Concord Criterium
Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:07 pm
Course: 45ish degree right turn about 100m after the start finish leads into a long (for a crit) 3-4% climb. After another 45 degree turn halfway up, there's a serious narrowing of the course into a tight 90 degree right hander, which leads into a straight section with a couple of minor rollers. This feeds into a downhill 180 degree turn, followed in short order by a 90 left, and even shorter order by a 90 degree right. Because those last three turns are FAST and come in quick succession, I'd been thinking all week about whether a good tactic might be attacking near the top of the course, trying to hold the gap through the turns, and hanging on until the end. When I got to the race, though, I questioned this a bit, as the distance from the final turn to the start finish is pretty long (500m). Watching the masters 35+ sprint, there was clearly some room to make up positions as long as you came out of the last turn in the top 5-7 wheels.
Lined up with two MRC teammates: Nolan Garon, in his first cat4 race (tough one to start with, man) and Patrick Bauer-Blank. Both are less than half my age, and though I felt like a grizzled veteran, I was happy for the company. The race started FAST, with two CF Racing kids (Chris Gougen & PJ Renquin) lighting it up. Then a Fitwerx guy went off the front for several laps. Both of these moves had me wondering whether a 15-20 person lead group might shake out, so I stayed near the front (and even on the front for a short time to block when Patrick made a bridge attempt to the FitWerx guy).
I kept thinking "this pace is HARD, but it'll calm down." It took a long time to do so, though, and much of the race was consequently a blur. Only a couple of things registered: "Patrick's still in the mix, so I'll look for him at the end," and "I keep passing people going up the hill, but then getting swamped again when people sit up near the top - gotta figure out how to deal with that."
On 3 and 2 to go, I followed wheels I knew were good to move up. I lost some ground with the swamping at the top, but sat in about 10-12th wheel going through the final turn sequence into the bell lap. A couple of guys died on the hill, and I was in about 8th wheel through the tight turn and to the top of the hill. YES! Then the guys on the front sat up a bit. NOOOOOO! Unwilling to get swamped, I decided to take a chance and test my theory about attacking into the final turn sequence. After my first jump, I looked back under my arm and could see a decent gap, with one guy chasing a bike length or two back. GO! I was going so fast into the downhill turn, I had to fight every instinct I had to scrub some speed, then gunned it into the last two turns. By this point I was in agony, and I fully expected to be caught 50 feet from the line. But it didn't happen!!! "Holy crap, I won!" I thought...
...But. It turns out during the fog of the last 7 laps, I missed the fact that one guy went off the front at 6 to go. Honestly, I was a little disappointed, but then I realized that I still finished 2nd. First podium in a LONG time, and first upgrade points ever.
And when I got home, I had to clean the out the rocks my son left in his shorts pockets that were now blocking the washer's drain line. DOESN'T MY FAMILY KNOW I'M A BIG-TIME BIKE RACER NOW?!?!?! I bet Marcel Kittel doesn't have to deal with this crap...
Lined up with two MRC teammates: Nolan Garon, in his first cat4 race (tough one to start with, man) and Patrick Bauer-Blank. Both are less than half my age, and though I felt like a grizzled veteran, I was happy for the company. The race started FAST, with two CF Racing kids (Chris Gougen & PJ Renquin) lighting it up. Then a Fitwerx guy went off the front for several laps. Both of these moves had me wondering whether a 15-20 person lead group might shake out, so I stayed near the front (and even on the front for a short time to block when Patrick made a bridge attempt to the FitWerx guy).
I kept thinking "this pace is HARD, but it'll calm down." It took a long time to do so, though, and much of the race was consequently a blur. Only a couple of things registered: "Patrick's still in the mix, so I'll look for him at the end," and "I keep passing people going up the hill, but then getting swamped again when people sit up near the top - gotta figure out how to deal with that."
On 3 and 2 to go, I followed wheels I knew were good to move up. I lost some ground with the swamping at the top, but sat in about 10-12th wheel going through the final turn sequence into the bell lap. A couple of guys died on the hill, and I was in about 8th wheel through the tight turn and to the top of the hill. YES! Then the guys on the front sat up a bit. NOOOOOO! Unwilling to get swamped, I decided to take a chance and test my theory about attacking into the final turn sequence. After my first jump, I looked back under my arm and could see a decent gap, with one guy chasing a bike length or two back. GO! I was going so fast into the downhill turn, I had to fight every instinct I had to scrub some speed, then gunned it into the last two turns. By this point I was in agony, and I fully expected to be caught 50 feet from the line. But it didn't happen!!! "Holy crap, I won!" I thought...
...But. It turns out during the fog of the last 7 laps, I missed the fact that one guy went off the front at 6 to go. Honestly, I was a little disappointed, but then I realized that I still finished 2nd. First podium in a LONG time, and first upgrade points ever.
And when I got home, I had to clean the out the rocks my son left in his shorts pockets that were now blocking the washer's drain line. DOESN'T MY FAMILY KNOW I'M A BIG-TIME BIKE RACER NOW?!?!?! I bet Marcel Kittel doesn't have to deal with this crap...