Race Report: Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Race: 2025 Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: 10th (of 39 starters)
Course: Flat oval course with a chicane and only one corner that cannot be pedaled through. Head wind on the start/finish straight. Tail wind on the back straight. Mild morning weather. Sun was coming out and the roads were dry.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13891889774
Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Plus a Clif bar between races.
Event Recap: Decided late to do this race. Saw that the weather was going to be good and had already done this course at Cal Aggie about a month ago and the Masters 35+ race before hand on the same day. Not a race day I was targeting results for and I was solo, so my plan was to react to any real moves, but largely let the race play out and take an opportunity if it was presented. I knew the turny bits at the top of the course better than most so was in the front 10 heading into the chicane nearly every time.
After fixing my between-race puncture - picked up a piece of glass at some point shortly after the masters race I was ready to go at it again. I felt good considering I had just spent half of the first race in the break. I was, again, carrying more speed than anyone else and creating a small gap each time. This kept my at the pointy end of the peloton and at the front of the pack. At one point this resulted in a post-prime move going up the road for about a lap. We had a group of four at one point that could have held off the pack, but we didn’t well/hard enough early on enough to create the separation that we needed.
The group was reactive and jumpy throughout. My power profile tells the story. I really starte to feel the legs fizzle about halfway through this race. This one was headed for a bunch sprint. I made sure I was first into the chicane and held a top 5-7 spot into the finish straight without taking wind. My legs just didn’t have the pop left in them and I push as hard as I could through the line for 10th. Great day of racing, with my family there to watch and cheer me on!!