After taking 2nd in the crit 2 weeks ago (was convinced I won it on the line but lost it on a photo), I have finally had the 1st win of my crit racing days, albeit C grade but you have to start somewhere. Whilst not taxed until the last 2mins, I hit a max HR of 179 in the straight on the final sprint and won by a bike length or thereabouts.

I decided to keep my cards close to my chest today and take the occasional turn on the front. At one point I upped the ante and rode a few laps setting a tempo that was somewhat faster than what we had been travelling at. With no one moving or taking any initiative, I decided to fall back towards the tail end and rest the legs for the finale. A few attacks came and went but the bunch quickly chased them down and it was a rather uneventful 50min of racing.

On the last lap, one lad attacked about 1km out and created a nice gap of about 50m. It was time to move into position. The guy that pipped me on the line 2 weeks ago started to bridge the gap so I just sat on his wheel and let him do all of the work. At the 2nd last corner, we closed the gap and I was sitting pretty at 5th wheel into the final straight.

As I cornered at full gas, my pedal scraped the road and I was lucky to survive and not come off. I then put the head down, was pushing a big gear and wound in the 4 in front and managed to gain clear ground with about 15m or so to go and take the win, no photo required this week. No, I did not go for any heroic victory salute, there was no way the hands were coming off the bars. (It does amaze me how the likes of Cavendish, Boonen, etc casually sit up and throw the arms out when going at full tilt).

There ends my time in C grade so I will no start riding the B grade crits and I am looking forward to the challenge. It will be interesting to see how much quicker the sprint to the line will be and how much cagier I'll have to be in order to get a win.

More time in the saddle and more learning to come.

Komo