Panozzo's Race Recap

ACR Recap 2011, Castroville, TX  February 6, 2011

Category 5

There were 50 riders in our field.  This was a circuit race which I’ve now learned is defined as  “A mass-start road-cycle race somewhat similar to a criterium in that it consists of several laps of a closed circuit, but where the length of each circuit or lap is slightly longer, up to a couple of miles per lap.”

Our circuit was 2.5 miles and consisted of 10 laps with two 90 degree turns and an uphill finish consisting of about a 3% grade hill for the last K.  Our race started at 8:02 when it was about 29 degrees.  The pace was brisk right out of the gate and I just tried to stay in the first 10 riders or so.  After the first lap, I could tell that it was going to be a course that was tough to get away.  There were two sections where it felt natural to attack but you just weren’t going to get much separation due to the speed of the pelo at that point of the course.  There were a few half hearted attacks (including one that I launched for giggles) but nobody would work together so there just wasn’t much urgency for anyone to get away.  This was going to come down to a field sprint.

With three laps to go, I was near the front as the pace slowed on the uphill portion of the circuit.  There was compression in the peloton and I was engulfed on both sides.  The pace picked back up but all of sudden everyone was so jittery and I didn’t feel right being boxed in.  Before I knew it, I heard the same dreadful noise from the Pedal thru the Pines - Carbon bikes hitting the deck and brakes slamming.  I was about 5 bikes back from the mayhem but not in a position to avoid going down. Luckily the guy in front of me took the brunt of me.  I remember seeing him curled up in the fetal as I rolled right up over him and we both braced expecting more riders to hit us, which they didn’t.  His rear wheel literally got stuck on my handlebar up over the hood of the shifter which required some careful surgery to unattach them.  After separating them, I gave my bike a once over to see if I was done.  At first, I had that VJ moment where the bike looks worse than it is and you think you’ll have to wholesale it for parts.  Both wheels and brakes needed to be adjusted to get them to spin correctly and the rear derailleur looked bent.  The front right shifter was bent in a little bit.  I reset both wheels, move the shifter back out, adjusted the brakes leaving the calipers open.  Derailleur turned out to be fine after a couple of shifts.  I felt fine so then it was back on the road.

I lost about a minute to the peloton but I was pissed.  My race at this point was all about catching them.  I time trialed myself like a mad man through the lap point (2 laps to go) burning match after match.  I wish there was a way to bottle up post crash adrenalin (maybe they have and it’s called clenbuterol).  After about 2 miles of time trialing, I actually saw the peloton up ahead which gave me the last bit of adrenalin that I needed.  I managed to bridge the gap right at the lap point which I couldn’t believe.  I thought my race was done. 

I worked on my position again and stayed in the top 10 riders for the last lap till the 1K sign.  Pace was high at this point and a couple of attacks were launched but I could tell that I didn’t have it after that bridge effort.  I wasn’t in the top 10 riders at the 250m sign so I sat up and finished with the pack. It was definitely one of those races that left me wondering “what if”.  

I estimate that about 8-10 of us that went down in the crash.  One guy hit his head and was bleeding pretty good from the forehead but looked to be ok post ride.  I still don’t know what happened.  I’m actually pretty good.  I’ve got a sore wrist and some cuts on my arm but that’s about it.  I was lucky.  Hope the dough ride today was a little less eventful. 

Next week – New Braunfels – Saturday is a circuit and Sunday is a road race.