I travelled to Louisville, Kentucky for the Masters National Criterium Championship. I would be racing the 35-39 category and I was nervous because I had never raced the national championships. This category has a reputation for being one of the fastest and most competitive age groups. I felt good and my preparation had gone reasonably well. All the work was done and now it was time to race. The race was 50 laps of a 1 kilometer, four corner course.When I took the line, I immediately noticed no fewer than five former national champions in my race. The Amgen Masters Team was well represented along with large contingents from Texas Roadhouse, Litespeed-BMW and the Bike Hut. I thought the race would end in a sprint, so my plan was to conserve energy and try to sprint for the stars and stripes jersey. I wanted to stay near the front so that I could go with any break that had more than 5 riders. There were enough large, strong teams in attendance to disrupt a chase if they were all represented.
The first 10 laps were perfect. I was sitting in and felt great when disaster struck. The race was single file and travelling about 33 mph when a rider in front of me crossed wheels and went down. He tumbled right in front of me and I had no where to go but join him on the ground. I did a front flip in the air and landed hard on the asphalt. I jumped up and ran my bike over to the pit. Surprisingly, my Trek Madone was in good shape other than the flat front tire. I had a bloody knee, hip and elbow, but nothing was broken.
Due to "safety reasons" the race officials pushed me back into the race at the back of the pack. I now had to pass the entire field to get back to the front. I tried to stay calm and passed groups of riders as quickly as possible without blowing myself up. It took me 10 laps, but when I got close to the front, there were 5 riders off the front with a 20 second gap. I took a deep breath and attacked out of the field to the break. When I made it there, I found myself in the company of two former national champs but the break was working well. Over the next 5 laps we put our heads down and really went to work. We dropped one rider out of the break and the rider from Texas Roadhouse quit working. He said he was barely hanging on and his team did not want him to work as they were trying to chase down the break.
Our lead continued to increase, even though we had one passenger in the group, and soon we could see the back of the field. As the final laps approached, I knew that the race would be decided in the third corner. One rider attacked the group on the back straight and I immediately responded. I did not want to leave anything to chance. As we approached corner 3, I took a deep breath and attacked. The Amgen Rider, and former national champion, attacked at the exact same moment. We were banging into one another like two track riders in an effort to get to the corner first. He was able to get under me and exited the corner with a bike length advantage. I put my head down and put everything into the pedals but I could not close the gap. I finished second for a silver medal.
It was a great experience and I am proud to have finished second in the National Championships. I was proud to race courageously with the Lindner Capital Advisors colors. It stings a little to have been so close and not to have won, but that is racing. I finished second or third numerous times in the Florida State Criterium Championship prior to winning this year so there is always hope for the future.
- Curtis Long
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