East Village Crit

Contributed by Travis Jass

We wrapped up the road campaign this past weekend at the East Village crit. It was a bit overcast, and on the cool side but otherwise a great day for racing. There were 33 (all strong) riders giving it a go, including Eric and myself (Ben had a family commitment).

As soon as we took off the pace skyrocketed, with the aid of a big downhill, and never really seemed to slow up all that much. The course was pretty much down one side of the hill, a couple turns, then back up the hill on the other side. The uphill was in two sections the first section was a bit steeper and shorter then a right hander into a slightly longer but more gradual grade.

The plan, as usual, was to stay towards the front, out of traffic, and see what shakes down. Maybe I'd try something up the hill as the lap counter got low. A few laps in, with my "gravitational advantage" down the hill, I had made it to the front and took a quick, short lived flier. Nothing doing. It really seemed unsure of who was gonna make a move and who if anyone would go with. Several riders were looking real strong throughout the afternoon.

About 3/4 the way through the race I got alongside Eric who asked me how his rear wheel looked. I ducked behind him, it looked okay, like it was running true, so I relayed that message to him and again tried to advance closer to the front. With two laps to go, I was on the front and went pretty hard, I looked back at the top of the incline and I had only a short gap to Tim Putnam for NI Spin who was coming up quick with a full head of steam.

Coming down the finishing stretch with one lap to go, there was a prime to be had, but Tony Muse from Rassy's got ahead of me just before the line to take it, and with his acceleration got out in front. I was trying hard to keep contact and a couple other riders came around me after the downhill section. As we got up the hill and around the final right, everything I had was good enough for 7th, as Tim edged me right at the line.

Afterwards, turns out someone had bumped into Eric's rear wheel turning the brake caliper into the rim and causing it to drag on the rim. So he finished the last 6 or 8 laps with the disadvantage and managed a 20th spot out of 33. That is a big testament to his strength. That hill was hard enough without dragging brakes.

If my tallies are correct, between the 3 of us, there were 14 top ten finishes, 2 finishes in the top 5, and 6 podiums. With only one minor crash (Eric at Old Capitol Crit) and the minor mechanical at East Village, it has been a largely successful year. With any luck, it will serve as a good stepping stone for next season.....Travis