If American Bicycle Racing were a beer... it probably would be a PBR (aka... Pabst Blue Ribbon)... a little funky tasting but gets the job done.... If USA Cycling were a beer, it would probably be a Sam Adams... a bit more expensive, with a richer taste... but in the end beer is beer... if I were a beer I would probably be an Icehouse... sort of cheesy, but with more booze and a wicked aftertaste that makes you want to drink something else. (really not sure what I meant by any of that... apologies).
Anyway, I traveled just on the other side of the river to Illinois to enter the Mississippi Bluffs Road Race, which was this years ABR Illinois State Road Championships. Yes, the subtitle of the this blog is "Racing Bikes in Iowa"... you guessed it I am from Iowa, so wasn't eligible to win the State Champs jerseys or actual title of ABR Illinois State Champ, but was eligible to poach some cash, assuming things went well for me.
I entered the Open Category event, which was 4 laps over 100k, with a few noteworthy hills to use as launching pads. It was hot, so the group was timid... The first lap everyone was feeling each other out. It is strange entering these ABR events in Illinois, because I had no idea who anyone was, so wasn't sure which wheels to mark.
As we headed up the steepest hill to end the second lap, someone attacked and I followed the move. I pushed it over the top as a group of three of us began to rotate through... that was the last I saw of the field.
I tried to feel out my breakaway partners... at some point I had an inadvertant gap on them... I looked back and it seemed like they were conspiring against me, as they seemed to know each other... not the best situation... perhaps a bit of interstate rivalry? (probably not, but more fun that way)
About midway through the last lap, one of the guys got a flat... hmm, that was sort of lucky for me, because the other guy was the softer of the two, mentioning that he had just gotten back into cycling after a horible accident he suffered last year.
Eventually, he indicated that he was happy to get second, (which would still be a cash payout and the jersey/title since he was an Illinois resident and ABR member)... ok, so we just had to make sure not to get caught. I eventually dropped him on the last climb and rode it out to win the race. Thanks to Donnie Miller and the gang at ABR for hosting this event...
Now I am heading to Milwaukee to do three of the Superweek races starting Monday... cheers.
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