Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Ronald Reagan Criterium - 5/7/2011

This would be the first time for me doing the Ronald Reagan Criterium in Dixon, IL.  Hitting the door at the crack of dawn I headed out to go pick up Nick and make it to Dixon by 730am.  Blurry eyed but full of excitement we made the 2 hour trek and arrived in plenty of time to warm up and survey the course.  The first few races of the day proved exciting and Nick’s impressive result in the 5s filled me with anticipation for what was surely going to be an awesome course. 
Nick letting it all hang out to catch the group (which he did!)
The course was shaped like a figure eight with sections going uphill and others downhill with the focal point being a long steady climb on the front side with a sharp 90 degree right turn at the top.  The course design made for a challenging yet exciting ride which kept me on my toes throughout the 45 minutes race.

From the start of the race I found myself drifting further back in the pack, which is not where I wanted to be.  The peloton was very strung out with riders only 2 or 3 wide.  Clearly the pace and the corners were taking their toll at the back of the pack.  The challenging course made me nervous initially, and taking the multiple corners at full speed caused me to lose some places.  After a few laps I settled down and at the top of the climb when there was a slight lull in the pace I accelerated on the outside before the next corner and made up about 15 places.  Now I was in the top 10 and in perfect position for the next few laps.
Good position right behind the orange Tati rider
There were some aggressive attacks off the front but nothing stuck.  Some nice primes also caused the pace to pick up for a few laps.  Right after a prime lap with about 5 to go a guy just to the left of me took the right hand corner hot and hit the curb with his pedal throwing him into the air.  On my outside I could see him fly through the air like superman and heard the carnage behind me.  I accelerated and pushed the pace even harder. 
With three to go I began planning my final move.  I moved up to the front of the group and planned to attack on the final climb.  With one to go I was further back than I wanted to be but not too worried.  I had a lot of gas left for the final climb and run in to the finish.  On the final climb I attacked on the outside but at the top of the climb there was again a lull in the pace and I found myself completely boxed in on all sides.  I had nowhere to go and had no choice but to slow down.  From there the front group could not be caught.  I tried fruitlessly to catch the front group but couldn’t close the gap.  On the last turn I took an inside line and got a good sprint to make up a few more places at the line. 
Attacking on the final climb.  I'm the guy who's head is a foot above the others

Good inside line for the sprint finish

Looking back on the race my opinion is that the top 10 were decided through tactics not necessarily fitness.  The course did not allow many opportunities to make up places and if you missed those few opportunities there was no chance without taking huge risks in the corners.  The hill really was not as much as factor as I thought it would be.  It could be climbed in the big ring without getting out of the saddle.  It really just added to the exciting and fun course.  This race left me wanting to do it all over again and I can’t wait for next year!



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