcoming Thursday, May 21. Be sure not to miss it!

No Excuses

It's a gorgeous day, why not put your backside in the saddle and ride up to Northbrook for opening night 2009?Race, cheer, or just talk smack in turn three.

[Wrap-up on the way. In the meantime, check out Ed's pictures]

She's such a cute li'l cutter...

Congratulations Daryl and Ana! Isadora Marie VanEssen, born April 26th at 12:37 PM.

A Thousand Words

[editor: We've taken the liberty of swiping Al's recap off the team message board. Nothing could top it.]

That shit was tailor made. Hard winds broke it down for me without any extra effort. Dirt road right before the finish. Rained right before we hit the dirt. Bam. Ted made us a sweet race. He was in the pace car and took some sweet pictures. My dad was at the race too so I was glad to show him some razzle dazzle.

  

holla atcha boy

If you run into this guy today, wish him a happy birthday.Then ask him to do a crossed-up wheelie on that thing.

What did you do last weekend?

"Training"? "Racing"? "Partying"? Well, if you're Molly you could always say, "Winning". Molly made her way up north on a little road trip with the Cuttin' Crew's guru of gears (and former messer), Kristen Meshberg. She did a road race in Duran, WI on Saturday and then popped into Madison on her way back to race in a criterium. The Duran race sounded like a difficult journey through hilly Wisconsin. Miss Godlewski had poor fortune and missed a chance to roll with the lead group. 20 miles solo is no fun but, in very admirable fashion, the woman stuck it out for the finish in the women's open.

The Cuttin' Crew's Queen of Criteriums came 'round to claim the top spot at Sunday's Greg Bednorski Memorial (#2) category 4 criterium. It was an even chillier race Sunday given the sunny weather everyone enjoyed on Saturday. Molly held tight in a lead pack as it dwindled down to 4 members through the course of the race. When the bell lap came it was clearly going to be a tactical sprint. Wits always help, but Molly also has the ability to back them skills with sheer strength. It looked like an early move was made with everyone still in a row and rounding the final turn. When she came in sight around the corner for the windy 300+ meter incline towards the finish, she was already in the first spot and had the juice to hold it strong through the line! Molly's record on criteriums for the year now stands at 2 first place finishes, 1 (very close) second place, and gotta give her a tally mark for having 1 post-up.

On the men's front, it was a small representation in Madison. Mike and Jeff did the Greg Bednorski Memorial criteriums (#1 and #2) on Saturday and Sunday. Mike fared very well. Placing 3rd in the first 4's race and then lining up for an immediate Master's 4/5 race and sweeping in to grab 6th on Saturday. Jeff only got to race the 4's because he's far too young to play with them lucky masters. He got 11th after his "leadout" effort for Mike. The pairing followed up the effort with a 9th and 10th place showing on Sunday. The other highlights included hanging with the Perkins clan and playing a key role in cheering on Molly to victory!

no ill. and so ill. (Super Crit and Hillsboro)

by Al

I was lining up and shaking for the Spring Supercrit in South Beloit. My first 3s race was the 1/2/3. And it was raining. I wasn't expecting much from myself. I was just glad to model the spankin' new skinsuit that Stanley and I designed/ripped off. The plan I was just going to lead Stan out and watch the race from the inside. Get a Grip and Burnham both had 4 riders in the field. Their reputation for teamwork made them the teams to watch. Lap 2: when an unidentified Get a Grip rider jumped just after the turn from the finishing stretch, I didn't think much about defensively jumping on their wheel. I assumed I had the field on my wheel. I was wrong. After half a lap together, the Get a Grip rider sat up and went back to the pack. I don't know why. So I sat up, too, and waited for the pack. But the pack sat up while I waited. The rain must have made everyone a little sluggish. Out of the first turn, a different Get a Grip rider and a Burnham rider put in an attack (and a Comcast rider, I believe? He may have been in the earlier break. I forget.) I went with them, still expecting to get caught.

After a few laps, and the pack out of sight, it started to sink in that we had a good chance of staying away. My legs felt much better than at the start. I put in an attack out of the final turn with maybe 3 or 4 laps to go just as Chris Kelley/Get a Grip was pulling off, who I noticed was being overly cautious on the turns. He caught back up near the finish, though, and I pulled off. I knew Andy Daley/Burnham was the strongest sprinter here. I should have attacked him.

But I've been working on my sprint, and motivation is hard to come by in the rain. Would I blow myself up if I attacked? I had 3rd place locked away if I stayed with the group. 3rd would be great in my first big criterium race. I almost blew it and nearly rear ended Chris Kelley when my fingers were too frozen to brake. I shifted into a easy gear to spin some blood into my legs. I shook my arms which were cramping up. I guess that confused the hell out of my breakmates, who thought I was trying to pull off.

How was my sprint, anyways? Well, I saw people fade in every sprint that day over the final 500 meter straightaway to the line, which was also slightly uphill and into the wind. Chris Kelley was forced to lead it out, with me on Daley's wheel. Perfect. Daley jumped early, with maybe 300 meters to the line. I waited for 200. I tried to jump into a gap up the left side, partially protected from the wind. Kelley shut that down. I went around to the right, forgetting to jump IN his draft. I made up about half a bike length, he forced me right, and that's where I finished, half a wheel back from Chris Kelley, and maybe 2 and a half back from the powerful Andy Daley.

I biked over to the bus and started shivering uncontrollably until someone reminded me there were hot showers. Awesome! Oh, my fingers don't work. I had to put on some mittens until my hands warmed up. I ran outside and did a couple laps around the bus because I couldn't recognize the bathroom building. No blood in my brain, I guess. Someone pointed it out, though, and I am hard pressed to remember a happier moment than that shower.

Jeff went and picked up my glorious Big Race prize of a chain, a case of Red Bull, a pair of socks, and a gift certificate for a pair of socks that I can redeem if I call some guy and then go pick them up, which sounds like as much work as the socks are worth.

We headed to Milwaukee in a terrible ice storm. We went straight to the Stonefly, parked the bus for the night, had some awesome brews, and packed it in for the night where we learned Ben won the out of town spot at the MMI. A good weekend on both fronts.

Next week I did the Hillsboro-Roubaix. I got 3rd last year, but this year they had some sweet brick trophies, way sweeter than the gold painted plastic cup from last year, and I knew I had to have one. Maybe one mile into the race people started the attacks. After about 10 people went off, I went while there wasn't much of a gap. Danny Robertson/MACK whipped us into a fast echelon, where the lead constantly rotates and the pulls are short. I hear XXX threw down some major blocking for Peter Strittmatter, who was doing his best to keep people to do their workload.

After a mile of attacks and counterattacks, we settled into a group of 9 with 64 miles to go: one guy each from the Hub, XXX, Mack, ISCorp, 3 guys from Verizon/Lucas Oil, me, and someone in a orange kit(I forget the team). The Verizon/Lucas guys were really slacking, which is odd considering they had 3 guys in the break. There was some animosity there when I told them to work and they started whispering instead. Whatever their plan was, I don't know, but two of them dropped off after one lap of three, and the last one dropped after the second. Jason Meshberg kept us updated after each lap as we left the town section. It was the same after laps one and two. "Two minutes! Two minutes!"

The 6 of us kept a raggedy echelon going, but as we crested the mile 10 hill, I could feel my wheel going flat. I hoped I was just paranoid, but I felt the rim hit asphalt and waved to the wheel truck that was following closely. I changed my wheel as quick as I could, hopped back on and tried to catch a sight of the group. I flatted right at the same part I attacked last year. Am I doomed to torture by the final 8 miles of merciless crosswinds every year? An official rode by in a car and told the driver there was a "huge group" coming up. Great. That must be my field. Maybe I could hold on for 6th place.

I found the guy in orange off the back and traded a couple pulls, took a little break. He was dropped and worn out, though, and waved me on. My legs were screaming. Did the break feel the same way? I grinded on. I ducked my head into my handlebars to try and hide from the wind. I looked down and was suprised to be in a large gear. There must have been a tailwind? That bettered my chances solo. Positive thoughts. Soon enough, I could see them ahead in one of the open stretches, and no sign of the pack. I had a rabbit now. I caught them just maybe a third of the way up the climb, with 2 or 3 miles to go. The pace had gone way down since I left. I tried an attack at the top of the hill, but they had been holding back. They caught me just before the first brick turn. I tried to jump into the final turn and get them off my wheel, but they had no problem catching that, too. My legs had no more kick. They went flying by with about 400 to go, and I gave it all I had to catch a wheel. It wasn't enough for 3rd, and a brick trophy that comes with it. I looked over my shoulder for the other guy. I must have left him with my first attack. I rolled over the line for 4th place and collapsed onto the team's couch set up at the finish line.

Super Brief

We'll fill you in on the details later, but a couple of highlights from Burnham's Spring Super Crit:

Molly got 2nd in the 4s. Avi, Jeff, and Max won primes. Avi "marathon man" Neurohr completed 4 races in one day. But that all pales to these sexy results:

 

Al and Stan suited up in their first race as 3s, with the sleet coming down fiercely and the temperature dropping. Al went out solo, was joined by a Get a Grip and Burnham riders, and they built up a lead of well over a minute. Late in the game, the field splintered, with Stan riding solo to catch Randy Warren in no-man's-land.

A three-up sprint at the line was decided by less than a length, and Al hung on for third. Stan outkicked his companion to take 7th.The bus was last seen heading to the aftermath of the Milwaukee Messenger Invitational to meet up with first place out of towner, Ben.

A good weekend for the Cuttin' Crew. Props to Burnham Racing and their massive hitlist of sponsors, Rachel for her relentless support and footage, Milwaukee and its fine cycling community.