Cat 3 Racing Debut in Finchford

Sunday was my first race as a USCF Category 3 Racer. I knew I would be familiar with a lot of the entrants, but, for obvious reasons, I was apprehensive about how I would do at this upgraded level of competition and skill.

The weather was cold and windy, so basically same crap, different weekend. The namesake for this event references a nasty 'hell on wheels' type event in europe, known for its brutal conditions. So, in that spirit, the weather was perfectly fitting. The field was, however smaller than last year, probably due to the elements.

11 Cat 3 riders lined up along with 8 Masters racers. We were slated to do 10 laps, totaling over 50 miles. I really didn't have anything to lose in this race, being fresh from the Cat 4s, so I was just thrilled to be lining up, and that US Cycling allowed me to compete at this level.

At the first lap, Will Greenwood went out on a suspicious solo break. The Bikes To You Team tactics had apparently already started. Bryan Moritz stayed in the pack to help control things. Both of these guys did very well last weekend in Altoona, so I spent some time thinking about this move.

Then as I crossed the first lap, I thought about how I had finished my first lap in the 3's, and felt a bit of pride having actually accomplished one of my big 2008 goals. Instead of rolling over to the side of the road, and celebrating, however I decided to stick the race out and see if I could finish a couple of more laps.

Will's move didn't stick, but many riders made attacks throughout the race. I was really liking how the 3's/Masters were racing compared to the Cat 4 races I have experienced. Things were smoother, there was more thinking (tactics), and fitness/strength would be a factor, as some of the accelerations were strong enough to reduce the shell of some of the racers.

At some point, I looked around the group and got confused. I didn't see the Bikes to You riders, and thought maybe I had missed a break. In actuality, they had pulled out of the race (maybe VEISHA celebration in Iowa State worked to my advantage?). Also, some strong riders from HBA were missing as well.

Things were looking good for me if I could just finish, because this race paid back (very well) five places and four of the race favorites were out of the contest. However, that left 3 of the All Nine Yards Racers,2 members of the Rasmussen Death Squad 5000 and a racer who is always strong, dominic moraniec.

I was still just happy to be rolling along, and felt strong so everything was really fun. A couple of times I got caught out in between the lead rider and the pack. I didn't do this on purpose, and felt sort of odd when I turned around and saw that I was stuck in no man's land.

As the end of the race neared, I was gauging how much strength I had left, because it seemed like some of the remaining racers would be susceptible to being dropped. If the pack of 3's could get to less than 6, I would be in the money, and have a happy ride home.

At some point, while thinking about this, I chased down an 'all nine yards' attack, and inadvertantly ended up with a pretty nice gap. Assuming that his teammates would block for him, and knowing that I had a teammate in the pack, Bill Ford, I decided to have a go at it. Bill was racing as a Master 40+, so he was in a great position. He wasn't obligated to chase, and he could still win first in his race. Nice.

This is when the moto-ref became an awesome race amenity. He would call out the splits from time to time. The rider in the break with me (matt gumm) wasn't feeling quite as strong. So he wasn't able to contribute to the effort, except to help lessen the intensity of the pursuit by having teammates in the field.

I rode him off my wheel unintentionally, despite the motoref advising me to stay with him (again, awesome to have a moto ref, not only dispensing race info, but sharing his race expertise). I just had the legs that day, so I decided to see if I could hang on the gap solo.

Each time the moto ref gave me a split it was larger. It was around 30 to 40 seconds the first few times he gave me the split. Then it got to a minute, then later 2 minutes. I just put my head down and enjoyed a nice time trial on the roads of northern Iowa. Approaching the final lap, I turned around and saw a few riders chasing me down. Ah crap!

But wait, as I crossed the line for the bell lap, the crowd cheered wildly. Wow, I am the hero of the day... Not really, apparently the guys behind me were sprinting to finish the Cat 1/2 race. They almost passed me before the finish. More importantly, I had just one more lap to go (about 5.4 miles).

The moto ref advised me that I had a huge gap as I approached the final 2 miles, and congratulated me. I wasn't going to believe I had won my first race as a Cat 3, and $130 bucks until it actually happened. I spent the rest of the race thinking about all of the things that could go wrong (flat tire, severe cramps, angry red-neck vehicular homicide, brain aneurism, wardrobe malfunction, etc.)

At some point, I knew I would be able to win, even if it meant crawling across the line. I was happy to not be sprinting as I passed the 200 meter signage. Nice. Icing on the Cake, Bill Ford charged up the hill in the field sprint and won the Master's race. Needless to say, it was a good day for the Guys in Gold.


Pictured above is the podium pic with myself Steven Robinson and Brent Mitchell. Thinking about retiring from the sport now, maybe take up hang gliding or something. Thanks for the memories and good luck to all.