Eagle Point Criterium Report

A cloudy but perfectly temperate day greeted me as I entered Dubuque and drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find the turn-off to Eagle Point Park. Did you know that Dubuque is rumored to have just as many taverns as churches? Compelling fact considering how many taverns I passed looking for the turn off to a race I have participated in three times previously.

Alas, up the hill to overlook the bluffs of the majestic Mississippi River. Familiar faces began to emerge, this is the real deal... winter is over, spring racing has officially arrived.

I feel confident these days when I line up to Category 3 events. I had a good debut last year, and shook all of the jitters out. I tweaked my training approach and equipment up this year, to turn things up just that extra bit that will be necessary to improve upon my former capabilities.

14 Cat 3 riders lined up. I sized up the competition, not knowing that I wouldn't see most of them after the start because of my early move. This course isn't riddled with 90 degree corners or hairpin downhill turns, so the starting line anxiety was extremely low for me. I knew my game plan, just not whether or not it would play out.

Jimmy Carrico launched off the front from the start (wtf?). I kept him dialed in for a lap, and pedalled at a pace that felt comfortable. I was happy to see that the pace I dialed in was more than the group was interested in maintaining, so after Jimmy was reeled in, I sort of 'emerged' with a gap.

Not interested in a solo flyer this early in the race, so I looked back often, waiting to see which rider(s) were going to take the bait and bridge up to my move. Eventually Carson Christen pedalled his way onto my wheel. He needed some time to recover, but I felt great, so didn't mind digging in a bit more to secure the gap. Eventually, he pulled through, and I knew this move was going to stick.

Two other riders (Domanic Morianiec/Atlas and Brendan Keely/ICCC) sensed that this was the winning move, and also bridged up over the course of a lap or two creating the winning 4 man break.

We took turns pulling through as our gap grew steadily. It was a smooth rotation, but I believe it was an agressive pace, as we were testing each other out while maintaining the gap. For a time, I lost track of the chase group, and wondered if they were gaining. In fact, we were edging up to them from behind.

With a few laps to go, right about the time we were beginning to mildly attack each other, I saw the chase group ahead. Hmm, I had to make a decision at this point. I couldn't resist the temptation and decided to push up to the chase group, and then right through them, hoping that some of my breakaway companions would get lost in the shuffle. My move was called out, due to the 'cheaky factor', but I was committed so I decided to try my luck.

Well that didn't work out accordingly. What effectively happened, was that the chase group, having been lapped just prior to the bell, was going to be sprinting it out with us. All of the sudden, the three other breakaway racers had teammates and a chance to recover in the pack.

Chris Reed latched on to me, Jimmy C. was executing a sort of lead out for Brendan K, etc, etc. All of these new variables as I hammered it over the last part of the race.

Brendan shot around me at the last corner. I pedalled briskly as his burst was short lived, however timed to pefection. I was slowly edging back up to him as Dominic passed me and then Carson nipped me at the line. Interesting that all three of them made it out of the pack for this bunch field sprint, so we still finished in the top 4 against the other lapped riders. Two other riders had made an earlier move, so the rest of this field was sprinting for 7th.

Well, that race was a blast, and went much better than last year. I also felt better in every aspect. That bodes well for the future, though I suppose I can cry a bit about finishing 4th out of four in the breakway.

No worries, I took my prize winnings and headed back home. I was going to watch the entire Cat 1/2 race, but wasn't as inspired when only 8 people entered [6 Bikes 2 U riders who were basically racing against Lane Anderson(A9Y) and Adam Price (ICCC)]. Somehow Adam won? I imagine that the Bikes 2 You team was more interested in getting in the workout than a team win, so they probably raced every man for themselves. Still, I bet Adam is stoked with that result, congratulations.