UNC Crit

I did my first crit in well over a year on Saturday. (I think my last crit was the 2006 New Belgium crit.) Having lost some skin in a couple crits, I tend to avoid them. And since I avoid them I suck at them. I'd like to be a better crit racer, and the only way to do that is get more practice. The UNC crit was a good practice crit for me because the field size was relatively small and the course was non-technical.

Collegiate races aren't known for their organization, and the UNC crit was certainly no exception. Their priority is to run the collegiate categories, and then they'll run the USCF categories at the end and hopefully make a little more money. Due to their terrible organization, we sat at the start line (freezing) for 15 minutes while they sorted out some issues with the numbers (they gave out duplicate numbers). Our best and brightest college students. *smacks forhead*

I decided that I would try to get to the front of this race early, and that's exactly what I did from the start. I sprinted past the group of riders and placed myself third wheel. I felt pretty good about this until we hit a downhill stretch and the swarm of other riders boxed me in. Before I knew it, I was back in the middle of the pack. For most of the race I was fairly close to the front but I never quite had the energy to push myself all the way up there.

I ended up finishing at the back of the main group. For me, it's a success. I didn't get dropped, and I kept the rubber side down. I don't know if it's my new bike, or if I'm just more comfortable in general, by I was happy with my bike handling throughout the race. I still need to work on holding my position at the front of the pack, but that's something that will hopefully come with practice.