Because this race is so close to home, we usually get a good turnout from Lamprey. Frank did the morning Cat 5 race, netting a solid 3rd place, barely missing second by inches in the field sprint. The winner was gone solo.
In the Cat 4 race, we had Jeff, Roland, George, David, and myself. Jeff was interested in trying to make a break happen, and I would do what I could to help him out for as long as possible.
While warming up, Roland's BB came loose, and so he had to do an emergency bike switch with his wife's. Surprisingly, her bike actually fit him somewhat decently.
Good thing we had Roland back! For the first half of the race he did a bunch of work at the front, chasing down early moves. The field was pretty active, and there were constantly small groups trying to get away, but even more interest in chasing them all down. I waited until we were about half way through the race, hoping that the early activity would wear down the eagerness to chase somewhat, and people would start thinking about saving themselves for the finish. With 12 to go, there was a group of 2 that had been off the front for a few laps, but were now steadily drifting back to the field. Coming off the short hill from turn 3, I accelerated up the left side of the field where Jeff would be able to see me. Brandon came with us, and one other rider. I went hard for a short pull, hoping that I wasn't just dragging the field along, but not wanting to look back. With lots of attacks early in the race, and going right after a fast lap, seemed like good timing.
We caught and passed the group of 2 on the front straight, I looked back quickly to make sure we had a gap, and fortunately we were moving along pretty well. The fourth guy popped off pretty quickly, and then the three of us started a good rotation. I was glad to have Brandon up there as well, as he really helped out for a few laps. We kept the pace up, and had a pretty good rotation going, with Jeff doing the bulk of the work.
I finally popped off with about 6 laps left, leaving Jeff on his own. I drifted back into the field, and started recovering when POP, my real tire punctured before turn 4, with 4 laps left. Because the pit closed at 5 to go, I was officially out and DNF.
Jeff held on solo and took the win.
Back in the field, Roland was doing a great job controlling the field. David got a bee in his helmet, taking him out prematurely.
We finished over 5 minutes faster this year compared to last year for the same number of laps. That's more then 10% faster. Lots of attacks, and good racing.
New Bethlehem Criterium Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.
13:05 - "I like how Lamprey's kit has asset recovery..."
21:50 - Jeff has a drogue 'chute
25:35 - strong attack, group goes, and Jeff chases
26:50 - I go, not a clean break, but 4 of us get away
28:55 - Roland moves up to the front to patrol the field
30:10 - we have 12 seconds
33:20 - Roland on the front and Brandon comes back, we're just out of sight
38:00 - I drift back, fried
38:40 - Immediately flat, before I can reintegrate
44:10 - someone takes a solo flyer with 1.5 to go, gets a big gap quickly
46:06 - caught one lap later
46:40 - Breakaway bikes rider takes field sprint for 2nd with an awesome acceleration
Thanks to BikeLink for the video.
Always a fun race.
Awesome day for Lamprey!!
ReplyDelete