Murray State

Murray State hosted the first race of the MWCCC season, and being in southwestern Kentucky, it was a huge draw for us up north to escape the cold for a few days. We ended up bringing terrible weather and bitter cold along for the weekend.

Road Race: Everybody survived the technical, fast 16 mile circuit with little fuss. In the Ds, Taylor survived through his first race ever, and is looking to develop steadily through the season as he gains experience. Mark was also looking to stretch his racing legs and made it through the ice cold 32 mile C race. UIC’s top performer on the day, Can, motored away from the peloton as a part of 2-man chase halfway through race. He eventually shook off his chase partner to finish sixth in the 48 mile B race. The 64 mile A race settled drastically after a break of 5 or so got away and the schools with the biggest cohorts were satisfied with its composition. Attrition was pretty high and entering our last lap a freezing rain storm dumped painful ice all over us. Chilled and excited just to get into some warm clothes, about 5 miles to the finish my rear tire blew out and I got swept up by the broomwagon (a nice lady from the local CB radio club in a minivan). Grr!

Crit: The criterium was amazing. Maybe about 5 others were in agreement with me on this, and many individuals and teams protested this race entirely. 16 corners. 2 hairpins. Water and ice. Well under a Km. Few races have been more technical than this petite monster. In the D crit, Taylor was riding top 10 for 2 laps when the guy in front of him bit it on a sweeping downhill turn. Taylor met the ditch, got terrible placement, and blew up trying to regain position. That’s racin’. In the C crit, Uncle Mark found a rhythm and avoided carnage to finish mid-pack, making him the only person to finish both races on the squad. In the B crit, Can’s powerful diesel engine couldn’t get any momentum with all the inconvenient turns the race organizers had laid out. Try as he might, his trailer forced him to make wide right turns in the name of safety so that his fragile cargo could be delivered. In the end, the course got the best of Can when his tire slipped off his wheel and he wiped out. Lining up for the A crit, I had not crashed in a race in ever in my short (<50 races) history. I had a solid clip-in and surged for the first corner. The guy in front of me obviously don’t watch NASCAR because he decided to brake while he was turning>>loses control>>regains controls by pushing off me as I’m bailing. After using the skin on my hip, knee, and ankle to come to a complete, comfortable stop, I took my free lap and got great placement. Just like the earlier crits of the day, the field blew apart very quickly and I spent nearly all of the race solo chasing down a slew of popped riders. Even after being lapped by the strong lead group of about 6, I rolled through the line in 12th, but it was a rough day for UIC.