Salem Cycle at Great Falls Crit!

Great Falls Criterium, Cat 4

After taking some time off from racing in July to focus on training I was eager to get back in the peleton to see how my training regime was paying off. I was coming into the race weighing a lean 159 lbs. Since my last race in May I was able to drop another 5lbs and I felt fast on the bike. I also added some new 3T handlebars and increased my stem length to 110 to get me in a more aerodynamic position and save some weight on the bike. All of these things had me feeling confident going into this race.

The course consisted of 4 left hand turns with a short, but steep hill near the start/finish line. The road conditions were just ok. Half the course was freshly paved and the other half had some shallow pot holes. Nothing that was super dangerous or couldn't be avoided.

The race started out at a quick pace. The stronger riders made it clear they wanted to thin out the pack. The peleton became strung out early on but it never really broke. One of the benefits of having this pace was we were able to carry lots of momentum into the main hill which made it a lot easier to power up it and stay connected with the peleton. It took about 6 laps for the leaders to realize that this was not the best strategy for them. So the pace actually slowed during the downhill section and the back end straight.

Initially I thought this was great, I could recover from the initial pace and sit in the pack and enjoy the ride. Quickly I learned this was to be my misfortune. By controlling the speed on the flats, it made it nearly impossible to carry any momentum into the hill section. So by the time we hit the hill the leaders attacked and absolutely crushed up it. In the initial move I hesitated and got almost dropped climbing. I was able to rejoin the peleton as they slowed down again. I thought this might have been just a one time attack up the hill and everyone was recovering. This did not happen. Everytime we hit the back end flats we slowed, then we attacked going up the hill section. Each time seemed to be harder and harder. Finally at about 5 more laps of hammering I could no longer stay with them. My lungs felt like they were on fire and I my legs felt like lead. I pulled off to the side and called it a day.

All in all it was a disappointing day for me. After a solid month of training I felt like I should have done better. Though I will lick my wounds and try again next week at The Whaling City Crit.

-Ken