Missouri State Crit

Brian and Justin joined me for grub at Bob Evan’s first thing Sunday morning. Brian is coming off an injury and was not racing, but decided to catch a ride down to Jeff City to hang out and live vicariously through others. Justin caught a ride with us too, so we had a composite team for the day. Sweet! After oat meal, bacon (hmmm bacon) and burritos we loaded up the White Buffalo and hit the road at 8:00 am sharp. Brian and Justin quickly figured out that they are both ‘old school’ and I got a hour long lesson on steel frames, custom bikes and everything that goes with it. Good stuff! My definition of old school is Shimano 9-speed.

Race time 3:00 pm. Hot! Hot! Hot! 60 minutes + 3 laps at about 98 degrees. There were about 30ish of us that lined up for the 1/2 race. Big Shark, Trek, Mesa and THF had numbers. A Big Shark guy went up the road not long after the start and stayed away for 30 minutes. That had to hurt. I spent most of my time in the top half of the pack watching for ‘The Break’. It happened at about the 35 minute mark and I was not in it. It was a well represented break with one each from the major teams. I sat in the top 10 waiting for a serious bridge, but nothing really developed, so I was stuck soft pedaling with the rest of the field as the break got farther and farther away. I was getting ready to make a move of my own when Nick launched off the front with about 15 minutes to go and made it a good piece up the road. Two laps later it felt right so I attacked and got away clean. A lap and a half later Nick and I were trading pulls with no sign of a chase. Time checks were 60+ seconds behind the break and 20+ seconds ahead of the pack with about 8 minutes to go. I knew we were not going to reel in the break but was worried about getting caught by the pack so we kept the hammer down. With three to go there was still no sign of a chase, but guess what… the break was just barely in sight on the finish stretch. They caught a group off the back of the main pack and sat-in! Nick and I increased our efforts and with one to go they were tantalizingly close. Time to climb into the hurt locker, shut the door and go to that place we all love and hate at the same time. I tagged onto the back with just under a half lap to go. Here is where it gets confusing. There was a four man break. I caught onto a group of ten. Four of the ten were riding a few seconds ahead of the rest. Which were lapped riders and which were the break? I knew Trek had one in the break and he was part of the four. I made a knee jerk assumption influenced by heat, pain, inexperience and exhaustion, and guessed the four were ‘the four’ and set my sights on them. Up the final hill and around the last two corners and I made it through the six but could not find the speed to catch the four. I had also grabbed one too many gears exiting the last corner and was having a hard time getting the crank to turn. Two of the guys that I passed came back around me in the final 50m.

Here is where my knee jerk assumption may have hurt me. Turns out the Trek guy was the only one from the break still in front of me. The rest were lapped riders. I had passed the other three from the break. But…the two that repassed me in the final sprint were from the break. Doh! Bronze metal in the state and 4th overall. I don’t know that the outcome would have been any different, but I should have had my head on straight and properly identified who I was racing.

Joey State Champ in Juniors. Luke 2nd in Juniors. Jim 6th in 4’s with help from Craig, Rick, Steve, Jerry and Luke. Brett had to go it alone in 3’s and put in a solid performance. Phil was set up very nice for the final sprint in the 40+ race but broke a chain with 200m to go. Justin and his team covered several categories and represented well.

Overall I’d say it was an exceptional day. From a racing stand point, I felt strong at the end of the day, despite the heat and I’m very happy with the results. From a social stand point, it was an excellent time hanging out with the rest of the team watching the races and traveling with two like-minded bike geeks. Can’t wait to do it again.

Next week? Tour of KC!