Elkhart Criterium
May 27, 2007 – Elkhart, IN
Cat 3 – 22nd
253 watts – 23.9 MPH
Bristol Road Race (44.0 miles)
May 28, 2007 – Bristol, IN
Cat 4 – 29th
246 watts – 22.0 MPH
I have to admit it. I’m ashamed to be a member of this team. Wait, I need to be clear. I’m not ashamed of the team; the team should be ashamed of me. Why? The largest thread on our forum is entitled “Daylight Savings Time”. Given that fact, you would think that we’d be masters of the clock and calendar. Well, not me. I headed off to Indiana on Sunday morning for the Great Race criterium in Elkhart, IN only to forget that NW Indiana was now on DST like the rest of the USA. Oops. How humiliating! Will they every let me wear a XXX jersey again?
Well, I did race in the Cat 3. I got to Elkhart in time to see a phenomenal team performance in the Cat 4 crit. Not a big field, but XXX was a force to be seen. I wasn’t too worried about racing the Cat 3s, since I had raced with the Masters 30+ before. I was a little nervous at the start, but felt more comfortable as the race progressed. It was very smooth with the usual attacks and counterattacks. The race was largely dominated by Swanson and a couple of other Indiana teams. I was the sole XXXer in the field and just hung in the pack. Ironically, this was the first crit from which I had never been dropped. I was in the group going into the final sprint! I figured we averaged about 27 MPH for a little over an hour, so it was definitely my fastest and longest. The best part of the race was the support from the team on the sides. Bob, Jeff, Joe, and company all were cheering me on throughout the race, which really helped. Thanks guys!
Our XXX team grew larger for the road race the next day in Bristol, IN. The course was very rural with rolling hills and tons of turns with loose gravel. One tip for the future: Bonneyville Park where the race started has many parking lots and bathrooms, so bike around on your warm-up looking for one to avoid long lines at the staging lot. The Cat 4 road race was pretty subdued the first lap. A few attacks came on the second lap with Chris and I launching a counterattack against one by the sole Team Apache rider. Pieter and others also attacked later in the race. The way things were going, it didn’t seem as if any attack was going to get away. XXX was definitely a presence in this race with about 20% of the entire peloton. I realized my legs were pretty shot from the Cat 3 crit the day before, so I just hung in the pack. This only made me realize how much better the 3s are regarding smoothness and bike handling! I really had no energy in my legs to sprint, so I talked to a couple of riders the last few kms. What? Yep, I think we had more interest in yapping about the Giro then fighting it out in a group sprint.
These 2 races were my first experiences with Dan Daly-run events. I have to agree with Luke that he puts on some good races. Both courses were in good condition and were well marked and marshaled. They did feel somewhat smaller than the normal Chicago and Wisconsin races, but that wasn’t surprising since we were in rural Indiana. Both races were great experiences for a beginning/intermediate pack racer like me. I have more confidence in my pack riding abilities now. I think future Memorial Days will be a tough choice between the Great Race, the Snake, and the Soto Memorial. They are all “great races” and nothing to be ashamed of.