French Broad Cycling Classic

This past weekend I raced the three day French Broad Cycling Classic.  To start things off I was feeling a little but bellow the weather.  On Friday there was a 20k time trial.  I came in seventh in the Juniors category.

On Saturday we had a tight rectangular .5 mile criterium course.  The Juniors did 35 minutes.  The first 15 were relatively slow with minimum attacks.  The raced picked up pace when a Cat 2 Junior decided to take a flyer.  All of the juniors left in the pack worked hard to bring him back.  With 5 laps to go our newest Cartel member Brent Nixon launched an attack.  He could not hold off the pack but settled for 5th in the sprint.

Juniors the next morning started off similarly.  Then the same Cat 2 attacked and no one could follow.  Instead brining him back we let Brent and another junior go off the front.  I spent the rest of the race blocking.  Brent got third.

Cat 4’s that afternoon was a fast race with a 7 man break went off the front early and lapped the field with about 4 laps to go.  I did not make the break so I sat in and waited for them to lap us.

Fitchburg

This past 4th of July weekend the team went to Fitchburg Massachussetts for a big stage race.  For most of the junior squad this was our first stage race.

All of the best juniors in the country were there so I found myself racing for time cuts.  I made every time cut but due to my lack of attention to detail I did not know I needed to finish at least half of the final criterium to get an overall GC placement.  So thinking I had made it to the end I was much more reluctant to throw in the towel and call it a weekend.

On a happier not I would like to give thanks to Rick and Nancy Hoffarth for looking out for the team this weekend.  I know it was a thankless job but they did a great job of making sure we had clean clothes and food in our stomach.  I really appreciate them for that.

Training in the Mountains and Blood, Sweat, and Gears

This past Wendesday Eric and I went to the mountains to train.  We road with my coach Robin Farina on Wednesday and Thursday.  My dad knows a guy so on Wednesday night we got to ride on Grandfather Mt.

On Saturday Eric and I “rode” (it’s a race) Blood, Sweat, and Gears.  We got a relativly good position on the line.  We sprinted off the line to get towards the front.  Eric and I were weaving in and out of people when Eric decided it was an excellent time to get out of his big ring.  He dropped his chain and had to get off his bike to fix it.

I attacked the first climb which was Shoals Mill.  When the fifty and the hundred split off I looked around and there was only one other fifty rider around.  We knew there had to be at least one other fifty rider ahead of us because we could not see the motorcycle escort.  We got first place in sight two or three times but he was riding to strong.  Second place got away from me on the final descent and I ended up third.  I also cut over an hour off my time from three years ago and half an hour off last years.

State Games

Saturday morning Wes Satterwhite and I set out to conquer the bright and early juniors 15-18 criterium in Greensborro, NC.  A few very respectable juniors showed up to race which barely phased Wes and I.  As I sat on the line and waited for the race whistle to blow, I looked around at the competition and my heart rate shot up about 10 beats a minute.  We started the race and for the first 2 laps we averaged just under 26 mph.  About 15 minutes into our 30 minute race Daniel Clymore-Greene launched a hard attack which Wes was able to follow and then Brent Nixon and one other Jumped across the 5 second gap.  When I realized the break had the horse power to win the race I immediately went to the front and slowed things to a snail’s pace.  The break ended up finishing a minute in front of the field.  Wes got second place to the category 2 racer Daniel.  I finished 11 in the field sprint.

 

Minutes before the category 4 race there was a heavy thinder shower which made the course extra dangerous.  As the race started i knew this race was going to be very dangerous.   I stayed very close to the fron the whole race while doing my best to stay out of the wind.  With 2 laps to go I was sitting 7th wheel and someone in front of me forgot how to turn and use the breaks.  He wrecked and some how his front wheel managed to fall off and stay in the middle of the road.  I had to slow way down and then I had to ride over his wheel (I am 90% sure I ruined it).  When I accelerated back up my rear wheel lost traction which scared me half to death.  That threw off any rhythm I had remaining.  I was not able to regain my composure and then proceeded to finish about 30 seconds behind the pack.  A very upsetting finish for a great start.

NC RR report

The junior squad had a strong showing of 4 racers in the state road race championships.  We were racing for Wes Satterwhite who was the defending champion.  Wes was largely incharge of team tactics due to our tactition Chris Sheehan breaking his elbow the day before the  race making him unable to attend.  Wes  had Jake, Eric, and I attacking to keep the pace up.  Right after we finished our first of two laps Eric got “blown over” and wrecked by a mysterious gust of wind no one else felt.  The rest of the race Jake and I pulled in breaks.  When it came time for the sprint there was a big excelleration and I could not find a wheel so I was not there for Wes’ leadout.  He ended up fourth in the state.  We were happy with how well we did for our first time racing together.