State Fair Crit

I’ve called myself a lot of things in my athletic career, but never once have I considered myself a roadie. We found ourselves with another rare open weekend on the mountain bike calendar. We were pleased, though, to see a crit close to home, so for the second time this season, we went out and played with the roadies.

I’ve been to the Iowa State Fairgrounds a number of times in the last 15 years, and I always remember Crystal dragging me to some building at the top of the hill so she could buy a commemorative State Fair piece of pottery. That hike wasn’t a lot of fun, and when I heard that the crit involved laps up the backside of that hill, I wasn’t any more enthusiastic.

We arrived (late, as usual) with just enough time to get me registered and slightly warmed up before I toed the line with about a dozen women for the Women’s Open. The start/finish area was adjacent to the wienerschnitzel and Pabst Blue Ribbon booth (also a past State Fair memory). We all knew Lisa Vetterlein would put the hurt on us all; it was just a matter of how much it would smart!

We took off, and with my usual slow start and skittish descending abilities, I was off the back in a hurry. Over the course of the race, I made full use of my entire gear range, and just tried to pick off a couple of weary riders. Lisa lapped me once, then twice, and again mercifully with two laps to go (which meant it was only one lap to go for me!). The woman is crazy strong and crazy fast on a bike, and it is so good to see her back at it! She was the triathlete to beat in the Midwest, back when I first got into the sport. She took a little time off to start a family, but Maria von Ruhtenberg persuaded her to join up with the chicks of Punk Rock Cycling, and we’re all glad to have her back. Well, maybe not everyone who gets their butt kicked by her… but I’m more of a realist, and I think it’s awesome to watch her tear apart a field of great riders!

After sixteen tough laps, our race was over. I got changed in short order because I wanted a front row seat at Cam’s race(s). He did very well, winning the 40+ race over Dewey Dickey in the final sprint. He also got some action in the 1-2-3 race, and ended up a very respectable seventh there.
It was a fun day to hang out with the Des Moines cycling peeps, including a good dinner post-race downtown with Lisa, Maria, Doug, and some of the kiddos.