A few of us headed down to Evansville this weekend to race the River City Criterium, a 2 hour drive but into the Central Time Zone, so we gained an hour of warm up once we arrived.  It’s in a nice venue in Garvin park sandwiched between the industrial part of the city and a middle class neighborhood.   The park plays host to a number of baseball fields on its perimeter, named after the New York Yankee and Evansville native Don Mattingly.  He played 14 years with New York and averaged .307.  That’s like you and me getting into the break at least 3 out of 10 races.  He signed in 1982 (the year I graduated from UCONN) for $30,000 and when he retired in 1995 he was making $4.5 million dollars.

This area has a gritty, working class feel that resonates with me and would  permeate the event.

So I lost a race last week.  Well, about 30 of us did.  But I was one of them and it’s been sort of bothering me all week.  It was the Speedway criterium in Indianapolis.  It was a fairly large Masters field of about 30 riders in the 50+ group, and no team had more than 3 riders in it, so there would likely be no dominating squad establishing the race pattern of attacks, counter attacks and parrys. It was fast in the final analysis.  21 miles in 48 minutes for an average speed of over 26mph. But that’s not so remarkable.  Anyone, well not anyone, but most of us can turn that over on our own and certainly in a group without too much trouble.  It’s the attacks, accelerations and their frequency and the math that create the chaos.    While I am not a disciple of numbers I am certainly a believer.    It was a relatively benign 4 corner course, most wide and sweeping.  You could pedal through them, but we didn’t really have to. 

1	Ryan Bredemeyer		25:15
2	Jake Cohen		25:47
3	Jake Richards		27:20
4	Leigh Dukeman		27:56
5	Ivy Moore		28:24
6	Emily Carrier		29:22
7	Matt Summers		29:25
8	Brian Drummy		30:04
9	Kathryn Wallisch	30:08

Results courtesy Carl Field

We are a couple of weeks into the racing season and already the battle lines are being drawn among the larger teams.  You would recognize the names; Texas Roadhouse, First Internet Bank, Zipp, Shellers, and the riders; Tolson, Kroll, Peterson, Richter, Clark.   Last week a few Bakehouse raced the Eagle Creek oval criterium and this weekend we were at the Marian circuit.  For me, pre-race preparation included listing the teams and individual riders, a review of earlier race results, who is going well, theorizing a presumed strategy for the big teams and establishing a plan to either insert myself into ‘the break’ or positioning for the inevitable trains as they developed in  the last few laps.  Some things can be cross tabulated, but bike racing doesn’t easily lend itself to absolutes.  However, mathematically, all things being equal, if one team has 4 riders and another has 3 then the ‘lesser’ team- in the simplest equation- has to have someone double up on coverage to counter in the last set to engage in all of the ‘larger’ team’s attacks.  So, an interloping team or individual rider needs to be aware of this dynamic and respond accordingly.  Simple, Yes? (wink-wink-nudge-nudge).  But bike races aren’t fought on paper. 

If you’re interested in joining the team, complete the attached application prior to January 29th, 2017 and scan and send to sacconetom@gmail.com.   Call me for a conversation or for additional information.  Our kit order closes on January 30th.

I hope to see you on the road with us in 2017!

Click the link below or go to the TEAM INVITATIONS tab and select the waiver

https://www.bakehousecycling.org/docs/2017BH_app_waiver.pdf

1	Brad Shannon		TT	23:34
2	Joseph Hunt		M	24:54
3	Ryan Bredemeyer		M	25:27
4	Jake Lowinger		M	25:47
5	Scott Alber		TT	26:36
6	Chris Bonham		M	27:37
7	Catherine Spevak	M	29:05
8	Leigh Dukeman		M	30:15

Results courtesy Carl Field

Here is the start list for the Tour of Bloomington ITT.  Refer to your message from the USAC Registration team for official information.

For additional information visit www.tourofbloomington.org.

1	John Becker	TT	22:55
2	Zach Eagle	TT	23:09
3	Sam Harbison	TT	23:21
4	Jake Parker	M 	24:00
5	Joseph Hunt	M	24:14
6	Brad Shannon	TT	24:30
7	Larry Mullinnix	TT	24:48
8	Eric Rodkin	TT	24:59
9	Scott Alber	TT	25:49
10	Chris Bonham	M	27:07
11	John Boshears	M	27:37
12	Catherine Speval	M	28:45
13	Bridie MacDonald	M	30:58

Results courtesy Carl Field

1	John Becker		TT	22:28
2	Jake Parker		M	23:49
3	Sean Hurley		M	24:34
4	Dave Able		M	25:01
5	Joseph Hunt		TT	25:04
6	Andrew Krahulik	M	25:22
7	Larry Mullinnix	M	25:22
8	Scott Alber		TT	25:36
9	Xaviar Martinez	M	26:17
10	Chris Bonham		M 	27:36
11	Catherine Spenak	?	28:07
12	Angela Aneiros	TT	31:58
13	Bridie MacDonald	M	32:07

Results courtesy Carl Field