B4K Stage Race

B4K Crit  - early in the race - feeling good behind the leader

 Bikes 4 Kids (B4K) is a two day race event with three stages; a criterium on Friday, a road race and time trial on Saturday. Riders come from all over to challenge themselves against the course, clock and other riders. Holly attended the Friday crit and alternated between taking all these photos and cheering us on as we zoomed by. The course was a 1.5 mile loop with tight turns at both ends - so we zoomed by her many times.  

Racing with good friend Tony Peterson on my left shoulder

Early on we circled around a round-a-bout and a rider cut his corner short - meaning he started wide then aimed at the apex of the turn. He inadvertently cut me off, nicked my front wheel and almost shot me off the course. I remained upright and luckily didn't cause anyone else to crash - it was a big sigh of relief to have stayed upright. 

Kennecott Copper Mine looms large

Preparing to enter a tight corner

Everyone is fighting for position as race end nears

 Tony - in orange - is a good friend and strong rider. He placed second in this crit, was third after the road race and finished 8th overall after the time trial - a very good showing for Tony.

Gave it my all in the sprint to the finish

After 40 minutes of racing we ended up sprinting for the line - I finished in the middle of the pack but was thrilled to have completed the race without an accident.

Saturday's Road Race: We completed 4 circuits of a 9 mile course that featured a long climb up a shallow slope then a short climb up a steep slope. The group stayed together during the first two laps but the pace quickened during the third lap splitting the group into pieces. Tony hung with the leaders as I was dropped at the top of the climb. I worked my tail off - riding at 48 mph - to catch the group before the beginning of the fourth lap's straight away. It was imperative to catch them since the straight away was directly into a strong headwind. If I didn't catch them on the downhill I would have raced the fourth lap by myself. After the catch we motored around the course until the last climb. At the top I trailed the last rider by 2 feet and did not work hard enough to maintain contact - I thought I could catch them on the descent again - I was wrong. I finished 18 seconds behind the group and learned a valuable lesson. 


Saturday's Time Trial: Tony and I headed to my house to relax, eat, and renew our energy for the afternoon time trial. I replaced my front wheel since I had broken a spoke in the road race. We arrived back at the race with time to ride the 5 miles from the parking lot to the start line. The start line was near a quaint little mining town where Tony and I found some shade to relax in as the start times delayed. Eventually - nearly an hour later than expected - we did our final warm up and headed to the start line. My replacement front wheel popped a spoke and deformed badly which resulted in a wobbly time trial. Individual riders burst from the start line down a straight away, turn right, head down a short steep gully, up the other side then up a long, steep climb to the turn around. I tried my hardest to go as fast as possible up that climb and rejoiced when I turned and headed back down that slope. My wobbly front wheel restricted my descent speed but I still worked very hard and sprinted to the finish.

Overall: This was my first stage race and I cannot wait to do another one. My training and Seth Bradley's coaching prepared me for both the physical and mental aspects of the three races. Seth's advice to race against a better class of riders paid off and I feel very prepared to race at Nationals in June. There is still room for improvement, I finished 12th out of the 30 riders.

Thank you to Holly for her pictures and support - I am off to the bike shop to see if they have finished assembling my new bike.

Cheers!