Sherril RR

I participated in the HHS Debate team road race in Sherrill Iowa on Sunday.  The course was the same as the previous Iowa State Road Race course that I did many years ago as a Cat 4.  I remembered it being a challenging course, so I couldn't resist participating.

I was hoping for a small but talented field for the Cat 1,2,3 event, and I wasn't disappointed.  There were only 12 of us racing, but the purse was a generous $400.  I actually enjoy racing against the 'same Iowa guys'.  I hear people grumble about this occasionally, but I like the smaller, more personal battles that occur when you know some of your enemies strengths and weaknesses.  (of course, I use the term enemy lightly, as I consider myself friends with all the guys I race with).

We were racing 70 miles (7 laps) through the bluffs of Dubuque.  The race had a very relaxed start, just the way I like it.  Unfortunately, it didn't pick up much, as the guys in the field were all trying to 'race smart'.  Matias Perret was in the field.  This guy is totally dominating the Iowa Cup and having a great year.  It wouldn't have made sense not to mark him.  However, marking him meant that we were going to race at whatever pace he chose.  And, as a marked rider, he probably didn't feel to confident that he would be able to do too much along the lines of dropping guys and then still having the strength to win in the end.  It was similar to having the yellow jersey in the peloton.  If you were contending for the general classification, then you would be keeping your eye on the jersey the whole race.  To put it another way, it was VERY likely that Matias was going to be present in whatever group was battling at the finish line, so as long as he was present, I knew I was in the right place.

There were several hills that presented opportunities for guys to take a few digs at the field.  William Rekemeyer seemed specifically comfortable pedalling his slight climber's build up the punchy climbs.  I  asked William where he saw himself in 5 years, and he replied "hopefully racing in Europe".   Well, as a junior achieving the kind of success he has, this could very well be a possibility.  Regardless, it is great to race with a guy that has such ambitious goals. 

The field of  12 only got whittled down to 8 riders.  We really did keep things throttled down most of the race.  Not much in the way of attacks.  Paul Deninger was racing with me, so it seemed likely that we could get one of the 4 paying spots.  Maybe we got a bit greedy, as we were possibly entertaining the notion of both of us getting in the money.  In retrospect, we should have tried to 'divide and conquer' as Matias did indeed win the event.  Perhaps if we would have attacked him, then countered repeatedly.  Perhaps not, though, as his teammate, Jeff Barnes most likely would have neutralized our efforts.

Second place went to Brian West and William got third just barely beating Paul to the line.  So, we only got $40 out of the $400 purse.  This would be disappointing, however Brian and Mattias were podium finishers at the 2011 Iowa State Road Race... so you really can't be too disappointed/surprised if you can't quite beat them to the line.  The Hempstead High School Debate Team that put on this event did a great job, and even had custom t-shirts made for the event.   Hopefully they actually did raise some funds for their team, and will put this on again next year, as it was a rewarding experience, and helped sharpen my legs for future races.

Off to the Tour of Galena... I entered the 4-event Pro/1/2 omnium.  Should be quite the experience.