The weekend after I got back there was a cycling criterium at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. So why not do it, right? Coach Liz said it would be good so I showed up that morning and signed up. My hope was at the end of the day to win a little cash to cover the race fee and maybe get some lunch.
It was pretty cold and rainy when I showed up but the weather forecast gave a little hope that it might clear up by the time I raced. Currently I am a cat 4 but there was a cat 3/4 race so I decided to sign up for that instead of just the 4's. My hope was that I would get my ass kicked and put in my place. At the end of the day I did :)
The course is a pretty challenging loop that starts as a gradual downhill and then a sweeping curve to the left. After another left turn you start to climb, and climb, and climb some more. Then there was a nice descent which lead to a sharp left turn and another much shorter hill. Then it was time to do it all over again.... well 19 more times. The race started at a fast pace and I was able to stay pretty close to the front. At about lap 4 or 5 a bit of a gap had formed at the front which I surged to bridge. From there it was a group of 3 until the last lap where the 2 other guys surged and I could not cover it at all. I knew it was coming and had contemplated surging there as well but when it came down to it I was toasted.
Ended up 3rd overall and won back my race entry and enough to get a burger with Kyer at SmashBurger. Yum!!
It is great to switch things up a bit and do a cycling race like this or a running race. Learning about the tactics of different sports is really interesting and makes me think about how I can approach my more serious races.
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