First race of the season.

Today I did a category 4 criterium at Research Park. The weather was chilly and windy, as it always is at Research Park, but the threatening rain waited until later in the day. The race was 35 minutes plus 2 laps, and I got 6th place in a field that started with about 30 people.

From the start, I sat in about 6th position. Sometimes I'd move up to 2nd or 3rd, but any time I ended up on the front I'd drop back ASAP. There were a few two-man teams, and one three-man team, but it was mostly a free-for-all. After four laps we'd burned out the guys who hadn't ridden all winter, and after six or so, we'd dropped the guys who hadn't trained much.

I was alone, so there were a few things I didn't do: I didn't jump on most of the attacks. I watched who was able to cover the attacks and figured out who was strong. One guy who was strong had an orange kit and one had an Alterra coffee kit. We'll call them Orangeade and Coffee from here on out.

Orangeade was pulling and covering attacks at the same time for most of the race, so I figured he would either win and upgrade or burn out. On the final straightaway the latter became true. Coffee was watching for attacks and chasing some, but not all. When one guy got a big gap, he made the pack pull the guy back in by ordering short, hard pulls. Orangeade did the final pull to bring him back, then I did a half-attack with four laps to go.

I was sitting halfway back in the pack of 18 and simply moved up along the inside on a flat. Somebody thought this was going to be an attack, so they went off the front. We reeled him in. As soon as we got him in, two guys did the double-pronged attack from the right and left. We tried to bring them back, but to no avail.

Coming around the 2nd to last corner on the last lap, I got bumped and was suddenly at the back of the pack. We made the final corner just as the two in the break crossed the finish line, so the spring started for 3rd. I had space to take the corner in the fastest way possible (being nearly off the back) so I grabbed two gears, shot through the apex, and grabbed two more gears.

Then I dropped the hammer. While I didn't win the sprint, I passed about 12 riders in the last 10 meters and we had to wait for the photos to sort out who got what place in the sprint. Four of us finished very close to each other. Some spectators commented that they thought I was going to win it from behind because of my acceleration. Sweet!

Lesson on the day: Keep that position you earned in the race even on the last lap. Had I done that, I think I could have gotten the bunch sprint and a podium spot.

All in all, it was a great race. Everyone was communicating attacks, communicating where they were, and nobody was sketchy. Except for the fact that we weren't going as fast as the 1,2,3 field, I think things went as well as any 1,2,3 race. There were lots of acceleration, and I was able to accelerate and recover, accelerate and recover with the group. I felt strong.

On my way home, I stopped at the capitol square to watch the UW Criterium. The men's A's got rained on halfway into their race and then everything went ot hell. The officials were pulling kids who had gotten lapped, and then started pulling kids who hadn't gotten lapped. Then they were letting kids who took a free lap jump into the breakaway. Then the rain really started coming down and the crashes started.

Saw Rambo, Art, Gehling and Claire, Mary and a few other usual suspects.

Today was a good day.