I made my return to racing from my hip injury at Monday's Tour of Somerville. I was joined by the ever-fast ProfessorAndy and Craig from the Hermes for a cat 3 criterium slug-fest with 135 of our best friends. It's always a great idea to choose the biggest race of the calendar for your first race of the season.
The race started well enough as I managed to sneak myself into the third row. Andy was a little farther back and Craig even farther. At the whistle, the chaos began. Much jostling, bumping, and missed clip-ins ensued.
I've never done Somerville. Did I mention that?
A few laps in, and I remembered what criterium racing felt like - ouchy.
A few laps more and they announce a $200 prime. The mad dash for cash results in a huge crash at the finish line. It goes down right in front of me, and by a miracle I stay upright and get through the crash and chase back to the field.
Another lap in and another crash goes down in front of me. Again, I keep it upright and get into the field.
With 3 to go, Andy rolls by me and tells me "my bus has arrived." Andy delivers me in great position at the front for the last two laps, but my lack of fitness is evident as I can't hold it and get shuffled back to mid-pack.
On the bell lap, I sat way too far back to have any shot at the finish, but I had a good idea of how the finish would play out: the left would open then close down, then the right would open up. I came out out of the last turn in maybe 70th wheel.
I went left. I went right. The field opened up. I found myself in the top 15 and in the midst of the chaos that is the Tour of Somerville field sprint.
I'm told I had a few near misses in the finish. I kept it upright but decided not to go full bore and risk crashing on my still-injured hip. I rolled in for 26th place just 6 places out of the money.
All told it was a pretty good day of racing on a beautiful Memorial Day. A big thank you to everyone who came out to support us!
-Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment