BTR/Maple Hills Road Race
Scott
The 2016 edition on the BTR criteruim featured a wide-open circuit; there was hardly any reason to use the brakes. This favored the riders with a high-speed finish. I did the category 3/4 followed by the category 4/5. A strong field of 45 racers lined up for the category 3/4 race. The pace was fast, among the top 5 riders. The backstretch of the course was a strong headwind. I was stuck on the front, pulling the entire field. I was okay with it at first. Better to be on the front than 40 wheels back, I thought. Here it is. I was in the race. I fought for a top 5 position going into the final corner, but the majority of the field passed me. In a matter of a few seconds my race went from possibly one of the best results of the year, to a 33rd place finish.
There was nothing special about the category 4/5 race. The pace was slower; throughout the race I studied and observed traffic patterns, to know where to be in the pack at what time so that I was in a good position for the finish. By the final lap I tried to set up in the spot I wanted to be. It didn’t work. I was boxed in the whole last half of the lap. I got 10th place. For who what there and how the race was I was not happy with the result.
The next day was Maple Hills Race for the Wishes. This was one of the races I was looking forward to the most out of my whole season. The course featured a 17.5 mile circuit with hard punchy hills in the first half and ended with some fast decants, we would hit 42 miles per hour on one occasion. The first lap of the 52-mile race was relaxed. It was nice to get into a rhythm for a few hours instead of trying to hold the wheel at max heart rate in a silly crit. on the second lap of three, coming down a large hill witch followed a left turn, at high speed and close proximity it was sketchy. Almost though the turn someone crossed wheels a few wheels ahead of me and was going down. The trajectory of the rider scraping his skin on the pavement was headed for my front wheel. I did my best to miss him, but his head fell on the left leg and I might have ran over him face. It felt like my whole back wheel moved over a foot. On the last lap of the race as we creased the main hills I attacked and tried to bridge up the guy up the road. After a few minutes of that I was reeled back in. coming into the fishing corners I did my best to get to the front. We made the last turn just over 500 meters to go all together. The field lined up across the road for a bunch sprint. Only a few seconds separated the first position and 40th. I managed to get a 17th place finish out of the sketchy sprint finish. I was okay with that.
Kevin
I decided not to race at BTR this year and save my energy for the Cat 4/5 Maple Hills Road Race. My Crit racing has not going well, so I wanted to be fresh for the 52 miles of rolling roads around Lawton.
The race started off sketchy, the pace was surging with riders fighting for position. On the first big climb I heard a crash behind me, luckily I was ahead of it. The next few miles where spent fighting to stay up towards the front. The pace was fast but consistent and I settled in for a long morning ride. A few miles from completing our first lap of three we descended into a left hand corner I was on the right side towards the back when a couple of riders went down. I had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting
Kevin
I decided not to race at BTR this year and save my energy for the Cat 4/5 Maple Hills Road Race. My Crit racing has not going well, so I wanted to be fresh for the 52 miles of rolling roads around Lawton.
The race started off sketchy, the pace was surging with riders fighting for position. On the first big climb I heard a crash behind me, luckily I was ahead of it. The next few miles where spent fighting to stay up towards the front. The pace was fast but consistent and I settled in for a long morning ride. A few miles from completing our first lap of three we descended into a left hand corner I was on the right side towards the back when a couple of riders went down. I had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting anyone. By the time I got back on the road the lead group was pulling away and I had to chase.
I chased the leaders into town but could not catch back on and abandoned the race after one lap. A disappointing result to say the least, I should not have let myself to get that far back in the peloton after fighting to get a good spot. It was a rookie mistake that I should not have made. I was probably lucky to miss the crashes and come home with all my skin.
Next year I will come back smarter and maybe a little faster.