OK, so I am supposed to be working but I am a bit distracted by thoughts of all the racing I will be missing this weekend. Memorial weekend is one of the biggest for road racing in Iowa. There are four straight days of racing starting with a road race on Friday in Burlington. The Snake Alley Criterium on Saturday is the highlight of the weekend. This is one of the most physically challenging races in the Midwest. It is held on a fifteen block course, with differences in elevation from 555 feet to 678 feet. The course is entirely on city streets, mostly in a downtown commercial area. A one block long climb is on the historic brick street named Snake Alley, dubbed "the crookedest street in the world." The 276 foot long Snake Alley has 5 switchbacks in a sixty foot climb. The average grade is 12.5 percent in that one block. If you still have energy left after all the climbing you did on Saturday you can head over the the Crit in Muscatine on Sunday. This race has been part of the Memorial weekend races for over 30 years. The course features a 1 mile circuit with a fast decent, sharp uphill gradient and two 90 degree turns...to top it off there is a speed bump at the bottom of the hill. Nothing better than screaming downhill at 30 and going airborne when you reach the bottom. Scary as hell, but everyone should try it at least once! Mondays race is another Crit in the Quad Cities. 2009 will be the 43rd straight year for this race. It is a flat, fast 3/4 mile hourglass shaped course just one block from the Mississippi River. Over 10,000 spectators come annually to cheer on the racers!
I’m exhausted just writing about all those hills. Seriously though, GOOD LUCK to all the Pink ladies that will be traveling to Eastern Iowa this weekend to race. Hope you all have ton’s of fun, can’t wait to hear all the stories when you get back!
Kristin
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