Early Bird Criterium Race Report

So this is the 3rd race of 2011, and the 2nd Criterium. I wasn't too sure about how I'd do here, since this was at the end of a recovery week. Because of that, I felt really strong coming into the race and so I decided I'd experiment and play around a little. The field was the Under 30 Men's Category 5.

As a warm-up, I rode around with the Skills Clinic pack. I think we were going about 17-18mph (Didn't have Garmin on yet) and I was probably in Zone 2. However despite the speed (we weren't even racing yet!), I was towards the end of a practice paceline when all of a sudden, the paceline just slowed down. I tapped the guy's wheel in front of me, but then I moved it away, which was a close call. But then, some other rider came onto my left, knocked into me a bit, and (he) fell. I felt bad and almost felt like it was my fault, but I didn't want to approach him because he was super-enraged. Then I met up with Junior teammates Alex and Milaud.

We were delayed a bit because Alex and Milaud had to get their gears blocked. It was nice of VeloPromo to hold the start off to get them in, but the other guys where getting anxious and impatient. There wasn't even a countdown, the start bell just rang. So then I did what I was planning and I just went hard. For about 4 laps I was alone, until the 5th lap the pack caught up back to me, and I just sat in the pack for the majority of the race.

With about 5 laps to go, I decided to move a little up, and after 3 laps I managed to get myself to about the top 10 position. But on the bell lap, the pace picked up dramatically. Because of my move at the beginning, I drained most of my energy, so I didn't have the energy I needed to stay with the pack. I still think that if I didn't breakaway at the beginning, I would've been able to stay with the pack. Needless to say, It was a great experience just trying that out and I'm glad I was able to get more pack riding skills in.

This was the Final Early bird for placings, but I didn't care much about my place. I know for a fact I finished near last, but there were also riders that got dropped. The Average Speed was pretty fast at a 23.9 MPH, and I started the Garmin two laps after the start. My average heart rate was only 186, (which is lower than usual, for me) and the difficulty of the race wasn't too hard. In fact, there were times where I felt like I could've attacked again because of the moderate pace that the field was holding, but I didn't want to risk it.

The high point of the race was in the beginning during my solo, and the low point was not being able to keep up on the bell lap. It was also great to race with Alex and Milaud, and I'm looking forward to involving tactics next time!

Garmin Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/68190911

Ronde Van Brisbeen Race Report

I wanted to do the Ronde Van Brisbeen last year, but I remember that this time of the season [last year] was pretty wet. I think the CAT5's were also full. So I signed up for this race since it's the 2nd race of the year that's within my city radius, and it was a great way to start off the Criteriums. When I checked the Confirmed Riders list on the Registration website I noticed a lot of my teammates were signed up as well. That being said, I thought I would finally get to know the "team" aspect of cycling.

Since this was a "C" priority race I didn't do much, if anything at all, to prepare myself for this race. My breakfast was the usual bread and nutella with a bowl of cream of wheat and a glass of water. I drove to the race with my mom (I'm taking my Behind the Wheel Test this Tuesday :D) and parked next to Alberto, who is another PenVelo Junior. I was unaware that there were more PenVelo riders parked at another specific area but it didn't matter. I didn't do any specific warm-up, except ride around a parking lot once and do the course twice before the start. After that, I met with the other PV Cat5s and we discussed the strategy. We started right after that.

I had a lot of fun with the course, mainly because of all the turns and the speed/momentum we get before going into the turns. I have never clipped my pedals so many times before, and I don't think I've ever done sharp turns like the ones I did today before (but there are many more to come). The hairpin was probably everyone's burden. Around the 3rd Lap I figured that all I needed to do was to shift into an easy gear prior to the hairpin and just coast instead of braking late and hard to save major energy. The chicane following that was where I clipped my pedals first, but I wasn't the only one, I think I head a clipped pedal once every lap.

Also at the chicane, I was behind another rider who slammed his brakes, causing him to skid, and as a result I did the same thing, fishtailing a bit. I was glad I didn't go down.

So for the first few laps of the race, I was in the mid-front, trying to be as aerodynamic as possible. Again, the hairpin threw me off a bit, especially because the guys in very front were able to get through it quicker then the guys behind them, because of the accordion effect. As a result, I wasn't able to make it through into the front, which was where one of our protected riders was staying. So for the rest of the race, I just rode through hoping not to get dropped. ( Quite a few people got dropped)

In the end, I was able to see the sprint from where I was in the pack. I even contested with another rider just to test my sprint, which I haven't touched base on since August! I think I did good for this criterium especially because I've been training in the Base period, and I'm gaining confidence from my efforts as I anticipate the real training.

Low Point: Not being able to effectively help out the protected riders.

High Point: My effort in the end when It really started to speed up.

Place: Unknown as of now.

Garmin Data:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66740466