by Bryan Holloway, Atlanta Cycling Team
Race: River Falls Road Race
Date: 9-14-2002
Place: Greenville, SC
Division: Cat. 4 Men
Saturday morning saw damp conditions in the mountains along the SC/NC state line, as Tropical Storm Hannah decided to roll through the area. The River Falls road course was a 6-mile loop of rolling hills (to be done 7 times in the Cat 4 race, and 6 times in the Cat 5 race). The lap was one huge climb, followed by 5 miles of rolling hills and turns back to the start. Upon completion of the laps, the course was then to bank left, traverse another several miles, and then climb skyward to an uphill 10% grade finish. The roads were totally wet and off-and-on light drizzle kept us wondering what the hell we were doing there.
The Cat 4 race departed with about 40 riders in the field and 4 Atlanta Cyclers in the mix: Leigh Foti, Rick Richardson, Eric May, and Bryan Holloway. Leigh announced as we rolled out, "Looks like we have 3 cyclists and one non-climber today!"
The Cat 5 race rolled out 5 minutes later with Bob Heath representing Atlanta Cycling, and also included two of Bryan's friends, Shawn and Jon.
The race started brutally enough with the huge climb right off the bat. "Hey, I'm not warmed up yet!" The climb spread out the peloton on each lap, but the bunch quickly came back together on the subsequent rolling hills. The rain spoiled our strategic hopes to try some break-aways, as the Atlanta Cycling contingent decided to opt for the safer tactic of sitting on the back of the pack, rather than mixing it up at the front on those rain-slicked roads. Luck was on our side, as I have no crashes to report.
It felt like the 4s were pushing the pace respectably enough, however, 2 or 3 laps into the race, we got overtaken by the 5s! A 7-man Cat 5 breakaway caught us and friendly motorcycle official guy neutralized us. He was good at neutralizing us, I wish he'd also been good at disqualifying all the guys in our race who apparently never heard of the center-line rule, but that's a different story. Anyway, the Cat 5 train came by, and Shawn was tucked onto the end of it. Shawn declared, "I know 6 guys who need to cat up!" (Jon missed the break as he picked an inopportune moment to trouble-shoot his malfunctioning cyclocomputer...) The worst part for the Cat 4s was that a guy was solo breaking-away off the front at the time, and he was out of sight. Unable to chase, his gap grew to as much as 1' 30" at one point, but he was eventually reeled in, and the Cat 4s passed the Cat 5s back a couple laps later, as well.
About mid-way into the race, friendly motorcycle race official again pulls up alongside the peloton and announces a change in plans. We're not going to do the final climb at the end of the race, after all. Apparently, Tropical Storm Hannah knocked a big tree down across the road. I thought "surely there are lots of chainsaws and 4x4s out here in the sticks", but I guess they decided it was easier to move the finish line than the tree. This news was greeted with joy by people like Eric May, but disdain by me, as I as was looking forward to test my climbing legs. And not only did they eliminate the 10% grade, but we also now had no idea where was the finish line. Conflicting reports included "right after the final turn", "a couple miles after the final turn", etc. Our race had now turned into one of those Unknown Distance races like on the track.
Leigh hung in there quite a while, but got dropped on the big climb on the second to last lap. Se he opted to bypass his last lap and head straight to the finish line to cheer us on there.
As the Cat 4 field completed its last lap and started the 7th and final climb, most of the peloton was still intact. The Atlanta Cycling boys, still on the back, decided it was now time to move up. I accelerated up the climb with Eric and Rick right on my wheel, passing guys right and left. As we crested the top of the climb, I had moved up to about 5th position. The climb spread out the field, and about a dozen guys crested the top of the hill within striking distance. A left turn, and we were now into the Unknown Distance leg of our journey. I badly miscalculated and gambled on the "not-too-far-away" hope for finish. I kicked it in an attempt to keep the pace high to keep the group from re-forming; I figured I had better odds against 5 than a dozen... That put me in the lead, but it was way too early. "Where the hell is the finish line?!" The group of a dozen did re-form, and got on my wheel. I started to fade, and then we passed the small and barely perceptible 1k-to-go sign. The pack sped around me with Eric toward the front. A sprint finish ensued, and after the dust settled, Eric took 4th! I took 12th, and Rick took 14th.
Shawn went on to place 7th in the splintered Cat 5 race, as Bob and Jon went on to much confusion as to how many laps they did and/or were supposed to do. Best we can tell, Bob did the correct number of laps, while Jon did an extra one!
It was a fun race! Would've been a totally different contest if it had been dry and no mystery finish line locations. We'll hope for better weather luck next time...
Leigh, Rick, Bob, Jon and Shawn stayed to race the crit on the BMW test track on Sunday. Good luck guys! We look forward to the report.
-Bry