Lynchburg ~ UDF/Reser Bicycle Outfitters

SOOOOOO i started today already having an awesome sunburn and a dehydration headache, not so hot. The course was dead flat as promised with some wind, so the field broke up like Benifer on the second lap. The race gave me some pretty serious flashbacks to the semester I spent at Bowling Green State U. which was probably the worst 4 months of my life, needless to say I was feeling pretty friskey and ready to kick some #*%! I made the break then by the end it came down to me and Mr. Obrien Forbes (sorry if i spelled that worng), I couldnt put up much of a fight, but just like a fat girl at the prom.....i was just happy to be there (sprinting for 1st that is).

Thoughts that came into my head mid race-
1) no matter wether I won or lost, I was still a winner because 22 years ago out of thousands, possibly millions of sperm I was the fastest
2) Second in a bike race isnt too bad, 2nd in many other things, like flip-cup for example is bad
3) being short is pretty sweet in windy road races, being short picking up girls isnt too cool
4) in 4 weeks im going to be in the Bahamas getting a sunburn, not in a cornfield

High drama in the 4/5 GC. Two laps into the race I was riding at the front of the field when I experienced a rear blow out. I thought my race and lead in the GC was over. The team went into action , Jeff Yenchar went to the front to slow the field down, Jeff German and Jim Maston pulled over, Jeff gave me his wheel and calmed me down (I was in full panic mood), Jeff took off on Jim’s bike, Joe came off the front along with Bob Grimm , and to my surprise, Matt Davidson (second in the GO) in a great show of class came back to pull me back to the field. Matt's team along with David Jepson (third in GO) slowed the field to wait for me. Matt, Bob, Joe and I hammered it into the wind to rejoin the field.
After the drama was over, Joe went back to the front to help drive the race to the pack sprint to the finish. Joe put me right where I wanted to be for the sprint and the top three crossed the line inches from each other. Matt Davidson got me at the line, considering his show of sportsmanship and class,I was happy he got past me. Today was the hardest I’ve raced to date. I was happy to have the team support.
I want to thank Jeff German, Joe Bonnell, Jeff Yenchar, Jim Maston, Bob Grimm, and Matt Davidson for their help and support. The best was seeing Jeff German finish on Jim's Matson’s 55cm bike.

This was a tough race. The wind was blowing and the women were all over the place speed wise. It did get frustrating, but after seeing these women race a few races, I let them set the pace.

Around the third lap the peleton got broken up. I ended up in a group of 7 with Shari. We all worked together to finish the third, fourth and final laps. Taking turns in the lead. Whenever possible Shari and I took the pace up a bit. The last lap got interesting. I pulled for a long while, no-one would let me back, then I got dropped, then picked up the pack again. It ended up in a sprint to the finish. Shari tried to make it more interesting, but was tired from all the pulling. I ended up sprinting with three Revolution team members. They beat me. I had raced earlier in the day and was just a little tired.

Shari and I had fun, I think. It was another learning experience. We need more team members for better control. The rest of the Savage Hill Women were missed and not just by Shari and I.

Thanks to all the guys for the encouragement as you all went flying on by. Great team spirit and effort.

Well it was more like a movie than a race. These nice polite, touchie, feelie race reports do not tell the tale of the 4/5 race. Let me set the record straight....

Prior to the race we all knew what our jobs were. Here is the truth that is yet to be told.

Lap 1.
We (actually Joe and Jim) worked hard and set a nice pace in the cross wind. We were gutter to gutter Savage Hill.

Lap 2. We went in to the wind and let Wheelie Fun do some work. My job was to shadow the #2 GC man and take care of Blair. As we turned in to the wind on the back stretch Blair moved toward the front, and I went with him. Jim got popped off during a surge because he was working so hard at the front for more than half a lap. and Wheelie Fun was at the front. PoP! I heard the tire blow, Blair and I pulled over and the Drama began. I popped off my rear wheel and had trouble getting it on Blairs bike, especially with the temper tantrum being thrown by our dubious leader. Short of slapping some sense in to him, I let him know that everything was fine and he needed to relax. In went the tire, I shuffled my feet like Fred Flintstone in my cleats to get him pushed off..... and up rolls Jim.

Jim says, "Take my bike and try to chase back on" Without thinking I jump on and begin the Shrine Circus/Keystone cop routine for the next 30 miles. I tried to draft on the pace car but every time I would get dialed in, it would surge away from me.

Lap 3
George from the sidelines tells me Blair is back on. I keep hammering but I can't get a full leg extension on the pedal stroke. Jim runs like a 100mm crank arm or something, anyway, So I scoot my rear end over the back of the seat and fight to get more out of this bike.(which I should mention is quite nice.)

Lap 4
I almost make contact with the group when all of a sudden there is a crash and all of the vehicles get in the way. Someone attacks once they see the crash and goodbye peleton. At that point I just wanted it to end.

Blair was a gratious leader and is a deserved champion. This was the most amazing display of class I have seen from a group of greenhorns like the 4/5's. I had a great time.

Today I feel the pain of the 55cm frame.

That's my version of the truth.

Great Job everyone!

If spring races are all about training, at least I did that.

Flat fast and windy. What could the promoter do to make it interesting? Throw in a $10 prime every lap, as long as the leader was in a breakaway. I inadvertantly ended up in one the second lap when I was merely trying to get the field to chase a solo break attempt. I couldn't challenge it, but it was fun being off the front for the better part of a lap.

I saw Todds wreck unfolding in front of me. I thought I was safe when I saw both riders going off the road but then the Unizan bike bounced back into the road in front of me, sans cyclist. I barely avoided it and Todd who was rolling back onto the road, albeit slowly. I really question whether I did the right thing by continuing on, but I can't say I did much thinking at the moment. Todd was rolling so I figured he'd recover. The field, unfortunately, made a major surge at that point and I had to work pretty hard just to get back on myself. Only after that effort did I start thinking

So the rest of the race I was the solo Savage in the field. The majority of the field did nothing but sit in while one or two teams sent off breakaways and blocked. There was very little organized chase work, so I kamikazied the rest of the race trying to foil the blocks, mostly with the help of Cycledot.

Can we just pay Dayton the GC now so maybe they'll start racing again? I didn't see one of them make a single move until the last 100 meters.

Had high hopes of placing well today. But I got taken out by an attacking Unizine Bank rider, that sat up during the attack, look left over his shoulder and move sharply right into me. I then cyclocrossed for 50 meters in a ditch. I didn't go down put the rider hit the pavement. Couldn't bridge back to the field, had to stop and lossen my rumbing rear break.

My best race this year. Helped pull Blair back to the group after a flat. Sat on or near the front all day. Reeled in a break or two. Best team performance for the 4/5 team I've ever been a part of. Bike racing the way it was meant to be!

What a gorgeous day for a race; the wind made things interesting, as did the official’s decision to make us race 40 miles. Sometimes I managed to be screened from the wind, sometimes not, so I’m learning. What I’m slow on learning is how long to pull. I hated the speed games the women were playing, so I’d bump the speed up when I was up front, trying to hurt them. Seems I only hurt myself.

In the third lap, after the turn from the one-lane farm road, a breakaway with 5 or 6 women happened, and I was still too winded from my recent pull to get the jump I needed. I gotta say, I love the way the Bianchi responds, though, once my legs are ready to go. The old bike never could have seen me try what I did. I talked myself into pushing up the pace to give chase, and my heart rate soared as I made my way through the field until I was leading the chase. For a while, no one was right behind me, but I was working way too hard and had to admit I wasn’t going to catch them. Another woman caught me, but I was mistaken in my hope that after drafting off me, she’d pull. Nope--her teammates were in that breakaway. As I slowed, trying to get my heart rate out of its near redline zone, all the remaining women came back together.

That was the story of the race, then, us in the pack, and me being stupid. On the last stretch into the headwind, the pace slowed so incredibly, I couldn’t let it stay there. I miscalculated how much I had left, and attacked. My hope had been to break the field up so there were fewer of us together at the end. Foiled again. I whimpered my way to the back, and when the next attack happened, my heart was still racing, and I couldn’t respond. It didn’t help that I had run out of water that lap. My mistakes made me come in trailing the field. Wendy did a great job, doing pulls behind me and keeping the speed up to where I’d brought it. In the end, she had legs left and did a nice job fighting all the way to the finish.

This is an interesting report to write. For the second race of the day things started off well. The first lap featured Joe Bonnell and I doing the pace making keeping Blair nice and tucked in behind with faithful leiutenant Jeff right beside him. Down the second road of the second lap I had slipped back to 7th or 8th to take a breather and someone launched an attack down my left side. I countered and was joined by Joe. This was my undoing...I blew up chasing. As I started to slip back I realized just how fast I had pulled the first lap down the back stretch. Coming up the finishing road I see Blair and Jeff quickly pull over to the left. Blair blew a tire. We convinced him the race wasn't over and to take Jeff's wheel because that was the only compatible rear wheel we had. I knew I wouldn't be able to pace Blair back up so I gave Jeff my bike so he could get back on and work for Blair.

From my vantage point, in a car, the race got real entertaining. As we all know Jeff has about 8 inches on me and rides a frame 5cm larger then mine. If you've ever seen one of those tiny bikes ridden by clowns you'll understand what I watched for the next 2 laps. I have to hand it to Jeff he never gave up and kept trying to get back to the group. Now I also know not only does Jeff not like my bike, he doesn't care for my choice of sports drink either.

Back to the race, today was one of the best displays of sportsmanship I've seen in a bike race in a very long time. Matthew Davidson, 2nd place to Blair in the GC, waited up for him and slowed the peleton allowing Blair to get back on. Joe dropped back to bring Blair up to the group. While the race didn't go as planned we worked well together as a team.

Of course I must mention what a good job both Wendy and Shari did in the womens event as well.