Capital Crierium 1/2/3

While on vacation with my wife in July, we were visiting one of my old friends in DC, so I decided to jump in the Capital Criterium. There was no separate 3 field, so I raced with the 1’s and 2’s. The course was 1.3 km with 7 corners, including a ~100 m hill and a 180 degree turn.

I was warming up on the course, and with 10 minutes to go, I decided to do one more lap. Mistake. By the time I came around again, almost everyone had already lined up, and I was near the back. I hate being near the back, so as soon as the race started, I began working my way forward. For me, the pace was extremely fast. I felt as if I was time-trialing to just to move up a few places in the field, and every time I moved past people, a few more guys would get shed off the back.

After a few laps, I was at my limit, still trying to move up near the front. The most challenging part of the course for me was the 180 degree turn. Because I was not at the front, gaps would open up in the field as we accelerated out of this turn, which meant that I had not only to accelerate to the wheel in front of me but often past a rider to close a gap—not something I’m capable of doing with high-caliber riders forcing the pace.

At this point, I knew that I couldn’t stay near the back and finish with the main field, so I decided to put forth an all-out effort to move up to the front during the next lap. As the field rode up the hill, I gave everything to move up near the front. I made my way to the front third, sat in on the twisty descent, and prepared to give everything coming out of the 180. I stayed right on the wheel in front of me coming into the turn and got out of the saddle as if I were sprinting for the finish. I held the wheel in front of me…until the next time up the hill. Because I had given virtually everything (maybe unwisely) to get into a good position, I cracked on the short climb and drifted back in the field. I tried to move up again on the descent, passing three or four riders before reaching the 180 again. In short, the field accelerated away from me, first after the 180 and then even more so up the hill. I chased futilely for a lap or so before losing sight of the group, at which time I dropped out and rode back to my friend’s place. Just not ready for that kind of pace yet. Argh.