Minuteman Road Club

I raced in the 3/4 race with a big MRC contingent of Chris P, Smudger, Mark B, Jeremy, Doug, and Stefan. 70+ guys in the race. I was worried that Jeremy jinxed me on the drive over when I said I was going on vacation shortly after the race and he said "so why are you doing this race?" Given that it was my first real crit since a crash in my first real crit at the Witches Cup in 2010, I was definitely nervous and Jeremy's words, although in jest, were an ominous sign. Also we parked at a Funeral Home, which was also ominous.

All worked out well though as I stayed rubber side down. It was a good crit for me with no really sharp corners. I felt pretty comfortable the whole way. I kept in my mind two things: 1) it is easier near the front to reduce the yo-yoing and the chance of a mistake causing you to get gapped, and 2) if you are not moving up, you are moving back. I handled both well. There was a small hill on each lap coming up to turn 2 that the pace would typically dawdle so I moved up there, and also I found I could hold momentum on turn 3 by staying on the outside and move up there.

I felt I raced pretty well, held my line pretty well, only had a couple of dodgy moves, and stayed mostly in the top 20-40 wheels. But turn 3 ended up being my undoing on the final lap. Pack sprint finishing lap, and I stayed on the outside coming into turn 3 like I had the whole race. But the front pack was inside of me, and because of the speed, they swung really wide and I ran out of road. I had to hit my brakes almost to complete stop (Jeremy right in front of me and will tell his story) and then try to pick up speed again. But with only 400 meters or so at that point, the race was over.

I rolled in 25th, which I am very happy with in a crit. Last race of the season for me, so now it is just "fun" rides.

It was a pretty fun race. OGD got in a break early stayed away for a few laps. I soft pedaled at the front but there wasn't much action. We caught them and I followed another attack and we stayed away for a few more laps. The guys I was with sprinted out of every corner, killing our breakaway chances so I sat up. Fast forward to 3 laps to go and I ask Chris if he wants to execute his plan of attacking on the penultimate lap. He says no so we settle in for the sprint. 2 laps to go and I'm 5th wheel but pace slows and swarming begins. Last lap, 2nd corner people go sideways and I hear a crash behind me. I move up the right into the 3rd turn about 10th wheel and went wide, but the pace was so high the peloton went way wide and forced me off the road. Next thing I know I'm riding down the sidewalk to avoid a telephone pole. Then I ride across the grass and jump back in but I lost any chance at sprinting for a result. 26th right behind the 2 Johns. Not happy but it was fun anyway.

I didn't have any plans for a big result here. My goal was to try to make some attacks and try to be of use to our stronger sprinters.

The race was held neutral for the first two turns, which essentially meant that all the guys from the back spent that time trying to barge their way to the front, while the front of the race couldn't go that fast. I wasn't aggressive enough and got shuffled from the front to mid-pack. The first live turn (turn 3) became a big clog if you were mid-pack, and I got bumped hard by some guy who tried to jam himself in where there was no space. After bumping the guy on my other side, and touching my front wheel on both sides of some guys rear tire, I stayed upright, but was now a number of bike lengths off the back of the race. 20 seconds gone, 40 minutes to go...

After a lap of chasing, I caught back on, but I was gassed. And since I was at the back, I was getting whipsawed something awful. Eventually, I realized that if I tailgunned and left a gap going into turns, I could go through without losing so much speed and started to move up. This allowed me to finally recover slightly - though my heart rate was at a 'cross-like 184 bpm for pretty much the whole race - and I'd fought my way to mid-pack, hoping to get somewhere near the front and be vaguely useful for Chris or Jeremy. With about 3 to go, some guy crashed in a turn right behind Jeremy and a couple of wheels in front of me, and I was forced to a near-stop.

So I found myself in the same place I started: chasing, about 5-10 bike lengths behind the pack. This time, I at least had a group of 5 or 6 with whom to share the load, but the pack was ramping it up for the finish and we had no real chance to get back on. We had a mini-sprint of our own at the end for 49th place - I finished 51st.

Great course, though I still don't understand making the first two corners neutral. Those turns were flat and uphill, respectively, so neutralizing meant that the race started with the two fastest corners before the pack could really string out. But mostly I'm just frustrated at my own timid racing - I let the big field, knowledge that a bunch of those guys were a category above me, and my experience on the first turn get into my head.

Luckily, I'll get a chance at redemption tomorrow in Fitchburg.