Oh this wasn't on my race schedule but I decided to do it anyways because I could do it with a team to replace an Anaerobic-like workout. The Men's C began at 9:40AM but we left around 7, and we had to wake up early from Daylight Savings Time too. I actually woke up at 4Am so technically I woke up at 3AM and got about 4.5 hours of sleep. I was worried that it would hinder my performance but it wasn't too much of a problem.
I didn't have much of a warm-up because I took too long getting ready, but I was able to walk the entire 1-Lap of the crit which consisted of 3 sweeping corners and a 4th corner leading into a chicane. Fun! For this race I joined Yao, Christian, Eric, and Bryan.
Feeling bummed from missing yesterday's break, I decided my goal for this race was to make a statement for our team, which I think I was able to do when I attacked the chase group I was in around 6 times. I saw Davis guys and knew they had a thing for sprinters so I thought I should try to tire out all the sprinters so that Yao could have a clean shot at taking a high position in the field, provided there was no break. I myself, anticipated a break but nobody wanted one, and it may have been because Davis controlled the front.
The Start-
The race didn't start out like what I'm used to. Usually I'm struggling to keep a wheel and I move up places in the corners, but I found it comfortable for me to grab a wheel, move up and repeat. I stayed away from guys who cornered on their hoods and who didn't close gaps after corners since it would waste energy. I comfortably stayed at the front, top 10 for a good amount of laps, until the 1st prime when the first surge hit.
Prime Laps-
The official told us we only had two prime laps, then Davis contested saying we're supposed to have 3, so I hope we really did get 3. Feeling strong, I thought about taking the prime on the first lap but the pace surged and I just hung on a wheel, they drove into the corner so fast that my rear tire got some air and almost hit Christian who was behind me, but he managed to control it and an unfortunately Stanford rider couldn't control the quick fluctuation, but I heard he crashed "smoothly." After the surge, the pace slowed down and then came the second prime where I was closer to the front, but not quite there yet. Then moments later a Davis rider attacks and goes off solo. I waited for chasers but nobody chased, so he was alone for a lap. I noticed that whenever someone would make a fast move, riders at the front (who were probably Davis guys) would point it out saying "LEFT LEFT LEFT" or "ON THE RIGHT!" So it must've meant they didn't want anyone to get away from the pack. Well okay then...I decided to test my observation and attacked on the 2nd corner on the outside of the exit and behind me I hear "on the left on the left" but nobody did anything so I was able to get away, bridged up to the solo Davis guy, sucked on his wheel a bit, and took the 3rd corner and chicane at full speed. I gave a little more gas at the start/finish where the spectators were and realized that the next lap was the final prime lap so I decided to push a little more, felt really good, looked back, and saw a good gap. I did the prime lap alone and was able to take it away even though it wasn't much, but it was my first prime :)
And then the rest of the race...-
Seeing as nobody was bridging to me, I knew I couldn't hold an extreme breakaway so I recovered and went back to the pack just in case my teammates needed me. I actually had a misunderstanding with my teammate Yao, our sprinter. He said "I got you Dom" and I thought he meant he would go with me on an attack, so on the 3rd corner I drove the pace in with Yao behind me and the field actually responded (along with some more "On the left on the left!" So we didn't get away, but after the race Yao told me that he meant for me to suck on his wheel. Whoops haha. Yao and Christian were looking really good and I saw Eric and Bryan at the front occasionally. I was getting a feeling that whoever was at the front (who wasn't from our team) was planning something for the end so I went and attacked one more time and held a really good gap for a about 3/4 of a lap, and when I got back to the s/f there was 4 to go so I thought maybe I could make something work, but the group got me and recovered. With the 3 laps to go I realized I was pretty much out of top end energy so I stayed behind Christian and around Yao, but I got boxed in at the corner between two inattentive riders and had to brake a bit, and I lost about 10-15 places!
The end-
With two to go, I was burning matches going back to the top but the pace increased and a swarm of Davis guys huddled at the front and took decent control of the pack. I didn't have enough left in me to attack at the corners and so at the bell lap the final surge occurred, and I tried to make it to the top ten but either got boxed in or just didn't have enough energy. I saw Yao and Christian at the front and didn't see any other sprinters except for the leadout train that Davis had going.
Yao ended up getting an impressive 3rd! We talked about it and they told me that my attacks probably did scare them a bit since they really wanted a leadout going. So I'm hoping to have similar legs at our next races.
With Berkeley coming up, I think our team will be able to sharpen up some tactics for our A race.
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