Saturday- Mens Cat 3/4 Elite
45 Min + 1 lap for my first ever race at Downers Grove. It was a great course, I really enjoyed it as it flowed very well. Right at the start of the 3/4 race, 4 guys in front of me couldn't clip in so I was track standing behind them before I could get going. Mark Guthart tells me later he was laughing on the officials stand because of this, haha thanks Mark! Now back to the race, its amazing how people fight to be first or 2nd line in the crit, even with 100+ riders, it only took me 4 laps of being at the back and not trying to hard to get to the front. Stayed near the front for the race, lost both of my contacts with 5 laps to go, so I was a little nervous about cornering and moving about the field. Last lap, I was still doing ok but wasn't as high as I should have been towards the end and came across 30th out of 100+ starters.
Sunday- Mens Elite 3
45 Min + 1 Lap again. Chris Reed came over and did the race, it was nice to have a team mate. Started at the back again today to avoid the pushing and shoving at the front. Again, up at the front after about 5 laps. Dom got the 1st prime of the day, good for an Iowa guy. The 2nd Prime, I found myself in good position, but jumped a little to early and came across 2nd at the line, just getting nipped by a XXX guy. Almost got some food/gas money as it was 50$. Stayed near the front again during the race, again not where I needed to be at the end. Passed some guys in the sprint to end up with a 22nd out of 100+ riders again.
It was a great weekend, I feel like I learned a lot of lessons. I need to be where I ended up in the sprint, with 2-3 laps to go instead of 1. Knowing when to jump for sprints/primes by waiting a little longer.
Weren't as many Iowa guys as I thought would be there. Chris and I, Chris Reed came over for Sunday. Bryan Moritz and Dom. were there. Amanda Miller had a great ride in the 2 races she competed in.
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