Tuesday Night Worlds Criterium race - 4/8/14
It's been since high school that I'd raced in a criterium race, or in a cycling only event for that matter. I love to ride, so it was time. Another big difference is that I was used to racing with others in my age group, which was no more than a group of 5 riders back in the day. I was only in one other race with a large group which I wasn't able to stay with for very long. The first hill of any significance was able to unhitch me from the pack. I also have never been on a group ride that consisted of a large group. It doesn't help that there's a general sense of trepidation when pure cyclists talk about riding in groups with triathletes. That and my lack of race experience had me very uncomfortable, but I'm not one to back down from a challenge.
We had a decent sized group for our CAT5 "C" race. There was a large team of young riders. I didn't want to get beaten by these young kids and I was a little afraid of riding with so many of them in case their bike handling skills weren't what they should be. There was a chance of rain and the occasional rain drop here and there, but it never manifested into anything. The race director took some extra time to talk to everyone and try to ensure a safe race with some tips and guidelines of proper racing eddicate. We also were waiting for a rider that had a last minute flat to fix. They decided to start us off with a "neutral loop" where we ride at a slow comfortable pace to keep everyone together and sort ourselves out with where we want to be in the pack. It doesn't take long to complete a 0.7 mile loop, even at a moderate pace. That starting line was soon there and the race started!
I held back to the middle of the pack, not know what to expect with the pace or my comfort level. It didn't take long for me to feel comfortable and want to be at the front of the race. There was a bit of traffic and tentative riding to have to navigate around, but nothing extreme. It did slow me down though and there were at least a couple guys in the front wanting to push the pace. I was playing catch up and had to do the work myself. Progress was slower than I'd have liked, but I would catch the lead group. It seems that when I did that, the rider at the back that I caught would decide to have to drop. It took me a few seconds to identify it as I was busy trying to catch my breath a bit. That's all it took for the lead group to get another gap on me. This pattern continued throughout the race. There finally came a time when there were only 5 riders in the lead group in front of me. I made one last hard push to catch them, knowing I needed to do it quickly and try to catch my breath as much as possible before the time was up and the 3 lap countdown started... too late! Right as I caught the lead group we were rounding the start/finish line to the announcement of 3 laps to go. Shoot! So much for a rest. I pushed onward. The pace quickened and I pushed hard to keep up as best I could. I stayed with them to the bell sounding off for the final lap. Three of the riders were able to push harder than me up the last climb and got a gap. At the top of the hill, I could see the 3rd place rider in front of me fading quickly as the top two kicked a final time for the finish. I was catching 3rd, but the finish line came to quickly. I had to settle for 4th.
I was very happy with that result for my first race back and I learned a lot. I look forward to competing again in this series. I won't be so tentative at first. I'll have to be more aware and responsive to the lead group, and quickly identify riders that might be slowing me down and distancing me from the lead group. I hope they are closer to the full time limit next time. It is supposed to be 25 minutes plus 3 laps, but we only did 20 minutes total (including the 3 laps). The longer we go, the better my advantage, I think. I bet i only needed one more lap to be in third.
Related links:
USA Cycling results - Vann Knight Tuesday Night Criterium Series
This race results
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