Things started on Tuesday with the Mocksville Criterium in downtown Mocksville, NC. It is a tight 0.5-mile rectangle with a hill between turns 3 and 4. Last year, I got destroyed out of turn 4 every lap, so I was very attentive there this year. We had about 50-60 riders start the Pro/1/2 race for 60 minutes of racing. The course does not suit me as the narrowness keeps things single-file and provides little opportunities to rest. I did not think I would finish this race, but I wanted to last longer than the 4 laps I made with the group last year.
Mocksville course
It was a fast start. The first few times up the hill were all-out. My heart felt like it was going to explode and it got my chest to hurting. I felt like I did no warm-up, even though I did a really good one. My legs were great, but the chest was hurting so bad! The pace dropped after 4-5 laps, then picked up again. I was running 183 heart rate most of those laps just hanging on. Surprisingly, I was strong up the hill and out of turn 4. I was struggling more halfway down the front stretch as they seemed to accelerate their every lap.
At 15 minutes, I heard a screeching coming from my back wheel. I thought the brake was dragging, maybe due to a wobbly wheel or maybe the wheel moved in the dropouts when I hit one of the many grates on the course. I dropped to the back to loosen the brake. I bombed the next corner just in time to see a pile-up on the outside. I had no rear brakes now that I had loosened them. I barely got stopped in time to avoid going down. I kind of slid right into the pile of riders.
I took a free lap and took full advantage of it to check out my wheel. It was not wobbling. I tightened the brakes and they were not rubbing. I have no idea what that sound was, but now at least I knew it was ok and it gave me some peace of mind. They put me back in the race at the front. It was aggressive up there, and very fast as they were chasing a solo break. I had no legs now. The free lap killed them. I dropped through the field on the hill and found myself off the back at 20 minutes. After a lap on my own, my legs suddenly came around. The group was blowing to pieces so I caught a few people. Me and one other rider began to do a two-man TT effort to stay out there as long as possible. It was frustrating because now I felt great again, but our race was over at 26 minutes. I hated getting pulled when I felt so good, but this was just a product of a racing incident and there was little I could do about it. Sometimes free laps make you feel better, sometimes they make you feel worse. At least I lasted longer than last year! I was given 44th place on the results. The race average speed was about 29.0 mph, give or take a tenth. It was fast for such a tight course.
Cat. 3s on course in Mocksville
Onboard video with Marcel Gutierrez during the Cat. 3 race
Day 2 was in Kannapolis, NC for the Kannapolis Criterium around the NC Research Campus. This was a new event, replacing the tiny Concord Criterium from year's past. The course in Kannapolis was D-shaped, with two tight corners and a brick roundabout halfway around the curved backside of the course. We had beautiful weather again. It was slightly overcast and not at all hot or humid. It was perfect for racing. You can't get any better than that in July! We had 60 starters tonight for another 60 minute race. I had a mid-pack start, but found myself at the very back before the end of the first lap. I was slow to clip my feet in and then got stuck behind two riders with mechanicals on the first lap.
The two corners were very narrow and bottled the pack up significantly. We were doing 10 mph through the turns, then sprinting back up to 32-33 mph on the straights. The accelerations of a strong Pro/1/2 group kill me. That is definitely my weakest area right now and this course pointed that out twice per lap.
Kannapolis Course
.png)
Cat. 3 winner
Dan Underwood in the Masters race
Tim Hall in the Masters race
That sent me to the back again, just as the pace picked up and riders began to blow up. I had to close a few gaps the next lap. I was already gassed from pushing my way up in the field the lap before. I began to suffer off the turns. The accelerations were just too much. I popped off the back out of turn 1 and immediately went into TT mode. I had good legs again and was able to hold the gap at 5 seconds for a few laps. Then I started to fade. I had been running 27-28 mph on the straights, but had to eventually slow to 25 mph. I was dropped at 15 minutes and got pulled at 22 minutes. It was disappointing. Again, I felt like I should have been there, but I need a perfect race to stay on and getting behind crashes is too much for me to overcome right now. I'm just not strong enough yet. They gave me 58th place on the night. We had been averaging 29 mph while I was in. I think they slowed down a little after 30 minutes when a two-man break went away. The two made it to the end and had a good sprint for the win, taken by Alder Martz of Hincapie Devo. We have a little video posted below, followed by highlight video shot by Aaron Beaver.
Video: Kannapolis Criterium
Video: Kannapolis highlights video by Aaron Beaver
Last night was the third race, the Salisbury Criterium, held in downtown Salisbury, NC. This was a fun race last year and I was excited to be back. It seemed like a good opportunity for me to get the monkey off my back and have a good race. It's also the most convenient race of the series, taking place not even five minutes from the group of hotels that house most of the riders.
The forecast was for 50% chance of rain. The radar looked like the green would miss us, but it did not. The early races were dry, but then the rain came just as the Masters finished. The Cat. 3 and Pro/1/2 races were held in a steady downpour that made for a slick course. We had 51 starters tonight. I wanted to get a good start spot, but found myself 3/4 of the way back. Again, I had a poor start, this time self-inflicted as I did not get my feet clipped in right away. The first few turns were scary as hell. Some people had brakes, but most did not, myself included. I almost ran over a few people in turn 2 and almost got run over as well. There was a lot of metal here in the form of manhole covers, sewer grates and metal plates. They were beyond slick. People were crashing on them last year in the dry.
Salisbury figure-8 course
Rocking the new Swiftwicks Grant gave me at Rehab Summit last week...and a really bad sock tan line
Cat. 4/5s racing in the dry
Video: Cat. 4/5 race in Salisbury
Chris Harkey leads the Masters field
Masters just before the rain started
Right away, I was out of contention. I was 45 sec. behind the front halfway through the first lap. There were gaps everywhere after just four turns on this eight-turn course. Then came a crash in turn 7 that further busted things up. I almost went down in turn 1 on lap 2. In the dark and wet it is very hard to pick out what's on the ground. I couldn't see the manhole covers until I hit them. It was like ice skating in turns 1, 2 and 3. You could not pass through the turns without crashing, so I had to follow the slower riders until the two long straightaways. I had good legs again and would almost sprint the entire straights. I passed a lot of riders, but there were huge gaps everywhere. The front group was less than 20 riders after just four laps.
First lap
Crash on the right
I got with two other riders and we worked together for a few laps. There was a big crash in turn 1 one lap that I was glad happened ahead of me. It was pure chaos out there. My group got pulled at 12 minutes, even though we were just half a lap behind. They pulled us early "for safety reasons." We sprinted it out to the line. I led out the sprint, but the other two pipped me on the line in a photo finish. There's no way they looked at the camera though. I was placed in 46th. There's no way I was that far back. I never went all the way to the back and I passed a lot of people, way more than five. I think a lot of guys took free laps when there were crashes, even though they were not even remotely involved in the crash.
Just outsprinted to the line
Honesty was not happening in this race. There was another big crash a few laps after I was pulled. The race was stopped for a few minutes while they cleaned up things. The race took forever to restart because people were trying to start in the front group. There was supposed to be 17 in the front and 30 were trying to restart in it, so they had to go number by number and pull out all the riders that were in the front group. It's sad that guys can't be honest and go with the group they belong with. In the end, two riders broke clear from the front group and won the race. There ended up being at least three small groups that finished the race. It was a messy, messy night. I ran the GoPro and you can watch the footage below.
Video: GoPro handlebar cam of my race in the rain
Again, I feel that I never had a chance to show what I could do. With starting so far back, I was doomed from the start. The forecast is for more rain Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. I sure hope we can race in the dry. I really, really want to finish one of these and break my 0-9 Crossroads record. Right now it is raining, but we still have several hours before race time in Statesville tonight. Tomorrow we do a new crit. in Asheboro and then wrap up with a crit. around the City Park here in Salisbury. Check out the Recent Race Results column on the blog home page for the quickest updates on my races. I post the placing as soon as I get the results. Thanks again for reading and supporting!
No comments:
Post a Comment