Kvin’s Crit #3, Wedneseday

3rd/40-something

I almost didn’t show up. Almost.

It was a good first race. I wanted to see how I’d feel as my training has gone to shit lately, so I planned on just sitting in. The one thing I wanted to accomplish was to stay near the front and prevent any breaks from getting away from me. On that point I failed. I kept a close eye on Ernie (Van Wagner-Yojimbos), which was easy because he had a nice white kit, but I lost track of Dave (xXx) – apparently, with three to go Dave and another xXx rider got off the front. I missed that move completely. Perhaps it was their black kits and the darkness at 7:35, or perhaps I was distracted by the happiness that my legs weren’t falling off. I dunno; I missed it.

It was really nice to see Keith, Dan and Sam in the field and even got to chat a little with them. This crit was more typical in that there actually was a single group which made their experience far more enjoyable as compared to the solo-suffer-fest of Monday and Tuesday.

The race was pretty uneventful with a few attacks and one crash. The bell lap was also typical: I moved up, the pace slowed just after the bell and everyone looked around to see who would do the work. My position was pretty good and we picked up the pace on the back side. As we closed in on the final corner I was in perfect position just on the inside of Ernie, and we surged. I accelerated into the slight left bend on the inside lane, stood on the pedals and thought I saw someone put their arms in the air…wha??? (Yes, the break!) The inside lane was the fastest and I took the rather fluffy field sprint. Third place.