Let me start by saying that I am not overly fond of participating in criterium racing. In reality, I do not believe that I have the personality to be very successful at it. Specifically, I am not a very “pushy” person, and am not particularly excited about the possibility of crashing onto the asphalt at 30 mph. Cyclocross, on the other hand, is completely different. While there is a strong possibility of crashing, it is usually because of your own actions, and generally happens on the dirt or sand. I recently learned that cyclocross starts do not count towards upgrading out of Cat 5 purgatory. I have only done 7, now 8, crits, while I have 9 cyclocross races under my belt. I figured that the combination of the two would surely allow me to finally get out category 5 racing, I was wrong. Why is this important? Because Cat 5 crit racers are generally incapable of holding their line through a turn, and then act surprised when you mention, “hold your line”.
I participated in my first crit of the season today, the Chuck Pontius Memorial Criterium in Valencia (Santa Clarita), CA. I know I am starting late, but remember, I don’t like crits. I woke up at 5:45 for my 8:15 race, had breakfast, and got onto the computer to see when registration was going to open. I was surprised to see that my 8:15 race was now a 7:30 race. It’s now 6:30. Needless to say, I get my stuff into the car, jam over to the race, get my number and have just enough time to warm up. The field was full, and it looked like we had some juniors added to the mix. As with all Cat 5 crits, things started off at almost full speed, with what appeared to be one of the juniors pulling at the front for a lot of the race. The kid really had a solid motor. Not overly fast, but able to pull on the front for days. Anyway, on the second lap I pulled up to the front group of riders, surprising one guy from Helen’s (I might have leaned into him a little) who reminded me about the fact that “whoa, we’ve got 40 minutes left, we don’t want to crash”. No kidding, I hadn’t thought of that. I explained that he shouldn’t worry, “I’m not going down”. As soon as I said those words I knew I was going down at some point, I had just cursed myself. During our 40-minute race, twice guys that were either trying to crash me (I clearly let them know where I was, and they turned right into me), or have no ability to hold their line throughout a turn squeezed me into the curb. I’ll go with the latter. With 3 to go, I could not get up to the spot I wanted. The funny thing is that I actually felt pretty good, never feeling the pain until the final 500 meters (which leads me to believe that my problems are mental). I kept working at it, but didn’t have enough left to make it happen. I ended up finishing 26th, and was happy that I did not crash. I have come to realize that those last 5 laps go quick. At five to go I really have to move up and hold my position. My problem is that in an effort to avoid the yo-yo effect early in the race, I end up using more energy keeping a position at the front. I really need to try to maintain a moderate position early, and then move up late. Who knows?
To the Santa Clarita Velo rider that came up to me after the race, I’m sorry but I have no clue who you are. I probably could have introduced myself, but you seemed so sure that you knew who I was that I didn’t want to offend. You looked kind of familiar, but I had no idea. Hell, you may have thought I was someone else. Anyway, you were a very cool guy, and it was good to hear that you saw me getting squeezed during the race, as it also happened to you. I’m glad I wasn’t imagining it, or overreacting. Overall it was a fairly successful race. Two more to go and I can finally upgrade. I guess that is what happens when you only ride 3-4 crits a year.
Here is a crash from a later race:
Santa Clarita Cycling 