Now that the racing portion of the International Cycling Classic has come to a close, I think it’s finally time for me to actually write a race report. I’m sure some other teammates will write race reports for individual races. What I plan to do however is not to write a race report, but a general appraisal of how I thought Superweek went. Now for those of you that are reading this… I must warn that I don’t think anyone has ever mistaken a dentist for an author so I don’t promise anything. I also will say that I am writing this as a hodge-podge of thoughts that I’ve had throughout the week.

So here’s the history… it goes way back too. Flashback to Superweek 2005, Cat 4/5 races, I got my buddy Jaeger down for the races and I pretty much know Casey (who may be referred to as “the mayor” or quite simply “mad dog.” I think everyone can figure out why) is gunnin’ for the overall. See that is great. I don’t care that much because I can’t do all the races anyway. But Trocadero always showed up with a huge team. It was this “team” thing that really got me. The Troc team always showed up, they always raced hard, and they had fun. What more could you want, right? Anyway, I don’t know how it was that I actually got invited to be on the team but I did. I had actually gotten to know Steve by the end of the year due to the Port Race Ride (my own name for the Wednesday Rainbow Ride). Jack, I had talked to briefly, and Patrick, well I think at that time he weighed like 56 lbs (I’m working on sending you some lbs, baby). I guess all of this team transitioning happened sometime at the end of the ’05 season. That also included Scott coming over from Velocity and some other things, such as aquiring the custom Gunnar Roadie bikes for the team.  Unfortunately, I had just received the Rocket version 2 (to replace version 1: my ’00 Trek 5500 that is now broken ) so I couldn't justify getting one of those Gunnars. I think that is enough history. Though I add this… I was really really excited to be part of a team, an actual team, a team that liked each other and has fun.

Fast Forward past the history part of this column or article, to Superweek ’06. We start the series in an RV, and by we I mean Scott, owner/operator/commander in chief and perhaps responsible one as well, Casey, Myself, Jaeger, and on the return trip Patrick. So the main thing I remember about that first weekend of racing is this- It was hot, and I’m trying to think of a way to write that it was so hot outside that you could feel your very own blood boil on the warm-up. The good news from that first weekend was that I got second in Manitowoc, I think my blood actually boiled. The bad news is this Scott crashed twice, broke a 404 and lost the lean-to/canopy from the side of the RV. He managed to escape both crashes with minor injuries. Patrick actually got an experts license from When You See a Crash, Brake to Avoid It University as he did that for the first weekend. Jeff I hope you feel better soon and Joey Buona’s is good food. I shall also note that the teammates were appalled at my diet. I’m a fan of simple sugars and ice cream, what can I say? The first weekend wound up with not to great of results with no one really serious about the GC (or at least no one led on that they were interested in the GC… *cough cough* Casey).

As Superweek went on, it took Mr. Ajer/Ager/Agar/Ajar (?? I don’t pretend to be able to spell either) to place well in a few races to move up in the GC to motivate The Mayor to win a road race, score a bunch-o-points, which also brought back the ol’ fury for the overall title, and consequently the free Waterford. The chase started. I was forced to miss all the races during the week except for the Friday race. The brewers hill crit. There was no way on earth I was going to miss that race. So I skipped out on my Friday oral surgery rotation to compete for the second installment of the Endeavor triple crown. Side Note… in order to get the afternoon off I did promise one of my classmates Ms. Chelsea Lattas that I would give her a hundred bucks for covering my shift if I won the triple crown… I guess it will be a small price to pay after we bring that home, sorry fellas, I had to pull a “mayor” move to make it to the race… haha). So the bottom line is this- I won the race on a sneaky and sly solo break and some close to death blocking by The Mayor himself. I only say close to death because I don’t think Casey actually had a race this year where he hasn’t defied death. So the Triple crown is headed our way, I hope. Saturday was Waukesha, Sunday was Bensenville. At Waukesha I got worked by an IU/Bacardi Nuvo fellow, probably a frat boy too, though took second. Myself and Casey also worked a guy for a $75 prime. Bensenville is not even worth words. If you would like to know about Bensenville, you can reach me at 414 243 3077 (ask for Chris). Monday I managed to race because we had off of school (when everyone else in my class was taking the board exam Part I, for licensure, don’t worry though I’ll pass that test). Holy Hill. May as well be called Holy Hell, or just simply Hell, eh, Hell on Wheels, I don’t know, something to do with Hell. I worked myself for Casey on this one, pretty bad. He did good though. In fact, I think this was the start of me working myself for Casey for the rest of Superweek. Make no mistake though, he was appreciative, never actually directly asked me to work myself for him, and I was glad to do it. It was fun, and I’ll tell you why. People don’t know how to react when a strong rider (myself) will work themselves over for someone else. I call it working for a higher cause (teammate Casey, or simply a ride to the race and a reprive of the astronomical cost of gasoline, Check that CC Casey, gas IS in fact expensive). So during the race, I was pretty much covering John Meyers and Kip’s moves, not Nagode’s though because he is not strong enough to actually work in a break. At one point when I kept relentlessly covering John Meyers’ moves though, he seen me sucking his wheel, he simply stated “that must be what it’s like to have butt buddies.” Thrilled that my strategy have elicited such frustration, I rode next him to clarify. I said to him “John, do you mean like butt buddies as in ‘me on Casey’ or ‘Me on you?’” To which he replied, “Which would offend you more?” I simply stated, “You are not going to offend me, and clearly you are the one that is offended if you are resorting to such childish comments.” At this he went off on some tirade about how it sucks to have someone always covering your wheel because you can’t break-away then. To respond to that, I got back in his draft, if that is not sweet irony for you I don’t know what is… haha John Meyer, that is what you get. Well, I think Casey got fourth, I got 25^th? I led it out, and put the hurt on Kip, mission accomplished. Thursday is Sheboygan, almost another race that is not worth words, though I’ll say a few. First, that my prayers are with the Bieberitz family, I’m truly sorry for your loss. The race was a great tribute to a good man.

Second, purely prime chasing is not a good idea. I cramped up my calf with like six laps to go, and had to abandon, just like Boonen had to do because of those hills in France, except he gets paid to NOT actually do his job. Casey flatted coming out of turn three on the last lap, but wound up getting a free beer and brat, the race was a wash but he didn’t go home on an empty stomach (its all about the silver lining). I don’t know what happened on Friday. Sorry.

Saturday and Sunday… My man Jimmy upgraded to threes. It was sweet, that basically meant that I only had to cover half the attacks. The results were in. Casey was up by a couple of points over super-dinker Nagode. All the marbles were on Sundays race. We’ll see what happens. Sunday. Whitefish bay. SilverSpring Ave. Casey Masterson vs. Kip vs. Super-Dink. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN. Well the race was actually pretty uneventful. Nothing got away, Me and Jimmy pulled it all back. Group Sprint… Me and Jimmy as the leadout train. Jimmy basically leads it out until there is only two more turns remaining. Leaving me with about a 1/3 of a lap to lead out Casey. As Jimmy cans out, and I pull forward like a freight train loaded down with lead going down a mountain, accelerating at the accepted value of gravity, 9.8m/s, and some dude from CSU manages to pull to the front, run out of gas and cut me off. I have to scrub the brakes, not good, and re-accelerate. At that point I got a message from my hamstrings. It went like this:

Dear C-nation,

This is your hamstring and since you are capable of refusing the physical limits of your musculo-skeletal system, I am leaving you this message so that you know if you stand up and push this here shiny red Trek 5.5 any harder, I will tear clear of your insertion point on the lower hip bone and form a tight compact ball of seized muscle somewhere behind your knee-cap. This will require surgery and you will not be able to smoke Casey in the Individual Time Trial this weekend.

Love,

The Hamstring Group

Now fellas, you may not believe the hamstring could have possibly gave me such a lengthy message but it did. I swear. All that in turn four. That is the sole reason I couldn’t actually lead Casey out at the pre-race agreed speed of 57 mph. Anyway, by now you all know how the race ended up Casey got fourth, Nagode got second. Tie. Boom. Tie goes to Nagode. Anyway Superweek over. It was a good series. I gave Casey a Liter of Jack Daniels at downer on Saturday, though it will be used for sorrow instead of joy, it will be used nonetheless.

In the end this is what I learned. I learned that I have a crapload of awesome teammates. I love every one of you guys. I also learned that bike racing doesn’t always have to do with the strongest rider, but perhaps the most opportunistic. I also learned that Josh Nagode should prolly send the rear triangle of his new Waterford to Casey in thanks for Casey leading him out for 15 days straight. Let the fact be known that not one PCW rider ever led their teammate out.  Not that we noticed, anyhow.  Oh well. There is still a lot of racing to be had this season, and the most exciting part is that there will be no more field sprints this season. Mark my words. No field sprints. I will return to my ways of Alexander Vinokourov and attack and ride unpredictably.

The season is not over yet. Triple Crown is yet to come. As are state crit and State TT. Casey should not be down about a second at superweek, for he still has the overall WCA crown to sew up.

That is all I have to say, just remember I’m a dentist and not a writer…

Chris "C-nation" Mantel