Race Reports
I am way behind on race reports so I am going to give a brief summary of each. I haven't been on blogs lately. I blame Face Book. You can all friend me on Face Book if you use it:).
Belterra Circuit Race 3/28
I believe there were about 70 racers. The race was a hilly 2 mile circuit and I knew that there would be a quick selection. I made sure to get a slot at the front of the field at the start line. I got a decent start. I hammered the first lap to stay with the front. As expected, on the 2nd lap the selection happened. I went away with 3 other riders. All were from different teams. We worked together very well. One of the riders was struggling to stay on and was skipping a lot of pulls. We opened up a considerable gap. The finish was a steep uphill and I could only manage 3rd.
Driveway Criterium 4/2
The day was extremely windy and we only had about 35 riders at the start. I felt decent, but not great throughout the race. I felt like I did too much work early on. As we approached the finish I was charging up on the left. There was a boble inside and the guy to my right veered over and we rubbed wheels. I didn't go down but it killed my momentum. I soft pedaled across the line for maybe 20th.
Driveway Criterium 4/9
We had 60-70 riders at the start. We ran the full course - 2 miles. As the race got underway, I wasn't feeling very strong. I took some early pulls, but then decided to sit in and try to regain my mojo. I started to feel a bit better as the race wore on. On the last lap I jumped on a wheel coming by fast. He pulled us into first and second. I stayed on his wheel a bit too long before pulling through and got swarmed by a group coming through on the left. I jumped on, and then sprinted for the line. I finished 10th. This one came down to me missing my opportunity and waiting to long.
Fiesta Grande Criterium 4/11
We had 50-60 riders at the start. The course is a police academy driver training circuit - ie flat with lots of corners. I got a great start and was sitting in 3rd after the 1st lap. I felt good and decided to push up the pace. I opened a gap of about 50 meters which lasted 3 laps, but nobody would come across. I was bummed out because a few good riders could have easily gotten away. So I made the decision to go back to the pack and let things play out. I won a preem shortly after that (6 pack of Tecate). For most of the rest of the race I stayed in the top 5 or 6. There were some accelerations, but nothing super hard. About 500m out on the last lap, I charged right and a few others charged left. We came into the last corner and I was in 4th. That was were I finished - 4th. This was a failure on my part of letting it come down to a sprint when I am only a mediocre sprinter. A local San Antonio bike racer R. Mercado took some pictures at this crit.
Coming back to the pack after my break.
Going through the 180.
Somewhere along the route.
The difference between winning and not winning. He is elated with his arm up. I am disappointed with my head down.
Belterra Circuit Race 3/28
I believe there were about 70 racers. The race was a hilly 2 mile circuit and I knew that there would be a quick selection. I made sure to get a slot at the front of the field at the start line. I got a decent start. I hammered the first lap to stay with the front. As expected, on the 2nd lap the selection happened. I went away with 3 other riders. All were from different teams. We worked together very well. One of the riders was struggling to stay on and was skipping a lot of pulls. We opened up a considerable gap. The finish was a steep uphill and I could only manage 3rd.
Driveway Criterium 4/2
The day was extremely windy and we only had about 35 riders at the start. I felt decent, but not great throughout the race. I felt like I did too much work early on. As we approached the finish I was charging up on the left. There was a boble inside and the guy to my right veered over and we rubbed wheels. I didn't go down but it killed my momentum. I soft pedaled across the line for maybe 20th.
Driveway Criterium 4/9
We had 60-70 riders at the start. We ran the full course - 2 miles. As the race got underway, I wasn't feeling very strong. I took some early pulls, but then decided to sit in and try to regain my mojo. I started to feel a bit better as the race wore on. On the last lap I jumped on a wheel coming by fast. He pulled us into first and second. I stayed on his wheel a bit too long before pulling through and got swarmed by a group coming through on the left. I jumped on, and then sprinted for the line. I finished 10th. This one came down to me missing my opportunity and waiting to long.
Fiesta Grande Criterium 4/11
We had 50-60 riders at the start. The course is a police academy driver training circuit - ie flat with lots of corners. I got a great start and was sitting in 3rd after the 1st lap. I felt good and decided to push up the pace. I opened a gap of about 50 meters which lasted 3 laps, but nobody would come across. I was bummed out because a few good riders could have easily gotten away. So I made the decision to go back to the pack and let things play out. I won a preem shortly after that (6 pack of Tecate). For most of the rest of the race I stayed in the top 5 or 6. There were some accelerations, but nothing super hard. About 500m out on the last lap, I charged right and a few others charged left. We came into the last corner and I was in 4th. That was were I finished - 4th. This was a failure on my part of letting it come down to a sprint when I am only a mediocre sprinter. A local San Antonio bike racer R. Mercado took some pictures at this crit.
Coming back to the pack after my break.
Going through the 180.
Somewhere along the route.
The difference between winning and not winning. He is elated with his arm up. I am disappointed with my head down.
posted by Chris at 11:57 AM
7 Comments:
Chris, you've been racing quite a bit lately. And good fast racing by the sound of it. Sorry, you haven't ome home with the spoils.
Can't find you on fb without a surname or email address ...
Groover - last name is Cornetto.
Sounds like your starting to find your form. Think you might have to drop the struggling now!
Cool race photos. Actually makes you look like you know what your doing. Weird. :^)
i'm with oldman. (pretty slick play on words, buddy)
now quit pussyfooting around and kick some ass! :) make 'em hurt!
Now that you mention it I remember the post with you eating THAT icecreme somewhere ... LOL
See if I can track you down ...
Race reports are one thing, but you do two things......you write a quick write up and then where you placed and if you are happy about it you make it sound ok, and if not you make excuses for why...eg missed the move etc...what I wnat to know is what did you learn from the race to not do again and why do you keep making the same mistakes.....
Your racing sounds great you get a lot of opportunity but are you truly happy with your rcaing and are you acheiving your goals...or do you just turn up and race with no real expectation....nobody races for second, we race to win and do everything in the race to maximise the chance to win....I know I am certainly no prime example but Chris what are your aims from racing.....is 4th/10th etc where you want to be?
Ah I liked reading your blog. Miss the posts. I don't have fb sorry.
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