Sunrise over Collinsville, IL
Fog hanging over the fields in Cahokia Mounds
Monk's Mound
Monk's Mound
There was one very interesting part of the park we visited on our bikes. On the west side you can see a ring of wooden poles known as Woodhenge. They were used as a calendar to determine the change of seasons which affected their farming practices. The way the sun lined up with the poles is how they determined the season. It was a pretty clever way to come up with a calendar back in those days.
The afternoon brought race three of the Gateway Cup weekend. This time we were over on The Hill for the Giro della Montagna. This is always a cool race as The Hill neighborhood always gets into the race. Most of the residents living on the course have the family over and the grill going.
The course was the same as last year when they added an extra block on the north side of the course. I like this layout as it makes Turns 1 and 2 much smoother in a tight group. Before, the corners were too close to the end of the fast downhill and the back of the group nearly ran over the front every lap. The course is a rectangle with four 90-degree left turns. It is flat between Turns 1 and 2, then gradually rises out of Turn 2. Then there's a slight dip before a long climb up The Hill to Turn 3. It is again flat between Turns 3 and 4, followed by a screaming fast downhill out of Turn 4 to the finish line.
Giro della Montagna course
Again, it was a hot day as the hottest weekend of my race season continued. I felt tired and sluggish again in my warm-up, but once in the race, I felt pretty dang good. I got to the start line later than I wanted and found myself on the back row of 118 riders. The pace was fast early so I took my time making up spots. Things calmed down after 15 minutes and I was able to move up more easily, eventually getting to the front by the 30-minute mark. Then I fought the surges to hold my spot, sometimes having to ride the uphill on the front into the wind. That took it's toll on my legs by the end of the race.
Strung out early in the Cat. 2/3 race
Still strung out. You can see me to the far left in the red First Endurance kit working my way toward the front.
Me in the red
Eli Wemyss of Treehouse Racing
The group in Turn 1. That's Cayce Tiesler, a fellow Tennessean, in the yellow kit with a white helmet
A solo break went off with about 15 laps to go. I had a good run down the hill and went off the front with momentum. I had no intentions of making a break, but my acceleration made the group a little more active and led to us catching the lone leader. It was much less sketchy today, but there were still some crashes. I dodged three of them in total.
I'm in the group near the front at this point
Kyle Tiesler rode well again today, but was again caught up in a crash
Me going off the front in Turn 1 from Jeremy Stitt's camera
Out of the saddle up the hill in front of Jeremy Stitt
Dodging a crash on the backstretch
Similar to yesterday at Francis Park, I was up front in the closing laps, but got swarmed again at two laps to go. I did everything I could to move up at the bell, but I could not get all the way to the front before Turn 1. I got pinched down on the inside and lost a lot of speed. My legs had nothing left in them to get back up to speed and I lost some spots. That turned out to be a good thing as there was a big crash in Turn 2 that took out most of the riders ahead of me. I had just enough time to react and skate under the crash. A video of my view of the three crashes today is posted below.
Video: Crashes at The Hill
The crash caused a big hole to open in the group. I had little left to push into the wind up the climb the last lap and lost several spots before the finish. I ended up 37th. I was hoping for a little more, but the legs are still lacking in these harder races. I feel strong, but can only go all-out for about half a lap before I need to recover for five minutes. With a field this even, you have to be able to go really hard for the last five laps to hold a position up front. We raced 56 minutes with a 26.5 mph average today. I had my handlebar cam on today. Highlights are posted here. You can also watch the race from Jeremy Stitt's viewpoint here.
The group was packed tightly in the closing laps. I was near the front here.
I did my best to stay up front in the end
Me on the left
Last lap crash from my GoPro
Guy on the right really bit it hard
The end of the crash. Guy on the right is running over someone's bike
After the race, we ate at Mama Campisi's, which is a nice Italian restaurant on the backside of the course. We sat outside and had pizza and pasta while watching the Pro races. It was a great pizza and I recommend it if you want a little grub while visiting The Hill. It was a day for breaks in the Pro races in a race that closed out the USA Crits Series. Rushlee Buchanan won the Women's race, while Karl Menzies made the break in the Men's race then soloed off late to get the win. You can watch the livestream from a still camera at the finish line below. It begins with the Cat. 3/4 race, then covers the Cat. 2/3, Pro Women, Kids and Pro Men. My video of the Cat. 2/3 race and Pro Women is posted here.
Livestream video from the Giro della Montagna finish line camera
On the way home, we stopped by Cahokia Mounds yet again. This time it was to do the stairs on Monk's Mound. There were some dumbbells lying at the bottom of the stairs for all the workout folks. I couldn't resist. I walked up the mound once to check out the sights and the awesome view at the top, then I did it a second time with a 20-pound dumbbell in each hand. The legs burned, but it was fun and just felt right.
Monk's Mound and the stairway to the top
View from the top looking over the park
St. Louis in the distance
Dumbbells at the bottom just begging to be used
Going up with a pair of 20s
Headed back down. Pretty sure every old person walking those stairs scowled at me with my weights.
Monday was Labor Day and we labored much. Shannon and I were again up early to get in a spin on the greenway, this time riding down to Horseshoe Lake and back. Then we had to do a little laundry so we would have fresh clothes for the start of our vacation. Our hotel did not have laundry, but the one across the street allowed us to use their machines. Then we grabbed a little frozen custard at the Dairy Haven in Caseyville, IL before heading over to Benton Park.
Horseshoe Lake in the early morning light
Shannon on her mountain bike
The Benton Park Classic wrapped up the Gateway Cup weekend with a technical 10-turn course through the Benton Park neighborhood and by Anheuser-Busch. I hated this course the first few times I raced on it, but over the last two years I have really started to like it. It is much longer than a regular course and features all sorts of obstacles including two hills, some rough corners where line choice is crucial, crosswinds over I-55, and a tricky chicane in the middle of the loop.
Benton Park Classic map. It's like two crit. courses in one.
We had a little trouble finding a parking spot as we had a lot of stuff in the back of the truck today, so we had to find a spot along the course that would allow us to keep any eye on our things. It took some searching around, but we ended up finding a great spot that was much better than any place I have ever parked here before. We could sit in our chairs right next to the truck and watch the riders fly down the long backstretch.
A loaded truck
Today, the Cat. 2/3 race was after the Pro races so it was nice to be able to watch them race while getting ready. UHC were on a tear taking three of the top four spots in both races. Linda Villumsen went solo to win the Women's race, with her teammate Cari Higgins taking the sprint for second. Sam Schneider's consistency grabbed her the Omnium win for the weekend. In the Men's race, Carlos Alzate grabbed his second win of the weekend by sprinting in ahead of Dan Holloway and Karl Menzies. Holloway's second place secured the Omnium win over Alzate. There was a livestream of several of the races, including both Pro races using a still finish line camera. It is posted below and you can link to it here. They did not cover any races after the Pro Men, so if you did Cat. 3/4 or Cat. 2/3 you will not see your race.
Pro Women
Video: Livestream from Benton Park
We had the last race of the day. That's usually very annoying because it gets us home late, but we had no cares in the world today. We were on vacation! I felt good warming up and had a good race. I felt strong, but could tell I faded a little near the end. The start was very fast. At 94 starters, it was the biggest race I have done in the Cat. 2/3 at Benton Park. The numbers usually dwindle by the last day. I started on the third row and lost a lot of spots up the opening hill. Crits usually start pretty slow to the first turn, but this start was furious like an XC mountain bike race.
Cat. 2/3 field strung out on the first lap
Things settled down quickly and I got comfortable in the group. I moved to the front fairly easily after about 20 minutes. There were two riders off the front, so I pulled through to the front trying to get everyone to start the chase. But they hung me out. I slowed way down before somebody finally came by. I was laughing as we came through the finish line because we were going stupid slow and nobody would pass. All that did was just get us further behind. So much so that we never did catch those front two and wound up sprinting for third.
The winning move
Me sitting second wheel in the group.
Rode with this guy a lot today. I was digging the skull sticker on his seat tube.
Cruising through the turn in front of Anheuser-Busch
I was sitting good until two laps to go again. That lap seems to be my nemesis lap this year. Last year, I would get shuffled back at five to go, so at least I'm getting better. It was either too fast to pull out of line, or too packed up to find room to move the rest of the race. I wanted to move up on the hill starting the last lap, but got blocked in. My next thought was to try the hill by Anheuser-Busch, but it was a full-on attack at the front and it took all I had just to hold my position at that point. There was nowhere to go through the chicane, then I finally got an opening going onto the last long straightaway. I gave it all I had sprinting into the last set of turns. I passed a lot of people, but I was outside the top 40 so passing a lot still doesn't get you to the front. I had a better sprint today and only gave up two spots from the last corner to the finish. My legs are slowly getting their snap back after this knee injury.
I finished 28th today. I am happy with that. I'm seeing progress and I'm not having pain so I cannot complain. I'm just disappointed the crit. season is over because I am more motivated now than ever before. Benton Park was again a lot of fun with all the corners and high speeds. We averaged 27.0 mph for 50 minutes. I hit 38 mph going into the next-to-last corner on the final lap.
Below is a video featuring highlights of my race from the handlebar cam. Watch more video footage from the Pro Women and Cat. 2/3 races shot by Shannon and myself here. If you want another perspective of the Cat. 2/3 race, check out Jeremy Stitt's bike cam video posted here.
Highlights of my race from the GoPro
With the racing over, it was now vacation time. We were loaded with bikes and headed west!
