June 7, 2011, Boxwood Criterium #6
Nanaimo BC

We had a hint of summer this last week, with Monday being the first day I could ride in short sleeves in over 9 months; Sunday was almost as nice. Yet race day started with rain and colder temperatures. By race time the roads had dried up and we raced under overcast skies at about 60 degrees just like last week, so I was fully covered again.

My chain jumping problems should finally be resolved by the addition of a Chain Keeper designed for the purpose.

I had gone on a 25 mile ride with some others last Thursday that included some spirited hill climbs and I felt pretty good. I need to start some sprint practice to get my jump and speed back up though, but occasional knee pain has made me hesitant to go at it with vigor.

There were 14 men out of the 19 starters and we had 2 neutral laps out of the 30 total. A slight tailwind was barely noticeable on the finishing stretch. There would be 4 primes and cash to the top 3. A few new faces were in the crowd and some were obviously novice at racing. This would set the format for the race to follow like a Cat 5 race where every attack is immediately countered, making it difficult to establish any breaks. However, this should bode well for me as it means I can rest more in the pack and conserve my energy for the final sprint.

After a couple of laps at about 20 mph, the race began, with a starting pace of 26.8 mph on the third lap, although it didn't feel that fast. The group had some riders with some strength, so the speed would remain steady and attacks would not get far off the front, and averaging 25 to 26 mph. I was not struggling at all, which shows I'm gaining some endurance, and I could occasionally put some digs in at the front to keep everyone else working hard. However, occasionally Ian would do a jump up through the pack and I'd discover that my usual quick acceleration was not with me to keep up with him, so I'm still not back to racing form. Watching the lap board was tricky as many of the laps were just getting flipped as we approached and thus unreadable, so it was important to keep track of them myself.

The first of four primes was not announced until 22 to go. With the large pack and the prime not being a major goal, I got into a poor position to contest it and watched Ian again take the cash, just edging out Warren.

Everyone regrouped and I was aware that we still had 3 more primes to go. This would have the effect of everyone conserving their energy for an impending prime and attacks were very limited, although Mike tried to slip off the front a couple of times. The next prime was rung with 16 laps to go and the pace picked up to 27.8 mph average for that lap with Warren taking that prime. When we got down to 9 laps to go, the lap board was no longer on the street, but was held up in the air by the official.

With 8 laps to go, the second prime was announced with the ringing of the bell and everyone got excited. We swooped around the first corner and up the slight hill and I found myself in the middle of the tight pack. The rider directly in front of me began vibrating a tight swerving motion and as I heard him start to freak out, I quickly found my way to the outside of the pack, just as I heard him lose the spokes in his front wheel in the axle of the rider next to him and then fly to the ground next to me as I gave him even wider berth. Many of the riders sat up and a few turned around to help the fallen rider. The rest wandered up the road wondering if the race was on hold, while one rider kept off the front and crossed the line alone to a nullified prime. The riders that remained in the race grouped together and on the next lap we saw the rider walking back to the parking lot and the official had flipped the lap board to 6, so apparently the race was back on, with a slightly reduced number of racers.

With 4 to go showing on the lap board (now back on the street), a prime was announced and Mike took off solo. He was allowed a gap and as we approached the finish it looked like he had it in the bag, so he eased up to prepare to rejoin the group, not seeing that Warren was coming up fast on his right who stole the cash from him for the prime. The lap board properly showed 3 to go and Ian and I drifted to the front and got a small gap and I gave a strong push, figuring I'd have an easier time sprinting a one on one rather than in a pack. After 3/4 of a lap, Ian decided it wasn't worth trying to stay away and sat up.

On the next lap the bell was rung again for the prime and the lap board showed 3 to go again. I was more concerned with the finish than the prime and had glued myself to Ian's wheel. A few guys sprinted for the prime as Mike finally got some cash and this time the lap board showed 1 to go as we got the bell again for the final lap and Mike continued his lead off the front alone.

I stuck to Ian's wheel and Ian was getting pretty frustrated as Mike got about a 150 m gap down the back stretch and no one would chase him down. I certainly wasn't going to drag everyone up there and had already set my plan to follow Ian. Finally down the back stretch as we approached the slight uprising, Ian made his bid and I stuck to his wheel. Unfortunately this meant that we'd go through turn 3 at maximum speed. After a year of pain from my accident, I still have a dread of injuring myself and this corner always bothers me with it's gravel and broken asphalt on the inside and no extra width to set up a proper line for it before hand. So I freaked out again and could not hold Ian's wheel, even going wide of the center line and around one of the orange safety cones in the center of the street (fortunately no traffic was coming at the time). This allowed Warren to slip by me on the inside and take Ian's wheel and I had to play catch up through the gentler turn 4. Mike still had a good lead and as we approached 200 m to go I had just caught back up to Ian and Warren, but also at that time we caught up with some lapped riders that were directly in front of us. Ian and Warren went to the right, close to the curb, and I mistakenly went to the left of the lapped riders, which meant I'd get no draft off of my competitors and I'd have to drag race them for the final meters with the disadvantage of already being behind. My sprinting legs didn't feel up to snuff and although I could almost maintain their speed, I could not accelerate to gain on them. I watched Warren slip by Ian for the win and I had enough speed to slip by Mike to take third. Third place netted me $5, which was the same as my entry fee.

The last 28 laps took 48:45 for an average of 24.5 mph, including the two laps where we drifted around the course wondering if the race was going to continue. Next task is to try to get my jump and sprint back.

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