The 2012 Iowa State Cat 1,2 Road Race was held in Riverside, Iowa this year. The race involved racing 97 miles using 32 mile loops. The event had a great feel this year, as Riverside was very accommodating and happy to have us. I had a great feel as well, having gotten in some good training mileage over the last few weeks. Having the State Time Trial the week before this event does put me in pretty good form, as I have plenty of motivation to stay in shape.
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| The 2012 Cat 1,2 Road Race during the early stages. |
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| Staging just before the start. The race combined the Cat 1,2 with the Cat 3's, for a field of just over 40. |
Paul Deninger ended up being the only other member from my team to enter the event, but we still created a 'plan of attack' as we were both feeling capable of achieving a successful result. With only two guys, you don't have a lot of cards to play, but it seemed like we could get into a break if we traded turns covering attacks. The other teams represented included Bikes2You, Iowa City, Zealous, Thrive, and Rasmussen's... not to mention quite a few out of state riders.
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| Me and Paul led the neutral start through Riverside... aka, the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. |
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| Mike Sencenbaugh(Thrive Racing) was a guy I had marked prior to the event, as he has been winning all sorts of events this year. He was very aggressive trying to make it up the road. |
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| The first time through the 'feed zone' ended up being the 'attack zone' as I was red-lined all throughout the town of Riverside trying to get back up after the field split. The race never got that intense again. |
It ended up being another two-man break with about 47 miles to go in the race. I really liked the idea of being in a break with Jeff, because he had just won the State Time Trial, and we have similar riding styles. However, we really did need another guy or two from the other teams, as there was still a lot of motivation back in the field.
We kept on fighting, as the ref was giving us time splits. It went back and forth from well over a minute to as little at 25 seconds. Yet they didn't pull us in as the miles elapsed. I started to entertain notions of being the 2012 Iowa State Road Race champ. However, it really didn't seem likely that the field wouldn't pull us in. Our only hope was that someone would bridge up, or they would eventually lose interest in the chase.
So, after being in the break for over 40 miles, they finally caught us. I was expecting to get spit out the back as the field paraded by my peripheral vision. But, much to my surprise, I was still feeling pretty good. I didn't have anymore snap in my legs, but if the field was reserved, I felt that I could take a stab at a good finish. There was only about 7 miles left to race, so I tucked in near the back of the much reduced field of about 18 remaining riders. Apparently, the efforts to reel us in had exhausted some of the other competitors. I heard reports that Mike Sencenbaugh and Andrew Buntz (Bikes2You) were especially determined, as evidenced by their decision to cut the race short. Andrew's efforts set the stage, however, for a great result for his team.
There was one point when I almost got dropped, but the field was definitely timid at this point. It was obvious that we were going to sprint it out, and I believe some guys were experiencing a bit of cramping and/or hunger knock.
The finish was a very long straight-away just on the city limits of Riverside. We could see it about a mile out. They opened the road for us at the 1k mark, which was great. I dodged around trying not to get pinned in. When the dust settled I came across the line as the 10th cat 1,2. I was satisfied, as my initial goal was to get into the top 10. I haven't got a lot of envelopes this year, so it was just nice to have gotten one, regardless of the amount of cash inside. Paul finished just ahead of me in the 8th spot.
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| Lee Venteicher (far left) of Bikes2You/WorldOfBikes went on to win the State Title. |
After the race, there was a great party/results ceremony with pizza and beer. The mayor of Riverside even got involved in the festivitites, as they seemed excited to have us back again next year.
Results - Cat 1,2 - Iowa State Road Race Championships - August 11th, 2012
1 Lee Venteicher Waukon, IA - Bikes To You / World of Bikes
2 Steven Robinson (1 - Cat2) - Des Moines, IA Zealous Racing
3 David Carpenter (2 - Cat2) - Norwalk, IA Rasmussen Bike Shop 4 Jay Thomas (3 - Cat2) - Lincoln, NE Midwest Cycling Community NE
5 Andrew Ulvestad (4 - Cat2) Chicago, IL Rhythm Racing
6 Matias Perret (5 - Cat2) Iowa City, IA -Iowa City Cycling Club
7 Garrett McAllister (6 - Cat2) Bend, OR - Canyon Bicycles-Draper 8 Paul Deninger Iowa City, IA Velosport Iowa /American Equity
9 Jerome Rewerts (7 - Cat2) -Nevada, IA- Zealous Racing
10 Chad Bishop (8 - Cat2) Muscatine, IA - American Equity Racing Team
11 Austin Turner (9 - Cat2) Iowa City, IA - Bikes To You / World of Bikes
12 Jeff Barnes Iowa City, IA - Iowa City Cycling Club
13 Adam Price (10 - Cat2) Iowa City, IA -Iowa City Cycling Club 14 William Greenwood (11 - Cat2) Davenport, IA -Bikes To You / World of Bikes
15 Joe Hetrick (12 - Cat2) Iowa City, IA -Mercy-Specialized
16 David Lippold (13 - Cat2) West Des Moines, IA -Thrive Cycling Team
17 Finn Kolsrud (14 - Cat2) Iowa City, IA - Thrive Cycling TeamDNP David Paquette (Cat2) Decorah, IA -KS Energy Services / Team Wisconsin
DNF Derek Cassaday (Cat2) Des Moines, IA 220786 25 Bikes To You / World of Bikes
DNF Michael Sencenbaugh Carroll, IA -Thrive Cycling Team
DNF Ryan Nenninger Iowa City, IA - Iowa City Cycling Club
DNF Andrew Buntz Iowa City, IA -Bikes To You / World of Bikes
DNF Brian Eppen Iowa City, IA - Iowa City Cycling Club
DNF Ryan French (Cat2) Des Moines, IA - Zealous Racing 
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