I wanted to do the Pro/1 race since it was invitational for Cat. 2s, but I backed out as I was unsure of my form after the Tsali disaster and my lack of crit. racing this season. My choice was the Cat. 2/3 race where I was hoping to equal last year's effort of 16th place. I would've been very happy with a good pack finish.
The course is a big rectangle with an uphill on the frontstretch to the finish and a downhill down the back. I am not a fan of courses like that because of the bunching effect that the downhill tends to have. It makes for crazy finishes where the last lap is not as fast as most races.
Sunny King race course from my Garmin 305
I had a good race. My legs were not the best and I was unable to answer the bell every time I needed to, but I stayed near the front of the huge group that numbered over 120 riders on the start. We had a nice big pile-up in turn 4 about 15 minutes into the race that took out almost half the remaining riders, sending almost 50 riders to the pit for a free lap. It happened in front of me, but I was able to dodge the carnage and stop next to the fence without so much as even being touched by another rider.
Crash aftermath in turn 4. That's me over on the right, examining the scene as I head for the pit.
The second half of the race was like riding a big yo-yo. The headwind on the back of the course made people not want to be on the front. We fanned out all over the road each lap as everyone avoided taking a pull. And every lap a whole line from the back would come charging by and send you back 20 spots before you could blink your eye. It was so hard to hold your postion. The only way to stay up front was to be on the front.
Me piloting my new Sette Forza out of a turn at Anniston
I was in the top 10 with 5 to go. Somehow we managed to let 8 riders get away in the closing laps. They were all dangling off the front sperately. It was weird how the end played out. I got swarmed with 2 laps to go on the backstretch, dropping outside the top 20 coming to the bell lap. Looking back at it, I feel that I could've kept from getting blocked in and therefore swarmed, but I hesitated just for a second when the surge came and that was all it took to get me sent backwards.
I made a big push towards the front on the final lap, but was out of steam by turn 3. The group caught all the riders off the front and it was a bunch sprint off the final corner. I had no sprint left in the legs after the effort I put in the first half of that lap. I was only able to pick off 2 guys in the final straight to give me 13th place. I was happy with my position, but knew I could've done better. I was far from fast enough to win it, but a top 5 was definately possible today. Hesitation took away that chance. We ended up averaging 24.6 mph for our 45 minute race.
The Pro races were great to watch. Shannon was pretty impressed with the Pro Men and the speed of their large groups. I was foaming at the mouth just wanting to be out there. Here's a few pictures we took of the other races.
Masters rider on a solo break
Part of the Masters field
Colavita sent a rider off solo on lap 1 during the Pro Women's event
Pro Women roll into turn 2
Colavita rider soloing to victory
Pro Men raced at night in Anniston
Pro Men in turn 2
First lap of the Pro Men's race
After Anniston, it was another weekend racing road. I made my first trip up to St. Louis, MO for the Tour of St. Louis. It is really a shame that I have waited so long to go to STL. It's not even 5 hours away, yet I always seem to skip an STL race over a race 6 hours away in Georgia. My Mom went along with me on this trip. She hasn't been to a bike race in a while so it seemed like a good chance for her to get a refresher course in crit. racing. It was also to be my first Pro/1/2 races since upgrading last year.
The Tour of St. Louis consisted of a circuit race and time trial on Saturday and a crit. on Sunday. The circuit race was a very short loop at just 1.3 miles, making it more like a crit. It was around the very nice Carondelet Park. The course was super fast with an uphill into the wind on the backside of the course and then an uphill finish. The weather was a bit crazy. It rained most of the morning, but then dried out for the races. The temp was in the low-40s with a 30+ mph wind.
Carondelet Park
Circuit Race course
The race was really fast from the gun. There were attacks going on both hills every lap for the first 15 minutes until the pace and wind finally split the pack. Tweleve riders were able to slip away. I tried to bridge across, but didn't make it. Then numerous attacks came from our group to establish a chase. I was hurting bad after my bridge attempt and missed a chase group of 6 that got off the front. There were still 30 riders in the main group and I waited until I recovered enough to put in a good effort and then I attacked hard, bridging to the chase group. I took one rider with me, making it 8 chasing 12 up front. The leaders had 40 seconds on us, but we worked hard to pull back time and got it down to less than 10 seconds at one point. Then everybody wanted to be a solo hero and bridge alone. We lost our cooperation and the group ahead sped up, leaving us 30 seconds behind again with 20 minutes still to go in the 70 minute race.
We never made it across the gap. The lead 12 lapped the main field and then sprinted for 3rd after two riders slipped off the front to take the top two finish positions. We caught a few stragglers from the peloton, a few of them being Mercy Cycling Team riders. They now had 3 in our group and tried to do a leadout in the closing laps. There were a few attacks that went off, but Mercy controlled them. I managed to get myself in the middle of their leadout and was positioned second wheel and ahead of their sprinter going into the final turn. There was one rider off the front, but we ate him up in the sprint. I jumped first and easily took the sprint up the hill, giving myself 13th finishing spot and making my first $ of the year.
Me getting the sprint for 13th
I was not concernced with the overall, so being the horrible time trialist I am, I decided it was best to skip the TT and save my strength for the crit. on Sunday. We had plenty of time to go exploring Sunday morning. I think it's mandatory that you go by the Arch on your first trip to STL. So we did. It's a nice park and a really cool structure. The line was super long so we didn't have time to go up in it, but we did get to check it out and snap a few pictures.
One of the sidewalks around the Arch park
Sunday's crit. course was about 0.8 miles long. It was a big rectangle with all right turns. The backstretch was super rough, full of deep holes. It definately kept you on your toes every lap. There was also a parked car before turn 2 just to make things interesting. It was also much warmer than yesterday. The sun was out bringing the temp into the upper-60s with a 5-10 mph wind blowing down the front straight.
Parked car going into turn 2
Lovely sidewalks lined the course
The Pro/1/2 race was 70 minutes again today. We had a stacked field of more than 50 riders, complete with several Pros including Jelly Belly's Brad Huff. I got a front row start and was able to get the lead rather easily and get through the first two turns cleanly. I love being a mountain biker when it comes to starts. Road starts are so slow compared to the mad dash that comes at the start of an XC. It was really fast the first few laps. There was a gradual climb back to the finish line and that was the site of attacks every single lap. It was the fastest race I have ever been in. We had a 27.4 mph avg speed after 40 minutes. I stayed in the pack the first 30 minutes, then went into a break with Huff and 4 others. I knew Huff was strong and when he went it would definately be worth following him. We got a nice gap, but once the group decided to chase they shut us down in one lap.
The pace stayed high late in the race and the group nearly split with 10 to go. I bridged the gap, but it ended up coming back together a lap later. Huff and another Pro were able to slip off the front in the final minutes. They really rode strong as we were running 30 mph and they pulled away quickly, leaving us to sprint for 3rd. I was aggressive the last few laps and stayed near the front. I was sitting about 10th with one to go. A big surge came on the backstretch and it was chaos as we all tried to move up. The group was splitting around the potholes and I was able to skim across the edge of the holes and go through the gap, finiding myself in 4th wheel going into the last turn. We were rolling 33 mph as we came off the turn and I just didn't have much of a sprint left. I dropped 2 spots before the line and wound up 8th. I was hoping for a better sprint, but I was thrilled with a top 10 in just my second Pro/1/2 race! We wound up with my fastest average speed ever at 27.5 mph for 75 minutes of racing. It was definately my best performance this season. It was good to see my speed coming along with Athens Twilight and Speed Week just around the corner.
Masters come off Turn 4
Masters pack rolls down the front stretch toward the start/finish area
Masters sprint finish
Just curious, but how do you like your Forza?
ReplyDeleteI really like it. Very light and very stiff. It accelerates very well and handles well at high speeds. It's a very great bike for the price. And I've put mine through hell for the past two years with no issues. Best bike I've ever had.
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