
this year, the category 4 race is the first thing in the morning. there’s no clinic to kick off the day like last year. it’s definitely more convienient if you’re out just to race and not stay for the clinics afterwards. I was just excited to be back out on the course, it’s been a while since I was last in the industrial park. tim and I raced the easter sunday classic here, but it was only one l-section of the jelly bean, and it sucked…
anyway, I arrived early to get settled in. the first “race” of the season. I hadn’t ridden with a group this big for months, so I had a feeling my nerves might be a bit on end. then the slow realization that other people hadn’t raced in a big field either, somewhat put my mind at ease. there aren’t any points to gain at the early bird crits, just experience. so with that, I threw down my $15, pinned my number, and jumped on the trainer to warm up. it was a fairly cold morning, but as the sun started coming up over the horizon, the air started to thaw.
the race started at 8:30am, and by time I rolled up to the start line, there was already a big field waiting for the whistle. there were probably around 40-50 guys out this morning, the most people I’ve seen on road bikes in almost half a year (scary concept…). steve (chica sexy) was near the front, as was vidal, but other then that, I didn’t know anyone in the field. I was amped to get the legs going. we would have mentors shifting in and out of the laps to keep the back of the group in check. it seemed as if we needed it as well, since a lot of guys seemed nervous and twitchy. the whistle blew, and field was off. I made my way to the front instantly, to see how the legs were doing. after the first two turns, the field was several seconds behind me. and for a split second, I thought that if I went all in right now, I could gain a lot of ground…but of course, I’d probably get caught, especially since it was only the first lap, and guys were just starting to warm up.
I eased up, and let them catch me, but stayed in front with steve to start pushing the pace a bit. we were having a good time, but both realized that all the work we were putting in was kind of wasted, so we tucked back in the middle of the field for a while to let the legs rest. coming into one of the laps, the wheel in front of me shifted slightly to the right. I slowly brought my bike in line with his, but as I was slowly moving over, I felt an overlapped wheel on the rear. a stream of shouts followed by a horrible crashing sound – I looked back to see 4-5 guys down. on the next lap the road was cleared, a couple guys appeared to be coming back into the race. one guy sat on the grass, clearly out of the crit all together. I continued to hang back, but after the accident, riders were even more nervous. cutting corners, braking hard, swerving off the front, slingshotting from the back – it was nerve racking keeping tabs on everyone’s movements in the group.
steve and I eventually made it back to the front and started drilling the pace again. there was a small group of 3-4 guys kind of strung off the front, not quite working together, but attempting to get something started. turn 1, turn 2, and then on the back straight, I was able to reel them in. the legs were getting toasted with all the riding up front, so I eased up and caught some draft for a bit. as the laps ticked down to 2, steve fell towards the back, and said he’d be sitting out the (inevitable) fast finish. I continued to press on, staying as close as I could to the front. on the last lap, I guess he had a change of heart, because we both came through the first turn, and I launched my final ditch effort to try and get away. steve jumped on my wheel. but on the back straight my legs no longer had anything in them, I pulled off, and steve took control of the front. on the final bend, I looked ahead, and the sprint train was on in full force. I finished almost dead last, but the fact I avoided an accident, stayed up front and did some strong pulls with steve, and finished the race, that’s enough for me.
it was also a good gauge for my fitness and my position on the bike. I haven’t done any hard riding since my fitting a while ago, and I have to say, I’m riding much stronger and more bio-mechanically sound that last season. still not quite cut out for crits, but I’m so glad to be back racing again.