On May 16-18, I participated in a race called the Superior Morgul, a 3-day "omnium" race in Superior, Colorado. If you are familiar with a stage race, this is similar in that it includes multiple days of racing with prizes awarded for each day, as well as a competition for the overall winner of all races combined. In a traditional stage race, cyclists compete based on time, with the lowest total time being the winner.
In an omnium race, prizes are awarded for each race, but the overall results are based on points rather than time. In this case, the race consisted of a Friday time trial, a Saturday criterium and a Sunday road race. For each individual event, you received 10 points just for completing the race. This has the effect of rewarding the racers who compete in all three races, so someone can't just come in and win one race and win the entire weekend. After your 10 points for just completing the race, you are awarded points based on your placing in each event, with the maximum amount of points awarded to the winner. In this way, you don't necessarily have to win any events to win the overall. You have a chance to win the overall just by placing fairly well in all three.
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| The points breakdown for each event. |
Before I talk about each race, I just wanted to apologize for the lack of photos. I only had family out to watch the crit, so they weren't taking pictures. And it seems like the pros on course didn't feel like shooting the Cat 5's. Oh well. There were a couple pros at each race, and there was not a single photo of me.
Superior Morgul Time Trial, May 16
I raced this entire weekend in the Cat 5 40+ category. We don't get a whole lot of respect, so they stuck us way at the end, when pretty much no one would be watching. My start time was at about 7pm, with just a couple guys starting after me. I decided to just throw my bike on the car when I went to work that day, put in pretty much a full day of work, then headed to the race. I managed to get there plenty early, and got in a good warmup and some calories and hydration. I also had a chance to chat with William Brunk (I think he said to call him "Chip"), a fellow Cat 5 40+ who was parked nearby. He would be starting about 2 minutes ahead of me.
This was an 8.15-mile time trial, starting on Marshall Road, turning onto Cherryvale, then onto South Boulder Road with a decent climb to the finish.
I got to the line about 10 minutes before my start time and got myself psyched up to go. The thing about time trials is that you really need to be ready to go when it's your time. You don't get to ease into it like you might do with a road race. You need to be cranking right at the start, which is one reason a good warmup is important. With twenty seconds separating each racer, I slowly made my way up to the start line. They have a guy there that holds your bike while you balance, clipped in and ready to go. They gave the signal and I was off!
I pretty quickly passed a few slower people who started a couple minutes before, and slowly caught up to the guy that started 20 seconds before me, Tim McAndrew. Within about the first mile, we ran into some cold rain, which people who raced earlier didn't have to deal with. It was pretty cold and miserable for a mile or so. Somewhere along Cherryvale, the rain let up, and Tim passed me. Although he was in front of me, I knew if I didn't let him get too far ahead, I would still finish with a better time. Climbing the final hill on South Boulder Road toward the finish, a guy named Steve Wens came from behind and passed me. You're not allowed to draft in a time trial, so I couldn't hang on his wheel like I could in another type of race, but I wanted to keep him close nonetheless. He apparently had some better legs than me, and pretty nice TT/tri bike, so he really had the advantage here. At the top of the hill, Tim rolled across the line, Steve a few seconds later, and me a few seconds after that. Steve had started 40 seconds behind me, so I knew he pretty much crushed me in this TT.
I was pretty dead after this TT, so I enjoyed the cool-down ride back to the car. The results were posting live online, so I was able to check the results on my phone, and was happy to see I ended up in second place, about 45 seconds behind Steve. Tim, who as I said was just a few seconds ahead, finished fourth. With my 10 points for finishing, and 14 points for second place, I was second in the Omnium competition with 28 points. Unfortunately, they didn't do podiums for the time trial, so I just hopped in the car and drove home.
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| TT results |
Summit Criterium, May 17
After a good night's sleep, it was time to get ready for Saturday's Summit Criterium. Although I wasn't racing until 5:30pm, our team was sponsoring this event, and we were encouraged to volunteer. So I signed up for one of the 12-3pm volunteer slots, which would give me a nice afternoon outside watching some racing, with plenty of time to warm up before my evening race. I got there in time to watch the finish of the Cat 4 race, and then found the volunteer coordinators. I handed out some ribbons to the little kids doing the one-lap kids race, during the race official's lunch break, then worked in the "beer tent" for a little bit (really just a small area enclosed with a fence), and then watched a lot of racing since there wasn't anything else to do. I watched a few of the women's races, and helped get the podium swag together, then hung around on one of the race corners with one of my teammates to watch the Pro/1/2 race. Eventually, volunteer time was over and it was time to start getting ready. That's when I realized that I still had 2 1/2 hours before my race. So, instead of getting ready, I wandered around a little more and also watched some of the Cat 3 men's race.
Finally, time to get dressed, start my warmup, and all the usual stuff. About 15 minutes before our race, the previous race ended. At that point, I joined a few teammates for a couple laps of our course to get a feel for the various turns. During these laps, it was a little weird that people were still out cheering, apparently thinking we were still from the previous race. We were just slowly tooling around the course, and these people were yelling and screaming "Keep it up! You're doing great! Go! Go!" and stuff like that. Kind of funny. Then we got lined up and ready to go.
During the pre-race announcements, they reminded us that this was going to be a 20-minute crit, and they would start counting down the laps when we had 5 to go. They also mentioned that we would have two prime laps, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't think the Cat 5's got primes. A prime is basically a lap for prizes in the middle of a race. The winner of that particular lap gets something, like cash, merchandise, or in this case omnium points. On each of the prime laps, the first place racer would get 5 points, followed by 3, 2 and 1 for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. I saw this as an opportunity to help me move up in the standings, so I really wanted those points.
And with that, we were off! After a somewhat tentative first lap, we really started cooking. On lap 3, I think we got our first bell indicating a prime lap. I placed myself in the middle of the pack for most of the lap, and on the last turn I picked up speed and made a move from the back to sprint up the side of the pack and win the first prime lap. The race to the line is all uphill, so the sprint really took a lot out of me. But it made it worth it to hear the announcer yelling about Psimet-Zilla taking the first sprint points, and he also announced my name. I thought that was pretty sweet.
I rested a little bit on the next lap, and then we got another bell for a prime lap. I positioned myself well again, and basically did the exact same thing, thinking I got another first place on the lap. (I found out later that I actually got second, not realizing that Tim, who I mentioned from the time trial, had jumped out ahead and I didn't realize it).
With just a few more laps to go, I was starting to get a bit tired from the sprinting for points. I managed to hang onto the back of the group, but couldn't really move myself closer to the front. Finally it was time for the last lap. I was still stuck on the back of the group, and did my best to move up, but only managed to drag myself up into 6th place, behind the people that I was considering to be my main competition for the overall.
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| Summit Criterium results |
Time to get ready for the road race.
Morgul Bismark Road Race, May 18
The Morgul Bismark is a famous race course from the old Red Zinger / Coors Classic days, and was featured prominently in the movie American Flyers. The classic 13-mile loop includes McCaslin Blvd., CO-128, CO-93 and Marshall Road, with climbs known as "The Hump" and "The Wall" on McCaslin. Unfortunately, for the last two years, major construction on 93 has required a course change. Now, the course is just an out-and back on McCaslin and CO-128, with both climbs and descents of "The Wall". The course starts in Superior with a short flat section followed by a climb up "The Wall", at which point they start counting your laps. The Cat 5's were doing 2 laps, with the finish line at the top of "The Wall".
By this time, I was getting to know the other racers pretty well, so it was all pretty chummy at the start line. Then the whistle blew, and it was time for business again. The first lap was uneventful. Flat, followed by a climb up The Wall, followed by some up and down for a few miles, until we turned around just before hitting 93, and headed back the same way. Back down The Wall, on a little bit of flat, and back up again. By this point, we were starting to break up a bit. I was hanging around the back of a group of about 12 of us. At this point, I decided to grab a drink to make sure I was well-hydrated by the time we got to our final climb. While I was grabbing a drink, the group took off, leaving me alone and sprinting to catch up. Once I caught up to the back of the group, I decided to grab a gel, only to have the same thing happen. I'm not very used to eating gels at race-pace, and probably need to practice that a bit. As they took off, I was left trying to sprint to catch up once again. I finally managed to catch up to the group after the u-turn out at 93. I hung in with them back to the top of The Wall, and on the high-speed downhill. Then, with just a few miles left to go, we got onto the short flat area. At that point, trouble hit. For some reason, my left leg started cramping up terribly. Basically, on every pedal stroke, cramps alternated between my quad and hamstring, non-stop. This went on for about a mile, with no sign up letting up.
As we made our last turn onto McCaslin for the final climb, my leg was going crazy. I was able to keep pedaling, but it wasn't pretty. Right about then, we caught up with one of the women's races, who were also heading up The Wall for the final lap. We got a bit mixed up, with a little yelling between both groups. Both races were putting everything they had into their finish, and we all headed to the line together. By that time, my leg was becoming unbearable, and I was beginning to worry that I might be walking my bike across the line. I thought maybe I could get up out of saddle, and that might use some different muscle groups. But almost immediately after standing up, my legs gave out and I collapsed back onto my bike. I was just going to have to struggle up to the top. By that point, I was once again at the back of my group, and I was fairly certain that the rest of the field was a few minutes behind, so regardless of how much or how little I pushed it the rest of the way, I was still going to end up in 12th place. So I plodded my way to the top, and just barely rolled the bike across the line. Definitely not the finish I was hoping for.
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| Road Race results |
The timing system they were using allowed instant results online, even though they weren't posting results at the finish anywhere. I checked with someone who had a phone, and confirmed I got 12th place. And I knew my main omnium competition finished ahead of me. I was fairly certain that Steve Wens was going to remain in first, and I thought Tim McAndrew was going to move up into second. But I wasn't sure what was going to happen after that. I might have gotten enough points to hang onto third place, but I wasn't sure. I got another 10 points just for finishing, and 14 points for 12th place. And unfortunately, I needed to wait about an hour or so to find out. There was a decent-sized finish line expo at the top of The Wall, with beer, snacks, massages, and more. I hung out with a bunch of the other racers for a while and watch some of the other podiums as we waited, somewhat impatiently, for ours. Eventually, they announced our podium for the road race, but still no omnium results. So, we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Did I get third? The suspense was killing me....
Cat 5 40+ . . . . third place: Brent Murphy! Woo hoo!
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| Steve Wens (1), Tim McAndrew (2), and me (3) |
Overall, I'm very happy with that race weekend. I know I could have done a little better on some things in certain races, but I can't complain too much about getting onto the podium in a 3-race event.
I'm a little behind on posts right now, and I've done some cool stuff the past couple weekends, so I hope to get crackin' and write some more soon.
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