3/5/06 -- Stazio Criterium #1 -- 11th / 70
First crit ever. Great race. Went into last corner ~3rd, surge on the left took the sprint. Just got outsprinted. Spent a bit too much time at the front. Crash on sprintout near me. Short,steep hill was defining factor per lap and separated the group quickly.
4/9/06 -- AST Spring Criterium -- 22nd / 44
Finished with pack. Fast criterium. Tried to break with 2 laps to go, didn't stick AT ALL and was wasted for last lap. Wasn't feeling that good, tough to stay at front. slight uphill finish, almost no flat on this course. Slight uphill for 1/2 lap, slight downhill for 1/2 lap. Short crit (~1 min / lap) Big surge on last lap. Couldn't hang with and was relegated to mid-pack. Best position would have been around 10th going into last lap (and last corner).
4/15/06 -- Boulder Larimer Road Race -- 15th / 92
Rob Sharp, Greg Harris, and I toed the line yesterday for the Boulder-Larimer
RR. I didn't see any other CAT4's, so I guess it was just us. It was a pretty easy pace for
the first few laps with a couple crashes, a little rain, and 3 or 4 blown tires to add some
excitement. The race really turned up the screws on the 3rd lap when a crash occured on the Northbound road. I believe that was when a gap was created within the peloton.
Rob and I managed to stay in front of the crash and charge with the peloton, but Greg
wasn't so lucky and couldn't bridge the gap.
Rob was hammering pretty hard at the front the whole race and was within the top
5 for the last couple laps. I was hanging on in the middle to end of the pack. I
don't know how many started (maybe around 70 or 80?), but the group finishing the last lap was a pack of about 40. There weren't any breakaways that worked, so it was a mass sprint for the line. I came through the last corner at about 30th position and managed to sprint decently well to finish around 15th or 20th. Rob came around the last corner on the outside in 5th and had to break due to a lapped rider. That pretty much hosed his sprint, and he finished 3 or 4 places behind me.
All in all, it was a good race. I think if we had a bigger team, we could have
been more contenders by sending Rob off the front a few times and/or bringing the team
together atthe front for the finish. It was really hard to move up through the pack in
this race.
Anyway, good showing by us all and I'm looking forward to the next race.
5/13/06 -- Wheels of Thunder Criterium -- DNF / 70
This race was a straight-up bummer. I didn't even finish. They announced a $250 chiropractic prime on the 2nd lap and I took a hard sprint off the front. Another dude left after me and charged to take the prime down the homestretch. I quickly got sucked back into the pack and I couldn't hold the pace. I got spit out the back FAST and got lapped around the 30th minute. I dropped off, dejected and decided not to do that again. Worst race of the year.
5/21/06 -- Sun Coal Miner's Classic Criterium -- 38th / 100
Sufferfest 2006. I couldn't hang with the main pack near the front, so when the split occurred about 20 minutes in, I got dropped. I managed to stay with some groups and just dangled off the back. With a few laps to go, I worked with a Colavita guy and we managed to keep from getting lapped. That was the goal for this race and I succeeded. Now I just need to stay with the group!
6/3/06 -- Rocky Mounts / Izze Criterium -- 32nd / 75
Another tough race. The course was pretty good, but I couldn't hang with the bunch. I actually don't remember this race that well, but I think I stayed with the group until 2 laps to go. There were a couple primes in a row and I couldn't handle the pace. I managed to keep from getting lapped, but I didn't hang with the group. Maybe next time?
6/18/06 -- Promontory Park Criterium -- 5th / 19
This was it, my first moment of glory! There were only 19 riders, so I figured I could at least stay with the pack until the end. I was feeling good and did well to keep it together. I think this was a slower race as I managed to work my way to top ten going into the last turn. It was a fairly long straightaway and I stomped on the pedals to get up to 5th. A huge motivator for me and a great achievement. This is what I need to get my confidence back.
7/9/06 -- Sara Kay / Andy Finch Memorial Circuit Race -- 2nd / 34
Lots of rain. This is a pretty cool course and I stayed with the front guys the entire time. It rained constantly, but I felt good every time up the hill to the finish. On the last lap there was a CU guy that blazed up the left side of the pack. I was sitting 2nd or 3rd at the time and launched to get onto his wheel. He hammered hard and was blown at the end of the straight before turning up the hill to the finish. I turned around and we had a huge gap. I stood up and hammered as though my life depended on it. I constantly looked behind to see if anyone was coming, but I had a 20-30 bike length advantage going across the finish. Amazing!! There was one guy who killed it early on and had about a 1 minute lead, so I finished 2nd to him. Another big boost to the morale.
7/15/06 -- Festival in the Park Criterium -- 3rd / 41
I didn't try to do anything stupid like go for primes. This was Marco's first criterium and he needed to learn how to create a gap, but he managed to keep the pace high. I was in the middle of the group on the second to last lap, so I made a hard effort to move to the front on the beginning of the last lap. This turned out to be a smart move as the first straightaway after the start/finish, the guys behind me started to crank hard. Two guys blew by me and I sped up to catch a wheel. We were hauling and managed to create a 4 man group off the front. Not far, but enough to ensure a top 4 placing. I tried to move up, but it was too much. I managed to come home with 3rd, so another awesome finish for me.
This one may have felt the best as it was a legit hard effort/sprint that won this race. Feeling good and starting to think about the possibility of upgrading.
7/28/06 -- Salida Omnium TT -- 25th / 36
7/29/06 -- Salida Omnium RR -- 19th / 63
7/30/06 -- Salida Omnium criterium -- 4th / 50
8/5/06 -- Denver Federal Center Classic Circuit Race -- 6th / 80
Destruction derby style race. There were a lot of crashes and luckily I wasn't in any of them. This was a tough race to get into a rhythm and I never felt that good. The last lap wasn't really that fast, but it was hard to judge with the wind. I came around the last turn in about 5th position, but didn't have a wheel and was working pretty hard. I finished 6th overall, which was kind of a dissapointment, but at the same time I still got a point, so I was happy with that.
8/6/06 -- Mike Neilds Memorial Bannock Street Criterium -- 3rd / 50
Best race of the year!! I saw the same guys who did well at the Denver Fed Center, so I decided to go for some primes if I was feeling good. I was feeling good. About 15 minutes in, they announced a prime for some bike shorts. I decided to go for it and created a huge gap on a sprint off the front. I took the shorts, then they announced ANOTHER prime on the next lap. I stayed off the front and took that on as well.
I got pulled back and stayed in the front again until they announced another prime for $25. I stayed at the front and pulled off a big sprint to take it from a guy who was off the front for a couple laps. Felt bad for him because he was wasted when I blew by him, but thats what happens.
Every time I would get reeled back to the pack after my sprints, I would recover quickly. This was a good race. I stayed near the front until the end and just hooked onto the eventual winner's wheel. He pulled off the front and cranked. I stayed right on him, but couldn't pull around. He finished 1st, and another guy pulled around me for 2nd, while I took 3rd! Unbelievable. I can't believe I did so well, but thats the way the game goes. I need 1 more point to upgrade to CAT 3's
8/27/06 -- Longmont State Championships Criterium -- 4th / 80
Another awesome race. Early on, they announced a mr.potatohead prime, so I geared up towards the front and charged hard to take the potato. I was feeling good, but I knew this was going to be a hard race. It was flat and fast, and I felt good the whole race. I stayed near the front 15 or so throughout and didn't contest any more sprints. The pace was really fast and I wasn't feeling as good as the day before.
Last lap, I latched onto a Feedback Sports guy's wheel and he pulled to the front. I was in about 7th place in a huge pack coming around the last turn. I let loose what I had and managed to pull up to 3rd out of the pack. Some guy who downgraded from 3's took 1st by time trialing off the front for the last 10 laps. I can upgrade to 3's now!
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