The Nuclear Bunny Blog

Today was the annual Bear Creek Criterium. This is a short 0.8 mile flat loop through the middle of a heavily forested park. The course is non-technical, with really only one corner that requires any skill and the rest being wide open.

I entered and raced, in what was my very first cycling event, as a category 5 rider. In USAF rules male riders start as category 5 until they have ridden in 10 events at which point they are upgraded to category 4. From category 4 on up everything is based upon points, so you have to start placing well to advance.

I had been previously warned that on your first race you will almost certainly be dropped and sure enough that happened to me. The race started well and the first two laps I stayed near the front or middle of the pack. On the third lap I ran out of juice and had to slow my pace and I fell behind the main group.

In hindsight, looking down at my heart rate monitor was probably not the best idea. Once I saw my heart rate was at 184 I began to focus on that; I likely could have gone further had I not known what the rate was.

The speeds while I was with the main group varied between 24 and 28 MPH. Once I dropped off I kept my pace at 20 MPH through most of the race. That pace still managed to get me lapped 4 times total before the end of the race, though. But, I finished!

It was a blast and I can’t wait to do it again, but only after spending a lot of time working on speed drills!

see more pics of the criterium

Today was the Sugar Land Criterium bicycle races in Sugar Land Town Square. This event was hosted by Sugar Cycles, a bike store local to the Sugar Land area.

The course was a 1 mile loop through the town square itself. It was a very technical course, but luckily I don’t believe there were any crashes during the entire day.

We watched the men’s category 4/5, men’s category 3/4, women’s and junior’s open, and then the men’s pro / 1 / 2 / 3 races. The final event was the most amazing to watch as the skill levels within that group were amazing similar and the pack kept closely together throughout most of the race. In the other races there were large separations between groups as the skill differences in riders were so vast.

It was a great event, and the folks at Sugar Cycles did a great job in organizing it.

Lori took some pictures of the event, and they can be found at http://www.pbase.com/skinnyorangecat/may_2008