RACE REPORT - Oh Boy!
My first bike race ever (Cat 4/5 Crit) and it was embarrassing. I got blow away. Got dropped after 1.5 laps out of 10. Placed 24th out of 31. There is only one technical part of the course with three 90-degree turns (slightly uphill) and it was the second time through where I lost contact. I was braking around those corners and it cost me. All the sudden I was behind and my effort to catch up not only failed…it hurt. Then I basically did a bunch of laps alone. Got lapped. Caught a few guys who blew up long after me. In the end, I’ve done solo centuries at nearly the same pace!
Some takeaways:
- Lay off the brakes (it’s a horrible addiction).
- Get in the drops. I hardly ever do this. A buddy showed me photo of me in the race and I looked ridiculous. No one else was up that high.
- More group rides! I don’t do a lot of these and to be honest, I’m anxious in the pack, especially at these speeds on corners. The first lap felt easy in terms of effort (right in the middle of the pack!) but I’m not yet comfortable with it.
- Get younger! I was by far the oldest guy in the race. Well, one other guy was a year older but he was behind me. After that the next oldest guy was 11 years younger. Big jerks!
You guys were all spot-on with your advice. Those that said it will take 10+ races to learn how to crit should win a prize.
There are 3 more in the series. I plan to do at least one more if not two but right now I’m licking my wounds and will wait to decide. I would like to see if I can hang for a couple more laps.
Oh, and I never even looked at my GPS.
Thanks again for all the support and advice.