Ups and Downs of Crit Racing.

It didn't take too long to recover from the cold that held me up at the High Uintas Classic. I was able to get a fair amount of super easy distance training in while I was recovering in the days after getting sick and surprisingly came out of it quickly enough to race the following weekend in Pocatello, ID.

The race in Pocatello was a circuit race with 4 miles of gradual climbing and about 1 mile of fairly steep climbing, then back down. We did it 9 times. I felt a little off the first couple laps but the pace was quite high. I settled in and the field settled down a bit. As the laps went on I got stronger and stronger. Late in the race I felt like there weren't many people climbing faster then me, though I didn't really feel like I was firing on all cylinders after such an easy training week. A small break got off the front with 3 or so laps to go. Knowing that I had to remain in the top 7 to get any upgrade points, I pushed it hard at the front to chase down any further attacks and had to burn up my legs a bit towards the end of the race. On the final climb I came out 3rd of the field sprint which was a little disappointing. 7th place was not exactly what I was looking for, but i did get a couple points.

This past week I trained quite hard to get back some of the fitness I lost being sick. I did a couple 5-6 hour rides with some steady tempo (sub threshold) riding uphill and this last Tuesday I went down to our Tuesday night world championships in Salt Lake, a 55 minute criterium in Salt Lake City.

My goal at the Tues Night Worlds was to bury my legs early and hang on, then bury them some more. I rode from my house in Park City, three hours down to the race to begin with. Then in the race I attacked often and early. My legs were hurting pretty bad after 20 minutes, so I sat in until they recovered just enough to attack again and I did. Over and over. It was a good effort until two laps to go. I went into a fast chicane at 30+ mph and flatted my front tire. The tire rolled and before I had any indication of what was going on, I was sliding across the pavement on my right leg. OUCH. Luckily I was fine, save for some major road rash on my hip and shin... However, my rear derailleur was not shifting anymore.

I still felt ok and had planned on riding another 1.5 hours up the hill towards Park City after the race, so I stayed with the plan after cleaning my leg out a bit. With my derailleur not shifting, I had to grind it out in my smallest chain ring. Probably not the worst thing for my power but I would have rather my bike still worked.

The next day I took my bike into Colesport, a local shop who sponsors my cycling team. As I took my bike off my rack, I noticed a crack in the top tube of my bike. After a little more investigation I realized that my frame was toast, totally broken. Bummer. As of today I still don't know what the status of that frame is or what I'll be riding in a week. Not exactly ideal but I know it will get sorted out.

Luckily one of my teammates was headed out of town for the July 4th weekend and I borrowed his bike under the premise that I keep it off the pavement. My girlfriend, Crystal, and I made the trip to her hometown of Hailey, ID (near Sun Valley) for a criterium. Another teammate joined me.

The start of the race was really aggressive and I noticed right away that the field was lethargic in pulling back one of the stronger riders in the field. After maybe 5 minutes we finally pulled him back (him: Reid Pletcher from California Giant) as soon as he was back in the field I attacked hard off the front. I was out on my own pushing 30 mph to stay out front for almost 2 laps until another known strongman (Kai Applequist from Bob's Cycling) bridged up to me. He and I worked very well together, alternating laps for the next 15-20 minutes until we lapped the field. Once we caught back to the field we sat back in. My teammate Tanner did an awesome job of helping chase down attacks and keep the pace high at the front towards the end. With a few laps to go Kai attacked me and spent a lap alone off the front. I didn't panic and Tanner managed to keep him within just a few seconds. At 1 lap to go, a few people surged and I countered off of their move right as we caught up to Kai. I held on for 3/4 of a lap to take the win by 3 bike lengths over second. Tanner rode great to finish 3rd after helping me out.

It was a good day. My first Pro/1/2 win only a few months after upgrading from a Cat 5. I'm still on the hunt for more points to get my Cat 1 upgrade and ride in the Tour of Utah. The next weekend is likely going to be an off weekend from racing, so I'm planning to put in some serious miles. I'd like to take another jump in fitness before tackling the next block of races.