Saco Criterium, ME State Championship

10th/43
Crowned Maine State Criterium Silver Medalist

I did this race last year for fun, representing my only road event of the year. I finished 11th in the Cat. 5 field and got lapped in the Masters 35+. This year, I’ve been taking road racing seriously and I wanted to focus on the higher profile Masters event as it carried USA Cycling’s State Crit Championship status. I also added an NECS mountain bike race for the next day so I just wanted to do 1 race today.
The family and I rose early (how great are they to allow their schedules to be totally dictated by my “hobby?”) as we were on Cape Cod all week and drove the distance to Saco. The weather was perfect and the race was held near a park and like 3 playgrounds so hopefully the kids were entertained. I’m sure Babs had visions of shopping!
The race started fast and stayed fast until the end. I spent the majority of the race about mid-pack, keeping in the draft. Even without wind-resistance, my heart rate showed I was going hard. There were a couple of crashes which generally shouldn’t happen in a field filled with experience and talent such as this. However, this course is pretty technical so the possibility exists for anything to happen to anyone.
Per usual, it came down to a sprint to the line. I’ve become decent at setting myself up in good position to have a good finish. I would never call myself a sprinter, so I know I can’t compete with the guys once the sprint starts. However, I want to make sure I’m as close to them as possible so I don’t get dropped too easily. My strategy is to set myself up into position on the final lap and be sure I’m at least in the top-10 going into the second to last corner, as opposed to the last corner. This worked well again today, as I maintained my position on the straightaway to the finish which was a LONG way down!
Then, the wait was on to see how many ME racers finished ahead of me as the state championship applies to residents. Turns out a Mainer finished 4th overall and won the gold, earning me the silver. I’ll take it, especially after last year’s result!
It was a good day, and it was great to come home later that day.
Next up is the NECS #7 in Newport, NH.