So I looked forward to this race for a whole year, and it sure was worth the wait! This race alone was one of my incentives to upgrade into the 4's! That being said, this was my 2nd race as a CAT4 and my first CAT4 criterium, so I was ready to adapt to the 4s for today. There was about 50ish of us and our race was in the morning...7:00AM! I woke up at 4:30 to get ready and eat and drove down to Burlingame at around 5:40. This is the 3rd closest race to where I reside (The Other being SBM Hill Climb and the Ronde Van Brisbeen).
I ditched the trainer and warmed-up on the road for about 16 minutes because since I knew my way around very well I knew that the flat roads were perfect for easy and hard efforts, on top of that there was no traffic whatsover except for other cyclists and those driving to the race. I was able to do a few laps on the course--it was no surprise since I walked the whole course a year ago and I also went here on Thursday. I got to rollout on time, and went to the front...but some guy coming from the opposite of the start/finish decided to jump in next to me...so I was squished between him and the wall. I thought that would be pretty dangerous trying to clip in with such a small space so I just went behind him.
Alright onto the race...the pace was smooth and I was able to hang on. I think I might be getting better at Criteriums! I hung on even when the pace was getting faster. And I tried to keep a good position in the front. Most of the race I was in the middle but I couldn't help but move up when at every corner you have a course Marshal yelling "GO PENVELO and MOVE UP DOM" so that was a big help! I was the only PV guy racing in this field. The Prime Bell rang, and I was debating if I should try to get the first prime of the day. I was in the top quarter of the pack, until the back stretch when it just got crazy so I didn't take the gamble. Plus I might've not been able to hang on later on since it was only the first 10 minutes.
I'm not really sure but I think 2-3 guys got off the front for a few laps. Therefore the pace nailed it about 3 more MPH, so we all had to work a little harder but I still felt energetic. Some guys tried to bridge but they weren't successful plus we caught the break later on anyways.
AT about 25 minutes into the race, on the left turn onto Burlingame Avenue from Park Rd. (I call it the the Apple Corner Because of the Apple Store) I have no idea what happened but riders went down. I was coming in way to fast to avoid the crash, and I took the outside of the corner were the riders piled up. I thought that this was the first time I would go down in a race. I grabbed my brakes and skidded, and I couldn't completely stop so the barricades helped me stop. Luckily I didn't go down and I clipped right on time when another guy hit the barricade. However from all the braking and bouncing around, my chain fell off and I couldn't get it back on so I decided to take advantage of the pit and the free lap rule. (Thanks to the guys who helped me put my chain back on especially since my chain was pretty dirty). I was able to slip in at the middle of the pack with a helpful push from Coach Ray.
Getting caught up in the crash actually gave me a lot of recovery time so I was energetic. I tried my best to move up to the front at every possible opening. I thought I actually had a chance to contest in the sprint! The only thing that annoyed me was that everytime the pack would slow before entering a corner so I would take the inside, and on the last lap I decided to take my own line instead of hanging onto a wheel and getting their line...and when I did that I gained about 10 places...it made a big difference! Since it worked on the first corner I tried it on the 3rd to last corner but no luck since everyone was already pushing it. I was in the top 30 of the pack on the Bell Lap coming out of the final corner. I wasn't going to go for an all out sprint since I don't really work on my sprints, but I did go pretty hard to the finish line.
I had a fantastic time out there on the course, I love this course so much! It was a lot of fun fighting for a position in the pack, that's something I'm currently working on. And I think the best part of the race was being cheered upon by all my teammates who were Course Marshals, I never had so much support so thanks to all!
I placed 29 out of about 44 so I wasn't dead last and I didn't get dropped! I still feel like I'm improving in Criteriums! Racing with the CAT2/3 Specialized guys really helps :)
I had a fun time as a course marshal myself cheering for PV teammates in their categories and other guys I knew. I had a great day!
Garmin Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95159154
^PS: Is the crash obvious? =p
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