2nd race in the books. Cat 4/5 in the Crocket Classic Omnium in Crockett, TX which consisted of an 8-mile TT Saturday morning, 25 minute crit Saturday afternoon, and 52-mile road race Sunday. First time doing a TT or a crit.
TT: I was generally happy with the TT, though I think I could have pushed more but was worried about not leaving enough in the tank to finish. Ended up at just under 21mph, but think I would have broken 21 if it weren't for the 15-20mph crosswind the entire time.
Crit: Our race was delayed due to the race before us having a bad crash and closing the course for 20 minutes. Due to the delay, they also shorted the race from 30 to 25min. Was essentially a rectangle around downtown with corners 1 and 2 flowing into each other like a large semi circles, and then 3 and 4 being 90s separated by ~150feet. Corner #3 you were screwed no matter if you went tight or wide. Wide there was loose gravel. Tight there were dips and bumps that could send you flying into the people that went wide, and unsurprisingly there were crashes every race on this corner. I started in the back which was not good, and got dropped by the end of the first lap when things stretched out. I held on until ~16 minutes in when I got pulled. Now that I have one under my belt, I know what to expect and will be comfortable being a bit more aggressive getting into the middle of the pack, but still need to get comfortable with the jostling about.
Road race: 3 17-mile loops on a flatish course (~400ft elevation per loop). Held with the pack until a bad corner 22 miles in caused a gap (averaging 24.5 through this point). Another guy and I worked together for 4 miles (holding 28-30) to try and catch up, but the moment we made contact another attack went off the front and I had nothing left. A number of people had dropped off by this point, but no idea how many. All I know is that after the final intersection on the last lap, I had a sheriff escort the last 6 miles as I was the last rider on the course. I really wanted to quit after the second lap, but felt like I owed it to myself to suffer through the last lap on my own since I hadn't quit a race yet and suffer I did that last lap. Ended up crossing the finish line at 20.9mph. Big improvement after my race I posted about a month ago with 32miles @ 17.5mph and getting dropped 6 miles in.
How did I do compared to everyone else? No idea. Results still aren't posted for the crit or road race, and I don't know that the TT results that were posted are accurate. I know I met my goal of not being last. Of the 47 that started the TT (out of the expected), I was around 40th. I have no clue how many people got pulled before me on the crit, or how many people quit before me on the road race. I know I wasn't near contention for anything, but it still sucks not knowing how I did overall. Regardless, I'm still happy with how I did and that I did it.
My journey from back of Cat 5 upward is getting put on a slight pause as I need to put in some level of effort for training for a half marathon in June with my wife.
Last edited by hbc07; 04-25-22 at 05:47 PM.