Posted by Dan on 3. May 2011 00:44
I spent the early part of last week preparing for the 3 day New River Valley Omnium in Dublin, VA . Word was passed on Wednesday afternoon that the event had been cancelled due to low participation. With 1 rider signed up for the 1/2/3 and 6 in the 3/4, I'd have done the same thing. So there I was, flush with refund money and no where to race. As usual, North Carolina came to the rescue.
First up was the Tour de Moore in Southern Pines. This year, I could ride my own bike (instead of Wick's loaner bike) on a new course. I'd surely fare better than last year, where a lackadaisical field and strict center line rule made for a long race at the back of the pack where I spent most of the race sitting up, eating and chatting with the motoref. This year, I swore that I'd line up extra early. With more than 15 minutes until the start, I grabbed Frank and our guests Mickey Turner (CBC/HPC) and Joe Altamore (Walt's Racing) and made for the start line. There wasn't one, so we made one. As luck would have it, we were in the pretty close to the actual spot. After receiving our pre-race briefing and finding some motorefs, we were off. The four of us along with Mitch Hunt (Fat Frogs) stamped the front of the race with a giant "PROPERTY OF VIRGINIA." Joe Younkin (Southside Tri & Cycle) joined us for a while to solidify the commonwealth’s death grip on the front of a 58 rider pack. Seven miles into the race, I launched an attack and took Mickey with me. My teammate and compatriots ran interference while the two of us escaped. As we made our way into the loop around Lake Surf, we settled in to a comfortable rotation and kept the pace up. We had to do four laps of the 10 mile circuit and then the 12 mile return to town and the finish line. On the second time around, the main field lost sight of us. The motoref reported a 43 second gap, but that was our only report. At its best, the gap was reported to the pack to be a minute and fifteen seconds. Halfway through our third lap as we made our way through the feed zone (where Mike and Brenna Hosang (Tri-Power) graciously gave us bottles and gentle encouragement) the pack found us. We were caught a few minutes later.
One lap to go, then the return stretch. I could either try to get away again or sit in and wait for the sprint. I tried to get away again. My thought process was something like, "I'm hungry and sore. I should attack now. Oh, there's a dead bird. Right.. attack." In my weakened state, I was easily covered at each move. A few miles before the final left turn that would start us on our journey home, Mickey and another rider attacked. With what would at best be a 15 second gap, they held the pack off the entire way back. Finding anyone will to work to bring them back was impossible. They'd decided to race for third with 12 miles remaining. By now, my legs were tight and I knew I had no sprint left. I could probably TT if I could get away, but getting away seemed to be the tricky part. I watched Frank move up and about, possibly frustrated that we were intentionally letting Mickey get away. He looked like he wanted to let off some pent up something or other. We'd eventually make one last turn putting the finish line 200m away up a slight hill. I actually lifted myself off the saddle and made a half-hearted attempt at a sprint, then sat back down and wondered why I'd did that. Frank managed to squeak by a few, finishing 11th in the sprint, 13th overall. I was in 26th. Joe was behind me. Tough race and a tough lesson learned. We were the last ones out of the parking lot after checking the results and collecting Mickey's winnings.
The Brick City Criterium in Sanford was on Sunday. Frank and I did this race last year. The 3/4 race was blistering fast while the 4/5 race was the opposite of that, where our brilliant teamwork helped our Cat 5 rider lap the field. Only one race this year. The 3/4s went off at 2:30 so we had time to catch the 1/2/3s before dressing and warming up. Their pace was just as fast as I remembered the 3/4s to be. Nothing was getting away for more than a lap. The sun was out in full force and what little wind was present actually made the small hill on the finishing stretch a little easier. Super great.
From the gun, Frank took the lead spot and led us around for a lap. Shortly after, I attacked. Mickey went with me once, Mitch Hunt went with me once, and I was alone once or twice. Lots of fun. Absolutely nothing stuck. Frank and Mickey had a pretty decent gap at one point, but that too was reeled in. Poor Joe made it off the front in what looked like the best attempt of the day, but I mistook him for another rider and brought him partially back. By the time I realized who it was, it was too late. Sorry, Joe.
Mitch Hunt and me trying to get a gap. Photo by Jason Lloyd.
I tucked in the pack and waited, watching when they'd take a rest, drink or try to eat. Yes, they tried to eat in a 50 minute crit. Right after turn 2 seemed to be where they were hurting the most, just after making the climb up to turn 1 and another slight rise to turn 2. My plan was to get on the front and drill it through 1 and 2, and then keep going. I should be able to just ride them off my wheel. If I add a little kick, I'm sure to get a good gap. No dice so I immediately tried it again with no luck. That was all my tricks. I slunk back into the pack to wait. I told Mickey I'd do that exact same thing with two to go if I hadn't gotten away. Little did I know that with 2 to go, the pace was already so high that I couldn't get up there to do it again. Frank was nearly taken out by a one of the many riders who think it's pretty cool to dive bomb corners in order to make up positions. While recovering, he gave up at least a dozen spots while we hammered out of the last turn, about to start our last lap. There was very little change in position for the last lap. The pace was high and the pucker factor was higher. We'd already heard plenty of pedal scrapes so the possibility of a crash was definitely not out of the question. Fortunately, it didn't happen. Mickey won while Frank, me and Joe finished 20th, 21st and 22nd, respectively. Mid-pack all the way, baby.
So there it is. Mickey got his sprint back and finally got the W he's been hunting all season. Then he got another one just to be sure the first one wasn't a fluke. We all got to share in the victory dinner, even if we did have to pay for it ourselves. Now we're back in Virginia and we left the "teamwork" nonsense in NC. Back to a hotly contested BAR competition between Mickey and me, which will probably turn into Frank and Mickey while I'm away in May and June.
Wintergreen and Jeff Cup are this weekend. Frank, Andrew and I are headed to Manhattan for Gran Fondo New York immediately after scaling Wintergreen, but we wish everyone else good luck in Virginia's premier road race.