Meridian/Cuba Challenge Race Report
20th August 2008 by brtoone
Posted by Brian Toone
Category 1/2 Omnium
Category 3 Omnium
Cateogry 4 Omnium
August 16-17, 2008
Meridian, MS and Cuba, AL
Quick summary:
1/2 Omnium –
Brian Toone, 5th crit, 2nd road race, 2nd overall
Darryl Seelhorst, 7th crit, 7th road race, 8th overall
3 Omnium –
Justin Gilmore, 4th crit, 5th road race, 6th overall
Wes Douglas, 13th crit, 11th road race, 12th overall
Lennie Moon, 10th crit, Raced road race, 14th overall
4 Omnium –
Sammy Flores, 1st crit, 10th road race, 1st overall
The Details:
Two days of good racing with some fast competition led to our best omnium placing ever in a 1/2 race! Sammy Flores started us out with a win in the criterium, working hard to stay near the front and then taking the sprint at the end for the win. Great job, Sammy!
The 1/2 and 3 races were combined so we were all racing together, giving us six teammates in the crit. We had a great race, starting from our pre-race meeting. We had a plan and we executed it pretty well, but unfortunately Mike Olheiser (Marx and Bensdorf) was able to get away very early in the race. Marx and Bensdorf had a bunch of riders in the race (maybe 12?), and they would bring about two or three guys to the front and then one of them would attack. This forced Herring Gas or us to chase it down or send someone to join the break attempt. We did a great job covering attacks, and I (Brian Toone) was able to escape late in the race and bridge solo to a three man break with Frank Moak (Herring Gas) and Chris Alexander (Herring Gas) got off the front with Clark Butcher (Marx and Bensdorf). I drove the pace but got some good rests with the two Herring Gas riders also working. Clark was sitting on since he already had Mike Olheiser up the road. We were only about 10 seconds in front of the field and losing a little bit of ground with two laps to go so I ramped up the pace for the last lap and gapped everyone on the switchbacks (quick right, quick left, up short hill, followed by another 90 degree right). When I saw that I had a little gap, I drilled it as hard as I could down the hill thinking I could hold it to the line, but I got caught on the finishing straight and passed by the other 3 guys with 100 meters to go making me fifth for the race. The field came in just a few seconds behind me with Darryl taking third in the field sprint. Justin placed well in the field sprint, too, placing him high up in the Cat 3 omnium.
Sunday morning was the Cuba Challenge road race. Sammy again started us out well placing 10th which was good enough to secure 1st in the omnium. We raced next with three laps of a 21 mile course. I don’t fish, but I am sure this is what it must feel like when they fishermen talk about “the one that got away”. As anticipated, Marx and Bensdorf sent a rider off the front literally as soon as they said go. This move didn’t work, but there were several other quick attacks early in the race that were shut down. Then during a brief lull in the pace, there was a crash that took down a bunch of riders, including two riders who broke their collarbones. Ouch! After everyone came back from the crash (except the riders with the broken collarbones), the race was back on and a move got away with Brent Thompson (Marx and Bensdorf), a Bay Breakers rider, and Lennie Moon from our team. Herring-Gas chased for most of the rest of that lap. The most heated, active part of the race came midway through Lap 2 when there were a series of attacks. None of the ensuing moves though had the right composition and everything came back together for the start of Lap 3. The initial break had fallen apart by this point and another move got off the front with GW, Joseph Welsh, and one other rider. This break ended up staying away to the finish.
THE FINISH – Once the pack made it to the home stretch heading back to the finish line, Mike Olheiser was on the front cruising at about 17mph, and I was on his wheel. Travis came by and ramped the pace up to lead Mike out and string it out so people wouldn’t attack early. This was at about the 1km to go sign. Travis kept the pace at 27-28mph all the way to the 200 meter sign and still nobody had started the sprint so I launched from behind Mike and I was able to accelerate all the way up the hill to the finish topping out at just over 31mph at the finish line. That was good enough to take the sprint maybe half a bike length ahead of Pat Allison and Mike. With three riders (one cat 1 and two cat 3’s) up the road, the sprint was for fourth place in the race but with two of the three riders in the break Cat 3’s, that meant I placed 2nd in the Pro/1/2 race. Kudos to the youngster on Marx and Bensdorf (Joseph Welsh) who ended up taking the sprint. The other rider in the break had gotten dropped, but we had gone so incredibly slow that he was still able to stay away, too.