At long last the offseason was over and it was time to start turning the pedals in anger. First up, as usual, was the 1st weekend of the Kenosha Velosport training criteriums in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
The weather was unbelievably beautiful as I drove north to race in both the Masters 30/39 race and the Cat 4 race. I had come fully loaded for chilly weather, but in the end all I needed were shorts, a jersey, and arm warmers (and even those I could have done without). Temps were in the mid-60s, with a pretty stiff breeze that was going to hit us after turn 3 and continuing all the way through the start/finish.
MASTERS 30/39
22 guys rolled to the line for the start of the Masters 30/39 race. Given the great weather, I was really surprised at the low turnout. Now, since this was a race based solely on age, it meant that I could be mixing it up with anyone from a Cat 1 on down to a Cat 5. The Velocause team had a big showing in the field, as did Nova IS Corp. I was the only representative of Bicycle Heaven.
The pace was fast right from the whistle. The field instantly splintered into a few groups. There were a couple guys up the road, followed by a few more, and there I was with my heart in my throat trying to catch up to them. Right from the start I heard my brother's voice yelling in encouragement...he was going to be joining me in the Cat 4 field, and had arrived early enough to cheer me on in this race. The first 3 or 4 laps were crazy fast, and I was just hoping to hang on, while also being mindful of conserving my strength for the Cat 4 race.
The race did settle in to a pretty comfortable groove, and I was able to stay with the surges. Unfortunately, we let a 4-man break get away, and they stayed away to the very end. I kept myself comfortably in the peloton, trying to stay out of the wind.
On a side note, the difference between riding in a very experienced Masters field and riding in a Cat 4 field is like night and day. During the course of this 40 minute race, the only sketchy moment for me came when a rider directly in front of me blew a shift and his whole bike stuttered. He kept it upright, and on we went. Later in the race, two guys drifted into each other, but no biggie, neither of them reacted and they went their separate ways.
During the sprint I gave it what I had, but some of those boys were burning some much bigger matches than I have. I'm stuck with those small crappy cardboard matches that you find in a fishbowl at the Holiday Inn, whereas they have those big, long fireplace matches (and don't read anything Freudian into that...let's all be adults here). I eyeballed about 8 guys in front of me. And I was right...the group of 4 stayed away, 8 other guys beat me to the line, and I took 13th out of 22. All in all, not a bad showing and I still felt pretty fresh for the Cat 4 race. In between races, I warmed up with my brother and watched teammate David Ross crush the Cat 5 field in the sprint to take the win. First road win of the season for Bicycle Heaven! The first of many, to be sure...
Cat 4
A slightly bigger field rolled to the line for the 35-minute Cat 4 race...a whopping 25, including my brother (riding for Wheelfast Racing) and the aforementioned David Ross. who was OK'd by ABR to do that Cat 4 race. ABR tends to be more relaxed about the categories, especially for training crits such as this. There was a good mix in the field...some Half Acre, some KV, some Team Mack.
My plan was to sit in and do absolutely no work. I wanted to shake out the legs from my efforts in the last race, and conserve as much energy as possible for the sprint. And right from the start, that plan went out the window. Just like in the last race, there were attacks right from the start. And I worked hard to cover them.
I was feeling good. It was becoming clear that one of the good effects that all of those Computrainer classes had on me was my ability to recover. I could put in a hard effort to stay with a surge, and moments later my HR would be low, I wouldn't be gasping for air, and my legs would feel just fine. And you can tell from looking at some of the photos that have been posted...when I'm suffering, I tend to pull what I call the "Bucky Beaver" face, with my mouth gaping open and my front teeth bared. In the pics that I have seen from this race, I look calm, cool, and collected.
But I digress. As to be expected from a Cat 4 race, this was much sketchier than the Masters. Lots of near misses, contact being made here and there, guys yelling at other guys about how poorly they took a corner, etc. And coming out of Turn 4 the lead riders must have thought that they were in the Tour de France, for many a time we would follow a line that would take us to the right side of the road, but then they would instantly dodge all the way to the left side of the road and the field would snake right along behind them. Uh, guys, it isn't any less windy 10 feet to the left then it is on the right side of the road. Very bizarre, and very unsafe.
I hadn't seen my brother for much of the race, and just as I was wondering whether he was hanging off the back somewhere I heard his chipper voice right behind me, asking how I felt. He, too was feeling good and sitting pretty comfortably in the field.
With just a few laps to go I was still sitting right toward the front of the field, and was feeling great. My downfall came in where I was positioned, not in how my legs responded. When the final surge came along the backstretch, I was boxed in and couldn't escape. And then to make matters worse there was a terrible crash in turn 4. The wheels of a Half Acre rider slid out from under him, and I saw body hit pavement and bike fly into air. I was juuuuust far enough behind that I could hit the brakes (my wheels did briefly skid) and get around him. As I went by, I saw another rider plow directly into him. Not good.
In the end, I wound up taking 8th. A solid finish, but a disappointing one. After his Cat 5 win, David was able to bunny-hop to the grass to avoid the crash and ended up in 10th. Kev took 15th.
I can tell that I have the strength, now I just need to work on positioning. In the final laps I need to make sure that I always have an "out" so that I can escape the surly bonds of the peloton and maybe...just maybe...score myself a podium finish one of these days.
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