I lined up for the Bikes, Blues and BBQ Criterium at 5:05 pm amid a field of 40 Cat. 3 riders. The course had eight turns, a tiny little kicker hill and well not-so-well-placed ruts and bumps. And by "not-so-well-placed" I mean "right in the middle of the perfect line around a couple of the corners." There were lots of flats out there, which again made me thankful for road tubeless. I was running them around 85psi — it felt like I had Velcro on my wheels in the corners.
My goal for the race was to rehearse the things I'll need to do this weekend at the Papillion Twilight Criterium. Those things included getting a good start, staying near the front and avoiding getting caught out because of gaps or cornering miscues.
It was a big group at the start — 39. I think that's the biggest race I've been in over the last couple of years. That's pretty sad, in a way. After the whistle blew, I jumped off the line and stayed in the top five or 10 for the first lap. Things got strung out pretty quickly after that.
The picture above has to be from the second or third lap, just after going through the start/finish line. The Flatwater guy on the left pretty much butchered turn two (go in slow and shallow, come out faster and wider) and reinforced my desire to get up front and stay up front. The speed and the course were going to split the group soon, and I didn't want to be on the receiving end of that. So I moved up. (Yes, I realize I haven't always been the best example of proper technique, but that was pretty brutal.)In most Cat. 3 (and better) races, you'll have a few moves, the group will respond, you'll have a few more moves and then a few guys will ride away. I tried to stay attentive to that, hoping I'd be able to make that split. For some reason, that split never happened. Three good-sized teams had guys up the road and never seemed happy with the mix up front. Or maybe all of their teammates wanted in on the action, too.
Whatever it was, instead of the attack/respond/chill pattern you see in normal crits, it was full gas the entire way. On a course with a lot of turns and in 90-some-degree heat, we averaged 25mph for 55 minutes. Full gas.
With about 10 laps to go, I was on the ropes. My heart rate was pegged from the start (saw a new max HR), the heat was getting to me and my back was screaming. At one point, I felt all tingly. That wasn't much fun. I dumped most of my water bottle on my head and tried to snap out of it.As we got down within the last five laps, I was trying to hold on to a position in the top 10 or 15. I was picking up places in a couple of the corners, so I figured if I could stay close, I'd be able to move up without too much difficulty.
The last few surges with two laps to go hurt me pretty badly, and I was at that point just trying to hold on to the lead group. With the pace up just a little bit, the corners that worked to my advantage were now being hit hard, single-file, with no opportunities to jump up a few spots.
On turn three of the bell lap — a nice, easy, high-speed right — someone struck a pedal and ate it hard right in front of me. I tapped the brakes for a second and then had to sprint out of it to catch back on. On the slight uphill that led to the little kicker, I got past a few guys. Another blew on the kicker, and one more blew within the last three blocks.
I crossed the line 15th. They paid out through the first 14 places. Damn.
It was a hard, hard race. It took a good 30 minutes to get my heart rate back down and get cooled off. With the exception of the last lap, when I should have been a little farther up, I did what I needed to do. And, despite how hot and awful it was, I actually had a bit of fun.
Now it's time to rest up this week and gird myself for another onslaught. Gonna be hot, just like always.
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