BikeJam '06
This past weekend I raced in the annual BikeJam / Kelly Cup criterium in Baltimore's Patterson Park. The one-mile course was pretty tame as far as criteriums go—just two little chicanes and only one corner that bordered on technical. But it was fast and flat with the exception of the hill up to the line. I've been coming into form so I was itching to race and to represent Team Aggress on the east coast.
This criterium went off like all criteriums—a blistering pace for the first few laps to shed the excess baggage, then a general slowing in the main field, followed by a gradual acceleration up to the red line until the last lap when it's pretty much all out. Since I haven't ever raced in Baltimore, I wasn't sure what level of fitness riders would have, especially at this point in the season. I became a little concerned when the first time up the hill we were rolling at 26mph. I'd gone to the park to pre-ride the course and do some practice sprints to the line earlier in the week to get my gearing straight and I was clocking around 29-30mph in my sprint practice. That began to worry me, but once the selection was made (and I made the selection) the tempo eased off ever so slightly. At that point I just decided to sit in, do no work, and see how the tactics would play out.
One thing that I found very different racing in Baltimore as opposed to Arizona was the aggressive team racing. There were at least three teams with greater than 5 riders in the field. In the Arizona Cat5s it's rare to see such organization. The teams that were well represented kept sending riders off the front one after the other. Since breakaways hardly ever succeed in a Cat5 race, it wasn't surprising that the field was able to bring back each attack.
In the last lap things began to heat up as expected. We clocked 36mph down the back straight. I moved myself up to about third wheel with no problem to be in the right position for the final critical corner. Here's where my unfamiliarity with the Baltimore/D.C. racing scene came into play. In Arizona, I know the guys I'm racing with. Therefore, I know whose wheel to be on leading up to the sprint. I didn't know anyone in this race so it was a complete crap shoot as to where I'd position myself. As we hit the bottom of the hill, I picked the wheel of an LSV/Kelly rider, knowing that they are a serious team. He took a line to the left and as I came around him (see below) I got boxed in behind a rider that was being lapped. This rider should have been pulled so he didn't interfere with the sprint (which he did!). I didn't protest and wound up with a 6th place finish. Not bad for my first race of the season.
One of the really cool things about BikeJam is that they host a Pro 1/2 race that is actually on the national calendar. This draws some of the best domestic cycling teams as well as some of the best domestic riders, including J.J. Haedo this year. It was extremely exciting to see these guys race. There is so much more action because of the great team organization and the pace is simply blistering. Wow.
