Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/5587994
I was pretty anxious to do the crit tonight mostly since I just wanted to get the first one done. For the most part, my goal was just to establish a baseline for the season and see how I improve (or not) as the season progresses. I was also interested in just seeing what this type of racing would be like again as well as observe what type of talent came out to the races.
Arriving alone and not recognizing anyone made it a little intimidating, but it wasn't going to stop me from doing it. I did have to join the Cat 4/5 group since the Masters required a race license, so back in the mix with Team Velosport as well as all the other teams present. I did end up wearing BRCM black despite my recent performance not being very consistent whereas I was thinking I didn't want to dishonor our jersey. However, I'm Team BRCM through-and-through, and if anything, I'll at least give it what I got as is the MO of our group.
Doing my warm-up, I noticed a couple things: the course was a little dirty on some of the turns so this did play into how the race was going to be for me where I would check up through those turns. Also, my cranks felt like they were gritty, which may be because I didn't have a chance to clean it with my wife's birthday being last night. However, I was there and it was what it was, so I'll make the best of it.
Lining up, there were a few teams present with Team Velosport being predominant. There were some Simple Green, some Veloviets, and a few others I can't recall. I just sat mid-pack in the line-up determined not to be blown out on the first lap. HA HA.
When the race started, the pace was pretty decent but it was definitely not taxing from the middle of the pack. As usual, you do have to jockey for position, so staying mid-pack did take some work. There were some surges, and a couple breakaways early on, but nothing that stuck. I did end up closing a couple gaps that formed in the early laps, but nothing crazy. On the lap or 2 after the first prime, there was a sudden breakaway containing between 7-10 guys, and I tried to catch that group along with one other guy but we were too far apart from one another (he was ahead) to be able to work together. We did breakaway from the peloton behind us, but had both gotten pretty worked riding apart that we both blew up pretty good. When the peloton caught us eventually, I was winded where latching on was almost impossible. That's what I get. Thoughts of just quitting did pop-up, but I wanted to get my money's worth. Since I knew I wasn't in contention for a top 10 spot at that point, I decided to join one guy who pulled to the side and started to cut across the track to rejoin the peloton. I know, I know...but better to live and fight another day....
Getting back in the peloton, it was clear that Team Velosport was in complete control of the race as they were definitely blocking to allow those of their team in the breakaway to keep increasing the gap. I was not about to try and push the pace on my own, especially after cutting the track, so I just sat back and enjoyed the rest of the race in the group. There were more surges here and there, but none that were unmanageable. For the last lap, I was interested in trying out a sprint so I just saved up for it. I was not close enough to the front of the chase group though, but I did manage to pass a couple guys on the last stretch (including Sol). Good enough.
No one to help me remove my number, no beer after party, no one to even talk to, so I just went home. I'll be back next week though for sure. I can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment