By Ben Craig 

[Photo Randy McIntosh]

After coming off a tough weekend at the Gateway Cup with poor results, I went into the Arkansas State Criterium Championship with some left over aggression and high hopes to cap off the 2016 crit season with a strong result. The course in Ft. Smith is a nice open course and really allows for several types of riders to show their strengths. Having raced the course last year I knew there were a few stretches where I could find some speed and the field typically didn’t. I went into the race hoping to use it to my advantage.

The Cat 3 field contained all the usual suspects, some of the strongest guys in the state and some super fast guys from Oklahoma.  Before the race, my team (BMC) got our game plan in place and discussed the potential threats and scenarios and how we would plan to cover…  As Mike Tyson once said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”.  The race began with a quick pace and there were several attacks that occurred that immediately got responses from the larger teams (Bentonville Racing, Carve and BMC) to pull them back in.  As a part of our team plan, we sent our strong chap Duncan up the road to keep the pace high and save others on our team for a potential sprint finish. My plan was to sit towards the front and mark a few select wheels (Reid Brown Experience Fayetteville and Jared Hall Bentonville Racing).  As the race hit the halfway point I realized the field was too nervous to let a break go and that most likely everything would end in a sprint finish.  At that point I went into rest and hide mode while keeping my position near the front…. If that’s possible.

As we hit the bell lap, Joel Raymond went to the front for Bentonville Racing to drive the pace. I knew the plan for this attack and immediately began to think about my plan. I wanted to do something a little unexpected for me. I hoped this would give me the advantage to edge out Jared who was just behind. We held single file for most of the last lap and as we hit the second to last corner I tried to surprise the field and got a early jump. I attacked on the short shoot before the final corner and railed the corner as hard as I could then opened up my sprint. Finally some clear air to breath! It was time to see what my legs could do. I think this early attack proved to be the winning move as it gave me a 2-3 bike length gap that Jared wasn’t able to close in the final 150 meters.

But let’s face it, most likely no one reading this article will ever be a pro and especially those of us who ride and race for the hunger inside to compete and push our bodies. What matters the most in racing to me is not the wins but the experiences I have with my best friends. A picture on the podium is a tangible way to give a thumbs up for hard training and perhaps good timing but the best part for me is in the moment when your legs and lungs hurt and you think you can’t go faster or hold a wheel and then you push through it and prove yourself wrong. That’s the real reward!

I want to thank the whole Ft. Smith event team for putting on such a top notch race, and especially recognize how they showcased support for our country on such an important date in our history, September 11^th.  Thank you to my sponsor BMC for the support this season and a special thanks to my dad for taking my training wheels off at age 3.

Sprint finish.

STRAVA CRITERIUM RACE DETAILS
Distance: 24 miles
Time: 1 hr
Elevation: 512 ft
Speed (avg.): 24.2 mph
Power (avg.): 307 w (estimated)
Work: 1120 kj

Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/700928153/overview