Raceday! This was the Quicksilver Crit out in Sterling, VA. It's close to work and it's the same course I raced back during the training series in the winter. Frankly speaking, this is probably the most boring course I've ever raced. The loop is a 'D' shape, so there's two turns with only a very slight decline and incline on the curved section of the 'D'. It is not in any way selective. I knew that going in, but with the field being strictly a Cat. 4 field, my hopes were high for doing well. I should have known better.

The drive to the race is nearly identical to my drive to work--just one exit more on the Toll Road. For all the training races, I rode out to the racecourse and rode home, but today I figured I could drive and save some strength. I warmed up on the course with Will and a few Coppis before getting to the start line just a bit late and being in the third row. We crammed George in on my right side and there were many rows behind us. The field was listed at one hundred riders. Pretty amazing.

That's where I had a fun experience. As we were standing there waiting, an Evo guy and a Harley guy were chatting and one of them asked, where's John Brewer. Ken Woodrow and myself were standing just behind them, so I had to chuckle. Before I could say anything the other one said, "He's over there," gesturing towards another group of Coppis where Tomas and Brad were starting. I played with them a bit, asking "Who wants to know," before finally letting them in on the truth. We all had a good laugh after that. It's nice to know people are watching out for me in the races. I've really only had one good result in the D20, but nevertheless, I've got a target on my back. I love that respect. I'll have to earn that the hard way in the Cat. 3 fields.

From my experience relentlessly attacking at Carl Dolan, my plan today was to be as passive as possible as long as possible. We had sixteen laps to ride for a total of only twenty miles, so I settled in somewhere in the back of the pack once the race got started. At no point was the pace taxing. We had a few Coppis take turns on the front trying to get keep the pace strong, but even so, it wasn't hard to ride 26 mph on that course with one hundred riders all around to shield you from the wind. I was a bit nervous riding in the midst of so many guys--especially since we're all Cat. 4's. But things went fairly well and there were no crashes--only a few close calls.

I took note of several things during the time I spent passively riding around in the pack watching the laps tick down. Number one is that my pack skills are pretty bad in a race like this. I think they've improved in the road races I've been doing, but riding around with this many guys makes me nervous. A flat tire from a guy in front of me and Peter Nicoll getting several spokes of his Carbon Zipps sheared off don't help soothe those feelings. I did ride in the gutter a bit to move up so I was comfortable there, but it was tough to move from inside to outside. And being on the outside is point number two. I was picking a horrible line by riding on the inside through the turns. At one point, I noticed that I passed Will and a couple of riders on my left only to have them twenty feet in front of me after the turn. I was having to slow too much by going inside and it was definitely not the best course of action. I tried to work the outside some more, but all too often I was on the inside and riding ineffectively.

I certainly cannot blame my futility in this race on lack of aid. Ken Woodrow took me to the front early in the race and put me right where I wanted to be. Poor pack skills had me slink back behind him in a few laps, however. I kept hoping someone would make a break go and at least stick for a few laps, but it never quite materialized. Steve Fife tried his hand with an NCVC rider not once, but twice--only to be brought back with ease by the peloton. The stiff headwind after turn one had a lot to do with that.

At one point Steve and RHD rider Jose Escobar had a small gap and I was in a position to join it. It was right before the "climb" and I jumped perfectly onto their back. Unfortunately for some reason they weren't going nearly hard enough for a break and the pack was just about to catch us before we'd even got started. So I attacked hard again and had a small gap going up the hill to the start/finish line. Unfortunately for me, no one went with me and I was riding solo. Having soloed to a win in a Cat. 5 training race here, this wasn't unfamiliar ground, but I knew it would be much harder. I put in a good effort on the straightaway and then tried to hold a decent pace into the wind. But as soon as I got out of the wind, the pack was right on top of me. By the time we climbed up the hill, an Artemis rider took his turn doing what I'd just done. I thought about going with him, but it didn't seem like he would fare any better than I--so I sat tight and rested. My legs were on fire, but we had 7 laps to go and I wasn't too worried about it. The only thing I was upset about then was the lack of any counterattack from any of my teammates. They should have been in perfect position to go with the Artemis rider and if nothing else, keep the pace nice and high.

After my ill fated go at the front, I focused my efforts on resting up for the inevitable bunch sprint. Nothing of note happened in those remaining laps until the final two, when Will rode up beside me and said he do lead-out for me. He took me right up to near the front and with one lap to go I was in perfect position. Three NCVC riders were leading the pack and doing a fine job at it. They were perfectly set up. An Evo rider and myself jumped on to the back of their train and I couldn't have been better placed at that point. When we hit the headwind, the NCVC riders slowed considerably and the small gap they'd formed was gone. That was bad for me. But I moved around them slightly and put in a hard pull going up the hill because Tomas was right behind me and yelling for me to Go! I wasn't sure if he was wanting me to lead out or just cheering me on, but I assumed by ramping the pace there it would help him too. But at the top of the hill, 200 meters before the finish, I again took the terrible line on the inside and got swarmed in typical Cat. 4 fashion. At 100 meters, I was probably in 15th place at least, so I sat up and watched lots of folks sprint.

This race was very frustrating--much the same way that Carl Dolan was. But the course here is just like that except that the hill is puny to say the least. I am not a sprinter and never will be, but I was positioned perfectly for this one and couldn't deliver even at top ten finish. Very disappointing. The bottom line is that I couldn't deliver and my poor pack skills and choice of lines cost me. My excuse is mainly that this crit--with only two turns is far too short at 20 miles to really tire anyone out. Without getting folks tired, I feel as though I have absolutely no chance in a bunch sprint. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure, but today I crapped out. Skubis finished somewhere in the back of the Top 10 for the only significant Coppi placing in this race. We did good work on the front making pace throughout the race but had absolutely no firepower to do anything with that pace. We don't have a Cat. 4 sprinter and so my initial idea of skipping this race was probably a good one. But I guess it was a good workout and I was home by noon, so I can't argue with that. That gave me plenty of time to take a four hour nap this afternoon and catch up on my sleep.