Down to Business at the Presbyterian Invitation Criterium.
Though many folks look towards August as a chance to get a little vacation and eek out the last few weeks of summer, the domestic racing scene takes no such hiatus. Having earned an invite to one of the more lucrative criteriums around – $50,000 over 30 places – we were eager to make the trek down to Charlotte and put our skillz (with a z) to the test.
The pampered graduate students we are, Big Tex (Austin) and I hopped on a flight out of Newark, the Paris of the Mid-Atlantic, arriving with ample time to line up for Friday night’s Crossroads Series Race just north of town. With Gabe having motored down earlier in the week with a few other brave souls from PA, we traveled light (and cheap!) and were psyched to open up and get the legs moving ahead of Saturday night’s main event.
Following a reasonable showing in Mocksville, and a unnecessarily late evening thanks in large part to the errant directions of a Motorola Droid, we awoke Saturday to find surprising tolerable temps, low (enough) humidity, and a town preparing for a serious and imminent showdown. After an afternoon of the intoxicating combination of “Jersey Shore: Miami” and NASCAR, we were adequately adrenaline fueled and up-to-speed on our latest “rubbin’s racing” techniques, and pedaled the scant 6 miles over to the Uptown parcours.
Despite having slipped just onto the wrong side of the top 10 overall in the USACrits series, my current ranking was apparently sufficient to earn a call-up. That said, about 30 other guys were beckoned to the front of the field, so despite not feeling extra-special, I was certainly grateful to start things off at the front of the madness. With numerous $1000 and $500 primes up for grabs, this was certain to be a very tough day at the office.
Lining up just behind series leader Clayton Barrows (AXA). (C) Emory Ball
Though the event is Pro-Invitation *only* – leading one to believe only skilled bike riders would be in attendance – a ludicrously dumb pile-up on the third lap seemed to suggest otherwise. Though Big Tex was far enough back to avoid the carnage, Gaberator and myself both went full-steam into the dog pile. Fortunately, we both escaped without the need of any serious medical attention, though Gabe ended up with some impressive chainring puncture wounds and I with Jackie Simes’ sheared-off fork inextricable tangled in my rear wheel.
Out of the pit following our obligatory free lap, all three of us were relegated to the back. Unbeknownst to Gabe, his brakes were rubbing following the crash, quickly putting an end to his evening. Austin and I motored around at the back for awhile, though he attempted to move up into the swollen middle of the field, whereas I – seeing that there would be little point in moving up until things trimmed down a fair bit – tail-gunned like a seasoned veteran at the back. On the plus side, it made my race *easy*, with the heart rate dipping into the 120s on occasion. On the other hand, I missed the large break of 17 that rolled of the front, and figured our race was over.
All was not lost, however, as the field whipped up the pace and whittled down the 45second-plus advantage the leaders had down to a scant 10 seconds. I figured the break would be caught, the field would lull in indecision, and a new front group would form. I readied myself to slingshot through the peloton, moving up just enough to access the front when things hit the fan. Unfortunately, it was not the “field” that wanted the break brought back, but rather a few teams that simply wanted better representation in the move. These squads sent 1-2 guys each *across* the gap, and following their successful bridging, the advantage then ballooned back up towards the one minute mark. I had blown the call, missed the chance, and was now racing for 23rd place.
Nevertheless, Austin worked valiantly to close down the gaps opened by rapidly imploding riders unable to hold the pace as it continually ramped up towards the finish. Despite not racing for the win (OR even top-twenty….), their were a fair number of very fast individuals in what remained of the field (now only 30 or so guys). I left Austin as his diesel began to sputter, and ninja-timed my way as close to the front as possible. Several wrecks in the closing laps nearly derailed my hopes again, but I miraculously navigated through the carnage to stay ~10th wheel into the final corner. I gassed it as soon as we hit the surprisingly-long finishing straight (was it really that far all night?) and went full-gas for longer than I can ever recall previously, earning 6th in the field sprint and 29th overall. Disappointing, given our expectations, but still in the money and with some key lessons learned for next time.
Of key note: the town of Charlotte came out in a BIG way for this event. With the race course in the heart of a very active downtown, replete with bars, restaurants, and other businesses, thousands of spectators coated the barriers along the entirety of the barricades. This was truly among the most impressive displays of fan participation I have witnessed, and will be eager to return and fly the MetLife & groSolar flags in the future.