Race Report for Forrest City Classic from BlakeR (Jul 17)

The Bitter Biker Report
Forrest City Cycling Classic 2006 ` Forrest City, AR
Cat 3/4 Crit, TT, RR

Short Version:

3 races, 3 flats, 1 major mechanical, 1 extremely slow tire change, 2 extremely hot days of racing, I%92m considering changing my sport to perhaps bass fishing or championship Yahtzee.

Long Version:

Crit: The heat was intense at high noon as 30 guys lined up for the 3, 4 combined field. Although I was a slightly apprehensive as to how my fitness was going to stand up against the field of 3s, I was feeling strong and anxious to race. Though we were all disappointed that it was the same horrid course from last year. I was confident in my familiarity with all the pitfalls and hazards. As crit racing tradition would dictate the start of the race involved going from zero to redline by the second turn. We sere slated to go 40 minutes plus 5 laps. It was high drama as the pace, attacks and jockeying was ferocious. In addition, we also had to deal with a few non traditional crit challenges like crackheads strolling on to the road directly in front of a charging pack in a fast right turn, in addition to rounding the turn to the back side stretch and seeing a car on the course coming right at you. There were also multiple flats and at around 30 minutes in my rear rubber succumbed and I heard that frustrating rotating hiss as hard charging 140 PSI turns into a whoopee cushion.

I got to the pit area for a quick change and was launched back into the race. Picking up speed, I made the first two turns and tried to shift into my big ring and instead of smooth acceleration all I got was a terrible grinding and clacking sound. Somehow my front derailleur got tangled with the chain and the sprocket and I basically ripped my front braze on derailleur hanger off my frame! The chain was impossibly tangled in the mess of Italian components. It was a catastrophic mechanical malfunction. My race was over.

I was so disappointed because my fitness and hydration was good and I was holding good position. I know I could have given a monster lead out for the team. Sorry fellas you don%92t know how bad I wish I could have finished with you. I am so pleased to see so many of our fours finishing strong on this very difficult race as opposed to the carnage of mustard men last year.

Jason of Bikes Plus was able to undo the mess and remove the front derailluer and turn the drivetrain into big ring only set up which was would be all I needed for the time trial. I was down but not out.

TT: More heat as my mechanical woes continued. While warming up, with 18 minutes until my start time and about a mile from the start, my front wheel turned to goo. By the grace of God, John Schmidt happen to come along about 30 seconds later. He got the warm up of his life as he had to sprint back to the vehicle, grab a front wheel, bring it back to me and get to the start as he was slated to go 6 minutes before me. He came through like a champ as usual. He made his start in time and I was able to make mine.

Like Greg I had a hassle getting clipped in, but once I got going with a pair of clip ons, my skinsuit and some booties I felt like a rocket baby! I was tickling 30 at several points on the out bound stretch, but quickly settled in with a more reasonable high 20s pace for me. Slight tailwind going out and a headwind that held me in the mid to low 20s on the way back. I came in over a full minute off of Greg%92s winning time.

When we got back to town Saturday night it was John continued his heroics as he dug up a clamp on derailluer hanger that fit my frame and got my rig rolling again in order for me to exact some revenge in the road race. Thanks Schmitty!

RR: The brain broiling heat continues. Big showing of MV orange as we rolled out at 10:45 for 55 miles. We had our first real pre-race meeting (we are starting to act like a team now!), I had my assignment. I was ready to race.

We started the race with several quick attacks, but everything was shut down immediately. I was feeling great, loaded for bear, holding a good position towards the front when at mile five%85yep you guessed it, that teeth clenching, profanity inducing hiss as the brand new tube I had put in that morning went limp.

Not a big deal right? There was a wheel truck right? Well, there%92s a back story. Before the race the officials (Billy) came to us and asked us if we could remove some of our wheels and share if needed because they did not have a proper wheel truck, all they had was a mini van and could not fit all the wheels in the back. Myself and several others removed our wheels thinking it would be no problem grabbing a spare wheel if needed. You would not believe how many wheels were crammed in the back of this van. From the floor to the roof it was a jigsaw of bike wheels. I remember thinking, I feel sorry for any joker who flats because it%92s going to suck trying to dig a wheel out of this mess. Well that joker ended up being me and the first question they asked me when they pulled up was where%92s your wheels? Well, I won%92t let my frustration dictate my recap here, but basically they only wanted me to take the wheel of a teammate. By the time I spotted Rick%92s wheels, which were strapped together and buried a few wheels deep, the wheel exchange ended up taking 5 minutes or more before I got rolling again.

I gotta give props Rob Herd who valiantly stayed back with me. I think he thought I was a GC contender, but he no less sacrificed his race for me. Rob, I owe you a cold six pack of whatever you choose.

We asked if they could pace us back, but they were hesitant. Reluctantly they paced us to a point where we could just see the tail end of the pack and then literally waved bye bye. It seemed a cruel joke. So close, but so far. Every time we rounded a corner we could see the trailing riders disappearing around the next. We stayed within site of the pack until we got to the finishing hill. As we got to the bottom they were just making the right turn at the top. We never saw them again. Rob and I rode like dogs trying to close for the next lap, but by the start of lap three we knew we were done. Rob%92s pace was quicker than mine and he eventually left me behind and I rode solo two and half laps. I picked up Steve Grooms at the start of the last lap. He was blown from closing down a gap in the main pack so we rolled in 2 hours 39 minutes later to finish the race.

I sure like this event, but in it%92s second year there are still some growing pains. Though I hope they reschedule for February I will be back with a vengeance next year. At our race we will have a decent wheel truck and we will have a neutral feed zone if I have anything to do with it.

Congrats to the Cat 5 racers Andrew, Bobby and Kurt for a strong showing for MV. Andrew took the win in the road race and Bobby got second. I hope we can get their recaps at some point.

Thanks for reading. See you out there.

Blake Robertson