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...

BIG step in the right direction

The Rhodium march continues! Jannette has stayed with it and created a whole lot of room for herself thanks to a 3rd place performance in a road race that looks to have created some dramatic shifts in the Grand Classification. Jannette gave 'er with a big move early that didn't stick but she then recovered to make it to the podium. Our dearest lady of the dairyland has earned plenty of room for herself at the 2nd spot in the GC of the Tour of America's Dairyland. With first place in the overall being handled well by Whitney Gaggioli, there was a 5 person race for 2nd that looks to have opened up in Jannette's favor. It was less than 10 points that separated riders 2-6. The 2-4 women were only 4 points apart if I remember correctly. As of right now, however, Jannette garnered a 20 point lead on Meghan Lapeta and Cathy Frampton. Meghan and Cathy are tied in the 3rd slot so it is certainly not hard to tell they are HUNGRY!

As for Jannette, she's always had a big appetite for success but her thirst for the coveted chocolate milk chug on the top spot of the podium is getting more and more intense. Just as her 20 point lead looks like it will take work to defend, Gaggioli's 32 point gap could always start to fold. Anything can happen in bike racing and there's still 3 stages left. !!!

Awwww, yeah, girl. Keep on putting them ladies to work!

A little more breathing room

Jonathan Gray has some more photos of yesterday's stage in Waterloo, WI, home of Trek. Looked like a bunch sprint for her finish and Jannette got third. She's got a bit more breathing room in the General Classification than the day before, still at 2nd and 3 points up on Angela Theriault. First overall looks like a runaway but anything can happen in these races and there's some chocolate milk on the line...

It's a big road race today, meaning double the points and double the fun! Keep up the great work Jannette!

Jannette moves up to 2nd in the GC!

2nd place in yesterday's crit and then BAM!

(Thanks to Jonathan Gray for the photo!)