The SLC is not 87F
After making it to San Jorge late Sunday night, we got a few hours of sleep and then got rolling Monday morning to finish off the drive home from VotS. Before I get into that, I went out for a ride today around noon. I went past a sign that said 37F. In Phoenix on Saturday it was 87F. Big difference. I have to say it was nice to just be in jersey and bibs. I did not, however, walk around post-TT in my skin suit with the legs rolled up and the top tucked in at my waist. This same guy has done that the past 2 years…strolls up and down the parking area.
I don’t think I gave the rundown on the criterium yet. It is a fun race that is typically fast and usually has at least one crash. Unfortunately I was standing at the middle of the course when the Pro women decided to stack things up. I left the course after seeing that…guess I should have done it sooner. I hate to see crashes. Mr Fasse of the VMG squad lit up the finish of the Cat3 race and apparently sprinted at the front for probably 500+ meters. Guys were trying to pass him coming down the straightaway and he was having none of it. Sweet!
The legs didn’t feel too great as I was warming up and I wasn’t too surprised. Saturday was a tough day. We got lined up and the pace stayed fast most of the time. The new Rock & Republic Racing team were laying in wait all race. As an aside on the Rock & Republic Racing team…on Friday a convoy of 3 pimped Escalades roll in to the parking area of the TT. Their kits are all black with skulls with wings which is really sweet, although Clinger was sporting all red. They are intimidating without the tough guy kits, Clinger’s facial ink and Leograndes full body ink – Sleever, you got some catching up to do on this cat. These guys are crit/tough-guy racers extraordinaire. If you ever want to move up in a race at the right time, try to stay on Clinger’s or Friedick’s wheel. You’ll get going at the right time, it’s just a matter of staying with them as they go.
So back to the crit…it was great to have the first crit of the year as an 80+ field going super fast for 70 minutes. That shakes all the cobwebs loose from the winter training. I had to get my legs going for the first 20 minutes and then I tried to get myself positioned a bit better. I was able to get pretty close to where I wanted to be, but as usual at this race, I am a few guys too far back. When we got 5 laps to go the Rock Racing guys lined it up at the front. Successful Living tried to take it over at one point and didn’t last. We rounded the last corner with about 300 meters to go and I was already 53x11. I moved up a few spots as we came to the line for a 27th. It was good to have it end incident free for the criterium.
I haven’t heard from The Body but he got knocked down during the road race and his hand was gigantic on Sunday. I think the remaining UT riders survived carnage so that is good. As usual, Sandros rode a great race, and Santa stayed out of trouble to both finish top-10. VO2max Perry made the move in the road race…his effort in the crosswind probably blew me up as we tried to make it across to the break and he finished up 13th overall on the weekend. Good job also to the young cats from Contender who put Nate on the podium in the Cat2’s.