Top Ten 'Rides' of 2010

This is my list of top ‘rides’ by Bloomington racers for 2010 (not races but 'rides within races'- if it was 'Top-Race' list then Mens L5 would win easily!) . Of course it is a little biased toward Little 500 and also the races I attended but there are a few outside of those parameters. As even I’ll have forgotten plenty so comment on any omissions or disagreement.

Number 10- The PDT Pincer
The 2010 Men’s Miss N’ Out was a seemingly straightforward win by PDTs Steve Sharp and also gave evidence that Phi Delta Theta were going to be a force in the 2010 Little 500 (they ultimately finished 2nd). My favorite moment came in the 2nd round where PDTs Chris West and Nick Sovinski were battling favored Adam Mercer (Psi Phi) for 2 places in the semi-final. Coming out of turn 4 on the final lap, Mercer was caught in the PDT pincer as West went wide and Sovinski undercut and eliminate the perplexed Phi Psi! It was a sweet move where teammates worked together to ensure their mutual qualification!

Number 9- 20.38
Ryan Shanahan is characterized by speed so we can become a little blase toward it. Regardless, the highlight of the evening Forest 10-mile TT in 2010 was Ryan’s 20.38 where he smashed the previous record by a huge 25sec. There were large number of participants this year and especially encouraging was the high number of female riders. However Shanahan remains a class above all-comers.

Number 8- CvK ‘Team’ Pursuit.
Caitlin Van Kooten was as dominant as any rider has ever been in Little 500 series events in 2010. This was demonstrated most completely in Team Pursuit where, in both qualification and in the final, she pulled her team the entire way to victory. Her teammates sat limpet-like on her wheel whilst CvK rode with metronomic consistency to crush all who challenged her. CvK topped the year off with a victory for Teter in L5 and it’d be a fool that bet against them again this year.

Number 7- USGP Top 11
At the moment, Ryan Knapp is in Belgium battling both the weather and the worlds very best cyclocross riders! Back at the start of the season, the first stop on the USGP circuit was in Madison WI, where Ryan got arguably his top result of the year. 11^th place against the Nations best as well as some of the top Euro’s was an indicator that Ryan was looking at his best season yet. Look for Ryan to build on his Euro experience next season!

Number 6- NRC Podium
Mike Sherer had a great road season and his first big breakthrough came in the NRC Tour de Grove in St Louis where in a torrential thunderstorm he won the bunch kick for the final spot on the podium. Joining him in 1^st and 2^nd were two PROs from Kelly Benefits, the team to which Mike has graduated in 2011.

Tour De Grove from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.