Fort Ritchie Criterium 2010

Cat 5 & Master Cat 5: First Criterium. Why not do two. Like Walkersville, the tempo seemed a bit lackadaisical. With a fellow team mate in a three man break, the pelaton seemed willing to let Andre, Chris, James and I dictate the pace. As the laps ticked by, the pace quickened but not by much. No one wanted to work until the last lap. I pulled through the penultimate lap and was in fairly good position for the final sprint. For 4th. Except that I don't have a sprint gear. Yet. Around the final turn I looked for something stout but only found lite beer in the tank. Still having fun.

Race 2: With a lot of solo and unattached riders, nobody wanted to do any work up front. James and I (& Paul-DC Velo) took turns early but I could feel the first race munching my resolve. Around one of the turns, I let myself get squeezed into the corner by a blur of a rider in green. I collided with the hay-bales stacked up in front of the stop sign. I caromed off, but stayed upright and out of any other riders' line, taking bits of hay with me sticking out of my kit. The last few laps I just hung on as we strung out the rest of the small field. I felt my quad-gerbils and hamstring-hamsters squeaking angrily when I tried to grind around the final turn. The sprint-gear fairy blessed everyone around me and I watched elbows and heels spin past me to the finish line. Even from 10th place this is serious fun.