Brick City

I didn't lay any bricks, throw any bricks or crap any bricks, but I did land on some bricks in The Brick City. Ocala, Florida was coined The Brick City in the late 1800s after the city was rebuilt with brick, granite and steel instead lumber. We're here in Ocala this weekend for collegiate mountain bike races hosted by the University of Florida. Ocala is just south of Gainesville and Reddick, which is where our mountain bike races are being held.

As luck would have it I get an email on Thursday night from Florida Cycling about the last race of the season for the sunshine state. Downtown Ocala was hosting the criterium on Saturday, and the timing of the day allowed for me to race in a masters 35+ in the morning. Our mountain bike races weren't starting until 1:30, so my 9:45 morning start was perfect! Even better was that our hotel was within a five minute drive of the criterium race course.

All this sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Well, keep on reading.....

I show up to race all excited because I was just hoping to eek out some short spins throughout the weekend. Instead I'm pinning on some bib numbers! I'm also wondering if my hard three hour training ride on Thursday and 10 hour drive on Friday was overkill for the legs. All that didn't help, but it was the least of my worries.

We roll up to the line and dang if there's not 50 people geared and primed like I was. The course was pancake flat, rectangular with four corners. I hear the announcer talk about the start/finish being uphill and I'm thinking, huh? False flat maybe, barely, but a hill it's not.

Like all masters races it was speedy, and with 50 starters and several organized teams it kept the field entertained with attacks. Being so flat made it nearly impossible for any break to stay away for very long. Everything finally comes together and everyone realizes with five laps to go that it's going to be a sprinter's dream.

I was in the top 10 going into turn three on the last lap as my plan was going smoothly. That is until a few guys come zooming by on the outside just before the third turn, and in my view stupidly racing into the turn. Nobody all race had been racing through the turns to make up spots, but I reckon with less than 500 meters common sense is out the window.

Those foolish corner speedsters had too much speed going into the turn and completely wiped out right in front of me. At least three or four guys bit the pave, and I had nowhere to go but down or over the top of them. I chose to skid along on my right side and hope to not get run over from behind.

All my luck leading up to actually getting to race was left behind in turn three. Needless to say I was pretty frustrated and disappointed, but none of the cuts were too serious. So my excitement of this bonus race got washed down the drain with the crash, but it beats spinning around without competition.

One more weekend to go, next comes the Greenville Classic!