Weekend race report and my new profession

This weekend was the Vortex Cycling Club hosted race weekend. Yesterday was the Criterium that was different than last year's criterium, and much more of a criterium than in previous years. Today was the Circuit Race, which was the criterium in previous years. The Criterium yesterday was cut down from 30 to 20 laps because of the races already falling behind before the start of the first race, our Cat 5. I hate how they always target the Cat 5 races for cutting down. The Circuit race today was it's usual 10.3 miles, 8 lap circuit.

Before Saturday, I was the only rider pre-registered for the Cat 5. Right now I wish I was the only rider to show up haha. Just so happened we had 4 riders total, meaning only ONE was not getting any medal. And that one happened to be me unfortunately. Two other riders were Vortex teammates of mine, and the other guy was a Guys Cycling rider who I knew from track racing this season.

If you did the math, that means I got 4th place out of 4 riders. However, it did come down to a semi-sprint finish at the end among the four of us, almost. First off, I got dropped at one point because the Guys Cycling rider (Anthony is his name) attacked on the one lap just to speed up the race a little. That was totally unexpected and those three riders rode together for several laps until I was able to catch up. At one point I think I was more than 1/4 a lap behind them. They slowed down after the first preme lap and I was able to catch them. The next preme I made sure I wasn't going to get dropped again, so with no intention of going for the preme I just stayed on a wheel that whole lap.

With two laps to go I was in the front pulling everyone... it was now or never for me. coming into the third turn I looked back and saw that I was ahead of the other three by about 5 yards. I decided to attack coming out of the third turn up the slight elevation and go for the Gold. Well, when I started attacking one of my teammates got right on my wheel, pulling everyone else with him. Coming out of the 4th turn towards the start/finish line, everyone started sprinting on the last lap and I tried my best to stay with them. One of my teammates and the Guys Cycling got off the front, and I was with the other teammate until the hill where he just started sprinting. Now, I should say, my teammates were Juniors, probably 13 and 14ish, and like 100 lbs. The teammate that I was with got away from me and I tried to counter it by cranking hard in a bigger gear to catch up and pass. It did not work, and I came through the finish line 4th and last.

The circuit race went pretty much the same as last year, but this time about half the field than last year. We only had 10 riders (last year, 21 or so). Right on the first lap I got dropped on the limb and just decided to ride and not really race. I had a guy behind me, but he was behind by a good distance so I just made sure I kept my distance, but not push too hard and kill my legs because I had to run later in the day while ref'ing soccer matches. After getting lapped twice, I crossed the line in 9th place.

Overall, it really wasn't a rewarding weekend for me. I mean, the rain from Friday into Saturday and the coldness (60s) Saturday morning caused many riders not wanting to show up and race, and caused the other riders in the field to go slower. If this had been a sunny day with the four of us, I possibly would have gotten lapped.

As for my new profession... I was asked to do the announcements and stuff during the races, and turns out I'm pretty good at it. I got a lot of compliments from people, saying I made the races more interesting to watch.