Wolfpack Classic Crit

Yesterday I did the Wolfpack Classic Criterium. Being my first crit of the year, I knew that the numerous accelerations and decelerations would be a little bit of a shock to the system, but was nonetheless pretty confident after my good result in the Road Race the day before.

I got the chance to ride the 1 k. course a couple of times before the race and it seemed fairly nontechnical, but I soon discovered that a chicane and 3 turns within about 300 meters of each other made it very sketchy when 4 wide in a pack.

Around the 4th or 5th lap, there was a 3+ rider crash, with one person catapulting over the curb and landing in a bush. That left me about 50 meters behind the field, and only my hardest chase got me back. I didn't realize it then, but I was the only rider from the group stalled by the crash to make it back up to the field. It took me a pretty long time to recover from that, with the pace never seeming to let up. The pack split several times from the high speeds, and I was forced to bridged numerous gaps in the last half of the race.

At 10 laps to go I found myself in a bad position. I moved up and lost ground too many times to count after that, but halfway through the last lap I was in 6th, and thankfully the pace was too fast for anyone to pass me. I started the final sprint in the same position, passed someone, and then got a little boxed in at the end to finish 6th, one better place than in the Road Race!

Congratulations to my whole team, and especially to Nic for a great result in the collegiate B's, for the Guillens and Craig doing great in the cat. 5's, and for Michael's amazing win in the 5's from a 2 man breakaway!

I also got the chance to meet Ben King, a 19 year-old who races for the Trek-Livestrong team. He raced in the pro 1 2 race and got 7th.


Here are the statistics (w/out the Power meter):

18.01 miles for the 43 min. crit
24.95 mph avg. for the crit

Here are some photos from my race: