Memphis Omnium Report, by Jacob
7th July 2008 by tubbs
Road Race
The course was flat to rolling — a hill on the first part of the lap, then several miles of rolling stuff, then a hill about 1.5 k from the finish, followed by a kicker at 1k from the finish, followed by a headwind. We started in windy, cool, cloudy weather. The first lap was pretty quick. Brent pulled at the front leading out but picked a tough time to try and recover because the field lit it up and we spent the first lap in the high 20s. The second lap saw a few early attacks and then absolutely nothing. We did a good job of talking in the group and realized we needed to save our bullets for the 3rd lap, when the action would start.
Sure enough, through the feedzone on the first part of lap 3, 18 miles to go, and a few guys attacked the first roller. They quickly got a little gap and got together. They drifted off in sight. I had talked to Lennie and told him to cover anything that had Ben Gabardi in it. Ben was not in this move, but Lennie saw the opportunity and hit out. A Motorworks guy joined the cause, they got together and went off after the 2 up the road. They seemed to dangle out there for several miles, but as we turned back into the wind, they finally got together with the other 2 and that was the break of the day. For some reason Smith & Nephew and Cumberland Transit did not chase, even though I think they were unrepresented.
With Lennie well away, we started patrolling the front, but the race was very slow and there was little to do. I hoped someone would go away and try to bridge and maybe drag Philip or Mike along, because I’m confident either of them could’ve bridged. They both looked great after riding strong in an earlier 8-man move that looked like it was going to stick. But, it was not to be and so we rolled toward the final climb. We had talked on lap 2, and agreed that Philip would hit out at the top of the climb, leaving Mike to counter around 1k to go, ramping up the pace for the finish and maybe springing free. Philip nailed it perfectly, demolishing the field and stringing out the pace. Then as he got caught, Mike moved up for his turn. Unfortunately, as we went inside 1k to go, the young long-haired Motorworks kid ran Dave McNeal off the road triggering a big pileup that took Mike down, along with many other guys (including Smith & Nephew’s Aaron Parker, who was pretty beat up, unfortunately. Hope he recovers soon.). I fortunately was ahead of it, and as we got about 600 meters out, Mark Simpson from VeloCity felt antsy and took off, trying to get over the last little rise before the field. I was on his wheel and knew he was a strong finisher, so I went along with him. We opened a huge gap but were way, way too far out. I pulled through once, then sat on and waited. Sure enough, Ben G and 2 other riders came storming out of the field. I jumped Ben’s wheel, but then HE sat up at about 400 meters. I was too far out for the sprint but had no choice — what was left of the field was coming fast. I gave it all I had but got caught by 2 guys to finish 7th overall. Lennie finished strong with the break to get 3rd on the day, and a lot of Omnium points.
Overall, excellent racing by the team. Now, if I can just do a not-embarrassing TT and a decent crit, maybe we’ll have a couple guys in the omnium money….
TT
Philip wins! Jacob 4th! Lennie 8th! Hard, steady effort from everybody. Now we’re set for the omnium… just need to deliver in the crit.
Criterium
The crit course is almost dead flat with 3 righthand turns. The only real factor today was the very strong crosswind that swept across the front and back straight — being exposed in the wind hurt badly, and you wouldn’t stay out there for long or you’d watch the field ride away from you. Our gameplan was simple: Lennie and I were both highly placed in the Omnium, and we knew if we could finish strong, we had a good chance of winning the Omnium and putting at least 2 guys in the money.
Thanks to Philip and Mike, that plan worked to perfection. Before the race, Philip and I studied the results of the RR and the TT, and tracked all the race numbers of anyone who had a shot at beating Len and I in the Omnium. We talked a good bit before the start and agreed that Philip and Mike would help cover breaks, and Lennie and I would sit in, only marking the most dangerous guys (Patrick Harkins from Nashville Cyclist, who won the RR, and a guy from Motorworks who was 2nd and had a good TT, as well as a guy from OKC who had been in the break in the RR). The race started and quickly picked up speed, and several inconsequential early moves went after primes, but nothing of substance or real danger happened for a while. 25 minutes in or so, the danger guys started showing at the front. Mike and Philip covered EVERYTHING like a blanket; I know it was stressful for them, but I’ve never been more relaxed in a race, knowing my teammates were on top of everything. Lennie and I hung mid-pack and would talk about who was nearby, who was a threat, and what needed covering, and we only put our noses in the wind when one of the top 2 or 3 guys made a move.
The other teams had not done their homework, or didn’t have the numbers to do much, because we could see Cumberland Transit and OKC chasing everything that Motorworks sent up the road — including guys that were nowhere on the Omnium leaderboard. Fortunately, we had done ours, and had the firepower to chase everything that mattered, and we kept a death grip on the race. The other teams neutralized Motorworks, and the good guys shut down everything that mattered.
As we got to about 40 minutes in, the wind kicked up pretty bad, and everytime we hit the front straight, it was blowing the peloton all over the place as guys scrambled for shelter. It was getting dicey midpack and finally it happened — a young punk who shall remain nameless, who rode like he was braindead all weekend, allowed himself to get blown over right in front of me. I watched, in slow motion, as he went straight into Philip’s front wheel. Philip’s wheel locked and he went down hard. Lackey went down too, although I didn’t know it at the time (and am glad I didn’t — I might’ve panicked). The field hit the gas and we went singlefile away from the wreck, but as we came back around I saw Philp in the pits, getting ready to go. He and Lackey jumped right back in, and were almost immediately back at the front. Seeing those guys nearby as we went to laps was huge — I knew we had it under control, and now all we had to do was play out the endgame.
So that’s what we did: Just like you draw it up, Philip came to the front with 1 to go and threw down one of his now-patented MONSTER pulls into the windy backstretch. Everybody who had any aspirations knew what was coming, and all the contenders jumped on for the ride. Anybody left out of that group of 10 or 12 was instantly out the back and hanging on for what must have been a very, very painful ride to the line. I was absolutely on my limit just trying to hold the wheel in front of me as Philip blasted towards the finish.
Philip continued to crush it at what had to have been over 30mph all the way to the drop down to the final corner, and finally pulled off as the sprint started. Lennie was in front of me in the front cluster and got a good run through the turn to sprint in for 3rd. I got a little chopped in the turn but found a wheel and managed to get 4th. The best part, though, was that Brent was right there with us! He hadn’t been having a great weekend, so he wisely saved his legs until just the right moment, and then used his old school skills to get to the front when it counted. He ripped off a great sprint for 7th. I don’t know how Lackey and Philip finished, but those guys deserve ALL the credit for absolutely killing themselves for the entire race for their teammates. They were superhuman today. It was a sight to behold and showed everybody in Memphis how deep, powerful, and selfless our team is.
So we capped off a great, fun weekend with maybe the best display of teamwork I’ve ever seen from Tria. It was a great ending to a great weekend that ended with Lennie 2nd and me 4th in the Omnium. Thanks to everybody for coming, and for racing your tails off (and thanks to Katherine, Christine, and Kim for cheering the ENTIRE weekend).