Lithuania

1km 3 turn 60 minute crit
3/4 field
11th race of the season
3rd as a cat 4
1st with cat 3s

I was kind of dreading this race because I dont feel ready to ride with fast cat 4s let alone cat 3s.
Combine that with the hard race the day before I thought this was going to be a disaster.

Just like my first crit as a 4 I ended staying in the back the entire time. Thankfully this race was a tad
slower and the corners space apart enough to make that not kill me. This was the smoothest race I have
been in so far even though I ran over a water bottle at one point.

7 minutes into the race I was already telling myself I would never make it. After 15 they announced there
would be 30 laps remaining! UGH.

the next 15 laps were over before I knew it and by then I knew I would be fine. I even moved up a few
spaces so i at least wouldnt be dead last in the pack the entire time.

I had a very scary moment right near the end of the race. I was comming through a corner with some
nice speed when I almost ran directly into a fading rider. I grabbed my front brake and my back wheel
came totally off the ground! Some how it came back down fine and with speed so I was able to get
around the rider fine. Thankfully I was in the back when this happened so it didnt affect anyone else.

On the last lap I worked my way up a tiny bit but I was no where close to the front for the sprint. I
finished 39 out of 80 and 21st of the 4s.

Things I learned.

Being a new cat 4 I am intimidated by the seasoned 4s and 3s. I need to get over this.
I cant sulk if I am in the back of the field. I need to realize I am actually conserving a lot of energy by
drafting well and I should have had plenty of energy to move up on the last few laps.
I need to get over the "I hope I can hang" mentality.
I need to get more confident and smooth in the corners.
I have gotten a lot better at catching a draft out of a corner so I dont have to stand up and hammer to
get back to the group. I just let the guy in front of me drag me back.

here are the numbers

*new*guy

Hey Steve

It was nice to meet you today and congrats on hanging in there for the 3/4 race. I was warming up for my race while you were racing, but I did see you in there and you looked good. The wind was a serious factor today so you were smart to find ways to hide; just need to figure out how to make your way to the front on the last laps so you can mix it up a bit at the end.

The 30+/40+ race was a blast. There was a break that was away for quite some time but we caught it on the final lap... The funny thing was that there was no really organized effort to make the catch; a well-timed prime seemed to have caused enough acceleration that we were able to shut it down. I wasn't expecting much today after Poolesville, but I managed 7th in the 30+, so I'm OK with that.

Hope to see you again
Bryan

WCroadie

I did my first race with the 4's the same race you did, but I actually liked that crit. You sound a little like me, I am still a little intimidated racing with the 3/4's even though I do training rides and crits with some pro's on up and can hang just fine. It's something about lining up with 125 cat3 and 4's that starts to get in my head. After a rough Tour de Ephrata I raced the turkey hill 3/4 race on Saturday and felt pretty good about my race and result.

We have to trust our training and have self confidence. I know you and I belong and should be able to hang in the races. I line up worrying about can I hang with the main pack and I hope I don't get dropped. I know I can hang and should be able to do fairly decent, I just need more self confidence on race day.

Having done 11 races total I think this will come the more races we do.

Nice job on your race today and you should feel good about your result.

zimbo

That graph looks like you were essentially either not pedaling or sprinting. You seem to have the ability to handle lots of anaerobic efforts.

--Steve

MDcatV

I really like the Turkey Hill RR - the "gamber wall" is rough.

Lithuania

The really wierd thing about that is that ive gotten so good at riding and cornering in the back that I rarely even have to stand up out of the corners so all those surges come from a seated position.




something else I forgot to mention is that I only shifted once the entire race, on the final corner. im not really sure what that means.

MDcatV

Good job hanging in there riskus!

If you're registered, you deserve to be there. Confidence is something I struggle with all the time, particularly in the 123 races. I'll be great until we line up and all of a sudden my goal is to hang on and just finish, when it should be to race a smart race strategically and be in position to either be part of the winning move; or be in position to finish in the cash.

*new* guy - sweet result in the 30/40, that's a tough field to mix it up with, much congrats.

Lithuania

I think this last crit really helped my confidence and strategy. I didnt feel nearly as bad, physically, when the race was over and I even realized this during the race. I think if I wouldnt have "mailed it in" before it started I would have been able to do something with my saved energy.

The best thing to come out of this weekend is that it really makes me realize how much I love this sport.

Lithuania

It was great meeting you too. I would have liked to hang out more but I was pretty nervous about the race and the whole wait list thing had me anxious too.

I stayed for the masters race and it was pretty awesome. The winners came from the break didnt they? I thought you guys caught them just a few seconds late.

The break got about 25 seconds at one point and with 9 laps to go it was down to 12 seconds but then went up to 20 with less then 7 to go so I thought they were gone for good.

7th is great. I kept telling myself how happy I was to get into the 3/4 race because I didnt want to be out there in that toughness.