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Without fanfare or further introduction, I present the 2006 Druber Award winners: WRITER OF THE YEAR: I was torn on this one. I found the Holly Daze story by the young Clif Bar Category 3 racer to be quite impacting, and I've not taken The Lovely Kathy for granted since I learned that one old dude died, but unfortunately it was submitted just a bit too early to make the 2006 category. Cindy's searing expose` on the adverse affects of bad music on race performance was certainly a worthy entry but the award goes to Rev. Billy Stone for his Racing Chronicles deconstruction of Bennett Van Icouldabeenacontender's BLOG. That was a brilliantly hilarious piece of work. Billy, your Druber Award is in the mail…red or white? http://truesport.com/Bike/2006/articles/chronicles/chronicles04.html RACER OF THE YEAR (MIDWEST AMATEUR) A number of quality entrants made bids in this category. The previously mentioned Bennett Von IfonlymyteamateswerebetterIwouldofwoneveryraceIentered made strong early showings but faded toward the end of the year. Road House strong man Kevin Atkisson certainly was brilliant at times but showed some inconsistency in big races. Atkisson's team mate Pat O'Donnell won every race he entered and would have been a certain lock but his medical career got in the way and he had to take a job in Minneapolis and as anyone who has watched Grey's Anatomy knows, it would be damn near impossible to hold to a training regimen working a residents hours. Other notables who started strong but again, lacked consistent form in big time races were Josh Carter and Jeff Schroetlin of Mesa Cycles, Ben Rabbe of the Grand Performance Bianchi team and Bryce Meade of ABD. In the end, I narrowed my choices down to two riders, Andy "The Volcano" (Thanks Eddy Van Guido) Crater of Wheel and Sprocket and Reid Mumford of ABD. The Volcano was a winner or contender damn near every time he threw his leg over the top tube so long as it didn't have a significant hill and won the top amateur at Superweek. Mumford was consistently strong all season from the indoor time trial series (though he was bested side by side by this fat old man) to the end of the year Winfield Criterium races. He also won top amateur at the NRC Nature Valley GP. By virtue of his 6th place at the Elite TT and silver medal finish in the Elite Road Race, Reid Mumford, ABD wins the Druber Award. TOP TEAM (MIDWEST AMATEUR) They have the largest budget, the largest club, the best riders, put on the most races and they're all decent fellows. No contest ABD, Managed by Michael Ebert, primary sponsor Prairiepath Cycles of Wheaton, IL. Congratulations TOP TEAM (MIDWEST MASTERS) If not limited to my geographic area, this award would go to Labor. Just the presence of The Vampire is enough to chalk up more wins per year than most team get during an entire sponsorship run of 3 years. However, though they race in the Midwest during Superweek and could technically qualify since they do more races during Superweek than say Papa John's does all year, Labor is riddled with dissention as the presence of so many prima donna types tends to breed self destructive racing behavior. So, they're out, despite the fact that I like those guys. One could consider giving the award to the TX Road House team when Harry Clark, Curtis Tolson and Tracy Huber enter, but most of the time they're in the Pro 1,2 or Women's races and not really a pure masters squad as such. Papa John's is sizeable and strong, but they are conspicuous by their absence post May. I suppose burnout is an issue when the guys train so hard for the February and March Kentuckiana training series. I could give the award the the sMACKs, but take out Priebe and really, what do you have but a bunch of guys who's specialty is to cause wrecks and "block like hell"? They're not a serious contender. So, by default, this award goes to Delta Faucet. That's right, I'm being a homer. When we traveled to big races, we did well and won, in spite of my drag on the team. We have 2 state crit champs, 2 state road silver medalists and the state TT champ in IL and a state road champ in Hooterville, 3 national track medals and a top 10 masters national placing. Additionally, Stone Pony took second in arguably the largest paying Cat 2 race of the season in Elk Grove Village. Nicely done guys...I'll give you your Druber awards next time I see you. BEST RACE In the past this award would have hands down gone to the Hillsboro Roubaix Road Race. This year the choice isn't so easy. Excellent new events littered the calendar this past season. The Tour de Winghaven just outside of St Louis offered a huge purse of $10k and an excellent course. Dan Daly's Mc Cormick Creek RR was a choice little circuit. The Luhvulle weekend for the Louisville Metro Police Dept 200th anniversary was a very well run and well funded crit/road race weekend. It's not such an easy choice, but once again, I have to give the best race award to Hillsboro Roubaix. In the tiny hamlet of Hillsboro, IL splitting the distance between St Louis, MO and Springfield, IL this 142k early season classic with wind, hills, rough pavement and brick streets is a first rate race. In only its 5th year, it has become a must do event. See you in April. MASTER RACER OF THE YEAR Many good master racers toe the line every weekend here in the Midwest. 22 times a national champion on the track, TX Road House head honcho Curtis Toalson is one worthy of the spotlight. If early season form were the final determinant, The World's Strongest Man, Papa John's cycling team leader Stephen Spanbauer would be the hands down winner. Inexplicably though, he faded toward the end of the season to the point that even I went faster than him at Masters Nationals. If you were to go by press releases from un named publicists, my Delta Faucet team mate Sparkie would win going away. Sparkie had a stellar season both on the track and road and certainly rates honorable mention. David LeDuc had an incredible season, winning every race he entered with ease, but the 56 year old phenom lives outside of my geographic area and I only saw him at Louisville. In the end, the only logical choice for this award could be Clark Priebe of the sMACKs. Priebe was phenomenal all year long. Not only was he winning masters races, he'd then enter the Pro 1,2 event and often finish on the podium as he did at the Tour de Winghaven which was certainly a lucrative payday for him. He did all of this riding with down tube shifters and a 7 speed straight block cog set attached to 32 spoke box rim wheels and Sun Tour derailleurs for Chrissakes. I'm overwhelmingly curious about what incentives The Boering One provided to Priebe in order to get him to come back to being a sMACK after a 5 year hiatus. Everyone knows the old adage…"Once sMACK you'll never go back". Quite likely it had to be that he didn't have to split $$ with his team. It must be noted at this point that far and away, the best master racer in the Midwest and the nation (arguably, though Thurlow Rogers would be a stiff test, I believe Tilford would take him in a sprint fairly easily) is the ageless Steve Tilford. Tilford was 2nd to Andy Crater in the top amateur competition at Superweek this year, finishing in the money in nearly every race and winning the NRC Whitnall Park Road Race in the series. However, he rarely - if ever, competes in masters races; so I can't justifiably give the award to him. GEE, YOU'RE PRETTY FAST…FOR A GIRL Tracy Huber from TX Roadhouse, no question. She won the road race and crit at masters nationals, and a couple of jerseys at track nationals as well. On a typical weekend she would ride away from the women's race, finish solo, often lapping the field, then embarrass a third of the subsequent men's 35+ race by finishing ahead of them. She must have some quality coaching. GEE, YOU'RE PRETTY FAST…FOR A GIRL (NEW COMER) I'm not an astute observer of women's bike races, as they usually can be quite small, redundant and lacking in action. Aside from that, I'm generally warming up when the women are racing. However, it's been hard for me not to notice, since she is a part of the local University of Illinois club and the local C-U Racing team, newcomer to bike racing Jessica Cole. I remember Jess on a group ride early this spring - like in February. She was doggedly hanging on the bunch when I was driving the pace. Eventually she popped after about 100k but it got my attention. She immediately began to do well in races and finished well in the Superweek women's 3-4 races. In August, she won the IL ABR district criterium at Wood Dale and then did something that I could not do - rode the men's Pro 1,2 race and finished. Jess, I'll drop your Druber Award off at the bike shop. MOST IMPROVED RIDER I'm going to pass this award out to Bryce Meade of the ABD team. Sure Bryce has had a couple of good years already, but he's really shown some marked improvement this season. Mostly using the gauge that 2006 is the first year he's been able to do a time trial faster than me. Bryce also was finally able for the first time that I remember to keep himself off the pavement for a majority of the year. Bryce has made considerable strides in power output and sustaining his effort. His top 10 finish this year at Elite Nationals on an absolutely brutal TT course is testament to him improvement. I first met Bryce when he was a Cat 3 riding for the Trek Midwest MTB team. He and I were in the Friday afternoon Burlington Road Race. The pack had gotten split early by a crash and I got popped after towing my then team mate The Rhino back to within shouting distance of the main field before he finished off the job. I had a damaged wheel from the crash and waited for the slowest wheel change in history. After the wheel change, I rode on, hooking up with riders that had subsequently gotten shelled in the crosswind as the race went on. Bryce was one of those riders. At the halfway point of the race, turning around in the town of Wapello, Iowa, the decision was made to simply try to get back to Burlington before dark. We were so far behind the race that even the police safety vehicle had left us to fend for ourselves. Despite the fact that we had bypassed the turnoff to Mediopolis, IA cutting the course and disqualifying ourselves, Bryce continued to attack the group from the pace line we had formed in order to get to Burlington before the front end of the race arrived. I believe I yelled at him and called him something to the effect of "fucking Cat 3". Anyway, he stopped attacking our group of DQ'd stragglers, became my team mate on Turin the next season and has made solid gains to become a quality rider for the ABD squad. Congratulations. STUPIDEST RACE OF THE YEAR You do the math - 30 minutes, 180 riders, masters 30+, categories 1-3, $50 entry fee, no less than 7 crashes - big ones with broken bones and shit. Downers Grove Masters 30+ the weekend of the USPRO and Elite criterium Championships takes the cake. I know "stupidest" is not a word, but it's the only way I can describe what goes on in this race besides 'most stupidest" and "more stupider even than the Quad Cities Criterium". And with that, the 2006 Druber awards are concluded. UPCOMING ELECTION Allow to me become political. We have the opportunity to cast votes for men and women to represent our townships, counties, districts and states to our representative republic form of government. Most of these people are, I'm sure, well intentioned and have an attitude of public service, especially on the local level where the stakes and compensation are generally quite low. However, on the national level, I am distressed by the number of men and women, completely void of decency and integrity who are glad handing, power hungry, back slapping jocular nincompoops, whose only interest is self preservation, retention of power and pretense. I'm not being partisan. From a former presidential candidate who can't even - if the excuse is to be believed - read a punch line correctly and does his party great harm to a fat ass former school teacher, risen to the position of house speaker covering up the lurid details of a closet homo sexual alcoholic's forays into the world of pederast Instant Messaging, simply because the pederast votes along the party lines - our government is choked with people who lack integrity and decency. Tuesday, we have the opportunity to at least express our opinion. Please, do our country no harm by being a blind partisan. Choose men and women who are quality individuals, regardless of party affiliation, because only then can we begin to have good government.
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