LSC Criterium Series at OPUS

The Loon State Cyclists (LSC) club hosts the season-opening Criterium (crit) series here in the Twin Cities (Minnetonka) for the first few Tuesdays of the season. Last night was the first race.

I've had April 14th marked on my calendar for 4 months. It was on my mind for most of the hours spent on the trainer in my basement this winter, and on nearly every mile since getting outdoors on the roads a couple weeks ago.

My very first bicycle race. Category 5 (Cat 5, aka the "Crash 5's"). I've been constantly reading online racing forums for hints and tips on racing and group riding, and to be honest (if you can dig through the most of the BS and sarcasm that embedded throughout) it was very helpful leading up to the starting whistle last night.

Throughout the workday I couldn't stop thinking about the race. I ate pretty light, but also kept a pretty high carb intake throughout, and was sure to hydrate properly all day. I couldn't wait for 4:30 to come to head out.

Race Report:

4:50 PM - Arrive at the registration parking lot at the same time as many other cyclists.

4:55 PM - Begin unloading the bike from the back seat and putting the wheels back on. I got a pretty good deal on a used Yakima roof rack a few months ago, but haven't put it on the car yet. I can't wait to get it on, as it's a pain in the ass to take apart the bike everytime I want to bring it somewhere.

5:00 PM - Change from my "business casual" work clothes into my Unattached Rider(TM) kit in the front seat of my car. I'll usually change at work before leaving, but I didn't want to risk getting caught in the wonderfully planned traffic system in the west metro.

I wore the Unattached kit for the first time on a long ride with a buddy last weekend to get the feel of it. I actually thought is was a very comfortable kit, and the bib shorts treated my rear quite well on the 44.9 miles. I wore a full-covering base layer on the ride over the weekend, and the kit went perfect with the all black layer. For the race, it was about 63 degrees F in the parking lot, so I dared and went with just the bib shorts and short sleeves with an under shirt base layer. Worked perfectly for the conditions. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of myself in the kit, so no modeling yet. But I'll be sure to post some as I get them.

5:05 PM - Walk over to the registration line. Find it to be very low moving. It didn't help that I was two people back from the Junior racing team, who felt it necessary to allow the whole team join in as they showed up. We honestly didn't move for 15 minutes. Luckily, the organizers had enough brains to hand out the necessary waivers as we waited in line, so once up to the desk (aka open hatchback on a minivan) all we had to do was hand them our money, write down our name and license number, and grab a race bib number. Number 579. No safety pins though. This is where all that experience from running races came in handy; I packed a few safety pins in my tool box. Note to self though that a few more won't hurt, as my number still flapped in the wind a little.

5:25 PM - Ride a couple miles around the OPUS Complex for a short warm-up, and to get to the starting line. The campus is intertwined with one-way roads, so it was really fun to see all the cyclists burning around, warming up and chatting.

5:35 PM - Arrive at the starting line. I had a very short warm-up, and hit a couple short hills to get the blood flowing, but I really had no idea what was in store for me, so I played it safe and stopped at the start line to conserve as much as possible as other riders kept riding the course.

5:40 PM - Riders begin to line up. I join them.

5:45 PM - Race officials begin taking head count, then tell us that there are actually a few people that are still registering, so we will be waiting about 10 minutes to start. I had lined up about mid-pack at the line, and struck up small conversation with the two riders at my sides. Turns out it was the first race ever for all three of us, and chuckle about warning those behind us. Half seriously of course. As the official finishes the head count, we overhear him say "over 50," so it was a pretty decent field of riders.

5:55 PM - Official blows the whistle. The race starts. The only noise you can hear is the clicking of cleats into pedals for a few seconds, then it's off to the races.

I heard several accounts of the exact distance of the course, ranging from .89 miles to 1.1 miles. Unfortunately, the last thing on my mind after the first lap was to look down to see how far I traveled, so I'm not really sure of the exact distance. I'll get a better read next time on a warm-up lap.

The course in on a paved, two-lane, one-way road, with all left turns except for one dog leg right on the back, almost oval. Think NASCAR with hills. It's situated on what feels to be a little valley on a hill, so the front side is uphill that peaks on a turn, then downhill around the back side of the course, leading up to the slight right turn that starts the uphill turn back to the start/finish line. The line itself is situated about two-thirds of the way up the hill, so the sprint laps are all up hill.

Off the start, I passed quite a few riders, most of which didn't clip in as fast as I did. I actually surprised myself with the quick clip-in, as I was sure my nerves would make me miss once or twice. I nestled in about 20-25 back in the front pack. The speed was in a constant acceleration all the way down the back stretch. My computer logged a max speed of 34.7, and I'm guessing that came in this first lap, as I shifted to 53x12 on the first lap to try and push it. That'd be the last time shifting into that gear.

I held my own on the first hill climb and the second descent, but the second hill climb really started to string people out. I was still "connected" to the lead pack by a short string of riders, and held that spot through the 3rd hill climb, at which point almost all of us leading stragglers started to space out.

I was able to keep my pace for the rest of the race, but definitely couldn't gain ground on the lead pack. I went solo for pretty much the rest of the race, just pushing my legs and lungs to the max. My only close encounter came somewhere in lap 4 when a rider from the Gopher Wheelmen club was looking down at his gear selection on the back right turn heading into the uphill. He started to stray into my line, which was already about 3 feet from the left curb, and there was another guy trying to pass me on the left as well. I held the line, but he didn't see himself pinching me. The guy on my left put his hand on my hip to tell me to hold my line, which I did, and he shouted (respectfully actually) to the other guy, who in turn corrected, but was too winded to respond verbally.

In retrospect, it would have been nice to pair up with someone to just ride, but from my memory, I don't remember anyone really holding a solid pace for the rest of the race. I don't recall many people passing me after about halfway through lap 4, so, had the results been recorded for the whole field, I think I would have had a decent placing overall, but who knows.

I didn't see the lead pack until approaching the start/finish line. They were all sitting up going over the top of the hill, so I'm thinking that I wasn't more than a minute behind them, but again, I'm not really sure.

The race took under 15 minutes. So assuming that the course was about a mile, we paced at about 24 mph over the whole race. Fast in my book.

My goal to finish with both wheels underneath me, in one piece, and without being lapped was accomplished. So one race down, 9 to go to meet my short-sighted road season goal of achieving upgrade status to Category 4 (need 10 mass-start races to upgrade).

Time and my results will tell if it will be worthwhile for me to actually upgrade to the 4's when the time comes, but either way, that's my goal.

Next race is the same thing next Tuesday. I overheard someone say that they add a lap each week as daylight becomes more available, so it might be a little longer.

What I learned:

-There are a lot more bike racers around here than I thought.
-My bike handling skills are much better than I thought they were, judging on a few others around me.
-My comfort level in a high-paced group was very high as well.
-I need to learn to hold the rider's wheel in front of me a little closer to take advantage of their draft better.
-I need to save a little more on the downhills to recover for the uphill.

Goals for next week:

-Finish right-side up again.
-Start closer to the front.
-Find a wheel in the lead pack and hold it longer.

I've caught the bug, and I like it. Can't wait for next week.