'ah man, this is not looking good'

2008 STATE CRIT CHAMPIONSHIPS...

The title of this blog refers to a thought that popped up often throughout Saturday's race. The first sign of trouble was that the bathroom smelled horrible and there wasn't any toilet paper. The second sign of trouble was that Chris Hansen shaved his facial hair, a cheeky move that I didn't see coming, so I was a bit thrown off. And the third and most important sign of trouble can be noted in the picture below. Me and one other guy were the only ones not with a team.

So, basically five teams were battling it out, with me and the guy from colorbiotics left with some interesting advantages and disadvantages. The race panned out in a very predictable fashion, an excellent display of team tactics.

We raced around in a circle as one by one each of the five teams got someone in the break. There was a brief moment when Bikes 2 You and Mercy Specialized weren't in the break and I was potentially still in the race. My task was obvious, I just had to make sure I stayed near the front so I could bridge up when these last two teams sent up their rider. The picture below is a key point in the race, as Bryan Moritz is seemingly trying to pull the group back together since they weren't represented in the break, and I am simply not feeling like I have it in me to bridge up.

Since no one had on their race radios, Bikes2You wasn't able to conceal their next move, as I over hear Bryan Moritz request that Hansen comes up to the front. I believe he did, but it wasn't a gentle move, it was some sort of attack type deal... not really sure, I just saw a yellow blur off to my left. Apparently, Hansen attacked the group with his teammate in tow... Yes, that's right the dreaded 'shake and bake', as Andrew F. bridged to the breakaway. Crap, now every team is in the break, and even that other single rider from colorbiotics. 'ah man, this is not looking good'.

The race was over, I missed the move I had been waiting for. It happened at a point when I was still recovering from the hill, I just couldn't respond. This B2U rider basically sacrificed himself for his team, by launching a viscious attack, designed to tow up his teamate. Below is a picture of the breakaway group... Seven riders, because Hansen was still hanging on. Race winner Andrew F. is in front.

And now the race becomes, well... a bit humorous. All five of the teams were essentially now in defensive mode to make sure the break sticks (again six guys up ahead, one from each team plus colorbiotics guy). So, if they are blocking and I am the only one without representation in the break, I guess they are sort of blocking me. That sort of sucks, obviously no one else has any incentive to close down the gap... 'ah man, this is not looking good'.

Well, I took a stab at bridging up, probably not noticeable to the untrained eye, it just wasn't going to happen. I was already a bit spent, and I didn't do it early enough, instead pulled the group around for few laps, trying to keep the gap within striking distance, wasting tons of energy. At some point, I resigned the effort, and sure enough the gap widened, as the others were still blocking.

Some attacks started happening, and I almost got shelled from this 'chase' group toward the final laps. I wasn't really interested in posting the DNF, but it was becoming a potential reality as the group was slowly pulling away.

Alas, my race is saved! Just as I was about to pull out of the race and head over to Casey's to get some toilet paper the breakaway caught us. Maybe that sounds odd, but this was to my advantage, because I knew I would be able to tuck into this larger group, therefore needing to use much less energy to 'hang on'.

I wasn't thinking about the sprint at all, I was just finishing the race out... sort of a bad attitude, but I was tired and also confused because the 6 breakaway riders were in the mix. I crossed the line in the ninth position... really? I almost got some cash? I guess the rest of the riders were tired? Perhaps more team tactics? I am sort of an idiot when it comes to crits, so I wasn't sure if our group still had a lap to go since we were one lap down from the breakaway. So, I pedalled for awhile longer just to make sure we were done. We were in fact done, which is unfortunate because I got a huge gap on the riders after they stopped pedalling.

So, all five teams placed one guy in the top five, and that colorbiotics guy(Bryan West) finished sixth. Do I wish I had team support? Well, I guess it would have been nice, things would have turned out differently, however it is also fine to be alone, makes things a bit more straight forward.

Results

1 andrew fagersten - Bikes To You

2 Adam Price - Mercy-Specialized

3 Karl Rosenberg - Hawkeye Bicycle Assoc

4 Kristopher Kunze - Rasmussen Death Squad 5000

5 Jerome Rewerts - ALL9Yards.com Cycling Team

6 brian west - Colorbiotics

7 Steven Robinson - ALL9Yards.com Cycling Team

8 Carson Christen - HBA Racing Team

9 Chad Bishop - Harper's Cycling & Fitness

10 Jimmy Carrico - Iowa City Cycling Club

11 Pete Basso - Rasmussen Death Squad 5000

12 Bryan Moritz - Bikes To You

13 William Greenwood - Bikes To You

14 Brent Mitchell - Rasmussen Death Squad 5000

DNF...

Scott Robinson - ALL9Yards.com Cycling Team

Finn Kolsrud - Bikes To You

Christopher Reed - HBA Racing Team

Kelly Steele - HBA Racing Team

Matt Gumm - ALL9Yards.com Cycling Team

Ian Robinson - HBA Racing Team

Brendan Kealey - Mercy-Specialized

Chris Hansen - Bikes To You

Ok, I got home and really just tried to repress all memories of the event. I feel some measure of success, because I really didn't want to go, but I did, and I finished sort of respectably. Mainly, though, that was more of a down note to end the road racing season on. I will need a few days to recover, mentally. If I do, then it is on to cyclocross, as a means to motivate future workouts.

(photos by moritz)