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| Third Place! |
2016 has been the slowest start to a race season I have ever
had. With my new found focus to put school over racing, along with many races
being cancelled due to rain and flooding. I was coming into my summer break
with about 10 mass starts and I was eager to get some race miles in before I
head out to the bigger races a little further down the road.
That is when I decided to go the University Oaks Criterium
in San Antonio. Uni Oaks is a race I am very familiar with, and always seemed
to have good luck when I toed up to the start line. It was at University Oaks
that I won my first ever 123 in 2011.
As I was starting to pin my numbers for the race, I was
talking to my teammates Jonny and Beau about what the plan was going to be for
the race. Moments later the skies turned grey and a terrible amount of rain
started to fall on us. We ran for shelter from the downpour near my truck. I
eagerly looked towards the direction of the race, I could not hide my grin as
wet criteriums are my favorite races. Although the race was close to being cancelled
due to the small amount of standing water on the course, the promoter decided
that we were going to delay the race just a half hour and start the event. I
was relieved to hear this, too many races have been canned cause of rain,
including all the Wednesday nighters in Houston for April and May.
The race started off fast as both myself and Sundt attacked
into the first corner. Both of us were confident in our abilities in the rain
and we were eager to stretch the field out early. When it comes to wet criteriums,
a quick start is the best way to separate the guys who want to race bike away
from the guys that gave up when the first few drops of water hit the tarmac
before the race even started.
As the first few laps progressed I was taking mental notes
about every corner. I made sure to look for hidden manhole covers as well as
paint lines that could cause a nasty surprise if ridden over. After just a few
laps I had a good idea of where I can ride, and quickly started to push the
limits in the turns. I quickly started following the attacks of riders as well
as threw in a few attacks of my own. I found that I would easily get separation
from the field, but I had a hard time holding the gap due to the long straight stretches
the field was able to chase on.
It was not till one of the late race primes two riders were
able to sneak away. Unfortunately, I missed the split and did a little chasing
on my own. However, the pack could not get organized too well and I knew that I
was now racing for the third place. As the lap markers started to come up I was
feeling confident with my sprint and decided that is how I want to try to get
the last spot on the podium. As we hit the last lap of the race I was third
wheel and was laser focused on holding that position till the final turn. As we
rounded the final turn we had about 250 meters till the finish. I quickly
jumped as soon as we made it through the turn and I quickly moved to the left
side of the road. I knew from previous laps that there were no bumps or ruts
hidden in my lane. I was able to take third place and round off the podium.
I was happy with the way the legs were feeling. They were
already feeling much better than the last crit I did two weeks earlier. With
school behind me, and getting a podium on my first race of the summer break. I
can only be happy with my result. Looking forward to only getting faster as the
race miles start to add up! Next race will be the San Jacinto Criteriums in
Houston.
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