SFC#2: More People, More Fun

Tonight was the second edition of the Wednesday Solider Field Training Criterium Series in the city, and, yep, it was awesome! Probably double the field size in the 1/2/3s this time, and I didn’t have to race solo either! I had—count ‘em!—five teammates: Luke, Newt, Moyer, Briney. They made it really fun.

Unfortunately, there was less of a headwind on the back stretch this time so the gaps just didn’t open up like they did last week. Even so, we took turns flying off the front. Moyer and Briney in particular were unbelievable (first time I really raced with them)—new 3s who performed like they’d been doing the 1/2 stuff for years!

In the end, even though the horses of the day (in my book, that would be Bryan McVey and Chris Padfield) cooperated in trying to get good breaks off with us (even outpulling us often in the process), it came down to a field sprint. We got a nice little train set up with 3 to go: Moyer, Newt, Briney, me. But we started way too far back and with such a fast course with the turns placed so close together, we couldn’t even choo-choo all the way to the front! Oops! (Even so, I think we should just split into two groups of two next time instead of one train of four. That’s a silly idea for this course.)

Yep. That’s it. Great race organization like last time, even though Padfield outdid me for me burrito this round! An unexpected surprise afterward too: Some awesome lady walking around with a jug of water, making sure all the racers got refills right away. Felt like the organizers provided our own soigneurs or something! Heh. Thanks again, SFC, for a great race, and thanks everyone for coming out to make it fast and fun. The more, the merrier!

Tags: Bryan McVey, Burrito Prime, Chris Padfield, Dave Moyer, Luke Seemann, Newt Cole, Pain Train, Soldier Field Cycling, Tom Briney