2022 CRCA Grant’s Tomb Criterium
A NYC Classic
A spring classic, in the summer…
Grant’s Tomb usually takes place in the freezing cold of March every year. Racers would bring out every piece of winter riding kit they owned, riding laps looking like the Michelin Man. Trading spring for summer and lobster gloves for ice stockings, this years edition was an absolute blast! Read on to see how our riders in green fared this year…
Women’s 2/3
The field was small but organized. I tested my legs for a mid-race prime to get a bit of beer money for later that night and felt good. After years of racing crits in the summer heat, I think I have heat management strategies down pretty well and hope we passed down some helpful tips to the new guys. I knew Leah from TBD would be going for the sprint and has a great turn of speed, so I parked myself on her wheel. The left lane was blocked so I had to go right on the outside and realized I was so far outside I was moving towards the protruding pit fence! Came across the line for 2nd - my first podium at Grant’s after having done the race since 2012!
-Meredith
Men’s 3/4
Nick, Brad, and I started too far back in the field when the race started. Brad snaked his way up quickly off the whistle, while Nick and I got caught a little further back and slowly made our way up. About 10’ in, there was a crash at the base of the hill, I was able to weave around a couple people stuck on the hill and sprint back to the field, but Nick got caught in the wash and got pulled. In the end, the heat from the first race and spending time working my way up the field then getting swallowed back up on the uphill straight left me feeling gassed and almost cramping on the final lap, and came in with the field to end the day. Brad held the front throughout the race and followed a diesel engine out of the final turn up the final straight to come in for 3rd
-Michael E.
Relatively organized race and you could tell quickly there was unlikely to be a break given the heat and aggressive tactics upfront particularly by Veselka who were likely protecting the soon-to-be winner James Robinson. As Michael said, I was more aggressive from the start and tried to stay in top 10 wheels the entire race, sometimes getting swallowed up by the peloton slowdowns which generally happened before the start/finish line. Took a couple pulls to see what I had, then sat in top 3rd or so for the remaining six-ish laps. Saw a diesel dude launch early prob 350 yards out, and popped out right behind him but couldn’t quite get around him; he took second and Veselka first.
-Brad
Men’s 2/3
The race started with a flurry of NY teams trying to establish a strong pace. Fire and brimstone emanated up from the asphalt as the heat from the 100 degree day was now a second thought compared to the heat brought on by the pace.
Coming back from the broken collarbone, my first priority was to stay safe towards the front in the first few laps - ahead of people jockeying for position, learning the corners, or opening gaps - even at the expense of a few matches and seeing the wind.
As the race settled in, I had a moment to settle back in as David went off the front and covered some moves. The field was clearly tired from the pace. When David’s group was brought back the pace slowed and a few more men off the front were gaining time - with the tete de la course having twenty seconds on the field.
I rolled up to David and asked him his thoughts; “we need work” he replied. His words echoed my instincts; “i’m on it”.
The field slowed in pace once more and I moved up and off the front. Quickly I caught two stragglers in no mans land and within a lap or two, we had caught the man off the front.
I look over my shoulder thinking “job done, the break is back”, but the peloton is no where to be seen. We’re off the front - we’re now the break. My mind shifts to breakaway mode, as we have about twenty minutes left in the race.
It was quickly evident that there was not an equal share of work being done by the breakaway, which was further exasperated by a fifth member joining the breakaway who was far too gassed from bridging to pull through. Yet somehow we kept rolling.
One rider did most of the pulling, myself and two others rotated through with some gusto but also while conserving some energy, and then one guy - the original guy out front - was doing absolutely nothing, and making a point of it at that.
Despite our collaborative shortcomings, we were able to stay away thanks to David and Brad holding down the fort in the peloton and thwarting any moves or attempts from the pack. In the breakaway we could feel this with about four laps to go.
There’s lots of arguing going on in the breakaway now - with surges in pace and sharp words being thrown around - even to those working in the break!
After I pull through, the strongest member of the break hits it hard, and I intentionally call the bluff of the rider doing zero work to close the gap. He goes the lengths of hitting his brakes to slot in behind me.
There’s now a gap. I begrudgingly try to close it, but consciously of not going too deep - I let up. The gap holds and the wheelsucker does absolutely nothing.
Going into two to go, I try to shake him and close the gap. I put in a big dig and get to about five wheel lengths of the front three. I yell for him to close it. Nothing. I sit up a bit and gap grows larger quickly.
Last lap rolls around and I can feel the wheelsucker ready to try to jump me into the more technical sector and try to close the gap. A bit out of spite, I made sure to enter the technical area first, and then took it pretty slowly.
The wheelsucker got his chance as I picked up some glass and my tyre took a few rotations to seal; albeit at the cost of a decent amount of PSI.
He attacked and I stood on the pedals but could feel quite the squish. I sat back down and tried not to slide out in the fast corner of the course, and then rolled in for 5th.
It was an anticlimactic ending to what looked like a promising shot at the podium.
As someone who used to solely feast on the group sprint, the art of a breakaway is one I’m still learning. This was unfortunately a tough lesson in tactics - but something to remember as I’m off the front next time. In retrospect I wish I had fully closed the gap with two to go, even if it meant giving the wheelsucker an opportunity to win.
Was happy to suit it up with the GLV friends one last time this year before heading back down to Texas.
—Stephen
Women’s P/1/2
Another small field but this time nearly half of it was made up of one team, Good Gals. I had a pretty good sense of how this one was going to go. Racing solo can be a challenge because you really have to use your bullets wisely, more so when it's almost 100* and your second race of the day! (Side note: Boston-area women who want to race, hit me up!). I covered a few early moves but missed the one 2-woman break that stuck, and there wasn't much of an organized chase in the field. Late in the race another Good Gal went clear and despite trying with one other rider, couldn't make it across. Ended up 3rd in the field sprint for 6th overall.
-Meredith
Men’s P/1/2
This is probably the 15th time I've raced Grant’s Tomb, and it for sure is one of my favorite races. I thought I had covered racing it in every condition (cold spring, warm spring, polar vortex, hurricane-like rain) but now with the summer date, I could finally check-off 95 and baking. I loaded up an ice sock the size of a small baby and headed to the start line.
This was my second race back from the collarbone break, I did Clamfest last week but didn't feel great at the start and made the terrible assumption I'd sit near the back and ease into it. That turned into me closing massive gaps at the back of a blistering pace field, and me blowing up from chasing after three laps. I was determined not to do that again, so I was sure to line up at the front.
Stayed near the front during the opening laps, once an early move got brought back the pace ratcheted up and I ended up slipping backwards to the middle of the pack. Had a few anxiety attacks getting boxed in, and having people on both sides of me in the first corners with a few road bumps to dodge, but after 2-3 laps I started to feel a little more comfortable being in the thick of it again.
Nothing looked like it was getting away, so I decided to take a drink and watch from the backside of the field. That nearly ended my race around 25 mins in when a massive gap opened on the slightly uphill finish straight, and I had to burn a match to jump across the gap with our old teammate Dom. We got across, but from that point on there was no rest.
The heat was taking its toll on the field, and every time up the finishing straight was a game of seeing who would close the gap every time 2-3 people tried to get away. Then everyone would accelerate into turns 1-2, punch it up the climb, hold on for dear life coming out of it, sit up heading into the fast 180, then repeat up the rise. For what seemed like an eternity.
I got near the front on the prime lap, watched a few guys send it up the right, and I got on their wheel. It seemed like everyone in the field was responding to the effort, so 50m before the line I sat up to not needlessly spend bullets on a prime and/or Geno’s eventual counterattack. Sure enough, Geno hit it and dragged that group away and I was left sitting in the field knowing that was it and I was right there and let it go. Oh well.
People were becoming more and more lethargic in the heat the last 20 mins, and with the break not quite out of sight, it was the same rinse repeat as before of 3 guys trying to jump across the gap, everyone looking before eventually drilling it until the 180 again. I tried a few times, but of course missed the real counter with Sam and Danny who of course went once I came off the front. I kicked myself for missing that, and the last 5 laps tried hard to make it to them, not caring who I took with me. Almost made it there on the back side on the last lap, but blew hard on the last 200m and what was left of the field came by me by the line.
Not my smartest race, as Sam would love to say “AJ wasn't racing for anyone he was just spraying watts wherever he could”. But this ultimately was about me was about feeling good to be sending it in a fast race again after some time off, and knowing that I still had the engine to drive it even though I still have a lot of work to do to get the top-end back. I will definitely say, I felt alive again!
—AJ
The “Photo-Less Recaps”
Men’s 4
Despite quite a few teams 5-6 people deep, Automatic was the only team to really use team tactics, making it pretty easy to identify who to watch. Coming into the final uphill, someone two wheels ahead of me popped a tire and cracked their wheel, causing the field to split to either side (luckily he held on to it and didn’t crash somehow, kudos to him). Made the Grant’s rookie mistake of going to early, forcing me to grab a passing wheel and try to go for a second sprint and ending up 9th.
—Michael E.
Men’s 2/3
From my perspective I was stilled pretty gassed from the heat as the 3/4 ended 50 minutess before the start of this race. I sat back most of this one and was less aggressive than the first race, though the pacing was nearly identical at 26.6 vs 26.5mph. Stephen got into a move (I believe 5 guys) with a few laps to go and David and I sat up to keep things slow-ish behind (David did 90% of the work here, to be clear). I was hoping to just cross the finish line with the group, but then saw David trucking towards the line, took his wheel and then, similar to first race, saw a guy launch early and took his wheel but got around him for 6th behind Stephen, taking the bunch sprint at a 212 HR (lol).
—Brad
