Superior Bike Fest - Circuit Race

What is harder than a 35 minute crit? A 19 minute circuit race.

Sunday was the 3rd and final day of racing. The clouds had left and the sun returned, but the sun brought its friend, the wind. The race was held on a 2 mile closed circuit around Presque Isle. The road was about 8 feet wide all the way around but smooth. On the back side of the loop there was an 1/8th mile steep uphill section, from there it leveled out and gradually dropped to the finish line. There were really only 2 turns on the course and both were right handers that came at the end of the lap. The first one was really rough on the inside and still downhill. Not bad if you can handle a bike, but as there were wooden posts every 3 feet around this section on the side of the road, if you overshot it you were done. The other one was smooth and fast, but you needed every edge of the tiny road. From there it was a short sprint to the line. Where ever you were on the first right hander, was probably where you would finish.

Our race was 4 laps, 8 miles. We knew it was going to be fast. From the gun (whistle) I went to the front to dictate a pace, but 3 seconds later York flew by me going for his inevitable breakaway. Everyone chased and the peloton got back together as we hit the bottom of the hill when another rider attacked. I rode around everyone on the climb to get to the front and set pace for Adam, but he sat up and the next thing I knew, I was bridging a gap for a breakaway. Florian, Rodd and a 5th guy from either Fusion or Leadout all bridged over and we had a 5 man break with major teams represented.

We tried working together, but people were so tired from bridging and the weekend of racing that most of us had nothing left. Florian, Rodd and I continued to take pulls despite being tired. Crossing the line with 2 laps to go the peloton was not far behind us so we sat up. A teammate of the original breakaway rider then flew past us and Florian gunned it and caught up with him. I tried but had nothing and went to recover in the group.

The next two laps saw attack after attack and the hill got harder every time we hit it. Both Colin and I were dangling on the back just trying to finish the race. On the final lap there was a split in what was left of the peloton. I went to the front to get York so I could pull him across to the 8-9 riders going off the front. He didn't seem interested so I used what I had left to get to the group and try for the best position possible. I picked up two spots in the corners and sprinted for the line. King of 12th place. York crossed the line a second later and yelled "Was that it? Oh, dangit!" He didn't realize that was the last lap.

All in all it was a good weekend. 3 races, 3 destroyed pelotons. 10th, 12th and 12th place finishes with an 11th overall. Adam was 2nd overall and Colin was 9th. Not a bad weekend for MCG.