Superweek Richton Park Criterium, Richton Park, IL, July 13, 2009

Today was the second of four Superweek races that I had registered for. The weather was sunny and warm, with light winds. Joined by WheelFast Racing teammates Kev and Chris, we were scheduled to race for 25 miles around a 0.7 mile course in a residential area around Pierce Park. The course was a rough oval raced counter-clockwise, with three 90-degree turns and one sweeping turn. The pavement was mostly good, but with some cracks and patched areas.

With today being a weekday, the field was a little smaller than Saturday’s race…only about 40 riders rolled to the line. Again, there was a huge presence from Beverly Bikes/Vee-Pak, and decent showings from South Chicago Wheelmen, xXx, and WDT/Allvoi.

The lap counter showed that we would be doing 30 laps, so it was apparent that our race had been shortened from 25 miles to about 21. I really didn’t mind. Again, my goal was to sit in near, but not at, the front. I wanted to conserve energy, yet not be subject to the constant slowing and acceleration that plagues the back of the field.

The pace started off relatively mellow, but quickly accelerated to about 27 mph when two riders took a flyer off the front. Come on, guys…first lap? Really? They were quickly reeled back in, but the pace still stayed pretty high. Because the course was shorter than Saturday, and because we didn’t have long, six-block straightaways, we didn’t quite accelerate up to the speeds that we were hitting on Saturday.

About 10 laps in, a group of 5or 6 riders escaped and got a solid lead on the field. All the major teams were represented in the break, so this was a serious threat. A chase group took off to reel them in, and Chris was a part of this group. I saw him move up the right side to join the pursuit, and although the legs felt good enough to join the chase, I was completely boxed in and couldn’t grab his wheel. They slowly closed the gap, and eventually the rest of the peloton caught on and we were gruppo compatto once again.

Now that we were all together, I took this as an opportunity to gain some ground. I moved up toward the front of the field, and when the lead rider pulled off I found myself alone at the front. As we came by the Start/Finish with 15 laps to go, I was hoping to hear my name called out by the announcer (hey, I’ll take my moments of glory whenever I can get them). No such luck. I led the entire lap, despite having slowed down the pace a bit (into the low 20s) and moving toward the right side of the road after what I felt had been a decent pull. It seemed that the field was happy to let me hang out and expend more energy than I really cared to be expending at the time.

So I was still at the very front as we came around with 14 laps to go. Again, I hoped for some shout-out love from the announcer to make my effort somewhat worthwhile, but the guy was pretty tight-lipped. I led the field around for another whole lap before a Tower Racing rider jumped in front. Thinking he might be making a break that I might like to be a part of, I instantly jumped onto his wheel. But no breakaways here…he just rode tempo. Soon more riders surged around me and I let myself be swallowed up by the protection of the peloton.

With about 10 laps to go, I drifted back to Hammer, and he let me know that we were now at the back of the field. Huh? I didn’t see all that many riders in front of us…we must have shelled off a good number of riders. Unfortunately, by this point I knew that Kev was one of those popped riders. We lapped him, but he did manage to finish.

As soon as Chris let me know of our rearward positioning, I started to move up. Right in the middle of the next turn, however, my day nearly ended. A couple of South Chicago riders, and perhaps some xXx riders (Chris recalled seeing a few white jerseys) went down right in front of me. But for mere inches, I too would have been taken down. However, I hit the brakes just right (not too hard, not too soft), and my rear wheel bounced about two feet to the right. Not only did this keep me from stacking into the carnage, but it also positioned me facing perfectly down the street. I hit the gas and managed to catch onto the inevitable post-crash surge. Chris, too, managed to avoid the wreckage, and on we went.

Coming through the Start/Finish right after the crash, I started to get the sensation that my rear tire was either going flat, or that I had loosened up my rear wheel with my rightward bounce. We were still within the time allowed for neutral support, so I could have gotten a fresh wheel and been shoved back into the field. However, that can really screw up your momentum, and isn’t the ideal situation. So I made a few quick glances downward, and determined that a) my rear skewer was still firmly in place and b) my rear tire still seemed to be fully gassed. I shook it off and rode on. It turns out that it was just some rough, undulating pavement…Chris had encountered the same sensation in just about the exact same place.

The next few laps passed by without too much incident. Some of the corners were dicier than they should have been, and there was a fair amount of (mostly unjustified) yelling in the pack as to who was not holding their line. I managed to keep my position near the front of the field the whole time, and was happy that my legs hadn’t been fried by my two laps at the front. I hoped that my legs, lungs, and heart would all still be cooperating when we hit the last lap.

And how was that last lap? Shortly after we passed the Start/Finish, an ABD rider took a vicious flyer off the front. The field cranked up the speed to reel him in, and fortunately I still had enough gas in the tank to maintain my position. So, sitting in about 10th position, we negotiated the final turn and sprinted for the line.

I maxed out at almost 32 mph in the sprint, and managed to mostly hold position. Through squinted eyes and clenched teeth I eyeballed about 10 riders in front of me. I could see Chris moving up the right side of the field, but was more concerned about staying in front of the rider immediately to my right.

Prize money for this race went to the top 12 finishers. As I hit the line, I knew that I would be either just in the money, or just out of it. And I was spot-on correct…but on the “just out” side. I took 13th, but since it was Chris who took that 12th spot (netting a check for $20), I didn’t mind at all. I was just happy that, despite leading into the wind for way too long, I improved upon Saturday’s result by four spots…so if I can repeat that feat tomorrow, I’ll be in the top 10!

STATS:
Race time: 53:49
Distance: 21.47 miles
Average pace: 2:30/mile
Average speed: 23.9 mph
Max speed: 31.9 mph
Average HR: 172 bpm
Max HR: 186 bpm