Exeter Hospital Criterium

Exeter’s course is fast with 2 nice 90 degree corners and one long sweeping uphill turn to complete the loop and many sewer/water/gas grates to keep you on your toes and cause a few flat tires. We averaged 30+mph for 51 minutes. The one hill was after the line and went almost unnoticed at the speeds we were carrying through the finish line section where most of the fans were lined up. On the starting line a little girl said “hey, look, Four Burgers”. I also noticed Michael Lorion wearing the BreakAway Boston throwback kit. Then the big guns were announced: Adam Myerson (winner), the Keoghs, Will Dugan, and a bunch of other former winners and top NE racers. I started out pretty far back in the pack and the pace for the first few laps was really fast but then simmered down which actually made things worse for me because the accordion effect started to require more acceleration out of corners. I got tired of using the brakes and my legs so I dropped back to literally the last spot in the line and road my own race. I would let myself get gapped on the straights then corner hard and smooth and catch the last guy in line before letting him get away again so as not to have to brake at the next corner. At the same time I was watching for gaps in the line that would force me into a dropped pack. This allowed me to recover thoroughly. I was also tucking down the hill to the line to conserve. There were a few flat tires which created traffic and caused me to lock the brakes–learned the hard way not to use tubulars in crits (have a nice bare spot on the rear now much like Randalls’ pre battenkill). Then, probably a half hour into the 51 minute race, I started moving up 4-5 guys at a time by taking the inside line up the hill on the long turn. I threw up in my mouth once and dragged my pedal once. At the same time guys were getting dropped so it was good I was being proactive at this point in the race. I also had my eye on a couple Cambridge Bicycle guys who I figured would be trustworthy wheels to follow, but I didn’t hesitate to overtake them to keep the rivalry healthy. There was a short breakaway but everything came back together for the final 10 minutes of the race. I was pack fodder and sat up at the finish but for the record crossed #38 out of 94 starters. In retrospect if I had given my all at the gun to move up on the first hill I could have ‘entered’ the race in the top half and potentially had a much different race.

It was a great wo, but still nothing to date rivals Housatonic Hills.

Curt, thanks for coming out and cheering, send over/upload those pics when you have a chance.