It was with threatening skys that this years Winfield Masters 30/40+ ABR National Criterium Championship got underway. It had been a day of isolated thunderstorms and although it looked like we might get dumped on we didn’t and we raced on dry roads.
I went into this race feeling good about my form and wanting to see if I would have the problems keeping the wheel in front of me like I did at monsters. My guess is that I wouldn’t seeing that this is not a completely flat crit like monsters and I wasn’t coming off on of the longest training weeks I had ever done like I was at Monsters.
Tactically I didn’t want to miss the big break like I did last year. The pack more or less split last year and if it happened again I wanted to be ready for it. So the plan was to just take it easy, ride smart, and try to be ready when it happened.
That’s basically how it happened except for the fact that I chickened out.
Lately I’ve been reading the blog reports of Mark Swartzendruber. He likes to rag on Team Mack and their race tactics. I find it funny since I’m not on mack but after reading his description about the 40+ race at Monsters you will get a good idea of what it was like in this race.
Basically from the start there were attacks. One or 2 riders would go with HeadsMACK barking out a command to somebody to grab a wheel. This went on for the first few laps. At one point a pretty good sized group jumped so I jumped too but it was all brought back. The 2 riders broke free. One Mack and one Met Life. Something told me right away that I was watching the race leave us. You had a representative from the 2 largest teams in the race off the front and immediately our pace lowered. At the bottom of the hill I heard someone yell that the gap was 10 seconds. At the top of the hill it was 20 seconds. I knew this was the race, I wanted to join them…but I was too chicken.
It was earlier in the race than I wanted to make a move and the move was smaller then I wanted to be a part of. I decided to stay put and watch the break ride away from us hoping that at some point a group of riders would want to chase this thing down but it soon became evident that we were all just riding for 3rd place overall.
Now the thing about this race is that there are actually 2 fields racing together and there are 2 championship jerseys at stake. One for the 30+ and one for the 40+. What I didn’t realize is that both riders in the breakaway were 40+. If I could have joined them* and stayed with them I would have won the 30+ race even if I had finish 3rd.
I spent the rest of the race trying to stay in the front half of the filed and saving myself for the sprint. There was one point where it looked like a few of us had a gap but that quickly ended as nobody, including me, wanted to do any real work. Once that failed I sat back and waited.
Things really start to heat up for the last couple of laps. Guys start really fighting for position and you really have to work hard to maintain your position. This is where I really have a lot to learn. I have to form to be there at the end but I lose a bunch of places in the last couple turns before the final sprint. To me this is the greatest difference between racing cat ¾ and Masters racing.
Long story short, I had a good sprint but I was already back 20 places or more out of the last turn so I made up a few. I was hoping I made top 20 but wasn’t sure. Then I heard the pa announce state that 5 of the top 6 were 40+. Since the podium was 5 deep that made me stick around for a while. I ended up finishing 16th overall but was in 6th place for the 30+ field. Last year I was 11th so I was very happy. I missed the podium by one place. Next year this race is mine!!
Thanks for reading.
*This is assuming i could have broken free from the field, bridged up the the 2, and then stayed with them for the remainder of the race. It's nice to think that's possible but not sure what reality is yet.
I went into this race feeling good about my form and wanting to see if I would have the problems keeping the wheel in front of me like I did at monsters. My guess is that I wouldn’t seeing that this is not a completely flat crit like monsters and I wasn’t coming off on of the longest training weeks I had ever done like I was at Monsters.
Tactically I didn’t want to miss the big break like I did last year. The pack more or less split last year and if it happened again I wanted to be ready for it. So the plan was to just take it easy, ride smart, and try to be ready when it happened.
That’s basically how it happened except for the fact that I chickened out.
Lately I’ve been reading the blog reports of Mark Swartzendruber. He likes to rag on Team Mack and their race tactics. I find it funny since I’m not on mack but after reading his description about the 40+ race at Monsters you will get a good idea of what it was like in this race.
Basically from the start there were attacks. One or 2 riders would go with HeadsMACK barking out a command to somebody to grab a wheel. This went on for the first few laps. At one point a pretty good sized group jumped so I jumped too but it was all brought back. The 2 riders broke free. One Mack and one Met Life. Something told me right away that I was watching the race leave us. You had a representative from the 2 largest teams in the race off the front and immediately our pace lowered. At the bottom of the hill I heard someone yell that the gap was 10 seconds. At the top of the hill it was 20 seconds. I knew this was the race, I wanted to join them…but I was too chicken.
It was earlier in the race than I wanted to make a move and the move was smaller then I wanted to be a part of. I decided to stay put and watch the break ride away from us hoping that at some point a group of riders would want to chase this thing down but it soon became evident that we were all just riding for 3rd place overall.
Now the thing about this race is that there are actually 2 fields racing together and there are 2 championship jerseys at stake. One for the 30+ and one for the 40+. What I didn’t realize is that both riders in the breakaway were 40+. If I could have joined them* and stayed with them I would have won the 30+ race even if I had finish 3rd.
I spent the rest of the race trying to stay in the front half of the filed and saving myself for the sprint. There was one point where it looked like a few of us had a gap but that quickly ended as nobody, including me, wanted to do any real work. Once that failed I sat back and waited.
Things really start to heat up for the last couple of laps. Guys start really fighting for position and you really have to work hard to maintain your position. This is where I really have a lot to learn. I have to form to be there at the end but I lose a bunch of places in the last couple turns before the final sprint. To me this is the greatest difference between racing cat ¾ and Masters racing.
Long story short, I had a good sprint but I was already back 20 places or more out of the last turn so I made up a few. I was hoping I made top 20 but wasn’t sure. Then I heard the pa announce state that 5 of the top 6 were 40+. Since the podium was 5 deep that made me stick around for a while. I ended up finishing 16th overall but was in 6th place for the 30+ field. Last year I was 11th so I was very happy. I missed the podium by one place. Next year this race is mine!!
Thanks for reading.
*This is assuming i could have broken free from the field, bridged up the the 2, and then stayed with them for the remainder of the race. It's nice to think that's possible but not sure what reality is yet.
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