Chris's Watsonville Crit Race Report

Written by: Chris Scheetz
Race - 35+ CAT 4
Teammate: Scott Freiermuth
Location - Watsonville, CA
Racing conditions - low to mid 70's light winds

Scott Freiermuth and I did is race.

This is a long standing crit (this was the 34th running). What makes this crit different from other crits is it takes place in a very nice neighborhood in Watsonville, there were several families camped out in their driveways enjoys the spectacle.

The course had four 90 degree right hand turns, one 120 degree left hand turn and one long left to right hand uphill sweeper to the finish line.

Given the field size and technical nature of the course were no great break-a-ways at any point in the race. One thing Scott and I both experienced was a couple knuckleheads that would work real hard in the front part of the group, then just sit up creating a big gap. The first time I experienced this, I thought the guy had given up, he took a free lap. But when I experienced this maneuver from the same guy again, *%$#@ pissed me off. What Scott and I figured post race was the guy was intentionally trying to create a gap for his team mate. I had never experienced this before.

The race was to be no more than 45 minutes or 24 laps on this 0.75 mile course. Suffice to say, the race really began on lap 23. With half a lap to go, we experienced the typical surge, saw a few riders we did not see all race, from 120 degree turn, things strung out, we had two more right hand turns to the big sweeper to the finish, nothing dramatic, no crashers. Scott took 5th and an earlier preem ($10 in strawberries), I took 12th.

Lessons leaned: watch out for the riders creating gaps for their team mates.