Adam Bee shows D is for Domination

Racing resumed this past weekend for our favorite spandex clad warriors at MichiganState and Michigan with racers in every category but Men’s B. The Irish were blessed with sunny and not cold weather for the Saturday road race. The road race consisted of a 4.7 loop with a 1.25 mile section of dirt road. The day started with men’s C and women’s B races of 30 and 22 miles respectively. The C men had an all star line up looking to win the race with the B women looking to gain more experience. With numerous break away attempts from rookie Kirk Post the pace of the race was high. The whole pack worked against Kirk, though, and always kept him on a short leash. The rest of the Irish benefited, though, with Nate Farley netting 5^thth. Kirk came in just behind in 12^th place. Laura Simons and Caitlin Sullivan competed in the B’s race and finished 18^th and 22^nd while putting in a very solid effort. Veterans Jenn Perricone and Meghan Johnson flew the argyle in the women’s A 45 mile race . The soft and difficult dirt section took its toll on the field, Jenn and Meghan included. Riders that had been training on the dirt for the past three weeks took the victory in the field, but Jenn and Meghan were resilient and powered through the race. Jenn came in 10^th behind an old and experienced field with Meghan taking 13^th. The A men consisted of 35 riders which included Tim Campbell and Mike Lavery. The 55 mile race started off pretty tame, but the attacks started the 3^rd lap of the race. Campbell and Lavery bided their time in the peleton, though, and waited patiently for the larger teams to pull back the breaks. Halfway into the race, Campbell As the move was reeled in, Lavery, who is rarely on the offensive, counter attacked on the dirt section. The move looked promising, but misfortune hit and as the gap grew Lavery popped a flat. This left Tim to fend for himself the remainder of the race. Tim hung out in the peleton for the remainder of the race and joined a move at the end, but that move, too, was reeled in and Campbell finished slightly behind the twindled main field at 13^th. The D men, who started right after the A men, had a short 20 mile race. The entire field was on the attack, but it was John McDunough and Adam Bee that joined another rider the make the 3 man break of the day. Their gap was nearly a minute at one point. John drilled the pace hard and consequently dropped back from the group to rejoin the pack, finishing 13^th. Bee went on to win the two up sprint for first, giving the Irish their first win of the season. John Dailey and Mike O’Connor also finished with the pack, not being placed. place and Josh Johnson 8 was able to join a promising move and was away a short time.

Sunday’s races started with a twilight D men’s criterium on the University of Michigan The course was nearly two miles with a long, steep hill being the highlight of the course. The D men had a short, but furious 20 minute race. All four of the Irish riders drilled the pace on the course and cause mass suffering in the peleton. McDunough went off the front in attempt for victory, but it was reeled back in. This set up Bee once again, except this time with Bee winning the group sprint after a perfectly executed lead out from Dailey. Dailey took 4^th The women’s B race took off immediately after and was another good experience builder for Sullivan and Simons, with both finishing slightly behind the pack. The men’s C field had a 30 minute race that stayed together the entire race. Post was on the front nearly the entire race sacrificing himself for his teammates. When the sprint came, Farley sprinted to 7^th with Post stealing 8^th place with a well timed bike stab. Josh Johnson was stuck behind a giant C men spill on the steep hill, which took out nearly a 1/3 of the field, to come in behind the pack. The A men and women had only one started in their races, with Meghan Johnson and Tim Campbell taking part in 45 and 60 minute crits. Meghan joined a chase pack and sprinted out of the chase. She won the sprint with a great bike stab, earning 13^th. Campbell was aggressive throughout the race joining breaks, none of which stuck. At 50 minutes Campbell joined a last effort break to win the race, but that was reeled in with a lap to go and he was consequently spit out the back of the dwindled back. He kept the pace high, though, and placed 17^th out of 40 racers. campus. with O’Connor coming in slightly behind out of placing.

There was also a short prologue-esque time trial 4 miles. Jenn Perricone and Mike Lavery rested their legs by not racing the morning race and it paid dividends for both. Both came across at provisional first place times for all men and women, covering the course at 11 minutes 20 seconds and 9:10, respectively. The rest of the Irish team tackled the course. Other notable finishes are Campbell at 9:45, Farley at 10:10, and Post at 10:12. Racing resumes next weekend at Purdue and Marian in Indianapolis.