Wendy's Intl Grove City Cycling Classic

Crits are a rush and it’s been so long that I almost how critical it is to get to the front, especially on this course-- nine turns-- I am amazed there weren’t more accidents. Actually, I was so far back that a crash and the aftermath was gone before I even got to it. I think I would have bagged this one if I didn’t need the “training.” I finally advanced to the lead group but not without struggling and taking some risks diving into turns. I believe I may have violated some ethics in doing so, but I could not believe how much momentum was being lost in the turns. I know there is a better method to racing crits, so like the Holy Grail, I will continue to search for it. It was great to see John O’D battling up at the front for SH and others who I haven’t seen racing crits before.

A frequently mentioned cycling truism is that it’s harder to ride at the back than at the front of a race. As evidence, I would submit this race as “Exhibit A.” Looking at the number of turns in the course, I figured the race would have to be raced from the front.

Unfortunately, this knowledge never got me there. I was too busy hanging on by my fingernails in the middle of the pack. Add to that the 4 or 5 gaps that I had to close, and I was toast for the day. I started what there was of a sprint 3 feet behind Steve, and finished in exactly the same place, 15 feet behind him.

I must say that I was disappointed to not ride better. I was excited to race in town and was actually looking forward to the criterium format. I even mentioned to Joe that I’d try to lead him out if I was around at the end. I never even sniffed the front...

The good news is that most of us ended upright (hope you’re okay, Jay). And I got in a very intense effort which, hopefully, will pay off later in the form of better fitness.

Nice, fun, and challenging course. I got stuck in toward the back from the start. Made it into the first main pack but couldn't seem to work my way to the front so I sat on the tail of the dragon and got whipped around the whole race.

This race was a big mess from the start. To begin, the race promoter was waiting until the course was set up to start us. That made it really difficult to warm up properly and I couldn't get a good place up near the front to start the race.

The course was something like an opposed figure eight with about 10 corners in total. I don't think the promoters could have come up with a more technical course. The extra corners were stacked up with 2 successive lefts, a right and then another left. I was nearly tangled twice within these corners. The first was a small pileup of two which caused a gap and the second was just a close call.

Somewhere in the confusion two riders broke free and stayed away. I attempted a chase, but nothing was organized as people were tired and not willing to work together. (there's a lot of that this year)

My race ended as I ran out of gas with two laps left. As the others came around me for the finish, I was pondering: "where were you guys the whole race?" and "It must be nice to suck wheel all day and then look really strong for the last two laps of the race."

I sat up near the finish disgusted and rolled home near the back of the lead group.

Woke up this morning with a serious intestinal bug. I must have picked up a bug during the Tour of Ohio while doing support. We had 68 in our field today and it started off hot from the gun. I missed two crashes which split the field into two separate groups. We're still cooken it and my stomach is about to explode, so I bail out to find a port-a-john. Looks like a rice dinner for tonight. Hopefully this bug will pass by tomorrow morning.

Not much good to say here. My riding and training have been very limited. I had given blood on Wednesday. I've been getting hammered at the weekday rides. So my expecations were pretty low. That could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I had little confidence in my potential crit performance, but I sure needed to get out there anyway, and local and cheap won the day. I didn't watch the clock well enough and only managed an abreviated warm-up, and to top off the cake I blew clipping-in at the start and the pedal slip cost me 30-40ft before the first turn. It went downhill from there. The course had a zillion turns, and for me meant a lot of speed changes. Pass in the turns, get passed in the straights. I was still amongst the back of the field when a 2nd-turn crash occured in the early laps. I wasn't caught up much, but the resulting gap spent more of my meager reserves, and other than getting by a few scatterings I never managed to catch on. I think I managed maybe 10-12 laps before being waved off. Hopefully some road racing will treat me better.