2016 Keith Berger Crit

[pcollins]

Got in a breakaway w 6 others ~halfway through the 1h40m race, almost all of the major teams were represented. For the first 20 minutes we drove the pace to establish a good gap. I was feeling good and took my pulls hard. We settled our pace, as we collectively decided that we didn’t want to lap the field.

~6 to go I attacked in an effort to create gaps and shed the weak, but Jennings with everyone in tow quickly brought me back.

Sam and Cole from GLV were my main focus, as they were the only teammates in the break and they were the favorites. Their plan was predictable but hard to compete against. Cole attacked w 1 to go, creating a gap quickly, while Sam sat up. I tried to close it down for a few seconds but realized if I did, I’d be screwed for the sprint. So, I stayed mostly out of the wind, let others try to bring Cole back. If he was caught, Sam would have easily sprinted to the win. Sam reacted to an attack by another rider, and I got on his wheel going into the last downhill corner. Cole stayed away by a few meters and I struggled to hold Sam’s wheel in the sprint, but managed to come in 3rd behind the two GLV boys. Pretty stoked about landing on the podium!

Craziest moment of the race was when a dude on a BMX bike tried to join our break , super dangerous, but funny.

[Mkidd3]

Great job Patrick!

[KTeves]

Awesome job Pat!

[rusto]

Excellent!

[jraguin]

Awesome Patrick. Another feather in your cap!

[Smudger]

Another great result. Congrats.

Love the aggression attacking the break. Difficult to compete against those 2 in the same break but sounds like you gave it a go and still got on the podium

[ehrlinger]

Not as exciting as Patrick's result, but I also doubled up at Keith Berger.

Cat 3/4 20 laps:
Racing solo. I spent a lot of energy racing on the inside line with little protection from the wind. Most of my time was spent trying to figure out the racing lines, and waiting for the finish. I thought. The third prime was rang with 5 to go, so I followed the one guy that had won them, as he made his way to, and then off, the front. The bad news was I couldn't hold his pace and got no help from any one else. I ended up back in the pack as a break of 5 got away. They ended up holding the gap for all places, so I should get points for attempting to follow the winning move again, but just knowing it was right and actually executing that plan have far different results.

With 1 to go, I was back in the top 10 of the field, but on the outside. I was boxed in as the field rolled over on the climb, so I pulled the plug on sprinting for 35th and just rolled in. 44th out 52 or so.

Masters 30laps:
Second race of the day, with an hour between them so I had time to recover and eat. I had no real expectations for this race, except learning. I had one teammate, but no real plans except to sit and try for the finish sprint again. I was a bit worried as the race got started, that I would not make it to the finish. But after 25 laps on this course, I finally figured out the outside of the course was more protected from the wind, even if it did get pinched on the climb. So I hung out there for most of the race.

The masters race had multiple teams with numbers, unlike the 3/4 race. So when the field split early and a large group went away, the gap stayed pretty close. I trusted my information that the race would come back together even though the 3/4 race did not. Mostly because I did not feel up to doing any more work yet.

At about lap 15 I got the feeling that the teams were blocking for the front group and it might be time to try to bridge. I went up the hill in the inside and got clear. Half way across, one of the guys up front was signaling their team to close the split. Looking back, the field was lined out and closing, so I shut it down and let myself drift back.

Sat in for a while to recover. The split was closed and the pace stayed constant. With five to go, I started moving up. In the top 10 with 2 to go but I again stayed on the outside. Field rolled on the last lap, though I consciously decided I would sprint for anything. Must have rolled back pretty far because ended in 29th after passing quite a few. Dave ended up in 24th

So the day ended up being mostly training and continued education in how to race in NE.