Cdub
05-05-2008, 10:56 AM
Sunday morning was beautiful, 70 and crystal clear with a slight wind out of the east. (head wind on the finishing stretch) On tap was a 60 minute crit on a tight course with 8 turns. A couple things I new that needed to happen. 1. I had to hit my pedal the first try and start well. 2. be toward the front.
The gun goes off and BAM i lock in and am off to the races sitting in around 6 or 7 position right behind a team mate. We had five in the race in the race with a field total of about 60. The pace ramps up and I am feeling pretty good for not having a clue what to expect from a speed stand point. Three laps in I am on the front chasing a break. My team mate thankfully was talking to me the entire time b/c I was needing to come off. After a full lap turn, i started to slide back so I could recover. What I did not realize was the field was shredded and there were only about 25-30 left in the front bunch. Now on the back, oops slid back too far, I started to realize that I was conering poorly (not dangerously, just stepping out of the line, thus working to hard to get back in). In a 4 race as many of you know, you can pass going through a corner since the pace is not too fast and the acceleration out of corners is not too bad. Only took three laps to figure this one out. However in your first 3 race, much different. Finally, about half way in i start to get my wind and began the difficult task of moving back up. Each lap I am jumping one to two people. Time was running out. I needed to make a big jump. Only one way to do it, into the headwind stretch. I jumped about 6 folks the next time trhough and was feeling better. Well, at the 50 minute mark a crash, I make it aournd it, gas to get back up only to come on another crash and have to mash the brakes so I don't crash. My momentum was gone and just having gassed it 600 meters before, I could not repeat it. bummer, race over in 30th place. Good note, the team mate mentioned earlier got 4th.
At the end of the day I learned a ton. recover, recover and recover some more. I learned I can ride in this category. Don't slide back so far/ hold your position and you won't get stuck behind crashes. Racing is a lot of fun in a smoother race.
Thanks for the advice last week.
The gun goes off and BAM i lock in and am off to the races sitting in around 6 or 7 position right behind a team mate. We had five in the race in the race with a field total of about 60. The pace ramps up and I am feeling pretty good for not having a clue what to expect from a speed stand point. Three laps in I am on the front chasing a break. My team mate thankfully was talking to me the entire time b/c I was needing to come off. After a full lap turn, i started to slide back so I could recover. What I did not realize was the field was shredded and there were only about 25-30 left in the front bunch. Now on the back, oops slid back too far, I started to realize that I was conering poorly (not dangerously, just stepping out of the line, thus working to hard to get back in). In a 4 race as many of you know, you can pass going through a corner since the pace is not too fast and the acceleration out of corners is not too bad. Only took three laps to figure this one out. However in your first 3 race, much different. Finally, about half way in i start to get my wind and began the difficult task of moving back up. Each lap I am jumping one to two people. Time was running out. I needed to make a big jump. Only one way to do it, into the headwind stretch. I jumped about 6 folks the next time trhough and was feeling better. Well, at the 50 minute mark a crash, I make it aournd it, gas to get back up only to come on another crash and have to mash the brakes so I don't crash. My momentum was gone and just having gassed it 600 meters before, I could not repeat it. bummer, race over in 30th place. Good note, the team mate mentioned earlier got 4th.
At the end of the day I learned a ton. recover, recover and recover some more. I learned I can ride in this category. Don't slide back so far/ hold your position and you won't get stuck behind crashes. Racing is a lot of fun in a smoother race.
Thanks for the advice last week.