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Asheville Mellowdrome Rumble on the River #8
August 4, 2004
By Asheville Velodrome Group
July has gone under the wheels and August is confirming five true things about the Asheville Track Series aka Rumble on the River. Firstly, Blair Hobgood and Andrew Erskine are the fastest ones out there. No less striking is the idea that the road to the season prize in the lower division goes through Jim McMillan. Amongst the roadies, the A Race remains a mano a mano between Joey Coddington and Randy Parker. Similarly, in the B division, Jeff Frazier will likely prevail over Nick Rogouski unless he has to stay after school for some offense. The fifth true thing is simply that the flagship of the Parks Department just keeps getting better. The circus is in town all summer.
Last week the Mellowdrome welcomed Division Two regular John Lieswyn. He must have been resting in the mountains after the demands of Altoona. His presence in the A Race adjusted the dynamic between Coddington and Parker, and he won the event. However, this reporter will take the liberty of making two additional observations. Even the man among boys discovered just how long it takes to gain a lap at this track. And, after sewing up the race with many laps to go, Lieswyn set about giving his pal Joey a Cadillac ride to the remaining points laps. This paid off at first as the surviving seven riders rode only single file thereafter. Coddington was always second wheel and Parker was always fourth. No one could get out of line with each ring of the bell, and each time, Coddington slipped past his driver for maximum points. This set the stage for the final sprint lap. The three-time champ held a three-point lead over Parker, and Lieswyn was punishing anyone with thoughts of getting out of line. It looked to be over except that the final surge was too much coming out of turn four. The lead pair overplayed the hand and had to vacate the lane. Parker read the situation and jetted through for ten points and... second place for the night.
The roadies topped the Marquee on this night, but those in attendance all season know some of the other players and appreciated just as greatly the tussle in the B division of the trackies. Herb ‘The Taxman’ Young made them pay again in the Scratch Race. If not for the fact that the Taxman goes to work at 5:00 AM, he might stick around for some of the later races and win the overall. Still, he is definitely the chalk play each evening for the opener. In the Unknown Distance it was a thundering herd on the final lap and Cara MacCauley also made use of her rivals’ overplay of the hand. As the lead riders drifted out just enough in turn four, there was the patient figure of Lazybones sticking her wheels down on the pole line and taking the shortest way home... race over. By the time the B field lined up for the Points Race, it was clear that Jim McMillan and Shawn Smith would decide who would win the night. This time it was the challenger winning and the gap has narrowed. However, McMillan still leads and is going good. Four races remain for these guys.
In the upper division, Frodo just keeps on winning. He did lose the Win and Out on this night, but that does not stop his inexorable progress toward the season title. Just as entrenched is the second spot. That is property of first-year rider Andrew Erskine. He has developed quickly and consistently this year and has bested everyone else on the long haul toward September. Such is his progress that The Diesel and The Captain are less successful these days in springing tricks on the field. However, last Tuesday still provided some drama in the Win and Out. The Diesel and I decided beforehand that we would attack relentlessly during the ten laps to the first bell ring. Trouble was Mr. Riedesel went first and stayed out there most of the race. I smothered the field save for Scott ‘Cherry Bomb’ Langford who flicked the field and joined George three laps into the race. They were gone. Gone that is until I spied the forlorn silhouette of The Diesel riding by the wall after lap nine. He had popped. Cherry Bomb was never seen again and won the race.
Results
Fixed Gear A 10 Lap Scratch 1 Blair Hobgood 2 Andrew Erskine 3 Michael Koerschner 4 Marc Mullinax 5 Scott Langford Win-n-Out 1 Scott Langford 2 Blair Hobgood 3 Andrew Erskine 4 Marc Mullinax 5 John Neil 20 Lap Points Race 1 Blair Hobgood 2 Andrew Erskine 3 Michael Koerschner 4 Marc Mullinax 5 Doug Graul Year Total Omnium Points 1 Blair Hobgood 55 pts 2 Andrew Erskine 33 3 Mark Mullinax 17 4 Bob Wright 15 5 George Riedesel 14 6 Mike Koerschner 14 7 Scott Langford 13 8 Nancy Lux 10 9 John Derry 9 10 Kevin Bray 6 11 Adam Blumenthal 6 12 Don Lux 5 13 Mike Despeaux 3 14 Doug Graul 3 15 Chris Kamm 3 16 Shawn Smith 2 17 Sean Young 1 18 John Neil 1 19 Kyle Valenta 1 20 Heath Dotson 1 21 Herb Young 1 Fixed Gear B 8 Lap Scratch 1 Herb Young 2 Shawn Smith 3 Cara McCauley 4 Jim McMillan 5 David McIntosh Unknown Distance 1 Cara McCauley 2 Shawn Smith 3 Jim McMillan 4 David McIntosh 5 Herb Young 15 Lap Points Race 1 Shawn Smith 2 Jim McMillan 3 David McIntosh 4 Mike Smith 5 Paul Battenfeld Year Total Omnium Points 1 Jim McMillan 31 pts 2 Ray VonDohlen 23 3 Sean Young 23 4 Shawn Smith 22 5 Herb Young 17 6 Chris Kamm 12 7 Andrew Erskine 8 8 Michael Biggs 8 9 Adam Blumenthal 8 10 Steve Miller 7 11 Mike Smith 7 12 Rostand Smith 7 13 Janet Truby 4 14 Paul Battenfeld 4 15 Cara McCauley 4 16 Frank Melvin 3 17 Gary McIntosh 3 18 Marc Hunt 2 19 Monica Koerschner 2 20 Robin Pace 2 21 Wendy Coin 1 22 Caroline Camp 1 23 John Neil 1 24 Sean Quigley 1 25 Mike Lackenmacher 1 26 Chris King 1 27 Bob Oast 1 28 Bill Valenta 1 29 Kristopher Hinz 1 Road Bike "A" 60 Lap Points Race 1 John Lieswyn 51 pts 2 Randy Parker 34 3 Joey Coddington 32 4 Jacob McGahey 23 5 Treavis Taylor 7 6 John Rummel 3 7 Kent Williams 3 8 Chris Ernst 3 9 Scott Langford 2 10 Darby Harris 2 Year Total Omnium Points 1 Randy Parker 32 pts 2 Joey Coddington 27 3 Darby Harris 17 4 Jacob McGahey 14 5 John Lieswyn 7 6 Bob Wright 5 7 Mike Lantz 4 8 Kent Williams 3 9 Scott Langford 3 10 Tommy Davis 3 11 Jason Smith 2 12 Andy Applegate 2 13 Chad Schoenauer 2 14 Chris Ernst 2 15 Richard Dunn 1 16 Adam Penny 1 17 Treavis Taylor 1 Road Bike "B" 30 Lap Points Race 1 Nick Rogouski 23 pts 2 Jeff Frazer 18 3 Chris Bifaro 16 4 Francisco Ortiz 8 5 Peter Dickson 5 6 Will Sager 4 7 Jody Smith 3 Year Total Omnium Points 1 Jeff Frazer 31 pts 2 Nick Rogouski 30 3 Adam Pinkston 14 4 Alex Bryenton 10 5 Thad Walker 7 6 David Forkner 7 7 Jamie Arnold 7 8 Wes Dickson 5 9 Robert Karriker 5 10 Chris Bifaro 8 11 Will Sager 4 12 Monica Curwen 4 13 Mike Sweat 3 14 John Gravet 2 15 Nancy Lux 2 16 Jody Smith 1 17 Cara McCauley 1 18 Francisco Ortiz 2 19 Peter Dickson 1
