This was my first criterium and I really had no idea what to expect. I was looking for some experience and another USAC start to help towards my Cat 4 upgrade. The field of about 25 riders lined up for the 8:00am start. It was chilly in the wind and the shade as they went through the rules and introduction. For a fair number of the field, including me, it was the first time riding the course and a crit. The Wells Ave is a great training race. They encourage dropped riders to rejoin the back of the peloton when it comes around. It's a friendly and no-shenanigans atmosphere. There were 2 juniors and a lady rider in the C race as well.
The race rolled out and we were off for 15 laps of racing. I had forgotten about Primes (lap prizes) and when they rang the bell on lap 4, held up a box of muffins and yelled "Muffin", everyone looked, and one dude near the front wiped out and took out another rider. I guess with beginners, its not the best thing to distract them with food. By the time we came around, the road still hadn't been completely cleared, so they waved off he prime, and rang the bell the next lap. I hadn't planned on going for any primes, but as we came around, I was in a pretty good position in 3rd wheel. The finishing straightaway had a massive headwind on Sunday. Some guy came up hard on the left, going faster than us, from quite a ways out; I jumped on his wheel and then sprinted past him. I had expected to see other guys come up around me and I didn't look back until after the prime. I probably should have looked because I could have backed off and still gotten the Muffin prime. My teammate later said that once the two of us were up to speed, everyone else backed off. I then sucked wind for 2 laps catching my breath. I didn't realize how much energy I spent. It gives me new respect for the intra-stage sprints at the TDF, where they go hard and then have to keep riding for another 80 miles.
I pretty much just stayed near the front and out of trouble after that; nothing really happened until the 9th lap, when after a prime, a group of 4 guys got a 2 or 3 second gap. Nothing really to be concerned about, but after the next lap, they had stretched it out to about 10 or 15 secs. I rode to the front and asked some of the guys if we should go chase them down, and then the bell rang for another prime. One guy at the front said we should wait until after the prime lap, and another guy agreed. When Justin, my teammate, rode up and asked, I said we're waiting I guess, even though it felt like a bad idea. I wasn't willing to bridge alone at that point. After the prime lap, they had a healthy lead that was growing. Justin grabbed onto the wheel of a guy hammering and so I told him to stay with him and work. Justin rode the front for the whole 11th lap but no one would pull through. I was about 5th wheel at that point and getting antsy cause there wasn't a lot of laps left and the break away was out of sight. So I decided to push the pace and try and drag the peloton with me to see if other people would help. I didn't want to jump the gap myself, just to see if I could get help. Either no one had the energy or the interest, but after the 12th lap, I had a gap on the field, so I decided to just go. I went into TT mode and tried to steadily ride across to the leaders with 2 laps to go. I started to see them after I rounded corners, but I couldn't tell how far ahead they were. It was also difficult to know if someone sat up because guys were getting dropped off the back and still riding the course waiting to catch back on, so I didn't really know where I stood. With the 4 guys ahead of me. I heard the bell for the last lap, and tried to pick it up. Around the back of the course I caught one guy who had gassed and wasn't moving very quickly. I came around the final turn with a lot of speed straight into the headwind and I could see two guys. One well up the road, and uncatchable, and another guy just up the road, so I tried to hide so he couldn't see me, but he looked back and saw me coming and stood up to sprint. We were about 200 yards out and I had ground to make up. I started to sprint too, thinking I was racing for 3rd. I pulled within 2 bike lengths before we crossed the finish, slightly disappointed in not catching him, but happy with how the race went. It turns out, we were racing for 2nd as the 4th guy in the breakaway had dropped around lap 12, and the other guy I passed who was sat up, was the 3rd guy from the lead. So I narrowly missed 2nd.
It was a fun race and like in every race at this point, I learned a lot. I should have bridged to the breakaway by myself earlier, maybe around lap 11. No one in the peloton wanted to work together so we were never going to catch the leaders. When it was a 10-15 sec gap, I could have bridged quickly, and then helped to stay away. The guy who won was pretty fit, so I have a feeling that if he and I had been in that group, we'd have dropped the other three guys in the breakaway by picking up the pace. The Wells Ave Crit is a great learning experience on a pretty smooth course. I'd recommend trying it out. Boston Road Club gave all the proceeds from Sunday to the Boston OneFund and will do so this coming week as well.
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