Today marked the 6th time that I raced at the “Pelladrome” this year. I had been able to make it out for five of the ABD Wednesday Night Training Crits, but today the race actually counted for something.
With mostly cloudy skies and temps in the low 60s, I actually started to overheat while warming up on the trainer. First off was the wind vest, then went the arm warmers.More clouds started to roll in, and after one warm-up lap on the course I zipped back to the car to pull back on the arm warmers. My lungs felt tight and my legs felt heavy, so I was a bit pessimistic about how the day was going to go.
As the sole WFR rider, I rolled to the line with about 40 other guys. There was good representation from ABD, xXx, Mack, Project 5, and Beverly Bike/Vee-Pak. The race was fast right from the whistle, and we instantly strung out. For the few two laps I was sitting comfortably in 10th wheel position. I was feeling good…the lungs had cleared out and my legs were doing everything I asked them to. There was a bit of a breeze on the backstretch, but I was able to stay protected.
I used the next few laps to improve my position. For the third and fourth laps I sat 8th wheel, and for the fifth and sixth laps I had moved up to 6th wheel. Suddenly, there was a vicious attack from Beverly Bike and Mack. No longer strung out, we were riding 3 to 4 across to reel them back in. At about 10 minutes in, the sole PACT rider veered from right to left without even looking, coming mere inches from taking out my front wheel. I curse loudly, and other riders jeer his poor move, shouting “Rider of the Year!”
At about 20 minutes in there were a few more attacks, forcing the pace up even higher. It was at this point that my lungs started to tighten up, but I just held on and tried to stay relaxed. The attacks never amounted to anything. Shortly thereafter, a prime lap was called for a set of handlebars, keeping the pace high. After the prime sprint, the pace mellowed out a bit, and on the backstretch I moved up the right side of the field to get back into the top ten.
At 33 minutes in I found myself in 5th wheel position. A Beverly Bike rider launched a sole attack along the start/finish stretch, and at first no one reacted. Then a voice from behind, like Obi Wan speaking to Luke on Dagobah, said “if we don’t go, he’s going to stay away.” OK, if you insist. Those of us at the front stepped on the gas and by the backstretch we had reeled him in.
Then started a series of sketchy moves. A few of the riders up front must have been hallucinating that there were in the Tour de France, because a line of riders started snake and back across the road for no apparent reason. I hung back and played it safe, sitting somewhere around 15th wheel. A Mack rider to the right of me said “this is why there are so many crashes in Cat 4 races.” Amen, brother.
When the bell lap came around, I was sitting back in about 20th position, but used the early part of the lap to move up into the top ten again. The final surge came about halfway through the backstretch, and as usual I started to lose ground. I put my head down and hammered for all I was worth, picking off a few riders here and there in the process. I came across the line almost neck and neck with a WDT rider, and I thought that I pipped him at the line. However, the official results placed him one ahead of me. When the dust settled, I had taken 19th out of 27 finishers. Which is nothing spectacular, but way better than I could have hoped for, considering how I felt during the warmup.
Hopefully the weather is good next weekend. I plan to race the Fall Fling Circuit Race, which could be my last road race of 2010. Thanks for reading!
