I went down to Northfield, MN for the annual 4th of July crit race for the first time. I have always wanted to do this race as I have heard great things about it. The race certainly lived up to its aura, as the course is wide open, good roads, some tight turns and a short but steep hill. The crowds were great coming through the start/finish line and the field was strong.
The course was very fast coming through the finish as we had a downhill approach to the last corner, which continued through the finish line. Coming up to the first corner into the steep hill section, the road narrowed considerably making it important to have good position so you did not have to brake.
For this race, my goal was to acquire some ROY points. I was mainly concerned about beating Tyler Olson and Jordan Cullen so I could gain some points on them. I was 20 points behind Tyler coming into this race. I was unsure of my form as I injured my lower back pretty bad earlier in the week and Tyler has been riding really strong as of late. The race started out at a decent pace, with one rider going clear. I stayed in the pack for the most part and hovered near the front. As the race got on, I started to stay near the front and took turns as necessary pulling. About 1/2 way through the race a Flanders rider, Nick got off the front and the rest of the Flanders team started to just disrupt the chase. The chase efforts were pretty weak as no one really wanted to work together. As we neared the final laps. I made sure to stay on Adam Gorski’s wheel as he has been the strongest in the 3’s field in the Crits for several weeks now. I figured I could ride his wheel to a strong finish. I found myself on the front of the peleton on the second to last lap through the finish line. At this point, I figured I would keep a very high pace untilt he climb and punch it on the climb to gry and get a gap. I got a small gap up the hill but could not hold it coming into the back section. I swung off the front and worked my way back onto Gorski’s wheel. As we came towards the final corner, the group started to bunch up at the front with riders taking some risks trying to get to the front.
This made me nervous enough to taket he inside line so as to not be washed out by a falling rider. Good thing, as some riders crossed wheels and guys hit the pavement. With this crash, I ended up with a 5th place finish and accomplished both of my goals of finishing in front of Tyler and Jordan. Unfortunately for Tyler he was caught up in the crash. Luckily he did not lose any skin, but his bike did take a beating. Tyler being Tyler, he ran acrosst he finish line to get some ROY points. Huge kudos to him for that.
Next race is the Synergy TT, followed by the Hopkins Crit. Should be some good racing.
Here are a few more pictures:
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