MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB

The District Road Race Championships in Natchez, MS would be the final series of road races of a very successful 2009 season for our NOLA Lending Racing team.  We would field a strong group of guys for the weekend with six riders in Saturday's Masters race including Charlie, Ed, Jay, Jerry, Mark and me.  On Sunday, Ed was racing in the Category 4 race in the afternoon while Jay, Jerry, Mark and me would compete in the Category 3 race on Sunday morning.

As has been the case for the last four years I have raced with the Masters, the district road race would be one of the strongest fields of the year.  Russ Walker was there looking to repeat his win from last year as were Frank Moak, Tracy Martin, Woody Boudreaux and a bunch of other strong riders.  We know the field is going to split and will try to get a rider in with the break.  They combined the 30+, 35+ and 45+ field.  Ed, Jerry, Mark and me are racing as 35+ while Jay and Charlie are 45+.

Masters Race

The race starts and for a change Russ doesn't fly off the front and stay away.  Actually, Jerry was the one pushing the pace a little at the start keeping thing moving.  Jay gets off the front with John Smith, Randy Legeai and maybe another rider and Russ moves to the front of the pack to keep the pace high to bring them back in.  During the second of our nine laps on the ~5 mile course, I end up off the front of the pack for a little under a lap but no one bridges to me and I assume Russ again drives the pack.

On the third lap, Ed bridges up to a LaS'port guy and they stay away for a lap or so.  An attack by John Smith forces the group to chase and eventually we just about close in on them.  Russ was still doing a lot of work.  I see Jay dropping back from near the front with a flat about the same time James Bagley (the only 30+ rider) attacks.  Frank and Randy go with him.  Since Jay is getting a wheel change and Charlie is looking for him near the back, it won't do us much good to chase them now since it only contains 45+ riders. 

Ed wasn't quite into the group yet and sees the break starting.  He wasn't in the pack so didn't know Jay's situation.  He only knows that there is no NOLA Lending rider with them so he starts working hard to bridge.  Jay pushed hard and finally catches on and then moves to the front to chase the 45+ riders away.  We catch up with Ed who is feeling his effort. 

The fifth lap is when things blew apart.  Russ pushed the pace up the thee hills that come in succession right after the start.  I saw Jay slipping back near the end of the first one and I started dropping off as we crested the second one.  Mark and Jerry were still with the group ahead of me.    As I fought over the third hill, I could see that Russ and Tracy Martin are gone and Woody, Mark, Jerry and John Smith are in a group in front of me.  I am with a group including Scott Gurganus, Grant Dona and Nelson Daniel.  We eventually all get back together before the end of the lap.
 

Woody and John both have team mates up the road so aren't working to catch them which leaves Mark, Jerry, Scott, Grant and me.  Grant's paceline skills weren't the best and although he was trying hard, I wasn't too disappointed when he flatted and we moved on without him.  We continued working the entire race.  We eventually caught Randy who got dropped from the break but everyone else in the lead group was gone.  Jerry was looking pretty strong and I was telling him to save something for the finish while Mark and I tried to do more work.  I was starting to cramp pretty good by the last lap and as we got closer to the finish I tried a couple of attacks off the front to try to force Woody or John to chase.  I dumped what little I had left going up the last little climb up the levee before the sprint to the finish.  Mark came around me and tried to provide Jerry a leadout but we were all pretty spent.  John got by Mark and then Woody came around him just at the finish line.

Mark was 5th in the Master 35+ group, Jerry was 7th and I was 8th.  Charlie finished 7th in the Master 45+ field holding on and completing the race after getting dropped on that 5th lap.  Jay and Ed along with a host of other riders dropped out shortly after the 5th lap when the field was shattered knowing they were going to race the next day.
 

Category 3 Race

The Category 3 field was fairly small with about a dozen riders and Jerry, Jay, Mark and me would make up a quarter of the field.  The race was 72 miles or 14 laps on the course.  We were pretty sure things would start a bit slower than yesterday's Master race which was 9 laps.  Our plan is to pretty much keep things together setting a moderate pace and not look to do any attacking until after 5 - 6 laps.

Jed Darby with Precision Bike got off the front a early but we just set a steady pace on the front to keep him in sight before catching him during the second lap.  I was looking to do quite a bit of early work on the front to keep the other guys fresher.  We pretty much took turns setting the pace as planned.  The roads were a bit slicker today with overnight rain and on-and-off rain.
 

After the fifth or sixth lap, Jerry moved to the front on the hilly section and pushed the pace.  Jed grabbed his wheel followed by Jay.  The started pulling away from our group as we topped the hill.  A few guys start exchanging pulls to chase them back.  A younger guy named David from Starkville, MS attacked hard out of the pack instead of working with the other riders and I went with him as did Mark.  He eased up and Mark jumped to bridge up to Jerry and Jay.  I was pinched on the center line and couldn't go but David went hard again.  This time when he died I would bridge across and it would us four plus Jed in the break.
 

I start chasing the pack while conducting a body check.  I slid mostly on my butt and can feel the road rash on both cheeks.  I reach down and am touching skin as the skidding ripped the ass out of my bib shorts on both sides.  I have a some scrapes on my arm and can feel a few scratches on my back but that appears to be the extent of it.  I catch the pack after a mile or so but there is no need for me to chase with three team mates off the front. 

The pack is moving pretty slow and I still have an adrenaline rush so I attack during the hills on the next lap with hopes of bridging up the break away.  I catch up with Jed before I complete the lap.  I am feeling a little tired and don't really have much of reason to bridge any longer.  Scott Gurganus had flatted sometime during all this and had caught back up the pack and started organizing a chase.  We all end together and for the remainder of the race I pretty much just sit in and jump on any break attempts.

Robert McNeely with S3 and another rider where with our pack the whole time and never did a lick of work.  I wasn't sure what they had left in their legs but I wasn't planning to wait until the final sprint to find out.  My legs were definitely feeling the miles but I was sure everyone else was probably in the same boat.  I was going to attack on the hills on the last lap and work with whoever was able to come with me.  A guy from Memphis was a little ways off the front since he didn't go neutral when everyone else did to let a couple of Cat 1/2 riders off the front go by us.  It isn't a big deal since I am pretty sure I will catch him when I attack.  We top the levee heading for the start of the last lap when I hear the rhythmic "psssst" sound of air coming from my back wheel.

I ask the motorcycle escort the whereabouts of the wheel truck and he tells me it is the last lap - not sure what that meant.  I won't make it a 100 meters much less 5 miles.  I turn back into the parking lot and ask the Cat 1/2 wheel truck which just pulled in for a back wheel.  They seem to be occupied parking their truck when Nick Burckel offers me a wheel.  I take it and finish the last lap solo.  I pass the Memphis guy who was walking his bike on the back side of the course.  I figured he flatted.

I finish the race and give Nick back his wheel.  We all parked in another area of the state park and I now need to hang around a little longer in my assless bibs waiting for the wheel truck so I can ride back to the car and change.  Mark had my back wheel on his bike and it took some thinking to get a combination of inflated tires that would allow us all to ride back to the cars.

Ed had been working the feedzone for us in the rain before starting his Category 4 race.  They had a pretty big field but I couldn't stay to watch it.  The skies opened up on my drive home and I figure Ed had a pretty nasty go of it.  Although I don't think his ass was showing for ~50 miles on the bike, I understand his race was quite an adventure.  (Ed's race report is here)