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 10^th 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 18^th overall. Race Data can be found HERE.

Final sprint

I was pleased with my performance and was happy being able to ride more aggressively than I have previously this year.  This course suited me very well and tactically I read the race well.  My mistake was not making more of an effort to make it into the initial lead group.  I knew they would probably stay off the front, which they did, but didn’t take the risk at the time to get up there.  It seems at those critical moments you have a split second to make the decision and sometimes it’s right and sometimes wrong.  But it was a great day and a really fun race and I am already looking forward to coming back next year.