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| Photo by Bill Draper |
In its second year, the Prairie State Series is the little
sister of Tour of America’s Dairyland, featuring eight races over ten days.
With all eight races in the Chicago area, this one’s a bit of a hometown
series. I had planned to skip the Prairie State Series and instead join my
teammates at the concurrent Cascade Cycling Classic, a six-day NRC stage race
in Bend, OR. I made the tough call, deciding that the mountainous terrain of
the Cascade tour would be a bit too much for my lungs and fitness, both
hampered by early season challenges. The silver lining? The thrill of racing in
my hometown of Crystal Lake!
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| Helping out men's race leader Chad Hartley before his race with some tips on how to win - yeah, right! Photo by Snowy Mountain |
I started the series filled with the excitement of improving
form and clearing lungs. It’s so nice to be able to take a deep breath! Race 1
in Waukegan was a fast, fun, and flowy course and I was pleased to find how
much better I felt racing compared to the suffer fest I struggled through at
TOAD. Racing solo meant racing conservatively, which I don’t enjoy as much as
having teammates, but the strong field made the race exciting and fun.
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| Warming up before the race thanks to perfect tent placement by PSIMET. Photo by Rob Curtis |
Saturday the series moved to Lake Bluff for the most popular
spectator venue, drawing out a massive crowd to watch the excitement. With NCC
status, the race also drew big names and larger fields. One down side perhaps
of the higher stake of the finish was a less aggressive race. Unlike non-status
races, where bigger teams might have any member of the team shooting for the
win, the contenders in an NCC are clear, so attacks and breaks that might
otherwise be are sparse. I was excited to feel comfortable throughout the race,
my improved form definitely obvious in how I rode. A highlight of the race for
me was an attack by Chicagoland PSIMET rider Kelli Richter to go for a late
prime. So awesome to see! Coming into the finish I fought for perfect position
coming out of the final corner in third wheel. The long finishing straight was
my undoing and despite knowing full well I would need to be patient, I started
my sprint way, way, way too early and ran out of steam before the line.
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| Navigating the course at Lake Bluff. Photo by Bill Draper |
Race 3 in Crystal Lake was truly exhilarating with so many
friends out to cheer me on – and one of my favourite courses of the series to
boot. Knowing the course suited aggressive riding, I was ready to ride super
hard and make some waves. Unfortunately a crash midway through the race brought
an end to my enthusiasm. A rider slid out in corner 4, bringing down several
surrounding riders. A rider T-boned my rear wheel, taking me straight into the
ground. Hard. Fortunately no major
damage, and I was back in the race after some quick adjustments from the SRAM
pit. But pain from the crash and trouble with my wheel kept me from fully
getting back into race mode.
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| Picking up the pieces after crashing at Crystal Lake. Photo by Snowy Mountain |
Fortunately I had two days to recover before the series
resumed on Wednesday with a road race in Willow Springs. My legs felt really
great after the rest days. I rode aggressively but nothing stuck. Coming into
the finishing hill, I fought hard for great position up the final climb. But
once again, I went way too early and ran out of steam. Albert Einstein once
defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results.” Hmmm.
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| Ol' Albert warming up for the race. |
Thursday brought another one of my favourite courses of the
series: Beverly, on the South Side of Chicago. With a long tradition as a race
venue and huge community support, Beverly offers up abundant primes—intermediate
sprints for prizes or cash—within the race. Falling behind in covering my race
expenses with suboptimal finishes thus far, I opted to go on the hunt for
primes. Fortunately with good success. It was a weird race in that riders kept
slipping away with no response from the field. In fact, all of the remaining
races in the series went that way. At Beverly, three riders escaped mid-race. I
put in a huge effort to bridge, chasing solo for several laps, but I didn’t
make it across.
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| Concentrating on the road. Photo by Snowy Mountain |
Moving to Elmhurst on Friday, my legs felt spent. I put in a
huge effort to go off the front to grab the first prime of the day about
midrace, but the effort gassed me and sent me through the pack to the back. A
lap latter, a rider went down in front of me, leaving me a big chase effort to
get back into the field. The race left my lungs burning.
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| War paint? Serious contenders start early. |
Saturday we took to west Chicago to hammer the streets
outside the roasting works of race title sponsor Intelligensia Coffee. Men's pro team Athlete Octane Cycling continued their support of women's cycling by offering 'bandit' primes during the women's race, adding extra excitement to the action. The back
stretch of the race offered an excellent view of the city skyline. I so wish I
had taken a photo to share, because I haven’t found one from someone else yet.
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| Lining up for the start outside Intelligensia Coffee roasting works. Photo by Rob Curtis |
The series finished on the streets of Downers Grove, a
historic venue hosting the US National Championships in previous years, but not
since 2009. The return of racing to the streets of Downers Grove was embraced by
the community with huge enthusiasm.
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| Setting the pace at Downers Grove. |
I finished the series seventh overall including four top-tens
and much improved riding and breathing, finally making clear progress since
falling ill in February. Unfortunately I ended on a low note mentally, feeling
emotionally drained and extremely downtrodden. Mental struggles are so
incredibly frustrating because it’s impossibly difficult to identify what the actual
issue is – especially since the culprit generally has several contributors:
straws and camels. That sort of thing. No words adequately illuminate the
complexities and struggles of the troubled mind. Sometimes the vicissitudes of
life hit us like a brick wall. It takes time – and a lot of effort and support – to
recover from the impact.
I am grateful to PSIMET man Rob Curtis and Team Mack rider
John Fleckenstein for incredible support throughout the series. Without these
guys I would not have been able to race. Thank you so much to all those who
came out to support and cheer me on. It is so awesome to have so many fans on
course! Primary sponsor Doug Zell at Intelligensia Coffee was a huge factor in making this series possible. I am excited to see the series grow in coming years. Extra special thanks to my high school gymnastics coach Bob Connor who
surprised me by coming out to cheer me on – a real highlight of my series!
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| Connecting with long lost friend Bob Connor post race. Photo by Nina Connor |
Check back soon. I’m shaking off the doldrums and am in Utah getting ready to race the
Tour of Utah – Women’s Edition!
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