Auburn Flyers: Clemson Recap

Seems like we just started this season! And here we are, wrapping up the 2013 season. And what a season it was! More about that later.

First, lets talk about the Clemson race weekend, serving as the conference championships. This means that each race is worth double points, so a lot was on the line. We started our day out with the Individual/Team Time Trial. I did the Individual and Chris, Hunter, and Forrest did the Team. The course was about 8.2 miles out and back, with a monster of a hill right after the turn around.

Our guys set off, just trying to go out and have some fun and get some points. They came through with a time of about 22:50 (I don't know the results). I set off shortly after they finished, and went harder than I probably needed to, setting a time of 21:50 (once again, I don't know the results). I felt good, which gave me confidence for the road race.

My road race was first, and was two laps of the 20 mile course. Each lap had about 1400 ft of elevation gain (ouch!), and we hammered. I did way too much work at the beginning, and started cramping before the sprint. I gave it my all and ended up top 10 or so (not sure of the results).

The sprint, you can see me in the background

The Florida guy and the Kennesaw guy out front in the picture had been away for about 22 miles, and they had a 45 second gap with about 3.5 miles to go. We almost caught them, but not quite.

The other guys had their race that afternoon, and they only went one lap of the course. From what they told me, Forrest and Hunter were with the main pack for about 13 miles, until the pack sorta split because of a crash. Chris managed to stay with them, and also got into the lead group coming over the hill with about 3.5 miles to go. He was able to navigate through in the sprint and finish third! It was awesome! Great job Chris! I honestly thought he got second, and this picture makes it seem like he did:

Not a great shot, I was taking it with my iPhone while yelling. It looks like he passes the Lees McCrae guy.

We got up early Sunday morning for the Crit, with the temps a little chilly compared to the hot road races the day before. The other guys raced the cat C race first, and they all finished with the pack. Chris and Hunter got top 15 or 20 out of a field of 40+. It was a good end to their season.

My race went well as well, for the most part... I told myself I would just sit in the field and not use any energy for a breakaway because the course was so flat. So, I stuck to my plan and I felt absolutely amazing at the end. I was in about 6th position going into the last turn. I started to wind up my sprint, and shifted down a gear. Now, anyone who has ever sprinted knows that you cannot(!) shift gears when you are putting out a massive amount of wattage. I too knew this, but I guess in the moment, with all the adrenaline, I just forgot. And my derailleur did not like it. At all. And this is the result:

Crash

Road rash

I came away with just some road rash, luckily. A guy behind me was knocked unconscious and they had to take him away on an ambulance. Luckily (because it could have been really bad) he came away with just a concussion.

So, my race weekend didn't go quite as planned. But, I had built up a large enough lead to hold on to the overall Cat B omnium, despite my dismal weekend. Christian from Ga Tech got 2nd and Derek from King College got third. I got to know these guys over the course of the season and I was glad to share the podium with guys like them. Great season guys!

Overall, the Auburn Flyers had a great road season. We finished 7th out of 15 division 1 teams, with only five guys! We're only gonna get better and I am so excited for the future. Thanks for following along this season, and be on the lookout for mountain bike races in the fall, and the next road season next spring!

Feel free to share and comment, thanks!

Nathan Spence

more pics: