After missing the 2011 edition of the Super Spring Criterium (mere days after our first child was born, so I think I had a good excuse), it was great to be back in South Beloit. Some sunshine and warmth would have been even better, but this is March behind the Corn Curtain.
I was there to mix it up in both the Cat 4/5 field in the morning, and in the Cat 4 field in the afternoon. In both fields, I had a bunch of Bicycle Heaven teammates, so I was hoping that we could put in some good teamwork and post some solid results. The course is an auto / motorcycle speedway, and is a 1.9 mile circuit with wide roads, perfect pavement, and lots of twists and turns. Despite these perfect road conditions, I knew from years past to expect some sketchy riding...
CAT 4/5
With that in mind I rolled to the Cat 4/5 line with a field of 70 riders for 30 minutes of racing.
Sure enough, the entire race was a mess of poor riding and near-misses. Much like Sherman Park last year, I spent the whole race tense and just waiting for a huge crash to occur. Somehow, though, everyone escaped unscathed.
I was feeling good and was making sure to stay parked next to my teammates. Maintaining position in this race was a challenge, though. Because the road is so wide, the field is constantly "swarming." Just when you get yourself positioned where you want to be, swarms of riders come up either the left or right side and the next thing you know you are further back than you were mere seconds before. Which meant that after the final turn I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. And since the start/finish straightaway is so long, you really have to be in position before the turn.
The good news is that despite going into the final turn somewhere right next to me, Bryan was able to find a hole that I didn't see and rocketed himself up to a third place finish. I kept sprinting as hard as I could and nearly rear-ended some goob who decided to just sit up. As I sped around him I screamed "ride it out!' or something like that. I get the concept of not wanting to spring for 20th place. But don't sit up and soft pedal, people.
Of the 66 finishers, I ended up in 29th. In addition to Bryan's 3rd place, Bicycle Heaven rounded out with top ten with 9th place (Stephen Pedone) and 10th place (Ben Jenkins).
CAT 4
Next up was the 40-minute Cat 4 race. The field was smaller (50 riders), and fortunately it was a much cleaner race than the 4/5. Again, I had a bunch of Bicycle Heaven teammates with me, with high hopes again of being able to animate the race.
There really isn't much to tell about this one. We rode in circles. We finished. There were no near-misses and no crashes. But there really were no attacks to speak of, no breaks to chase down. For the most part it was gruppo compatto for the whole race. There were some prime laps thrown in here and there to make it more interesting.
My legs, lungs, and heart were all feeling great. I realized about 2/3 of the way through that I could have carried on a normal conversation with someone without even having to take a heavy breath. Perhaps, given how I was feeling, I should have tried something more aggressive. But I didn't. And again, I didn't have good position at the end, and finished up 25th out of 49 finishes. Total pack fodder. But Bicycle Heaven had a couple guys in the top 10 with Shon Zeller's 8th place and Scott Bowden in 9th.
In other categories, Bicycle Heaven had a good day. Patrick Fasse pulled down 4th in the 1/2/3 race, and Ben Jenkins took 2nd in the Cat 5.
Next up...the Hell of the North, also known as The Leland Kermesse.
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