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The crit course looked downright scary at first. The course was a 2 block x 2 block square near the Market Square in downtown Knoxville. Some of the corners featured some brick pavers, but in the dry those are not too bad. The worst part could have been the 50 foot long construction fence along the road just leaving turn 4. The promoters moved it back and generally the fields took it with appropriate caution, so no one went into the fence that I am aware of. Before my races, I took the corner one time pretty hot and it was definitely scary.

Even more scary was my rear tire. Warming up, I had a small section 3-4″ long of the tire bead blow off the rim (Vredestein Fortezza tires on Fulcum Racing 5’s). These tires and these rims were my racing set before I got the zero 038’s and my training set since then. I never had this issue before. I reseated the tire and even booted a section of it that had a mildly concerning star burst bulge. It then happened again when I set my bike down about 1 hour later. The second time, a larger section of the bead popped off (5-6″) to the point that the wheel wouldn’t turn through the frame. By then, I didn’t have time to figure it out and ended up racing with Andrea’s rear wheel for my crits.

Cat 4 crit

Lined up with about 20 or so Cat IV’s. Was talking to Mark Fasczewski before the race about bad starts and we both managed to fumble our pedals at the start and were chasing from the gun. I settled into my usual advancing behavior after finding my lung. Riders were getting shredded off the field and gapping me. I managed around a few, but one was just before a prime lap and I ended up riding about half the 25 minute crit solo. I held on pretty close for a while, but could never close the last 50 feet. It definitely started to bite after a while. The good news is that were only 8 in the lead group so I got my elusive top 10. A 9th place to finish the season as a Cat IV. I think I might have enough to upgrade…but should I, that is the question….

Masters 30/40+

After doing a cool-down lap, I rode up to the already assembled 30+/40+ field and switched jerseys with the prepinned number for the master’s race. I was worried that I would be dropped with the back-to-back crits, but I ended up doing okay. The slower start and smoother speed of the 30/40 helped. A few attacks went and I ended up getting involved in the chase (mostly since my legs did not have any explosive power to speak of, so any bridging attempts turned into leading the chase.) I was near the back of the field with 3 or 4 laps to go and could not really advance. At the tight turn 4 corner with just over a lap to go a rider cut me off and I had to brake in the corner. From then on, I was just off the back of the field and finished 14th overall. I don’t know what the 30+ / 40+ breakdown will be, but I wasn’t last!

Before both of my races, Andrea raced in the open womens and 50/60 crit. They separated the women from the 50/60 by spotting the men 15 seconds, but some of the women including Andrea caught them after 5 laps or so. In the end, it was Andrea against two Vantaggio riders (Kim Fasczewski and Gina Tolbert), but she managed to get the better of both of them by attacking the final two corners and held on for the win. This was her first outright win in a open women’s race and fitting end to her Cat IV career and this season.

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We took some photos of the crits. I got some decent shots of the women’s race and Andrea of me in my two crits. I will post those and link to them at the bottom of this posting later. The crits ran late and it was a long drive back to Memphis.

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Tomato Head Crit Photos (9/16/07)

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UPDATE: The problem with my wheels I have traced back to using the wider Velox tape. I mounted another tire at home and it did the same thing. I think the short height of the side walls (depth) and thickness of the Velox tape impared seating of the tire bead. I have put the narrow tape on there (which I needed to zig-zag to cover the alternating spoke holes) and mounted another tire. I stress tested the tire (banging it sideways on a table to try to force a blow-off)