Cobb Park Criterium 2012
This past weekend I drove down to Kankakee, Illinois for the
Cobb Park Criterium. I have never done
this race before so I didn’t really know what to expect from the flyer. When Heather and I arrived at the park I was
pleasantly surprised to find that it was very close to the Kankakee River in a
beautiful historic section of town with large old oak trees and nice paved
roads. The course was very short, less
than three-quarters of a mile per lap, which made it a spectators dream. The start finish line was literally 20 feet
off the river which had to be one of the coolest settings for a race I’ve even
seen.
The weather was partially overcast with a light breeze and
threatening rain, but luckily it never rained more than a few drops. After suiting up and getting in a nice warm-up,
I picked a nice spot to watch the finish of the master’s race. A group of 6 or so had gotten off the front
and stayed away until the finish. I
noted this was probably a real possibility for the Cat 3 race as well. I was going to have to be ready to go right
from the start.
 |
| Me in the initial chase group |
Right from the start I accelerated harder than usual to make sure I got in the top 10 before hitting the first corner. As I suspected within the first two laps a group of about 8 had formed at the front with myself and another 4 or 5 guys chasing hard. The pace only increased for the next few laps and after about 15 minutes the lead group had established a gap of about 15-20 seconds with me and a few others in the chase group right behind. I looked back at one point and saw there was no one behind us but I knew the main peloton was somewhere behind chasing hard. After about 15 minutes a few guys in my group gave up the effort and refused to work on the front anymore. With the loss of those extra bodies we were eventually swept up by the main peloton. The gap continued to maintain at about 20 seconds for another 20 minutes or so.
 |
| Great photo of the main peloton courtesy of Elizabeth Rangel |
 |
| Still trying to catch the lead group |
Riding in the main peloton there were only a handful of
riders able (or maybe capable) of riding the front and keeping the pace. It was strange to see no one interested in
catching the lead group and it became evident that the only way to reach it
would be a solo bridge effort. One
strong rider did make an attempt but the gap had increased and he wasn’t able
to make the bridge and dropped back to the group. It’s always strange knowing your racing for
10th place before the race is even over but it seemed that’s what
everyone in the group had decided on.
Most were sitting in and waiting for the final sprint. I rode strong at the front and took a few
turns pulling keeping the pace high but similarly was thinking about
positioning myself for the final sprint.
 |
| Sitting in the main peloton after being caught |
The course had two tight corers back to back before a long
straightaway and sweeping corner lead back into the finish. I knew moving up in the pack would be
extremely difficult going into these corners so on the second to last lap I accelerated
and moved to the front of the group and after crossing the finish line on the
last lap I hit the gas. Being on the
front I was able to take the turns full speed and really thought I would have
enough to carry me through the straight away, but towards the end of the
straightaway my legs started to tire and I got passed by two riders. Going into
the final sprint I had a clean line but the legs were not quite there to make
up much ground and I got passed by another couple guys on the final sprint,
finishing 18th overall. Race Data can be found HERE.
 |
| Final sprint |
