WONDER LAKE AND OTHER THINGS

First off Wonder Lake. We had two guys in the masters 50+. Actually one and a half. The Chicago fire department started a team for the police and fire games so we as a team are trying to get them to ride for us. Ronnie is that half rider in the 50+. The field was small but both finished in the pack. Unfortunately for the first lead rider of the day into turn 3 there was no corner marshall so he proceeded to go straight instead of turn.
In the cat 5 race we had Tom, Jack who we support, also on the fire department team and Ronnie. Ronnie came in 15 tom in 21 and Jack got lapped. This is the thing with cat 5 racing that I don't understand. The race seemed too fast. I like how ABR has a beginner cat with 10 or less races. It does not seem like we or USA cycling are really fostering new riders. I can only imagine how crushing it would feel to keep on getting dropped week after week, knowing you trained a little and have no good results for your efforts. I could see how it would make people want to quit.
Some other people languish in the lower cats waiting on the USAC rules for 5th place or higher, not being able to cat up. I admit to a point I am one of the people who needs to cat up. Not because of performance mind you, but because I need a change. I'm pretty sure I have my pack finishes. One dear friend of mine, who I admire as a rider and a steward of this sport Mike Seguin xXx told me not to cat up until I get good results. I disagree with him. It is time soon. Why would I want to keep on riding at the level I am without pushing myself with supposed higher caliber riders? Isn't it better to burn out than to fade away? Are my results really going to get any better in cat 4?
Back to the subject. The cat 4 race was next. And guess what? The first 2 guys on the front went straight at turn 3 also! I understand that it is the riders responsibility to know the course, but when you are racing and you have a guy sitting in a chair in front of a barrier lazily waving a flag, with a car sized gap to go straight, you couldn't tell if he was telling us "watch out for this horse and stay straight " or "go left". Some constructive criticism: next time if you can't barricade the whole turn off, please at least have a marshall blocking off the rest of the street. I turned on the power a little too soon coming in 8th.
Next up the 4-5 masters. It was a slow paced race with just a couple of accelerations. This time there was no big jump in speed at the end, just a long windup. I felt I had good postion in about 7th wheel, but couldn't gain ground on the guys in front of me. Next time I got to get a little closer to the front. Nice course, nice people and safe.
Rambling #1: I have been doing more riding in the city lately. My job is 9 miles away from my house so it ecentially takes me just as long by car or bike. Coming home one morning at 7AM from work I went under a bridge and made a nice sweeping right hand turn. I have made this turn numerous times and knew the pavement was smooth without any debris. It just so happened this time I went down. Thank goodness there were no cars by me. What I didn't see while riding was there must have been oil on the ground. No glossiness or discoloration of the pavement to tip me off. So with that being said, eventhough you might think you know your way or the streets, BE CAREFUL!
Rambling #2: I like Chicagobikeracing.com. Luke Seeman provides a host of info on the bike scene of Chicago. The last rambling on there was from a guy about the O'Fallon race and other things. He is a guy who has risen quickly in the cats. If he has a problem with where a race is located, then just don't go. Did he ever ride the course to see how nice it was? Doesn't he have teammates he could ride down there with? Chicago is 1 hour from Wisconsin, O'Fallon is what, 30 min from Missouri? Don't people make the hike down to Hillsboro? I am not trying to inflame, but come on. Keep to racing. Obviously you are a good rider and suck just as much as I do trying to get your point across on paper. Suggestion for Luke: Give people only one chance to pitch their bitch on your site and not allow them any more than that. And as for hosting races JUST DO IT. Stop asking the questions and get your ass to work. We are just a handfull of riders and have put on a time trial, cyclocross race and have sponsored the Beverly Classic and some of the categories in the state road race championship when it was in Oak Brook. Not trumping ourselves up, but where there is a will there is a way. Tony