On March 21st, SVMIC Cycling hosted the Hell of the South road race in Berlin, TN. Modeled after the Spring Classics of professional cycling, the 25 mile course took racers over rolling hills, rough pavement, dirt, gravel, and rural chipseal roads. Harpeth Racing had sizable groups in both the Men’s Category 5/Women’s Category 4 “C” race, and the Men’s Category 4/Women’s Category 3, 2, 1 “B” race, with a total of 15 racers representing the team.
The C race was well controlled in the second half by Chuck Byrge, Shawn Ewing, and Brian Rejack, who took 6th, 7th, and 13th places respectively. In the B race, Brad Wormer and Mitch Boult did a lot of the pace making on the first of two laps before suffering a mechanical failure (Mitch) and a slashed sidewall (Brad) and dropping off of the main group. Mark Horne and Les Wooldridge sat within the main field for the majority of the two lap race before coming to the front for the final sprint. Mark Horne pushed hard to take 2nd in the sprint. Our additional team members rode well, took pulls, and made sacrifices where they could for the strong riders in each category.
The team congratulates Mark after his 2nd place finish in Hell of the South
Mark Horne posted a report of the Hell of the South event to the team forum shortly after the race. This is his report.
It is easy to talk strategy before a race but it is a whole other animal to actually pull it off. I think the important thing is to have a good idea of what you want to accomplish as a team before the race begins and know that this probably isn’t exactly how things are going to shake out. Strategies evolve throughout the race and that is where communication is key. I felt like we did a pretty good job of that in the B race yesterday. I say pretty good because I know I was feeling it on the first lap. I tried to let Jay and Brian know it but after the feed zone/recovery period I felt much better. I guess I just wasn’t anticipating that recovery time and how my body would react.
I don’t know if every race will have a period like this or not but what I have learned so far is that most do. If you can exert a little more effort to stay in the lead group until this point, you can recover and hopefully get your “second wind.” Remember, if you are hurting then the rest of the guys are probably hurting too. Stick with it as long as you can; that’s what the others in the lead group are doing as well. After the lull does come, as it did yesterday, the field will be splintered and you will have fewer people to deal with.
As far as an actual recap as I remember it, here we go. From the beginning the pace wasn’t that hard. A guy from Team Biker’s Choice tried a solo breakaway; he is a very strong rider and it this was known throughout the peleton. There was some discussion on whether to try to chase him down or not, but we all felt like there was no way he could stay away for the duration of the race. If he did, then as Greg has mentioned, we were screwed anyway. He did stay away for about 15 miles and stayed near the front for the rest of the race.
There was a center-line rule that was loosely enforced. The marshals honked at us a little but there were no yellow lines so the center of the road was at first blurred and then basically completely ignored. Because of this it was pretty easy to improve your position. But, since everyone was using this to there advantage, I seemed to be constantly moving back and trying to regain a more favorable position. In hindsight, maybe this is why I was getting pretty worn out on the first lap. I should have pushed to get up with my other teammates at the front. I would have to say that they were playing a big part in controlling the race. I guess as Brad said, there is a definite advantage to being in the first third of the field.
So, I basically was towards the middle of the pack for the first part until right before the dirt/gravel section. I swung around probably twenty people to get towards the front, knowing that we would drop people off through that section. I heard some remarks but just kept going. All I recall from the first time through the “off-road” section is seeing water bottles everywhere and being happy to get through it. It really wasn’t that hard but you definitely had to concentrate on everything around you. Right after this point I heard a tire blow, which come to find out was a teammate, Brad. He had looked very strong and I had wondered later on during the race where he was. Who knows, if that wouldn’t have happened then we might have been able to organize a lead-out for the final sprint and come home with the win.
There were some definite surges for the remainder of the of the first lap, but I held on. I was getting closer and closer to my limit but kept fighting. Then, the feed zone came and things settled down for what seemed like 10 minutes. At his point I was talking with Brian and we noticed how much the peleton had shrunk. This break is exactly what I needed. I didn’t have to much of a problem hanging on until right after the off-road section. Brian and I talked about that after the race. As soon as the dirt ended, the pace picked up quite a bit and that was probably the hardest effort excluding the finish. I was just close enough to fight back to hang on. If I had been much further back, I’m not sure I could have reconnected. From there, there were a couple of attacks; none of which seemed to be any real threat. Flat roads and still a peleton of approx. twenty riders.
The final push to the end started with what seemed like a mile to go. There was a lot of jostling for position. I saw out of the corner of my eye and heard some idiot as he tried to go around through the gravel on the left. I proceeded to get over to the right and happened to get behind what looked like what was going to be the winning lead out sprint (3 SVMIC guys). Their attempt was blocked and I would have to say they were pretty pissed. I immediately went to the middle and was actually just trying to be safe, seeing as all of the danger seemed to be on the edges. And then, to my excitement, the middle opened up. I went as hard as I could through the opening and beat out a nemesis from last year for second.
What a great race and incredible feeling. If it weren’t for the mechanicals from Brad and Mitch, there’s no telling how the race would have finished. I know those guys were riding very strong and both of them would have been there at the end.
- Mark Horne
