I made it to 5 of the Superweek bike races in and around Milwaukee over the last couple of weeks. Lots of great racing, super people to hang with and some decent photos from a couple of the races. Here are pix from the Shorewood Criterium and the Brewer’s Hill Crit Superweek Races. I’d planned to photo the others as well but, for various reasons, did not have the good camera rig at some of the events. There is always next year!
Just before the Downer Ave race we were treated to a performance by the Air Force Demonstration Team Thunderbirds. Show center was just a bit east and south of the Downer Ave race circuit and made the day a good one-two punch for entertainment. Milwaukee in the summer is fantastic!
John and I finished assembling a prototype Smitty just in time to run down to the Brewer’s Hill Superweek bike race near downtown Milwaukee where we watched some great Pro 1/2 criterium racing and engaged in some impromptu product testing with John and Spokes Model Dave goofing around on the Shark and a Smitty in the parking lot adjacent to the racing action.
On our trip from the shop to and from the race I rode the Smitty that is currently set up with Salsa Delgado 29′er wheels, a Shimano Nexus 8-speed rear hub with a coaster brake, a Shimano Generator front hub and super big, 2.35 Schwalbe Big Apple tires. Ultra Cush! In just the short amount of time I had on the bike, about 8 miles, I am already really stoked about how it rides. I knew we had a pretty good design but seeing and feeling the reality of the ride was great.
John rode one of the oldest of our current Shark fleet, the Chip Foose-inspired Interbike show bike from a couple of years ago. This Shark looks great with its two-tone paint and always gets a lot of looks and questions about the bike.
Dave gave the Shark John rode a series of disc brake tests showing that nose wheeling the Shark is one of the coolest sites I’ve seen in cycling recently! It also showed the strength and durability of the design. Product testing in the real world like this is why Dave gets the big bucks!
This year was the revival of the Brewer’s Hill venue for a Super week race and the actual racing action did not disappoint. The course is only about .8 miles but there is a significant hill going up the front straight and down the back. Not a flat course crit this!
Besides the photos in this article check out more pix of the Schlick Shark and the Smitty at Flicker. There are also pix from the Shorewood Criterium and the Brewer’s Hill Crit Superweek Races.
Look for us next weekend at the Great Downer Avenue Bike Race and the Whitefish Bay Criterium!
Coming up next week on April 26th, 2009 is a great event called the Decorah Time Trials.
Decorah, Iowa is a town of 8,000 with 500 acres of park land and over 15 miles of off-road biking trails. It is also home to a challenging mountain bike event for ages 14 on up called the Decorah Time Trials. The course winds through the rolling, wooded areas of the Decorah Parks System and includes lots of technical single track, some along the river. In past years, course length varied from 6.5 to 12 miles. Final course length will be determined by race director and trail conditions on the day of the race.
Check it out if you can!
As always, Versus sure “gets it” when it comes to bike racing coverage.
http://www.versus.com/epiccycle
