Acadiana Action

Last weekend I headed over to Lafayette for the annual Vuelta d' Acadiana. This year they had dispensed with the Saturday morning time trial, and with the Masters criterium not scheduled until after 4 pm, I was spared the usual pre-dawn rush. Of course, habits are hard to break, and I was up at 5:45 am anyway, so I rode out to Starbucks to meet the 7 am Giro Ride, riding with them down the end of Lakeshore Drive before splitting off and heading back home. I left for Lafayette much earlier than necessary so that I could catch the other races that started at 2:00. There were scattered thunderstorms in the forecast, a couple of which I drove through along I-10 en route.  The women made it through their race with dark clouds moving in, and a bit later there was a half-hour delay as the sky opened up.  I sat in the car until the torrential downpour ended.  The streets were soaked, and after all that rain I knew it would be a while before they dried up.

The Masters criterium started with wet streets, pretty much on time. This is a criterium course that I like but on which I have never had very good success. I think that long fast drag from the last turn to the finish line is just not my cup of tea. We had a small field of only ten on the line, of which four were from the sponsoring Acadiana club. I had Rick from NOBC, and the rest were without teammates.  Looking at the wet streets, small field, and the one 4-man team, the handwriting was on the wall. I knew well what would happen, but had little confidence there was much I could do about it.  Sure enough, Randy from Acadiana attacked from the gun.  There was a U-turn about 150 meters past the start line, and by the time he got there he already had a big gap. Then, just to seal the deal, his teammate Kibbe threw himself to the ground at the front of the pack going around the turn. I made it past fairly cleanly as another Acadiana rider attacked but it took most of the first lap for everyone to come back together and I'm sure some of them were pretty wasted by the time they closed the gaps.

Meanwhile the gap was growing despite the high speeds as a couple of riders took the front to try and bring it back. The streets were still very wet and riders were still being tentative on the turns, so the gap was holding as we came through at the start of the second lap. A bit later Randy's teammate Kevin attacked and started to bridge without a whole lot of response from the pack, which I thought a little surprising since it was such a predictable move.  By the start of the third lap the duo was coming together. I did a little math as I contemplated the situation from the back. Ten riders total; only 8 now in the pack.  Two of those 8 were obviously not going to work and were going to block if possible, and one would probably rest up for the pack sprint, so only 6 riders who might work. Neither Rick nor I was really up to the task of helping much, so that really left only 4 - Tim Dorion, and Mark McMurry, Scott Gurganus, and Texas rider Scott Yates.

A couple of laps later it was obvious we were racing for third. There were a few half-hearted attacks, but things settled down for a while until the last few laps. With two laps to go there was a strong attack by Alex, setting things up for his teammate, and I pretty much blew up chasing it as we heard the bell. I had been in good position at that point, but of course as the final lap surge started I was completely gassed and dropped nearly to the back. Somehow I regained the draft halfway through that lap, but it was way too little too late and I finished a disappointing 8th out of 10. I felt pretty good on the turns and even in the sprint, but really didn't have the confidence to do much work on the front.

Sunday's road race was up near Arnaudville on an essentially flat course I've ridden a few times before. The Masters field was still small, but with the addition of VJ, Mike Lew, Brian Bourgeois, and a second Lake Charles rider there was a little bit more reliable horsepower in the field. Acadiana's strategy was essentially unchanged, however - keep attacking until something breaks free. From the gun Randy took off, establishing a big gap by the time we turned onto the loop for the first of three laps. I knew he wasn't intending to stay out there for fifty miles, but with such a small field he was still successful in making the other riders work. Once the chase started I was looking at 27 and 28 mph pretty consistently. It would stay that way for the rest of the lap, too.  So Randy was finally reeled back in around halfway through the lap, and then of course there was a counter-attack that put another two or three off the front. Mike made his way to the front and took some super-long pulls and about 30 minutes into the race, just after turn 4 we were about to catch the break.

Right after the turn an Acadiana rider attacks and Mark and Brian go after him.  Brian fades, Mark takes over, and they catch, but now everything is kind of chaotic with the original break getting caught and the solo Acadiana rider mixed in, and everything. Alex and Kevin attack right through the middle of the confusion, taking Lake Charles rider Michael with them. I never really saw any of this happen since riders were momentarily spread out all across the road, but then suddenly I realize there are three riders off the front and nothing is happening back in the pack.  Finally Scott comes to the front with an Acadiana rider on his wheel, and then Mike comes through and starts motoring at the front at 25-26 mph, but again it's too little too late, even with help from Rick and a couple others. By the time we started the next lap the break was down the road and the group's pace was sagging down to the low 20s.

The next lap and a half were pretty uneventful.  Finally we get past the last turn with I guess five miles to go. VJ plants himself on the front like a big diesel truck and everyone just falls in line behind him. With 2k to go he's still on the front, so I move up on the right side (there was a nice wide shoulder there) to about 4th wheel but I'm kind of trapped there with Mike and the paceline to the left. As we hit the 1k mark Randy attacks hard from the back and Brian, who was almost right next to me by then, jumps to go with him. I hesitate for a moment hoping Kibbe will go but he glances over and says, "Go for it, Randy." So I stand up and start a very long sprint, already having missed Brian's draft, but somehow make it to the line right behind him with Rick coming in next. I felt really good in the sprint, actually, but Randy had really surprised me by jumping so early. I was a little surprised that Brian didn't pass him before the line, but then I think Brian had been caught off-guard as well and never really got his draft. I don't know what happened to Mark McMurry. He and Mike Lew had been doing a ton of work the whole race. Mark sometimes has issues with cramping toward the end of hot road races, though. Lots of photos and complete video on the LAMBRA FB page.