Zimmerman Training

Bannock Criterium Race Report

My last race report was on the Salida Road Race which was my first race in over a month. It took me 2-3 days of easy riding to recover from that race and finally around Thursday of last week I started to feel on form for this coming weekend. This weekend was the downtown Bannock Street Criterium. It’s a fun race with a bunch of turns but not too technical and narrow like some other neighborhood Crits (Sonic Boom Crit). All week I had been trying to boost my confidence and doing some serious self-talk about getting in a breakaway this weekend. Last year’s race was won in a break away so I figured the chances of another breakaway happening this year were high. I wouldn’t say breakaway riding is my strong suit but if the pace is just right I can sprint well from a break.

I arrived to the race with about two hours to spare. I met up with some teammates who were warming up for the CAT3 race and chatted with them for a a while. It was very hot, even in the shade. I went through 1 & 1/2 bottles of water just standing around watching a race or two. My body doesn’t seem to do well in the heat (past experiences) and I was a bit worried of overheating. I brought my trainer with me but opted out of warming up on it since it was so hot. Once all suited up I started to roll around the neighboring blocks but found myself a bit bored. One block away from the race there is a small parking lot where I decided to finish my warm up. It only took about 40-60 seconds to get around the parking lot circle but it didn’t bother me. Around and around I went while watching the women’s race. All the 1-2-3 women were racing together and I was actually surprised to see a field of 25+. Every year I have been racing, more and more women are participating and its a great sight to see. I’ll still never forget one of my first 1-2-3 races in Central Park, NY where they combined the 1-2 women with us. Very cool!

 I guess I don’t have the most “aero” position!

Thanks to Dean Warren (DeanWarrenPhotography.com) for the photos.

I went through another 1 and 1/2 bottles during my warm up. A lot of the water was poured over my head just to keep my core body temp down. Our start was underway and the racing began. The first 5 laps were ridiculously fast and I was already starting to get dizzy from the heat. I was holding my line well and remained in the top 15. If a break was to happen, I wanted to be in it. On the 4th or 5th lap riders were attacking with so much force. I tried as hard as I could to hold their wheel but started getting tunnel vision and my legs were shaking a bit. This wasn’t a good sign. I can’t recall how many riders got away. I was sitting second wheel as the gap started to form. I jumped hard but didn’t go anywhere and the break kept getting distance. I was furious I couldn’t hold their wheel. Had I not trained enough? Was it the heat? Or maybe the course didn’t suit me? All these questions kept going through my mind. 

Once the breakaway was established I found myself in various spots throughout the main field. On the front, in the middle, on the back. It was a disaster. I couldn’t hold my line 30-40 minutes in like I was during the first few laps. Then out of turn 3 I hit a giant pot hole and my rear Zipp 808 made a loud Boom! It went flat right away and I put my hand up. The rear moto-bike official told me to start heading to the wheel pit. Lucky I wasn’t too far from the start and as they were changing my wheel out the break came flying by. Boy did they have some time over the main field. I was jealous not to be in that group. Now back in the main field there were a serious of short attacks where 1-5 riders would get some distance but it would be fizzled out because they either didn’t work together or were too tired for any serious efforts. At 60 minutes in I should have started moving up the group for the field sprint. It was tough to move up and I never fully got the chance. We turned the corner for the last lap and I was boxed in from every direction. I pretty much came in somewhere at the middle-back of the group during the sprint. Overall I was a bit disappointed in my effort. I wanted nothing more than to get into the breakaway. However, coming back into realistic terms I’m happy I made an effort and finished with the field.

Posted on Monday, August 6th, 2012 at 6:49 pm. Filed under: Blog, Uncategorized RSS 2.0 feed.