20 Aug Grand Cycling Classic

Our final weekend of racing in the US, Brian and I finished things off with another Michigan weekend, this time back in Southwestern Michigan near Lami’s hometown of Holland for two one-day races in the Grand Rapids area. Saturday’s race was the Herman Miller Grand Cycling Classic, featuring National Race Calendar status, a big prize purse and a high-class field—including defending champion Kiwi Joanne Kiesonowski (TIBCO). With Jessi heading off to Texas to start her first year at University the week before, Stacy off the bike for some time in favor of recovery, and Elena, a trackie-convert in her first year on the road, not yet eligible for NRC races, ABD was represented by me, Kristen, and Sarah.

Officials were forced to stop the men's race as storms
battered the course.

A severe thunderstorm added interest to the day, wreaking havoc on the men’s pro race as sudden massive gusts blew barriers into the path of riders. The US National Pro Crit Championship, the men’s race was run as the first race of the day in a topsy-turvy format. As high winds and pounding rain blasted the venue and lightening streaked the sky, officials were forced to interrupt the race midway. In preparation for the weather, Lami and I parked under an overpass, protected from the drenching downpour, where we enjoyed the lightening display. Kristen and Sarah, arriving separately, opted to park on the street and unfortunately got caught in the deluge on the way to registration. Fortunately they had a warm place to dry off and wait out the storm.

Moments after stopping the men's race, a gust of wind
brought the finish banner crashing to the ground.

After an hour or so, with the worst of the rains past, the men’s race was resumed. They had about 45 min of racing left, giving time for the roads to dry a bit before the start of the women’s race which followed. The unusual format of the men’s pro race early in the day resulted in huge crowds lining the course to cheer us on as we zipped around the 1.2 km 6-turn course. A mixture of surfaces, nearly equal parts pavement, blacktop, and brick, made the course tricky in the wet. Fortunately, things were quickly drying out.

Right from the gun, the race was fast-paced and exciting. My kind of racing! Not nearly as fast-paced and exciting as Elk Grove, however, with smaller rosters from the big teams TIBCO and Colavita at four riders each and mostly individual riders making up the rest of the field. I burned a big match early on, taking the first prime of the day. Then, getting just nipped on the line for another one several laps later, I decided I’d better concentrate on saving something for the finish—either that or risk my race deteriorating into an all- out, miserable suffer fest pretty darn quick.

Women's peloton with cycling legend and second-place
finisher Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom)
pushing the pace.

The race was animated by TIBCO, who obviously wanted a breakaway, and well controlled by Colvita, who obviously wanted a bunch finish. I made several attempts to get into breaks that looked promising, but with Colavita not working, nothing stuck. In the end, Colavita took control, lining up all four of their riders on the front with three laps to go. Setting a blistering pace, they won the race in textbook-fashion, delivering Michigan-native Theresa Cliff-Ryan to the line for the win.

With the tempo high—legs burning, eyes bulging—moving up in the bunch can be difficult. A good finish, especially for mediocre sprinters such as myself, is critically dependent on good position on the final lap. My position on the final lap was not so great (behind ultimate winner Theresa would have been great!). I gained a few spots on the final turn into the start/finish straight, sneaking into the top-ten in ninth spot. Since I tend to like the racing part of racing, and not so much the finishing, top 10 works for me.

Riding next to eventual winner Theresa Cliff-Ryan
(Colovita) with Kiwi Joanne Kiesonowski (TIBCO)
on Theresa's wheel.

Teammates Sarah and Kristen both ran into a touch of bad luck. Early in the race, Sarah discovered her hub was dodgy. Combined with the wet roads, the bad hub made for a disconcerting ride. She pulled into the pit for a new wheel but after the wheel change received a bad push-in (meaning that as the bunch passed the pit, the mechanic pushed her in to the race too late for her to get up to speed in time to get into the draft of the bunch and reintegrate into the race). As a result, she spent a number of laps (and lots of energy) chasing. Kristen had an exciting race, feeling better and better after a challenging season, but the finish is a constant nemesis (in my opinion anyway!). Running into traffic, she got pinched in the final corner, and, grabbing a whole handful of brakes, crossed the line in 20^th.

Later in the day, roads completely dry but new, threatening clouds building on the horizon, Brian raced in the men’s maters race alongside Mack teammate John Fleckenstein. John was in an exciting two-rider break for the better part of the first half of the race. Despite working well together, the pair was eventually reeled in. Lami followed with multiple attacks and escape attempts, but all in vain as the finish came down to a bunch sprint. John put in a great sprint to take 8^th with Lami sprinting (yes, sprinting!) in for 13^th.