My First Criterium

So I completed my first Crit last night. The Tuesday Night Worlds Series at Opus Business park put on by Loon State. I had watched the Hopkins Crit last year but that was my only exposure. Basically I had a vague idea that you need to stay with the lead group like in a road race and wait for the sprint at the end. The problem was when I got to the end I wasn't sure it was the last lap. Ya, sounds pretty stupid now but at the time I say the counter say "1 Lap to Go" and was wondering if that meant one more before the final sprint lap. You see at the end of the second to last lap I saw a few people starting to pull away of the hill and I didn't want to get stuck. So I stood up and started catching them and thought, "hey, I feel pretty good, might as well keep going." That was my attack. Nicely planned out. Well, me and one other guy passed the "1 Lap to Go" sign and he turned to me and said, "Is this the last one." Apparently it was his first too. It didn't seem like people were catching us so I hesitated and let up a little. The two of us lead until about 1/3 up the last climb. I realized that for sure this was the last as I rounded the corner and say the finish. Well, I had given up too much and ended up falling back as some guys fresh off a group chase stood up and hammered. I dug in a little but my race sprit just wasn't coming out. Oh well, think I finished in top 10 anyway.

Looking back I should have stood up with conviction at the same place I did, killed that hill and opened a nice gap. Then, if I hadn't let up I probably could have come around and still fried just a bit at the end but come away with the win.

Next Tuesday I'll have conviction.

pics here: Skinnyski.com