Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium, May 14, 2016

Clawing my way (in green, lower left).
photo: Katie Truong

Group

Master 55+ Cat 123 (a combined field of 43 including M45 and M55 cat 123 racers)

Result

4th of 9

My Goals

• Finish as high as possible with the pack. This isn’t a sure bet in my first criterium with 45 and 55 123s. I know there will be attacks, and if this elite pack splits, I know the quality of leaders and chasers will make it tough to hang on. So just do my best to hang in (not a winner’s attitude… just a realistic one).
• Stay safe. Don’t let myself get hurt, and don’t cause a situation that hurts anyone else.
• One of my season goals has been to take on some types of races that I’d been shying away from over the last season. In past seasons I did a healthy mix of road and criterium races. And this season I’ve done three flat business-park crits with the 35+4/5s. So why now am I driven to choose arguably the second most technical crit course in the district for my first exposure to the 123 field? I couldn’t answer that question but registered anyway an hour before the deadline.

The Course
This is a backwards “L” shaped course with 6 turns: 5 right and 1 left, for a 0.9 mile lap. Turn 3, an 85° left abruptly exits onto a 23% climb for one block. The road surfaces on then lower half of the course are old, cracked, settling concrete slab, pretty rough. The surfaces on the upper half of the course are good asphalt. Turn 5 exits onto a 4-block descent, where the surface quickly transitions to concrete slab, then into turn 6, a wide 80° right, then 160m to the line.

Staging

Lining up in the back row for the start I felt even more out of my league than ever. A lot of same-day registered 45s showed up. The combined field numbered 43, including current and former world champs, multiple-national champions, and a lot of other very experienced racers.

The Race

The pace was hard from the whistle, though it only got faster. The first lap was our slowest. Remaining lap speeds were all 23-27mph. Two years ago with the cat4/5s it was possible to top out the steep 23% hill on Nicholson with the leaders, but not now. I was regularly near the back, dodging guys who botched their shifts, hearing the follow moto’s engine purr.

Cresting the top of the steep rise, the road continues to climb as it threads through a tunnel of tree shade. Some guys are trying to recover here, so this is where I transition as smoothly as possible to a seated, power-grind regaining 5 or 6 positions before the turn onto Belmont Ave., which runs across the top of the course. Lap after lap this is where I mitigated the positions I lost on the climb.

As hard as I tried, I always ended up in the back third of the pack.

The corners that worried me so much two years ago, were fast and smooth with this pack. So many graceful, skilled guys just flowing through, no brakes, great lines through the turns. Except for having to HTFU all the time, this race was super fun!

Even so, after six laps I was fatiguing. The gear I picked each time for the steep hill seemed a bit too stiff. I was feeling defeated–that twelve minutes in I might allow myself to get gapped. Then I overtook several more guys in the “tree-tunnel” and focused on choosing a better gear for the climb on the next few laps.

I wasn’t close enough to see the separation, but Strava Flyby shows that by the ninth lap, Daniel Martin (cat 1, Peet's Coffee Racing) and Chris Phipps (cat 1, ThirstyBear p/b Akamai) got away, growing a 20-25 second gap that they sustained until the finish.

Before I knew it we were twenty seven minutes into the race–more than halfway through!. The climb was going better–I was gaining one or two positions now as other guys got tired. It felt like the pack was smaller, because I could see the front easily, yet the moto was still close behind.

“Two laps to go! Two laps to go!” barks the PA. I can’t believe it! I’m still in this! The front of the pack slowed on Belmont, and guys were looking around to see who was going to make a move. I missed the action up front, but everything stretched out again very quickly. Speed was high for the bell lap, over 27 mph.

Going up the hill the last time I picked a 34 x 15 and gutted it out, overtaking a couple of guys I’d previously been unable to catch. Cresting the lip of the steep, I kept on the power, dumped onto the big ring, focusing on the best line through turn 4, which has a nasty lump on the inside.

Good thing, because the pack was stretched thin a little more than halfway back, right where I had moved up to. I wasn’t able to close that gap before turn 5. I knew I had some riders on my wheel, but it didn’t sound like anyone was coming around me, so I just hammered as hard as possible, then dove into the four block descent to the final turn, trying to stay in contact.

I can’t tell you what transpired for the leaders, but in my realm, I think I caught two guys before the line, maybe 21st-24th in the pack.

Shocked and amazed that I had fourth place for my age group–good for $50 worth of Mike’s Bikes coupons.

This is the best season ever! So much fun! Oh man, these posts where I’m so excited about pack finishes are going to be so embarrassing to read someday, but right now at least each one feels like a step up.