The Racing is Incidental or The 40 Minute Interval:Hartford Crit 2009

Every year about this time, my day job goes into high gear with many long hours and late nights.  Every other year, the busy time continues through May into June.  About this time every year since 2006 (my first year racing), I've looked out my office window - sometimes longingly & eagerly, sometimes with fear & trepidation - to Bushnell Park, site of the annual Hartford Criterium.

This year is a "long" year.  Our busy time won't end until June 3 and the weeks leading up to the end leave very little time for riding, much less training.  Despite my inability to prepare for it though, I can't not do this race.  Not only was it my first race ever, but it's right outside my office door.  And - perhaps most importantly this year - I had a demon to exorcise.

So with all this baggage leading up to Memorial Day Weekend - little sleep, little training, & some bad memories - I wasn't expecting much of this race.  But I knew one thing: If I finished the race and didn't end up in the hospital, the Mrs and I would get to go with HOB & Dorothy to Mr. & Mrs. SDC's house for a cookout.

All of a sudden, The Race - this big intimidating thing - became incidental.  Just an excuse to get together with friends and have a good time.  And isn't that what racing - at least at our level - should be about?

It's an easy thing to forget amid all the focus on training, performing, and getting results.  But I find that it helps me, a lot, to have something fun to look forward to after the race.  If the race can't be fun in and of itself, then I need to make the race incidental to the fun that follows.

My first coach gave me the following admonition before my first time racing Hartford: "Just finish & don't crash."  I decided that would be my goal for the day.  I knew I wasn't in any condition to help my team much.  But I also knew that if I could accomplish my goal, that I'd be in a much better place mentally to help in future races.

So how did it go?  Better than I expected.  Which, when you're not expecting much, is easy.

 

Here's the obligatory "Where's Waldo?" shot at the start line.  There wasn't much of a team plan.  There were four of us in the race, at varying levels of preparedness.  Our team leader had raced the day before and done well, so he was the guy to work for.  But he'd also raced earlier in the day and the field was stacked, so we didn't have really high expectations - just stay safe and see where we'd be at the end.

Of course, as usually happens, the race started fast and got faster.  All of my pre-race jitters disappear as soon as I hear the whistle and have to focus on racing.  It's one of the good feelings during a race - the intense focus, everything else melting into the basics (hold that wheel, close that gap, watch that corner, pedal, pedal, pedal).

 

The day's earlier races had crazy weather and lots of crashes.  One in the Masters field took out a bunch of guys (including our teammate Max who broke his leg - keep him in your thoughts & prayers), and our leader DaveH - while not hurt - had to switch out wheels.  Despite all that, he still managed to stay well within the pack, looking for opportunities.  That's him in the pic above.

 

Teammate Esteban, while mostly a road racer rather than a crit racer, was staying in the mix as well.  And that's a rare shot of me, just off the left edge of the pic.

As you can see, my prayers were answered and the weather for our race was really nice & dry.  Even more importantly, there were no crashes - in fact, I think it was the only race without one.  But I wasn't taking any chances, so I wasn't as sheltered as I'd normally be.

Result?  I was in Zone 5 for most of the race.  It was a 40 minute interval(!)

But with each corner safely negotiated and each lap successfully completed, I got closer to the end and meeting my goal.  This was my first Cat3 only race (since my upgrade they've been either 3/4 or P1/2/3 races) and two things became readily apparent:

1. Cat3 racers are much better bike handlers than Cat4s (and, thus, much safer)

2. Cat3 racers are much faster

Some examples:

Along the back stretch, the pavement is (and for as long as I've been racing there, always has been) very broken up, with a tire-wide gap running along the middle of the road.  Most guys would race right over this stuff and avoid the gap, but there'd still be some jostling and bumping.  But there was never any of that Cat4 overreacting or any loss of control.  I must have "arrived" myself because at one point my front wheel got caught in that gap and I was, surprisingly, able to stay upright.  I still have to check my wheel though - I hope the carbon isn't damaged too badly.

And the speed?  This was my Fastest Race Ever.  I averaged 26.9 mph!  That's just plain nuts.  Yeah, there was a little bit of a hill, but the descent goes into a sharp corner with a median on the far side, so we're not as fast through there as we'd otherwise be.

As the race continued, things got a little faster and the corners a little tighter.  I considered getting out more than once.  The only things keeping me in the race were the friends that came to root for me and the knowledge  that if I didn't finish, that I'd have to wait another whole year for absolution.

Finally, I saw the 10 laps to go card and started the countdown.  Once inside 6 laps to go, I passed where I'd ended last year - I only had to hold on for a little longer.

And it was all I could do to hold on.  Teammate Stan came riding by at one point urging me to get on his wheel.  He might as well have asked me to suddenly sprout wings and fly.  I wasn't going anywhere any quicker than I was already - and holding the wheel in front of me was all I could do.

At 2 to go, the pace - incredibly, but not surprisingly - got even faster and I found myself at the back but, thankfully, not OFF the back.  I seriously doubted whether I'd be able to finish with the pack.

Bell lap - always a potent cocktail of adrenaline, maneuvering, and speed. Everybody going a little nuts, fighting for wheels, struggling not to get dropped.  I didn't have much juice left, but - inexplicably - I must've had a little more than some of the others.  I started moving up.

After the final corner, going uphill toward the finish, it was every man for himself.  If I'd planned on contesting this race, rather than merely surviving it, I'd have been smarter and found a wheel to follow.  If I'd been prepared and in better condition, I'd have found a teammate to lead out.  As it was, I just started sprinting up the right side and didn't stop until I crossed the line.

Here's the finishline video (like the pics, courtesy Mrs. SOC):

Points only went 10 places deep and money only paid 5, so a lot of guys must've sat up.  I ended up in the top 20 - barely - finishing with the bunch.  Surprisingly, it was my second best placing there.  Out of 54 starters, only 43 finished the race without being taken out or lapped.  I was safe & happy.  I'd accomplished my goal.

Now I can concentrate on preparing for the rest of the season, being able to help my teammates in the races they've targeted and gaining more experience racing in the higher category.

And next year - I'll be targeting the Hartford Crit looking not just to survive it, but to win it.

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Stay tuned for more pics from this race later on....

Comments

[Harry Remer]

You know, I sometimes find my best accomplishments come on rides which I start with low expectations. You did *well.* Kudos -- and hope the taper at work comes SOON.

[Giles from Seacoast NH]

nice