Race Report: Watermelon Criterium

On 6/2/2018 I raced the Cat4/5 at the Watermelon Criterium. The race is held on the Rutgers New Brunswick Campus, with a four corner course a little under a mile long. The race was advertised as 40 minutes but was more like 30 which ended up being 12.2 miles.

There were over 35 people registered, and about that many on the line. Unfortunately, only 20 finished, and only the top 17 were scored. The course had four corners, with number 3 being the only one of note. There was a pothole at the apex of corner #3 which made it incredibly difficult to corner quickly. Compounding the cornering issues, the road after turn #3 got much narrower, and so I saw several individuals careen into the grass after turn #, slowing them down and causing safety issues.  The course was fast through the first two corners, and into the third corner. There was a minor climb from corner 3 to 4, and after corner 4 the road graded slightly down into the finish.

The race started with fireworks, with people riding straight from the line. As the third corner took individuals out of the field, the number of individuals willing to attack dwindled. Further, no one had enough teammates to facilitate a strategic move. Instead, there were five strong riders hanging at the front mostly waiting for others to make a move, and then reeling in anyone with a gap. The resulting race started quick with a lot of attacking, but the group started to loaf with 5 laps to go. I had started pulling for long sections of the laps as the group slowed, but the efforts were easily sustainable.

With 4 to go, an intermediate sprint was called. I decided to make a run for the prize, as I was on the front going into the lap. I picked up my effort, noticeably, but not enough to break away. My goal was to string out the group enough that no one would be near me going through corner 3. I would get through as smoothly and quickly as possible, and then hammer up the slight hill to generate a gap. My plan worked well, and I opened 15 seconds on the field through the intermediate sprint.

At that point, there were 3 laps to go. Becuase the group had not been able to generate any group efforts to that point, I decided to take a crack at sticking my break away. I managed to get just out of sight distance on a few of the corners, which is important because when you cannot be seen, the group is more likely to give up the chase, and the breakaway stuck. I cruised through the finish with my hands off the bars. That was the first race I have won in a solo breakaway, and it was very satisfying.

The breakaway effort lasted 20 seconds and was nearly 1000 watts for the entirety. After the gap was established, my power averaged 350 watts for the remaining three laps. Because this was a successful race, it’s an effort that I will begin focusing on in my training in addition to my hill repeats.