Good is mediocre and boring. Be great.

RW24 was just an outstanding experience on so many levels. A trip like this is really the reason to start a bike racing team with friends and pile them into a school bus for the weekend.

It is readily described as a tour through the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee. There is a loop of 4.5 miles bounded by 4 checkpoints that everyone needs to stop at in order to receive credit for a lap. Categories are split by gender into soloists, 1 team-1 bike, 1 team-multiple bikes and tandem. There are also bonus checkpoints that are set up in 2 hour time slots all throughout the 24 hours that showcase neighborhood businesses, community activities and characters. The beautiful thing about this is the random hours of the night these checkpoints would always be staffed and anxious to see you roll through.

As a group of people that have been racing alleycats and several variances of bike races for many years now, the prospect of nailing down as many laps as possible on a set course in another city for the sake of frivolous bragging rights was just too much to pass up. Of the 500 registrants we, and our like-minded competitors were in the minority. And that is still way cool by me (written by jeff, by the by).

One of my many great memories will undoubtedly be that stretch between 4:30 AM and 7:00 AM when the rain was pounding down for the 5th straight hour and I saw more CP workers than riders. The sun was starting to shine whilst the streets were practically empty and I was just really into chipping away at this wonderful task of riding to no conceivable end. It was a remarkable moment when it felt as though all of this organizing and persistent volunteering was done just for me. (real or not, you certainly don't enjoy that feeling in the "sanctioned" racing world).

Eventually we all met the end of the time crunch and the bus occupants fared VERY well at the task of hitting the bonus checkpoints and the lap count. No one's trip was gonna be sold short, that's for sure. Incredible accomplishments all around. Callie completed 44 laps on what must have been an exhausting brakeless fixed gear ride. She got the most out of any female soloists. Nico, trippz, Blaze, Philly Jeff, and C Norris came on super strong at the end to seal a tie for 1st in the mixed bike category and 2nd overall with 74 laps. I spent the time sharing a bike with Bradley, the Augdog and Candles Nordyke. The lattermost man was the one going apeshit to ensure we collectively took the most laps out of everyone else. And we did. 79 laps and all the bonuses. 350+ miles of straight checkpoints alone. Not too shabby.

(thanks to fonscy)

There really are too many great things and feats within and without this team to highlight from the trip. Free lemonade, free champagne, fresh oatmeal cookies, free dinner, free breakfast, free couch, you name it. I could probably talk your ear off about it but I'd rather conclude with saying I had an absolute fucking blast and I'm very happy to know there is a place in the world like the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A word from your inner enduro

Would you want to race this man? Perhaps gain some advice from him? Just witness his racing prowess? Maybe even all of the above? Colby Pearce is providing a rare treat to us all by racing the Delanghe and then he's hosting a clinic on becoming a better endurance track racer this weekend. This is just further proof that Val and Josh are not only doing great things on the track but great things for the track.

If you missed the intensity of the Bobby Pfarr last week, well, shame on you. BUT! You can certainly make up for it by checking out all this to offer this week at the Ed Rudolph Velodrome up there in Northbrook.

Allvoi Rundown

by Avi

(Yep, Taffy Doodles)

Usually I can manage to keep tabs on the racing action, and (sometimes to a fault) report on every teammate's moves, counters, finishes, and results. This is not going to be one of those times. Three days of packing/unpacking the car, setting up camp, changing wheels & cogs & bars, warming up, cooling down, eating the nth granola bar, staying hydrated, checking results, doing Omnium math, not to mention racing, and doing it all over again...it's enough to make your head spin. Apologies in advance, as I know I'm going to space somebody's moment of greatness. I saw some brilliant racing, but I'd be making a fool of myself if I tried to get all the details straight. How many Polish sausages did I eat? Zubaz on the podium? Where's my fifteener? It's all a blur.

A few things must be said, though. The men have it a bit easy, in that we got split into three fields. I had a good run, but I didn't have to go up against the really big guns. The women, on the other hand, are all in one bunch. The top six in their field were brimming with experience at National, Olympic, or other big-ticket events, and a number of them had come from afar to battle it out. It was great to see a couple of local faces standing out: Beth Engwis, a Tuesday Kenosha regular (and Junior National silver medalist) nabbed four podiums to take third overall, and two wins gave Stacy Appelwick second overall, with Kimberly Edwards on the top step. This left a bunch of locals nipping at their heels. They did not go gently.

Our own Rhominatrix, Jannette, had never raced at the track before, but that didn't stop her from hitting the ground running. She finished just behind the "big six" in three events, giving her 7th overall. The Sprockettes, aka Maria, Daphne, and Eleanor from Johnny Sprockets, were right up there with her all weekend, fighting for scraps, and staying in the top ten. Hats off to them, and the rest of the local ladies for standing tall in such a stacked field.

In the P/1/2 field, Liam "cat 5 last year" Donoghue just made the last step on the podium, behind winner Adam Leibovitz, and sprint machine Matt Fox, and just ahead of distance machines Chris Mosora and David Moyer. Al Urbanski made the top ten, riding a 1:11 Kilo along the way, and making moves with the big dogs in the scratch.

The cat 3 men's field had all kinds of threats, but Kaleb Koch's three wins were enough to keep him on top, ahead of Larry Stoegbauer and Gregory Kick (or Sean Vig, tied in points? huh?) Maybe Kaleb will do the rest of the field a favor, and get distracted when he's old enough to get his driver's license. El Jefe Perkins had a solid closing in the 5th-8th sprints and took the win, along with a top 5 in the Kilo.

As for the 4/5s field, they say racing is a battle between who you are and who you want to be. In that case, I want to be Nate Iden, since he could have stayed in bed on day three, and still won the Omnium. Scott Rosenfield was right on my heels in the overall, not to mention side by side in the points race, right down to the wire. The darkest hour for our field was when Trevor Roche hit the deck hard in the chariot, with Robert Higgins, Spencer Oswald, and bus-adoptee Jason 'Pink Sunglasses' Ferguson going down with him. Here's hoping Trevor's back out there shortly, and the rest of the guys heal up quick.

I'm not gonna bore you with the play-by-play, but it was a good haul. In six events, I scored five medals: 2nd in the chariot, 3rd in the match sprints, 1st in the points race, 3rd in the kilo, 3rd in the scratch, and 2nd overall. I'm not grousing, but I made a really bad wheel choice in the pursuit and missed the finals by 2.7 seconds. Lesson learned: don't go with your "favorite wheel" over the disc you should probably use, but don't like. I'm left beating myself up over What Might Have Been.

I know it's "just" a cat 4/5 field, and I'm not going to ever repeat this kind of performance as I move up, but it's nice to have a high water mark on the season, and this fits the bill for sure. Thanks and props to Jeff, for driving the bus, both literally and figuratively, Al, for all the advice and putting up with me asking "what gear should I use?" for the 300th time, Brian and Josh for watching Chicago's back, Tresa for putting up with all this, the kids for screaming in turn four, and Jannette and the Sprockettes for taking pictures and making me blush on the podium.

Now do yourself a favor and go see the full results, and remind yourself that these racers, organizers, and officials pulled off 46 events in 48 hours. Hats off to everyone behind this, and especially Allvoi for working so hard to bring a class event to these parts.

Multiple updates

First things first. If things have gone as planned, Brean should be out of ICU and in a regular hospital room by now and fit to stay through the weekend. Home care is in his future and undoubtedly some rehabilitation. He is one tough dude and I'm sure we'll be seeing him up soon. We'll try to keep the updates coming as we get them. His body still has a lot of resting and fixing to do. On to more good news. JANNETTE! She did it again. The women's 3/4 field at the Lakefront road race at Superweek got Rho-sted! First place for the dear lady of the dairyland. It came down to a sprint and she went for a long one and got it. Goes to show all those gutless "sprinters" (*ahem* jeff*) out there how to really stamp your authority on a bike race. Great stuff. We'll keep you posted on whether the check clears.

Finally we've got a little teaser to let everyone know there is a big few days of track bicycle racing coming up. The ALLVOI Cup Pursuit Series is this weekend (7/23-25) at Northbrook. Should have at least 4 pairs of thunder thighs up there representing in the women's open, the men's 3's and the men's 4/5's fields. Jamie is coming in HOT after her big performance that garnered her a 2nd place in last week's 1/2/3/4 keirin. Teeners is skipping a commercial making gig to do it so you know she won't be playin' around. Avi is ready to rock with his newly upgraded status, and hopefully Jeff will be ready to give 'er. Jannette might even throw her helmet into the mix and be a sport to give this track thing a try. Am I missing anyone? The bus is coming and going so hit us up if you need a ride.

Hey! Next Tuesday (7/27) is the Bob Pfarr Classic in Kenosha. A guaranteed great night of merciless track racing that brings out the pillow talk (wink to CJ) from the heroes of superweek and puts most trackies to their limit being an hour long, 31 mile points race. It is guaranteed to be quite a sight for all spectators and all are welcome to join us on the Cruiser for our typical 4 PM Tuesday departure.

Sorry, no photos... well. OK. Here's a warning as to why you should root against Jeff if you're a podium girl... thanks to Jason Edward Photo.

To the weekend!

Get well soon, Bre

Just about the last thing you want to hear from a friend and teammate is a brief text to let you know they broke their collarbone and possibly worse at a faraway race.

The next worst thing is getting an update like this from a loaned blackberry in the ICU...

"I was intentionally crashed out of a road race sat morning. I think I'll be ok, but I've been in ICU since sat night. I broke five ribs and my collarbone. Three of the ribs punctured my lung, and they were afraid of spleen damage for a while. Lung looks better, but the oxygen level in my blood is low --that's why I'm still in ICU. They lowered my pain meds to help with oxygen level. Man, I'm in a shit-ton of pain. Anyway, when I can communicate better, I will."

If he sends us an update we'll be sure to post it.

Heal up, brother.

I love it when a plan comes together

NY state of mind

It's always a treat to see the talent that shows up for Velo-City. I've been racing the track for about 2 full years plus a coupla broken seasons and even with that experience I had to really step it up to place a bid for those tickets to Guatemala this year.

The racing included a motor paced Kierin, a win-n-out, a miss-n-out, Australian pursuit, and match sprints.

I fared well in most of the events. Won the Kierin, win-n-out and match sprint with some bell lap jumps. The miss-n-out is a pain of a race for me and I worked up front as much as I could to take it in the end. The Australian pursuit is certainly a new one for me and all I have to say is them Aussies are a maladjusted sort to come up with something like that...

Here's how the Australian works - each person takes a spot along the rail equidistant from each other. When the race starts everyone must drop into the sprinters lane. From then on, if you get passed you get pulled. If you pass someone they get pulled. Talk about a brutal trip to the depths of your will. Brean gutted it out for a 2nd overall finish and 1st out of the rest of the messers.

The old man showed more than guts. Sure he took podiums in almost every event but he also showed major class. He spent his warm up helping another strong newbie get the feel for his first trip to the track. The biggest moment would have to be when he surrendered his 2nd place omnium prize of a race frame and passed it on to the 3rd place messer, NYC's Kennedy. Kennedy showed crazy potential given his strength and speed. Hopefully Brean's generosity will help sprout that seed into a regular track racer.

Filling out the Chicago tri-fecta was Janna. She isn't a working messenger but of the 3 ladies that showed up to race, she tied for first in the omnium and definitely started to open up on the competition as the day went on. After last year's showing and this year, I'd say the Second City has been doing something right.

Big thanks to all the sponsors, per usual, and of course big ups to Squid and the Cyclehawk outfit for masterminding and executing a 5th year of such an amazing series. They come and they go but the real ones stay with it and Squid isn't going anywhere. Photos are available for checking out over here thanks to demoncats.com. My favorite would have to be this, this, and then this.

Guatemala is looking real nice!

la ocho, segundo

This just in from the wire services. A hit squad from Chicago has schooled Velo-City NYC. el Rooster Pistolero took top messenger honors, winning yet another ticket to Messenger Worlds in Guatemala. A local sleeper agent, codenamed the Irish Tornado, finished in second place. Janna, another Chicago-based operative, took the top women's spot, giving Chicago the sweep for the second consecutive year. Details forthcoming.

Second in the overall!

The long, arduous task of laying claim to the heartland of Wisconsin has come to a close and we are certainly proud to present our Dear Lady of the Dairyland, our ruler of the Rhoman Empire, your 2nd place overall finisher in the women's category 3/4 Tour of America's Dairyland...

Jannette Rho!

3rd place on the last day put her in the 2nd place slot in the overall rankings for 9 consecutive days of highly competitive racing.* I would expect she had consistent frustrations racing with a woman that won 8 of all 10 races. Miss Gaggioli certainly deserves great credit for such a performance. Gaggioli won 7 out of the 9 races Jannette was in. That did not deter our Jannette from shuffling onto a podium step 7 out 9 times. 7 of 9 despite taking a spill that put her out of top-10 contention late in one those races.

Something to certainly consider - of their 9 shared races, Rho and Gaggioli combined to take 15 of the 27 podium placements. The other 12 podium spots were shuffled amongst 7 different women.

While she never got the cowprint jersey or got to sip on chocolate milk for the camera she certainly aired consistent dominance and has a well deserved spot in the final standings.

Pretty f'n killer, J Rho.

*you'll note she's credited 8 points for the first race, an official's error seeing as she was still in the city when that race kicked off. The 8 point favor makes no significant difference to her standing in the GC.

Another big thanks to Jonathan Gray for keeping the photos comin'!

The tale of two adversities

Anything could happen and it did Friday. Jannette got into a crash at Fond Du Lac and finished in 13th place. She was stuck out with 6 laps to go and the neutral laps stop at 7 to go. Drop or finish? Naturally, she swapped out wheels and did a NASTY solo time trial effort to garner some points to defend her spot in the General Classification. As the rankings got tighter for the overall 2nd spot, and sporting a few chips and bruises Jannette showed her tenacity again and got back on the Rhodium march to take 3rd in yesterday's Downer's Classic. Her 2nd place in the GC is on solid ground but she isn't out of the woods yet.

Today's Carl Zach Cycling Classic will conclude what has been a superb week for our Dear Lady of the Dairyland. The important things are all in check, as Jonathan Gray captured yet again. Not only is Jannette kicking ass, she's having a good time...