Stage 4 – Downtown Criterium
Normally, I love this crit course. It’s hilly, technical, and the fourth stage following a hard weekend of racing; the sprinters are very tired. But 20 minutes into our warm-up, the skies opened up. Big, fat rain drops fell from the sky and turned the crit course into an ice skating rink. The Pro women were on course at the time, and five minutes after the rain fell, there were only 6 riders left – 30 riders had started.
The course is a 6-corner, 1 km backwards L-shaped loop in downtown Burlington. And just like everything else in Vermont, it’s not flat. The course turns uphill coming out of the last corner, with a steep pitch up to the start/finish line. A gradual uphill continues all the way through turns 1, 2, 3, and 4. Between turns 5 and 6 is a long, bumpy downhill where riders reach speeds of 35-40 mph every single lap. In the dry, the last corner can be treacherous; in the wet, it could look like a bomb went off.
I stopped talking to anyone between the rain and the start of our race. I was so nervous that I wanted to quit, to not even start. But those thoughts exited my head as soon as they entered; I never quit.
I got a front-row call-up, which is always cool, to be standing next to the Top 10 on GC and the Sprint and KOM jerseys, with hundreds of spectators cheering and taking pictures of you on the start line. The whistle blew, I nailed my clip-in, and we were off. The first 10 minutes I felt like absolute sh*t. Everything hurt, from my back to my core, to my legs and my lungs. After starting on the front row, I could barely hold a position in the Top 30. But after 15 minutes, my legs turned around. I made my way to the front and started following some attacks.
I was feeling good when we came into the first prime lap: $100 to the first three riders. The field sped up and the sprinters went for it; I never stood a chance. But I stayed up there, around 10th wheel, and got ready for the counterattack. When it went, I just, didn’t… I don’t know why I didn’t go, I can’t explain it. In a moment of hesitation, the counterattack went, and that was it. Those two riders formed the winning breakaway and were never seen again. And again, I am disappointed in myself. I was right there, right on their wheel when they attacked, I just didn’t go.
During races – especially criteriums – things happen so fast that there is almost no time to react. Instead of weighing the options, making a decision, and then executing, riders more often act on instinct. There’s no time to process things like speed, timing, and power when a breakaway starts to go. You either react or you don’t; there is no in between.
I made a few desperate attempts to get away later in the race. I spent a few laps off the front, solo, before my teammate, Sean Burger, and one other rider bridged up about halfway through the race. The field didn’t let us go, and soon we were back among the rest. I tried a late attack at 5 laps to go, but with the same result. No one came with me, and instead of either bridging across or letting me go, the field decided to chase me down. I stayed near the front during the field sprint, and went across the line in 18th place, securing my 8th place in GC. My teammate, Will Cooper, was attacking all race too, but suffered the same fate as I and couldn’t stay away.
***
All in all, it was an amazing weekend at the Green Mountain Stage Race, guest-riding for CS Velo. We put two riders in the Top 10 in GC, two riders in the winning breakaway on Stage 2, and earned a stage podium with Will Cooper’s 3rd place in the opening TT. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to guest-ride for, and a better group of guys to spend over 20 hours in the car, and 10 hours suffering on the bike, with.
Thank you to Kurt and Meredith Dodds, Will C., Will G., Derrick, Dakota, and Sean for welcoming me in to the team, and providing me the opportunity to take on the GMSR with a full team of support.