The CRCA Mengoni Grand Prix was a lot of fun. Ari and I raced the Cat 5 field with our Star Track teammates Daniel and Julian. But the race was sketchy! There were three crashes in our field. Someone even hit my back wheel! Luckily I didn’t go down and none of our teammates went down either. Daniel, however, got caught behind a crash and after that it was way to hard for him to get back in the pack.
The race was a beginners race clinic at the same time. There were some more experienced riders with yellow vests in the race that gave us tips and pointers. One of them helped me move towards the front at one time in the race.
Because there were several riders that likely raced for the first time, I believe there were so many crashes. When there are many beginners, it’s a good idea to stay towards the front because most crashes happen in the middle of the pack or the back. One should also stay towards the side because if there’s a crash, one has a better chance to dodge it.
Ari, Julian, and I stayed near the front of the pack for most of the race. The race was not that long, three laps which is about 30 km. It was a really big pack with 73 riders. The hills were hard and there were a lot of attacks up Harlem Hill which is the biggest hill on the course. I’d say it is about a 7 or 8 degree incline. I believe many riders don’t like the hill because it is not a very quick hill, it’s a long one.
According to the official race results on the USA Cycling webpage, Ari placed sixth and I eleventh amongst the Cat 5 men, but this doesn’t seem right as I believe we came in further back. Anyway, it was a really fun race and we had a great time. However, because there were so many crashes, I am not certain whether I’ll do another Cat 5 “open” race again that has so many beginners. But for sure we’ll come back to the CRCA Club Races which are “closed” in that one needs to complete a clinic before one is allowed to race. This seems to make the CRCA Club races much safer.
