GMSR Day 4: Back where I started

Really quick post tonight, because I'm really tired and I have to go to work tomorrow.

Today was the Burlington crit, the fourth and final stage of the Green Mountain Stage Race. The crit is a six-turn affair through downtown Burlington, including a pass through the city's pedestrian arcade, mere inches from where patrons dine on sidewalk cafes. It's a very exciting race to watch. It's a very frieghtening race to race.

I started the day 23rd on GC, and the crit offered both sprint points, and GC time bonuses. I'm absolutely terrible at crits, but I was optimistic that I might be able to stay in the race, and perhaps even move up a few spots on GC.

Any hope of that happening was torpedoed pretty quickly, when I got dropped less than ten laps into the 34-mile race, and was pulled shortly thereafter. I ended up 72 on the stage, uncomfortably close to DFL. I slid down a bunch of spots on GC, to finish 45th. Incidentally, this is one spot up from my initial GC position after the time trial on Friday. Uhg. It's pretty clear that I need to work on my crit skills before making an stage race attempts next year. I can do pretty well in the mountains, but give me a couple corners and it's all over.

On the whole, I'm satisfied with the race. I would have liked to have ended much higher on GC, and have finished the crit, but after Sunday's ride on the App Gap, I don't have any regrets. I went deep into the pain box that day, and managed to come out of it pretty well. And with my attempts at KOM points, I feel that I made a mark on the race. Really, what more can you ask for?

GMSR also has the added bonus of attracting some of the best competitors in the north east (and the whole country). It was great to meet some new people, and race with a deeper, more talented pool than those at most of the races I've done this season. Everyone brought their "A-game," which made the race fun and exciting. I wanted to give a shout-out to Andrew Lytwynec, of Full Moon Vista cycling, out of Rochester. This afternoon, after jokingly blaming me for his collapse on the App Gap, told me that he reads this blog from time to time. On top of that ultimate flattery, he also got my Kurt Vonnegut reference, and you can't put a price on that.