Alsatian Country Omnium

Castroville, TX 02/07/2009 I have always wanted to compete in a multiple stage road race, and get a feel for what it was like to compete in the Tour de France. Since I obviously don't have the ability to compete in that tour, I decided to jump at the opportunity to race in the Alsation Country Omnium. This race took place right down the road from my house, and consisted of three stages which included a time trial, criterium, and a 30 mile road race. I raced in Category 5, and there were 50 riders in my group.

An individual time trial is where a rider rides on their own as fast as they can for a pre-determined distance. For the Alsation we rode five miles out, and five miles back for a total of 10 miles. The very first rider took off at 7:20 AM, and another rider would follow every 30 seconds. My scheduled start was 8:09 AM.

Most of the riders brought their dedicated time trial bikes for this stage. I only have one bike, which happens to be a cyclocross bike that I had fitted with a set of road tires. This set up has served me well in triathlons and duathlons, but was no match for the time trial set ups that everyone else brought.

Anyway, the course was an out with the wind pushing you, and back with the wind in your face. I didn't warm up, and never really got comfortable on the bike. It only took about two miles for T. Sweet to pass me. After making the turn, J. Toscano passed me too. I felt pretty bad, and thought I would finish last in the time trial. As it turns out, I got lucky and finished 25th.

Stage two was a criterium, which took place at Friends of Castroville Regional Park. This was only a short drive from the time trial. A criterium is a short course race. Basically, we rode a one mile loop for 30 minutes.

I'll admit that I was a little scared before the start of this race. The thought of 50 guys in a pack at high speeds, looping around a track should make anyone nervous. My strategy was to just stay with the lead pack, and hopefully have a good sprint to the finish. It was a good strategy, but it just wasn't my day.

About half way through the race, one very strong rider went for a break away. I happened to be drafting another strong rider that decided to give chase. I made a grave mistake and went with them. We were a good distance in front of the rest of the field, but I couldn't hold that pace and started to fall back. For one lap I lead the pack. The next lap, I was mid pack. After that, I was at the back of the pack. Finally, I watched as the pack slowly pulled away.

After that, the rest of the race was like the time trial. I was pretty much by my self. No other riders fell off the main pack to meet me, and it took a long time for the other riders that had earlier fallen off the pack to catch up. I ended up finishing 22nd in the crit.

Sunday afternoon was the start of the 30 mile road race. The race start was at the Hotel Alsace, and began as a 2 mile parade with a police escort. We were instructed that we needed to wave to all the spectators, since the only way the race directors could get a permit to use that section of road was to be an actual parade. After we turned off Hwy 90 onto Hwy 471, the police escort peeled off and the race was on.

The wind was uber strong this Sunday morning, and most of the course was exposed to the wind. At the start the wind was at our backs, but soon we made a turn and there was a wicked cross wind. I was stuck on the windy side, and was blocking the wind for all the riders next to me.

Suddenly, the guy next to me had his rear tire buzzed by the rider behind him. A few seconds later the rear rider hit the pavement. I couldn't see what happened, but it sounded like the dudes bike shattered when it hit the ground, and I could hear him taking out other riders too.

Once we turned onto Potranco Road we were out of the wind, and our speeds really picked up. I normally do my training rides on my own over this section of road, and I am lucky if I hit 30 mph. I had a chance to look down for a second, and I was going 38 mph. I know that was not even my top speed on this down hill. What a difference traveling in a peloton makes. Though, it wouldn't last. When we made the turn off Potranco, back to the 471, our speeds went back down to 15 mph because of the wind.

I was in great position to finish well in this race, but I made another stupid rookie mistake. Since I was in the lead pack and still felt strong as we neared the finish, all I had to do was lay in the weeds until the finale sprint of the race. With only 2 miles to go in the race, I decided I would try to break away on my own. I was easily chased down by the peloton, and I did not have enough time to recover before the big sprint to the finish. As the lead group sprinted to the finish, I was left in the dust to finish in 19th place.

Overall, I finished 24th in the entire omnium. I thought that was pretty good, since that was my first road race. I learned that road racing is kind of like a chess game on wheels, more dangerous than mountain bike racing, and I think I have the ability to win if I play my chess pieces correctly.