A Gamut of Crits

On the surface, the weekend races in Wilmington, La Plata and Richmond were vastly different: one was a high-profile urban NRC event attracting pros from across the country; another was a first-time race in a remote location on a brand new technical layout; and the last was a speedway race around a dizzying little oval a third of a mile long.

But they shared as many similarities as differences. First, they were all crits, demanding technical skill and a tireless ability to accelerate repeatedly, again, and over and over. And at all 3 venues, many racers had their days cut short, either by the hot pace driven on the front or the driving rain from above. And finally, at each race there was pain in great abundance. Though that's true for any bike race worth going to and not a meaningful point of differentiation.

The pro events at Wilmington have been covered elsewhere, including by Men's Pro winner Scott Zwizanski on his team's blog (lest you thought race reports were the exclusive domain of Cat 4s). The pics at CyclingNews.com tell as compelling a narrative as you'll find. But the local angle deserves some attention as well. Battley Harley-Davidson Elite Cycling look more like B H-D Pro Cycling every weekend. They put 3 in the 13-man break and finished with 4 riders in the top 20. Only Colavita (with 6) had more. In the women's pro race, local teams Hub Racing, HPC p/b Altarum, CycleLife, C3-Sollay.com and Kenda Tire all figured into the top 20. Men's Pro Results are here, and Women's Pro Results are here.

The Men's Amateur race (Cat 3/4) was dominated by guys we've never seen, from teams we've never heard of. Maybe our road trips should extend past Lancaster County and into Philly, New Jersey and New York. Full Amateur Results are here.

Down in La Plata, MD, PaxVelo hosted the inaugural Southern Maryland Criterium. For the second week in a row, Immediate Mortgage / Artemis Elite's Nate Coleman got himself into the winning 2-man move, and - like Bettini at the Giro - has a couple of 2nd place finishes to add to his palmares. This week it was Battley Harley-Davidson's Dave Fuentes taking the big W. Todd Hipp (Battley Harley-Davidson) won the field sprint for 3rd.

The women's event was contested along the technical circuit in the rain. The smallish field stayed together most of the race, until Amanda Watson and Erin Sillman, both with Artemis (and both Cat 3s) escaped from the group and drilled it to stay away until the finish. Someone from CycleLife won the field sprint for 3rd but I'm not sure who. Results are not yet posted online.

Go Fast, Turn Left down in Richmond got the track races and the first couple road races in before the skies opened up on the slick track, leaving racers with about as much traction as dogs on linoleum. The rest of the road events were mercifully canceled.

Additional Wilmington Coverage:

• Butter (via Danielle) has pictures from the 3/4 race at Wilmington. See what I mean about guys you don't recognize? They're all over the place.
• Dennis Bike has a Wilmington 3/4 gallery also.
• There are photos at the event website also, including one where a woman is really excited to see Russ Langley racing by. It's unclear if she's cheering for him or threatening to kill him.
• Catch Me if You Can is one of those guys we don't recognize, and he finished 3rd. Not bad for a kid. A kid who had his prom the night before. And didn't sleep more than an hour.
• The tags for Idiot Cyvant's Wilmington Race Report are "Goal of the Day," "Racing", "Vomit", "Whores". He probably couldn't lure more clicks if he included "power data."
• Taken by itself, snapping a rear derailleur in half during a warm up would probably be chalked up to bad luck. But when the same (195 pound) guy shows up to a NRC race with his wife's XS jersey, it's time for an intervention.
• Beth was welcomed back home to MABRA-land rather rudely by an inhospitable pace in the Women's Pro race at Wilmington.
• Plain Jane from CycyeLife has a new pink blog, and as comprehensive a blow-by-blow of the women's Pro at Wilmington as you'll read anywhere.
• Kelly Acres' Gut Check from Wilmington is must-read for, well, just about any racer who is mortal, fallible or prone to an occasional tactical error.

Additional Southern Maryland Criterium Coverage:

• Bryan from On Cycling extends his Top 10 streak with a 6th at Southern Maryland.
• Teammate TerribleCyclist is starting to like criteriums. A good thing too, on account of we subsist largely on a diet of tight corners and short straights for six months out of the year.
• Estebe's form is coming around nicely.
• 1km2go burned his matches early in La Plata.
• CycleLife has a brief update from the Women's 1/2/3 race in La Plata, including gracious props to the Artemis winners (and a promise that it won't happen again).
• I can't really follow exactly what's happening from The Granfalloon's perspective, but the race sure sounds fast, furious and frantic. Maybe that's the point.
• At least Pete Rides Bikes got some solid cornering practice in.
• SuePerImages has pictures from La Plata. About 500 of 'em.

Additional Go Fast Turn Left Coverage:

• Stormyworld was one of the lucky ones. His Cat 5 race went off before the rain.
• Karen was not. Go Fast, Go Home.

Comments

[dan gibson]

i had the legs to take the speedway 1,2,3 race ,but damnit now we`ll never know??????anyways 4hrs up and down route 460 in a car is very painful!!!!!!