Weekend Wrap 7/10-7/11

 Weekend Wrap written by Matt Riezman

Welcome to the second installment of your weekly Weekend Wrap-up.  The weekend wrap-up is an easy way for us all to stay connected as a group as our members are off competing in/completing events - whether it be a leg busting race, a grueling tri, a "there is no fun in losing" fun-run, a lip-smacking bbq...shoot, we'll even through in an exciting trip to the dog-beach if you do it in your Spidermonkey gear!  If you're interested in sharing your exploits in a future weekend wrap-up, please email myself (matthew.riezman@gmail.com), Andrew Zens (azens3@gmail.com), Dean or Vanessa.  Without further ado, here is your weekend wrap up for July 10th and 11th.

Saturday:

Saturday marked the beginning of Superweek, a 17-day long racing series that takes place in the Chicago/Wisconsin area.  This is one of the biggest racing series in the midwest and attracts many of the big-name pro's riding in the U.S.  Saturday was the Geneva - Mill Race Cyclery Classic in beautiful downtown Geneva, IL.  Dan, Matt, Andrew and Drew lined up first in the 4/5's race.  In an impressive feat of teamwork, Dan and Drew were able to overcome a final lap crash and delivered Drew across the line in 1st while Dan came across for an impressive 5th.  Andrew was somewhat less lucky and was caught behind the crash but stayed up himself and rolled in 16th.   The ever present but always elusive Masa even made an appearance to support his fellow 'monkeys.  Thanks for coming out Masa!  Katie and Lil' V were next in the Women's 3/4 race.  Katie put in a great performance and rolled in 6th with Lil' V following shortly after in 16th.  Spidermonkey friends Nate, Eric and Jeff of Burnham Racing put in a great performance in the 3's race to help their teammate Nick in an impressive win.  In an exciting development, Andy Daley, a man heavily mired in Spidermonkey legend, made a comeback appearance in the 3's race and gave the fans a surprise chance to yell their favorite phrase: "ANDY DALEYYYYY".

Not too far away in the sunny city of Chicago, another Spidermonkey Cycling legend made her long awaited comeback.  Saturday dawned sunny and hot at Element Multisport as 22 Spidermonkeys gathered, but things heated up even more when Dr. Dania rolled up on her brand spankin' new Specialized full carbon rig ready to diagnose a case of the turtle-pace.  She tried to downplay her comeback by claiming that she had spent the past year at home coaching the Spidermonkey U-23 Developmental team and blamed U-23 team member Oliver for her lack of training.  However, being the sandbagger we all know she is, no one was fooled.  When the Dania rolled into Highland Park in the front group, her credibility was shattered.  Clearly, having babies does not slow this woman down.

Sunday:          

Sunday's group ride was not to be outdone.  Nate, Matt Smith and Jeff joined 15 Spidermonkeys for the trip up to Highland Park.  Without Dania to set a blistering pace, some alleged that the ride was a bit slower.  Regardless, we all know that when the boys in black show up, there is always more than enough entertainment to go around.  Highlights included "hot muffins" at Corner Bakery, Matt Smith making Dean uncomfortable by stealing his waterbottles (while moving) and Jeff giving a seminar on proper sunglasses fit. 

Meanwhile, in the "homely" southern suburb of Homewood, IL, the Spidermonkey racers were back at it again for another day of Superweek.  Drew and Matt lined up first in the 4/5's race where Drew found himself on the podium again in 3rd!  Katie lined up next in the Women's 3/4 race where she outgunned Chicago racing scene power player Stacy Applewick in a field sprint for 11th (ok, maybe she was lapped but I didn't see it!)  Geoff and Ken admitted to being slightly older (but not any slower) and lined up in the Master's 4/5's race.  Geoff rolled in 15th while Ken maintained his heavily challenged, but rarely threatened reputation as the best looking bike racer in the Midwest. 

While unconfirmed, we can assume from patterns observed in the past that Trent completed yet another triathlon or some other impressive feat of human endurance this weekend. 

That wraps up the weekend for you!  See you on Saturday for an invaluable talking-to by Randy "Safetyman" Savage (Warren).  Also good luck to all of those doing the Ironman 70.3 in Racine and Superweek races. 

That just happened,
Matt