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Cycling Fri May 23 2008
Memorial Day Masters' Racing
For all you bike racers with a few wrinkles around the eyes, Athletes by Design is sponsoring a three-day weekend of masters' 30+ criterium racing in the village of Wood Dale on Saturday and Sunday, and in Batavia on Monday. Click here for the flyer. Akin to an 'adult swim' for bike racers, this is a chance for the veterans to get out and hammer hard, without being upstaged by an 18 year-old phenom in his first year of cycling.
However, don't get any ideas that masters' racing is by any means slow – many of the men and women racing masters' can absolutely propel a bike along at a screaming pace. Stories of uppity young bike racers getting their legs ripped to shreds by a gaggle of geezers are legion – I myself have been left on the side of the road, heaving up my breakfast, because of the hurt inflicted by a someone old enough to call dad, or even grandpa. Additionally, masters' racers know how to handle their bikes – when one's been training and racing for 20 years, many of the skills that some of us younger racers lack, masters' have in spades.
Check back for a race report next week. I'll likely be there, but unfortunately since I've yet to hit the three-oh, my participation in the races will be as spectator and not participant.
