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| Tristan Takes the win aboard his TCR Advanced |
With the team firing on all cylinders after a very
successful start to memorial weekend, it was time to rally our week’s earlier
efforts and get someone on the top step of the P1 state Crit championships. I
went into the race thinking that the course was going to be the same as the age
based crit we did the day before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see
that the course was now a drivers course with 9 turns in just under a mile or
so of racing.
As we lined up to the start line I remembered that this was
going to be a 90 minute criterium. Although I am no stranger to a long crit, it
has been some time since I did one this long. I was looking forward to
attrition that was going to happen as the laps ticked down.
I started at the back of the pack, although this was
probably the wrong thing to do at such a technical crit. I was confident that I
could get to the front of the race before anything super important went up the
road.
I was wrong. The turns came quick and fast and the field
quickly started to splinter at the back. I made sure to stay calm and follow
the smoothest lines possible to prevent me from digging too deep to accelerate
after the pack. As gaps started to open around me I would pass one or two
riders every few laps. I saw riders around me start to dig too deep, and move
up at the hard times of the race. Although they would pass a handful of riders
at a time, they would slowly fade back to where they were from the effort they
used. I would occasionally take my eyes off the turns to look and see how the
team was riding and to see if the group was still together. I could see that
both Beau and Tristan were riding in great position near the front. Although
the course was very technical it was hard for anyone to get away from the
field. Everyone seemed to be chasing everything.
It was not till 35 mins into the 90 min crit that I finally
found my way to the front. Although it took a while, I was very confident that
I did not burn too many matches and was ready to play ball for the final hour
of the crit.
As the laps ticked down I made sure to always be moving up,
or staying tagged onto the wheel in front of me. I could sense that the back of
the field that I was a part of for the first third of the race was probably not
there anymore. And fading back could be fatal for getting a result.
As the attacks started to do a little bit more damage to the
field, as well as small crashes adding into the confusion, I saw that the field
finally split. I was luckily in the front end of the split along with Tristan.
I immediately recognized the gap and went to the front to try to pry open the
gap a little bit more. The break was about 10 riders in size and for the most
part we were working pretty smoothly together. At this point I saw that they
broke out the lap counters and we were at 20 laps to go.
Tristan stayed well protected in the draft at the back of
the break while I made sure no one either attacked the group and got a gap, or
that we slowed down too much and risked getting caught by the pack. With about
15 laps to go, Tristan gave me the thumbs up and I knew he was going to get the
result for the day. I continued to cover attacks from the field, as well as
watch a very strong Kevin Girkins. I continued to give it everything I had till
I could not hold the group any more. At this point it was 3 laps to go and
Tristan has not seen the wind for the past half hour.
Once I faded off the back of the group I kept pedaling till
I went through the finish line. The officials pulled the field and I knew I
still had a top ten in the bag for myself. My final time through the finish I
could hear the cheers from my GIANT teammates yelling to me that Tristan took
the win! I was not too surprised to hear that. The team rode as one solid unit
for the whole day and we delivered one of our best finishers to the line fresh.
It was a great result for the team, as well as a confidence booster for the
group as we move on to two big crit weekends in Oklahoma.
Next races on the blog will be the OKC PRO AM criteriums,
followed my Tulsa Tough.
Here is a video of the final two turns of the final lap from Tristan's rear view
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