The Menomonee Park criterium opened the WCA racing schedule with a full day of racing. The weather was decent and I was looking forward to participating in the first criteriums of the year. I decided to double-up and compete in the 3’s and 1/2/3’s race to get a good quality workout in. Doubling-up on races will be a theme for me early on this year to reap the benefits of the harder racing with the 1/2/3’s.
The Cat 3 race was dominated by the ISCorp team who put about 15 or so riders on the line, far surpassing the numbers of any other team participating. For that matter, it may have been more than everyone else. I knew what their plan would be from the start. And sure enough, right from the start they went. Attack, get caught, attack again. This is the theme they ran with and most likely will continue throughout 2011. No problems there though, Cat 3’s are all about chasing down breaks. I sat in the majority of the race and decided about 3/4’s the way into the race to liven things up a bit and attack. I jumped hard coming out of the final corner and opened up a good gap on the field. Peaking under my arm I saw large chase group coming up quickly. Knowing I was trying to stay away, I sat up. Damn, shouldn’t have done that. Three riders flew past me as the field caught up. ISCorp was all about attacking but they’ve got no interest in chasing down breaks. The three man break stayed away until the final corner of the race where it became a field sprint. I didn’t have much of a sprint and managed to pull off 7th.
I wasn’t the happiest with myself after the race because I knew if I would have kept the power on during my little escapade I most likely would have been able to help the break stay away and have a great chance of winning. Whoops. My mood immediately changed though when I saw my wife and son pulling into the parking lot just before the 1/2/3’s race. This was William’s first time at a bike race. Of course he had no clue what was going on, but I went from being upset about the previous race to enthusiastic about the next racing in less than a half a second. It was great having my wife and son at the race.
I wasn’t expecting to do anything but sit in during the 1/2/3’s race and just move throughout the field to get a feel for racing with the 1’s and 2’s. The race had a high pace throughout but was very smooth. My legs were feeling a lot better than they did in the 3’s and I decided to make a go of the race and see how high I’d be able to finish. Nothing spectacular happened during the race until the last 3 laps when the pace escalated to a point the lungs began burning. I moved from the middle of the field up to the top 20-25. On the final lap ISCorp drove a wicked speed and strung the field out. I jumped at an opportunity to get in the slipstream of the lead riders and dug in for what was sure to be an interesting finish. Going into the last few roller hills and final corner I was feeling good, sprinted out of the corner and passed 2. I managed 14th place for my first attempt at a 1/2/3 race of the year. Happy with the result, my motivation peaked. And peaked just in time for… no races until May 7th.
The next race will most likely be at the criterium in Muskego Park, early May. There are races over the course of the rest of April but I’ll be diligently training and spending time with family that my wife and I haven’t seen in almost 3 years over Easter.
Next update may be in a week or maybe even two. In the meantime, keep hammering into the wind. Or if you prefer, keep the wind to your back.
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