Chuck descends Powerline during the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race

Chuck Byrge competed in the 2010 Leadville 100 mountain bike race in Colorado this past weekend. This race is one of the most brutal long distance moutain biking events in the world. Levi Leipheimer (this year’s winner and current course record holder) said via twitter that Leadville was “One of the harder days [he's] ever had on a bike” and that “Everyone who competes in the [race] is tough as nails!”

Chuck proved that he’s tough as nails by pushing his body well past it’s breaking point on this high elevation course. The race starts in downtown Leadville and proceeds out of town where the gravel roads start. The course is mostly fire roads and some singletrack, and is all above 9,000 ft elevation. Fast paced riding, crowded trails (1600+ racers), and technical terrain all contribute to the excitement and danger of this event.

I felt great at the start – huge rush – left town doing 40 mph downhill and freezing to death (40 at start). Had a strong climb up Kevins – but climb was really crowded, good decent, starting feeling first twinges of cramps heading up Sugarloaf – never been a bad cramper so assumed they would go away quickly, had what was for me a great decent down Powerline (reasonable fast and didn’t crash). Was ahead of the 11 hour finish splits I had laid out. By the way, worst year for injuries officials said, 5 very serious head injuries (including one that the medic said might end in death – let’s hope and pray that isn’t the case). I went by one person being strapped to board with head/neck injury and they were waiting for helicopter to life flight him out. Very scary, probably lucky I wasn’t down as well (particularly given how way over my head I was descending at those speeds – that too was a huge rush).

After completing the climbs up St. Kevins and Sugarloaf, and the technical descent down Powerline (see video of this descent here), Chuck made the 4 hour/40 mile time cutoff at the Twin Lakes aid station with time to spare. Many riders are pulled from the course at this point due to the time cutoff. Chuck pushed on despite fatigue and cramping and started the long climb up to the highest elevation point of the course, Columbine Mine (12,400 feet). Altitude and fatigue finally forced Chuck to exit the race as he neared the summit of Columbine, but not before covering nearly 50 miles of the course in less than 7 hours.

[The]course is incredibly demanding but I thought my fitness was good – which makes it even more frustrating. Did I say the course was demanding – it never stops challenging the rider – ever, always going up, very tough surfaces to climb on, scary fast descents.

Despite not finishing the race, everyone on the Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team is proud of Chuck for toeing the line for this event. Especially as a new mountain biker who only made the transition from road to dirt a few short months ago. Inspiring stuff.

Way to go, Chuck!

Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team races just as hard off the road as they do on the road. On June 6th, racing team members Jonathan Woody, Fred Cothren, Todd Essig, and Nathan Taylor competed in the Harpeth Bicycles 6 Hours of Hamilton Creek mountain bike race. They posted great results and had an awesome time. Here is an excerpt from Nathan’s race report (originally published at Nathanrtaylor.com)

The race started at 10am and we were still messing around with stuff up until the last minute. Fred even committed the cardinal pre-race sin of wrenching on his bike right before a race. We were divided into two duo teams; Fred and Jonathan on team 1, Todd and myself on team 2. We let Jonathan and Todd race the first lap, which meant that they also had to stuff their legs into hot, itchy burlap sacks and potato-sack race for the unique twist on a Le Mans race start.

30 minutes after they dissapeared into the woods, Jonathan and Todd popped out signaling time for Fred and I to take our first laps. For the next six hours we settled into a rhythm of hot lapping Hamilton Creek’s lakeside trail, cooling down for 30 or so minutes, then spinning the tightness out of our legs for another fast lap.

We showed up with only the intention of having fun and riding a few hard miles on the bikes. No one bothered to check on lap times or results for the majority of the day until Jonathan walked over to the official’s tent with around 2 hours left in the race. He came back to our pit area holding up 1 finger on one hand and 2 fingers on the other “We’re in first, and you guys are in second”. Wow. I walked over to verify and sure enough, Jonathan and Fred were in first by around 12 minutes, followed by Todd and me. Third place was trailing us by more than 15 minutes.

Our next laps were attacked with renewed energy as we realized we might podium a race we hadn’t even planned on taking seriously. At 2:40pm, Todd entered the woods for his fifth (last) lap, and I sat down hoping he would be back within enough time for me to take my fifth lap. Only laps completed by exactly 4pm would count towards our total, and we had been averaging lap times around 35 minutes all day. 30 minutes came and went. 35 minutes. 40. After 44 minutes, Todd rolled through the relay point, “Sorry I took so long, I got a flat”. With only 35 minutes left on the clock, I kicked off.

There’s a zone you sometimes get into when racing that is different than when you are just riding around. It’s an odd mix of being hyper-aware and completely unaware at the same time. Supremely focused on each moment while retaining no attachment to anything. Very zen. On this lap, an Orc battle from the Lord of the Rings could have been happening ten feet from the trail and I wouldn’t have seen a single sword blow.

For the entire lap I was one mistake away from a hard crash. Pushing the pace and not thinking about how much time I didn’t have. When I got back to the two-way entrance, I had a good feeling that I had time to spare. Tim Spencer called out “TWO MINUTES to go!” as I rolled past the official’s table. Skin of teeth.

Jonathan Woody and Fred Cothren in 1st, Todd Essig and Nathan Taylor in 2nd

]]> http://www.harpethracing.com/2010/06/16/harpeth-bicycles-6-hours-of-hamilton-creek-report/feed/ 1 http://www.harpethracing.com/2010/06/15/peoples-community-bank-omnium-race-report/ http://www.harpethracing.com/2010/06/15/peoples-community-bank-omnium-race-report/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:47:25 +0000 Nathan http://www.harpethracing.com/?p=570

Brian Rejack was our sole representative at the People’s Community Bank Omnium recently. Here is his race report.

Last weekend I made the trek from Nashville to east Tennessee for a weekend of racing in and around Johnson City. The events included a 31-mile road race with an 8-mile finishing climb to the TN-NC border, a 2.7-mile time trial, and the TN State Championship Criterium.

The main appeal for me going into the weekend was definitely the road race. I like to think of myself as a decent climber, so the prospect of a long, 6% climb to the finish line whetted my appetite for pain. The race started slow, with no one too eager to attack given what awaited us 20 miles up the road. What I didn’t realize until looking at the data afterwards, is that virtually all of the race was uphill. We had 4219 feet of ascent compared with a measly 341 of descent. So, yes, I got my wish for lots of climbing. In any case, the first 23 miles were pretty uneventful. Just lots of moving up to stay in good position.

When the climb started, the group finally began to break apart. I stayed with the lead group of about 15 riders for the first mile or so. But when the first attack came, I knew I didn’t have it. For whatever reason, the legs just didn’t feel great. If there were a cameraman on the back of a motorcycle nearby, I would have given the ol’ hand-under-the-chin sign for “I’m toast.” Turns out this event wasn’t being televised, so I just tried to stick to some wheels instead. Eventually I found one guy whose wheel I sucked the rest of the way up the mountain. In the last K I finally came around and pulled, since I saw a couple guys gaining on us. When we got to the line, I graciously let my climbing buddy come around me. I wasn’t about to take that spot from him after he dragged me up the mountain. I ended up with 17th, which I figured wasn’t too bad for my first Cat 4 road race. It was definitely cool to do a race with a mountaintop finish.

After taking a brief nap in my hotel room, I headed over to the time trial in the evening. There were lots of disc wheels whooshing around and aero helmets cutting through the wind. But the course profile was a little lumpy, so I figured my standard road bike wouldn’t hurt me too badly (not that I had any choice). Since I’d never done a short TT before, I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured I’d just go hard and see what would happen. So that’s what I did. I didn’t puke, so maybe I didn’t go hard enough. But my main goal was not getting passed by anyone, and I met that goal. I finished 11th, about 30 seconds back of the winner. My results were getting better…

Then there was the crit on Sunday morning—the TN State Championship Crit no less. I had no aspirations of taking the jersey, but figured I’d see how I stacked up against the real sprinters. As soon as I saw James Delong from Krystal, I pretty much knew he’d be taking the jersey. That guy can sprint.

The course was supposed to have a technical sequence with 3 quick turns, but because people had parked on the course overnight, things had to be re-routed. As a result we basically got a rectangle-shaped course, which made for some fast racing (25.3 avg). My plan was just to sit in near the front and hope for the best. Early on in the race, I thought to myself, “we are gonna have a nasty wreck at some point.” We were going through corners 4 or 5 wide for much of the race, and there were quite a few sketchy moments. Every time I passed the corner with hay bales, I could smell the ensuing crash. But somehow everyone managed to stay upright. I was definitely glad we didn’t have to navigate that technical section.

There weren’t too many attacks throughout the race, so by the end we had a pretty good sized group still intact. I stayed in good position the last couple laps, and on the final one I was placed perfectly to get on the Krystal train, which was set up nicely for race favorite James Delong. I got on his wheel going into the penultimate turn and was feeling good about my chances at a decent finish. Then he took off coming out of that turn, and I wasn’t ready for it. I lost a couple spaces before the last turn, and so had to try making up some ground with my sprint. I did so and moved from about 8th to 5th,just barely missing getting 4th. But I was happy with the finish, and suddenly I was 20 bucks richer! James Delong proved my prediction right by annihilating the field in the final sprint. No one was even close. He deserves that jersey.

So I went into the weekend thinking I’d have my best result in the road race, and instead it was my worst! My crit result got me excited for the NashvilleCyclist.com crit series, which continues this week. Look for a strong contingent from Harpeth!

Chuck Crouch makes sure there isn't a field sprint

On Sunday May 30th the Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team successfully pulled off our first race. After the May 2nd date for the race was flooded out in Nashville’s 1000 year flood, the team rallied together and worked quickly to reschedule for this later date.

If you’ve ever promoted a race, you already know how much goes into making one run smoothly. We had great help from several veteran race promoters from Tristar Cycling, namely Nick Lytle and Jason Tatum who helped with setup and assisted us with running the race from start to finish. Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team President Jay Spiegel had this to say about the race:

People were very nice to say that it was well organized…I wish they felt the reality of if for a little bit. It was controlled chaos.

It might have been, but from the perspective of the racers and participants it couldn’t have run smoother. This says a lot about Jay’s leadership of the event, and the teamwork that everyone displayed. After a brief delay in the morning which caused the first race (Category 5 men’s race) to start ten minutes late the day was run on schedule. The race course was the star of the show; providing a safe, fast course that challenged competitors to give their best.

Many of our teammates who volunteered during the event also raced in it as well. The Cat 5 race had 8 team members scramble to the starting line moments after closing the race course to traffic. During the race, Harpeth was the team to watch as we had the numbers and the tactics to make the other teams pay attention. An early breakaway attempt by Nathan Taylor kept the pace high and the field in chase mode while the rest of the team stayed composed within the pack. Chuck Crouch attacked late in the last lap and put several bike lengths on second place by the time he crossed the finish line with a decisive victory. Harpeth took 4 of the top 10 positions, finishing 1st (Chuck Crouch), 3rd (Jonathan Woody), 4th (Shawn Ewing), and 8th (Chuck Byrge). Everyone raced strong and then jumped right back into volunteer tasks as soon as they finished. Congratulations Chuck and great work team!

Here’s a great video of the Cat 5 race taken by Chuck Byrge’s family.

Our Cat 4 squad had 5 racers start, and just like the Cat 5s they were in control of the race. Very few of the laps were completed without a Harpeth Bicycles jersey on or off the front of the pack. An early break by Mark Horne was brought back in by a prime sprint after staying away for a couple of laps (oh the conflict of being a teammate and race promoter!). Additional breakaway attempts by Brad Wormer and Greg Colby contributed to the high pace of the race and kept everyone strung out until the finish. The Cat 4 squad showed great teamwork throughout and placed tightly together in the final results.

A huge thanks to the TBRA crew as well. Bill Parsons did his magic with the race results (available here) and our officials officiated professionally.

The team’s first race was a success. We are looking forward to the next one (after a break, of course) and we are looking forward to racing as an amazing team in the upcoming races this season. Thanks to everyone who participated, who raced, or who just came out to watch. We would love to hear from you. Leave a comment with thoughts on the race or how we can make the next one even better.

Race results are posted at NashvilleCyclist.com for the first race in the ten race series. Harpeth Racing made a good showing in last night’s race, earning more than 50 team omnium points and starting off the series in third place as a team. These races are a perfect opportunity for someone new to racing to get their feet wet, as first time crit racer and D-Squad member John Scott can attest.

Brian Rejack and Chuck Byrge finished in the top 10 in the Cat 5 race, with Brian taking second place. His paperwork wasn’t quite official enough to let him race as a Category 4, but it will be by next week. The Cat 5s on on the team are sorry to lose him, but the Cat 4s are glad to pick up another hard hitter. Fair warning to the rest of the Cat 4s – Brian Rejack is coming for you!

Mark Horne and Greg Colby raced strong races in the Cat 4 race. Not only did they (along with Brad Wormer and Todd Essig) race almost the entire race in a strong rain, but they put in quite a performance. Greg Colby pulled off the front of the main field early in the race and held them off for several laps. Mark held tight to the main group of around 8 racers and matched every effort they put out. Both finished in the top 10.

Despite heavy rain and a weekend that brought the worst flooding in decades to Middle Tennessee, Harpeth Racing had 15 riders in the Acme Multisports Sumner County Classic Road Race.

The race, held on rural roads near White House, TN, featured a 24 mile loop of rolling terrain punctuated by a steep climb near the end. Conditions were far from optimal for a race event. Pouring rain, wind, and a tornado watch caused many of the Cat 5 to stand around before the race wondering if the officials would call the race off completely. After a 30 minute delay, the first racers lined up and were told to use caution on the wet roads.

The Men’s Category 5 race started out at a slow pace both from the neutralized start. The pace was held down for the first few miles until the lead official waved the main group through. Even with constant rain and poor visibility, the field remained relatively tight until the rolling hills on Liberty. Several short-lived attacks were attempted, but none of them stuck for long. Brian Rejack, Jonathan Woody, and Chuck Crouch stayed at the front to control the pace for much of the race and were well positioned going into the final climb.

The Men’s Category 4 race included two laps of the 24 mile course. Early in the race Brad Wormer and Greg Colby stayed at the front and drove a solid pace to make up for a lack of effective warmup in the rain. John Wade provided solid support to Greg by towing him back to into a chase group after Greg suffered a mechanical. By lap 2, the race had split into a lead group and a couple of chase groups with Harpeth jerseys working independently in both chase groups. With the difficult conditions, a flat, and a mechanical causing attrition within the group, everyone was left to ride without much team support. Our Cat 4s are riding strong this early in the season and will deliver solid race results as the season continues.

In all, Harpeth Racing had 6 out of 15 riders in the top 10 in their respective categories and two wins. Brian Rejack won the Men’s Category 5 U35 (under 35) race and Les Wooldridge won the Men’s Masters 60+ race. Great results in challenging conditions.

On Saturday, April 17^th, I headed down to Anniston Alabama to race in the Sunny King Criterium and The FootHills Road Race the following day. I was excited about watching Jamis/Sutter Home, Bahati Foundation, and Flying V duke it out Saturday Evening more so than racing my own race, but it was set to be an action packed weekend.

Sunny King- I arrived at the course early enough to walk the track, watch some early races, and relax. This event screamed PRO from the full course barricades, the jumbotron, roadside bleachers, the internet streaming, and the announcer stage with Jamie Smith, author of ‘roadie’ on the mic.  One hour to my race I started gearing up and getting the legs moving.  When time got close, I fought the crowds to take my spare wheels to the pit only to find that they were not taking wheels since SRAM was providing support to all races that day.  If you needed wheels, you got some loaner 303s, more PRO race perks.

Well unfortunately, I got to know SRAM support quite quickly. I was lined up against the left barricade. When the gun went off, the rider to my right diagonal could not clip his left foot in. The rider looks down and lifts his left foot up and OVER my  handlebars as I pass him (imagine him with his knee up looking down at his feet to examine his pedals). I pushed his leg off but ultimately had a face plant 10 feet from the line. Luckily, this was right in front of the SRAM support tent. The guy checked my bike over and held me in a time trial start so I could take my free lap. I asked him “Are you at least going to give me a rolling start?” (I’ve been in some races where they make you wait til the pack passes and sprint on to the back of the field). SRAM mechanic replies “Dude, I’m going to give you the biggest f’ing push you’ve ever had”.

They held me until an early break-away passed and then launched me off at warp speed. My lip is bleeding and I’m a little overwhelmed, but I’m back up and running. It takes me a few laps to regain my cool head and get into position in the field.  When I can start to get a read on the race, I realized Nashville’s Philip Armbrust is trying to bridge up to the break on his own. The pack stayed stagnant.

After several laps, when Philip came back to the main field I started thinking about how the race was going to finish. The field was racing for 5^th place. The riders were unmotivated to chase. It was going to come down to a field sprint for 5^th. I decided with 4 laps to go that if no one was going to chase until the sprint set-ups that it would be a good time to attack. I powered up the front uphill portion of the course and took one rider with me. After getting to the first turn, I settled in and did a hard pull. Before turn 3, I signaled my guy to come through. He pulled hard, was ultimately trying to drop me. I stuck with. At turn 1, he signaled that it was my turn again. I gave it what I had, but we shortly got sucked back in. We didn’t have enough distance when the fields “2 laps to go” speed kicked in.

Spent from my effort, I crossed the line 20^th in the field sprint. Philip Armbrust and Max Gander from Nashville grabbed top 10 positions!

The highlight for me was speeding around the course with the fans all banging on the barricades in support. It really was fun.

FootHills Road Race- I signed up for the 3/4 combined race. For the first 8 miles of the race, I was on the back- not where I wanted to be.  I had to overcome any notion that this was the category 3 race and I was just there to ‘check it out’.  The slinky effect in the back was so bad that I was going to get exhausted before the race even go going.  Nashville Cyclist’s Mathew Meunier went with an early attack which stretched out the field. This was my opportunity. I charged up the side of the field until I found Krystal’s Jay Martin and Philip Arbrust.  Neil Fronheiser jumped on the front of the field and slowed the pace for his teammate up ahead. The field bunched back up and I locked in better position.  Lots of hills, lots of attacks, but things ultimately were together coming to the final big climb. I tried to stand up on the climb, but the legs were not having it. I had no option but to ride my zone as the main race went slightly ahead.  Fronheiser, Martin, Armbrust and I regrouped at the bottom of the hill and all finished strong against the subgroup we were in.

Nathan leads the downhill corner at the Tour de Tuscaloosa crit

Harpeth Racing team members Brian Rejack, James Martinez, and Nathan Taylor headed down to Tuscaloosa, AL last weekend for the 4th annual Tour de Tuscaloosa. The races started at noon on Saturday with a criterium race through downtown Tuscaloosa, and concluded on Sunday with a road race at nearby Lake Lurleen State Park.

Saturday’s criterium race was held on a challenging course consisting of 8 turns, with a fast downhill and a short steep uphill section. The weather for Saturday was near perfect, with warm temperatures and clear, sunny skies. The only negative was a considerable headwind blowing directly into the racers faces at the bottom of the downhill and carrying through the uphill beat.

Brian Rejack faced the fast paced race head on and finished 8th in the Category 5 race. Nathan and James were both racing their first crits and learned a lot from the race, both finishing with mid-pack results.

Sunday’s road race was on a 10 mile loop of rolling hills with two longer climbs on rural roads near Tuscaloosa. The weather report threatened racers with thunderstorms, and no one was looking forward to rain with the cooler morning temperatures. The Cat 5 road race was led out of the neutralized zone into the pouring rain and wind of a thunderstorm. Poor visibility, dirty road spray, and blowing wind resulted in sketchy pack behaviors as the group climbed the first hill. Wet roads and tire spray were on the agenda for the first lap of the 3 lap race.

 Once again, Brian Rejack showed his strength and experience from last season by staying up front in the main field through the fast first lap. Nathan lost contact with the field, but was able to organize with several other disconnected riders to chase back into contact on the second lap. James and Nathan both lost contact with the main field for the rest of the race on lap 3, leaving Brian to fend for himself for an impressive 5th place finish. His two top ten finishes were especially notable considering the high level of competition that this race attracted from Alabama and the surrounding region.

Nashville area cycling teams were out in full force for this event, with strong showings from NashvilleCyclist, Team Belladium, SVMIC, Cumberland Transit, Team Gran Fondo, and many others. Congratulations to everyone who raced, and a huge thanks to Velocity Pro Cycles for hosting this great event.

Criterium results here: http://velocityprocycle.com/merchant/1093/files/2010TdTCritResults.pdf

Road Race results here: http://velocityprocycle.com/merchant/1093/files/2010TdTRRResults.pdf

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

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.