I will post a recap of the Hillsboro Roubaix in a day or two, as that was an awesome event, but I am hoping to have some photos. Check out the results. Also, of interest, a lot of Iowa Riders made the trip for the Pro, Cat 1/2 race. Bikes 2 You and Mercy Specialized had 4 or five riders each.
So, first up the Criterium at Tilles Park...
I had a nice drive through St. Louis and enjoyed seeing the Arch and Anheiser Busch Stadium. I was running late, so had to skip the brewery tour I had originally planned. The photo above features the Cat 3/4 race I entered as we traversed the start/finish area.
As I arrived, I began to get the feeling that I was going to have a great race, because it seemed to have a much more informal feel than the Saturday mega-event in Hillsboro. I was feeling that a podium finish was in my grasp. The course was a short .6 mile loop in a park, so it didn't have any right degree angles and only slight gradients, basically flat. Below is a picture of me riding within the pack at some random point in the race.
Our race was 50 minutes plus 4 laps, so about an hour. I thought it would be a smaller turnout, but by the time it was all said and done, there were over 60 starters... this was going to be another battle.
Because there weren't any hills or sharp corners, breaking away wasn't much of an option, and fitness wasn't really as much of a factor. This race came down to riding smart, holding a good position and then hitting it all out at the last lap.
Ok, I rode in the middle for awhile, tried it at the front for a bit, then meandered at the back for awhile, trying to exercise some patience and conserve some energy. At some point I realized that I may never get back up to the front if I waited too long. With 60 riders, there simply wasn't room to accelerate to the position you wanted, you had to wait and fill gaps and slowly make your way up. Below is a shot of the group negotiating one of the turns.
I finally made my way up to the front, hoping to jump on board some of the attacks, and form some sort of break. Lap after lap passed, and I basically ended up pulling the entire group most of the time, as most of the riders had already decided to just try their chances at a bunch sprint. I am quite positive that most of the Missouri teams were very happy to have me in the race. The tempo I set was just fast enough to discourage attacks, but apparently not fast enough to thin out the field. Every time someone did attack me, I joined their move, but the pack quickly closed in. My tactic didn't pan out according to plan, however I did end up in excellent position as the last lap approached. I was in third wheel, then all hell broke lose as the bell sounded. Everyone launched ahead at the exact time, almost as if by some sort of pre-race script that I didn't read.
I was overwhelmed, but because I had good position, managed to hang on to a position within the front half of the pack. I pedalled it out, obviouslly not quite as crisp as the others, having set tempo and wasted energy on my earlier failed strategy. I ended up in about the 15th position of the sprint.
I can say, I don't regret attending the race or even my strategy, it could have worked, probably not on that course profile, but, I had fun trying it. The course was fast, and provided me with a chance to get used to my brand new Madone 6.5. This bike is awesome, and will recieve credit for some of my hopeful successes.
This race gave me a chance to sharpen my criterium skills for the 2009 season, hopefully getting just a bit more comfortable with racing in large packs. It was also of interest to ride with racers from a different state, alot of them from Big Shark Racing.
I had a better race on Saturday, having formed a solo breakaway chase, that nearly caught the lead group of 6, and allowed me to finish in the top 10 in a race of 120. More on that in the next post.
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