Harpeth Racing team Category 4 racer Mitch Boult traveled down to Steele, Alabama for the B race of the Camp Sumatanga Simple Joe’s winter training race series.
The course was a 10 mile rolling loop, four laps. Road surface was good and traffic was controlled. All in all it was about the best organized race I’ve seen – even starting on time. Camp Sumatanga is in Northern Alabama and the race series attracted teams from Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville. The quality of riders was high, both in terms of fitness and skill on the road.
It was 48 degrees at race time, and there was something about that temp that made it hard to decide what to wear. By the time I got that sorted out the race was about to start and I was the last one to the line, behind about 50 riders.
The first few miles miles was fast, like a crit start, and I was on the limit, barely hanging on. This was my first B race and I was thinking I should have stayed at Cat 5. But after a while the pace slowed enough for me to take a drink and recover.
After the first lap there were some surges, and some scrambling to stay in the lead group, but the pace wasn’t too bad. I stayed out of the action up front, just sat on.
As we entered the final lap I started trying to move up but at a certain point hit a logjam. The rider next to me said “Forget it dude. Your race is over.” He was right. We were jammed into a single lane and there was an impenetrable wall of riders in front of me, from the center line to the gutter, and it was like that all the way to the front. We had been warned that crossing the yellow line would mean instant disqualification, and I could see the official’s car behind me. There was just no way. In retrospect I should have moved up sooner.
Most of the riders had ridden the event before and the peloton was comfortable and non-sketchy. The only thing that was at all questionable happened at mile 37 when this guy in front of me screams “I’m cramping!” and stops pedaling. As the tightly packed riders skittered around him he said, helpfully, “Go ahead and pass me. It’s alright”. I finished the race roughly mid pack in the lead group.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice job Mitch! It sounds like that if you hadn’t been log jammed you may have been able to keep moving up in the peloton. Awesome!
Great job Mitch!
Great job bro!!!
Thanks for representing and the report!
Good job, Mitch. One quick comment, your race is never over. Maybe someone else’s race is, but always look for the opening. All it takes is a moment, and a race can change. I’ve been packed in a lot, myself.