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Rock Hill, SC and Brattonsville, SC Races
Published: 04/08/2004Photos: Slideshow of Images
Singin' songs about the southland - part II
Hi everyone, I hear the weather up there isn't treating you guys so well. I'm sorry to hear that. There must be some reason we all choose to remain in New York. It definitely isn't the weather, or the low taxes. It must be the months of July and August. Hang on, we're almost there.
Sat. April 3 Rock Hill, South Carolina - The Crit
The crit takes place on the Winthrop University campus. A nice loop around Winthop Lake, one small winding hill, smooth corners, nice road conditions. The field was 85 strong with many teams represented.
The pace was fast. Let me tell ya, these guys really know how to put the hammer down. Even with the large field, it was easy to move up on the climb. The straight stretch to the finish line had a strong head wind, so if you were feeling strong and didn't mind wasting a little energy you could move up there also. Corner one was a nice sweeping turn, you could actually take the corner through the grass. It was safer than it sounds. And a lot of fun.
Just about the time the race started to have the getting close to the finish feel, something goes wrong. Somehow while going up the climb with 7 laps to go someone manages to go down right in the middle of the field. I'm not sure what happened, I wasn't close enough to see what started the crash. I was close enough to feel the effects. People started going down all around me. I locked up my rear wheel for 30 feet. The smell of burning rubber and melting carbon was thick. People were piled up all over the place. I looked to my left and there was a guy holding two halfs of a Cannondale. He was screaming "my frame, my frame". Somehow I was able to stay upright. I came to a complete stop without putting a foot on the ground.
USCF rules state, if you are involved in a crash you must have one foot on the ground to take a free lap. The smart thing to do would have been to place a foot on the ground, ride around to the start/finish line and take my free lap. I chose the second best idea. I tried to chase back on. Not a chance. Just another 15 minute lactate threshold workout.
Oh well, the race was still a lot of fun. I still got a great workout. The weather was great. The riding was fast.
Sunday April 4th - 75 mile road race
The road race started in historic Brattonsville. Some old town that South Carolina seems to be very proud of. I never learned any of the history of Brattonsville, but it was a nice place to start a road race. The course was 37 miles long, rolling hills, winding roads. The start was a little cold. Well cold for these southerners. I think it was in the low 50s. In New York we would have been extremley happy in April with 50 degree weather but these guys were all bundled up. I saw people with leg warmers, arm warmers, headbands, botties and gloves thick enough for ice fishing.
The race begins and almost off the gun 2 riders attack. The field seems to ignore them and just meanders along. 15 minutes into the race we take a left turn and then soon after a quick right. Well, we were supposed to turn right. All but five missed the turn. It didn't take long to get the whole group turned around. Before we made it back to the turn the masters break away got to the corner first. Then we made it, then the masters field pulled up right behind us. Somehow the officials on the motorcycles had not realized what the 3 field had done. They assumed that we were going too slow. The 3 field is neutralized and the masters are allowed to pass.
Well let me tell you things started to get confusing. It didn't take long before the 3's started to realize they had 7 up the road, most likely moving quickly. While the 3 field is moving extemely slowly. Arguments broke out between riders in the 3 field and one of the motorcycle officals. I headed a group of 3's around the masters and up to the front. I think there were about 7 of us that made it to the front. I guess the other 3's hadn't realized what was happening, or at least what I thought should be happening.
Now at the front of the masters I had no choice, I had to bridge to the break. There was only one rider that went with me. Luckily he was strong and we were able to bridge to the 5 man break. Now that we had made it the only thing left to do was to chase down the only 2 remaining riders up the road. But no sooner did we start our chase- here comes Mr. official. "Ya'll are neutralized" this time his voice was a little more stern. All that hard work for nothing.
Well finally all the 3's are back together. Just like it should be. We had been neutralized for about 10 miles. Riders around are saying things like"Oh well, it's a good training ride" I'm thinking hey there's still 50 miles left in this race. I think maybe we can still have a bike race here.
So the race continues and it's a lot of fun. Lots of good racing still takes place. We still ride 75 hard miles. There are still attacks, break aways, chases and winners. All and all a great day in the saddle.
I guess the lesson to learn from this race is, hey that's bike racing. Bike racing is different than most sports. Road races take place on public roads. It's hard to make a road race a perfect racing ground. Many cyclists think everything should be perfect. Potholes should be filled, corners should be swept, there should be a corner marshall on every corner. Fortunately bike racing isn't perfect. The unpredictable conditions of road racing make it a unique sporting event. So I think when somewhat frustrating conditions, such as the one described above, occur,we(cyclist) should consider that just another unique occurrance in a race. I'm sure looking back on this race the most memorable moments will be, being neutralized and having the masters pass us. But this won't be a bad memory; this is a unique memory.
- Thanks for reading, Scotty H.
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Rock Hill, SC and Brattonsville, SC Races
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