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Competitive cycling a team effort for Davenport racer
The thing people don't understand about competitive cycling, Bryan Moritz will tell you, is that it's a true team sport. Indeed, as Moritz discussed his cycling career before heading out on a practice ride during a recent afternoon, a dozen of his teammates surrounded him. They all stood alongside their sleek racing bikes, wearing red shirts emblazoned with the DICE team name. DICE stands for the Double I Cycling Experience, representing cyclists from both Iowa and Illinois. Moritz, 20, has been a member of the team, as well as a competitive racer, for four years. The Davenport resident, who is also a student at Iowa State University, credits his parents with being the reason he grew interested in cycling. "My mom is big into biking," he added. The West High School graduate has been racing while in college, participating in a good deal of long-distance events. Earlier this month, he went to the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Lawrence, Kan., competing in a 90-mile race. But Moritz enjoys races with his DICE teammates. He said many people underestimate how much the cyclists work together as a team throughout a race. "A lot of people think that you do it by yourself," he said. Instead, racers take on roles that utilize their particular skills. For instance, if one cyclist excels at the end of races, he will draft, or expend less energy by riding close behind another rider, a teammate and break away from the pack near the finish line, Moritz said. Other cyclists may keep pace with the group or chase down competitors who break out in front. Such teamwork is an effective strategy for racers, said Donnie Miller, coach of the DICE team and incoming race director for the Quad-Cities Criterium, a series of road races held annually in The District of downtown Rock Island on Memorial Day. "It's not about who's the strongest, it's who's the smartest," he said. Moritz and up to 29 others from the 39-member DICE team will compete in the Criterium, Miller said. Moritz, who is primed to advance from category 4 to 3, has raced in the event for four years. "It's freaking fast," he said, adding that the race attracts many big-name cyclists. Moritz anticipates a member of the DICE team winning the men's category 4 race. But Miller thinks Moritz has a strong shot. "There's a very good chance that he'll win," Miller added. The challenge of competing in the Criterium, Moritz said, is that is comes after three days of racing events across the region. Friday was the Wapello to Burlington Road Race, today is the Snake Alley Criterium in Burlington and Sunday will see the Melon City Criterium in Muscatine, Iowa. "It's all-out each day," Moritz said, adding that it is important for competitors to learn how to recuperate after each day's event. The Quad-Cities Criterium, now in its 41st year, will host 11 races and feature more than 600 cyclists from around the country. A flat three-quarter-mile street course, shaped in an hourglass format, starts and finishes at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and 18th Street. Cyclists can reach up to 40 mph on the course, and the eight corners provide interesting locations from which spectators can watch the athletes. Onlookers also can listen to play-by-play accounts of the races over a public address system. In years past, cyclists raced for specific periods of time in the Criterium, but they now compete for a certain number of laps, Miller said. The men and women taking part in feature races, for example, will race for 50 and 30 laps, respectively, he said. Among other changes this year is a push to move the two events which feature the top-ranked men and women to the end of the Criterium schedule. Katie Vaughn can be contacted at (563) 383-2282 or kvaughn@qctimes.com. |
