Let’s see – after four days of Superweek racing, including a scorching road race, 74-mile criterium, a twisty and rolling circuit race, and yet another 100 kilometer criterium – all averaging 28mph – the legs were starting to feel a little tired to say the least. To juice them up we had 100 laps of a one kilometer, flat and fast, four corner course around a city block and small park in beautiful Kenosha, Wisconsin, just over the border of Illinois. Turns one, two, and three were relatively sweeping with turn four a little sharper. Turns two and four required a half dozen pedal strokes out of the saddle on most of the laps. Doing the math, even to sit in this race would require 200-plus sprints. Translation: Ouch! It was clear from the beginning that speeds would be high. 2007 US Elite Road Race National Champion Paul Martin of Texas Roadhouse and US Cyclo-Cross National Champion Jonathan Page of Battley-Harley Davidson aimed to set off into no man’s land to try and lap the field early. Aided by the Colombian National Team, eventually a group of five riders including the aforementioned were able to pull this feat off within 60 laps, impressive when you consider the field was moving close to 30mph. After the field was lapped, we got a few easy laps only to see things ramp up once again as prime lap* after prime lap was called out. With more than 100 racers moving full steam ahead the laps slowly counted down (35, 25, 15, 10, five, almost there!) and attrition began to send riders off the back. The crafty MetLife crew snatched spots as other riders detached and methodically gained positions within the peloton for the field sprint. With all aboard and well positioned with three to go, a twitch of the wheel just after corner three sent a few riders down in front of Brad, Aaron, and Thom. Ryan and Chris who were positioned just behind them were able to fishtail left to avoid the twirling bikes and bodies but had to cut their speed dramatically. Chris ramped it up to catch back onto the main group but in a matter of seconds around the crash he had lost 30 spots and rolled in midpack. The rest of the team finished with the remainder of the field. Another day at the office. Seeing all had tackled another 100km criterium in one peice, we looked forward to a good meal on the way back to Milwaukee to re-fuel for Downer Avenue the next day, the premier event of the Superweek Series.

*a prime lap is a lap were riders sprint for cash prizes. The prizes are sometimes hefty but generally less than the overall race winning prizes. Promoters use these laps to keep the race entertaining and blisteringly fast!