The Airport Criterium

I had a long lay off between the Brea race and my next schedule race, The Airport Criterium. There were a few races available between the two but they were further than I was willing to travel for a race. So instead I focused on working harder for my next race which was just a few days short of a month after the race in Brea. The race was a normal CAT 5 race scheduled for 30 minutes. I rode hard at least three days a week, normally four. I was in the summer semester at school and only had class one night a week. The tee ball season had ended for Ethan so I was riding on Saturday and Sunday morning for my long rides and on the trainer during the week. On nights that Anne could pick up Ethan or when he stayed with Lola, I would rush home and ride outside. In the whole month of June I rode 224 miles and spent over 13 hours on the bike. My mom had been asking me to let Ethan visit them in Ohio for a few weeks during the summer. I couldnt afford to fly him there and my best friend in Ohio that works for an airline didnt have time to come and get Ethan. I got a nice surprise the day before my race, my mom was flying in. She was going to stay a few days and watch me race and then take Ethan back with her. She got in late on Friday, and we woke up early to go to my race Saturday morning. Luckily the race started at 9am so we did get to sleep a little later than normal.



It was a pretty typical race day except that everyone was a little more awake with the 9am start instead of the 7am in previous races. I warmed up on the trainer, but a little differently this time. I had not, and still do not, do long warm ups before the race. I am always worried that I will warm up to long and just not have the energy needed at vital points in the race. I noticed though with all the riding I did in June that although my average heart rate stayed around 160 bpm the first time my heart rate hit 150-160 bpm I felt tired and short of breath. At the middle of a ride I felt comfortable in the 150-160 range. So I decided that during the warm up it would be a good idea to get my heart rate up to the 150 range so that it wouldnt be such a shock once the race started. I finished warming up and headed over near Anne, Ethan, and my mom. My sister in law Joana, her boyfriend Gerardo, and his sister Lisa all showed up to cheer as well. They were watching from the first corner after the finish line on the inside of the course. The riders in the race right before mine were getting pretty close to where they were sitting as they sped through the corners.

I went to the line and heard the same speech as always. Then the race started and we headed to the corner where my family was yelling for me. I stayed near the front of the field on the first lap but never in the front. I made sure that I stayed about 6 bikes from the lead so that I could avoid actually pulling the field. I remember that in the last race the guy that told me to lose the extra water and the pump told me after the race that you never want to work. Sit in the field and conserve energy until the end when you sprint for the win. So I sat in the pack, and did the best I could to save energy. The weird thing about the race was that I was following the same wheel and would be in the front, we would turn and then I would look up and I was near the back. So I would move up to the front of the field and then end up near the back again. I did not concentrate on the time at all. We were flying around the course and I was only concerned with staying in the pack. Every lap I could hear Ethan and the family yelling for me to go, and push harder. Then I hear the magic phrase " You guys are on the board, 5 laps to go". I got a sudden rush of energy knowing that there were only 5 more laps until I could have my first pack finish.

Apparently everyone else in the field got the same rush because the pace kicked up even faster. All I kept thinking was that there were only 5 laps, then 4 laps....I just had to keep following someones wheel. I made it until the last lap, the last straight in the field and then I fell off. I stayed in my drops on the handlebars but didnt push as hard as I was in the pack. I looked back and I was the last one on the course meaning everyone else who had slowed down before the last lap had already been removed from the course. I saw another ride ahead of me and knew that I could catch him. I started riding a little harder and set a goal to pass him before the finish line. We turned towards the line and I picked up the pace a little more. I passed the rider right before the finish line and ended up in 34th place. Only 35 riders made it to the finish line in this race and some didnt even make it past lap 4. When I looked at my Garmin bike computer I saw that on some laps we averaged 27mph and the average speed for the 30 minutes was 25.2mph. I had seen a rider who I had talked with at the San Luis Rey race and rode over to see how he did. He also struggled going up the hills during the road race so I figured he would have finished this race like I did. He only made it 3 laps before being dropped out of the field. I wished him luck and went and hugged the family and took some picture. Everyone was excited that I finished my first race, although not with the pack, very close to the main field.

Everyone was very happy for me and we all left in a good mood. We went and grabbed some food and made plans for the rest of the day. I could finally say that all my hard work was starting to pay off. With the race being on a Saturday we still had the whole weekend to plan out and spend with my mom. I didnt ride on Sunday so that we could do something as a family but I continued during the week with my hard training. This time though there was something different about the weekly training.