Westfield Criterium
Westfield, NJ
April 16, 2005
By JP Parltand
I think I should have counseled people to go to this crit.
It's a good one.
Six turns in a bit over a mile with some minor up and down,
and two of the roads snake a bit. The first corner was about
120-degrees, off-camber, with a manhole cover in the perfect entry
line, and dirt dusting the apex by the inside corner. Second corner
was after a slight downhill and fast, the third was easy, the fourth
was a wide to narrow, the fifth went from a flat into a short uphill
ramp, and the sixth was off a short downhill ramp. The sixth was
also around 200 meters from the finish, so the first person through
on the last lap would almost certainly win. This year the pro/am
race is 60 minutes plus five laps, for $2500 over 15 places.
This year, as last, Marty Nothstein lined up. This year, he
had teh support of his directeur sportif, Ed Beamon, and possibly the
grudging help of the Navigator Amateurs (aka High Gear Cyclery). A
bunch of the jersey teams brought numbers. Northeast Hardware, Ideal
Tile, Colavita (amateurs) must have had 7 apiece. Knapps, Liberty
Cycle, and Axis had at least three. And some others were mixed in.
I'm not going to wait around for the sprint, but last year,
Marty had help bringing back the break I was in, which got caught
with a little over a lap to go. I still think a decent-sized break
escaping midway would be a good ticket to ride.
The first corner is such that most people sprint hard out of
it. By the second lap, I could see people were having trouble with
it. Positioning is essential in such crits, and vigilance is
necessary. A decent sized group got away at about 15 minutes.
Thankfully, people were willing to chase. After a few laps of
chasing, the break was close, and the field started to sit up. I
made it across, and started to help the break go. The field was not
far behind and closed the rest of the gap within a lap. I stayed at
the front, hoping for a reaction.
Lisban Quintero (mengoni) attacked! This is the first time
I've seen him attack ever. He usually chases down his teammates or
follows wheels and sits up, We're about 25 minutes in, so if he's
willing to stick his nose in the wind, this could be the move I've
been looking for.
I'm sure plenty of people are waiting for Marty to move. I'd
rather have him chase me down than me sit around hoping I can follow
his wheel.
We've got a foursome, but not everyone is working, Lisban
included. So, after a lap, we're absorbed. I drift back to rest
(not alot of rest with this many corners, but the draft should help).
And the break I was looking for goes. It was about 10 riders or so.
John Loehner was up there, as was Marty and some High Gear ams, and
some Ideal Tile guys. By the time I'm ready to go, the break is
almost too far ahead to cross on my own. Since I wasn't feeling that
good, I decided I'd try to get the field moving. Get the gap down a
bit, then try to cross. Colavita amateurs also missed the move, as
did Knapps. That should be six guys to help.
But only two of the Knapps have any strength and the
Colavitas are pretty weak; their two strongest guys are their
sprinters and aren't going to waste their matches chasing. I go to
the front and try to get the field moving. And it works. We're
cutting down the gap. After a few laps of chasing, I think it's
close enough to cross on my own. It wasn't, and the break seems to
be pulling away again.
I help a bit in the chasing, but don't want to commit too
much so I can, if necessary, try to escape the field in the final
laps; there might be a few places left still. I can also tell I'm
starting to get tired.
It didn't seem as if the field really picked things up, but
the break started to come back to us. With five to go, the break was
caught. This is not good for the field. At five laps, Beamon with
some help from the High Gear riders and the nutjobs who want the race
to come down to a sprint can probably ride at the front hard enough
to keep the field together. And being I'm w/o teammates, I'd not
only have to pick the right moment to go, but it would have to be the
right place and I'd need a few riders to come with. I'd want to make
the move on the second half of the course, probably right before turn
4.
I didn't position myself well. So I missed my opportunities
to go. Guess it's time to practice my field sprinting skills--which
here means fighting for the last corner. On the last lap, someone
three guys in front of me took a bad line into turn 5. The kid in
front of me got scared and straightened up, which forced me to brake
hard. Race over.
After the race, I found out that of the 10+ guys in the
break, only about 4 were working. Apparently, even Marty was begging
the guys to ride harder. Guess the choice was sprint against Marty
and 8 guys or sprint against Marty and the field.
I also rode back from the race to the Newark Train Station.
Highlight of the trip back was when I asked a policeman for
directions. He suggested I take the Garden State Parkway. And for
those who don't want to ride that far, the race was right next to the
Westfield NJ Transit train stop.
JP
|
