Louisville Crit

I woke up Saturday morning still not sure if I wanted to race. As I sat eating my breakfast, contemplating my day, I got an email from a friend - "Are you racing this morning." Eventually we convinced each other that the rain was going to hold off and that we should race.

After our warm-up, we rolled up to the start line about 15 minutes before the race and I think we were the last ones there. People love to line up early and get a good position, but I was pretty surprised that pretty much the whole field was there already. The course is pretty wide, so I was figuring it wouldn't be too big of a deal getting stuck in the back for a bit.

Wow, things started out quick and I was paying the price early for my back row starting position. There was a climb on the course, which is good news for me. I love those punchy little climbs. It really whittles down the pack quickly.

It was a crashy group. I saw one guy get taken down by his teammate on the second lap, and a couple laps later there was a crash on the uphill stretch. I'm not sure what happened there. There wasn't a lot of action going on at that point.

For most of the race, I put on a master class on how to surf the back of a crit. This being only my third crit this year, I really didn't have any desire to mix it up in a crowd. Sitting on the back is generally difficult because of all the speed surges coming out of the corners, but I was able to carry enough momentum through the corners (since I wasn't braking like the rest of the field) that it wasn't a big deal.

A lot of times up the one climb on the lap, people were really taking it easy and I was easily able pedal up around the outside. On one lap, I decided to attack the group. I've never attacked in a crit before, so that was fun. I was hoping to either get the group to pick up the pace, or get some people to join me in a breakaway. I was surprised at the large gap that I got, but nobody joined me. It was only 25 minutes into the 45 minute race, so I sat up after leading for a lap and got back into the pack.

The last lap was chaotic as usual. People taking chances through corners, the smell of brakes, and near crashes. I was surprised how much leg I had left at the end. Kind of makes me wish I wasn't surfing the back. :) Going up the climb the last time, people were dropping like flies. I got caught up in a little traffic and had the break behind people. In the end I finished 22nd out of 70 or so starters. My next race will be in Glenwood Springs in a few weeks. I have a road race one day, and a crit the next.