Lower Providence 2013

Focused

LOWER PROVIDENCE CRIT

4-28-2013

    This was the third PA BAR race of the season but my first. For my team mate Bryan this was his third, and we were aiming to increase his points with a strong finish, he was currently sitting in the third. We devised a very complex plan, I would contain any moves off the front and lead Bryan out for the sprint. Okay, it wasn't that complex but I was a little concerned about how well I would perform, it had been a crazy week in my house as my wife was hit by a car while out training on her bike. Luckily she was not killed but she is suffering from severe back pain, a damaged shoulder, and possibly a broken wrist. With all this going on, I hadn't ridden in three days, I was concerned I had lost fitness and wouldn't be much help to Bryan during the race. We hopped on the trainers to warm up with about 45 mins before the start of our race, it was sunny but chilly, so we waited as long as possible before getting started. Once we got done, we headed over to ride the course before the start. It was another flat, fast, four corner crit with all the turns being really wide so cornering shouldn't be a problem. We lined up after a couple of laps and awaited the start while we received our final instructions. The normal whistle blow and we were off.

    Bryan and I started off in the second row to avoid being on the front and in the wind for the beginning of the race. Right from the start there were guys trying to break away from the pack, but they were quickly brought back. We were right where we wanted to be for most of the race, right in the top 10-15 riders. There was only once that I fell further back in the field, it was after bringing back a solo break, the guy opened up a good gap on the field and no one wanted to chase so I knew what had to be done. I checked my six to make sure Bryan was there, I got low and powered up and it took about .5 mile but I caught him, Bryan came around me and said to fall back and recover because he knew that cost me some energy. It took a couple laps to catch my breath, but when I did I moved back up to the front with Bryan and boy was I glad to do that, this group of riders had very bad cornering skills and were all over the place. Bryan and I shut down a lot of the moves that were being tried off the front and to be quite honest and didn't think there was anybody stronger than us.

Killing breaks and dreams

    With four laps to go I connected with Bryan and made sure he was on my tail, if we weren't in the front 10, I made sure he was behind me before moving up. We crossed the line with three to go and Bryan was right on my wheel, we came through turn 1 and some guys had cut the corner on the inside, so I as per my task for the day I made sure Bryan was behind me and we moved up on the left hand side after the turn. I moved up into the top five and moved to the right to try and catch some draft and not but a few seconds later the guy just on my right came over quickly and without warning crossing my front wheel, but I couldn't save it and went down taking out a group behind me(video). As I was going down I remembered something my wife said she did when she got hit by the car, "go limp", so I did and I laid in a fetal position until the sound of bike on bike carnage subsided. I've got some nasty road rash but otherwise, okay. Once I stood up, I took survey of the people that were around me and relieved to find Bryan wasn't amongst the victims. I also was trying to find my bike, the rear wheel was next to me but the bike was about 20 feet further up the road on the left. I gathered everything up and then cleared the road of a couple stray water bottles so when the pack came back around there wouldn't be anything in their path. I checked on a fellow downed rider who was complaining about his head hurting, I told him to take it easy and stay awake just in case there was a brain injury. I had a feeling Bryan would be looking for me when he came back around so I waited and when they came around I saw him, waved him on while yelling "GO, GO, GO", and he went.

 I shouldered my bike and started heading back to the finish line. As the pack came around again it dawned on me that it was the last lap, so I started running with my bike towards the finish with blood streaming down my leg from the wreck. I was about 20 yards from the finish when I see Bryan yelling as he crossed the finish line a full bike length ahead of the next closest competitor, he spots me and I'm speechless, all I can do is point at him aggressively as if to say, you're the F-ing man! and he does the same. It was an undeniable day of great team work finished off by the best sprinter in the field! It was by far the best race of my "career" as an amateur bike racer and to see my team mate take the win was indescribable, but I'm still imbittered about the wreck to this day, as for the guy who caused it, he better stay clear of any future races because he's gonna have a lot an angry people aiming for him. I just wish I could have finished the race, my bike frame is okay but both wheels are damaged beyond repair. Our next race is on May 5th, I hope to repeat our dominance, and I hope I can race with Bryan again, after that win he has enough points for a mandatory upgrade and we may not be racing together for too much longer. Oh and with that win, Bryan shot up to first place with a 31 point lead! Stay tuned!

The win!

The aftermath