Clarendon Cup ‘24
Sunday, June 2
Arlington, VA
Aaron Seip
The Armed Forces Cycling Classic is the biggest bike race in the D.C. area. It’s one of the biggest bike races in the country as a matter of fact. Two days of intense criterium style racing in the nation’s capital (kinda - Arlington) with professional riders from all over the world. It is personally one of my favorite races to watch, and more recently, to race.
Since I was in high school, I’ve been watching the Clarendon Cup, which is the second day of the AFCC. At this point in my life, cycling was becoming a keen interest for me. I remember watching the 2015 edition of the Clarendon Cup when the weekend was known as the Air Force Cycling Classic. I thought to myself, “Wow, I had no idea there was bike racing at this level in this area. I would love to do that someday”.
Fast forward to 2022 and I had my first chance to pin a number and rip around the streets of Clarendon. This first attempt was short lived, as I came to find that the course is incredibly difficult due to the short, fast loop with tight corners. This meant that my race effort was a lot of high-power bursts out of a turn to maintain the pace of the group while also constantly preparing for the next turn. A relative lack of fitness coupled with a night out partying before (dumb) meant I was pulled by the officials at about the halfway mark.
2023 Edition of Clarendon Cup didn't go so wheel for us, Frankie behind. Caught chasing the whole time.
Photo by Ari Strauss
Now let’s talk about 2024. I got my category 2 upgrade earlier in the season, so I was feeling better about actually competing in the category 2/3 race for Clarendon Cup. My preparation leading into the race was ideal: not too much fatigue, but enough effort to have solid fitness with some freshness before race day. Strategizing before a race like this is helpful but not likely to matter once you get started. The course profile coupled with the early June D.C. heat meant that there was a lot of attrition, so the strategy was to stay with the inevitably fast start. Once you made it halfway and were able to stick with the front group, chances were that you could make it to the end.
For Meta, we came in with a massive squad. Spencer, Luke, Devin, Flo, Sean, Colin, Brian, Owen, and myself. This meant that we had a lot of options when it came to making and following moves up the road. The start was fast as always, and we were able to stay towards the front and monitor for threatening moves. Things were all together until roughly 20 minutes in when two riders started getting a small gap off the front. This gap blew out when a crash happened between them and the main peloton, causing the peloton and our team to slow and recalculate our paths forward.
By the time I was able to move towards the front to assess the gap, it was not looking good. The gap was continuing to grow, and the peloton was not working together to bring it back. Several riders made bridging attempts, and we were able to follow all of them due to the fact that we had so many teammates. These efforts were all short lived, as most of the peloton showed no interest in setting a cohesive chase. This meant that we were now racing for the final podium spot. The silver lining in this situation was that the effort got easier and we could take a deep breath before preparing for the finish.
Checking in with Flo, mid-race to stay on the same page.
With about 13 laps to go, my saddle comes loose and tilts down towards my top tube. I was at threshold trying to keep myself from sliding forward and out of my saddle, which I knew was not sustainable if I wanted to even try something for the end. As luck would have it (for me, not for others), there was a crash on the start/finish straight. I was several wheels behind the falling riders but I lost all momentum trying to avoid the pile up. Race rules dictate that if you are affected by a crash, you can take a free lap as long as the race has enough laps remaining. I check the lap counter and see that I only had two more laps until free laps were over. Thank God. I was able to dive into the neutral service tent and fix my saddle before being thrown back into the race.
Taking free laps is a bit of a double edged sword. On one side, you get to fix whatever is wrong with your bike and continue racing. The other side is that the officials throw you in with the main peloton from a stand still, which means you’re dumping massive watts just to get back to race pace. This meant that I had to burn a match that I would have otherwise used for my final sprint. By the time I was able to match the pace of the peloton, I was towards the back. I needed to move up.
I was able to use the next few laps to gain positions until I was eventually at the front of the group. There, I found Colin who asked if I wanted to go for the sprint for third place. I still felt strong so I told him I was down to give it a shot. With three laps to go, he moves to the front with me on his wheel. In the moment, this felt like the right move. We were able to control the pace and take the best lines through the course. Unfortunately our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and Colin had to drop me off with more than a lap to go.
This is not where you want to be if you’re trying to set up for a final sprint. I’ve been in similar situations before and rather than try to do a really long flyer like I usually do, I ease off slightly to let other riders come around. This is a dangerous game in the final lap of a crit. You don’t want to let too many riders pass you because that’s more space you need to make up in a final sprint. But you also want others to give you a draft so you can take one last deep breath before the final 200 meters.
Trying to get get some cohesion back in the group to chase the break. Colin second wheel.
As Colin starts to pull off, two riders attack off the front. I know that I can’t let them go, so I dig deep to bridge the gap. By now, my legs don’t have much left and the other riders who got my free pull came around me going into the final turn. The final straight is a long false-flat drag, and it took everything for me to put down one final push to grab the best result I can. Ultimately, I come away with 12th. Comparatively to the previous two attempts at this race, this is a great result. But compared to my season and the level I want to be, this was a bummer.
As I had time to decompress and reflect on the race, I realized that our team is still new to racing together at this level. Most of us only upgraded to cat 2 this year, compared to some riders in the field who have been at cat 2 for multiple seasons. Races are always a learning experience, and this race showed us that not only can we last the entire race, but we can actually contribute at the pointy end.
Like any race, there’s always next year.
