Cloquet Crit Recap - "Cullen, you talk too much"

Only 13 starters in the Masters 35+ crit. The holiday weekend, the distance from the cities, plus some storm clouds kept people away. Too bad, because it is an awesome course. It was like Opus with 4 corners, only the finish was at the bottom of the hill, and into a headwind.

The start was fast, and Matt Muyres attacked on the hill. I reeled him back in, only to have Jason Snide attack the next time up the hill. I followed with Brian Koeneman in tow. We had a small gap, so we pressed on. The next time up the hill, Mike Johnson bridged across, and we were 4 strong. From that point it was like a 4-man team time trial. We worked well together and put time into the field. Anyone who has raced with me knows that I talk a lot during the race, especially in a break away. Mostly words of encouragement and strategy, which some may take the wrong way, but it actually helps me work harder. The officials threw several primes at us, which I typically have no interest in, in favor of keeping us working smoothly together.

As we got down to the last couple laps, I figured that Snides would probably attack, where Brian and Mike would probably be willing to leave it too the sprint. True to form, Snides attacked 2 or 3 times, but was quickly covered. We went down the hill the last time with Snides in front, followed by Koeneman, Johnson, then me. I figured I had the perfect position for the headwind sprint. Unfortunately, I hesitated just a second to late, and missed Brian's jump, which Mike timed perfectly. Mike came around Brian, I was only able to follow Brian in. I was happy with the result, but I know I could have timed my sprint better. No shame in getting beat by those 2 superstars.



The 1/2/3's Crit started right after the Masters 35+. Perfect warm-up right? I felt pretty good, and decided to ride aggresively, since I really didn't have any expectations for the race. Silver Cycling dominated the field with Hareland, Timmer, and company in full force. They kept launching attack after attack, which I and others kept reeling back in while Aric guarded the front, and Timmer sat and waited patiently. About 40 minutes in, I decided to go for a prime (dummy), and got it, but was wasted going into the hill, and got dropped. A lap or 2 later, Rod Raymond attacked and was covered by Aric. Timmer joined them to make a break of 3, and they were gone. Ryan Hebert and Dan Casper got away a couple laps later. Timmer won the sprint, followed by Aric, then Rocket Rod. Ryan came in 4th, and Casper 5th. The field sprint was won by Chia Kung, followed by my LSC teammate Patrick Horrigan.