6-8 Jun 2014 Tour of Galena

In its fourth year and already one of the best races in the Midwest, the Tour of Galena continues to get better and better every year! This year race organizers xXx Racing stepped things up once again by adding mountain and sprint competitions to the three-day, four-stage omnium, as well as putting up equal prize money for the women’s field. Good work xXx! 

 

Plus so cool custom carbon fiber medals for the omnium podiums!

Despite all the awesomeness going on in the racing world, this year for me has thus far been my most challenging yet. Mental and physical struggles continue to wear away at my confidence on the bike and each step forward is also a half a step back – but that’s still moving forward! So my new goal is relentless optimism. 

Shaking off uncertainty about my ability to handle the challenging terrain (i.e. hills), I eventually decided that the only choice that made sense was to jump in head first and support this awesome tour.

Picturesque variable terrain of Galena. Photo by John Cline

Intricately sculpted over millions of years by the Mississippi River, Galena is a perfect place for a stage race. Read more about Galena in my post about last year’s tour. The tour began with Stage 1 on Friday afternoon – the stage that I expected to be for me undoubtedly the most testing stage of the tour. The 30 mi (48 km) circuit race included four times up a significant climb with a grueling two-part 15% section – definitely a challenge for anyone’s lungs. The previous two years I have won this race solo. Definitely not this year. First time up the climb felt absolutely awful. Talk about lead weights. Fortunately, I actually felt a bit better each lap – but not well enough to stay in contact with eventual winner Diana Peñuela (ISCorp/Columbia Specialized) who disappeared over the crest of the climb on lap 3. I chewed on my handlebars a bit and stuck with the chase group of four to win the sprint for second from Chicago up-and-comer Daphne Karagianis (Chicago Cuttin Crew).

Sprinting for second in the circuit race. Photo by Rick LaCour

The next morning, Stage 2 brought us a 6 mi (10 km) time trial. I had trouble finding rhythm on the brutal out-and-back course. But I suppose finding rhythm on a rolly course with a steep sweeping technical decent, two steep lung-busting climbs, and an uphill finish is challenging even for a time trial specialist! My time – over 90 s slower than last year – was almost a minute behind winner Diana and only enough for fourth. Daphne’s second place performance moved her in front of me in the omnium competition.

Ready to start the time trial. Photo by Rob Curtis

Saturday afternoon’s road race turned out to be the real crux of the weekend for me. A smidge over 100 km, the course featured multiple climbs and long exposed ridges. I felt miserable. The hills were like absolute mountains and I was struggling, start to finish. The race started out hot and muggy, with endless bugs, but about an hour in, rain began to hammer down and the temperatures dropped sharply. Already questioning the intelligence of my decision to be racing, I found a very dark place. Soaked through, shoes sloshing, chilled to the bone, rain pelting straight into my eyes, and struggling to breathe, I got dropped badly on lap 2. 

Gloomy conditions descended on the road race. Photo by John Cline

After a bit I decided that pulling out would be pretty soft and riding a full lap alone would be even more miserable than being in the bunch, so I found some motivation to chase back on. I think everyone was pretty cold by the final lap and the pace stayed reasonable enough for me to stick with the field for the first bunch finish in the Tour of Galena’s women’s road race – a stage in the past won solo (2011-2012) or from a small group (2013). Thankfully everyone stayed upright in the slick conditions. Somewhere I found motivation to sprint, finishing third behind Cady Chintis (LPV) and Daphne.

Back in the race, starting on the final lap, pretty darn cold right now. Photo by John  Cline

Shivering uncontrollably, my travel companion Kelli Richter (PSIMET) and I went straight back to the hotel, scalded our insides by chugging hot chocolate that was waaay too hot to drink, and did a bee line for the hot tub, desperate for warmth . Once we finally stopped shivering, the water slide was our next designation! First time I’ve seen I water slide at a hotel. Couldn’t pass that up! Definitely put a happy spin on a miserable afternoon.

The tour ended with a 50-min crit in downtown Galena on Sunday afternoon. The race was aggressive and animated with multiple primes keeping the racing lively, and mid-race omnium points up for grabs to add extra spark and potential jumbling in the overall standings. 

Sarah Szefi (PSIMET) leading through the final corner of the crit, me in third wheel. Photo by John Cline

On the final lap, I was able to power my way to the front for the crucial final turn, but I just didn’t have enough gas left in the tank (nor oxygen in my lungs!) to hold it to the line. 

Daphne (Chicago Cuttin Crew) blowing past me on the line to take the win in the crit. Photo by Kyle Kershasky

I settled for another second behind an on-fire Daphne, giving me third in the omnium behind Diana in first and Daphne second. My results for the weekend are definitely far better than how I felt!

Omnium podium: me, Diana (ISCorp/Columbia), Daphne (Chicago Cutting Crew)

Thank you so much to all the organizers, officials, and supporters who braved the terrible conditions on Saturday to support the riders. Congrats to xXx for putting another excellent tour!

Not so happy supporters in the feedzone grateful for the PSIMET tent! Photo by John Cline