Bike racing at every level is serious business. Every rider, whether part of a cat 4 amateur team or a ProTour team, feels the same emotions and goes through the same thoughts when planning for a race (or at least we think we do!). Sure, we're not riding for a paycheck but we occasionally forget that and prepare for a race like we are. This was the mentally of our Evolution Cycling Team p/b Long and Foster when setting up for Hagerstown Challenge Criterium, at least from the perspective of laying down some race day plans and ambitions.
My initial strategy for the day began while looking at the list of preregistered riders. I noticed that there were not a lot of teams with big representation which was good for the tactics I was hoping to employ. With only 4-5 riders for each team, I knew that they would have difficulty organizing a chase under two specific situations 1) Break aways and 2) Solo flyers in the final laps of the race. Without good team organization, the field typically hesitates when reacting to moves and I was hoping to take advantage of those moments.
Once we had the team together and warming up, we made another decision to work with The Bike Lane team since we knew a couple of the guys and also to grow our virtual "team" from about 5 riders to 10. The goal of the collusion was to ensure that we tried to get into any breakaways together and not to chase each other. It was during the warm up laps that we came up with our final overall strategy.
- Make it into a break. I usually like to bridge to breaks because I like that psychological carrot and frankly I just don't have the wattage to put down at threshold to sit out front dangling until someone joins me.
- If a break fails, I was going to attack shortly after start/finish on the final lap. The goal here was to take advantage of the disorganization and the general unwillingness of riders to pull back late attacks when there is only 1k to go. Positioning and timing would be key to the success of this type of move.
- As a result of #2 above, other teams would have to chase. We had a rider in the field, Jeff, that had a good 5s-15s jump, so he would serve as our sprinter for the day. The plan was to force other teams to chase the 1k to go move and put our guys into position for free. Theoretically.
Since we didn't really have an actual sprinter in the group and most of us have not practiced or raced much together, no one was thinking of a leadout and so the plan was to use tactics and other teams to stretch it out at the end.
Throughout the week and during the warm up my legs have have felt pretty good. Unfortunately, nerves were extremely high and I had too much coffee so I was jittery. It didn't help that an ambulance was on the course and that everyone we talked to said there are crashes almost every lap. As the race began, most of the nerves went away but I could still feel the coffee. Now all I had to do was stay out of trouble for the first half of the race and let the plan develop.
Thankfully, the inevitable crashes were minor and not that big a deal to dodge. It helps to anticipate where they are going to happen and position yourself with an out. Because of the potential for crashes, the constant shuffle at the front end, and the fact that it was very easy to move up on this course I decided to tailgun this part of the race. It paid off big time, because after the race I was able to download the power data and see that my average power and normalized power were very close to each other for a criterium. It meant that I was not doing big accelerations out of the corners while still maintaining position. I was actually able to soft-pedal through an inside line and pass 3-4 riders that were hammering out of the saddle at each corner.
As the race developed, my legs were really looking for an opener. The "breaks" that developed were very small and never had enough gap on the field for me to bridge up, I could see that the field was not interested in letting anything go. Since I felt like I had some decent form, I decided to go out alone and see what happens. After 2 laps out front with what looked like a 10 second gap no one was joining me so I let up and rejoined the field. As I was watching other attacks form, I could tell there was nothing worth joining up the road because the field kept reacting to every move off the front. At one point there were 5-6 guys trying to form a break but they were all gapping each other so they effectively just dragged the field up with them.
The final 10 laps were all about positioning so I moved back up and tried to prevent being swarmed. My nerves came back big time at this point and I almost psyched myself out. Nick, the NCVC rider that won Reston the week before, was in the group so I was watching for him to make a late move. It never happened, and with 3-4 laps to go I knew I was going to try my flyer on the last lap. Throughout the race and especially at the end, everyone from Evo was near the front of the race and getting in position very well. With 2 laps to go, I made sure to be in the top 10 and as I passed start-finish on the bell lap I moved up to third wheel behind Nick and one of my teammates (Jeff). At the top of the little hill there is a 120 degree turn that everyone takes very wide. I was able to accelerate to the top of the hill and take the corner well inside and much faster than others, immediately getting out of the saddle with an all out 20 second effort. After sitting down and looking behind me, I had a good 100 yard gap and the field looked spread across the road. Perfect! The hesitation of the main group worked perfectly and no one wanted to chase. I didn't take this for granted and really buried myself at this point. The power data for this 2 minute effort showed that I beat my personal best by almost 6%, so I was motivated! Coming around the final turn I did another out of the saddle effort and crossed the line what looked like 50 yards ahead of the field.
However, as I cross the line I begin to have second thoughts! My victory salute is really weak because all I can think is "Oh crap. That wasn't the last lap. I just went off the front with 2 laps to go and now I'm cooked." Turns out it really was the final lap! Wow, now that feels really good. After a few seconds of confusion on my part, I realize it really is my win! Last year, I told myself and others I would win this race and by some miracle I did.
The cool down lap begins with Jeff riding up next to me, congratulating me, and getting plowed into from behind and crashing. It was not a light bump, it was a very forceful ramming. As Jeff falls, I ride over his bike but thankfully don't run over Jeff and also stay up myself. The guy who ran into Jeff had probably sprinted for 30th and we were a good 200 yards past the finish at that point. What a crappy way to end a great race - Jeff was pretty banged up, his right shifter destroyed, and his Orbea frame cracked. The fact that the guy didn't even stop to check on the result of his carnage is what really made this a classy move. Jeff, always with a great attitude, is still more focused on my win than on his broken bike and bruised ribs.
Well, I get to wear the MABRA jersey next year and have a nice big target on my back. Looks like another long winter ahead of me on the menu!
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