Oak Ridge Velo

This weekend was the Oak Ridge Velo Classic. I was really excited about this race because it’s close to my house and it’s very hilly. I prerode the course with Tim Tidwell and co (Larry, Greg Millar, etc.) twice so I had the course dialed in. The weather looked ominous before the start with clouds of fog rolling off the lake. I put on my kit (my mom calls it a “bike costume”) and rolled up to the start line. Lucky for me, my friend Greg Casteel was the lead motorcycle. We started neutral so there was a nice warm up riding to the course. Just about the point we started on the loop the skies opened up. The wet course must’ve messed up some break pads because too guys slid right by the first turn and had to turn around. It was kind of nervous riding in the pouring rain but it wasn’t too cold. Everything stayed together until the first climb. I had just put on new Swisstop pads but I hadn’t stood on the pedals hard yet and it was a bad feeling realizing they were rubbing when I stood. So I attacked in the saddle to start wearing everyone out. I spun out on the descent so then went into an aero tuck. I mostly just kept an eye on things from the back the next lap. Nick Nichols took off and was out of sight until the climb and I just remembered to adjust the brakes so the first part of the climb I used the barrel adjusters until everything worked better and our group narrowed after some attacks. I spent most of the next lap waiting for the climb. I went to the front with an 18 year old junior from Hincapie and ramped up the pace so that by the bottom of the descent my group was down to five. Everyone worked pretty well together so we extended our lead and stayed together until the fourth time over the climb, when the Hincapie junior and I attacked on the climb, dropping two of our breakaway companions. We mostly just waited until the final kilometer which was an uphill sprint. The Hincapie junior attacked and then blew up while the rider from Memphis tried to drop me but I hung onto his wheel until about 150 meters to go when I came around to take the win. I was very happy because this was my hometown race. After the event, Greg Casteel told me he had been riding sidesaddle on his scooter to watch the race play out.
TT. The time trial was a nice, rolling course of 7.5 miles. I felt pretty good riding my normal bike but my aerodynamics couldn’t match a TT bike and I finished tenth but I was content because I gave the race a good effort. After the race I talked to Jesse Stidham and then went home to eat Thai food and rest for the crit.
Crit. We arrived at the crit early to watch the 10-14 juniors. Max Hansett took home a strong third place despite taking a month off his bike while in Belgium. The handcyclist race was very interesting to watch. There were two national champions in the race and everyone was going really fast. It was really cool. In the 15-18 race Alex animated the race even after he was sick yesterday and quickly made it a three-man race. Alex proceeded to drop the other riders in the break to take the win. After his race, Alex was nice to show me the fastest lines through the corners. I had a good cheering section because my parents were there along with my mom’s friend Sandra and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Our race started in the heat of the day but I had a supreme pit crew in my mom. She supplied me with fresh ice water and dumped ice and water down Alex’s, Phillipe’s, and my skinsuits. The race started fast. Alex and I took turns attacking the field. About 20 minutes into the race I made a move and started a group of four. We had a TCRC rider in Alex and a Memphis rider along with one other guy and me so all the major teams were represented. As soon as the break took off we started working well together and Phillipe used his strength and wits to hold back the field. One Nashville Cyclist rider bridged up and worked as well. At four to go I tried to go it alone with the encouragement of masters speedster Ron Wilson and made it to two to go before I got swept up. I still felt strong so I sat in on the last lap waiting for someone to go. On the roller before the big hill the Nashville Cyclist rider attacked up the gutter on the opposite side of the road and I wouldn’t have had any idea except for Ron Wilson telling me to “Go, now!” I was able to jump onto his wheel putting me in a good position for the sprint. On the final tricky corner, the Nashville Cyclist rider left the inside line open so I jumped and held off the rest of the riders by about a bike length. This result placed me third in the omnium because the TT was given double points. After two wins in the weekend, claims of sandbagging were flying fast but I think I will finish the season as a cat 3. Thanks for reading.