With the dissapointment of the 2009 Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic fresh in my mind, I rolled out of the race hotel for my 10:40am start. The great thing about staying at the hotel was its location in relation to each stage. It afforded a good warm-up to each start. So rolling towards Fitchburg State College on the "excellent" New England roads I knew I felt way better than in 2009 - no dead legs in warm-up alone. I signed in and arrived at the queue of category 3 riders as one of the last to show up to the start area to sit. So being last I could not possibly make my way to the end of the riders so I had to settle for backing up to the front line of riders.
The race official called us to the start line and we had our mini-race to the start line. We received the official's spiel and then the organizer gave us a pep talk about the course and a warning about the downhill on the backside of the course: "One of the few downhills that you can be dropped." I chuckled at the reminder of last year and said "no kidding." At the end of the 30 second countdown we were off and the 2010 Longsjo was underway for category 3 racers.
Before I could have any happy thoughts, I was focused solely for the next 4 km on that short but steep ascent at the end of the first lap and every lap thereafter. Successfully not getting dropped over this would do a great deal for my motivation and nullifying last year's memories. Flying down the backstretch and approaching the sharp right turn that immediately shoots up I was in the middle of the pack. People proceeded to get stupid right before the hill and then we hit it. Of course it was hard - it was a sprint every lap because not only are there Worker's Credit Union green jersey sprinter points, but people have an affinity for hitting every hill/climb/mountain as hard as they can before flooding themselves with lactic acid and hobbling over the top. Easily getting over the top and back into the pack was great and I knew this Fitchburg would be a lot more fun.
So onto happy thoughts - being a part of a race like this is really great and gives you optimism for the sport in America and that there are organizer out there who care about putting on a quality race.
Each subsequent lap became increasingly nervous. The poor road surface before the John Fitch Hwy, nasty wrecks requiring three medical crews, and morons forgetting every lap to shift to your small chainring before we start up the 10-12% pitch led me to believe I already won the race since I came through unscathed. I also saw why this was a downhill that you could be dropped, and also why I never caught the group last year after dangling on the back. While a downhill, it is very slight and a small elevation change, yet we were cruising along at 65-70 kph!
Throughout the race I was easily able to get to the front of the race; which made staying near the front at the end of each lap was less stressful as the sprinters nailed it for sprint points. Coming down the backstretch for the last lap I made my way to around 10-15th position. I did so smoothly whereas others had the same idea but did so with the fervor of youth, not being 14 hours from home and their nurse wife, and the illusionary pro contract that awaited them at the end. So I let them have their positions and just focused on closing any gaps to maintain an even placing on the GC - S.T. was accomplished and that was a small momentum and confidence boosting victory.
During this stage and later in the criterium, I had an idea that we need a new category - Married With Kids.
This stage is what originally attracted me to doing the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic. It looked like a climber's stage. Maybe it was before the winter of 2008-2009 that shut down the Wachusett Mountain Ski Resort road, leading to the longest road resurfacing project in history (they are still fixing the road). As it is, there are a bunch of short steep sections that do not make this a climber's stage, as this person agrees as well.
Again I rode to the start of the stage from the hotel - this time a little longer than I liked. With the GC set, the top 10 and green jersey were called to the line and we perched ourselves at the parking lot of the Wachusett Mountain Ski Area. With a shot we were off down the hill for three hours/six laps of sunny fun with the SRAM Service vehicles following. This time without worrying about discreetly abandoning but thinking about staying in good position.
Through the first few laps nothing special happened. The race was relaxed until we got to the hill 3k from the end, 200 meters from the end, and the hill continuing through the start/finish line and a kilometer more. These were short and steep and really brought out cranking on the pedals. They are not a true climbers ascent at all. Regardless, the total distance climbed for the race is a respectable 1535 meters.
The last three laps things heated up. People got tired after the efforts of the hills and you can get in trouble here. On the fourth lap I had to close a gap that required effort and work from myself a few other people who realised the potential danger. We caught back on well before the wicked fast descent. On the fifth lap some ding dong in front of me couldn't decide which water bottle he wanted and dropped three before picking up the fourth from the neutral water zone. Of course this made a gap at the time the front of the field really picked up the pace. At first I cursed the field for drilling it at the feed zone. But in retrospect, the feed zone is in a bad place - albeit the only realistic place - right at the false flat of the initial beginning of the hill from the start/finish, which kicks up a little again right after that before getting to rollers.
Things became dangerous here. A sizable gap was opened with the head of the field trying to take advantage of losing about 2/3 of the field. I went to the front with some other determined individuals and made more than our own share of the work to not end our race prematurely with another full lap still yet to do. We still had not caught back on before getting to the descent. I flew down the hill hitting 100 km/h and catching back on before the fast flat/rolling section back.
We went up the start/finish climb area the last time, descended, and began people watching down highway 141; no one was pushing the pace and it was relaxed getting to the last hills before the steep finish hill and 4-6% finish combo. At this point I felt something bad in my thighs - real cramps. I stood a little and felt some twinges. I tried to stretch a little and just sit still, shake the legs, and try to prolong myself for fifteen more minutes.
At 4-5 k to the end we hit a light grade hill where the pace was upped and standing was required. More cramps and I sat and rode up at my own pace. The pace was let up at the plateau and I caught back. But then the steep hill about 2.5 k from the end came and we went hard. I stood up and got thrown back in the saddle as my legs cramped hard. All I could do was take it easy up and pray to catch back and some sort of miracle to occur so I could do the finishing 12% hill.
It didn't let up. A Georgian and I talked about how great it was to drive all this distance, cramp, and lose a ton of time - ending any GC finish in the top 20. I told him to not be behind me or I may cramp right into his lap. We got to the end hill where luckily I was able to stand up the hill and pick off riders who popped all over, albeit still losing 1'25".
What can you really say about a time trial? I went out and back, and tried to do it as fast as I could. As an important note and source of frustration, I am missing almost 30 watts off of my 20 minute effort when on the time trial bike. I imagine that is costing me quite a bit. If I could iron it out and fix it, this time trial stage would really afford me a good opportunity to make some time.
I finished almost 30 seconds faster than last year and 1'45" behind the leader. I was now 3'12" down on GC and in 37th place.
So the bane of my cycling existence - the criterium - was Monday. I was not able to do this last year since I abandoned the road race and to tell you the truth I was not looking forward to it aside from finishing the stage race. However, rolling from the hotel to the downtown area my thoughts changed. It was a beautiful day, the downtown area was populated with spectators on the green, outside of bars, and was televised. Again the organization and support gave me a nice warm glow. Besides, this is how the Longsjo was started as it existed as only a crit for a long time. This is how Art was originally honoured.
The course itself is not a typical four square corner crit, and thus did not earn my automatic and immediate ire. Instead it looks like a bowling pin. Turns three and four are the bottom of the pin and are real turns. Hitting turn three you go slightly up hill to turn four, a fast left turn up hill to the finishing stretch which is uphill to turns one and two. Turns one and two are like the top of a bowling pin and goes around a roundabout. From there you curve inward and back outwards down the backstretch (as you do on the front stretch coming up the course). It is a fast course and position is extremely important down the backstretch so you can hit turn three good. From there, you are stuck where you are through turn four and will be on your heels going up the start/finish stretch if you aren't in position.
I won't beat around the bush; it is no surprise I didn't do anything noteworthy. I had planned on trying an attack but could never get in a good position to try. When I would get to the front we would get a bell for a sprint lap and I would get relegated to the back. We had three nasty wrecks - one guy apparently lost teeth from landing on his face - and our race was neutralized twice. It was a product of stupidity as the course is not inherently dangerous.
On the last lap nearing the finish I was pretty happy to finish unscathed on such a beautiful day at a fantastically supported event. Somehow I increased my position by four spots, finishing 33rd in the GC and down 3'14".
Overall:
Nearing the finish of the crit I was pretty happy. It was a beautiful July 4th weekend. I finished the stage race without embarrassing myself. I saw some friends. Did some relaxing and had a weekend full of nothing but cycling. Was going to grab a beer or two at one of the bars around the crit course from local brewer and Longsjo supporter Wachusett Brewing Company and watch the pro women race. And while I didn't finish as well as capable (33rd Overall), I had a great time.
As I mentioned this is a superb event and I look forward to doing it again. I only hope to convince a few teammates, friends, etc. to come with me. It wouldn't hurt to have someone to serve as my gregario...or at least provide company on two 12-14 hour drives, split costs, and commiserate with.
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