Today was the first day of the Tour of America’s Dairyland, 11 consecutive days of racing all over southeastern Wisconsin. First, the thing that probably amazed me most about today … I had to wear arm warmers and the temperature dropped into the 50s by the end of the race. Keep in mind that summer is supposed to start in a few days! Here is a picture of the temperature after the race:
59 degrees by the end of the race … at the beginning of summer???
Annotated map of the race. Here is the Strava link – http://app.strava.com/rides/750355
SHOREWOOD CRITERIUM - STRAVA LAP DATA Name Dist Speed Power HR Time 1 Lap 1.3 mi 26.3 mph 378 watts 163 bpm 0:02:57 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.4 mph 412 watts 173 bpm 0:02:44 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.1 mph 438 watts 178 bpm 0:02:46 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.3 mph 441 watts 179 bpm 0:02:45 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.6 mph 423 watts 179 bpm 0:02:43 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.1 mph 417 watts 182 bpm 0:02:46 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.6 mph 431 watts 179 bpm 0:02:49 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.8 mph 429 watts 177 bpm 0:02:48 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.4 mph 413 watts 180 bpm 0:02:44 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.4 mph 405 watts 178 bpm 0:02:44 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.6 mph 438 watts 178 bpm 0:02:43 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.3 mph 417 watts 175 bpm 0:02:45 1 Lap 1.3 mi 29.0 mph 458 watts 177 bpm 0:02:41 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.6 mph 443 watts 175 bpm 0:02:43 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.1 mph 420 watts 172 bpm 0:02:46 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.3 mph 418 watts 177 bpm 0:02:45 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.1 mph 388 watts 174 bpm 0:02:52 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.8 mph 404 watts 174 bpm 0:02:48 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.9 mph 409 watts 174 bpm 0:02:47 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.3 mph 415 watts 174 bpm 0:02:45 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.4 mph 423 watts 174 bpm 0:02:44 1 Lap 1.3 mi 26.8 mph 399 watts 171 bpm 0:02:54 1 Lap 1.3 mi 29.7 mph 465 watts 173 bpm 0:02:37 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.9 mph 410 watts 175 bpm 0:02:47 1 Lap 1.3 mi 29.3 mph 450 watts 182 bpm 0:02:39 1 Lap 1.3 mi 26.2 mph 371 watts 179 bpm 0:02:58 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.0 mph 379 watts 176 bpm 0:02:53 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.6 mph 396 watts 181 bpm 0:02:49 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.6 mph 437 watts 180 bpm 0:02:43 1 Lap 1.3 mi 27.6 mph 452 watts 180 bpm 0:02:49 1 Lap 1.3 mi 28.4 mph 474 watts 183 bpm 0:02:44 1 Lap 1.3 mi 30.3 mph 446 watts 187 bpm 0:02:34
And now for the race report, the course was a classic four-corner rectangular course with a chicane shortly after Turn #3. The road between Turns #1 and #2 was really rough. There were cracks, bumps, manhole covers, and more along the entire road. There was one bump high enough to launch you (and your bike) a few inches off the ground. I went over it a lot because it was one of the places to pass people. The rest of the course was pretty good pavement except for dips and bumps around manhole covers.
I started towards the front of the group and fought hard to stay there. I was a little tentative since this was my first criterium after my bad wreck at Sandy Springs. I decided to stay on the inside of all corners to maximize safety even if it meant having to accelerate hard out of corners. Still, there were a few close calls including one near-miss where the rider in front of me slammed on his brakes hard enough to lift the rear of his bike a couple feet off the ground essentially doing a reverse wheelie on his front wheel. I thought for sure he was going down and taking me with him, but he kept it upright.
Towards the end of the race, I was able to move all the way up to the very front. I think people were getting tired. With 3 laps to go, I got a bit swarmed though and never could move back up to the front. I fought to maintain my position and then passed a bunch of people at the end who had sat up. I’m hoping I squeezed into the top 30, although points were only awarded 20 deep. There is always tomorrow!
Here is my iBike power data:
This race was in Shorewood, Wisconsin – a northern suburb of Milwaukee. Beautiful town right along Lake Michigan. Check out the pics below:
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