Saturday was a great day of family racing. Kat, Noah and myself all raced leaving only Luka out of competition-- no 9 month old category. The day got off to an early start since I had agreed to support teammate Michael Black in the masters A/B race which was scheduled for 8:40am, So, kids packed and out the door at about 6:30. I went into the A/B race without nearly as much of a warm-up as I would have liked but...
Both Garage and BRI were well represented. Cucina had good representation as well including, myself, Larry B., Trevor H., Andy J., Michael Black, Chris A.?, (anyone I am missing??). The attacks were furious and intended more to soften the legs of the competition than actually result in a successful breakaway. That means of course, Garage and BRI were the teams primary attacking. Rididng for Blackness meant I was one of the guys in the role of chasing breaks and that I did. The toughest chase came with about 4 to go. I don't remember who we were chasing, I think a couple BRI guys, but a few of us Cucinas worked our tails off reeling the thing back in. Feeling somewhat hammered after the catch I settled back into the mix for a lap and moved my way back up at corner 4 and found Blackness, who had moved up front again coming into the last lap. Somewhere along the way he and Larry got on my wheel. Coming into corner 3 we were 9-10-11 and I went ouside thinking I could pick us up a number of spots only to have the door closed as a rider bocked the outside line. I certainly should have moved up sooner. Into the sprint finish every position remained the same. myself- 9th Blackness- 10th and Larry B. 11th. Being this was only my 2nd crit of the year I do have to admit my crit instincts are feeling a bit rusty.
After I raced it was Kat's turn. This was just her sond race since Luka was born 9 months ago. She had an absoulute blast but was pulled about halfway through the race. Her real focus at this point is just to get some intensity in as she is ramping up for her first season of racing 'cross! My wife is amazing BTW!
After some tentativeness I decided to register for the Men's 3 race. I was a bit hesitant because there were a number of crashes in the A/B race and I am really focused on the Master's B BARR this year and with the State TT coming up this weekend I didn't want to jeapordize my real goals. Nonetheless, I could not resist. About 20 min before the race I saw a couple Cucinas, Chris M. and Matt H. and they were both turned away at registration because the race had filled up (only 60 riders for a Cat 3 race??). Anyway, they were #2 and #3 on the wait list. After talking with a couple other teammates who had already raced we decided to give up our spots so that they could race. In the end however, the head official decided not to allow it so unfortunately Chris and Matt were relegated to the cheering section.
The race itself was about exactly the same pace as the A/B race. The same tactics were also at hand. The only real noticeable difference was the A/B race was much smoother. I will admit that my legs did not feel as peppy as they did in the A/B race but they were okay. To make a long story short, I primarily hung in the group and did VERY little chasing. My race basically came to an end when there was a crash on corner #4 with 4 laps to go. A number of teammates went down, I was basically the first row of people to avoid going down but was hung-up enough to put an end to my chances. I chased with a teammate for a couple laps but got back on just in time for the pace to quicken for the last lap. I was toast so just cruised the last lap. As far as I know everyone made it through the crash with just some road-rash.
Noah's race was next. He is 3 almost 4 by the way. He was very ready to go! While helping him to the finish he made sure to tell me he did not need me to run with him any more. I obliged, kinda, running primarily on the sidewalk. He was focused and spinning his little legs as fast as they would go, made a solo half-lap smiling to a cheering crowd that was already lining up for the upcoming parade. He proudly received his ribbon and rode over to his mommy and brother with shouts of excitement.
Overall, it was a great day!
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