July 19, 2011, Boxwood Criterium #12
Nanaimo BC

This week's race had 14 entries, including a woman and a junior. A fixed 40 lap race was in order, with the first 2 at a neutral pace. Warren, Ian, and Mike were present as the main contenders to watch. The smaller size of the pack would make it more difficult to sit back in the bunch while they chased down breaks, so I'd have to be more attentive to any moves off the front.

As predicted, the previous week's weather was not conducive to fun training. It had rain every day and Saturday it rained all day. Temperatures were still in the mid-60s, so still no short sleeve riding. Although I consider my 1 hour a day of riding the minimum to be able to race competitively, on two days I only put in a half hour and Saturday I skipped entirely (the day that was supposed to be my one intensity training day). Although it's sometimes good to take a break and give the body a rest for a week or two, for me, giving up time on the bike at the same time is usually not conducive to feeling stronger come race day. Tuesday night had temperatures below 70, but it was sunny, so I raced in shorts and two jerseys with no arm warmers or leg warmers. The finishing straight had a slight headwind, which would normally lend itself to a "come from behind" late surge in the sprint.

Photo during last week's race:
(Warren in fourth position on red bike behind Rob, with Ian following in sixth and myself in yellow behind Ian; Mike in blue to my left)


After our first 2 neutral laps, the next 3 were also pretty relaxed at under 23 mph. For me, a race with less aggression plays into my abilities, as the longer efforts wear me out before I can contest the sprint, or worse yet, bring on cramps. It had been announced that the first prime would not be in the first 10 laps, so it seemed everyone was waiting for that before getting any real action going. As expected, at 29 laps to go the bell for the first prime rang and I made sure I was on Warren's wheel. Warren went at 200 m to go and I kept on his wheel. As we got closer to the line it looked like I might have a chance, so I gave it a jump at 50 m to go, but I felt a jolt in my legs that instantly throttled me down; apparently the lack of training over the last week was having an effect.

Ian continued on after the sprint and I caught up to him for a two man break attempt, but he didn't seem to have his heart into it and the pack soon had hauled us back. This was good for me, as I would not have faired well for a 28 lap two man team time trial. Ian then got a small gap with two other riders as I watched for any chase by Ian or Mike, but after a few laps the pack had closed in on them enough to cause them to give it up. With 19 laps to go, the second prime bell was rung and this time I just sat behind Ian and Warren, watching Warren pocket the cash again. The three of us had a small gap, so we pushed on for a while, but the effort was not enough and in a couple of laps we were all together again.

Mike then made a solo effort off the front and was soon joined by Rob Russell. A lap later, Warren bridged the gap and I debated if I should expend the energy to close it down. They hung in front of us at about 10 seconds for several laps and then Ian made a surge coming out of turn 2. I was fully expecting this and was immediately on his wheel. He only took a short turn, so I went to the front and gave it a strong effort and hit turn 3 at nearly 35 mph, which was too fast for me to stay within the cones dotting the center line. Fortunately there was no traffic coming the other way and I continued on to bring the two of us into contact with the three leaders. Ian then continued to the front to keep the pace up and I gave it a strong turn as well. Soon we were out of sight of the remnants of the pack and this 5 man group containing the strongest riders would not be absorbed again during the race.

At 10 to go, another prime bell was rung which was again won by Warren with Ian trying to contest it as well. I watched from behind and the three of us had a gap on Mike and Rob, so we tried to make it a 3 man effort, but after 2 laps we were back to our 5 man group. We settled into a steady pace, which allowed me to rest somewhat, but I was starting to feel cramps in my calves after 51 minutes of racing. We were lapping other riders of the decimated pack, some who would hang onto the back of our group for a few laps. With 5 to go, the last prime bell was rung and Warren announced that he was not going to go for it. We all expected Mike to go for the prime that he often takes each week, but Ian made a strong jump on the back stretch and got a big enough lead that nobody tried to close it before the line. I was concerned that he might continue on solo for an attempt at the win and I thought he had the abilities to pull it off. I did a strong turn at the front to keep the pace up and Ian basically waited for us, so we would most likely have a 5 man sprint, where only Warren and Ian would be a threat for the win.

With 2 laps to go I was on Ian's wheel and the pace was fairly moderate. Rob edged me off of Ian's wheel, but by one lap to go I was on Warren's wheel and I would not relinquish that position. Taking turn 3 for the final time was not at a high speed, so no worries about that dangerous turn. Then Warren went to the front and began a strong acceleration before turn 4. This was surprising, since we had a headwind coming up and he was apparently going from a long way out. I had a bike length's gap and followed him around the last turn as he accelerated even more. This looked golden to me as this would be the perfect leadout and I only needed to be patient to snap up through his draft to pass him at the end. He steadily increased his speed and I was having difficulty maintaining the gap and as we got closer I had to give it everything to try to slingshot up behind him. However he was still accelerating as I began my surge to come around. I kicked the rear cog up one notch and gave it my best effort, feeling some slight stinging of cramps in my calves, but I could only close to less than a bike length and Warren took the win at 38.8 mph. We finished the race in 1:11 and only averaged 24.2 mph.

Last lap:

Warren is certainly improving each week with his sprinting abilities. He's a young guy and should have a fun future with his racing.

I have one more Tuesday night crit in the future and then we're off to Arizona. This will be the third move in a year's time, so it seems like we're constantly either packing or unpacking. Life was much simpler in the RV when moving around. We're looking at buying a house that will be a permanent home for the foreseeable future.

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