This was the weekend of the Flatwater Cycling Weekend in Lincoln Nebraska. The race weekend consisted to one criterium and one rather hilly circuit race (hilly for Lincoln, NE). Since Bike Pedalers brought this weekend back a couple years ago, I have looked forward to doing these races.
Saturday's race, located on the south side of the capital building, is a flat and technical course with eight turns; not to mention some parts of the road are a little lumpy, sort of like mini speed bumps. My choice for this race was to register for both the Masters and Cat 4 race. I had an hour between races and figured that would be enough recovery time. The Masters race started off at 9:30 with a decent size field with some really strong riders. The pace was high for the entire race and I was feeling really good and very happy that I was staying with the pack. There weren't any real attacks, but riders definitely picked up the pace down the start finish stretch and I was able to keep in the mix.
With seven laps to go and no more free laps I felt I could definitely stay with the pack to the finish. Right after coming out of turn 3, a rider in front of me went down. Having nowhere to go, I just rode into his tumbling body and bike and proceeded to flip over my handlebars. The pack was gone, my elbow swelling and bleeding, and no more free laps. I was done. DNF. I just couldn't understand why this happened to me or is happening to me this year. To say it is frustrating really undermines how I truly feel. That's bike racing though. At least the bike was in good shape. Just a few small cosmetic nicks is all and a swollen and scraped elbow.
So, now it was time to cool my already hot head and get ready for the next race which was at 11:15. 30+ riders lined up and we were off. About 10 minutes in, coming out of turn 4, a rider turned into my line in front of me and rubbed my front wheel with his rear. Thankfully, we stayed upright. This sent my psyche and nerves into overdrive. I'm really sick of crashing this year, so I slowly made myself toward the back where I could put a little extra distance between me and everyone else. At this point, I just wanted to finish the race, but being at the back was going to cost me too.
I decided at this point to just ride hard and use this as training. With about 18 minutes left in the race, I popped off the back. Was I upset? Not really, I knew I was going to finish the race and without the loss of skin or carbon fiber. Ended up in 18th place. My brain was definitely in overdrive and I just couldn't be happy with anything. All I needed to do was go to bed and get the whole day behind me.
Sunday the race was out at Pioneers Park. Since there was only 30 minutes between the Masters and the 4's race, I elected to just do the 4's. There is a nice long climb to the finish and a long false flat on the front half. My legs definitely wouldn't have been able to do two races with little to no recovery in between.
So we lined up and were off at 9:30. I had gotten a good warm up, so my legs were feeling very good this day. First lap felt wonderful and my legs were definitely up to the task. As we came around the buffalo, a rider cut Mike Miles's line and almost took him out right next to me. My nerves spiked a little bit, but nothing I couldn't shunt to the back of my mind. Then about halfway up the false flat, I was riding on the inside at the edge of the road.
Here is where my brain gets a little fuzzy. I'm not sure if someone was actually moving over into my line or just moved slightly and my brain thought they were going to cross into my wheel. I wound up riding off of the road into the grass. I kept upright and was waiting until the pack cleared before attempting to get back on. Could I have ridding back onto the road and still been in the pack? Probably, but that is a stupid and dangerous move and not worth it.
Once the pack cleared I got back on the road and tried to catch back on, but it was a headwind and I just didn't have the legs to get back into the pack. Once again I decided to just make this a training ride. I wasn't too happy with the situation but that is bike racing and these things happen.
Overall, it was a great weekend of
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