04/12/03 by Jim Gilmore
Shawn Adams and myself represented Allied Decals at this years Tour of Licking County (also know as "Paris-Roubaix West"). The weather was nice, but very windy. Since the course was mainly flat, the wind was really going to be a factor.
We arrived in time to drive the course before the race, and I'm glad we did. It gave us a preview of just how rough this course was going to be. It started out with a tailwind, then turned down the first section of dirt road scattered with potholes, across a 1 lane bridge and up the only real climb of the course (all on dirt). This section was just the beginning. The course continued out with the wind for another few miles until we hit the worst sections of the course. From this point on it felt like we were into the wind, on dirt or gravel, or both. The worst was a ~ 1 mile section of fresh gravel. It was like trying to ride through 4" of snow, you just kinda let the bike go where it wanted and held on for dear life. The whole circuit was just over 20 miles and with the cat 2/3 race doing 3 laps it was going to be a long day. Shawn applied a good coating of tape on his down tube to protect that new finish on his Klein.
I figure that the first lap would be tame, but no such luck. The field of 30-35 riders seemed to accelerate into and through the worst sections of the route. Flat tires and flying water bottles were the norm. Shawn's grandparents were nice enough to follow the race with our spare wheels just in case.
As we went through the fresh gravel section for the first time, a small group formed off the front which included Shawn. This was good news for me cause now I could sit in. Another small chase group then tried to catch them, but never did. As we came through the start finish area, I saw Shawn waiting for his grandparents to come through with our wheels, he had suffered the first of 2 flats he had on the day. The field mostly stayed together for the 2nd lap. At the beginning of the 3rd lap a Savage hill rider jumped off the front of the group. I joined one other guy to chase him down, leaving what was left of the field behind. As we went through the section with the small hill, the other 2 riders near me got a gap of a couple hundred yards, and then to my surprise they both turned the wrong way. I figured they would realize their mistake and turn around, but I never saw them again. It looked like I was on my own for the last lap.
The wind really started to hurt, and I had no water since both my bottles had been sent flying in the rough sections. But I kept going knowing that there were only 6 guys in front of me and possibly a group behind me chasing. With ~5 miles to go, I turned around to see that a rider had caught me– It was Shawn, he had suffered 2 flats and still stayed in. We rode the rest of the way together (we were both happy to finally have a draft), finishing 7th and 8th.
At the end of the day I had lost both my bottles, broke a bottle cage from all the rattling, knocked my headset loose, and messed up my bar tape from the death grip I had going through the rough sections.
I think next year I'll bring my cross bike.