Tek Park Criterium

This is definitely a race for the "must-do" list next year, what a great alternative to the common "four-corner crit". The course was a wide sweeping 1.33 mile loop with no tight turns and plenty of elevation gain (200 feet per lap). Sections of it approached 10% which would definitely shake up the race.



We had good team representation with Greg, Jeff, Bobby, and myself. The race started off pretty quickly and I took a few turns at the front hoping to keep the pace high. Jeff asked me how I was feeling, my legs were tired right then, but we decided to try and make a move in two more laps. Coming around to the hill again, I saw Greg and Jeff going strong off the front with one other rider right with them. I was sitting back in the field in not a good position, and I didn't think that I'd be able to get up to them without dragging the field along with me. I wouldn't have had the strength to bridge cleanly, besides, Greg and Jeff were flying. So instead I got to the front and decided to do the easy thing, just start soft pedaling.



The next few laps were tremendously fun. I knew that Greg and Jeff were strong enough to get a good gap, so I just sat on the front of the field. When someone would come up to the front and try to chase, I'd follow their wheel, wait for them to finish their pull, and then slow up again. It was incredibly disruptive to organizing a chase effort. After the hill where the course turns to face the wind, I could drop the pace down to a crawl, and usually no one would want to come around. Greg and Jeff got a lot of time quickly, and they were out of sight within half of a lap.

It may have looked like I was pulling, but this part of the race was slooooow. I felt completely recovered after a lap or two. A few laps later I noticed Greg watching from the curb, so only two guys up the road. I found out later he had been taking some monster pulls, and the heat was really getting to him.

I think I was causing some consternation behind me. After one guy in orange took a big hard pull, only to pull off and see the field slow to a crawl again, he said "XXXX I'm not doing all the chasing for the entire field!". We were getting time checks of 60 seconds, then 90 seconds, the gap was ballooning. The frustration eventually led to a flurry of big attacks, but no one got away.

A lap or two later, a rider from Pure Energy Cycling took a long hard steady pull, and when I looked back, we had a big clean separation from the field, so I talked to him and we decided to make a go of it. We worked really well together, I was feeling very good and rested at that point and could take us through the hill and windy section, and he was a fast descender, so we made a great pair. I think that there were about 5 laps left at this point. On the last one I charged up the last part of the hill, fearing that he would have a bigger kick then I, but I rolled through for 3rd without a challenge.

Jeff ended up taking the win over the Cutter's rider, as well as a prime along the way. It was really fun race, and we had some great teamwork.