The National Championship Criterium in Downers Grove is the high-water mark of the year for many cyclists. Everyone's seasons lead up to this very day. Having had an entire summer of unemployment to do nothing but train and race, I had high hopes for this day. Kev, Chris Hammer and I had registered for the Master's 35+ 4/5 race. Unfortunately, Chris got nailed with a bad case of pneumonia (necessitating an overnight stay in the hospital. So, just Kev and I rolled to the line with 73 other cyclists for 30 minutes plus one lap of racing.
The pace from the whistle was hot. However, the legs and lungs felt good. Having started with really bad field position, I was moving slowly up through the pack.
Disaster struck on Lap 3. Making the turn from Lane onto Summit (lovingly known, at least in the past, as "Mt. Fresca"), I found myself coming upon riders down in the road. I was far enough behind the carnage that I could scrub almost all speed...but not far enough to be able to avoid running right into it. I rode over the wheel of an ABD rider, lost all momentum, and tipped over right on top of him. I broke my fall by putting my left hand squarely onto his hip. I jumped right up, realizing that there was no damage to either my bike or my body. I hopped on the bike and accelerated like mad to catch onto the field.
This, however, was not to be. In hindsight, I should have tried to take a free lap. However, the officials can be merciless if there is no damage to the bike that requires fixing. You don't get a free lap simply by having been caught up in a crash.
I caught up to Kev, announcing "I'm on your wheel, Chief." We worked together for a bit, but at some point I rode him off of my wheel. The rest of the race was spent with a group of about 8 other riders (a diverse group including Bicycle Heaven, Half Acre, SCW, Tower, etc.). I can't say we exactly "worked together" as much as we just hung on for dear life. A spectator at the top of Mt. Fresca would announce our distance off of the main field. We heard anywhere from 24 to 30+ seconds. We had actually started to close the gap a bit when a prime lap was called. That put an end to any hopes we would have.
So, in the end we hung on to the finish. My official result was 46th out of 50 finishers. Disappointing, but at least I wasn't one of the 25 who didn't finish. And at least I suffered no injury in my minor crash. Like Cubs fans always say..."wait 'til next year!"
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