Curious about what it would feel like to race your bike surrounded on both sides by tens of thousands of intoxicated college students, cycling fans, and bewildered regular folk who all seem to have an unlimited supply of ravenous screaming and intense cheering (and jeering)? Well, I’ll get to that in a bit, but first let’s rewind a little…

Most of the NashvilleCyclist.com crew made its way down to Athens, Georgia last weekend to take part in the 30^th annual Athens Twilight Criterium on Friday/Saturday followed by the Historic Roswell Criterium on Sunday. The crazy festivities began Friday night with the Computrainer Grid Qualifiers. Jason Guzak and Andy Reardon threw down some impressive wattages which qualified them for nice mid-pack starting positions for Saturday’s main event. In the Computrainer finals later that night, Bobby Lea of Ouch-Bahati Foundation, rarely looking under pressure, kept complete control of the 6K beat down and won with an average wattage of around 450 watts for the 7:30 effort. While he didn’t come even close to rivaling Eric Murphy’s insane numbers from last year, it was an inspiring performance to say the least.

We awoke Saturday morning to find that there was an additional competitor that would be participating in all of the fields: Mother Nature. While she may not be able to ride a bike, she can certainly throw down plenty of water to slick up the courses and encourage some riders to really get their sketch on. I’ll save you the suspense and just tell you that fortunately all of the NC.com racers kept it rubber side down without any crashes (a team first for this event).

NC.com proved our team strength in the Jittery Joes Twilight AM Criterium races. Tim Hall and Patrick Harkins put in some solid attacks in the early portions of the Masters 35+ race with Tim getting away in an early break. When the pack reeled in Tim and his break compatriots, Patrick threw down a powerful counter attack and got a significant gap with Tony Scott of Peachtree Bikes. With Tim’s ability to manage the chase and Patrick’s diesel engine, the two stayed away the rest of the race netting Patrick a solid 2^nd place finish and qualifying positions for both of them in the evening’s Amateur finals. The cat3 field was big and strong too, but Matt Meunier kept himself near the front in a tactically smart position for the whole race while Neil Fronheiser used his positioning skills to secure a good finishing spot and both qualified for the finals. Our women Smurfettes survived the rain and the pain of a powerful women’s 3/4 field for respectable finishes as well.

The 1/2 race proved to be aggressive and fast, in large part due to the Dave Worth. Apparently he didn’t finish unleashing all of the Kraken in the Hell of the South and had more pain to generously give to everyone on Saturday. If there was a most aggressive rider prize for that race, the red number would have handily gone to Dave. He got himself into a late break, but the pack was too hungry and anxious and brought him back in. With 3 laps to go Dave put himself on the front with me on his wheel. For the next two laps he forced a powerful pace on the front that turned the animated field into a static line. The last lap began with a flurry of attacks, swarms, and anxiety requiring full-sprint efforts at times to keep a strategic position. The sprint started pretty early near the bottom of the uphill dig about 250-300m from the finish. Probably one of the more painful sprints I can remember, but it netted me a 4^th place finish just off the wheel of Stefan Swecker of FGS Cycling who nabbed the win. Shannon Williams also finished strong picking up a qualifying spot for the finals.

Later that night Tim, Shannon, Neil, Matt, and myself lined up for the 100-man Amateur Finals on the main event course in downtown Athens. After a one-hour delay, it was go time for 20 laps (20km). The race was frenetic, wet, mentally taxing, and fast (27.5mph). Matt stayed in the field for awhile, Neil got gapped after an incident with another rider and then pulled, and Tim and Shannon hung on for a finish. WWPD? Stay warm and dry and, with beer in hand, cheer us on with the Smurfettes.

After my back wheel slid out on the first two turns, I realized that I had a flat on the first lap. As I drifted quickly to the back of the pack and slowly made my way to the pits many in the HUGE crowd booed. It was actually laughable, but it pushed me to get back in there and prove myself. Got a slow wheel change and just barely made it into the absolute back of the pack. I spent the next 15 laps moving up the pack a few spots at a time. Finally I was back near the front 20. Last laps were so intense: my mind running a mile a minute, constant questioning of my abilities, heart beating an extra 20bpm due to the enormity of the scene, tens of thousands of eager spectators lined 5+ deep banging the boards and screaming, and the announcer revving everyone up even further. Literally gave me goosebumps several times. Was this for real or just some powerful dream? Last lap, two corners to go I’m sitting 10-12^th wheel, guy a few wheels up goes down, ignore it, last corner, mind going nuts, out of corner full-on sprint, 275-300m to go, yikes, digging deep, pass a few guys and finish 8^th, Stefan Swecker wins again (what a beast). Crowd is going insane; atmosphere is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I’m psyched with the 8^th place finish, but it has really left me HUNGRY for more. Next year I’m coming back and doing the amateur finals again, but for a podium spot. I feel inspired. I know I can do it. I know I deserve it. I’ll be dreaming about it for the next 12 months. This is what competitive cycling is all about.

At 9:45PM, Andy and Jason took to the start line with 150+ of the best domestic pros in the country. At the gun the pace was full-on and stayed that way never relenting. The pack was almost immediately strung out into a single-file line. 16 minutes into the 80k race the pace picked up even further and a big gap formed in the middle of the race forcing Andy, Jason, and 20+ other riders to all be pulled at once. The race continued in the rain and a 6-man break formed containing the eventual winner, big Karl Menzies of United HealthCare.

Sunday we all headed to Roswell for more crit action. Another good day for the team. Patrick and Tim were aggressive in the Master’s 35+ race, Smurfettes faired well in the Women’s 3/4, and I got 8^th in the 2/3 race after some solid team work from Andy, Jason, Patrick, Shannon, Matt, and Tim. If it weren’t for the fast-slow-fast-slow pace and constant swarming of the field on the last few laps of the 2/3 race we probably would have had an even better result.

There truly is an emotional hold that cycling can have on a person. That power is amplified in a big way and made nearly tangible at big events like Athens and Roswell. You can feel it in your bones, on the surface of your skin, deep in your heart, and even behind your eyes. It’s a high and it’s addicting. I feel like a junkie waiting for my next fix. Bring it.