By Tim Radcliff

Matt Howley gets on the podium at Lincoln Park, with a 3rd in the Cat 4’s. Well done Matt – we’ll look for pictures and a summary!

I did the 40+ 123’s and found the race extremely challenging. A XXX rider went from the gun solo, followed a little later by a very strong chasing trio. I was marking two folks – I just chose 2 I knew were strong, as you cant look at field like that and try to cover every move. They were all strong. So when Mark Swartzendruber went, so did I. We chased, but did not make ground on the front 4. And out of nowhere, a Union Cycling rider bridged to us. This guy was strong.

The end result: I got snapped off my 3 man chase group after 5 laps and with 9 laps to go, stuck in no-man’s land. I dug hard and time trialed all the way to 2 to go, and I started to believe I could hold off the field which had been slowly gaining and then retreating and then ultimately gaining on me.

With 2 to go, I noticed a group of about 10 riders coming up fast on me. I was so disappointed. Then I realized it was the front four riders lapping me, and about 6 cling-ons from the peloton I had been holding off. What a bummer. My chasers got a free ride on the super strong front four.

I hopped on board and hobbled in to finish 9th. In talking with Mark Swatrzendruber after the race, his average power for the entire race was 387 watts. I am not there yet, so much work to be done….

I accomplished what I wanted – a super strong workout. But clearly this sport is about mental toughness as well, and by being cracked off a break, I realize I need to harden up when it matters most.

I hope to see many of you Sunday at the time trial. I hope my legs stop hurting by then.

John Fraser TT Summary

Mr. Alvestad continues to impress with another spot on the podium. Jostein
did a mountain bike race on a fixed gear bike, among some of the most
advanced mountain bikes money can buy. And he solo’d away and won by over
three minutes! Congratulations Jostein!

That’s the good news. The bad news is that our slim margin over ABD
disappeared today at the Maple Park time trial. In very windy conditions,
and chilly conditions, ABD came out the victor and collected the team prize
cash.

But back to good news- we had a FANTASTIC showing of the EMC2 colors. It
was great to see teammates old and new giving it a go. I think almost all
of us were slower than years past as we ate headwinds longer, and the sweet
tail winds seem to be done too soon. Some highlights:

• Reeves in super early season form at 22.24 was our fastest of the day
• Newest member Tom Ferguson clocked a 26.29 in first ever attempt. Welcome
  Tom!
• Dan Kurowski briefly escaped brutal hours at the office to hit 31.20. Nap
  time, Dan!
• Jim Ward hit 25.49 even though he reminds me that he was cold and wanted to
  sleep in.
• Gus Rosada tested a new tt machine to hit 25.58
• Bob Majcen punished himself twice to hit 26.35 and 26.30. Consistent! Wow!
• Jim Landenberger pushed to a 26.58 even with the tall-guy disadvantage in
  those winds.
• Steve Jesanis clocked a fine 23.17. Too many cocktails the prior night did
  not slow him down. (keep that up)
• Tim Moran showed off his new tt machine at 25.10. Pretty sweet for a brand
  new ride.
• I did a 23.48
• Michael Stavridis rolled a 25.19, well done indeed. Africa is paying off.
• Matt Howley clocked a 23.30 on his newly fitted BMC
• Tony Meadors recovered from playing a gig last night to ride 25.52

Notably missing was our ladies team. We really want you ladies to join the
suffer fest and join us on the road.

But importantly, here is what I noticed: times were all over the place.
Some clocked times similar to last year, some added quite a bit. And this
is true not only for EMC2, but for all participants. It was truly a brutal
day. The wind and chill made the race that much more challenging. I spoke
to one of the area’s best time trialists and he said he simply can’t
benchmark this race. He was minutes slower at higher or similar watts. He
is probably right.

So. Focus on the positive- we had a great turnout, with guys going really
deep in really challenging conditions. I thought we did awesome. Yes, we
lost to ABD today, but we beat a whole bunch of other teams. And I really
enjoyed seeing our wonderful teammates. You guys are awesome.

Well done EMC2.

Today we are talking with Gus Rosada of EMC2 regarding his recent overall success in the 4 day stage
race – “ABD Fall Fling”. Sitting at a cocktail table in the Salsaria, located in downtown Elmhurst, several fellow EMC2 racers willing be grilling Rosada on all aspects of the races; ranging from nutrition, training, stress and strategy. Those firing the questions include: Matt Howley, Jim Ward, Steve Bast, Tim Radcliff, Tony Gambino and Jostein Avestad (Fellow racer Jim Landenberger is NA). With his back pressed against the wall Rosada looks fit, confident and poised to take any and all questions.

Q: Gus, did the pressure of holding overall second place after two stages have you considering blood doping, EPO or other?
Rosada: No comment*

*Better back off or this interview is not going anywhere

Q: Gus, can you please tell us a little bit about your history with EMC2, the training and any events that may have contributed to your strong season ending form?
Rosada: Been riding with EMC2 for 3 years and consistently hitting the morning training rides; During the winter, I try to ride outdoors for as long as possible and am not defeated by snow and darkness, will ride in almost any condition to stay off of the indoor trainer. As far as events, I would say that the Century ride/race helped, but I credit the consistent EMC2 morning training rides.

Q: let’s talk about the race, your expectations and how the first day of the Fall Fling went?
Rosada: Well, I came in with no expectations and just wanted to do the event, but the first race went pretty well and I took second place. It was a pretty windy day on the short track at Pella, nobody seemed to want to do any work, especially into the wind. EMC2’er, Matt Howley, had raced earlier in the day and he had tipped me that this may be the case and to go with any breaks. Before I knew it, a group of about 4-5 riders were off of the front and as expected nobody was willing to do the work to bring them back, so I moved up front and was able to bridge up to them. Even after that effort, no other riders were doing any pulls or chasing down the breaks and I find myself riding upfront, again. A Tower Cycling rider broke off the front and I was glad to grab a wheel, and when look back there was nobody chasing us down, I can only imagine that other Tower riders were blocking for us and not chasing their own. We were a two man break with 30 minutes to go in the race and I was a little concerned about the amount of time remaining. It worked out and we held them off. This was a pivotal move, because after doing most of the work for the group and then keeping the peloton at bay for the remaining 30 minutes it was a real confidence boost and had me believing that my form was solid enough to compete for the Overall. After the race, the Tower rider that I had teamed up with advised that he would not compete in the individual time trial the next day. That was good news.

Q: So going into day #2, the individual time trial, you are in second place overall and what was going on in your mind and how did you prepare?
Rosada: I knew if I road well that I would be in good shape on account of the points from day #1 and the Tower rider not riding in the TT. As for the preparation, I used my road bike for the TT and I clipped on the aero drop bars that morning. There was nothing else to do; I had ridden the course before. Of course, I ate sensibly, hydrated and slept well…

Q: We have all seen the fancy equipment that rolls out for TT’s and you one of the race leaders are sitting on the starting block, sporting a road bike with “clip-ons”, were you intimidated? Did you feel that you could compete?
Rosada: I have a “no look” policy and I figure that I got what I got. I took 6th place and raced the course one minute faster than a year ago and was happy with that. Additionally, this result placed me second in the overall.

Q: Stage 3 looms, how was your training and state of mind during the between week?
Rosada: Nervous! The training was the normal EMC2 ride, that’s it, but as we rode we did discuss race tactics and possible threats that could come from larger teams, like ABD and Tower. All the talk did add to the pressure, but did not affect me much because my plan was to ride the best that I could and there is not much more you can do. Of course, I did not want to disappoint.

Q: Stage #3 has a very large and competitive field with over 50 racers; you end up winning 1st place in the stage out of a bunch sprint. But the day started off a little funny; the organizers threw a curve ball and changed the planned course, adding a more technical twist with a 180 degree turn. You had more EMC2 riders join you in this race and how did that work out and how did the race go?
Rosada: It felt really good to have the guys around, even just to see a friendly face goes a long way. The team reminded me before and during the race to stay off the front, out of the wind and be sure to grab their wheels; it also helps to have a team mate open a gap when you need to get in the slip stream. We all had the top competitors’ jersey numbers written on masking tape and adhered to our bikes top tube, we were marking them. The start of the race was a little packed and a few riders complained about the large field start. The race featured several intense accelerations, but the large field provided riders in addition to my EMC2 boys to reel in the breaks, plus we kept an eye on our marks. Crossing the start/finish line in the last lap was a little confusing and I did not hear the ‘last lap bell’, Ward told me that it had rang and we needed to move up. We were not panicking because the laps were over two miles long and took about six minutes each, there was time. Coming out of the 180 degree turn slowed the field (again) and put us into a head wind, here we were able to move up quite a few positions. Going down the back stretch, the pace helped by a tailwind was whipping up fast, making passing riders tough. With about 800 meters to go, exiting the sweeping turn the pace was 36 mph, we were moving into the cross wind and my team mate rode this 300-400 meter section to the final turn as if it were the finish of the race. Reaching the final turn I saw an opportunity to get off Ward’s wheel as he was now going wide (and slowing) and jumped Steve Bast on an inside lane and used him for about ten pedal strokes. Now I am up to full sprint, my confidence is high and I just gotta go! – All out! And I do! As I hit the line, I realize that the sweetest thing was that I had literally just passed my main competitor at the finish. This places me in a tie for 1 st, overall.

Q: Stage #4 you are tied for first place. What was your preparation?
Rosada: Well, I was actually feeling great the night before. Had a solid dinner, exchanged a few emails/texts with fellow team mates on tactics/strategy, and then pretty much slept like a baby.

Q: So there you were on the 4th and final race day, what do you recall?
Rosada: In the morning, all I could think about was not wanting to let the team down. As we gathered at the starting line, a few riders from other teams introduced themselves and asked me to point out my main competitors. Some of my team mates had been talking me up before the race, and asked others to help up if it made sense for them. The race itself grouped both 4’s and 40+4’s, and was extremely fast paced. For the most part, I was able to hang back in the pack as my EMC’er team mates did a great job strategically reeling in several key attacks. I thought this must be what it’s like to ride pro, watching fellow racers burn match after match for me and the benefit of the team. During all this, my main competition rode as smart as a fox and never left my wheel the entire race. Coming in to the last lap, my team mates had done great work helping me get into position and it was now up to me as we came into the final stretch. In the end, I was just barely edged out at the finish line but very happy with taking 2nd overall and extremely proud of my team mates.

Q: Gus, any closing thoughts?
Rosada: People that have ridden with me know that I am helper. If there is ever a mechanical issue, like a chain derail, gear problem, broken spoke, flat tire or other I am there to help as much as I can and same goes for keeping riders with the group and working them back up if necessary. It was an unusual situation for me to be the one getting the help and it sure felt great to have EMC2 there for me.

Thanks, Gus.

Last weekend, Jim Nowak and ABD cycling hosted another great race at Sunrise Park in Bartlet IL. Jostein has been carrying some great form and proved once again that he is unstoppable, especially when the going gets tough.

By Dan Kurowski.

With the course thoroughly traversed by Gareth and Jostein (who raced both the Cat 3 and Cat 1/2/3 races earlier in the day), I completed my first cyclocross race at DeKalb’s Hopkins Park. As Stop #2 of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup, a twelve race series culminating in the state cyclocross championship on the shores of Lake Michigan in December, Hopkins Park served as an interesting backdrop to my start in cyclocross racing.

Unlike with the area’s road races where riders toe the start/finish line based simply on who gets to the line first, in cyclocross, riders line up in columns eight across based on a combination of various experience factors. With my lack of ‘cross experience, this combination resulted in a pre-race starting position 89 of 100 riders field registered for the 30 minute Category 4A race. In short, I wasn’t going to win. However, my placement would ensure that I would treat the race as the learning experience I fully intended it to be by pushing the limits of my strength, not quitting, and getting a feel for my ‘cross bike’s handling. I had about four hours of ‘cross specific skills practice on it the week before the race along with a training ride and e-mail correspondence with my uncle, who races in the 60+ crowd. With these goals in mind, I succeeded.

After being called to (back of the) the start line from the staging area by the race officials, the whistle blew to start the race. After waiting for the many riders ahead to start, I pushed off, clipped in and did a decent job of passing a number of riders before the pace slowed incredibly as the course bottlenecked at a left turn followed by a right turn. (Race Takeaway #1: if the course really slows down, it might be easier to jump off the bike and pass by people on foot.) The first few seconds of a ‘cross race yields another difference between the road races in which I’ve participated. While the road events tend to build up to speed more slowly, ‘cross is a mad dash to the first turn because of a bottleneck intentionally created by the course designers. The riders making it through early benefit from their success in numerous ways, including avoiding the inevitable traffic jam and bumping from other racers jockeying for position in
the turn.

However, after the bottleneck and as the course continued to wind, I promptly managed to give up many the places previously gained by going down during one of the slower, tighter turns in an attempt to avoid taking out the rear wheel of the rider ahead of me. (Race Takeaway #2: glad ‘cross isn’t on pavement!) After getting back on the bike, we headed into a single-track section of the course that traveled through woods – during which time the sun’s rays peeked through the canopy, highlighting the course’s very dusty conditions – emerged to jump onto a short paved path, only to dart back into the woods, then emerge again for more turns.

After passing under the course’s “flyover” – a platform like obstacle made of stairs leading to a plateau, followed by a ramp – I received some heckle-free encouragement from Jostein and Gareth and pedaled through a faster section to a forced dismount (Race Takeaway #3: don’t even think about bunny-hopping a single, uphill barrier in your first race). At the dismount, I carried the bike over a barrier, running up the short hill that followed, jumped back on to ride downhill, turning to ride back up the hill. After the course ticked downhill on a paved nature trail, the speed naturally picked up. Then, it slowed down again, but only after we exited the path following a slightly uphill right turn that one could make without needing to manually scrub any speed due to the natural slow down created by the incline.

After even more turning, the course turned to bring the flyover back in view. Jumping off my bike again, I shouldered it to climb the fifteen steps to top of the flyover. After reaching its platform, I put my bike down gently to avoid bouncing it and potentially dropping the chain, jumped back on, then clipped in as I headed past the largest collection of spectators during the last section of the course before the end of the lap, a root filled bumpy area just before the finish where the various teams set up camp for the day.

With one lap down, I felt more confident in choosing my lines during the remaining three laps, staying upright and navigating the barriers without issue and without grace (though looking pro in my thoroughly cool EMC2 ‘cross specific skinsuit – or “onesie” as my wife calls it). As the race continued, I consciously approached the course’s obstacles in order to avoid committing fatigue-related errors. With my lungs full of dust and heart pounding, I also declined many of the numerous spectator hand-ups that are common to ‘cross, including Twizzlers candy (if they were Red Vines I might have thought twice), donut holes, and iced coffee “I Have a Bean” coffee courtesy of Gareth’s son. A water hand-up would have been appreciated, since ‘cross bikes typically (including mine) do not have water bottles cages installed because of the need to carry the bike over obstacles. And, I think I managed to finish ahead of a man dressed as
Super Girl (complete with skirt and satin cape), who decided to race on a nice looking Eddy Merckx ‘cross bike that day and did not summon any superpowers to my knowledge. The presence of the spectators – often with megaphones – shouting cheers and jeers makes for a unique, fun race-day environment.

I finished the race in 70th of the 95 people that started the race and am really looking forward to the next race in the series that I’ll attend in Carpentersville (I heard there’s a creek, dirt rollers and an Oktoberfest).

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t appear to have made the online site yet, but here is a image of the article that we received from the paper.