Riverview Criterium

“I was in the pain cave and I had dropped the flashlight, so it was pretty dark at that point.”

Mike Friedman, describing his effort in the 2008 Het Volk.*

The skinny on the race: 20 laps of a .8 mile on-street course in Oakmont for a total of a whopping 16 miles. Six corners, two railroad crossing, and a stretch of pavé.

16 miles, I thought. I can suffer for 16 miles and stick with the group. Two things would work against me, though: the fact that the “fast” cat 4 racers would be in my race, and the looooong, slightly downhill straightaway. What’s so hard about going downhill, you ask? Well, you would be surprised. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

As usual, at the start line I found myself at the back. Bad, Brian. Move up. Within a lap I was in a group struggling to maintain contact. The acceleration out of the first corner, into the downhill, was crazy. I was literally red-lining it on the second lap, and losing contact. Not good. My group managed to hold on for about four or five laps, and several us were spat off the back. We weren’t very organized, and the results were predicable. Too many long pulls left me off the back of this group, and I managed to organize with one of the few women brave enough to ride with the men. We lasted a few more laps, then the pack came around and tried like the devil to hold on to the bunch. This lasted for another two laps, I think.

At this point, things get pretty fuzzy. I had dropped the flashlight laps ago, and was now in a section of cave with limited oxygen. I was dreaming of flat, or a dropped chain. Or, I could just cowboy up and drop out. I think I was with another guy, but dagnabit, he never took a pull. I would simply put my head down in the straights and pedal as hard as my rapidly fading legs could, and I would fly through corners1, wondering when I might push the boat out a bit too far and crash. I wasn’t paying attention to the lap count (this is not entirely true–I would note on the back straight to take a look at the lap count when I passed the start/finish area, but every time I would forget). Finally, I heard the pack approach again, and as we passed the start/finish, the bell rang for the last lap. I held on for maybe half a lap, then popped again and finished just off the back.

And to think, I paid $20 for that.

The cat 2/3 race actually made me feel better about myself. A break went immediately (no, really, immediately. Like, before the first corner), and within two laps there were people all over the course, getting lapped left and right. And these were the “real” racers.

The course was more fun than I thought it would be, and despite my massive lack of speed, I seem to be enjoying this racing thing (blissfully ignoring the fact that speed is a critical element to doing well). This week’s goal at the Oval will be to stay with the group the entire race.

* Any comparison to myself and Friedman ends there. Friedman went on to finish in the top 15 of a semi-classic. I went on to get lapped about 30 times by the field in a 4/5 race.

1Interesting observation: at the back of the course, folks were riding on the right side of the yellow line, even though the optimal line in the corner was on the left. Closed course, dudes! Take the whole road!