15-17 Jun O’Fallon Grand Prix

Road Race Podium at O'Fallon Grand Prix Illinois State Road Race: Sarah Rice, Jenna Kowlaski, Jeannie Kuhajek

HOT and JELLO – those were the key words my weekend at the O’Fallon Grand Prix in O’Fallon, Illinois, not far from St. Louis. HOT being the temperatures and JELLO being my legs. The weekend started with the Illinois State Road Race Championships on Saturday, followed by race six of the Illinois Cup Criterium series on Sunday.

The O'Fallon Fire Department helped provide relief from
the hot temperatures.

The road race on Saturday took in three laps of a 20 mi course through lovely rolling countryside for a 100 km race. Temperatures during the race averaged about 100 F (37 C) – HOT! Lami and I made the 5-hour-drive down on Friday afternoon, heading out for  a ride around the road course when we arrived. JELLO – jelly for my New Zealand friends – that’s what my legs felt like. After a mammoth effort on Stage 4 at Tour of Galena the previous Sunday, plus a busy week with lots of driving during the week and perhaps a bit too much going on, the warm temps didn’t help. Saturday my legs remained uncooperative and I suffered through the race. It would seem that my suffering was well shared by others; on lap two we had whittled the bunch to five, and then, with 25 km to go, we were down to just three: me, Sarah Rice (Spider Monkey) and Jenna Kowalski (Cynergy Cycles—Missing link Coaching), who was making her way across the country with her team from her home in California to Augusta, Georgia, for the US Nationals next weekend. By the latter half of the final lap my legs were threatening to go from jello to concrete. Conscious of my lack of zap I did my best to get away to avoid a sprint, but in the end the finish came down to a drag-race sprint between me and Jenna. The effort turned out to be a touch to long for my unhappy legs and, in an exciting finale (for those watching anyway!), I took second by 0.007 s—a tire width. I think it was only my speedy PSIMET wheels that kept me moving because it definitely wasn’t my legs. Fortunately, because Jenna was visiting from out of state, second was enough to give PSIMET the Illinois State Road Race title to go alongside the state Criterium title I won two weeks prior.

Me and Jenna Kowalski trying to escape the bunch in the crit.

The following day temperatures cooled slightly to go from unbearable to just uncomfortable, averaging about 95 F (35 C). Fortunately the O’Fallon Fire Department was on the scene both days to help cool things off. I warmed up for a looong time trying to clear my legs. The effort helped and, come race time, I was feeling much improved. Several riders who had skipped the road race the day before showed up with fresh legs, so I was expecting a hard race. The 10-corner course was a great breakaway course, but despite several efforts to split things up during the 40-min race, the bunch remained together for a sprint finish. Sarah made the first move, attacking with three corners to go. Her attack caused chaos in the bunch and I nearly lost position. I fought my way back to the front just as we cleared the last corner for the sprint. All else aside, coming past the very speedy Carrie Cash-Wooten (Pedal the Cause) in a sprint is a big ask. I crossed the line for my second second place of the weekend with St. Louis rider Britta Siegel taking third.

PSIMET wheels stand out in the bunch.

Big thanks to everyone at MetroEast Cycling a great weekend of cycling and to Jane Ore for a stellar job in the feed zone to ensure I had enough water to make it through the road race. The weekend was a great chance to dust off my sprinting, which I’ve been able to mostly avoid thus far. I have a strong suspicion I’ll be needing some top-end speed at my next event, 11-race series Tour of America’s Dairyland starting Thursday.

So far this season, I’m loving my custom PSIMET wheels. If you’re also a fan of PSIMET, follow the link to https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/, click the link for ‘Log in & Support’ and then fill in the details for PSIMET, Elgin, Illinois, to help Rob win a grant for $250,000 to grow the PSIMET business.