Natchez Classic, 2000

Report
(recovered from archived email)

The NOBC was well-represented in the Natchez Classic Master's races this year. Keith Duet, Mark Delaney, Mark Manson, Mike Lew and Randy Legeai made the short trip to the old city on Friday evening, ready for a weekend of challenging racing. We were not to be disappointed. The first stage is the infamous "under the hill" time trial. A deceptively short 2.5 mile affair that features a 45 mph descent followed immediately by a gut-wrenching climb up the bluff from the river. Mike Lew and Keith Duet posted identical
5:00 times in this time trial, along with a couple of other riders, creating a 4-way tie for, I think, third or fourth place. Randy struggled to a 5:06, placing him in 11 th place, followed by Mark Manson who had the shortest time trial of the day. Mark took about two pedal strokes out of the saddle and, due to his immense strength and power, ripped the handlebars right off of his bike, landing in a heap on the ground in front of the officials and breaking the buckle on his shoe as well. He was assigned the slowest time of the field (standard stage race practice), which put him about half a minute down from the leaders. Jerry Morrison posted one of the fastest Masters times of the day, putting him in 2nd or 3rd place. Mark Delaney, riding in the Masters-4 race, posted one of the top times, putting him into 4th position going into the road race. The Senior 1,2,3 riders, on the other hand, ate up the TT course, and one had to scroll way down to about 20th place to find times over 5:00.

After strolling over to the Natchez Bike Shop, about a block from the starting line, and snatching a replacement stem off of Frank Moak's track bike, Mark Manson and the rest of the gang gathered for the 4:30 p.m. start of the road races. The Masters 1,2,3 race was brisk but mostly defensive, and it was clear that most riders were hoping to snag bonuses at the hot spot and finish. Over the course of the 56-mile race, we repeatedly passed, and were passed by, the Cat. 4 race, but ultimately stayed out in front. At the hot spot, things got pretty lively, with lots of riders trying for the three bonuses, but with the centerline rule and narrow road, one had to be at the front long before the 200m mark to get a good shot at the line.
Randy just missed the last bonus, with Keith right behind. Mike Lew and Jerry Morrison had a promising break at one point, but the pack pulled them back in toward the end of the last lap. For most of this race, Mark Manson worked the front keeping the pace up and covering the attacks while Mike and Keith snuggled in mid-pack. As we approched the final turn for the 10-mile run back into Natchez, I noticed my front tire going soft, but tried to ignore it. A wheel chance at this point would have been pointless, as the pace was picking up and people were already starting to think about the inevitable pack sprint to come.

As we came into the final couple of kilometers before the finish, things started to bunch up a bit as usual as the sprinters started fighting for positions near the front. Mike Lew rolled up the right side with me on his wheel with about a kilo to go, leaving me in a good position near the front. As the sprint started to wind up with about 500 meters to go, I saw veteran sprinter Jim Brock moving up the left side and latched onto his wheel. As the pack came over the little hill about 400 m from the finish, the wheel Jim had been on hesitated, leaving Jim committed to a long sprint into the wind. Luckily for me, Jim didn't hesitate, giving me a nice little leadout from which I was able to just barely get third place with about 40 psi left in my front tire. So, we missed out on most of the bonus points in this stage, which we were hoping to get for Keith or Mike to move them ahead of the other riders in the 4-way tie.

The criterium Sunday morning was fast and animated. Early in the race, there was a crash on turn #4 that opened a big gap with all the strong riders in front. A frantic chase ensued and most of the riders who hadn't been too close to the crash eventually made the bridge, but Mark Manson had been right behind the crash and practically stopped. He wasn't able to bridge up to the pack, but finished nonetheless. About 5 or 6 laps from the end, veteran rider Lonnie Kennedy seized the opportunity as the pace eased and launched one of his patented solo breakaway attempts. Lonnie's been racing since at least he Middle Ages (he won the Tour de La back in the '70's), and has a knack for knowing when the riders at the front will hesitate to chase. Sure enough, he had a good gap over the befuddled leaders within a lap, and with the sprint coming up so soon, the pack was indecisive about mounting a sustained chase. Lonnie made it to the finish just a few seconds before the sprinting pack. The NOBC riders finished out of the bonus points but near the front, with Randy taking 5th. On final GC, Keith and Mike were tied for 4th, Randy was 8th and Mark was 19th.

In a very fast Cat 4 Master's race, Mark Delaney rode well, finishing near the front, but also missing out on the bonus points. On final GC, Mark took 4th place. I have a bunch of photos from that race and the Senior 1,2,3 race that I'll try and get onto the website later this week, but I'll leave it to Mark to fill us in on the details.

-Randy.