Rockford Criterium Re-Cap

Another Grand Rapids race and another chance to tour the wonderful city of Grand Rapids Michigan! I have lived most of my life in this state and it hasn't been until the last couple of years that I have discovered this awesome town. If I were to leave this area for another in southern Michigan, there is little doubt I would head west and settle in one of these little suburban towns like Ada or Rockford. Look, they have four Christian radio stations on FM alone!! We have one in this area and they only play music half the time!

We drove out on Friday morning so we could tour the Ford Presidential Museum. If you have an opportunity, this is really a worthwhile trip to make. The price of admission is only $7 per and
you could spend days and days pouring over amazing displays. Things like Ford's handwritten notes taken when interviewing Marina Oswald for the Warren Commission. They really covered Watergate from A to Z also. Definitely two thumbs up from Mom and Dad at least.

We stayed at the Comfort Suites Comstock Park. The hotel was the closest name brand I could find to Rockford and it was very new. The only problem was that the floors were flimsy and people talking in the hallway sounded like they were in your room. Bottom line...no sleep for Mom and Dad. I think the kidlets did okay though.

A big plus for this hotel is the location. There is a minor league baseball park across the street and a putt-putt course with go-kart track. We did the putt-putt go-kart thing as I could get no traction for baseball with the family. I got my hat handed to me in putt-putt but dominated the go-kart track!! Our ten year-old, Abby, was able to drive her own kart and she was a riot! I thought she was trying to obstruct me but she was just weaving all over the track. It was absolutely hilarious. That's Abby driving the pop tart car in the pic on the right.

Next morning, we arrived at Rockford in a light drizzle. The things I had heard about this course made me very nervous especially now that the course was damp. We arrived as the cat 5's were racing. James and I went to register, (and BTW campers, registration is at the high school all the way at the other end of the course), and as we were waiting to cross the street at turn 1, there was a big crash. The lead rider was carrying a lot of speed and he lost it, fell on his side and slid into the curb. Several riders plowed into him and several others dumped their bikes before hitting the pile. Now I was really nervous.

James was up at 1045am right after the cat 4's. That race also had a crash as Eric Hinderager went over the handlebars when the rider in front of him hit the curb on the last turn coming into the finishing straight. DMO, I know you read this and that turn got more people this year. Eric was involved in a crash there and so was Rob Iser, (racing in 1/2 field), who overcooked the corner and hit the hay-bale that was guarding sign post. Rob told me that hay-bale wasn't there last year. Rob was okay and so was Eric. Eric finished the race but Rob elected to retire from his race.

AAVC looked very good in the 4's with Zach Maino riding very aggressively and Scott Gifford stalking the pack. A late season addition to the team, Chris Aten, rode very well helping support Zach and Scott's efforts. Eric was looking strong again only to be foiled by that mishap in the last turn before the finish. That's Eric in second place coming through turn one.

SLC's own Doug Gatto, (The Cat), stalked the field for a few laps before bagging it in favor of racing the masters 30+.

Zach made a monster move in the second to last lap flying off the front. He opened up a huge gap. It was a gamble but he felt he needed to fire off the last of his bullets to avoid fighting it out in the sprint. He didn't think he had a sprint left in his legs. I had my fingers crossed but he was back in the pack coming back by me on the last lap heading into the final turn. It was a gutsy move. Scott was in the field sprint got either fourth or fifth place. Eric was back in the pack somewhere but kudos to him for finishing. That crash would have sidelined most folks.

James did another stellar job riding beyond his age. He lined up with all the big dogs of the junior field and hung with them for a good portion of the race. Chris Brinkman, Dan Ritter, Tony W., Andrew Florian, etc.. He ended up getting dropped and riding solo for the last half of the race. Brent Brookwalter was doing the announcing and he praised James for his strong finish as he sprinted in on the finish. I was riding around the course watching the race and a lot of people were commenting on the young racer who was doing so well. They asked how old he was and were shocked that he is only 12.

The ladies 1/2/3 was up next and Julie Bellerose managed to put herself into the break with Mackenzie Woodring of Priority Health. As always, PH had several racers and Julie was by herself. I was getting ready for my race so I didn't see a whole lot of the action but Julie was in the sprint for the win but lost out to Mackenzie

I rode the course in between races and took the corners at speed to get a feel. For me, the toughest corner was turn 1 with that telephone pole and hay bale precariously close to the corner. The others were more notorious according to other riders but they didn't bother me as much. The first downhill turn has a little camber in road which bothered a lot of folks and the last turn has two cobble sections you have to cross at hi-speed.

I lined up for the cat 3 race with Steve Christy, Tony W., and Taylor Birmann. Taylor was coming off a sensational summer racing in Canada and training with the best in Colorado Springs.

Taylor wasn't sure if he was going to have legs or not but we still made plans to place him in the break that was surely going to get away. This course is fairly technical with a big hill that rises sharply in the last fifty meters or so. Riders are gassed when they get to the top and are ripe for attacks. We planned to insert Taylor in the right break at the right time. It was going to be my job to cover any early breaks that might look menacing. I really didn't think anything would stick early. This field will chase until the halfway point and at that point they seem content to let just about anyone off the front.

Taylor hosed down one early break and launched an attack of his own. Bart Carlson jumped after and Taylor looked at me as if to say, "Well?" so I hosed him down. My guess was Zach McBride was going to animate the action and he didn't disappoint. He got off the front and Bart Carlson followed. I jumped after them a little on the late side. I managed to get myself into "no-man's land" for what seemed like forever. I had several seconds on the field and could see the break up ahead. I knew I was burning matches at a prodigious rate out there all by myself. It was decision time. I had to go for it all and get the break or go back to the field for help. I put my head down and gave it my all. It was working. I was closing them down but I was running myself down also. I got to the top of the hill so winded it was incredible. After a few more minutes I started to fall back again. I was a little surprised the break didn't wait for me. I was gaining on them, they had to see that, and there was only two of them. Didn't they think they stood a better chance of staying away with three? After the race I was told that Zach was trying to shake off Bart. It wasn't like they were working all that well together. Bart has a wicked sprint but he is not an endurance kind of guy. (I worked with him in the break at Maillot Juane and he had to sit out a few rotations to stay with us. All the same, he ended up winning the sprint in the end of that one.) I think this contributed to their decision to not let me close the last 200 meters. Still, if I were them, I would have enlisted one more rider to ensure the break's survival.

So, I realized this wasn't going to work and I needed help. So, I went back to the field and tried to organize a chase. Some folks responded but just like Ada, I found myself gapping the field on my pulls. Frustrating. Peter Ehman was in the field; a rider I knew from previous races was a mature and super strong racer. After trying to put together a chase for some time, I pulled up alongside Peter and asked him if he would work with me. I told him I knew how strong he was and he said he wasn't "feeling it". Still, he responded and before I knew it the two of us were off the front in hot pursuit of the break.

It really didn't take long at all and we could see we were closing down the break. You can see from the pic at the left that we had gapped the field pretty significantly. Climbing that big hill I could see Peter and I had closed to within 200 meters and my friends at the top of the hill told me that the breakaway riders were fading fast. We continued to close but were running out of time. We were now into the last two laps. On the last lap one of the breakaway riders, Zach, dumped his bike on turn 1. This was really unfortunate for him because he really deserved to win this race. Peter and I rode by him hunting down Bart who was all by his lonesome and, presumably, suffering like a dog. Peter bested me on the top of the hill hand gapped me. It was every man for himself. Peter was clearly the better climber as I was clearly the better TT-ist. Now it was my chance to recover and hose him down before the line. I just missed and took third place. Bart held on for the win but it was pretty close considering the gap the break had established. That's Bart cruising in for the win with Peter and I charging. When Peter and I left the field, the break had almost 30 seconds.

Third place isn't a win and I once again missed the winning break but I was happy with with the way the race ended up. Peter and I raced and didn't sit in the field and wait for the field sprint for 3rd place.

My winnings. I won this prime and didn't even realize it! I never sprinted and no one was challenging me as I rode through the finish. I thought I heard my name associated with a prime and so I checked on it and sure enough I won this cool little inflater! Awesome!!


The 1/2 race was 80 minutes and it was fast, fast, fast. The Lime Line was out there absolutely putting a stranglehold on the race. The pro team was sending there guys up the road attacking non stop until the winning break got away with the Howard bro's winning it all. Pete Shilling took 8th in a hard fought battle and commented after that we would be "spitting lime juice" for the rest of the night. Rob Iser ended up in a hay bale, Joey was with the field up until the last lap when they dialed the pace up to "ludicrous speed" and popped him.

Vince Roberge looked very good on his first race back from Belgium racing for the Cycling Center. He got away with a PH rider in the last few minutes of the race and almost made it stick. Had he done that it would have been a top five finish but the field would have none of it and hauled them back.

All in all, I have to say that this is one of the best crits of the season. The atmosphere is great and I can't say enough about the course. Granted, I was concerned coming into it but that hill and those corners make it tactically interesting. My strength is attack, form a break and fight like heck to stay away. This course was tailored made for that kind of racer.