Longmont Criterium – State Criterium Championships

Longmont Criterium Map

After being dropped yesterday I was curious how the State Championship Criterium would go for me.  I usually do better on the second day of racing, and I had heard that on the flatter, wider, but still technical course it was a little easier to hang on.  I did a little internet recon and watched some handlebar cam from last year, but when I arrived I realized how short the course was, as the longest straight was only two city blocks.

The clouds were threatening and I was warming up to the sound of thunder.  I was not completely convinced it would rain since the clouds were not giant thunderheads, only gray clouds with virga.  The race, with a near capacity field of ~90 riders, started at a decent clip and I worked my way toward the front to stay out of trouble.  The pace was high but bearable and I felt more comfortable than yesterday as I mentally mapped details of the course during the opening laps.

I felt a couple raindrops and began to wonder how it may effect the race.  The first rain makes the road very slick since dust, debris, bits of oil, etc, have not been washed away yet.  It took a few laps, but eventually the light rain had wet the road completely.  I held my position, knowing that it was now more important than ever.  Around every bend I held the wheel in front of me, and cornered with a combination of trust in my tires and keeping my weight and pedaling pressure as even as possible, imagining the roads were made of ice.  I managed to stay upright, although in about every other corner I felt my rear wheel squirm dangerously.  The rain subsided long enough for the roads to nearly dry out, but little did I know, the rain would return with a vengeance.

Heavy Rain. Credit: Prerace.com

We were flying around the course.  The pace did not slow despite the slick conditions and multiple crashes.  I am not certain the cause, as it was about 3 riders in front of me, but two teammates crashed each other.  I was in the perfect spot to avoid it; no too close to be instantly involved, but far enough away to avoid the panic stops and followup crashes which I heard behind me.  There were a few riders down as we passed by for the next few laps, but eventually everybody seemed to be up under their own power.  We try to race honorably, and these types of bone-headed maneuvers are not our style, usually.

Likewise, Since my upgrade, I am trying as much as I can to race honorably and be more than pack fodder. About midway through the race there was a small move forming off the front.  As we rounded the bend into the home straight, I thought It would be a good time to make a move to bridge.  I was on Jason Donald’s (Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling) wheel and he jumped.  I did my best to hang on, but he was gapping me slowly but surely.  It is a very difficult thing to be outclassed by such a large margin.  With my efforts, I think I only managed to be slow enough to help the rest of the field shut the move down.

Chasing the Break. Credit: 303cycling.com

When the rain began to subside, and the end of the race was in sight (maybe 30 minutes to go?) a serious break of four riders formed and quickly built a 35 second gap.  We were not in it and I set to work with Jon Tarkington to bring it back.  We traded pulls for a while and seemed to be at least holding the break at arms length.  Groove Subaru, who also missed the break yesterday, also came to the front, and I backed off since help had arrived and I found myself again at my limit.

I was still sitting about 15th wheel and I was in the zone for a bit.  The pace seemed insanely fast, but I was tucked in close and comfortable.  During the course of the race we rode about 50 laps so at this point I knew almost every pebble, and was cruising the course on auto-pilot despite the sustained speeds.  I think someone was doing some massive turns at the front to keep the pace so high and steady.  I had begun to write them off, but before I knew it we had caught the break.

Photo Credit: Prerace.com

This came as a bit of a surprise to me, as we only had a couple laps remaining.  There was the characteristic moment of disorganization as the break was caught and I knew the race was about to detonate.  I did my best to keep my position, but found myself a little further back than I wanted to be.  All hell had broken loose and I was doing everything I could to stay at the front.  We crossed the line showing two laps to go and I was still somewhat happy with my spot.

I can’t recall exactly how it happened, but suddenly I was getting swarmed.  Of the 40 riders remaining in the pack, all want to be positioned near the front.  If there is ever an opportunity to move up at this point in a race, it will be taken.  Two laps to go is no the time to use a lull in the pace to take a breather.  I should have seen it coming and began moving up before the first rider came past me, but I didn’t.  By the time I had un-boxed myself, I was sitting about 25th wheel.  I tried to use every opportunity to re-position myself but to no avail.  Four corners from the finish line there was a major speed wobble which rippled to the outside of the peloton where I was sitting.  I slammed on the brakes and was pushed into the gutter, bouncing along the curb and sliding in the wet debris at 25 mph.  I managed to keep it upright, but I was spit out the back of the pack.

I rolled across the line just behind everyone else, exhausted, as dirty as after a cyclocross race, and happy to have raced a good race and finished.  36th in the State of Colorado is something I can be proud of.