Summary
This was a new course using some of the same roads that were part of the circuit race last year. The course was fast with plenty of opportunities for attack. I thought I was racing well, but ended up missing a split with 18 riders up the road. In the last few laps, 3 riders escaped from the field in pursuit. I ended up 2nd in the field sprint for 23rd in the race. One good thing to take away from the race was that I was happy about the field sprint – hopefully next time it will be for something in the top 20. Here is my lap data:
Labor Day Omnium Criterium Pro/1/2 - 23rd Lap Time Mi. AvgPow MaxPow HR MPH 1 1:45 0.7 263 743 149 22.9 2 1:34 0.7 290 775 160 25.6 3 1:31 0.7 316 873 163 26.3 4 1:29 0.7 297 887 175 26.6 5 1:29 0.7 264 734 172 27.3 6 1:31 0.7 268 949 172 26.4 7 2:55 1.4 301 925 179 28.2 8 1:26 0.7 287 805 176 28.9 9 1:26 0.7 293 752 173 28.8 10 1:27 0.7 312 997 176 28.4 11 1:29 0.7 274 906 185 27.4 12 1:25 0.7 276 788 180 28.4 13 1:33 0.7 258 862 171 25.9 14 1:38 0.7 224 785 173 23.9 15 1:36 0.7 263 780 169 24.9 16 1:27 0.7 237 698 179 27.8 17 1:34 0.7 209 703 170 25.5 18 1:35 0.7 242 785 171 25.4 19 1:31 0.7 268 780 174 26.6 20 1:29 0.7 277 799 179 27.2 21 1:27 0.7 304 975 178 27.6 22 1:26 0.7 277 812 185 27.8 23 1:28 0.7 320 1026 181 27.2 24 1:29 0.7 246 577 183 27.1 25 1:33 0.7 242 817 177 25.5 26 1:39 0.7 256 1062 172 23.9 27 1:33 0.7 305 920 183 25.6 28 1:29 0.7 236 1079 182 26.8 29 1:38 0.7 247 954 180 24.2 30 1:23 0.7 359 957 185 28.5 31 1:30 0.7 281 656 188 26.3 32 1:40 0.7 177 564 175 23.8 33 1:43 0.7 192 547 163 23 34 1:36 0.7 196 651 170 24.9 35 1:32 0.7 268 804 174 26.3 36 1:38 0.7 276 990 176 24.5 37 1:38 0.7 214 838 181 24.7 38 1:33 0.7 243 766 175 25.9 39 1:42 0.7 226 740 171 23.6 40 1:30 0.7 212 635 174 26.8 41 1:36 0.7 231 868 169 25.3 42 1:40 0.7 302 739 176 23.7 43 1:29 0.7 343 843 185 26.7 44 1:35 0.7 240 950 185 25.5 45 1:33 0.7 224 569 173 25.7 46 1:33 0.7 269 694 174 25.9 47 1:30 0.7 247 933 178 26.4 48 1:35 0.7 231 854 178 25.5 49 1:38 0.7 267 690 177 24.3 50 1:21 0.7 447 899 187 29.1
I decided to head out 3 hours before the start of the race to ride some of the roads between Clemson and Anderson that I used to train on. I ended up on part of what we called the “sprint loop” because there were so many sprint signs on it (stop ahead, county line, city limits, etc…). I snapped a few pics along the way, and it was one of the best “warm-up” rides of the year, a stroll down memory lane. I went on a couple new roads as well, and there was some sort of hunting going on in the fields on either side of Fants Grove Rd – it was kinda disconcerting to be riding through all the shotgun blasts.
- Complete ride stats, part 1
- Complete ride stats, part 2
- The awkward spot in the Denver Loop where you have to ride on US76
- Roads from the Denver Loop
- Fants Grove!
- The four-way intersection … I would always approach this intersection from the right.
- This weekend is named after the small town of La France outside of Anderson … Tour de La France!
- Chad Andrews calling the last few laps of the Cat 3 race
- Tour de La France
- The backside of the Michellin plant that you can see the entrance to off of US 76
- Looking backwards from a four-way intersection on the sprint loop. I had never approached this intersection from the road I took today – but I can recognize the back of the sprint signs (stop ahead) just down the road in this picture
- Another sprint sign on the sprint loop
- Crossing the creek on Fants Grove Rd – the vegetation here has grown quite a bit in the last 15 years.
- Approaching the hunters on Fants Grove
- The sprint sign at the end of Fants Grove
- View looking towards the mountains near the tri-county spot
- The Pickens County sprint sign
- View looking towards the mountains
- A blue heron flew away from the pine tree and swooped in front of me. I already had the phone out to take a picture so I got a picture of him flying in front of me. I never knew that these birds like to roost in pine trees!
- This is where I proposed to Kristine 11 years ago. My number this weekend is 11. Awesome.
- Looking south from where I proposed to Kristine – you can see a guy standing on a stand up surfboard – never saw that while I was a student at Clemson, but the crew team would row through here.
- Two-up 53×11 standing start sprints on this road across the levee
- Looking north along Lake Hartwell towards Clemson and the mountains.
- Hunters in the field next to Fants Grove
- Hunters in the field next to Fants Grove
- Beautiful sunset sky looking out the IHOP window