Huntsville Criterium Races- Cat 1,2,3,4 Crit

Sunday July 15, 2012

Huntsville Crit- Cat 1,2,3,4

Okay so when I woke up this morning I didn’t think I would be doing the afternoon crit with the 1,2,3’s but what the hell, why not.  It’s just 60 minutes with elite riders in 90+ degree heat at 2pm in the afternoon, sounds like a good idea?!?  Well I wanted to see if I had what it took to hang with those guys so I went for it.

To my surprise I actually felt really comfortable racing in this race.  The surges came fast and made me feel a level of pain and exertion I can’t say I have ever felt before but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.  I learned really fast that if you lose a wheel at these speeds you will not get it back.  I had to bridge a couple times when riders I was following began to fall off the pace line and I had to come around them to get back on the pace.  And it was as soon as you saw a bike length open you had to go or it was going bye bye.  We started with around 35 riders and only 23 finished.  I sat in most of the race and a couple times wound up on the front but just kept pedaling and maintained while waiting for the attack to come around me.  Brian Toone and Chris Brown had at it back and forth, attacking constantly until they finally got it to stick and then they were never seen again by the field.  For most of the race the group stayed in a strung out pace line and only when it slowed to bunch up did the speed drop to low 20’s only to have someone come out of the back like a bullet and then everyone scramble to get in line and chase. 

Start of the 1,2,3,4 Crit

This was a fast paced race but nothing I couldn’t handle being my goal was just to finish in the pack.  With 5 to go I was hurting but knew there was only 10 minutes left in the race so I gritted and stuck it out.  I got caught 3^rd wheel with 5 to go and stayed there until the last 400m.  Not the position I wanted to be in but then again I wasn’t about to give up a spot to a bunch of 1s and 2s, I needed all the advantage I could get. 

 Sitting on Andrew's wheel from Fairhope Cycling Project and letting him lead me around all day

Me and Mark were the only cat 4's that hung in until the finish and neither one wanted to give up a wheel

The sprint came in corner 3 and it went hard, turn 4 and 5 were railed at 30+ while pedaling the whole time and the last turn came at the bottom of the hill.  I was still 3^rd wheel and I stood to attack when several riders came roaring by.  By the time I grabbed a wheel I was now sitting 7^th wheel.  I was able to hold that position until the sprint at the top of the hill and then crossed the line 11^th overall.  I was really happy to compete at this level for the first time and be able to finish strong.  This gave me a lot of confidence in my training plan this year and now I know what it takes at the next level to compete. 

 Me leading out the group, haha, yeah right.  But if you notice that's Chris Brown and Brian Toone to my inside. 

Railing corner 3 and trying not to lose a wheel

With that said I sent in my Cat 3 upgrade request and it got approved this morning so now I can race with these guys from now on.  Really excited and grateful for the year I’ve had with ST3 Cycling and look forward to carrying it on into the fall with the 3 remaining road races. 

Here is a link to my Strava