At Least I Didn’t Crash

We went up to the Hartford Criterium today.  It is one of those downtown crits that runs around a big municipal park, one 90 degree corner, and the rest weird squiggly little s-curves and corners tougher than they look on paper.  There is a sort of strange vibe to the Hartford crit, I think partly because of the strange demographics of the city.  Hartford is, I gather from listening to long-time Yankees, not the city it used to be.  As a result, the race does not draw a lot of local, casual spectators–I think most people watching the race came specifically to watch the race.

Anyway, my race.  Dorothy has already posted on her race, and she was a bit too modest.  She really did a great job out there, hanging with the pack that featured some real serious powerhouses.  Velo-Bella/Kona had a couple of women there, and Independent Fabrications put out a strong squad, and the usual local speedy biker chicks were tearing things up.  The pack was moving fast enough to shed a bunch of women off the back (or OTB in cycling parlance), so Dorothy’s finish really was impressive.  I’m not the only one who thinks so–all of the guys on the team are terribly big fans of hers.

My race, the Cat 4, was the last race of the day.  About sixty guys lined up, and it started off fast: I glanced at my cyclocomputer once when we were slowing down and taking it easy, and we were coasting along at 25 mph.  The rest of the time, we were really rocking.  It usually takes me a few laps before I feel like I am going to live, and this race was no exception.  About halfway through, I started to feel like I was going to survive, and at 5 laps to go, I knew I was going to be terribly dangerous in the final sprint.  I felt wicked fast.

Then, at 2 laps to go, I was making my move up to the front of the pack–perfect strategy for a change.  Just as we passed the start/finish line, I heard that horrible crunching sound.  A guy next to me moved over, bumped my shoulder, but we stayed upright.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a bike flying through the air–no joke–and it did at least two complete spins before crashing to the pavement.

The officials neutralized the race–stopped it entirely, in fact–while the ambulance took away one of the guys who went down (he’s okay–a broken collarbone is the worst of it).  Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, the crash really shook me up and made me remember all too well my crashes last year.  The officials got us going again for three laps, but my heart had gone out of the race.  Then, after one of the three laps, another crash, this time right in front of me.  By the time I got around the guy who went down, the pack had disappeared around a corner, so I decided to roll in and drop out; there was no sense in sprinting after the pack for a guaranteed last place.

I feel disappointed, since I know I could have finished a lot faster, but I am glad that I didn’t end up on the pavement or the emergency room.  That, at least, is an improvement over last year.