Cat 4 Men, 40 minutes, D-shaped 1k circuit with 50' of climbing per lap, copious amounts of moss on the back stretch - Ooooooooooh.
Avg Speed 23.3 mph
Max Speed 40.5 mph
8th place of 61
This race recap will be short and sweet. It's only a 40 minute race and my brain was without oxygen most of the time. So it's a little hazy.
I was pretty stoked on this crit in general; the course suits me, it's local, it's fast. With 50 feet of climbing per lap, which includes the uphill finish, I felt I could win this race. The plan was to race aggressively (shake and bake with Chris), ignore the primes and attack for the win with 2 to go.
At the very start of the race I dropped my chain and unclipped and almost ate shit without even turning the pedal all the way around. The announcer JUST warned us not to embarrass ourselves in front of him or he'd give us a heckling. This was because there were multiple crashes at the start/finish of the Cat 5 race just before us. I embarrassed myself and had to try and catch back on.
After the first 5 minutes the pace slowed down a bit so Chis and I took turns attacking halfway up the climb until one of us was caught. This is also when I ran over a reflector turtle and my water bottle popped out of its cage. FUCKING 5 MINUTES IN, NO MORE WATER. On the 3rd round he actually got away, and stayed away for 3 or 4 laps. Just before he was swallowed up he lapped a couple dropped riders at the start/finish and snagged a prime. The announcer wasn't paying attention and awarded it to someone in the front of the field thinking Chris was a said dropped rider. Oh well. We stayed near the front of group to make sure nobody tried to get away. The only moves that went off where the ones that typically do when that bell rings for another enticing prime. I was so focused on reading my body and the race I hardly noticed prime laps or how many laps to go there were to go. Sometimes I think we all get like this during the intensity of a criterium, that is until "5 to go." This is when you wake the fuck up and get in line.
When 5 laps to go arrived I had learned that there were a handful of guys just sitting in the whole race making sure they were fresh for the sprint. Along with the campers were their allies making sure nobody got away. I decided that there was no way I was gonna pull a Tacoma Twilight move and win this with 2 to go. So I sat 5th wheel and didn't let anyone in. It turns out I only need a lap or so to (almost) completely recover. I felt surprisingly strong by the time the final lap arrived.
Last Lap
I moved up one more spot to 4th wheel since coming out of the last corner in prime position makes all the difference. I felt fresh and started the climb in a perfect gear with a perfect spin. All I could think about was how stoked I was that I'm going to win. I could easily come around these guys and snag it before everyone finished coming out of the corner. SO FRESH. YES. Then everything went the opposite direction. We come flying around the corner into the false flat finishing 200m and my lead out train pops and spreads. They start falling apart out of position forming this perfect little box around me. Go around left, I get the curb. Go around right, we all crash. FUCK. I let them veer left out of the turn when I knew perfectly well, everyone wins this race staying to the right! just before a gap opened infront of me to the right so I could come around, here comes Tony Blazejack (SCCA/Starbucks) and the rest of the fucking field are well up to speed. All I can do now is throttle it out as hard as I can and try to squeeze the top 7 (point only awarded 7 deep in crits). I proceed to cross the finish line with 1/2 a tank left. Whack Attack. 8th place.
Most people finish a race with excuses. Almost always. I'd like to finish this short recap with a little responsibility to my actions. I knew better, yet stayed on the doomed train anyways. Call it the heat of the moment, poor planning, etc. But in the end, it's my own damn fault.
Here is a set I picked out from the ever talented ReedKJ.SmugMug.com she makes me look fast and I am thankful. One of these days, when I have extra dollars, I'll have to donate to show my appreciation.
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