Friday night I raced in State Center, Ia at the Rose Festival Criterium put on by Colorbiotics. I was hoping that this would be a small race that I would give me a chance to practice my criterium racing.
Upon arrival I headed to the Rose Festival to put down a 2 pound burrito and have my photo taken with the 'Rose Queen'. It was raining, but I was confident the course would be try by the time my race started.
I rode up with Bikes2You racer, Nick Campbell, who achieved a 3rd place finish in th Cat 4/5 race even after getting taken out in the last lap in a wipeout.
One by one, I started to see some of Iowa's best Cat 1/2/3 racers showing up. At the start, there were 28 competitors racing for 9 spots. That was much larger and more talented field then I expected for a first year, single day race on a Friday night.
The course was interesting with 4 quick turns then two longer stretches. Two slight upgrades added a bit of pressure to the legs and contributed to some of the riders that dropped out.
I am embarassed to say that I was extremely uncomfortable the first few laps. I was having severe flashbacks of my last criterium experience in which I wiped out on a wet corner at the Quad Cities Crit. It took some time to convince myself that I could race through the corners at speed. Alas, I found my rhythm and was able to enjoy a really great race.
Cat 1/2/3 Iowa riders are a great group of guys. Large team turnouts from Rasmussens, All Nine Yards, Bikes2You and Colorbiotics. Attacks and counter-attacks were frequent. This made for some intense racing, but ultimately they were always reeled back in. I even found myself with a 7 second gap with Jerome Rewerts of All Nine Yards. I wasn't feeling the move, though, which allowed the field to catch up.
All of the attacking, however did shed quite a few riders. I imagine it was mostly Cat 3's and Masters racers(who had just completed their race moments earlier).
Toward the 2nd or 3rd to last lap I found myself in fifth wheel. I should have punched it right then and there, but I didn't and ended up with horrible position coming around the final corner. I advanced one spot, though to finish 11th, just a bit shy of the money spots.
I can say, I witnessed a beautiful move by the Bikes2You team on the last lap. I looked up to see three gleaming gold jerseys leading the field. There designated sprinter, Will Greenwood, was in 3rd wheel, with Andrew F. and Bryan Moritz leading him out.
The leadout men peeled off perfectly and Will hammered out the victory.
This was a great race, and worth the drive. I feel really good about my chances in upcoming events. I have the physical side of things in line, now I am sharpening up my mental game.
Day three of my racing tour continues in Johnston, Ia (Des Moines Suburb) for the Greendays Criterium.
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3 comments:
Well, where is the picture? Was the Rose Queen at least hot?
She wouldn't sign the media release form, so I can't publish the picture, nor our post-race photos. Too bad because there wasn't anything thorny about her.
She must be wanted :).
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