Last nights Nashville Cyclist Crit had the largest Cat 4 field to date - 49 guys. That's a lot of guys on that short course. I knew with that many I didn't want to hang out in the field for very long. I was able to get to the front of the line at the start and stay within the top 10 for the first several laps. When they did the first prime, several guys attacked for it. One of which was the winner for the past several weeks. He got a good gap solo and I realized that was my chance to make something happen. I attacked hard and brought a few guys in me and also picked up the solo guy off front. We ended up forming a break of about seven. After several laps and seeing the main field start to blow apart, I realized the break was going to stick. I tried to keep the pace up and a couple guys dropped off.
Going into the last few laps, I was on the wheel of the guy I thought would win (and eventually did). He had a team mate with him and as the laps ticked by, I was waiting for some kind of attack from them. I got impatient with 3 to go and attacked to try and make something happen. I didn't get away and the winner was able to get in a good counterattack to drop me. Another guy went by a quarter lap later and a third guy shortly after. I was able to catch and pass that guy on the last lap with left me in the front of what was left of the break (I had no idea how many people were behind me). I just buried my head and pushed as hard as I could on the final lap. Coming to the finish line I could hear someone coming and tried as best I could to not let him by. He ended up getting me by half a wheel at the end. Still, I'm happy for 4th in a field of almost 50. Still need to work on tactics to try and get that win. More importantly, I could tell I was much more comfortable in the corners and am beginning to really like crit racing.
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