Today was the Mt. Tabor Criterium in Portland. The race was run on an extinct volcano just outside of downtown Portland. The course basically went up one side of the volcano, then wound around the other and back up. Not a flat meter of road, with a 90 degree turn that the group slowed and stopped in every lap, followed by a fast narrow descent, and 135 feet of elevation gain per lap.
I of course started in the back and tried to move up until we came to a dead stop in the corner at the top of the climb. The group strung out right out of the corner, so it was 53x11 the whole way down, with a tiny break at the bottom before the climb through the finish started. Then we repeated that again and again. Sometimes there was more of a break at the bottom, and other times it stayed single file up the climb.
In order to not get time cut you had to last at least 30 of the 90 minutes of the race. I lasted 60 before the kid in front of me let a gap open up and I couldn't close it, and that ended my race. As soon as you were off the back the group rode away sooooo fast it wasn't funny.
I'm not happy with the result, but I get to race again tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. 80 some miles on what looks to be a horrific circuit.
That's it for tonight. No new gossip. Thanks for checking in.
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