Ken was generous to offer to drive and so Tony and I met at his house and zoomed up to Folsom. We were the first race of the day so we were able to get some warm up laps on the course. The course was wide for the most part, turns 2 and 3 are a wide arc that run into a 90 degree turn 4. This was the first time I had entered 2 crits on the same day, I was hoping to finish in the main group in both races.
E5
The E5 race was a bit sketchy, there was a lot of speeding up on the straighter parts of the course, and a lot of slowing into the corners (especially turn 4) with varying abilities to maintain a line through the corner. Through turns 3 and 4 the group spread out wide across the road, and then riders would get squeezed out on the narrower turn 4. I decided to stay in the front half and be on the outside on the turns. There was a crash (1 guy) on t1 of the last lap, the group was still together on the last turn and I rode in towards the back of the pack.
M35/5
The Masters 35+ 5 was much calmer, riders maintained a more even pace with good pedaling through the corners. A couple of guys tried to breakaway but they were caught. At lap 3 my legs were feeling a bit tired but I hung on to the back. There was a crash on the inside of t4 on the last lap that took out 5-6 guys, I was on the outside and was able to get past and finished in the middle of the pack.
Thanks to Ken and Tony for traveling up together,
Congrats to Chris G. for 3rd in the E4.
larry_nolan
Roy – I love this report! All sorts of great actions on your part (goal of finishing with your skin – met!; observing cornering – sketchy!; deciding to ride near the front – accomplished!). Well done Roy!