Race Avenue Crit
Short version:
We raced conservatively, smart, and strong and had some of our best results yet this year with Mike in 5th, Bob 7th and Jon 10th. The race was smooth and safe, and we got some excellent support from Joe Secoges and Bob's wife Jocelyn who did feeds during the race. Really happy with the way we rode as a team against some strong local competition, and pleased with the results that came from it.
Long version:
We had a pretty full squad Sunday for the Race Avenue Criterium out in Lancaster this Sunday for the Men's P123 field. Jon Marshall, Eran, Mike, Bob, Jesse and myself all lined up with about 60 other starters at a bit after 3pm. We were delayed somewhat because there was a rider in the 45+ field who got caught out with heat stroke. I didn't see anything specific, and hope he was OK, but that's just a good reminder to keep yourself hydrated as the temperatures soar this week.
We've been looking for a bit of redemption here as the past weeks have been a string of humblings starting back in Easton and continuing through last week at Riverton. This week there was only one pro of note in the field, Coryn Labecki, looking fast and fit in her National Champions kit. The plan was to race fairly conservatively since it was going to be a long one with 40 trips up the long grinding hill towards the start/finish. This is a power climb, rather than something for the pure skinny folks, so we were hoping that we'd see a late move go off the front and have at least one of us in the mix at that point. The idea was to keep someone up in the front of the field throughout the race so that they could cover any moves that looked threatening.
For myself, this was going to be my last focus race before a little reset this week, and I was coming into it with what felt like the best legs I've had in a decade. I've learned over time that sort of stuff can be deceiving, but the trend has been in the correct direction for the last few weeks, so I was hopeful that the good sensations were telling me the truth. Jon and Mike were also looking pretty good--Jon had a podium in the P123 at Smoketown on Saturday, and Mike won the 45+ race there as well.
From the gun things settled in quickly with a small move containing a Doylestown Bikeworks rider along with some Pittsburgh based dudes going up the road about lap 3. On a highly technical course with shorter straightaways, this could have been threatening with the right riders--they could get out of sight, out of mind rather quickly. However this is not that course--a big long rectangle with wide, fairly smooth corners and a super long downhill leg that would allow a motivated pack to munch up the distance to the break relatively quickly. Gradually the break went out, and then gradually was brought back into striking range when a counter was launched, usually on the false flat just after the start finish. This pattern repeated itself several times over the course of the race until about the halfway mark when the feed zone opened up and folks started to make the decision to grab a bottle from someone on the sidelines or keep powering up the hill or even attacking.
With about 10 laps to go I was wondering to myself why I didn't just accept the facts and race Masters--it seemed that I was on the verge of popping every time we went up the hill through the start finish. Then, the thing that I always hope is going to happen finally did: the pace slowed down just enough for me to hang in and even recover a bit on the climb as well as the downhill back stretch. By 6 to go I had caught my breath and started moving up to the front to try to monitor things for the late move or even roll out for a sprint finish. The next time around the course, just as I was rolling into about 6th wheel, Matt McLoone launched up the left hand side and I knew that it was time to put on my tie and go to work--chase that move down and hope for the best! I pulled even with McLoone and had brought across both a Doylestown rider as well as a Cumberland Velo dude. It would have been great to actually try to roll something with those other guys, but I think we were all cross eyed and it felt more like we were all just pedaling at eachother rather than working a break. We were collectively off the front for probably just over a lap and a half, at which time the winning move, containing Sam Smith and Andy Wulfkuhle along with the immediate chase, containing Mike Black, blasted by me on the downhill. I had burned all my matches at this point but was stoked to have been able to set Mike up for a strong counter attack.
Mike will have to add in his notes on the last three laps, but ultimately his move caught the two leaders, who then ended up blitzing everyone again on the final straight with Wulfkuhle for the win. Eran led Jon out for his sprint and Bob followed wheels to his 7th place. I soft pedaled in for 33rd.
Shout outs:
Joe Secoges deserves credit for his tenacity in the feed zone. I totally biffed on the handup twice before finally figuring out the trick to grabbing it. Jocelyn was also awesome, doing her first race feeds ever on Sunday. Being fueled and hydrated is key, so thanks again to Joe and Jocelyn! Word to the wise--practice feeds with your support team before the race!! I couldn't get enough grip on the bottle with my gloves on so I had to yank off my right glove before the 3rd time around before actually grabbing the bottle and retaining it.
It was super cool to race with Coryn. She was an absolute animator in the race and it was thrilling just to be cruising next to someone in the national champions kit. I was a bit starstruck. Also, if you want to see a bunch of guys sprint like their egos depend on it, you should have watched racers in our field chasing down any move she was a part of. She gave our field the compliment of "Not too sketchy" when I asked her how the race went for her.