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Capital Crit As told by Trent...Chris and I went down to the Capital Crit to race the 1,2,3 race. This being my second race as a cat 3 my goal was to try and hang on till the end and I think Chris had the same goal. The course consisted of 1 hairpin turn which was intimidating in the warm ups but went smoothly during the race and then a short hill that runs up to the start finish. We showed up a little late to the line so we started off in the back and had to try to work our way up into a decent position, which took a lot of effort with such a fast field. The laps were crazy fast and right from the start I thought my legs were going to be ripped off. I probably hung with the group for 15 minutes or so and got caught in the accordion effect and eventually couldn't chase back tot he group after the corners anymore and then made a few more hard laps for the next 10 minutes and was removed from the course as I was lapped by the leaders. For the next hour I watched Chris continue to hang on with the group. Chris had a great day of racing and managed to stay with the group for the full hour and a half. As told by Chris...Congrats again on your 2nd place finish this weekend! I don't think you missed anything by skipping the Crit. After putting down a hard effort in the morning's TT event I really don't think you'd have had much fun the second time around for the day. I know personally if I had done the TT I'd have been shelled off the line in the first 5 laps. It was absolutely brutal. It was hot, surprisingly windy, and really fast. Trent and I made the mistake of lining up late so we started from the back. Gotta fix that next time! Nothing like playing catch-up from the gun. The first half hour was a blazing speed with everyone staying together and the teams working at the front to rip their leaders off the pack. Finally at about the ½ hour point they broke free and the pace dropped just a mph or so and it got into the barely tolerable range. If it had continued to stay together I think I'd have been done. The second half hour was just punishing. Lap after lap of attacks and counter-attacks. By the third lap it was a race for survival. The leaders were a group of four, there was a chase group of a dozen and the main field was reduced to about a dozen. Everyone else was gone. I was counting the laps to the end and when the cards said 32 to go and I didn't think I could do one more I knew it was going to be a long day. One by one they ticked off and one by one riders disappeared from the field. In the end I was just happy to get to the end. It's one of those races that you hope makes you better because it just hurts too much to do it for fun! Anyway, great race and sweet course. Highly recommended (but not for your first Crit of the year!).
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This site was last updated on: August 23, 2008 03:19:18 PM -0500 |