The US Pro Championship race on Memorial Day here in Greenville was quite the event. No one can complain about negative racing from that peloton! It made for a very exciting finish — though for those of us here in Greenville, it wasn’t quite the finish we hoped for.
There was some more racing going on in the Upstate this weekend. Saturday, of course, was the US Pro Championship TT. Sunday found hundreds of riders converging on the rural roads of Pelzer, SC for the SC State Road Racing Championships. I was one of them.
POA Cycling Team had riders in three of the Masters fields. 35+, 40+, and 50+. I was helping out in the Masters 40+ race. Mark Caskey, Rodney Dender, Reece Jackson, and I would be working to get Mark into a break or if needed set Rodney up for a sprint finish. My only concern personally was that I wanted to take as much work off of our top two guys as possible.
We rolled off early – around 8:10 AM. At first I wasn’t happy with the early start time. I just don’t seem to ride well in the morning. It is probably due to the fact that most of my training has to take place after I get off work.
However, by the end of the race, I was very thankful for the early morning start! Even as we were finishing up two and a half hours later the temperature was beginning to rise and it was hot. I was feeling for the racers who came after us.
We had our own work to do. The course was altered the morning of the race so that it added about two extra miles per lap for us to cover. However, the selection hill up to the traditional finish was taken out. We would only have to deal with hills on the back part of the course.
We got started slowly. One rider went off the front and the field let him go. He got a relatively good gap but then the distance stuck and we would see him off in the distance on some of the straighter sections. Then action started picking up as we turned onto Dunklin Bridge Road. Mark and Rodney were near the front as a break began to develop.
I moved up to cover it and took a long pull on Dunklin and then onto the finishing straight. As we kept it going the gap began to close. Funny, but the thing that was going through my mind was after this effort I didn’t know how long I would last and I hoped I could stay pulling until we reached the line. At least then people would know I had been there!
That didn’t happen. I started to wane just in sight of the officials’ trailer. Others came around me and took up the chase. At that point I just tried to tag onto the field. The surge put me in difficulty and a gap began to form. “No!” I yelled in my mind, “I am NOT going to drop now.” I knew if I could just hook back onto the tail of the riders in front of me, I could recover.
The terrain worked in my favor. The road dipped before we reached two significant climbs. It was just enough for me to work my way back onto the field and recover before grinding up the climbs. I fell back a little, but stayed in the group.
About a third of the lap through, I was feeling recovered and started picking my way through the field to get back to the front. I didn’t know how much I could help at this point, but I wanted to be in position should the need arise. The opportunity came once again on Dunklin Bridge.
A break had formed again and as I looked ahead, I could see Mark on the point pulling the field at a tempo pace. In my mind, he didn’t need to be there. He was taking wind and if a counter started he would not be in position to hop in it without bringing the rest of the field with him. Of course, Rodney was not much farther behind him and it crossed my mind that Mark was there to help spring him into a break.
Whatever the case, I figured it was my job to be taking the wind for Mark. I moved up the right side of the field and slotted into the point position. “Steady tempo,” Mark said. “Just hold a steady tempo.” I found a comfortable power range and settled in. We continued this way until a flurry of activity started to my right and attacks started. I saw Rodney going.
I stood to cover another rider and felt immediately that if I wanted to be a help closer to the end, I would need to conserve a bit. So, I covered myself in the field and tried to stay near the front. Thankfully, I wasn’t needed at the front as the field was coming together again.
For most of the third lap, I tried to sit in. However, as we reached the hills on the back side of the course I once again found myself toward the front. Two riders attacked and I went with them. One other rider was working to create a gap. On the last climb before turning onto Dunklin Bridge, I had to shift down and fight to stay on. However, I made it onto the fourth and final lap!
I knew there were several riders up on this last lap. From my perspective I guessed there where two — a single rider and a smaller chase group. As we continued into the final lap, I started to get concerned that we would not be able to bring them back. You got the feeling everyone was aiming for a field sprint, but if we didn’t catch the break, it wouldn’t matter.
Once more I moved to the front. I figured I would do what I could to cut into the 40 seconds or so. At that point, I knew I wasn’t going to be crossing the finish line with the field. My hope was that I could help cut down the time and then Reece could take over and help get Mark and Rodney into a better position.
My mind was filled with disappointment as I reached my limit on one of the final climbs. My brain was sending the same signals to my legs, but they weren’t reacting the same way. “Disney has caught up to me again,” I thought. The field started surging pass me and I knew if I went after them, I would absolutely blow.
Funny thing, once I got back on Dunklin Bridge my legs started to some back. That was especially the case when I got caught by a two-man break from the Masters 35+ group that had started behind us. At least it gave me a chance to cheer on my teammate, Thomas Smith, who ended up taking the win! However, I knew the main field would soon overtake me and I didn’t want to get caught up in that.
With 1K to go, I looked back and could see the glint of the Masters 35+ field coming behind me. I knew I could beat them to the line if I gave it one final effort. It didn’t really mean anything, but every little success would help me going forward. Plus, I didn’t want to get caught up in their sprint! I got across the line about 30 meters in front of them.
Turns out Rodney was able to bridge over to the chase group and win the sprint among them. That meant he ended up third in the race, but second in the state since a rider in front of him was from North Carolina. I just wish I had started working to bring back the break a bit sooner. The terrain would have worked more in our favor.
As it was, I was the last rider scored in 20th place. Considering that we started with a lot more, getting a finish was a victory. It is a little bit of confidence to put in my bag for later.
