A group of 4 of us (Jeremy, Rob, Brian, and me) left town around 11:30 AM for our 3:30 crit start time. The course was more like a really tame circuit race than a criterium. Basically 3 long straight 1/2 mile sections with 1 straight with some curves. Pretty much a big square. The weather was hot and it quickly became apparent we wouldn't be starting on time.
The P1/2 crit was pretty uneventful once it got going. Jeremy got off in a break early on with 3 other riders. I think there were 21 riders total for the day and the race payed 10 deep. Jeremy ended up 4th while Brian and I finished just out of the money with 12th and 13th. The masters race was the last race of the day at 7:45 PM, so I decided to give it a go.
Lining up before the race started, I was pretty sure I could win it. Looking back, I raced a little too aggressive early on covering way too many attacks. Okc velo had 5 or 6 riders and the joe's pros guys had 2 I think. Anyhow, the good masters riders don't attack with as much punch, but they know how to hit you when you're a little winded or out of position. 5 riders eventually got away and I won the field sprint for 6th.
The road race on Saturday was supposed to start at 6:30 AM. We were a little worried when it was 10 after 6 and we were just leaving our hotel. After scrambling to the start line, it became obvious that the promoters/officials were nowhere near ready to start the race. They decided to combine the 1/2's and the 3's and after about 45 minutes we were underway. Things were pretty tame for the 1st 5 or 10 miles. We hit the first crosswind section pretty slow, but I knew if we were going faster, it would be trouble if you drifted too far back in the field.
As we started into a long headwind section, I got into a move with Justin Rempel, but it only lasted for a few minutes.Towards the end of the headwind section, a Kenda rider got off the front and opened a substantial gap. The Park Place guys started drilling it and then the guys at the front of the group made a wrong turn. After a quick U-turn, we were heading west again with a pretty good cross wind. We had lost a little more ground to the Kenda rider, so the pace really got fast and the field started to break up. I realized if I didn't get towards the front very quickly, things would soon get much more painful.
I got near the front of what was left of the main field (about 15 riders) and sure enough, there were about 6 guys off the front. At least 3 were Park Place riders. Our chase efforts were a little disorganized as a few guys didn't want to do any work and as soon as we started closing, they would unsuccessfully try to bridge solo. The break was just about as disorganized as the chase group and guys started popping till there were only 2 left in the break.
The chase group stayed around 15 riders as we dropped a few guys here and there. Maybe 3 or 4 riders were cat 3's, 1 of which was doing some work, and a couple of Park Place riders who were just sitting on and blocking. Rob, Jeremy and I were in the chase group and looking back, we did way too much work trying to pull the break in.
With about 6-7 miles to go, I started to bonk. I had plenty of food with me, but it was hard to eat with the way we were riding. I started to eat and got dropped in a tailwind section. I figured I wasn't going to be any good in the sprint, 1st and 2nd were within sight but too far up the road to catch, and Waddel had been sitting in all day and was going to kill it and get 3rd. Plus, no one was as far as I could see behind me, might as well just eat before I fell over.
After about 10 minutes I felt good as new. I could still see the chase group up the road as we weaved back into town. The race finished on the crit course we had raced the night before and as I came through the finish line, nobody was around except the guys who got 1st and 2nd. I sat by the finish line and ate a banana when one of the race officials told me the chase group all took a wrong turn and came through the finish area backwards, so they were doing a 1 lap re-finish on the crit course. 1 of the guys in the chase group actually made the right turn and got 3rd, so they ended up giving me 4th.
Rob got 8th, Jeremy got 11th, and Brian got 20th. This was the first time I have ever done a race where there were as many payout spots as riders in the race, so needless to say, I'm pretty sure as a team, this was our biggest money making weekend to date. The race was a little disorganized, but if they have it again next year, I'm sure we'll come back.
Off the back in the road race, but almost done.....
When I got home, I decided to go for a swim in the backyard pool. I got my swimming trunks, and found my Assos sock that had been missing since last summer. Coatney got them for me on my birthday last year and I only got to wear them once or twice, so I was pretty stoked to find it!
What a lucky day! The big Tulsa Tough race is this weekend, so we're pretty excited.
No comments:
Post a Comment