Races

Boat Street Crit

10 April 2005
Report by: Brendan Sharpe

Summit Family Chiropractic, one of our sponsors, made a very welcome appearance during the pre-race warm-up. As I hopped on the trainer to start spinning, teammate Ben Ulness climbed onto the folding/portable chiropractic table brought by Summit Family owners Andrew Shanahan and Misty Gargan. As I got my heart rate up and pumped sugar into my bloodstream through sports drinks and Gu, Ben lay face down on the table, Andrew working on his neck and back with expertise. Teammate Shawn Larson made a valiant attempt at preparing his legs for the race however, his extreme physical exertion in a race the previous day confirmed that rest was what his legs needed most.

Shortly before our 12pm start time, Ben and I climbed off the trainers, full of confidence given by a number of our teammates and friends who had come to cheer us on. While I scoped out the large group of competitors (78 total)? I tried to focus: stay warm, relax, win. As the kiddies one lap race ended, the Cat 4/5s roll out onto the course for a one/two lap course preview. We were stopped at the start line after the lap and given race rules and information. 45 minutes of lactate inducing pain awaited us, yee haw! The bell was shaken and we roll out, overwhelming sounds of cleats engaging their pedals and the crowd cheering.

After the first few laps of an arguably relaxed pace, I was in the top ten and feeling supple. As looking back in a crit is suicidal, I only hoped Ben was on my wheel or close behind. Everyone seemed to be behaving themselves: not too much pedal dragging through the corners, no huge crash inducing sweeping rear wheels, a good race so far. Hearing my teammates shout my name and encouragement at the corners fueled me to ride hard and do my best.

After 30 minutes of racing the pack was stopped! A nasty crash involving two Aurora cyclists occurred. The sharp end of the race and the chasing group stood on the side of the course trying to look back at the accident area and stay warm. I very welcomingly accepted Shawn’s jacket after 5 minutes of standing around in the cold. We waited nearly 20 minutes for the fire truck and aid car to show up and then we took a neutral lap and the race was underway again. 15 minutes left on the clock and everyone was pretty much cooled down. Our pace after this break was faster and people were getting a little antsy. Still, I felt great and was consistently in the top ten lap after lap. I could win this race. Two laps remained and people were getting sloppy and aggressive. In the last few laps I could hear the scraping, yelling, thudding sounds of crashes after pulling through corners. One lap left, don’t screw this up. Get near the front and stay there. Many people pulled ahead of me and I realized I needed to be more aggressive. Preceding the final corner, I gained a better position for the final straightaway. In approximately tenth position with the finish line in sight, I shifted into a big gear and stood up on the pedals. Feeling the burn for the first time in the race, I was able to pass only a few riders to come in 6th. A good race all in all.

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