Wet & Wild Weekend in Downer’s Grove

DOWNER’S GROVE, IL:  Fresh off a post-Fitchburg racing respite and eager to cap an already successful season for the MetLife team, Austin and Nick packed up and headed west, mid-west that is, for the annual criterium championships just outside Chicago.

Somewhat uniquely, the weekend features a Pro-1-2 Saturday night event on the exact same 8-corner, über-technical course.  Quite maniacally, the race is a comically-short 50K and produces the bike-racing equivalent of laying rubber for the entire sub-hour of racing.

Eager to open up the legs and take a stab at the $5K up for grabs, the MetLife duo took things to task, and managed to maneuver through the significant masses who elect to use the Pro-Am *only* as a warmup and save themselves from the risk and effort required for the final few laps.  In the top 20 and with his lead-out man Austin only meters behind, Bennette looked to have a shot at a solid finish, at least until chain-suck the likes of which only applies to Roy Rogers restaurants brought his bike and evening to an abrupt halt.  Austing went on to finish in the pack, as the sizable break remained off the front and saw Frank Pipp take a deserved victory.

Though frustrated not to have been protagonists in the closing K’s of Saturday’s warm-up, both MetLife boys at least found solace in reasonably fresh legs for Sunday’s Elite National Championship.  Things started off well, with both Austin and Nick earning decent position through the opening laps.  With a dangerous move of a dozen up the road, Austin made a full-throttled bridge attempt, and though his efforts failed to make him lucky 13, the impetus was sufficient for the field to bring it all back together.

Then came the rain.  And came.  And came.  At one point, it was unclear if we were actually still *above* water.  Though the field slowed considerably through the many, many corners, the accelerator was pinned through the straights and movement through the field was all but impossible.  To boot, the abundance of pain, manhole covers, and what must have been run-off from a non-stick coating factory ensured a crash frequency of roughly 1 per lap.  Bennette endured these happenings into the double digits, but was eventually gapped and sufficiently freaked out once he went sliding himself to withdraw from what was rapidly resembling the bike racing equivalent of Russian Roulette.

Yes. It was that wet. Props to Luke for the pics.

Austin, however, endured.  As the laps ticked down, the rain abated and found the remaining MetLifer in a much-whittled down group.  Moving up with roughly 10 to go, Austin was poised to follow one of the ever frequent flyers that punctuate the closing miles of the Elite race.  Unfortunately, a string of crashes near the 5-to-go mark found Austin re-relegated to the back of the pack, and unable to reestablish position in time for the series of attacks that saw former-pro Justin England escape for a fantastic win.

Somewhat disappointed but none the worse for wear, the MetLife contenders are eagerly looking for a chance at payback at the upcoming Chris Thater Memorial Classic, GMSR stage race, and Univest Grand Prix.  Stay Tuned!!!