The Attleboro Criterium is my favorite race. It has a wonderful atmosphere — relaxed and friendly.
I arrived Saturday afternoon with two handicaps. First, I am not suited to criteriums. Second, I haven’t really been training for a few months, and my last race was in early May. I wasn’t expecting much, but I figured if I was both aggressive and lucky I might wind up in a successful break.
I had a good warm-up and moved to the front right away. My plan was to mark Ryan O’Hara, who was a teammate of mine when I rode for Cyfac-VeloEuropa. He’s a strong rider who has had success in breakaways before. Also, he rides for Cambridge, which had a big team presence, so I knew they would block for him if he was up the road.
I dutifully followed him on several early and unsuccessful break attempts. Then we both needed a rest, so we missed the break that did get away. The break had some Cambridge rides in it, so following Ryan was no longer a good plan. I moved back to the front and tried to get into a bridging attempt, but I hadn’t recovered enough and the move was brought back anways.
The rest of the race was pretty well controlled by Cambridge and Pedro’s, who both had riders in the break. One random guy did a lot of pulling to try to bring back the break, and I occasionally helped out, but Cambridge did an excellent job of protecting the break.
At two-to-go it was clear that the break was not coming back. I knew I didn’t have a chance in the sprint, so I recklessly attacked. Unsurprisingly, I was not allowed to get away.
I am very happy with how I raced. I had a good plan and rode aggressively. I made the Refunds Now! presence be felt and even got us some mentions by the announcer. That should make our sponsor happy!