Rick Newhouse Memorial Ninigret Criterium April 19, 2008 Charlestown, RI
Wow, you couldn't ask for better weather in April for a bike race. Temps in the high 70's and crystal clear skies. Of course, it is a Ninigret criterium, so there is a lot of wind. But the wind makes you tougher, right?
This week, I opted to test my mettle in the Cat 3 race, rather than take another total pounding in the P123's. Don't get me wrong, I like racing in the open category, it is a great fitness builder and a more hard core experience, but sometimes it is nice to race against people that you might actually be able to beat.
There was a pretty small turnout (Same weeked as the big Battenkill race in NY - my condolences to all those locals who drove 6 hours to get Bat-and-Killed), so anyway, there were only about 25 guys signed up in the 3 race.
Long story short, I had a great race. Clean racing all around, no crashes, and just on-the-rivet, strung out racing for 55 minutes. What more can you ask for? I launched several solo break attempts, but nothing was getting away with such a small field. I even tried a nice suicide move on the bell lap. I figured, due to poor sprinting ability, I wasn't contesting the field sprint anyway, so I attacked hard at the line with 1 to go. They didn't catch back up to me until around 3/4 of the way to the finish so I know I was going pretty hard. Either that or they were all just laughing at me. Too bad I blew up right at the instant when I should have been winding it up for the finish. Everyone just came right by in the mayhem. One of these days, the tactic will work, I just need top keep at it.
Results aside, I would say I felt fantastic in the race. I like the fact that I can pretty much do anything I want in a race like this, and not get tired. The recovery time between efforts is pretty amazing. That is a good sign, and I have to thank my coach Steve Weller (Cycle-Smart) for setting me up with a great training program. It is definately working.
Now, I leave you with some on-board video from the race. This clip is from the end of the race, with around 3 laps to go. You can also check out the rest of my videos on YouTube if you want to see the race in it's entirety.
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