Masters State Championship Criterium report

Masters State Championship Criterium
Chesapeake, VA
30+ race
August 11, 2007

Off the line, a rider goes full bore off the front. I, of course, chase, as that is just my style of racing. We get a tiny gap that doesn't go very far. A third rider comes up, attacks, and I chase again. This also goes nowhere. The next few laps are just racing. A few small attacks, but nothing substantial.

About 8 or 9 laps in, a few guys get away, and one of my teammates is up there. This is good for me, as I haven't quite recovered from early efforts. I can see the break working, and it's well-represented, so it's got a chance. A couple of guys bridge up, and a couple of guys fall off, including my teammate- which was timed well, since I was at the front and chasing someone down when it happened. When my teammate came out of the break, I forced the pace, working to bring the break back. T-Man rejoined the field and put in another hard effort to help. This went nowhere.

Late in the race, we could still see the break dangling like a carrot. But with a couple of teams represented, it didn't seem like it was going to come back. Most of the efforts by those teams not represented didn't get very far.

Resigned to riding for a spot in the field sprint, I moved up with about 4 to go, and was in an excellent position for the sprint at that point. T-Man started driving the pace at the front with 2 to go, and I was in 3rd wheel. The guy in second wheel then drove it for a half-lap, and I was still right there. But then just before the final corner, he pulled off, and I entered the final turn in the lead for the field sprint- with the 3 guys in the break only 100m ahead...

I led out the sprint- 350m to go, and I didn't have the gas to make it. I sat down and recovered a little, then tried to snag a wheel and sprinted again. I'm pretty sure I finished in the top 15 overall, and as our race was combined, possibly in the top 10 in my age group (30-34).