Pittsburg Criterium

Pittsburg Criterium
Masters 45+
07 May 2011

On Saturday the Racing on offer was in Pittsburg. Racing in a downtown corridor is always more exciting than doing battle within the ghost town of an industrial park on the weekend ... I had never been to Pittsburg before, a small east bay working class town, which is why they were having the event, to draw attention to place, well into the process of revitalization. The reg was expensive and the prizelist sort of middling, but the S/F was right downtown with VIP seating, a beer garden, cafes along the course, and an expo center. And as the city is positioned somewhere between the bay and the delta, they get wind.

O boy do they get wind in Pittsburg!

With a gusty 25-30 mph wind from the NW,this was not the race to bring out my 90 mm front wheel. After fixing it to my front forks, one little loop in the parking lot which almost crashed me right there was enough to indicate that that baby was going back in the car.

Although the field was small, seemingly all the silverback males in the 45+ criterium scene were in attendance, with many Safeway riders present especially their DH, Gregg Bettonte (Safeway), while Specialized had three excellent rouleurs in attendance, notably the mesomorphic Larry Nolan (Specialized). Also in attendance were locals Michael Boehme (Colavita) and Paul Diaz (ex-Colavita)

After registration, I made it back to the car to change. And after checking and re-checking my bag like someone with a very bad case of OCD, I was forced to come to the conclusion that I had forgotten my cycling shorts. OK. But it did appear that I managed to bring everything else. Stuck in Pittsburg, (expensive) race number on the jersey, was I really going to be forced to take the start wearing my plaid walking shorts? Could I summon the nerve to ask a fellow racer if I could borrow their cycling shorts? Of all the things to forget! I was starting to work the angles: Maybe I could just do the race in my black boxer briefs? Maybe no one would notice. I mean they're black, right? 

(This was starting to play out like one of those bad recurring dreams where I find myself in some social setting, realizing that I'm only in my underwear ...)

Well as luck would have it, right at the S/F there was a bike shop that was having its grand opening that day. And they sold shorts. In my size. I felt like the king in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when at precisely his most desperate moment, requiring a gardener, he chances to meet Roger the Shrubber.

So with a new pair of Pearl Izumi shorts, I lined up with 23 fellow racers to do battle on a very windy, circuitous downtown course. A race with a small field is a different beast as there are fewer riders to set the pace or keep the field together. But a small field is advantageous if you have a team as it's easier to control the race. As I have no teammates, the small field was actually not working in my favor.

The race started and instead of a barrage of early attacks it was more of a waiting game. Since riding thoughtfully with humility worked well for me last Tuesday, I also took the conservative approach this time, Keeping an eye on rivals Bettonte and Nolan. As Lyle Lovett puts it, "this was my first mistake."

An early move goes with Chris Wire (SJBC), Craig Roemer (Specialized Masters) and one other bloke. I could easily have gone with that move when it left, it just didn't play into my tactical plan, so I watched it go.

Why I also watched Kevin Metcalf (Specialized) bridge up two laps later without doing anything, I'm still beating myself up over that.

So I'm in the field but still Nolan and Bettonte are with me. Nolan does not have to do a lick of work as he has two mates in the break. Later I charge off with a Safeway rider in an attempt to bridge but the wind makes a plaything of us and keeps us at :10 for lap after lap. At some point Bettonte joins us but our hapless trio is still mired, gaining on the break only ever so slightly. That plus what's left of the field is being driven by Nolan to catch me and the two Safeway riders with me.

We're caught by the field and we sit up but the break is tantalizingly close at this point, It's just that no one is left to chase, so the break begins to fatten up its lead. I'm trying to keep the field relevant and once I pull through hard on the tailwind backstretch only to have the field let me go. I'm off for a couple laps and they ring a bell for a prime for the field, which I won (big jars of cytomax).  The field catches me right as they ring the bell again this time for $40 and there's this moment when everyone left is trying to figure out if it's worth going for ... I'm drifting back looking for Nolan and Bettonte and find Bettonte and at that moment Nolan jumps hard, goes solo, scooping up the prime. I think "oh, Bettonte will rally his Safeway mates to catch him." Uh, this was my second mistake. Instead, Bettonte realizes he's been bested by the Specialized Juggernaught and just retires from the race!

This leaves me in not a very good place, with five riders now up the road, three of them Specialized and no one left really to work hard to catch anyone.

Mercifully the windy race is coming to a close. With five up the road, three paying places are still up for grabs in my group. I'm second wheel coming around the last turn on the course, the one that takes you from 30mph tailwind to 30mph cross-headwind. Two guys jump early with two on their wheel and I get behind them, certain they will all wither in the wind (this would be my third mistake). But none of them fade. Like at all. As the course approaches the S/F it's in a wind shadow from a row of taller buildings. So I finish behind them for a measly 10th. I realize I almost couldn't have played that whole race any worse. I needed a beer. 

Fortunately on the back of the race number there was a coupon for a $1 beer. I changed and got back to the race and found the beer garden to redeem, only to be told that I had to go to the restaurant three blocks away to get my $1 microbrew. Is it worth it? Damn straight it is! I'm going to get that beer! So after a bit I find the place. Order up my beer and a plate of onion rings. I've got to admit it took a little sting out of my bad mood. A fantastic amber ale, especially if it was only a buck. Then I started figuring: entry fee, $48. Shorts with tax, $82. Gas to get here and back, $31. Beer, $1. Total: $162. That's an expensive $1 beer. About ten dollars an ounce as it happens.