Kenosha Training Crit #2

Category 4/5
45 minutes
Overall finish ??

Back in the Kenosha Industrial Park for round 2 of the Training Crit series. I was feeling good and excited on the drive there, having raced on the course the previous weekend I felt like I had a slight advantage. Also many fellow Pegasi were coming out to race as well, it is always really motivating to have people cheering for you and to see fellow pink/blacks in the pack with you.

The weather was down right balmy compared to the previous weekend, it was fairly sunny with a mild wind, temperatures around 35F.

The overall turn-out was pretty large, maybe 50 people. The race started off and everyone was off fairly quickly. No time for mistakes this week. I got clipped in and sprinted around the side of the pack to jump upfront. My strategy today was to make sure I didn't miss out on anything that jumped off the front. I wanted to sit top 10 the entire race. The entire race was fairly quick through-out. There was a crash early on, luckily it was a bike length behind me. The entire pack was really aware and awake for the whole race. Every time someone would try something, there was always someone calling out what was going on. Much different than the previous week. Jason was also feeling rather squirrely and a few times we tried to lead a break-off with a few guys, but the pack was always right there to pull us back in.

No one was escaping today. What was also impressive was that there were not any fall behind packs. Almost everyone stayed in the main pack or dropped out. I stayed overly aggressive and jumped on anything that moved off the front. I knew I was tiring myself out doing this, but I didn't want to miss anything. This was the perfect race to practice various tactics, no WCA points were being awarded so there wasn't anything at stake. The entire race was up to whoever was the best sprinter in the pack ( I knew this wasn't me). I am not sure where I finished overall, but I was really happy with how the rest of the race played out.

I stayed really aggressive and put myself in a good position to win. While I was overly aggressive and chased the slightest thing that moved hence unecessarily wasting energy, I felt really good about it. While I wasn't able to work with many of the Pegasi I was able to work with Jason, I stayed aware of where he was and what he was doing the entire race. Overall it made me feel really good about the season to come, personally I am feeling really strong as a rider and feel really good about my fellow teammates.

Kenosha Training Crit #1

Category 4/5
45 minutes
Overall finish 13th

The weather was overcast and cold; there was snow in the forecast for the afternoon, this weather is synonymous with cyclocross racing, not criteriums. I haven't done a criterium since August, much less ride anything but my cyclocross bike all winter; I was nervous. Would my training pay off or would I get dropped from the pack?

Since it was so cold and just all-around nasty weather only about 25~30 riders showed up to the line for the Cat 4/5 race. I looked around and didn't recognize anyone from last season that would blow up this race. We started, I kicked off and took like 20 seconds to get fully clipped into my pedals. This mistake could have cost me in another race, but luckily no-one was in much of a hurry today. The first half of the race was fairly uneventful, I was lazily attacking and pretty much just sitting in. I decided to save as much energy as possible and moved into the thick of the pack. As I was pulling in, a few riders on the front jumped off and before I noticed they were 50 yards out. I cursed loudly in my head, my lack of attention had cost me this opportunity. At this point there are a few options to consider, should I risk it and bridge the gap by myself, or should I try and organize the strong riders left in the pack.

Since the race was only half over I wanted to save my energy. Jason and I tried to organize the riders as much as possible to help facilitate a chase-down. It is incredibly frusterating to try and organize people that don't want to work together. No-one wanted to take a pull other than Jason and I, we pulled about 85% of the chase down. The most frusterating part was when others would pull they wouldn't be going fast enough to warrant them being in the front. Our efforts were futile. While we never we're able to catch the lead pack, I did learn some valuable information.

From now on I need to be more aware of what is happening around me. Criteriums are lost more on strategy, tactics, and mental awareness than on physical strength.