Queen City Criterium

Broken frame, same crit only last year.

The above photo is from last year at the same crit that this post is about. Needless to say, I wasn't too excited about doing this crit again this year.

To be fair, last year's crash was just one of those things that sometimes happens when you're racing.

Still, it was a bitter pill. Last year the MOBAR Championship was a close race between Justin M. and me. He had attacked and slipped away solo in the race. He ended up winning in fact. I tried several times to slip away as well, but I was heavily covered and forced to sprint.

I was in the top several racers coming into the last corner. Someone clipped a pedal and set off a chain reaction of crashes. I suddenly found myself on the pavement. Not only did I not place, but my expensive bike frame was destroyed.

The top tube was cracked all the way through. A swift kick removed the cracked tube entirely. I was able to replace the frame, rear derailleur, and handlebar tape for about a thousand dollars.  I shouldn't complain too much.  Retail cost for these items is over $3,000. 


[Special Note:  I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!]

 Race results

This race was won by Brad Huff.  Professional rider for Jelly Belly.  He, Nick Coil and Adam Miller successfully broke away from the pack and finished in that order.

I was very nervous about this course because of recent crashes this year plus crashing on this same course last year.  So I ended up hanging in the back.

Late in the race I did make one hard effort to break-a-way, but the pack reeled me in quickly.  This course has so many turns that it is hard to keep your speed and power up.  The turns come too quickly.  I was able to finally escape and finish 4th.  I was pretty happy with that.  I most certainly didn't want to sprint for a place.