NotSo Early Bird Criterium Cat 5 U30

posted in: Criterium, Race report | 0

Got to the course about an hour before my race. Went to register and saw Geno and Chris registering aswell. We agreed to do a warmup together after we got ready. Our warmup was pretty quick, we just spun around the backside. After that we went to the start to see the finish of the junior race. Thomas, Brandon, and Arthur were racing. Saw Brian, Mike, and Gonzo watching aswell. Thomas pulled out a third place.

 

We were up next so we rolled to the start. Whistle blew and we were off. In no time we were up to 25-27 coming out of turn 1. Had a feeling this was going to be a fast race. 2 laps in I got on the wheel of some guy making a move to the front. Got up to around the 10th spot but it was really hard to maintain as the field was strung out in the front. We were blazing 28 down the back stretch. I started to fade and a gap was building so i decided to pullup and fell back to the pack. Not worth the energy this early in the race. I saw chris go by me which was rare since he spent most of the race towards the front. I spent most of the time in the pack, rode Geno’s wheel for a few laps. Geno was having a lot of fun chating and making it look easy. Sometime in the middle of the race there was a crash on the front stretch. Two guys got together, one went off to the left the other to the right. I was about 4 riders back so i made it through the middle without any issues. The pace seemed to slow a bit after the crash but was back up the next lap. Guys were sprinting out of the saddle after every turn it seemed. The speed was up and down constantly, 27-28 out of the turns then back down to 22-23 towards the end of the straights. With 2 laps to go i did the same thing as i did earlier. Hooped on a wheel that was making a move to the front. Got up to around 10th, field was strung out again and the pace was just too much with still a lap to go. Started falling back. Not exactly what i wanted at this point but i was cooked. Just tried to hang on the rest of the way. Saw the guys go by me as they made their move for the finish. I ended in the back of the pack, Geno 5th, Chris 11th. Race was fun and fast,avg was 25.5 per my garmin. Still got a lot of training to do to build up fitness and work on timing my moves better. Till next time.