Today was the first of the four Masters 30+ Cat 4/5 Superweek races that I had signed up for. The course was a long rectangle…two long 6-block straighaways and two 1-block legs. The course was one mile in length, and we were scheduled to ride 20 laps. The roads and corners were nice and wide, but there was some sketchy pavement…lots of patched holes and manhole covers to avoid.
My goal was to sit in near the front, but not right at the front. I learned my lesson a few weeks ago at Cobb Park…I did too much work at the very front, and had nothing left in the tank for the final lap. Prize money for this race went to the top 12 riders, so there was a lot of motivation to grab one of those spots…if for no other reason than to recoup my entry fee!
I experienced a brief sense of foreboding during my warm-up on the trainer. I realized that this was going to be my 13th race of the season…10 “official” races and three Tuesday nights at Matteson. Would 13 be lucky or unlucky for me today?
With mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 80s, about 50 riders rolled to the line. Beverly Bikes/Vee-Pak had a huge presence, along with a good mix of South Chicago Wheelmen, xXx, and numerous other teams. WheelFast Racing was well represented by myself, my brother Kev, Chris Hammer, and John Mahr.
The whistle blew and we gunned it right from the start. Coming through the Start/Finish after the first lap, I looked down at my computer and saw that we were doing close to 30 mph. At this point I was sitting about 2/3 of the way back through the field. Despite the wide-open corners, there was a lot of unnecessary braking, which in turn led to lots of sketchiness. Knowing that things at the front would be a lot smoother, I started making my way up through the field. Two laps in, I came up alongside Kev and asked how he was feeling. He made a somewhat noncommittal answer…not a good sign. I was feeling pretty good…thanks to the long straightaways, I was able to avoid the dehydration issues that had plagued me at Cobb Park. I made it a point to grab a drink every other lap, and my body thanked me for it.
There was a sudden surge along the backstretch, so I hit the gas and moved up the left side of the peloton. I inserted myself near the front of the field, which by this time had really started to string out. Things were much smoother up here, and we negotiated the turns with minimal braking. The speed slowed down a bit after about five laps, but this was pretty short-lived. Soon after we were flying again, averaging about 26 mph.
This was one of those races where the first 10 laps lasted forever, but the 2nd half of the race flew by. There were random attacks here and there, but nothing stayed away…all the attacks did was to keep the pace high and shell riders off the back. Unfortunately, Kev and John were two of those riders…about 12 laps in, as the field was bombing down the backstretch, I saw the two of them alone and working together. Kev saw me and yelled out some encouragement.
With about 6 laps to go, two riders (Beverly/Vee-Pak and a team I couldn’t identify) took a flyer and got about a 3 block lead on the field. The peloton cranked up the pace and quickly reeled them back in. The rest of the race was a constant battle to maintain position. One moment I would be in the top 5, and then there would be a surge and I would find myself suddenly 15-20 riders back. However, my heart, lungs, and legs were all feeling good, and with minimal effort I could easily move up the side and insert myself right back in at the front.
With two laps to go, as we exited turn four and started barreling down the Start/Finish stretch, I heard the horrible sound of a crash behind me and to the left. This was the third crash of the day…there had been another large crash about halfway through, as well as one rider going down alone in a turn (he was apparently new to the sport and had simply gone in too hot).
With one lap to go, the pace was furious. Moving up along the Start/Finish stretch, I got myself positioned at the front in 3rd position, and held this until about halfway through the back stretch. At this point there was a small surge, but I kept pace and now only counted six riders ahead of me. The legs still felt good, and my heart rate was pretty relaxed. I was confident that I could use the wide road to gain position and move up in the final sprint.
Unfortunately, as we cleared turn 4 there was still carnage in the road from the crash, along with an ambulance (never a good sign). I could hear the officials whistling at us, but I couldn’t tell whether they were neutralizing the field or not. I eased up on the gas ever so slightly, which turned out to be a mistake. Other riders around me simply hit the gas and I had to expend some extra energy getting back up to speed. It didn’t help that a rider in a blue kit moved all the way from the left side of the road to the right without even looking, barely missing my front wheel by about an inch. I didn’t recognize the team kit, but clearly recall seeing “endureit” across his backside as it passed inches from my eyes. A rush of adrenaline took control over my tongue and I screamed “gosh darnit, endureit!” But, much like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story,” I didn’t say “gosh darnit.”
I continued to fight to the line and estimated that I finished somewhere in the 20s. However, when results were posted I was pleasantly surprised to see that I took 17th out of 42 finishers. I was a few spots out of the money, but top 20 in the first Superweek race is pretty good! I have three more races in the coming days to (hopefully!) improve.
STATS:
Race time: 47:32
Distance: 20.07
Average pace: 2:22/mile
Average speed: 25.3 mph
Max speed: 31.2 mph
Average HR: 172 bpm
Max HR: 188 bpm
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