Eric Schildge 11th Stage 3
Eric Schildge 9th Stage 4
Report by Justin Lindine
The Joe Martin Stage race. Four stages at the big show in Arkansas. As the teams first attempt at NRC level stage racing, we went in with cautious optimism about the results we would see. With the first stage consisting of a fairly short (two and a half miles), but decisive, uphill TT we waited to see what tactics we would employ on the rest of the race until after we had a better idea of where we stood in the overall GC situation.
Despite solid efforts in the TT none of us cracked the top 20 on the leader board. This left us to play the opportunistic card in the road races with all available hands on deck to try and get in the early break. After rolling out of the Walmart parking lot for the start of stage two the race started with an whistle blast and instantly we were doing 30+ miles per hour. We tried our best to position ourselves into moves that were trying to pry themselves off the front of the fast moving peleton, but to no avail. The maelstrom of attacks lasted for about an hour until a break finally rolled off the front and Bissell and Ouch Maxis were content to let it get a manageble gap. Unfortunately we hadn't been able to place anyone in the break so we settled in for the chase and ultimate sprint finish.
Everything was going fine with this plan for me untill I flatted on a small foothill climb that preceds the courses eight mile highway climb. I got a change and chased back into the group through the cars without too much trouple just as the real climb was starting and just in time to see Steve shooting out the back with flat trouble of his own. The real trouble begain when halfway up the climb I got a second flat; just at about the same time Bisssell was starting to turn the screws up front. As I drifted out the back I heard Nick offering me his wheel and quickly grabbed it with the wheel car not really in sight. At that point Steve passed me in his own chase and the two of us started time trialing our way up the mountain in a desperate bid to get back into the group. After becoming seperated for a while we regrouped on the flat roads and finaly caught back on after a chase that lated the better part of 35 minutes. After that, the sprint was a chaotic blur that Josh helped Eric freelance his way into for a very respectable result. I crossed the line just happy to have made it back into the group.
Day three began another road race. A little shorter then the previous day, although on a slightly more difficult ciurcuit. Again the opening hour saw furious attacking in the attempt for a break, and again we tried to put ourselves in the move. We all covered early attacks but ultimately were not in the surviving break. After the break rolled Ouch took over control of the chase and strung the field out in a rediculous fashion for couple of laps until it all came back together. Shortly thereafter we began the run in back to the finish and the team again tried to make something happen with some last minute moves off the front. Unfortunaetly the will of the sprinters teams was not to be overcome on the slightly downhill run in, so we again tried to do the best we could to position Eric towards the front before the run to the line began. Again he was able to freelance his way to a top 10 finish proving that he is a sprinter worthy of any NRC peleton.
The fourth and final day of Joe Martin is arguaby one of the hardest with a crit that challenges handling skills along with a leg searing climb through the finish that only gets harder as the laps roll by. The finish is usually a small group that has withstood the attrition of the fast paced laps. There was a lot of activity at the front of the race with teams trying to generate a break that Ouch (who by this point controlled the GC) would let roll. By this point the fatigue level of the team had begun to show itself as only Josh and Eric were doing a consistant job of maintaining position and covering moves. The rest of us held on to the wheels and worked on making the splits as the field shrunk with the subsequant later laps. As the race came down to the final two laps things really blew apart in the field as people opened up gaps left and right. I got caught behind a small split and was stuck in the second group on the road crossing the line some seconds behind the lead group. Joe Martin was officially over.
The race was not exactly an official success for the team. On the other hand as the first NRC stage race of the season, in May none the less, we showed that we can be part of the action at the front end of the race and that Eric is capable of big things in the finish if we can help him in the final run in. Ultimately the race was a hard and fast learing expierence, one that we hope the benifits of, both physically and mentally will pay dividends as the season rolls on.
