Enumclaw Omnium Day 1 - The satisfaction of zero

Having never competed in this race before, I really didn't know what to expect. The TT course seemed to be favorable for a big guy like me, nearly dead flat with good pavement and short in length. Coming into the weekend, I was hopeful I would break 15 minutes for the 6.4 mile course. I didn't know if that would be good enough for a top-10 and omnium points, but it seemed like it was doable and might be just good enough to eke out a point or two.

There seems to be a new trend among promoters putting together their TT start lists. Instead of being truly random, they are sorting them alphabetically. This is the third race this year where I have started first in my class and as there is usually a couple minute break between classes, it leaves me with no "rabbits" to chase. Today, the break ahead of me was three minutes long. I saw no one to chase until the last 200m.

The race itself went well, I started off quickly and settled into my rhythm quite well. The course has three narrow turns at intersections and I took them all pretty well, maybe not on the limit, but reasonably fast. The one "hill" on the course, it gains all of about 50 feet or so, went by smoothly without disturbing my pace too severely. At the end, I stopped the clock with a time of 14:42. It was good enough for 13th in a masters C/D field of 76 riders. I was stoked to have beaten my target time so handily and was happy with my placing as well even if it netted zero points.

The criterium in the afternoon turned out to be another pleasant surprise. My recent history in criteriums has been poor at best, usually being pulled by the officials to spare me the insult of being lapped. The Enumclaw course is dead flat, "8" shaped, and a fairly long lap so I figured I'd be able to make the necessary halfway point to stay in the omnium.

I was actually able to stay in contact with the pack until around the halfway mark, and after being dropped managed to avoid being lapped thus finishing my first criterium in a very long time.

Tomorrow's road race with its three trips up Mud Mountain Rd. ought to provide another stiff challenge for me. Although I probably won't increase my current point tally of zero, hopefully I'll have another satisfying day.