AMTBC Dirt Crit 3 MTB Race
Thursday was the third and final ‘Dirt Crit’ in the 2009/2010 Summer Series. I raced in the first Dirt Crit, but missed the second (oops). Anyway, I finished last in the B grade in the first race, and decided to try out the C grade this time.
The B grade in this race was quite large with 15 riders. I began the race out in front, not because I planned on winning from the start, but rather because I didn’t want to inhale the dust from 28 other wheels. So, I ended up holding the lead for 6 of 15 laps, and ultimately finished in 4th. From what I remember of grade school, I think this would get one of those purple ribbons, or perhaps they were green…
Back to the race. During the time I was leading the race, I considered the group of riders not too far behind me, and assumed they were waiting for me to either make a mistake or wear myself out. Neither really happened, but they eventually made up the ground and passed me near the end of the race. I suppose I could have used some strategy and not lead the first half of the race, but I didn’t. Maybe next time. Overall, I’m very happy with the results, and I think that I’ve found the right race grade. On to the results:
My official results; minutes:seconds:
Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 Lap 7 Lap 8 Lap 9 Lap 10 Lap 11 Lap 12 Lap 13 Total Time Average Lap Time
2:06 2:13 2:13 2:11 2:11 2:14 2:14 2:14 2:12 2:21 2:18 2:17 2:12 28:55 2:12
For comparison, grade average lap times; minutes:seconds (number of laps completed):
A Avg. Lap B Avg. Lap C Avg. Lap D Avg. Lap E Avg. Lap Overall Avg. Lap
2:02 (19) 2:14 (16) 2:18 (13) 2:40 (11) 2:51 (8) 2:23 (13)
The first Dirt Crit was held on the same course, so the results are comparable. And, in comparison to the first race my average time dropped from 2:20 to 2:12 per lap.
