Saturday marked my first race of the 2008 season with a Cat. 4 Crit race in Clear Lake, IA. It would also be my first race as a Cat. 4 after upgrading in November of 2007. I did not really set any clear expectations or goals for this race although I was hoping to stay with the leaders and finish in the top half of the 22 man field. I used a trainer to get the legs warmed up for the race because it seemed to work out well during CX season last year and it also appeared to keep my legs happy for this Crit as well. After about 30 minutes or so of spinning, the course opened up and I was able to get in four or so laps to get an idea of the layout, corners, wind, hills, etc. The course is pretty technical with some fast turns, bumps, cracks, a small hill, and some powerful winds coming off of the lake between turns four and seven. All of these elements were noted and I made my way to the start line.
The first five laps were used to get into my groove. Quite honesty, the first crit of the year (for me) is a little nerve racking because accidents are very common in crits and although I would like to avoid them, I especially do not want to cause one. After about five laps though, all was good and I was railing threw corners just fine. I did what I could to stay out of the wind along the lake during each lap in an attempt to conserve energy for later on. Around the tenth lap, I was part of a group of six or so riders with two riders between us and the four leaders. I opted for an attempt to bridge the gap and took Evan Peterson from North Iowa Spin with me. We each took a few pulls but, I just didn't have it and I had to let him go. I sat in between the two groups for the next few laps and tried to maintain pace to hold onto 6th place at the time. Coming around the last turn I kept the pace as high as I could although, the group behind me latched on as we crested the hill about 100 meters before the finish. There were a couple of them that got by me but I did hold on enough for 8th place. I was pretty happy with that since it was well within the top half of the field.
Huge congrats to the members of North Iowa Spin for putting on a fantastic event. Tons of fun, great courses, great people on and off the course, and just an awesome atmosphere. Already looking forward to 2009.
Read the complete post at http://carlosdajackal.blogspot.com/2008/07/race-report-clear-lake-crit.html