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What German saw:
Category: 5
Result: Back of pack
The day was cloudy and it was supposed to rain. The race started and I was positioned in the rear pack since I knew that I was going to be very conservative in this race, especially while descending and in the narrow corners because the ground was wet. The climbs started and I was in the rear pack and continued at a constant tempo, the pack took off by ½ lap, but I didn’t care because my legs were still cold and I wasn’t trying to compete hard due to the weather conditions. My strategy was to start easy and increase the tempo gradually and then I could recover lots of positions. In this race I wasn’t going to descend quick because again the ground was wet and I didn’t want to crash again. I promise a while back that I wasn’t going to race in rainy races anymore, but ended up racing here since I was already pre-registered.
By lap one I continued my tempo with 6 more guys that I caught on my way, we worked together to recover positions, by lap 2 we caught at least 7 more riders and continue to increase the rhythm. At this point, it started to rain and one of the riders in this group slide during the descend and retired. I was very conservative while taking each turn in order to avoid sliding. We caught the women group and a bunch of masters. By lap 3 we caught another group of 8 riders and continue my rhythm. Remaining 3/4 lap, still in the climbing sectors, I took off from the group that I was working with and only one followed me but couldn’t pass me at the end. We were happy to be able to drop the group since they were attacking us a lot at the climbs, but we resisted. My final position was 24th out of 44 total riders, not bad for not bei ng very competitive in the beginning due to my strategy which worked out much better. My mind was in next day’s criterium and really wanted to well on it, so I didn’t want to crash.
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What Donn saw:
Category: 4
Result: Off the back
It was Chris, Matt and I representing the Cat 4's. We briefly discussed a strategy before the race which was essentially see how we do on the first two laps, and take it from there.
Well, this was my first race as a Cat 4 and I was hoping to stay with the pack. Alas, that didn't happen. The first time up the main climb (the big hill just before crossing 580) I had to dig deep just to stay with the pack. The same thing on the second lap. Going into the final lap I knew I was going to have a tough time hanging on. Sure enough, I got gapped on the last main climb. I fought hard to get back on with several people, and at one point was spitting distance from the pack, but we hit a small rise and I fell back again. Shortly after I joined up with Matt and several other riders and we put in a decent chase, but eventually I was dropped from that chase group. About a mile from the finish I was caught by a group of about 6 riders so I jumped on back of their train, but I had no legs for the finishing climb and straggled in behind them.
In retrospect, perhaps I should have gone to the front during the final lap in the "crit section" of the course that weaves through the business park, where it was relatively easy to move up. Then my backward drift on the main climb may have left me at the back of the pack instead of off the back. Oh well, it was a good learning experience and one hell of a workout.
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