Tour of Galena Recap!
Erin Dickey teaches class. You can only hope to learn.
Daphne proudly represents her 3rd place finish medal for the Women's Category 4 criterium as well as the 3rd place medal for the Women's Category 4 Omnium.
Brian blinging with the silver after the big sprint finish got him 2nd in the Men's Cat 4 sprint. (click through the sequence)
Jannette in elite company. Right where she belongs.
The racing was fast and the logistics were very well handled. Tip of the hat to xXx-Athletico for solely handling a massive 3 race/2 day endeavor on the other side of the state in beautiful (and hilly) Galena, IL. Highlights included (but are not limited to): There was a massive turnout from the Men's squad and a variance of fine results to boot. Zero intimidation came off of J Rho as she faced the terrifically difficult task of handling the big dogs solo in the Pro 1, 2, 3 category. Daphne and Marie teamed up to get Daphne onto the podium and Marie set that rep of being a badass pace driver. Mumford and Nikki joined us to get a taste of the whole "roadie" thing. We got the bus over those hills out west not once but TWICE! And we all were privileged to hold the great company of Erin Dickey. in fine wine country.
Josh was a sport after working so hard at the front in the crit and getting taken out by a nasty bell lap crash.
Sure. There were some lows as well. Mechanical misfortunes bring out the eternal optimism of what "could of been". What actually was the case was our teen dream, Mr. Ellison, learned a good lesson as to how anything can happen once the race starts. Bravo to Mr. Nordyke for eventually giving his bicycle and shoes (which were given to him by the ever wonderful Mr. Marcus Moore) to his teammate that was without a workable wheel 30 miles into a road race. Avi took some turf with his knee and Jannette was considerably undernourished for her daunting road race. I'm not convinced a single one of us understood or respected the significance of "climbing" gears and waited until we got BACK from the trip to seek some out. Right now the biggest blow, however, is looking to be the fate of super-domestique Josh Shough's knee and hip. We are all waiting to hear a verdict on the x-rays after he was taken out by a crash in the bell lap of a VERY fast paced criterium. First the verdict, then the direction, then the healing begins.
True, the peaks and valleys were quite literal and metaphorical. Regardless, we certainly won't be overlooking what a fine weekend it all turned into. Without a doubt, everyone appreciated the beautiful scenery and made do Cuttin Crew style with the accommodations. All this while taking advantage of some super fine racing. Thanks again to xXx for the great event as well as their team promo rate. As always, a major shoutout goes out to our ever-supportive sponsors!
-- Results are here. Some photos to check out for some captionable moments along the way - the new chicagocuttincrew flickr page and the candelabra caretaker. --