roadcx.net

This weekend, I went up to race the Allanti Classic RR&TT / Bike Peddlar Crit up in Nashville. More to come, but here is a short summary (work in progress):

Road Race (Cat 4). The race played out pretty well for me. In past years (2004 & 2005), I have not been able to stay with the field. Up the first climb I was with the group and enjoyed taking the long twisting descent with the group instead of chasing. The infamous Theta hill did put me into a bit of trouble as the field split on that climb. As the climb leveled out, I started to chase the field 1/4 mile up the road. Along the way I picked up a few other riders and helped somewhat, but I ended up doing most of the pulling back. We did not make the catch until about 1-1.5 miles after the sharp left hand descent. Just as we were catching, some riders crossed up in the back of the field on the straightaway. Bottles and bodies flying around. A rider-less bike ejected from the field towards the centerline. After avoiding the crash, it took another 1/2 mile or so to re-catch the field that had surged after the crash. Somewhere along there we had passed the Cat III field (maybe before Theta). At about 25 miles or so, we were neutralized for the III’s to pass us back. We were slowed to about 15 mph for what seemed like a few miles, but was probably less. Our field swelled as dropped riders (10-15) reintegrated. This changed the pack dynamic and made the rest of the race more nervous. For a while there were two guys off the front, but they were pulled back.
Fast forward to the field finish. The last several miles are chiefly downhill, so the speed of the large field was fast on the approach. A few miles out either a high speed blowout (or an nearby air rifle) got the pack’s nerves up. I started to move up and advanced up the right side of the road to around 15th or so place. I was in good position but a nasty crash at 1/2 mile to go put me off the road onto the grass. I kept upright and got back to the sprint but the field was 50 feet away. Ended up 29th [results]. 63 finishers, a dozen or so DNF’s.

Time trial. I was happy with my effort and pacing. Ended up with a 14:34 that was good enough for 17th of the 37 category 4’s that did the TT [results].

Crit (Cat 4). Parking lot crit up at the Titan’s stadium (LP Field). Hot out on new blacktop, but no one went down in the Cat 4 race. Ended up with the field, which strung out at the end. Got 19th.

Crit (Masters 30/40+). Felt good, so decided to race again with an hours break in between. Settled in the field pretty well for this race. A large break of 10 or so established and was unable to get on it / bridge up. Was in a chase group of 8 or so. Ended up losing that group when a racer just gave up and decided to suddenly brake and turn off course. After slamming on the breaks and nearly hitting him, I was gapped. My tired legs couldn’t make up the 30 feet and that gap widened and widened. I ended up around 26th, last of the finishers…