New year

So the track season is almost over and I'm already thinking about next year. I had a hectic summer of travel, moving, graduating, starting a new job ... all in all, I totally slacked on anything and everything blog related (I didn't even do write ups for my team until last week). Yes, excuses excuses.

I'm going to ring in the new season with a complete write-up from Elites next week. Stay tuned.

Major Taylor Velodrome

I'm not sure people in Chicago realized this year that Major Taylor was holding races on Saturdays this season (cat 4 men at noon; 1/2/3 men and women at 7PM).

Well unless we rally the troops next year, the Saturday option will likely disappear. So track racers of Chicago, let's figure out a way to get ourselves down there on a regular basis. It's just under 3 hours (depending on how many stops you make).

Brian Piccolo Velo in florida

im down in Ft. Lauderdale for buisness so i figured I'd stop at the Brian Piccolo velodrome and see how it measured up to Kenosha.

I was quite impressed it seems like a copy of Major Taylor Velo in indiana really nice infield with a nice tunnel under the track into the infield.


plus some cool ground owls hanging out just outside the track.

Kenosha Tuesday night Wrapup

Photos by: Ed White

This week was another good night out at the Velodrome, the schedule started with the pro 1/2 Kierin Qualifying heats.
The best thing about Kierin heats at Kenosha is this bad ass motorpacer that comes out to do the pacing, it's a sweet restored '80's Honda and you can tell that the owner loves showing it off.

usually the 3rd position is the spot to be in a motorpaced Kierin and in Ed Whites heat there was a guy who just would not give up trying to slot in ahead of Ed he ended up riding 3 of the 4 motorpaced laps outside of the draft trying to get in ahead of ed (who was in 3rd) but Ed held his spot and the guy ended up having to back off and get in the back of the line. anyways the final was won by John Freyley who was the first person behind the motorpacer which is usually a bad spot but he made it work and led the whole way to the finish for an impressive win.

after that was the Cat 3 mens Scratch race which was a fast race with Ed White taking the win and Kaz Miles taking 2nd (he actually came in 3rd but Jason nine was relegated for passing below the blue line)

then it was the womens turn to hit the track for a 5 lap scratch race, Katy Steudel (check out her blog for a detailed report and some nice pics) rode away from the field for a convincing win in that race.

the it was time for our race except for the first time ever (that i know of) we got split up into cat 4 and 5 fields which was cool so i had one more race to watch before my turn. we lined up for a 6 lap scratch and i took my usual spot at the front of the pack leading people around for the neutral lap. when the whistle blew we picked up the pace pretty quickly afterwards and then Frank Chemotti made a jump and i hooked on to his wheel and we got a 20 foot gap on the field but he had misread the lap cards and went with 3 to go instead of 2 to go so he sorta faded just before the start of the last lap and i came around him along with a few others who made a surge out of the field. unfortunately when i came around frank i ended up back down in the sprinters lane with a few people infront of me and i got boxed in in the final sprint and ended up in 6th place with Tim Strege coming out of the field with a strong sprint finish for a surprise win.

after that it was tempo races where i once again failed because i cannot sprint, but katy took a second win in the womens field and once again Tim Strege took the win in the Cat 4 mens field with my teammate Andy Toumanoff taking 2nd.

the main event was a 40 lap points race that went off at a blazing pace and left many people totally spent . it was won by Alex Wilson with Rob Springer taking 2nd. another impressive rider was Kyle Jacobson who would consistently make some impressive solo breaks in the race to come in 4th place.

the final race of the night was the consolation which was a 20 lap points race, i really wanted a placing in this race since i hadn't done much all night but it was not to be and i ended up taking 1 point and getting another 6th place finish. ahh well there is always next week i guess.


Final Results:




Photos By: Katy Steudel

opening friday night...

well, opening night was a beautiful night. i would say about 16 racers came out to play. i wish i had more info as to who exactly came out...i'll do my best to tighten up on details for everyone. the races were brutal but the 5's had a good time out there doing there best to upgrade to the cat 4's to play with the big boys/girls. i may not have details(i'll work on that) but i do have pics...



report by andrew yeoman of team pegasus...also, yojimbo's track-cats were out in full force and attacking the velodrome...



...more pics. if you have a blog and have a write up of your racing please contact us at chicagotrackracing@gmail.com so that we can link to it. also, if you would like to add a write up don't hesitate to send it. we'll do our best to load them up...peace.

DIRECTIONS, Part 2

Thanks to Jeff Perkins (Chicago Cuttin' Crew) for sending us a list of Metra times to both Northbrook and Kenosha. Also, remember this info about Metra:

Bicycles are permitted on all weekday trains arriving in Chicago after 9:30 AM and leaving Chicago before 3:00 PM and after 7:00 PM, and on all weekend trains, with the following exceptions:

• Blues Fest (Weekend only - June 7 - 8)
• All days during Taste of Chicago (June 27 - July 6)
• Independence Eve Fireworks (July 3)
• Venetian Night (July 26)
• Lollapalooza (August 1 - 3)
• Air & Water Show (August 16 & 17)
• Jazz Fest (Weekend only - August 30 - August 31)

Bicycles must be secured to the lower rail of folding seats in the designated priority seating area with bungee cords or other devices supplied by the cyclist that will adequately secure the bicycle.

NORTHBROOK
Here are the trains that count. Western stop is at 420 N Artesian.
Union Station / Western / Northbrook
4:48 / 4:48 / 5:33
5:12 / 5:22 / 5:48
5:15 / 5:25 / 5:54
5:25 / XXXX / 6:02
5:30 / 5:39 / 6:13
5:50 / 5:59 / 6:24
5:58 / 6:07 / 6:40
6:19 / 6:28 / 6:56
That last one is probably too late.
One-way fare is $4.30
A 10-ride ticket is sold at a bit of a bargain for $36.55.

The last two trains leave the Northbrook station at 8:47 and 10:58PM.

KENOSHA
Here are the train rates.
$7.05 gets you there one-way.
$59.95 gets a 10 day (perhaps he means ride).

This train has about 4 departure points in the city. Ogilvie (500 W Mad), Clybourn (2001 N Ashland), Ravenswood (4800 N Ravenswood), Rogers Park (7000 N Ravenswood).
Here's the site with the schedule: http://metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_n/cnwn_wko.shtml
It's going to be real nasty getting back in so we should plan to accommodate extra people in the vehicles. Otherwise you won't be getting a train back from Kenosha until 11:35 and it gets into the 606 at 1:10 AM
Ogilvie / Clybourn / Ravenswood / Rogers Park / Kenosha
4:13 / 4:21 / XXXX / XXXX / 5:39
5:03 / XXXX / 5:15 / XXXX / 6:27
5:10 / 5:18 / XXXX / 5:26 / 6:40

Kenosha Opening Night Report

Since we got rained out last week tonight was the first real night of racing at Kenosha this year.

We were scheduled for 3 lap sprints, a snowball, a point’s race for the consolation and a Madison Main Event.

3 lap sprints are not my favorite event since I don’t like sprinting or races under 15 laps so I sorta resigned myself to sucking, but hey you gotta give it a shot right?

They had heats of 5-7 riders with the top two advancing to the finals in each heat. So the night started off pretty slow. With the juniors and masters 4/5’s. The first race I really watched was the women’s sprints since my teammate Katy Steudel was in it. The race started off slowish but not a crawl like a few of the other races before it, there was no real attempt at a jump just a steady acceleration through the 2^nd lap and a group sprint starting in turn 2. Katy was sitting a bit far back and down in the sprinters lane about 4-5^th coming through that turn so I yelled for her to get up track and she started moving up into 3^rd place where she got boxed in by Katie Antano, and Sarah Huang so she was sitting in third coming into turn four with a pretty good gap on the rest of the field all three fought it out down the final straight and it was damn close but Katy ended up 3^rd with Katie A. winning, Sarah H. coming in 2^nd and Beth Engvis rounding out the top 4 . Not a bad way to start the night.

After that I was up for my 3 lap sprint heat. I was in with my teammate Jon Raleigh, Frank Chemotti and 3 guys from Hayes they were taking the top two so Jon and I wished each other luck and started riding. The pace basically just gradually increased throughout the race I tried to stay 2^nd or third wheel until the back straight where I yelled for Jon to jump and I just latched on to him and we passed the leading hayes guy on the outside in the last turn and I beat him in the final sprint by about 4 inches with Jon taking the win in the heat. I was really surprised at how it turned out but the pace of the race really played into my strengths since I don’t really have a good jump but I do have a pretty good top speed.

In the first 3s heat Lyle Hanson won with ED White taking 2^nd and Casey Masterson getting beat out finishing in 3^rd. After that I sorta took a break and went and talked to a few people while the 1-2s and 30+ heats were run.

In the fours finals john and I were lined up against Gideon Stitt and Zack Geyer as well as two other guys who I didn’t catch the names of. This time we rolled around the track at a snail’s pace for the first lap I just sat on the front waiting for a jump to happen we made it to the back straight when a guy from Hayes jumped and I hopped on his wheel, he was pulling up but not getting a gap so I just sorta marked him and stayed up with him until 2 other guys started coming through underneath him I then dropped down and went with them I couldn’t tell what type of gap we had if any coming into the final straight but I could see a shadow coming up behind me so I knew it couldn’t be much. So I gave it all I had and just beat out Jon at the line for 3^rd place. He swore loudly at that and got a talking to but it was all cool in the end. So I ended up in 3^rd overall which I’m pretty happy with since I don’t consider myself a sprinter at all.

After that it was the women’s Snowball which was five laps, they were only giving points for first though which seems like it takes away a lot of the strategy in the race. Anyways Katy nabbed the first point, got 3^rd on the 2^nd lap got the 3^rd lap points, got 3^rd again in the 4^th lap and just missed out on the final lap points getting 2^nd in that lap. So she ended up 3^rd overall in the race since Katy Antano won the 2^nd and last lap and Sarah Huang won the 4^th lap.

The fours snowball was a large field and I basically just tried to stay in the front of the pack since I knew I wasn’t going to really be able to contest many laps because they were only giving points to 1^st. so I just sorta hung out and rode hard for the first ¾ of the race and then took it easy for the last couple of laps.

That race was won by Corey Belchams (sp?) with Chaz Martin taking 2^nd with Jeff Bradek and Chris Hurst taking 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

After that it was time for the 3s finals where Lyle Hanson got beat by Ed white(1st) and Len Caveltera(2nd) in the finals.

As for the consolation and Madison results well they weren’t up when I left so your guess is as good as mine but I’m pretty sure Andy Crater and his teammate took the win in the Madison.

Pic By: Gary Lake, more here

Full Results are hard to read but click on the Pics to check em out.