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