Welcome to Tolono, Illinois, a slice of life in the middle of nowhere with one gas station, a café, flat, nicely paved roads, and non-existent traffic. One would think this would be an ideal place to hold the first 40k time trial of the season. “Hold up on that carwash gentleman!,” Jackie Gleason a.k.a. Sherriff Buford T. Justice exclaimed to the young hoodlums stripping his son Junior’s car on the side of the road in the 1977 epic Smokey and the Bandit. In other words, everything was perfect except for the weather. There were a handful of riders who rode excellent times, but I suspect that these times would have been much faster had the spring weather cooperated just a tenny bit more. The weather at the start of the race was in the low 60’s with winds out of the West. During the race, the winds picked up, riders experienced a steady, soaking rain, and the temperatures dropped into the low 50's. Are we cookie cutting, or are we time trialing, I heard one say? For the third week in a row, racers faced inclimate weather with a strong tailwind going out to the turnaround followed by a coarse headwind to the finishline.
Also, for the second time in just a few short weeks, Charles “Gerlacher” Gerlach, racing for upstart Lamb Little Racing, posted the fastest time of the day ripping the Tolono pavement in a whopping 54:09. PACT-Dish Network racers took the second and third spots respectively. Mike Jones smoked the course in 54:44 followed by Bob Burke (showing more than a few, young whipper snappers how its done) rolling a 55:59. Brian Harris (Scarletfire / Verizon Racing), slowly showing his form of a year ago, posted the fourth fastest time of the day riding a 56:25. Peter Allen (XXx Athletico), showcasing a new aero rig this season, made it a race finishing fifth and in the money riding a 57:25.
On the ladies side, Debbie Dust (PACT-Dish Network) was easy money as she yet again posted the fastest women’s time of the day with a 1:01:11. Tara Flaig (Unattached) rode a stellar 1:12:05 for second place honors. MATTS tour regular, the ageless Marilyn Powell (ABD) rounded out the women’s overall podium hammering the course in a 1:18:01 for third place honors.
Other riders who produced fast times on this day were former U.S. Cyclocross Champion, Tyger Johnson, (Cars R Us) 56:24*; Michael Redlich (ABD) 34:43**, Graham Clark (ABD) 39:13**, David Orion (Endure-IT) 57:35, Mark “the Polish Jet” Serafin (PACT-Dish Network)59:24, Richard Adamczyk (Midwest Masters) 59:34, Scott Dahman (Wild Card Racing) 101:04, David Goetzinger (Rock River Oil) 1:01:55, Richard Vichotka (Midwest Masters) 1:14:05, Edward Wang (Unattached) 1:12:09, and Patricia Beam (ABD)1:25:54.Next Sunday takes us to Barstow, Illinois for the fastest and flattest 20k TT in the Midwest put on by DICE /QCBC. This is a ROTY point’s race. MATTS points will not be awarded for this race. On-line registration is available. Check the ABR website for race results for the current race. Links to the ABR website as well as the flyer for the Barstow 20k, and online registration are listed below.
http://ambikerace.com/
http://www.ambikerace.com/2010/flyers/2010_Barstow_TT_Flyer_-_Rev_2%5B1%5D.pdf
https://secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=3298
Picture is of Charles Gerlach (Lamb Little Racing) overall winner of the Cham Pain 40k. Other pictures show the Wild Card Racing logo and the crazy weather Tolono experienced on 5/16. Look at the flag for reference.
* Fairing Vehicle
** Junior 20K
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