Saturday: 27mi circuit race
It was a muggy, wet, and cold morning when we reached the circuit race site in Lewisburg, PA. The C, D, and Intro Men's races began at 10:30, and by the time we arrived, registered, and changed, we had minimal time for warming up... in fact, I didn't warm up at all!
The C's went off, and we D's took the line in a very sloppy fashion. As everybody tried to squeeze to the line, we were unexpectedly interrupted by a horse and buggy. Which was weird. The race got underway with the typical missed clip-ins and swerving chaos. Knowing that our race would be 3 laps of 9 miles each, we treated the first lap as a warmup, which was fortunate for me since I hadn't had time to do so before the race.
The second lap, while not that fast at all, was certainly eventful. A number of 1- and 2-man attacks went off the front, only to be brought back almost immediately.
During the final lap, the intensity of the race ramped way up. Attack after attack strung the group out through the hilly headwind section. I decided to bridge up to a lone Penn State rider, using the steepest ascent as the springboard for my move.
The pack had to work, but they eventully brought us back ... honestly, I mostly just wanted to have a fun time destroying that hill at full throttle. This left me with dead legs, though, and I dropped to the tail end of the pack. It was there that I met the zebra clad motorcycle ref. I asked him if he was enjoying the view, and he said, "yeah, but you guys are insane!" When we reached the wicked 120 degree turn, I was still in last, but within a few hundred yards and a crit-like sprint I was back in 5th wheel.
I led into the last corner, then slowed a bit to find some draft. I was riding behind Dave, again in 5th or so wheel, when the pace picked up drastically. When a spot opened on the side, I yelled at Dave to follow, then decided to go for it. I sprinted like mad and pulled away from the pack! This happened about half a mile from the finish, and I was fighting to hold my ~200 foot gap all the way to the line. With the finish line in sight, I started to feel the effort, and my speed slightly dropped. When the first of the other riders started to appear in my peripheral vision, I shook my head in semi-disappointment. Still, I was happy to end up in 11th place for the day.
Sunday: 20 minute criterium
My plan for this race was no secret, at least not among the Rutgers team. I was going to take advantage of the highly technical course and attack when everyone was tired from the first prime. This was the first race I have warmed up for yet, and I felt good at the starting line. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack, but I sacrificed my spot to move to the back and start with Ray.
When the race started, we were instantly set back. Some rider in front of us decided he didn't like being upright and promptly fell to the asphalt when the whistle sounded. I lost track of Ray when that happened, trying hard to get back in contact with the pack. By the third turn I was settled in behind Dave at the back of the group. At the end of that lap, the officials rang their cow-bell, announcing the prime.
I immediately spewed profanities in my head. I had told everyone my plan to attack, and here I was cruising at the back of the strung-out pack. By the 3rd turn, I was at mid pack. By the cafe at the 5th turn I was in about 10th wheel. By the time we reached the line, I still wasn't in any position to attack. I was disappointed with myself and just stayed in about 4th wheel for the first 3 turns. Then I saw my opportunity: A Penn State rider attacked, giving me the perfect conditions for a successful breakaway. I sprinted up the side of the road and latched onto his wheel. We instantly kicked the pace up a notch. We both knew what we wanted and were not going to get caught.
I wanted to look back and check our gap, but I've seen enough footage from the Tour to know that once a rider starts turning around and seeing the pack, that his attack is over. So I never looked back.
For the next two laps, we both worked our tails off, although with a bit of disorder. We weren't quite working together, but we weren't working against each other either. The final prime bell rang as we passed the line, and I decided that rather than contest a prime, I would save my strength for the last lap. He crossed the line first on that lap, and we kept chugging away.
Riding at that speed was actually pretty scary. During my first lap off the front, I rode the 5th corner so fast that I didn't see the pothole at the inside of the turn... my race almost ended right there! As the race progressed, we both got used to powering through every corner, since we didn't have to worry about any other unstable D riders like the chasers did. Many times my pedal would scrape the ground or my rear wheel would skip over a couple inches, yet we kept the pace and managed to avoid crashing.
After I gifted him the last prime, the PSU kid and I worked as a team. We both took turns pulling, and when one tired, the other would know to get in front. The final lap came, and I think he tried to pull away from me after the 2nd turn, but I shifted up a gear and powered my way back to his wheel. At this point I'm not sure what was on his mind, as I was riding comfortably in his draft up until the last corner.
I went into the finishing straight feeling fresh and confident. He started weaving back and forth, trying to juke me off his wheel, but I wasn't buying it. He swerved to the right and I rocketed off in an all-out sprint. This sprint was different from the other sprints I've contested; Normally the my head wants to keep pushing, but my legs scream at me to please stop. Today, though my legs didn't say a word, and the only thing going through my head was "there is no way I am losing this". The confidence I experienced through the entire sprint felt awesome as I crossed the line. When it finally dawned on me that I had won, I threw my fist in the air and let out a deep breath. It felt really good to win.
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