Tag: weekend wrap

Weekend Wrap 7/10-7/11

 Weekend Wrap written by Matt Riezman

Welcome to the second installment of your weekly Weekend Wrap-up.  The weekend wrap-up is an easy way for us all to stay connected as a group as our members are off competing in/completing events – whether it be a leg busting race, a grueling tri, a “there is no fun in losing” fun-run, a lip-smacking bbq…shoot, we’ll even through in an exciting trip to the dog-beach if you do it in your Spidermonkey gear!  If you’re interested in sharing your exploits in a future weekend wrap-up, please email myself (matthew.riezman@gmail.com), Andrew Zens (azens3@gmail.com), Dean or Vanessa.  Without further ado, here is your weekend wrap up for July 10th and 11th.

Saturday:

Saturday marked the beginning of Superweek, a 17-day long racing series that takes place in the Chicago/Wisconsin area.  This is one of the biggest racing series in the midwest and attracts many of the big-name pro’s riding in the U.S.  Saturday was the Geneva – Mill Race Cyclery Classic in beautiful downtown Geneva, IL.  Dan, Matt, Andrew and Drew lined up first in the 4/5’s race.  In an impressive feat of teamwork, Dan and Drew were able to overcome a final lap crash and delivered Drew across the line in 1st while Dan came across for an impressive 5th.  Andrew was somewhat less lucky and was caught behind the crash but stayed up himself and rolled in 16th.   The ever present but always elusive Masa even made an appearance to support his fellow ‘monkeys.  Thanks for coming out Masa!  Katie and Lil’ V were next in the Women’s 3/4 race.  Katie put in a great performance and rolled in 6th with Lil’ V following shortly after in 16th.  Spidermonkey friends Nate, Eric and Jeff of Burnham Racing put in a great performance in the 3’s race to help their teammate Nick in an impressive win.  In an exciting development, Andy Daley, a man heavily mired in Spidermonkey legend, made a comeback appearance in the 3’s race and gave the fans a surprise chance to yell their favorite phrase: “ANDY DALEYYYYY”.

Not too far away in the sunny city of Chicago, another Spidermonkey Cycling legend made her long awaited comeback.  Saturday dawned sunny and hot at Element Multisport as 22 Spidermonkeys gathered, but things heated up even more when Dr. Dania rolled up on her brand spankin’ new Specialized full carbon rig ready to diagnose a case of the turtle-pace.  She tried to downplay her comeback by claiming that she had spent the past year at home coaching the Spidermonkey U-23 Developmental team and blamed U-23 team member Oliver for her lack of training.  However, being the sandbagger we all know she is, no one was fooled.  When the Dania rolled into Highland Park in the front group, her credibility was shattered.  Clearly, having babies does not slow this woman down.

Sunday:          

Sunday’s group ride was not to be outdone.  Nate, Matt Smith and Jeff joined 15 Spidermonkeys for the trip up to Highland Park.  Without Dania to set a blistering pace, some alleged that the ride was a bit slower.  Regardless, we all know that when the boys in black show up, there is always more than enough entertainment to go around.  Highlights included “hot muffins” at Corner Bakery, Matt Smith making Dean uncomfortable by stealing his waterbottles (while moving) and Jeff giving a seminar on proper sunglasses fit. 

Meanwhile, in the “homely” southern suburb of Homewood, IL, the Spidermonkey racers were back at it again for another day of Superweek.  Drew and Matt lined up first in the 4/5’s race where Drew found himself on the podium again in 3rd!  Katie lined up next in the Women’s 3/4 race where she outgunned Chicago racing scene power player Stacy Applewick in a field sprint for 11th (ok, maybe she was lapped but I didn’t see it!)  Geoff and Ken admitted to being slightly older (but not any slower) and lined up in the Master’s 4/5’s race.  Geoff rolled in 15th while Ken maintained his heavily challenged, but rarely threatened reputation as the best looking bike racer in the Midwest. 

While unconfirmed, we can assume from patterns observed in the past that Trent completed yet another triathlon or some other impressive feat of human endurance this weekend. 

That wraps up the weekend for you!  See you on Saturday for an invaluable talking-to by Randy “Safetyman” Savage (Warren).  Also good luck to all of those doing the Ironman 70.3 in Racine and Superweek races. 

That just happened,
Matt

Weekend Wrap Up

Hopefully everyone had a good holiday weekend, now here are some of the highlights from the weekend:

Fitchburg Wrap

Dan Pollard secured a 6th place finish yesterday at the Fitchburg Crit, he showed the easterners how to race a crit! He also finished the GC, it looks like someone has his game back!

Trent completed all the stages of the race and jumped up some spots in the GC with a wicked Time Trial. This was his first weekend as a cat 4 which makes the finish even more impressive.

Michael Shea also made the trip but a fellow rider’s inability to navigate a decent ended the stage race early, luckily he had Nikki Cyp there to help him after the crash. This is the second time Nikki has gone out of her way to make sure a Spidermonkey was taken care of after a crash, we hope this is the last time. Thanks again Nikki. I heard through the grapevine that after he had to abandon the race Mike won most aggressive feeder. He was crucial in the feed zone handing up bottles and cliff products to his fellow teammates, just don’t ask him to hand up a doughnut because that isn’t going to happen. 

The Burnham boys were the travel companions for the monkey’s throughout the weekend, Congrats to Eric Goodwin, Chris Curran and Nate Iden for strong efforts all weekend including Nate and Chris taking top tens in the crit yesterday, well done sirs!

The Spidermonkeys who went would also like to thank Mr. Eric Goodwin who planned the trip down to the last detail (like every detail I have seen the travel packet!)

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NIKKI CYP

Tour of Lawrence Kansas Recap

Vanessa crushed the Crit course using only her feet, how is that you ask? Well prior to the start of the Downtown Tour of Lawrence Crit competitors tested there running ability around the 8 corner 1 mile crit course. Vanessa clocked in a hair above 6 mins to take 1st in her age group (under 25yrs group i am sure)

Dean, Ken and Geoff also made the trip. Dean specialized in beer tasting at FreeState, head cheerleader and kids bike race official starter, while Ken put on a fashion show sporting not one, not two, but three different kits throughout the weekend event, including a skinsuit. Geoff turned himself inside out to complete the challenging circuit (really tough hills, I used to walk them everyday to class and it never helped clear the hangover) he then found time to recover in order to finish 21st in the crit! 

Chicago Style Crit Racing

Then there were those of us who just didn’t have the energy to travel. After ToAD I found my willingness to get behind the wheel and travel zapped. So myself and Mike Meyers ventured to the new ABR race in Des Plaines hosted by Project 5. Katie and Chip road weary from their ToAD travels made the trip as well. Katie scored two top tens (can’t remember the specifics). Mike in his first race of the season settled in with a 20th finish in the 4’s. I was determined to complete a two races that day, and i did just that finishing 19th in the 4’s. As well as a pack finish in the 1/2/3’s race (you have to love the abr cat rules). I was rocking my new Enzo’s Button Hole Chamois Cream, I promise you will love the tingle in your shorts! Masa raced early on Saturday and his his first pack finish with the 5’s.

So it was a good weekend to say the least.

Did i miss something that happened this weekend? If so make sure to tell the group or possibly post it on he blog (email me if you need access)

High Lifes tomorrow,
Zens

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