Day 1 At the Gateway Cup: Under the Lights in STL

    The big weekend I had been waiting for finally rolled around just before Labor Day. It's was time to pack the car and head to St. Louis for 4 days of fast crit racing. It was to be my first real Pro/1/2 crits since the beginning of July. To me, this was the biggest weekend remaining of my season. My results this season have been good considering the level I am racing at, but I really wanted to finish one of these big crits on the lead lap and show that I can hang with these guys. Plus, I'm in search of sponsors and a team for next year. What better way to show you are worthy of some support than to show some potential in a bigger race.

    My goal was to finish at least one of the races. The course for the first race on Friday night was a flat and fast square. That looked to be my best chance to finish one. We drove up in the middle of the day. It was a super hot day too, with temps in the triple digits. We got to town in time to grab our cabin at the Granite City, IL KOA and grab a quick nap. I felt drained after the hot drive. I tried to pull in fluids and use the nap to recharge. It helped some, but I was still feeling weak when we arrived over at Lafayette Square. The bad thing about racing last is that you get the crappy parking spots. I don't think I have ever changed that fast. We were in a really shady neighborhood. As I rode off, I glanced back over my shoulder, expecting this to be the last time I ever saw all four of my car's windows intact.

Tour de Lafayette course map

     At the race, the crowds were big and loud. It was not the typical bike race crowd. The people seemed to be more into their social conversations and interactions than into the race. It was a real pain in the butt to get through the crowd to registration and then to get onto the course. People weren't paying attention to the riders trying to get through and really they didn't seem to care that we needed through. I rode back and forth in an alley to get in at least a partial warm-up. Then it was time to take a quick lap and begin the fight for a start spot. We had over 130 riders so the start was going to be important. I was pumped. Night races are always awesome!

Video: Large Pro/1/2 group on lap 1

    They called up a bunch of riders and I ended up at the back despite trying to be in the first half of the field. To my surprise, the start was not too fast. I was hoping to just hang on for as long as possible. I stayed near the back until I was sure I was warm, then I took advantage of the slower pace and moved up. I say slower pace, but we were still averaging 27 mph. It just felt slow on a fast course with such a large group. Attacks were going right and left, but they were pulled back right away. After 20 minutes of the 75-minute race, the group slowed more and started allowing guys to get big gaps. About 2 riders were slipping away per lap.

     Then came a prime lap for $200 and that got things animated. I jumped out of the group after 22 minutes of racing and bridged to the guys that went for the prime. We started a 4 rider break chasing 2 leaders. We got a decent gap right away, but man did it hurt. One of the riders with me was Mike Sherer, who recently turned Pro for Kelly Benefit Strategies. We were rolling 32 mph in the break, which doesn't take long to smoke me. My heart rate was pegged after a lap. I was having trouble hanging onto the back after my pull. The group must have thought we were dangerous because they didn't give us much leash before pulling us back. I was hurting for a good 20 minutes after that break and had to sit in the middle of the group the rest of the race. But it was worth it just to see that I was able to go off the front at that kind of speed. It was a huge improvement from Speed Week back in May when I was getting dropped in 15 minutes.

Pro/1/2 group comes off turn 4 under the lights of Lafayette Square

Photo by Matt James

     The fastest part of the race was the final few laps. I could tell most of my races this season have been 45 minutes, because I faded badly after the hour mark. I was ok hanging in the group, but it was getting hard to move up. I made a surge to the front with 3 laps to go, but couldn't hold my position. The pace was really fast down the back staright the last 2 laps and I couldn't hold my position. I drifted back and wound up 70th out of the 100 or so finishers. I was thrilled with my effort. I finished the race on the lead lap and I even got in a break! Newly crowned crit. national champ Eric Young (Bissel) won the day, proving he continues to be on good form. We averaged a smooth 27.9 mph for 80 minutes. My max speed for the night was 35.9 mph. Not bad for a pancake-flat course.

     We hurried back to the car and just jumped in. I didn't even change. We just wanted to get out of the shady neighborhood and back to our cabin for dinner and some sleep. This was a good start to the weekend. And it was just a little hint of the things that were to come before the weekend was over.