Still stunned by my first criterium, with video

michael01612

Still stunned by my first crit. Unbelivable...fun, hard, exhilierating!

18.9 miles, my heartrate was basically mid 90% - 99% of max the entire time. Speeds 27, 28, max 29 mph....each lap! Go to the "laps" tab on motionbased.com for a lap-by-lap breakdown. Considering a hard ride for me is usaully 17 or 18 mph...this is pretty over the top effort level.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5743049

My friend took some good video. The highlight for me...about 1/3 way through the video...at the 1:26 mark on the YouTube video...when he says "good position mike"... you will notice i am ...for the very first time..."in the break"....or at least i am in a group that has split the field.

But I paid the price for that, and all my other mistakes and indiscretions. Near the end...oh so close to being pulled....another lap or two and it would have been over for me as they were pulling all dropped riders....which actually amounted to a probably 10-15 riders. I was next to go. I was back a smidgen at the finish...but still there or thereabouts. I think maybe the last non-pulled rider.

My video highlights of the race.....

http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbid=256697

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9XopccjBiw

Best of all...I finished. Safely. Same time!!

Bronzie

Well done! You did very well to stay in as long as you did on your first attempt - back for more next week I trust?

Where was the crit?

Edit: Sorry - hadn't watched the vid - Stafford Springs, Conneticut

No wonder it was quick - there weren't many corners in that course - looks almost like a velodrome!

Not belittling your achievements but UK crit courses tend to have a few more tight bends in that cause the field to string out - if you are at the back of the string, it's really tough to keep closing the gaps as you accelerate out of the corners!

michael01612

Yes, this crit was a little unusual being on a race track. Most crits here are city streets....sharp corners as you describe...and of course the increased risk of being dropped in those corners. I don't think I would have survived that type of crit for sure...I barely hung on in the racetrack setting.

Bronzie wrote:

Well done! You did very well to stay in as long as you did on your first attempt - back for more next week I trust?

Where was the crit?

Edit: Sorry - hadn't watched the vid - Stafford Springs, Conneticut

No wonder it was quick - there weren't many corners in that course - looks almost like a velodrome!

Not belittling your achievements but UK crit courses tend to have a few more tight bends in that cause the field to string out - if you are at the back of the string, it's really tough to keep closing the gaps as you accelerate out of the corners!