BMC at Hell's Kitchen by Neal Picken
24/03/10 14:12
A first that was almost last?
The day started with a misread of the time. As I was flipping hotcakes someone; Bob, Andy, Ryan…I don’t remember who, said “Well we should start packing soon”. What? I had set my Cell Phone’s alarm for 6…plenty of time to wake, make breakfast, load and travel to Hogeye. My phone didn’t allow for the Day Light Savings Hour. Now the rush was on. Actually, most of the preparations were made the night before so all we had to do was eat and load. We made it to Church on Time.
Event #2
As I was leaving the registration area, a call went out for a helmet. Seems one of our riders had forgotten to pack his helmet. Having been there – Done that, I knew the quick panic the rider was feeling. A couple of years ago, I went to the State Championship Road Race in Arkadelphia and had left my shoes at home. Too bad, no one had any extras. It was a struggle to race in sneakers, besides killing my feet. DNF. So I had a mission to find a helmet so the rider could start the race. Kenda had one. In fact, a brand new one. She had brought it for another rider who decided not to race. It fit John Robertson perfectly. John went on to win the Cat 5’s. So now you know the rest of the story.
Event #3
Wow!! Coming up Hell’s Gate first was Bob Cummings from Wichita. Not only was he up first but by about 8 minutes on the field. How had he done that? And he looked remarkably fresh. I thought that there must have been a huge crash behind him and he was the only escapee. After some photo shoots, I went to the feed zone. Here comes Bob again. This time with about a 10 minute lead. But wait!! There is a group of 6 riders formed up. They looked organized and dangerous. They were rotating and I think I saw Tilford in the group. This looked bad. Sure enough, they caught Bob on the start of the 3rd lap up the hill North of the Hogeye Mall. Reminded me of many of the Tour de France Races where the breakaway gets reeled in.
Event #4
Watching as spirit and flesh start to crack at the feed zone, I wondered who would be the next to cave in to the chilly winds and early season of not yet race hardened legs. Several of the teammates succumbed to the above and dropped. Ryan and Peter were still giving a good effort although the race had fractured into about 3 groups. The youngsters Larry Yancey and Chris Hines toughed it out to the finish in 8th and 9th place. Chris had predicted a hopeful top ten finish. There was an excellent turnout of competition in the 50+.
Just recapping:
After a 20 year hiatus of not racing, Jeff Oden finished 29th and looked strong on a tough day and a tough race. Also in the CAT 5, Scott Hamilton was 17th, Steve Friedman bested Steve Crowell by 4 places 23rd to 27th. In the CAT 3 we had a money winner in Nick Rogers, with an 8th place. Flats took their toll with Will Frank and Caleb Magee. BMC had a strong presence with 19 racers participating.
The day started with a misread of the time. As I was flipping hotcakes someone; Bob, Andy, Ryan…I don’t remember who, said “Well we should start packing soon”. What? I had set my Cell Phone’s alarm for 6…plenty of time to wake, make breakfast, load and travel to Hogeye. My phone didn’t allow for the Day Light Savings Hour. Now the rush was on. Actually, most of the preparations were made the night before so all we had to do was eat and load. We made it to Church on Time.
Event #2
As I was leaving the registration area, a call went out for a helmet. Seems one of our riders had forgotten to pack his helmet. Having been there – Done that, I knew the quick panic the rider was feeling. A couple of years ago, I went to the State Championship Road Race in Arkadelphia and had left my shoes at home. Too bad, no one had any extras. It was a struggle to race in sneakers, besides killing my feet. DNF. So I had a mission to find a helmet so the rider could start the race. Kenda had one. In fact, a brand new one. She had brought it for another rider who decided not to race. It fit John Robertson perfectly. John went on to win the Cat 5’s. So now you know the rest of the story.
Event #3
Wow!! Coming up Hell’s Gate first was Bob Cummings from Wichita. Not only was he up first but by about 8 minutes on the field. How had he done that? And he looked remarkably fresh. I thought that there must have been a huge crash behind him and he was the only escapee. After some photo shoots, I went to the feed zone. Here comes Bob again. This time with about a 10 minute lead. But wait!! There is a group of 6 riders formed up. They looked organized and dangerous. They were rotating and I think I saw Tilford in the group. This looked bad. Sure enough, they caught Bob on the start of the 3rd lap up the hill North of the Hogeye Mall. Reminded me of many of the Tour de France Races where the breakaway gets reeled in.
Event #4
Watching as spirit and flesh start to crack at the feed zone, I wondered who would be the next to cave in to the chilly winds and early season of not yet race hardened legs. Several of the teammates succumbed to the above and dropped. Ryan and Peter were still giving a good effort although the race had fractured into about 3 groups. The youngsters Larry Yancey and Chris Hines toughed it out to the finish in 8th and 9th place. Chris had predicted a hopeful top ten finish. There was an excellent turnout of competition in the 50+.
Just recapping:
After a 20 year hiatus of not racing, Jeff Oden finished 29th and looked strong on a tough day and a tough race. Also in the CAT 5, Scott Hamilton was 17th, Steve Friedman bested Steve Crowell by 4 places 23rd to 27th. In the CAT 3 we had a money winner in Nick Rogers, with an 8th place. Flats took their toll with Will Frank and Caleb Magee. BMC had a strong presence with 19 racers participating.
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