Tiny Crit

It took me a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark, illuminated only by the blue glow from my cellphone, to find my flashlight. Not wanting to wake The Wife up by turning on the light, I was trying to get my stuff together so I could drive the 30 miles to a small local criterium up here in Iowa. Since registration opened at 7 a.m. and the first race was at 8:00, I figured I'd better head out shortly after 6:00, since I'd probably get lost once or twice. So I get my race bag all packed up and sling it across my shoulder, grab the bike, open the door, and step out into ..... a light rain?? WTF? I had not figured on this at all and stood there staring up at the dark sky trying to see if this was just a passing shower or an all-day affair. Impossible to tell. Anyway, I was up, I didn't have anything better to do, so I got in the car, found my way to I-80, and headed west to the town of Williamsburg. Along the way I was kept amused and confused by the new car's automatic windshield wipers that seemed to have a mind of their own. In fact, they do. They somehow know when it's raining and turn themselves on, and even speed up and slow down depending on how hard its raining. About half an hour later, having failed to get lost, I arrived at the town square a bit early. There was one other guy there who had arrived about the same time. I knew this was a low-key local type of race, so I hung around for a while as other people started to slowly filter in.

The criterium was on a tiny little course around the town square which was just about a quarter of a mile around. We're talking lap times of something like 25 seconds, I guess. The surface was mostly brick. I was glad to see it was fairly new paving type brick, not slippery antique brick. The rain, for the moment at least, had stopped. I signed up for the "A" race, which they decided to run first because one of the riders had to be somewhere later. This was all very ad hoc, but also nice and relaxed and friendly. So I went over to registration (the back of a minivan), signed up for the "A" race, pinned on my number, changed in the car, and rode a few warmup laps. The course was littered with parked cars, a few of which were strategically positioned on the outside of the loop where, if the pace got really hot, they were going to be a bit of a problem. Luckily, I guess, the group was really tiny. I think there were only about a dozen riders in this race. The official announced that there would be four point bonus sprints in addition to points for the finish, none of which mattered to me since I wasn't doing the whole 3-race stage race. We were to do 50 laps, which probably amounted to no more than 12-15 miles. It has been a very long time since I rode a criterium that was not time-based. The course was mostly dry except for a few spots on the corners, which were slightly banked in the wrong direction.

The race was kind of fun -- a little bit like a points race on the track -- and there were a number of attacks and a few little breaks. I wasn't feeling all that hot, but that wasn't surprising considering the long drive the day before, the lack of sleep, and the unfamiliar cool air. I did a small amount of work now and then, but mostly just stayed in the group and followed wheels since I had no idea who the strong guys were. My tires were slipping on this one particular corner where there was a wide paint stripe for a crosswalk, but the pace stayed reasonable so it was never a big problem. Considering the wet road and the fact that I was riding my training wheels with the tires that I got on sale, I probably should have let a few psi out of the tires. I knew they couldn't have more than 120 psi in them, though, so I hadn't bothered. With a few laps to go I moved up toward the front and ended up second wheel for the last few corners, which is exactly where I finished. I was surprised that we didn't get streamed by a last-minute attack because the speed wasn't all that high. I checked my computer on my cool-down lap and I think the average speed was around 26 mph. Anyway, it was fun and although a few drops of rain fell toward the end, we were spared the rain. The next group wasn't so lucky. Since it was still fairly early, I hung around to watch the second race which was run almost entirely in a light rain. Again, the field was small and it broke up early, so there were only one or two minor falls, all on the same corner where I had been feeling my tire slip. The "prizes" for this race consisted of pie and beer, but I had to head back before the festivities so I missed out on that part. There's a road race tomorrow that is supposed to be really good, but I'll be racing South in the Volvo instead. I was glad I went and raced today, though, because otherwise I'm sure I would probably have blown off riding because of the rain (there was a light rain most of the rest of the day).

The rest of the day was, at least for me, shopping torture, as I ferried The Daughter, The Wife, and a friend all over town and finally to the big mall in Coralville. I cannot believe how they can waste so much time wandering aimlessly around a shopping mall. I think I actually fell asleep for a while on one of the benches in the mall while they were inside one of the stores.

Tomorrow we'll be back on the road and I really need to get some sleep tonight!