By Ross Trenary -- Cherry Pie Crit (4) -- 02/06/10
First "real" race of the year for me and I was pretty pumped. I'd had my best results ever in the two early-bird crits I'd done and even though I know it's hard to tell how hard people are really trying in a race that doesn't count, I was cautiously optimistic heading into Cherry Pie. I'm really looking to earn my upgrade this year and a top-10 would have been an excellent place to start.
When I got to the race I pulled in right behind Robert Manly and was soon pleasantly surprised by the attendance of Mike T as well. I didn't know he was planning on racing that day and I was happy to get to ride with one of our new teammates. We settled on a strategy that centered around Robert attacking the field at will and them helping me at the finish if we all happened to be near the front at the end. We predicted that would be easier said than done given the more technical nature of the course and figured that we could be reduced to more of an "every man for himself" approach.
The whistle blew and the race started off with a few fast laps which led to a noticeable slow-down when people wore down a bit, which led to the inevitable entanglement and minor carnage. I've come to recognize this as a pattern in Cat-4 crits and the key is to ignore the pain and hang on for the first few laps and wait for the slow-down, then when it happens GET TO THE FRONT because there WILL be a crash.
Luckily all three of us avoided going down but Robert was slowed a bit by the mayhem.
The rest of the race progressed without much to note. I was saving myself for the finish and trying to stay in relatively good position in case any of the strong guys I was watching tried to make a move. With two to go I made a mistake and didn't hitch on to a train going up the side that was going to overtake the front. Making that move in the early-birds was what had led to my success and I was afraid that missing it here was going to ruin my chances. Luckily I saw that Robert was there...so I knew that if I dug to pull myself up there I'd have someone who would open up a wheel for me to slot into. Unfortunately for Robert the pack slowed down one more time and while the resulting re-shuffle allowed me to get into a good position, it pushed him and Mike to the back. Coming around for the final push up the hill the front of the group spread across the road and I picked a wheel to follow based on how strong this guy had been riding in the last couple laps. Unfortunately I quickly realized that he looked so strong because he was overdoing himself and he bonked hard as soon as the real push started. I jumped to get around him and re-start my sprint at which point my calf cramped (why-oh-why don't I stretch more!?!?!). I fought as hard as I could but the loss of positions at the beginning of the hill plus the cramp kept me 5 spots short of my top-ten mark. In the end 15th is still awesome for me so I'm pleased and motivated to keep pushing for those first upgrade points!