Kate Cook's best shot ever, in her words. I say Frenchie and I make the shot but that's just me.
Winfield weekend has become somewhat special to me. It isn’t exactly a home-town race but I’ve got lots of family in the area and I spent many of my summers riding my cousin’s pink and black Schwinn Predator on those mean streets. You never want to bring out the fam only to get dropped. Beyond that, the Twilight Crit was my first race two years ago. I got lapped on the last lap (It’s worth noting that was also Ryan Freund’s first race I believe…he won). I didn’t race again until the following Summer, but The Twilight Crit got me hooked. Then, last June that I won my first race as a cyclist in the 5′s at the Twilight Crit.
Is it an ABR weekend? Yeah…
Are the payouts huge? No (although $800 for the cat 3′s on Sunday is very nice)…
Are the races always well attended? No (I can’t fathom why this is)…
But…
Does the local community support this race better than just about any other on the calendar? Yes…
Does ABD put on a hell of a show? Yes…
Are the courses two of my favorites of the year? Yes…
Twilight Crit (Mens 2/3)
It’s not often that you get to race with 2′s unless your being pulled around by the super-freaks (P/1) so this is a unique field for both the 2′s and the 3′s. A great opportunity for the former, a challenge for the latter. There were some big legs on the line. Rich Steinbrecher (Bicycle Heaven) and Howard Smith (Pony Shop) shred my legs to pieces many times last Summer in Geneva. Chazz Martin (IScorp) is a young freak. Patryk Limanowicz (PACT Dish) has dropped me more than once. Looked like fun.
The race was one of the more dynamic races I’ve participated in this year. The initial pace wasn’t fast and the hill is really more of a dull pain than murderous. There were several attempts to make something happen, often initiated by Martin. I found myself trying to get into each of these early moves. They never amounted to anything but a small gap and a lot of wasted energy. About halfway through the race I made the commitment not to do this anymore and I knew that once this happened something would go–it did. I was hiding in the back so I’m not positive how it developed but the field let 1st and 2nd roll up the road.
At one point someone came up to me after someone drifted back to the pack (or was getting lapped, I’m not sure), “Is there anyone else up the road?” I didn’t know, but the pace car wasn’t seen for the remainder of the race.
With a few minutes to go, ABD made a concerted effort to place all its guys at the front of the peloton at the top of the hill leading into the descent. It was pretty clear what was about to happen and there wasn’t a lot anyone could do about it, their big-legged-TT’er was about to trickle away from us in a very tactically sound spot; on the descent leading into the first right-handed 90 degree turn. I was too far back to do anything about it but fortunately Limanowicz cleanly forced himself to the inside and closed the gap before it could really form.
A lot of the remaining “facts” may be a little off, blame oxygen deprivation
The peloton seemed to agree that nothing else was going to go up the road. This didn’t bode well for a podium spot. I’m pretty confident that I can out-sprint a lot of people, but Chazz isn’t one of them. With 4 laps remaining I saw him launch an attack and sneak up the road. Boxed in, there wasn’t anything I could do about it and the gap was real. I don’t remember the exact order but I believe Martin, Ricardo Otero (WDT) and David Reyes (Bloomington Cycle) had worked themselves into a nice little group up the road. On the next lap, Howard and Rich attacked the hill and bridged the gap. I was somewhat boxed in again but I worked my way to some clear road and sprinted up the hill. I made contact just before the top but the group’s momentum was clearly dead.
I looked behind me and saw that the main pack was still a bit behind but at our new pace they should be able to close the gap. As we made our way up the hill with 2 laps to go I heard someone at the front ask the other “Are you tired”, he responded “The pack is here anyways”. That wasn’t true, but it was about to be. As I saw it, the best case scenario was 4th place behind Chazz, worse case was we all got swallowed up by the main pack at the line and I come out of it with nothing.
As we came to the top of the hill I discretely moved into the front spot. As quietly as I could I clicked two gears down, we made the turn, I stood up and hit it. I knew there was no way you can gain ground on that downhill behind someone who was balls-to-the-wall, my hope was that I could catch them by enough surprise to have enough of a gap to hit the top of the hill on the final lap with some significant real-estate between me and them. It worked perfectly. I think I was out of my saddle for 75% of the final lap and a half and was able to sit up through the finish for 3rd place.
Winfield Criterium
The legs were still a little sore from Saturday but I was feeling confident. I was hoping that some bigger names would show up given that it was a 3′s only race, perhaps some were just saving it for Saturday. Unfortunately the field was small, all you can do is beat the people there. Jared Craft (PSIMET) was there alongside me, which was nice. It was unique to see Burnham there with only two, Nate Iden and Jason Mindeman, who offered some friendly chatter.
The friendly chatter was needed because this race was ungodly slow, to be entirely frank. Ben-Jamin Widoff decided to attack on the first lap and we let him dangle but it did nothing to speed up the pace. The field was content to just sit. At one point I felt like I was on a group ride.
Eventually I decided to do something about the pace and got to the front. I didn’t kill it but kept it at a high enough pace to string the field out a bit, hoping that this would start a trend. It didn’t.
A prime was called near the end of the race, I had a bigger goal in mind. To my surprise, not even this did much to speed up the pace and I saw an opportunity to grab some grip-tape, so I did. Had I known that the next lap would be a prime for a saddle I would have gone for that a little more intensely than I did, as my current saddle is a bit under the weather (I almost got it).
And for the most part, that’s most of the race…
With Three Laps remaining…
I found myself at the front of the pack as we hit the bottom of the hill. I believe Doug Braun (Tower Racing) was at the front in front Kyle Selph (Tower) and then myself. Doug completely abolished that hill. At one point I was a little concerned that Kyle would lose his wheel (at the moment, I didn’t realize they were teammates as Kyle is in a newer somewhat indistinguishable kit). I didn’t have a chance to see what this did to the field but it was certainly putting the hurt on. As we came to the top of the hill, Kyle came around and I managed to wedge myself between the two of them.
The whole thing seemed a little odd to me (especially since I wasn’t convinced they were teammates, hard to see when you’re choking on air), I also didn’t realize that there was a gap between the three of us and the field so when Doug started yelling “GO GO GO” I wasn’t sure if it was something to listen too. I looked back again, Doug was emphatic, and I now realized that we in fact had a gap. I hit it and came around Kyle who seemed to be somewhat soft-pedaling.
I yelled, “LETS go go go go!” and we did.
I took the turn faster than him and a small gap formed between us. The field was there and appeared to be chasing. I later learned that Doug and Jared were blocking like pro’s. Had I known this, I wouldn’t have eased up as I did to let Kyle reattach, which he did shortly (he probably would have anyways, but it would have helped my cause). He came around me after turn 1, I still felt the field was a threat and he looked to be a bit bigger than me. I figured it would be in our best interest for me to do the work on the hill.
I came around him with some words of encouragement and hammered the hill as hard as I could. Looking back, the field seemed to be fading. Now was time for cat and mouse. I was in front going into the last lap but I wasn’t worried. I didn’t expect him to come around me anymore so I was hoping to drop him on the hill. I tried, and failed. At the top of the hill I took the turn very wide right, forcing him to come around me.
I got on his wheel and he just about shut it down. What to do…what to do…
Instantly, yesterday came back to me. Two clicks and I stood up and bombed the hill. He seemed ready but I had a small gap and took the turn faster than him again. That final stretch is huge, and I knew I had a lot of pain in front of me for the next few seconds. I sprinted…and sprinted…and sprinted…and sprinted. I looked down and he was gaining on me. I sprinted some more, then some more, then just before he got on my wheel I sat down for a brief second knowing he’d try to attack when I did. I needed the rest and actually was hoping I could get on his wheel for the final few hundred meters (did I mention that this is a long finishing straight).
I’ve used this tactic before on Wednesday night at ABD’s practice crit. The idea is to make them think you’re done, let them get in front of you, and then nip them at the line. Is it a sound move? Probably not. Did it work? No. He stayed right on my wheel, I stood up and put the rest of what I had on the road. When I saw him come around me I knew that I had given him the race.
I underestimated his fitness and subsequently, for the second year in a row I got snagged at the line for 2nd place. But i’ll take that.
Props to Jared (for blocking and getting a top 10) and Kyle for playing the race brilliantly, and to Matt Haiduk, always great to see a friendly face hit the podium.
Tags: abd, abr, Enzos ButtonHole Chamois Cream, psimet, tim speciale, winfield