River Gorge Omnium, A Killer Bicycle Race

Village Volkswagen of Chattanooga River Gorge Omnium

My cycling team Mystique 2012

The River Gorge Omnium is put on by our home cycling club the Scenic City Velo and sponsored by Village Volkswagen of Chattanooga. Staged in the beautiful Chattanooga valley, this is the largest bicycle race in the state of Tennessee. Taking place in late August, the race consists of 3 events; a time trial along the Raccoon Mountain Reservoir on Sat morning, the Lynskey Sunset Criterium that afternoon & a road race that finishes with a 4 mile challenging climb up Raccoon Mountain Sunday morning. The race had over one thousand entries this year, so it's great for the city's tourism. Cyclists who participate range from professional to toddler's in the free kiddie crit.  It's one of the best events for local racers & my favorite part of the race season. Due to recent clavicle fracture from bike crash, this race report is told from the volunteer perspective, from the sidelines. Normally, I would be racing...

At the time of writing this, Mystique Women's Cycling Team falls between 2 rivaling men's cycling teams. Our Title sponsor is Hub Endurance, a local bike shop that specializes in high end bikes, coaching & the works, who also has their select group of athletes that race for Team Hub Endurance. Mystique is  also sponsored by Scenic City Velo, who's title sponsor is Krystal, also one of our sponsors. So, we ladies get the best of both worlds & race in neutral territory, for now.

                                        Friday: Packet stuffing & packet pick-up party

The busy weekend began for me around 11:30 on friday with packet stuffing. The race director Bill Parsons was very organized & efficient. With the help of some SCV volunteers we had over 1000 race packets stuffed with bib numbers, bike frame numbers, swag, maps & instructions all labeled & alphabetized ready for the packet pick-up party that started @ 5pm. This included free beer & socializing with local racers. I missed the party though, had to go home & ice the shoulder after all the repetitive motion of stuffing packets.

Saturday: TT & Crit

 My husband & I got to the race site at 6:30 am to help set up. We did not get home until after 11 pm, 16 hours later. Volunteer responsibilities included anything & everything. From gopher to guest announcer, we ran our butts off but were happy to help.

Coaches advice: "don't suck"

Where else can you see men in pointy hats
& spandex in questionable positions?

Jenny on her way to the podium

The TT is my favorite race of the year. Feeling bummed about not racing it due to my fractured clavicle, but happy with being there to support my team mates. A time trial (TT) is a race against the clock. From point A to point B, racers take off in 30 second intervals, racing for the best time. Its 4 miles with a climb, but the descent is wicked fast & then levels out onto this amazing rim road with fantastic views. (The TT Course ) Riders try to get as aerodynamic as possible to increase their speed. Disc wheels, skinsuits & aero helmets are all part of the plan to win.
Mystique had 2 riders on the podium, 2nd & 3rd place in the women's 123 race, the 1st place went to Pro racer Jacki Crowell of Exergy 2012.

Cat 3 Krystal call ups

Later that day, at the criterium, downtown Chattanooga came alive with fast paced pedaling. When I explain what a criterium is to my coworkers or family who've never seen one, I can never do it justice. A crit, short for criterium, is a short race, usually less than a mile, that takes place on closed city streets. Racers start together & try to be the first across the line. There are tactics & crashes. It's high intensity. Since a picture says a 1000 words, above is a random youtube video of the twilight crit last year. Dark & dangerous, crits are notorious for having crashes. Wheels get crossed, pedals get clipped in turns & mayhem ensues because of the fast pace & close proximity of the racers. When done correctly, it's a lot of fun. Stephen got to race the crit, something he had been looking forward to all year.

Cat 4 Krystal call ups

The slight uphill on the crit course

Stephen near the front

 I spent a good portion of the next 8 hours helping the race director with registration & packet pick up. For the 2 women's races, I helped announce with the emcee, a challenge because of my glossophobia. But it allowed me to call up my teammates to the line before the race & give them some much deserved recognition.
 Everyone came out to see the race. We had local homeless dancers that kept the crowd entertained between races. The music was pretty awesome ;) One pregnant & chain smoking spectator asked how she could get into the race, seriously. Another bystander asked if he could borrow a bike, so he could try his hand at racing. Normally, I wouldn't suggest a crit for your 1st race ever. 

Mystique's wonderful sponsors

Mystique had several ladies racing in both the 4's races & the 123 race. Everyone looked great out there. The races were super fast & had the most primes out of all the races, thanks to our great sponsors. Some of the ladies won over $200 just in primes.There were a few crashes, but Mystique ladies kept it rubber down, thankfully. The Exergy racer lapped the women's field. I would expect no less. The night finished with the Pro race, won by Ty Magner of BMC/Hincapie Devo team. I did not actually get to see much of the race though since we were busy tearing down the registration booth & cleaning up a lot of trash.

The River Gorge Road Race

There is a short & a long course option. Both are extremely challenging. This is the short course map. Amy Philips of Mystique won the QOM on Murphy Hollow!

Mystique at the starting line

It always kills me & I end up blowing up on the climb. Wasn't really sorry about missing this one.

You haven't lived until you've
been a course marshal!

Bright & early Sunday morning, more registration & race volunteer stuff. Started at 7:30, ended at 3pm. Somehow the race organizers were short on course marshals, so, yup, you guessed it, 4 hours in the sun wearing an orange vest trying to keep locals from running over cyclists as they raced down the mountain. It was nerve wracking! 

Some motorist driving a BMW told me flat out she would run over any cyclist who got in her way then she hit the gas with me standing in front of her! Thats just an example of the many "mean" people encountered that day.

A Team Type 1(cycling team) support van nearly ran over my team mate Melissa who was also volunteering as a course marshal. Guess they figured better to hit her than one of their racers who was on the road at the same time.
A Krystal racer who is also a professional photographer took some amazing pictures. You can see some of the suffrage taking place on the climb. Dan Henry's photos. He's an amazing photographer & we are lucky to have him & his wife Crystal as part of our team.
Results for the weekends races are posted on the TBRA website, http://www.tbra.org/racearchives.php#class2

Temperatures topped out in the 90's, everyone suffers in this race, even the one's not racing! After spending 30 hours on my feet, volunteering for the race, I spent the next 2 days wrapped up in ice on the couch, sick from the heat. I think my titanium plate overheated & burned the surrounding tissue.

Overall, the race was a phenomenal success.It's great to be a part of such a high class event. I will never take races for granted after this. They require many hands & heads. Volunteering is a thankless job. Nobody really cares about what's going on behind the race while they're racing. We assume the roads are going to be safe & so on. So next time you are racing your bike, hug a volunteer! With my new awareness regarding what goes into a race weekend, I will be sure to spend more time giving back to the cycling community, to help make our world a little better.

Side note: Megan Rogers of Mystique won the TBRA jersey along with all the other possible junior jerseys. She's had a great season & is off to race for King College next year. I'll  miss racing with her. Go Get em Megan!

The reward at the top of the climb is the view.