I think the appropriate name for today's race in Des Plaines should have been the Tour de Hell. I tried to ride up front, no good, in the back, no good, in the peloton, no good, on the sidewalk through sprinklers, very good! Even with all of that heat, I still finished. I wasn't last and I wasn't first, but I was freakin' hot!
I think the performance of the day goes to 3 people. The first is Adam Liebman. Holy smokes he literally left it all out on the track as my dad said. Many of us thought he threw the bike to soon and at the wrong line. That wasn't the case at all. Come to find out, he had nothing left. He also had the quote of the day, "I didn't have another stroke in me." He still took a very respectable 2nd in the very hard 30+ race. For a second I thought I was going to have to carry him over to my chair and force feed him Gatorade. Great job Adam!
The 2nd performance goes to Ryan Freund in the P/1/2/3 race. Him and Thomlinson decided to go off the front early and stay off the front. The peloton tried numerous times to go after them, but there was no way in hell anything was sticking with the way Ryan was riding. Great job Ryan!
The 3rd performance goes to Stacy Appelwick. Another one who decided nobody else in the peloton was worthy and went into TT mode. No way anyone was catching her, not even the police 4-wheelers. I am wondering if Ryan got wind of this performance and tried to one up her by almost lapping the P/1/2/3 field :) Great job Stacy!
Also in the P/1/2/3 race was our very own Konrad Witt as well as Mike Wilke (who seems to no longer be on the team). Mike was doing attacks, trying to take fly'ers to get up to Ryan. Scott Witt & I said no way, but Mike really wanted to prove us otherwise. He rode strong today, by far the strongest I have ever witnessed out of him. Konrad finished top 10. Before I left, I heard 7th overall with a top 3 in the 3's. I will let Scott/Sue to update us on the final outcome if it was different. Great job Konrad!
Gary Rulo! The TT beast! In the 50+ he decided what the heck, let me attack and go off the front by a pretty good distance. With the likes of Andy Kerr and others back in the field, it would have been tough to hold off and Gary tried. Also in that same field was Greg Barrett. Where did this beast come from? I don't think I have watched him race before. I think I actually witnessed him get a bit annoyed while on the front. He gave a look back and was like what the hell, anyone else going to work a little? I think he was seriously trying to hurt people! Good job Gary and Greg!
I heard that the Women's 4 field was filled and Mona had to race the Women's open. Funny thing if this is true, is that there were only 6 or 7 women in the 4's race. Anyways, Mona had her work cut out considering the field she was up against. She stuck at it and finished in a mucky and hot field. Great job Mona!
Others who raced, such as Glen Beresinski, Mike Burns, Gerald and Pat Beam, Mark Lemke, and others who names have either escaped me or I didn't catch out there, GREAT JOB! It was insanely hot out there and everyone left it out on the track. I am fairly positive every ABD'er out there today finished, which wasn't the easiest thing to do at times with that heat.
Tomorrow is Wood Dale, and the weather looks to be a heck of a lot better than it was today. I will be racing in both the 5's and the 4's tomorrow, maybe participating is a better word for what I will be doing. Hope to see you all out there, and hopefully Jimmy picked up a tent for us ABD'ers tomorrow to hang out at. Remember, bring lots of water, don't forget your shoes, and keep the rubber side down! Once again, big congratulations to all of our ABD riders today, job well done!
Hey, did I mention that it was hot out there today?
--Rich "I lost 5 pounds putting on my socks today" Johnson
