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Asheville Training Series
June 3, 2003
Rain, what else?
By Chris Kamm
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The soggy spring continues and we almost got lucky again. A break in the rains allowed the punctual start of racing Tuesday evening and the events ticked off rapidly until the A Grade boys began their 60-lapper. Rain was falling on the Biltmore Estate, just across the river that borders the oval’s backstretch. The concluding Masters race would be washed out, and we wondered if the feature event would reach two-thirds distance. However, some good racing occurred earlier in the evening.
The Fletcher Arrow dominated the fixed gear riders as he swept the events with repeated examples of a flying 500-meter. No one could get close at the finish line. Andy Applegate assisted this power display in the Unknown Distance race as he put the field single file lap after lap. When the bell finally rang, there was no one left to resist The Arrow. In his wake, the evening’s lower places went to The Axe, Frodo, Vespa Boy and The Dagger.
The Dagger finished on top in the Women’s Race with another commanding performance. She broke away early in the contest, accompanied by Patricia Pinner and Cara McCauley. Those three accounted for the podium in that order, but the outcome was not long in doubt once the sprint points began to pile up.
The B Grade 30 lapper was the evening’s highlight. The Axe was brushing aside riders half his age in the early sprints... until Cara McCauley decided a counter-attack would bear more fruit than head to head sprinting. Five laps went by, and then ten, and fifteen laps later she was still riding clear as the crowd was electrified by the tenacity of the performance.
Interestingly, I was chatting with a news reporter during all this who had asked how women fare against men in cycling competition. I deferred to the unfolding picture as the best explanation. Series-leader Wes Dickson quietly minimized his losses throughout the race and when the double points finale approached he pulled back McCauley to win the bonus and eke out the win. However, the race’s star pulled herself up after being caught and took second points in the finale. This gave her second overall in a tiebreaker with The Axe. It was a memorable contest.
As the A riders were hustled to the line, Gentleman Joe asked loudly about the absence of The Redhead. I think the defending champ, back from road nationals, was looking for a tussle with the current series leader. Rumor was The Redhead was relaxing at the beach. The 60-lapper began rapidly as Chris Sheppard lined out the field at once and it stayed that way until the conclusion of the second sprint lap. During the next twenty laps Gentleman Joe appeared to have things under control until Sheppard slipped away with Kent Williams.
The world-class mountain biker jettisoned his accomplice and poured on the coals to rack up points while the field fell into disarray. With the bell signaling 21 to go, the rain arrived and that was announced as the concluding sprint lap. The rider wearing number 1 may have benefited. Sheppard was going away when the race was truncated, and might have snatched the prize if things had gone full distance. The promoters hope all the players will be present on June 17.
Photos
Images by Asheville Velodrome Group
- Canadian transplant Chris Sheppard encouraged the youth for their one lap burnout races.
- Cane Creek rider Dave Hensley.
- Cara MacCauly and Nancy Daigler in search of their winnings after a successful evening for the both of them.
- Racer and announcer Chad Schoenauer.
- Wes Dickson tires of a few parade laps in the B race and takes the initative; Dickson went on to win the 30 lap points race.
Results
Fixed Gear 6 Lap Scratch 1 Brian Pierce 2 Blair Hobgood 3 Marc Mullinax 4 Mike Despeaux 5 Don Lux Unknown Distance 1 Brian Pierce 2 Marc Mullinax 3 Mike Despeaux 4 Nancy Daigler 5 Don Lux 15 Lap Points Race - Cancelled due to rain Category "A" 60 Lap Points Race 1 Joey Coddington 29 pts 2 Chris Sheppard 26 3 Kent Williams 12 4 Austin Walker 12 5 Dave Hensley 8 6 Colin Izzard 6 7 Tommy Davis 5 8 Brandon Lane 1 Category "B" 30 Lap Points Race Nightly Results 1 Wes Dickson 19 2 Cara McCauley 16 3 Marc Mullinax 16 4 Chris Bifaro 12 5 Jon Wolfe 6 6 Robert Dunning 3 7 Jeff Frazer 2 8 Greg McIntyre 2 9 Scott Rousseau 1 Women's 25 Lap Points Race Nightly Results 1 Nancy Daigler 28 2 Patricia Pinner 18 3 Cara McCauley 14 4 Robin Pace 4 5 Monica Curwen 2 Year Total Omnium Points Fixed Gear 1 Hobgood, Blair 18 pts 2 Pierce, Brian 14 3 Koerschner, Mike 9 4 Mullinax, Marc 9 5 Lux, Don 7 6 Applegate, Andy 5 7 Daigler, Nancy 5 8 Despeaux, Mike 5 9 Gaul, Doug 3 10 McBee, Bill 3 11 Young, Young 3 12 Trubey, Janet 3 13 McMillan, Jim 3 14 Smith, Mike 3 15 Langford, Scott 3 16 Riedesel, George 2 17 Smith, Rostand 2 18 Battenfeld, Paul 2 19 Galloway, Scott 1 20 Martin, Matt 1 21 Oast, Bob 1 22 Coin, Wendy 1 A Grade 1 Parker, Randy 14 2 Coddington, Joey 12 3 Lawing, Martin 3 4 Langford, Scott 2 5 Izzard, Colin 1 6 Duncan, Scott 5 7 Walker, Austin 5 8 McGahey, Jacob 2 9 Dunn, Richard 1 10 Sheppard, Chris 5 11 Williams, Kent 3 12 Hensley, Dave 1 B Grade 1 Dickson, Wes 19 2 Forkner, David 10 3 Wikoff, Phil 5 4 McCauley, Cara 5 5 Rousseau, Scott 3 6 Bifaro, Cris 3 7 Mullinax, Marc 3 8 VonDohlen, Ray 2 9 Scholtz, Mark 2 10 Arnold, Jamie 1 11 Wolfe, Jon 1 Masters 40+ 1 Parker, Randy 14 2 Hollins, Clark 6 3 Dunn, Richard 6 4 Dunacn, Scott 5 5 Lyons, Dean 2 6 Williams, Kent 2 7 Wood, Paul 1 Women 1 Daigler, Nancy 14 2 Pinner, Patricia 13 3 Nestvogel, Tanya 7 4 MacCauley, Cara 7 5 Koerschner, Monica 5 6 Pace, Robin 5 7 Elliot, Deborah 1 8 Bolyea, Anne 1 9 Curwen, Monica 1
