Great Falls Criterium

Masters 35+
10th/28

Today’s race was a dramatic shift from yesterday’s long road race. The course was a 4-corner ¾ mile circuit in downtown Auburn. Unique about it was an uphill just after the start-finish line and a steeper climb after turn 1. Here is where I predicted breaks would be made.
The morning weather was dismal, rain and 50’s. Babs and the kids wisely decided to stay home. Luckily, my race didn’t start until 1:10 and there was a significant dry spell that cleared the roads. Unfortunately, this didn’t last through the race and some light showers made the roads wet again. I ran a pair of Kenda all-conditions tires and I’m glad I did as there was a painted crosswalk right in the middle of turn 4 that scared me every time we rode over it, but there were no crashes this day thankfully.
My warm-up was short and probably insufficient. My legs were burning from the day before still. As I pedaled, it felt like I was putting Icy-Hot on them. I should have spun longer, but ran out of time. The start was uneventful except for the fact I was behind a rider who was having trouble shifting up the climb so many riders passed us. The first 1/3 of the race was difficult for me as I was still flushing out the affects of the road race. I was pretty much mid-pack just trying to get a rhythm going when a break of 6 riders left the front. This left me in the main field to try to figure out what to do. I hoped we would be able to get organized and bridge the gap but it didn’t appear that was going to be the case. The pace was slow from my perspective and I was starting to fell good. The lead group was still within sight on the straightaways so after a rider sprinted for a prime I took off hoping someone would follow and chase with me. Unfortunately no one joined in and I rode a couple of hard laps to see if I could make up any ground. I have to say the course really didn’t lend itself to a successful solo effort. There was a significant headwind after a descent and the strength was in having numbers. So I gave up the fight and settled in with the main field again.
We rode around fairly casually and I now realize why. I was witness to another road strategy learning experience. 2 teammates set the pace up front. Having now read the results, I see another of their riders were in the lead group so these 2 guys were keeping us from generating any effort to bring the field back together so their guy could contend for the win. Without any teammates, I was left to either do another solo or sit in and wait for a field sprint. With 3 laps to go, my mind was made for me. The pace truck was coming up on us because we were slower than the leaders so I decided to try to keep ahead of it. I left the group and redlined it for 2 laps. This proved smart as the others stayed together and I gained a good bit of distance. When I went by with 2 laps to go, I thought I heard the announcer say that I and the group behind me were going to be under the camera next lap, so essentially finishing next time by. During that lap the pace truck went by me and I looked back to see what I thought was a decent gap to the group behind me. So I stayed on the gas and never looked back again just pushing hard to the finish.
Well, I should have looked back because I would have seen 4 team riders working together to outsprint me to the line! I had no idea what was going on and felt like I was just robbed. But over the next hour on my cool down ride I kept telling myself I did the right thing, but just got schooled by more road racing tactics. I was frustrated, but happy with my performance and to hold on to a top-10 finish in this elite group. My frustration has boiled over to intrigue once again and I look forward to developing my own tactics someday!
Next up is a ROOT 66 mtb race in MA as a tune-up for Mt. Snow.