Crit Series Update - 6 down, 5 up

We have completed six races out of eleven total in the 2008 version of the NashvilleCyclist.com Criterium Race Series presented by MOAB and Bike Pedlar. Participation has been great this summer with 75 to 85 total racers usually showing up each week to compete. If you look at the overall series results you will notice that each category is filled with a long list of riders who have raced at least once in the series. In fact there's been about 170 unique riders to have toed the line, but we're averaging only 45 to 50% of those on a weekly basis. It would be one heck of a night of racing if we had 60% or better, which I believe would increase the speed and offer a better racing experience for everyone. What's most impressive is there has been almost 70 unique racers to have competed in the Category 5 field alone!

As I have said in the past my goals with the crit series are many. First, to provide a fun night of racing instead of us all off riding on our own. Second, to offer an opportunity for those who either don't get to race much on the weekends or those who have never raced and want to give it a shot. Third, to improve the fitness levels and racing abilities of all Middle Tennesseans. Fourth, to expose more Nashvillians to the sport of cycling and to grow the sport in general. We have sold many one-day licenses and annual licenses at the series over the years, and we hope that our series is a catalyst that helps build participation in bike racing as a whole.

Now that we have just five races to go the belt contenders are rising to the top. Luke Servedio of Krystal stands atop the Cat 1/2/3 field by just one point, and Jason Shields of Cumberland Transit is on a tear in the Cat 4 field as he seeks his second belt in as many years. Shields was the Category "C" belt winner in 2007 and has continued his winning ways after upgrading to Cat 4. Josh Webb of Gran Fondo has a comfortable lead in the Cat 5 standings while the Women's overall series is still up for grabs between leader Kailin Acheson and Lisa Starmer, both of Reliant Bank/Harpeth, along with Marsha White of MedPlan/TriStar and Beth Travers of Velo Vixens.

With five races to go this still leaves plenty of opportunities for people to earn top points. Today someone can be in 5th but start mashing it and end up 3rd or better. Nothing is etched in stone until race #11 is in the books, but that's over a month away. What's very encouraging is to see so many Cat 5 riders now upgraded to Cat 4, and several former Cat 4s now racing as Cat 3s in the 1/2/3 field. This has been another goal of mine to see happen since we have switched to category racing versus an A/B/C format.

Since full results are posted HERE on USA Cycling those results can be used for upgrade points for most racers; especially those racing in the Cat 4 and Cat 5 races. Races that are done using an A/B/C format typically do not recognized for upgrade points since most of those events don't enforce rules about who can race in any of those fields. The key to earning upgrade points is for USA Cycling to be able to determine you raced against like abilities without big discrepancies, ie Cat 4s going up against Cat 1s or 2s. Last night in fact our local Tennessee upgrade official Vicki Mackzum was helping officiate, so now she has a better idea of what our racing series is like. She and I talked quite a bit before the '08 series started about the quality of our races and its impact on upgrading. Obviously, the discussions have helped since local upgrades are rising.

I hope you have figured out how to read the Excel spreadsheet filled with weekly and overall results that's posted on NashvilleCyclist.com. There are labeled tabs at the bottom indicating what info is available, but you also can scroll those tabs to the right to see more overall categories and past weekly results. If you're having trouble viewing this file let me know. The last few weeks I have posted a printout of all the overall results so you know where you stand prior to your race. This can be found taped to the back of the Cumberland University Cycling Team trailer.

A few other things worth noting if you haven't either heard me say it or noticed:

1. We now have a dedicated port-o-john in the middle of the parking lot. Please use this instead of Exxon or a tree along the Cumberland River, and I'll try and remember to bring toilet paper each week!
2. There is cold bottled water for everybody in the coolers at registration when your race is over.
3. HOW 100 volunteers will be there each week accepting donations for their fundraising event, and from what I saw they had some delicious sweets too!
4. This week we began using a big visible timing clock to let you know how long you've been racing, which should help you gauge your efforts throughout the race.

Some things for the future I hope to incorporate; if not this year then hopefully in 2009. I want to streamline registration and results much better. I believe registration goes well for the racers now due to having a fabulous registration director(!), but doing all that writing for registration and results takes time. We at TBRA are looking at several options when it comes to race day management software that can handle not only registration but also help populate results in a timely manner. It would be great if all I had to do was punch in your USAC license number and bib number to register, and then punch in your bib number for results. Then boom, print it out and post!

Ahhh, now that's my dream and goal. Of course that means having a laptop, printer and generator. Heck, if I'm going to have a generator I may as well have a sound system with music too huh? Yeah, keep on dreaming.

Lastly, thanks to all of you who come out to race or watch. Without you all none of this would be possible, and after each week is done I'm still amazed at what we accomplish. I truly appreciate your support and ask that you not only continue coming out but that you also encourage others to participate. We have grown tremendously since our first races in 2005, but honestly I believe we are still just scratching the surface. Remember, dream BIG!