2014
McDonald’s Tri-State Criterium
Huntington, WV
Course:
Flat, 4 corner, 0.8 mile loop – 45 minutes
Field: W1/2/3
If you were
somehow dropped in front of the Starbucks at Pullman Plaza in Huntington, WV
last Saturday, you would have assumed the race was something along the lines of
Richmond 2015 – which tagged onto the Collegiate Nationals. Bleachers, inflatable arch over the finish
line, music blasting from a very good sound system, and a deep payout for
amateur racing (M1/2/3 paid $8000, 30 deep).
However, in Huntington, a national title was not on the line nor is the
town preparing/practicing for a world road racing championship. This town just knows how to host a bike race.
The day held
races for different populations, starting with a 20 minute race pitting the
fire department against the police department.
After that, the “Citizen’s Race” - filled with flat pedals, hairy legs
and numbers pinned upside-down. What I
found interesting about the event – the emphasis on encouraging non-racers to
give racing a try, both men and women. The
race promoter had activities for children, both a kids race and things like
face painting, and it seemed that a lot of local families without ties to the
small cycling community showed up to cheer on the racers.
To further set the scene – at the Civic Center, there was a Comic Book Convention. Two worlds colliding with people dressed in
strange clothes – from the 300+lb Bat-Girl clad in latex and whole host of
others dressed as their favorite character to all the racers clad in spandex….I
wonder if they looked at us with puzzlement as I did them. There was also the young lad who took a
shining to me – and asked me all sorts of details about sitting on such a small
saddle. He was crushed to learn that
this race didn’t occur every Saturday.
My field was
very small and I knew from a little research and the race last year, that – if a
hill suddenly appeared, I would be golden but….this was flat and there were
some women, such as Jenette Williams (who races in MABRA from time to time),
who could sit in and wait for the final sprint.
I could not. My plan was to jump
from the start to either get away (difficult on this course, I think) or at
least make them suffer and take something out of their sprint. Gun goes, I go. Caught.
There were maybe 4 other women who would actually attack or push the
pace. Otherwise, everyone was happy to
pedal in a rectangle, exchange recipes and wait for the sprint.
The corners
were nice and wide, pavement smooth, and a strong head wind coming from the
river which affected two of the four legs of the course. The wind seemed to neutralize any gap. About halfway through the race, I realized
that, while many would not attack, they would chase, so I stopped chasing down
the other surges and focused on what to do to win the race. (Flat crits with easy corners = lots of time
to think).
Chuck is
from Huntington and his family still lives there. His dad, two daughters and ex-wife were at
the race. I was worried about the end of
the race if it came down to a sprint, since I wanted to, as we all would,
look good in front of his family – so I decided all attacks and sitting at the
front should be done only on the part of the course with the start/finish. Why not have the announcer have to say for
almost every lap, and “Rider 157, Dana Stryk, from Evolution Cycling, at the
front” or “There she goes again.”? So
that is what I did.
On the last
lap, I was second wheel. I expected the
field to begin the jockeying for position on the windy-straight-away. I was wrong.
Someone came up on the right and dove the corner in front of me. The course is wide…plenty of room to take the
corner on a different line other than MINE…but….I found myself at the back of
the pack as I hit my brakes to avoiding hitting her. As we turned onto the windy leg, I moved up – and planned to move into
the wind to get to 2nd wheel coming into the final turn. I miscalculated the effects of the wind, my
leg strength, etc. and did not have enough real estate. I made the final corner well out of the top 5
and it was over.
I had a good
race until that last lap and honestly, I would probably make that mistake
again. I ended up in 8th
place and $75 richer….and with a coupon for a Big Mac….
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