The following is Tim Mitchell’s account of the Criterium de Bethel:

Waking up on Sunday morning I was disappointed because I knew that the rain I
saw outside my window meant the weekly Wells Ave training series would be
canceled.  On the internet that morning though, was a ray of sunshine; I saw on
the race calendar there was a criterium in Bethel, CT, a bit of a haul to get
there from Boston, but I was anxious for some harder efforts after months of
base work.  So I hopped in the car and arrived in Bethel, CT, with just enough
time to register, get kitted-up and roll over to the start.  It was rainy and
45 degrees… but I was stoked to be on the start line for the first time this
season! 

There was a surprisingly good turnout considering the weather and that
it was still March… I guess everyone is sort of champing at the bit to race!
We rolled off the line for 28 miles of crit racing on a course that was pretty
straightforward:  A 0.9-mile loop with a long false flat downhill that
continually swept around to the right, punctuated by a sharp, hard 400-meter
kicker back up to the start/finish line.  I was feeling a bit frisky, having
sat in the car for 2.5 hours on the drive down, so I tested the legs and jumped
off the front just before the end of the first lap.  A few laps later I was
joined by one other rider, and then eventually six more riders, forming what
would be the winning move.  We worked well together for the most part, but a
number of vicious attacks out of the break, several by myself, whittled it down
to four riders by the end.  With two laps to go, the other three riders started playing
games, positioning for the finish, and foolishly I ended up leading out the
sprint.  I jumped about 400m before the finish, just before the base of the
hill up to the finish line.  It was a good effort, everything that I had left
in my legs after driving the break for the entire race, but I was nipped on the
line by half a wheel by two of the riders.  So I ended up third on the day.  Kind of
disappointing due to some misplayed tactics on my part, but it’s motivation going
forward.  So all in all it was a pretty good first competition of the season, albeit a
spontaneous decision to race. I’m looking forward to the next starting line!