The weather was a sun-worshiper's delight, sunny and hot--with the temperature topping out at 31c and the humidex coming in at about 36c--just a typical summer day but with lots of sun.I had lots of time today to get ready for the race. Up early just before 7:00 and with enough time to have some race-day oatmeal with bananas. Ummm, food of the cycling champions. I felt a little like I was stuffed up from seasonal allergies and decided to take an allergy pill. And, I had time to have a couple of coffees and even took a nice size travel mug with me to the race.
Packing the car and travel went really well. I hit the border and traffic was very low. No hassles and I was at the racers' parking lot in less than 1/2 hour from home. It was going to be a great weekend with races today and tomorrow so close to home--no long drives this weekend.
I decided to wear a plain white jersey because of the heat. I could have worn my Team Vegan kit or my Cycling Saddlemen kit or even a Canadian national kit. But, I made the decision because of the forecast, all these other kits were dark and it was going to be hot! Any advantage would be needed as this was going to be a fast race. I knew this because the crit was approximately 1km in length with nice wide turns.
I parked and immediately ran into a couple of riders from Canada, Manny from Tower International and Ziggy from the Maple Leaf Cycling Club. I warmed up with Manny after picking up my number and t-shirt (although I forgot my swag bag--oh well). Again, everything seemed to be going well: Got my number quick, got the bike setup quick, got dressed quick, and got on the bike quick. Lots of time for a decent warmup with a little extra time to preview the course. Some easy riding and conversation with a couple of wind-sprints and I felt ready to race.
After riding around the Ford Field, Comerica Park area with Manny, I headed over to the start for the warm up on the circuit. I was feeling really nervous, more than usual, but had just chaulked this up to nerves given the crash and near-crash on the previous Thursday night race. I chatted a little with Ziggy at the line. The circuit was nice although there were quite a few manhole covers and some ruts on the road that could have been plugged--but the organizers clearly marked all the road hazards and a couple of laps really showed the route to go between all the hazards. I decided to race with the 45+ riders even though I knew there were a couple of guys that were better than me. But, the alternative of racing cat 4 wasn't attractive as the 45+ field looked to be just under 40 riders and a lot smaller than the cat 4 race (the cat 5 race was even less attractive because it usually draws inexperienced riders and I already had enough of that on Thursday). My race was scheduled to start at 11:20 and last for 30 minutes plus 2 laps. After a delay of a few minutes we were off....
After sitting at the line for a few minutes, the earlier nerves that I was feeling had gotten a lot worse. I was nearly shaking but again just attributed it to Thursday. We launched off and moved very quickly into turns 1 and 2, jumping to over 50kph within the first minute. Wow, we were moving fast! I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to hold on but my legs felt great. But, I started to really over-think about the other bikes....too near....too close....wheels behind...wheels in front....too close on that next turn....curbs getting too close....manhole covers under the wheels...another corner and too close...which all lead to me moving back and back in the field. By the time we hit the start, I had already moved to the back of the field--not the optimal place to be as it is easy to get blown off the back after a corner.And, that's exactly what had happened. I fell off the back on the third lap coming out of the second turn. The worst part was not that I couldn't keep up--I could. I just couldn't handle riding near the other riders for some reason. It was really rattling me being so close to other riders and it didn't make any sense. So, I decided that I would just keep going and ride hard solo until I got lapped and then jump back in after I had recovered my nerves.
Funny thing is that I managed to ride solo for about the next 12 minutes without being caught. I managed to pass other riders who were dropping out and I just kept going. The main group caught me after turn 2 and I moved out to the right to make sure I wasn't in the way but so that I could join up once again. It was a prime lap that I was caught so the main group was going really fast--and a breakaway formed as they caught me going by the Detroit Opera House.Because a prime had been signalled, and a breakaway had formed from the main group, a group of 4 riders including Ziggy fell off the back. I managed to jump on with them and rode the rest of the race with them as a group. I pulled a little and tried to pick up the pace but just couldn't sit in a pace-line because of the wicked nerves I was experiencing. It was either at the front or the back for me so I pretty much just sucked the rear wheel without taking my fair turn at pulling the group. One rider dropped off as we were going fast, maybe the other riders were trying to drop me, but it wasn't a problem with my legs, only my nerves.
We managed to stay together and finished as a group, but I didn't sprint to the end. Again, I felt really bad nerves and didn't want to get close to the other bikes and felt so deeply that if I did, I would crash....
I'm off the back in this image as we're nearing the end of the race. I managed to finish 18th among the 32 racers who started in my age group (they were 6 in the 55+ group who raced with us) and just behind Ziggy because I didn't want to sprint to the line--only 20 45+ riders finished the race. I had much higher expectations before the race but with what I accounted for as nerves, I was happy to finish the race in one piece.It wasn't until later when I watched the finish for the 35+ masters race and after I packed up my car that I realized what went wrong. The allergy pill caused all the extra jitters with the regular coffee that I consumed. And, the worst part is that I know better having this happen before, I suppose I just wasn't thinking about getting to the race and was only focusing on the finish. Someone even asked how I could miss that on the label--well, typical prof that can't run the dvd player.
This was a great first year for the Criterium Detroit City and hopefully it will be held again next year.
More images from The Detroit News.
Criterium Detroit City at: www.criteriumdetroitcity.com
Full results at: USA Cycling