The Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, AL is always one of my favorite races. It's the first big race of the season so that always adds to the excitement. It was even earlier on the calendar this year, falling in March rather than it's usual April date. The weather is a rollercoaster in March, even as far south as Alabama. The forecast was sketchy all week and changed daily. It was always looking like a cold day, but rain was initially predicted as well. I was on the fence about going until Friday. Then I suddenly got excited and was ready to go no matter what the weather. Race day rolled around and it was a clear sky that accompanied the cooler temperatures. March seemed to have forgotten that it was supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb. It was definitely going out like a lion today. The temp topped out at a 52 degrees, but only for a few minutes. Lucky for me, that was right at the start of my race. Then the clouds began to creep in and the temperature dropped before the end our race.
I did the Cat. 2 race in the afternoon. That gave us time to drive down in the morning. We took I-65 to Birmingham this year, rather than the usual route of I-24 towards Chattanooga. The last two years have been traffic nightmares almost making me miss my start, so we chose a different route this year. With the exception of one gas stop where none of the gas pumps were working, it was an uneventful drive...just how we like it!
I had a decent warm-up. Time seems to fly when you are getting ready. I ended up with less time on the trainer than I had hoped for before time to line up, but it was a sufficient warm-up. We had over 50 riders even on a chilly day. The start was fast and the pace never really let up much the whole race. Hincapie had several young development riders in the race and they were launching attacks from the very start. No break really materialized the first 15 minutes, then a pair of riders slipped up the road and began to build a gap. I stayed in the front half of the group. I was working hard, but in no danger of getting dropped. My fear was that I would get shelled out the back in this race with it being the first really intense effort of the year for me. The hill up the front stretch is always a hard sprint and doing that over and over will take it's toll on under-trained legs. I could tell straight away that, like at Chickasaw, my legs were a little off today. But I was hanging tough on the hill and not getting gapped out of the corners.
An early solo move
Me at the back of the main group. I stayed ahead of all the splits today...just barely a few times.
Pack on the backstretch
Another solo move that went nowhere
The first serious move of the race
Me on the inside
The breakaway was ahead for several laps before a real chase began. The group chased for one lap before there was a single-rider crash in turn 4. It was one of the Hincapie riders that was 4th or 5th in line. We all checked-up and that split our group. It was a small gap to four riders, but nobody wanted to put in the work to close the gap. It began to grow and then riders began jumping across the gap, eventually growing the chase group to seven riders. Up front in the lead break, one rider attacked the other and set off solo. The dropped rider was caught by the chase group, making it eight chasing one.
Solo leader
Chase group
Things got ugly after that. It was constant attacks from the main group to attempt to bridge to the chasers. At one point our group nearly caught the chase group of eight. At another point, the main group was split into three smaller groups and I found myself in the fourth group on course! I was hurting at halfway an my legs were fading. I started to get gapped out of turn 4 and up the hill. There were a few laps where I had to really turn myself inside-out to stay on the wheel ahead. There was no way I was attempting to bridge anything today.
It was single-file suffering for the last 20 minutes. Finally, things came back together in the main group, but we never caught the leader or the chase group. The one rider stuck the break to the end for the solo win, while the eight riders scrapped for second. We were left to sprint for 10th. I found myself suddenly feeling good again with a lap to go and I went with a surge up the hill. I got stuck out into the wind out of turn 2 and that zapped my legs. We were going around the outside of a slower rider in turn 2 and I didn't clear him before the headwind hit. I wasn't in the wind long, but it took everything out of me. When the surge came from behind before turn 3, there was nothing I could do about it. I lost several spots going into the turn and got pushed wide. My legs were toast coming off turn 4 and I had little left to sprint with. I lost at least six spots before the line.
Me behind a Columbia Paralympic Team rider
photo by Dave Gill (http://davidgill.smugmug.com/Sunny-King-2015)
Suffering in the line during the closing laps
photo by Dave Gill (http://davidgill.smugmug.com/Sunny-King-2015)
I finished 25th, which I was pleased with considering the off-season I have had and the speed of this race. We averaged 25.6 mph for the 45-minute race, which is the fastest average speed I have ever had at Anniston. That is scooting on a course this tough on a cold, windy day. My legs may not have felt great, but I was able to hit a HR of 195 early in the race and go above 190 five times. I have not done that in a long, long time. My calf was a little sore after the race. It wasn't painful, but it definitely felt abused. Deciding to only race once this weekend was a good idea. I didn't think I was ready for back-to-back races yet and the calf soreness was a sign that I was correct. It's getting better, but it's not 100% yet. I still have to respect the injury. Doing the 81-mile Ft. McClellan Road Race on Sunday would have been a mistake for sure. My GoPro handlebar cam highlight video is posted below. Another rider from Infinity Racing posted some bike cam footage from during the Cat. 2 race and I have reposted it below as well. I saw myself on his video a few times.
Highlights of my race
Infinity Racing video from the Cat. 2 race
After the race, we made our way over to Dad's Bar-B-Que for our usual post-race dinner in Anniston. We watched a little basketball while we ate, then returned to the course for the Pro Women's race. It was getting cold now. There were still a lot of spectators present, but more and more were moving to their cars for warmth. All around the course there were cars pulled up as close to the barriers as possible. Shannon sat in the car while I soaked up the last rays of sunshine and then walked the course to watch a rather aggressive women's race. United Healthcare drove the pace the final few laps and blew the field to pieces. It was a small group that sprinted for the win with United Healthcare going 1-2 with Hannah Barnes and Coryn Rivera. Read more about the Pro Women's race here.
My view of the Women's race. My work was done for the day.
It was down to 40 degrees by the time the Pro Men started. I was in and out of the car trying to stay warm. It was a tough race with the conditions, but that did not keep it from being aggressive. A break of seven riders lapped the field around halfway through the race. We left shortly after that with about 23 laps to go. I wanted to stay, but we had over four hours to drive home and it was already getting late. I had to wait until the livestream replay was posted before I could see the ending. It wound up being a bunch sprint, but Hincapie tried several times to get breaks going for Mac Brennan, who was one of the seven that lapped the field. United Healthcare pulled it all back, but it was not to be for them tonight. Hincapie sprinter Ty Magner slipped by Luke Keough to grab the win, a huge victory for both Magner and the team. Read more about the Pro Men's race here.
Our race video is posted below and you can watch the livestream replay of all the races at Anniston here. The Masters 4/5 race was a good finish, which you can find at 1:29:00 into the video. The Masters 1/2/3 race featured a high-powered breakaway with a surprise sprint finish. That race starts at 1:41:30. At 3:11:57 see the final lap of the Cat. 4 race, which featured an interesting crash in Turn 1. The last lap of the Cat. 3 race is at 3:59:12. The Cat. 2 race starts at 4:11:45. The Pro Women start at 6:37:01. The Pro Men begin at 7:50:00, complete with a marriage proposal before the race.
Video highlights from the Sunny King Criterium
The following week was full of training, the final week in my first block involving intensity. I was pretty worn out by the next weekend, more than ready to take a rest week and enjoy Easter. The calf felt fatigued several times during the week, but never became tight or painful. It is improving, but really annoying at the same time. I am ready to be done with this. I feel like I'm always holding back, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. At least it should keep me from getting overtrained. I have been exploring some new roads in our area. It takes a long ride for me to be able to ride something new. I have ridden every road within a two hour distance of the house in all directions. I'm finding new roads just over the border in Kentucky, like the ones I wrote about in the last post. I have actually ridden some of these roads before, when I was 5-8 years old. My Dad took me to that area for some of my very first rides. First in a trailer, then on a tandem and eventually on my own. I probably have not been through those roads since I was 8. One day I'll write a blog about how I first got into cycling. I actually started at a much earlier age than most people know and had some great family experiences with it.
Shannon and I tore up some of the roads the day before Easter to end my training block. I hammered about 70 miles while she rode the scooter, pacing me for a lot of the ride. It was a fun workout and felt more like a road race than if I had been out there alone. Though I think some of the roads scared Shannon. The small wheels on the scooter don't handle the curves and bumps very well, but she is becoming a scooter master. At least I know she enjoyed seeing some of the greenery that is popping up with the warmer weather.
A nice, green view on our ride
Racing continued for me this past weekend with the Hell of the South Road Race and the Cedar Hill Criterium. More from those coming soon. Thanks for reading!
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