Edwardsville Crit – Cat 3
The Edwardsville Crit is one of my favorite races of the year. It has great support from the town, tons of people show up and they open the streets to boozing. The fields are large and strong and the payouts are huge. Finally, the course has a good mix of techincal sections and straightaways forcing a fast pace throughout.
The weather didn't completely cooperate this year, it rained all morning, cleared up in time for the races to start then picked up again in the evening. I got there early, watched some masters races, other Wild Cards in the Cat 4 race then got ready for a 8:10 pm kickoff for the Cat 3 race.
Things started strong for me, I was moving up in the field well, the field was moving through the techincal section without a ton of braking and I felt strong. The only thing that was hurting me was the headwind straightaway and slight rise coming around to the final corner. This finally proved to be my undoing and I yoyoed off the back for a few laps, catching in the technical seciton and getting gapped in the headwind. Finally, the elastic broke and I went off the back for the final time. I rode with a few other shelled riders until I got pulled… Final result, 25th. Good training through, I was above threshold heart rate for almost the entire ride however, it highlighted some of my weaknesses this year.