JD Wilmington Classic (woops long overdue!)

On 6/15/08, I drove to Wilmington, DE to compete in the JD Wilmington Classic. The humidity was quite high that day and I was dripping by the time I ended my warmup on the trainer. The course was set in downtown Wilmington within 10 city blocks. It was somewhat in the shape of the a figure 8 with 3 city blocks on the back portion and only 1 on the front. Two streets were moderate uphills as well. The course was almost a mile and we had to do 24 laps. 8 turns total. Turn 6 coming off the double downhill section was extremely tight and there was even some sand that apparently just collected there that morning on the inside of the turn.

They start the race and people are just gunning it from the get go. I am in the back half of the group and attempt to move up where possible. The race is going along fine I'm hurting a little bit as the pace was incredibly quick but I wasn't going to get dropped. About halfway through the race, a big Artemis guy takes turn 6 incredibly tight and WHOOSH, the bike flies out under him. I can't say I'm surprised because he hadn't been that safe going through a bunch of the previous turns either. He wouldn't hold his line and would cut people off so others were adjusting to him which made him a very unsafe rider. I wasn't about to say too much though as he was ripped and about 250lbs and I'm sure could take me. A big Rhino riding a bike comes to mind. I'm sure he was nice however. So, the Artemis guy goes down and naturally he had cut me off on the previous two turns so I was behind him. I was on the outside and in order to avoid him, I had to take the turn extra wide into the caution tape. It eventually broke and I didn't go down but the pack was already a block ahead and by the time I got up to speed they were two blocks ahead. One other rider had been in the mess as well and we started working to catch back up. I could tell he was hurting bad and figured let him use a little extra juice before I would take my pull. After a lap or two he was gone. Up ahead two more riders went down on the straightaway and 3 more riders were slowed. I made it a goal to slowly tempo them all back. They had been riding somewhat together and I slowly picked them off over the next 10 or so laps. With 2 and a half to go, I caught them. I then pulled the majority of the next lap and moved to the back for the final lap to rest for the sprint. I figured they wouldn't expect me to pull and I would have pretty decent position. Of the 3 other guys, I could tell 1 wasn't too interested in the sprint at all. Looked like he was lacking some competitiveness. We go up the short 1 block hill and have 3 blocks of false flat to the finish. I'm currently on the second wheel and I get lucky because the guy in front decides to lead me out! Wow, how nice. The guy behind me is some young kid but I could tell he would give me a run for my money. I wait and wait for the last possible moment so I don't give the kid behind me a chance to draft me expecting to see his wheel at any moment. At the last possible moment, I go and the kid goes too but it's too late, I beat the riders from our little group.

I guess that makes up for losing the peleton from the crash and I'm quite glad I wasn't actually in the crash this time! hehe. Lesson learned: When you find a rider you don't feel is safe, do not ride behind him. The race was crazy fast as well. =)