07-09 June 2013 Tour of Galena Omnium

2013 Tour of Galena Women's Omnium podium.

Over the weekend I headed to the Tour of Galena in Galena, Illinois. As the returning two-time Omnium champion, I had an even bigger goal this year: to sweep each of the four stages. In its third year, the Tour of Galena was run as a three-day four-stage omnium, where placement in each stage is awarded by points. The rider with the highest accumulation of points at the end of the tour is the winner. Put on by Chicago-based xXx Racing, Tour of Galena is one of the best races in the Midwest. If you haven’t done this race, you’re missing out!

Sunset over Galena. Photo by Ryan L. Williams

 

The perfect location for a cycling tour, Galena is located in the far northwest corner of Illinois. A popular tourist-destination, the town is home to 3500 permanent residents. As part of the Driftless Zone, the area escaped glaciation during the recent ice ages resulting in an abundance of hills, valleys, bluffs, and large amounts of exposed rock in an otherwise flat region of the US. The race organizers made full use of the varied terrain to create an interesting, exciting, and challenging tour with beautiful views of a gorgeous part of the country.

Galena has a unique historical past complete with haunted destinations.
 

The city is named for the mineral "galena", the natural form of lead sulfide. Native Americans mined the ore in Galena for use in body painting. In the 1690s French trappers discovered the area and began mining the lead. By 1845, Galena was producing 80% of the lead in the US. In the early 1900’s, lead demand dropped and the population dispersed. The downtown area was boarded up and Galena became a small rural farming community. In the 1980s, a tourist campaign rejuvenated the downtown district, transforming the town into one of the most “Charming Small Towns" in the US.

Beautiful downtown Galena. Photo by Paul Chase

 

The Tour started on Friday afternoon with undoubtedly the most challenging stage, a 30 mi (48 km) circuit race – four laps of a 7 mi circuit that was either up or down, including a significant climb with a grueling two-part 15% section and semi-technical descent. By lap three the hill had whittled the bunch to just three riders. The final climb up the ‘wall’ I tuned off the signal from my body to stop pedaling and fall over on the spot and pushed hard against the gradient. Carrying an advantage at the top of the climb, I was able to extend the gap over the final 6 km to finish clear. Win number one.  

Nearing the top of the 'wall' in the circuit race. Photo by Aaron Delabre

 

Saturday morning we faced a brutal 6 mi (10 km) time trial. The out-and-back course was rolly with a steep sweeping technical decent, up a seemingly endless 13% gradient to the turnaround for a screaming fast descent into a leg-zapping 400 m 14% climb. Oh, and an uphill finish. In the two previous tours I’ve finished second in this painful stage so I knew that a win this year was going to be challenging. The trick here is to go hard enough to put in a fast time but not so hard as impart vulnerability in the taxing afternoon stage to follow—a difficult balance. I’m not so sure that I accomplished the balance, but nevertheless, the main goal was there. Win number two.  

Showing off my Kask bambino helmet in the TT.

 

Stage 3 Saturday afternoon (after a hot shower and rejuvenating nap) was three laps of a 22-mile course for a smidge over 100 km. Five substantial climbs and long exposed ridges each lap added both challenge and beauty to the race. By the final lap we were again down to three. With several climbs remaining and warnings of cramp twinging in my muscles, my fitness was all used up and I was reliant on finesse to get me through the race. Familiarity with the windy, technical finish played to my advantage. Keeping my suffering undercover just enough to hang on through the last climbs, I jumped at just the right time heading into the final turns to take the sprint for win number three.

Me and superstar Nick Ramirez, Women's and Men's road race winners. Photo by Tim Special

After a very long day on Saturday, one win remained. The final stage Sunday afternoon was a 60-min crit on a flat, 1-km course in the heart of Galena’s downtown district. Several new riders with fresh legs lined up, adding extra challenge to my goal. The race was aggressive off the line, with a number of riders keen to win. Then the rains began. Slick roads added an additional level of challenge to the race, necessitating a more cautious approach. With a burst of speed in the last lap, I was able to gain the advantage going into the final and most slippery corner for a clear sprint to the line to complete the sweep for four stages and the overall omnium win.

Wet roads in the crit strung out the field in the finish.
 

Thank you to xXx Racing for once again doing an amazing job putting on an outstanding tour, Rob Curtis at PSIMET Wheels for providing neutral support, Molly & Josh Shough for feeding, Leah Sanda and Cathy Frampton for being awesome travel companions, and my dad Eugene Kuhajek for sitting through terrible traffic to lend much appreciated assistance with travel plans. I’m grateful for my Wilier Triestina bicycle, which tackled the diversity of terrain (from flat to nearly vertical!) beautifully, and my Kask Bambino helmet was definitely an advantage in the TT. To receive a notification whenever I post a new update, be sure to enter your email address into the ‘follow by email’ box on the top right corner of my blog page.

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01 June 2013 Glencoe Grand Prix

Rainbow over Glencoe post-event. Photo by John Wilke

The Glencoe Grand Prix is one of my favourite races. Located in Glencoe IL on the Chicago North Shore only 30 mi (50 km) east of my hometown, this race is not only an awesome, exciting course, but a strong supporter of women’s cycling and one of the best organised races in the country. I’ve watched this race grow from its debut as a small local venue in my first year racing in 2007 to more than double its size as a top notch NCC pro race. The race does an amazing job to engage the community and raise money to benefit the Glencoe Education Foundation with over $50,000 contributed last year.  Racing-wise, unfortunately horrendous weather arrived just in time for this year’s women’s race. But it takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. With this in mind, I took the opportunity to build yet more character and adjusted my goals accordingly: survive!

Selection of Glencoe rider cards. Photo by Starla Teddergreen

 

The weekend started with beautiful weather on Friday when race promoters organized for numerous pro riders to visit local Glencoe grade schools to spread the word about cycling and cycle safety, followed by a fabulous community dinner and the opportunity for local children to seek rider signatures on collector cards that have become a tradition at Glencoe.

Waiting for the start. Photo by John Wilke

 

Having recognized that one adjustment I’ve had to make as my recovery continues is a thorough warm-up, I gave myself plenty of time pre-race for some hard efforts to get my blood flowing and let me body know what to expect—despite extensive resistance of course! As the start time for the women’s pro race approached we were set off for a warm-up lap, but as we came around to the start/finish we were asked to clear the course. A short wait turned into 40 min of standing around, and as we finally took to the line, I was no longer feeling ready to race.

Awaiting callups as the National Anthem played and the rain began. Photo by Brian Lee

 

Teammate Starla Teddergreen and I toed the line alongside 53 other starters. As we stood on the line listening to the National Anthem and awaiting the race start, a light sprinkle began to dot the dry roads. By the time the whistle blew to signify the start, the roads were slick—and I, still getting my head back into racing, was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Peloton climbing Park Ave early in the race. Photo by Josh Dreyfus

I got a great start off the line for the first lap but slowly drifted to the back of the pack, my discomfort heightened by bunching of the peloton around the slippery corners accompanied by a disconcerting difficulty breathing in the humid air. I tried to focus on getting enough oxygen. And then the torrential downpour began.

Torrential rains impaired vision. Photo by Velonews

 

The field strung out single file and from the back of the pack I could no longer see the front of the group, let alone just a few riders in front of me. The rains can down so hard the roads flooded with water. The street gutters turned to rivers as water streamed down the rise on the backside of the course. On one corner at the bottom of the course we encounter a ‘lake’ of water almost up to the hubs on our wheels. Fortunately experienced marshals lined the course who warned us to slow before we hit the ‘wall’ of water.

Winning trio escaped the field. Photo by John Wilke

At some point at the front of the race (well out of my view), a break of three riders, eventual winner and NCC leader Erica Allar (Care4Cycling), U23 NCC leader Sam Schneider (TIBCO), and the ever-amazing current NCC runner-up Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom), launched off the front. As a testament to the excellent skills of these riders, the three remained clear of the field, maintaining a 45-s gap to claim the race podium.

Yellow Vittoria shoes make Vanderkittens easy to spot. Photo by John Wilke

 

With five laps to go, one of the flooded corners claimed Starla who went down hard on the wet pavement, taking a good knock to the head and sliding hip-first into the not-so-forgiving curb. The crash required a delay of race while Starla’s injuries were assessed to ensure she could be moved safely. I’m happy to report that although a bit bruised she is well and ready to race Tulsa this weekend!

Reduced lineup post-delay. Photo by John Wilke

 

The restart revealed that the field had whittled to less than half its original size, with numerous (perhaps more sensible!) riders pulling out. After a few minutes delay and the worst of the rains past, we were given four laps remaining. In the finish, I managed seventh in the sprint to give me tenth place overall. I was pretty happy to just finish upright to be honest and feel that the 26 riders who finished the race, including awesome Chicago-based riders Jessi Prinner (Care4Cycling), Sarah Rice (Spider Monkey), Kelli Richter (PSIMET riding for Primal), Rockford-native Meredith Miller (TIBCO), and Kiwi superstar Rushlee Buchanan (TIBCO) deserve a huge shout out.

The race concluded with a double rainbow as the men lined up for their start. Photo by John Wilke

 

With skies darkening just before the start, I was grateful for my awesome Smith Optics PivLoc sunglasses, which allow speedy lens changes, my DeFeet UnD Recycle undershirt, perfect as for the changing temperatures, and my TRP brakes, which got quite a bit of use over the course of the race. Special thank yous to the Glencoe community, Race Director Jon Knouse and Support Director Nikki Cyp for all their hard work to make this race bigger and better and more awesome every year, Jose at SRAM neutral support and Rob Curtis at PSIMET racing getting my bicycle in top running condition, Leah Sanda for taking care of an injured Starla, and my parents for their incredible support and excellent ‘host’ housing.