Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

(Brad (Turbo) Crosby Chasing, eventually finished second)

The Chris Thater Memorial Criterium is one of the oldest and most respected races in the Northeast. The race includes an NRC event that brings out some big names as you can see in an earlier report by Matt Howey. The event this year was spread over two days which included citizens races on Saturday and regular racing on Sunday with a 5k running race mixed in.

Conditions were cold and rainy. As I headed outof my house at 6am for an 8am start the rain started coming down. When I arrived in Binghamton conditions were still dry. After I went through registration and got my number the rain was getting steady. I went out and warmed up on the course which has several Cat 4/5 riders warming up already. I just upgraded to Cat 4 after doing the mandatory 10 races to move up. So If I placed well or won a prime, I could get cash

My least favorite part of racing is the waiting before the start. No matter how good my warmup I always get cold and my pulse goes down to resting which means I am not ready for the quick start. The situation was worse today since it was raining and everyone lined up early meaning we were waiting around longer than I wowuld have liked. The chills started setting which is not good when you have to charge off in a Crit.

The course is very nice and contains a small hill that can string out the pack enough. The hill is just the right size for my weight since it does not bite that much and I can actually gain places. Matt Howey reported that during the Cat 2/3 (Citizens) race they were going at least 27 up the climb. It is a high speed climb, but we were not going to approach those speeds.

The race started and I found myself trying to get into a good rythm and get through the wet corners upright. This was as I was trying to warm up again. I was tagging off the back of the pack for a while and got a bit of a gap. Then a crash broke up the field. After a few laps I was into a good rythm and was chasing back on at a good pace. Conditions were bad, but I did not mind being away from a large group with the wet corners. I was chasing back well as I caught and passed several riders to move up. Surely I thought I could eventually get back onto the group. It was not to be, and I was eventually watch the finish from the sidelines.

(John Compton in the lead group)

The race was tough as the final bunch that finished the whole race seemed to be about 1/4th the size of the original field. Tough rainy and cold conditions. Good for a road race, but scary for a Crit. John Compton and Brad Crosby were the two Colavita’s left in the race after all of the carnage. Brad looked strong and was getting gaps on the hill . John Compton said he did not ride or race since the Ascension Crit a few weeks ago, but you couldn’t tell since he was in a good spot the whole race.

(eventual winner of the 4/5 race)

Eventually during the last prime a rider from NYC took off and stayed out front for the rest of the race. Brad put in an attac and lookedlike he would catch the guy, but the gap stayed at 8 seconds. brad came in for a great second place while john had a great top ten finish. This is the good part of being on a team, you can at leeast be glad that your teammates do well.

I am not sure if this will be my last race of the season. I will be looking at the calendar for another road race or crit in September. I feel my form is getting better, and I don’t want to slack off during the winter. This winter will be a time to put allof the lessons of racing fromt his year into practice. I will be doing some training to get the remaining belly fat down and get my fast twitch muscles going so I can get through these crit corners much faster. I’ll write more about my winter training as we get closer.

If you are in Upstate New York on September 9th I encourage you to check out the Bill Johnson memorial Century. It is a fun supported ride through some great countryside. I’ll be there.

http://onondagacyclingclub.org/fall-century/