Ohio G.P. Series/Knox Classic Criterium

This race is not worth coming back to, even though it was nice to be quoted in their local paper. The roads were falling apart, the slower men turned the women's race into a true obstacle course, and the number of women participating was quite sad. The length of the course was also not to my liking. At least I got to buy a good street vendor's hamburger at the end.

Weekday scheduling and the threat of more rain made for a very small women's field at the Knox Classic, a featured event at the Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival in Mt. Vernon. There were just five of us in the women's 3/4 race including State Criterium Champion Jane Evely from Tri-Tech, runner up Katherine Kakis from SHC, myself, and two junior riders. Our race started only a minute after the men's cat 4/5 race began, and even before the first lap was over, we were entangled with their riders. Evidently, one of the guys from BikeSource crashed at corner 4 and took two other guys down with him including our own Dr. Jeff. Corner 4 was the one really hazardous section of the course. It involved riding from a relatively wide paved street, over a narrow strip of concrete, and onto a very bumpy, narrow brick alley. Because we didn't see the guys standing in the alley until it was almost too late, Jane, Katherine, and I rode around the corner at speed and narrowly avoided side-swiping the guys as they stood in a line right next to the hay bales lining the corner (thanks guys for sucking up as we passed!). Despite the unpleasant surprise (is this what it feels like to ride in a luge?), Jane and Katherine maintained their speed. Unfortunately, I lost momentum from being startled and was never able to catch the other two. I rode on my own for the remaining 20 laps and glanced over my shoulder periodically to avoid getting run over by the cat 4/5 guys. Somewhere half to 2/3 of the way into the approximately 9-mile-long race, I passed the juniors. Then on my 20th and next to final lap, Jane lapped me on her way to the finish line. Out of the handful of criterium courses I've ridden thus far, this one was by far the most difficult due to the irregular road surfaces and mixing in with the 4/5 guys race. Nonetheless, I'm still glad I gave it a shot after leaving early from work, driving through the rain up to Mt. Vernon, and circling the town square for a half hour during rush hour traffic. Having spectators was a welcome change from the norm. Thanks to Katherine for convincing me to ride despite the crummy weather that day.

Fun course other than the brick street at the bottom of the course. Too much adrenaline and poorly timed overestimation of fitness during the first part of the race for me. : ) Congratulations to the womens team for their results this evening.