We loaded up the car and headed to Westerville, OH for the Garrett Wonders Criterium. Now criteriums are not my forte, but I was hunting for more races to apply towards my license upgrade. Following registration I warmed up for a few minutes on the trainer and then headed out onto the course for a preview. It was a flat, fast four corner course 1.1 miles in length. The pavement was superb, save for the back straight after turn three. There were numerous potholes and manhole covers on this section, which could prove dangerous at high speeds, especially if the rain that was threatening decided to open up while we were racing. I took several laps and threw in a few "hot laps" prior to the lineup at 8:20am. The Cat. 5 field was HUGE. We were approaching 50 riders strong which was going to prove interesting on the narrow single lane streets on the back section of the course. When the beginning whistle blew we all started in one big, fast moving mass. We rolled into turn one 6-7 riders wide and hit the bottle necked single lane road. I was sitting mid pack tucked inside the peloton. The pace was comfortable, but the turns already made me uneasy as there were several VERY inexperienced riders jostling around inside the folds of the peloton. I didnt feel like touching wheels and going down in the middle of all 50 riders, so as we rounded the first lap I worked my way to the outside, my plan of sitting in all day shot. I quickly moved up to the front of the pack as we started lap two, going around 20mph. When we hit the single lane side street again, I nailed it pulling out one of the Junior racers with me (they start with the Cat 5's). We pulled several yards off the front and then the real race began. The pack quickly jumped after us and we were soon topping 26-27mph coming into the turns. We were all back together in a bunch now, so I set the pace off the front holding a steady tempo and jumping on every turn. We quickly detached a group of 15-20 off the tail end of the pack who werent used to the intensity of the pace. I led two laps and then...it started raining. It rained on us hard for 10-15 minutes and now the course turned from slightly technical to downright treacherous. We continued to maintain a speed around 25mph, but each turn became a bit more dangerous as guys were sliding and fishtailing as we all pushed the pace (and limits of traction) to the edge. Finally, in the next to last lap the unthinkable, but inevitable happened. As we rounded turn three onto a straightaway (again, 6 riders wide) one of the Juniors riding in the middle of the bunch slid on the road paint, causing his rear tire to explode. The force of the tire exploding and his instant reaction of grabbing his brakes threw him up on his front wheel where he teetered (at 24mph) for a split second before going down on the road. Instantly the pack began imploding like a house of cards. Guys were going everywhere, some right into the downed rider, others over to the curb where they were thrown onto the sidewalk and grass, and others grabbing handfuls of brakes causing riders behind them to slam into them. It was chaos in a 5 second time span. I was directly behind the Junior whose exploding tire started the pileup, but managed to swerve around him without incident...or so I thought. As I was swerving I ran into one of the large potholes on the course, slamming my rear wheel so hard that it broke two spoke nipples and knocked my water bottle out of its cage. My rear wheel was warped, but able to turn and I could go without water for another lap or two so I just kept hammering. Having just narrowly missed a pileup, I sat up a bit. This race wasnt important enough to me to risk an injury, plus I had a race the very next day as well. But now the front pack was a tight group of 12-15 riders who had made it through the chaos and we were winding up for the final lap. The pace was ridiculously fast at this point and there was alot of jostling and body contact going into each turn. We entered the back straight and the team leadout trains came to the front of the pack. We rounded the corner safely and were on our last straightaway before the turn into the final sprint. The pack flew into the final turn...and then chaos began again as the right half of the field collapsed in the corner. I and a handful of riders were on the inside of the turn and we sprinted for the line, finishing in a fairly tight group. I came out sixth and unscathed for the day, which I decided was just fine by me.
I had made it through my first crit and picked up some valuable points towards a license upgrade. My family really enjoyed the race atmosphere as the announcers tried to keep the crowd involved the entire time. The only downside was my sister burst into tears when she saw the pileup at the end of my race...I guess she didnt see me get through it and was worried I was going to crash as well :) . We spent the rest of the day watching the other races, enjoying coffee from the small bakery next to the start, and taking pictures of the "Kid sprints" (straightaway sprint races for kids under the age of 10-VERY cute). We returned to the hotel, washed my race kit, and I worked on my wheel. I managed to pull my wheel back into true and we enjoyed a large Mexican dinner in preparation for the road race the next day.
I awoke feeling excited about the prospects for Orrville. This race was described as pancake flat, fast, and tough. Without any major climbs I was at a slight disadvantage and planned on sitting in the pack all day in preparation for the final sprint. However as I was taking my pre race warm up on the course, there was a significant headwind. I knew that a large part of the peloton had raced the crit yesterday so everyone's inclination was going to be to sit in out of the wind and wait for the final sprint. As I was warming up out on the road I devised my plan. I was up against a field of at least three 6-man teams in my category. I was the only Team Athens attendee for this race and wasnt going to be considered much of a threat by myself, plus no one really wants to chase in the wind. If I played it right and the peloton would give me a little bit of a leash, I might be able to make a break stick on a day like today. The race started out on a college campus and wove through a bit of tree cover before emerging into some of Ohio's most beautiful corn fields. The very instant you move from the trees to cornfields, you hit the wind head on like a brick wall. This would be one obstacle that the peloton would have to overcome to bring down a gap if I opened one. Another was the fact that at this same point on the road, we moved from smooth pavement to chip and seal road (ie not smooth). These roads had more rolling resistance, rougher surfaces, and are just harder to maintain speed on in general. That was obstacle number two the pack would need to overcome.
I rolled back to the start area with my plan formulated and ready to execute. I lined up right on the front line, no longer taking a back seat to other racers in my classification. I had proven myself over the course of this season and no one contested my spot. The race official blew the starting whistle and we headed out onto the road. I soft pedaled around 18-19mph and noone moved up to quicken the rollout so I stayed on the front waiting to see what the pack decided to do. We cruised through the trees enroute to my point of attack. Still no one had quickened the pace to more than 19mph as we were now getting some of the headwind from the flats of the surrounding area. As we crossed into the cornfields, I glanced at the faces around me and thought "Well if we are going to race...lets RACE". I changed up to the big ring and gunned it, instantly opening a gap of around 80 yards. The move took the pack by surprise at first, but I instantly had some chasers as the group organized to respond. I was maintaining a speed around 22mph off the front, with the winds buffeting me around with reckless abandon. The group was organized now and pulled itself up to me, but I didnt let the pace up. We hammered along at 23-25mph for several more miles and the back of the pack was completely decimated. Our group was now down to about half of its original size as we approached the first turn. I was third position as we hit the turn full on in a long drawn out paceline. The guy in second position attacked in the turn like it was a crit and opened a small gap. There were alot of people in pain at this point and no one moved to respond to him. He had a gap of over 20 seconds as we entered the second section of flats, but he was beginning to waiver. I jumped from the pack and bridged the gap. As I pulled up next to him, he glanced over and I said " You wanna go?" to which he answered a labored "yeah". I pulled in front of him and notched our pace back up to 24mph. As we approached the second turn we glanced back to see the peloton nearly 40 seconds down. We were gaining ground! It was only at this point that I thought we had a chance. We motored through the turn and took turns pacing the next 5 miles or so, but the pack never let us have more than a minute (I guess by this point they had decided we probably had the horsepower to stay away). As we approached the third turn on the square shaped route, Team Orrville sent a rider up to bridge the gap to our breakaway. He tucked into our draft and refused to do any pulling, simply sitting on like an anchor, sealing our fate to get swept up by the charging peloton. Which is exactly what happened: a group of 13 riders picked up our breakaway as we approached the finish line to begin our final lap on the course. Unbeknownst to us a large contingent of the riders who started the day with us were dropping out. They wouldnt even cross the finish line as they came straggling into the pit area one by one. The pace had REALLY put some hurt on some people I guess...
The rest of the race was fairly uneventful as I was pulled along with the front group. Several teams had leadout trains in our group and the pace was high, but not enough to dislodge any more members of this group. The finish went fairly typical: the teams positioned their sprinters the best they could and then everyone drag raced for the line. I sat up and crossed the line at the end of the group happy to have made my way into the final selection. As my results had slipped a bit from what I am used to, you would think I would have been dissappointed, however it was quite the opposite. I was elated. This race had been one of the toughest yet this season due to a number of factors (I am coming down from my peak fitness, windy, hot, HUGE field, etc.) and I had really proven to myself that I am a strong cyclist. From start to finish I had been on the sharp end of the peloton all day. What did I have to lose right? I was a lone rider up against full teams, we had all raced the day before so everyone was tired, and I always root for the breakaways anyway. Breakaway artists are some of the toughest racers in the field. They are the under dogs, the courageous few who venture out away from the pack to either pull off an unbelievable win or go down in a blaze of glory. They risk it all and in some races it works, other days it doesnt. The few times a breakaway escapes the clutches of the peloton are some of the most emotional wins you will ever see in a bike race. It is a true test of skill, power, and desire. Many times announcers will claim that the teams or pack is controlling the race, letting a breakaway dangle out front until the peloton decides it wants to reel them back in. However, I think its the opposite. I think the breakaway controls the race. The breakaway actually determines what the peloton is doing in that if they are allowed to break free, the peloton has lost the race. The peloton has to decide if they are going to chase the break or let it go, neither of which is a "fun" proposition. Of course we all know that sitting in all day is the way to increase your chances of winning. You conserve, plot, and plan your move for that final race to the line. But we are not all sprinters nor are we necessarily all after nothing but results. Racing is the classic mix of animosity, honor, cunning, and power. Many things that take place in a bike race are related to the unwritten code of ethics that all riders seem to follow by default. If a guy has been pulling all day at a tough pace, you share pulls with him. If a rider mounts attack after attack, he is not chastised but instead honored as being aggressive. If a leader wrecks or has a mechanical during a race, the peloton will slow to allow him to chase back on. Sometimes riders will "gift" a race to another racer who has aided them all day long. These are small things, that may not seem like much right now. But at the end of the day when everyone is completely blown and you have finished a race together, suffering along mile after mile the experience becomes very "Band of Brothers"-ish. You are connected to this group by something not easily described. Its the connection of knowing that to get this far we have all suffered similarly. We have all trained hard in preparation for facing off, head to head with one another.
While on the course the lead group may have all gritted our teeth, plotted, and punched the pace every so often just to hurt the guys hangin on our wheel, but after we cross the finish line there were congratulations all around. I had more guys shake my hand or pat me on the back on my cool down ride after this race than any other. I was even approached by one guy when I was sitting on the ground nursing a Gatorade just so he could ask me how I placed in the group. I didnt know as results weren't posted as of yet but he said, "I just wanted to shake your hand cause man, when you picked up the pace it really put alot of guys in a world of hurt. And then you attacked! I really thought you guys (the breakaway) had a shot at staying away today. Tough race!". He didnt realize it, but this meant more to me than any of the prizes I had picked up this season. At the end of the day we are not racing for money, prizes, or even sponsorship (although Team Athens was happy with my results). For most of us it isnt really that serious. We are just racing for the respect of the guy next to us. We race for camaraderie. We race because we can. We race to test ourselves in a way that the casual solo century or hard ride simply cannot possibly do. My family was able to see that this weekend I believe as they accompanied me in my travels. The said they now understand a bit better why Elizabeth and I get into bicycle racing so much. To me, the ability to open someone else's eyes/mind to cycling in such a way as this makes the expense and hassle of setting up bicycle races well worth it. If you have a chance I encourage everyone to get out and see a race this year...you can even ride with me to one ;) .
And to end I again want to say, "Pain is temporary, but quitting lasts forever."-Lance Armstrong
Hammer hard guys!
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