Oreminer's Classic Criterium race report 4/4/10

I raced the USAC Oreminer's Classic P-1-2 race yesterday.  Pretty fun race.  The course is a 1.2km loop with no technical requirements at all.  It's on a hill, so half the lap is a gradual climb, half is a gradual descent.

The field was pretty big.  Definitely manageable since the course is so wide and open.  I felt pretty good for the whole race, but I spent a lot of time at the back of the pack (which is bad).  I won a prime half-way through the race for a sports massage.  The prime bell sounded and I attacked up the left side of the group at the start/finish.  There was a response, but it was delayed and it wasn't serious.  I stayed away to take the prime, while a group of 8-10 came blowing past me after the start/finish with a gap on the main field.  They stayed away for a little while, but were reeled back.

There was a group of 3 or 4 that went away early in the race and stayed away.  I think they were well represented because I tried to bridge once and a Rio guy just sucked my wheel and didn't pull around.  I don't have many matches to burn, so the attacks really cause me to struggle and recover at the back before returning to the mid-front of the pack.  Meh, I try, but I'm really not a threat.

Overall, a fun safe race.  I missed the Koppenberg race on Saturday, so it was good to get out and get some training in at race speed.  Our average speed for the 1hr 15min race was 26.7mph per my cyclometer.  Next weekend is Depot.  I feel pretty good, but I don't feel like I have the speed or fitness to contest the P-1-2 races thus far.  We'll see how Depot goes, but I'm looking forward to some stage race fun.