June 3, 2012, Shamrock Capitol Criterium
St. Paul MN   45 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

While visiting my parents in MN, I had the opportunity to take in a criterium in St. Paul. This was a 50+ event lasting 45 minutes around a 0.8 mile course with prize money to the first 3. This was the same course I raced on June 3, 2007 during the MN State Criterium Championships and placed 4th out of 18. Traveling counter-clockwise, the course has a slight uphill before a left turn just 100 meters before the finish and there was a slight headwind before the turn at the bottom of the hill. There is also a U-turn about a third of the way through the course that can not be taken at full speed.

I had converted my track bike to a 5 speed criterium bike. So this would be my first trial of having a travel bike with me with one set of wheels that I can use for training, track racing, and crit racing. I'm using clincher tires so that I can swap out the tires for race day.

We had 16 starters, with the strongest riders being Scott Flanders and Mark Skarpohl who would be known to work together. The best sprinters were David Pramann (who placed just ahead of me in 2007) and Dan Schueller, a Cat 1-2 track racer I have known for 5 years. A new technology for me was that we all wore timing chips on our ankles, so the finish times of everyone could easily be recorded and published, although the published results appear weird when lapped riders are given a shorter time and they quit.

The first 5 laps were uneventful and allowed us all to get familiar with the course. We had a prime and Scott took it, coming up the inside on the hill and I was third, just watching the other rider's abilities. Soon after that, Mark took a flyer off the front and I went after him, soon getting on his wheel at the finish line. He saw me sitting on him and short of a lap he eased up and let the pack catch up to us.

A couple of laps later, a counter attack followed by David while another rider, David Jones, latched onto him. This looked like a strong move, but I was not yet recuperated from the first break attempt. I should have been watching Mark more closely, but was not paying enough attention and a few laps later he slipped off in pursuit of the two leaders. This was facilitated by three other riders blocking at the front of our pack, so attempts by the pack to keep the break within range were futile. Mark soon joined the other two leaders and all the money prizes were gone for the day.

About half way into the race, I thought I'd give it one more go to get into the money and took off solo. I was able to close about half of the 21 second gap and heard the announcement of another prime as I tried to close in on the 3 leaders. Alas, they looked back and saw me and put the hammer down to pull away from me. Seeing their lead increase, I had no choice but to try to rest before the finish and at least enjoy the sprint. For the next several laps I was barely hanging on to the back of the pack, but started to feel better with about 5 laps to go.

Mark and Scott beat up on their unwelcome guest and Scott was allowed to solo away from the other two. Eventually Mark was able to drop David, and moved up to join his friend ahead. David was able to struggle along and keep his margin to keep his third place for the final standings.

I eventually maneuvered up to Pramann's wheel with 2 to go, as Schueller had been putting a lot of time at the front and I didn't think he would be as fresh. As we came to half a lap to go, I was in the perfect place when Schueller came flying around the outside just before the hill. Pramann followed and I hoped that I could draft for a short while and overtake them before the line, but I was in a slightly too big a gear when we went up the hill and it was tough to accelerate. I wasn't able to take an inside line at the final turn as I had hoped due to the other 2 being in the way and I had to try to come around the outside and did not have the distance or the speed to get around either of them, settling for a sixth place overall.

So an interesting race that I did not ride very smart and did not have any superior strengths to employ.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
9:02 am 16.1 16 40:05 73, E@5 24.1 35.1 164 186


Place Name License Club Time
1 Scott Flanders 45337 Minneapolis Bicycle Racing Club 39:08:00
2 Mark Skarpohl 47883 Flander Bros 39:08:00
3 David Jones 281557 Flat City Cycling Club Inc. 39:32:00
4 David Pramann 28606 Silver Cycling 39:56:00
5 Dan Schueller 213088 Gopher Wheelmen 39:56:00
6 Lionel Space 197647 Focus Racing 39:56:00
7 Thomas Pletcher 225027 Minneapolis Bicycle Racing Club 39:57:00
8 Roger Karnopp 375507 Flat City Cycling Club Inc. 39:57:00
9 Martin Lacey 193390 Omnium Bike Shop 39:58:00
10 Steve Hunter 50772 St Paul Bicycle Racing Club 39:59:00
11 Russell Loucks 182695 G.S. Circo Azzurro 39:59:00
12 Matthew Melean 296184 Flanders 40:05:00
13 Steven Hiebert 158237 CGSCA 40:18:00
14 Todd Peterson 292998 St Paul Bicycle Racing Club 39:46:00
15 David Montgomery 45697 St Paul Bicycle Racing Club 40:41:00
16 Mark Kowaliw   Unattached 24:32:00

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