Back to Racing at Johnson City

This past weekend, I made the long drive to East Tennessee for the Johnson City Omnium. One of the races I make sure to include in my calendar every year, it features a road race that finishes atop a major climb, a short TT and a crit. As usual, there were several strong riders at the race but only a few that have any teammates with them. Tanner Ward (First Internet Bank), Ben Wright (CCB), and Isaac Bryant (Gateway) were the top riders I was watching, while Kelly Benefits showed up with a squad of six riders and the Robson Forensic p/b Milligan team showed up with four riders including Michael Hernandez. I had one teammate in the race – Bryce Ward.  

While the main attraction on the road race course is the final seven mile climb at 7% grade, there is plenty of racing in the 72 miles leading up to it. In fact, each of the previous four years that I have raced here at least one of the breakaway riders has held on for a podium spot. Saturday morning brought pleasant temperatures with a threat of rain throughout the race. Michael Hernandez attacked straight from the gun intent on establishing a breakaway. He was eventually joined by Nate Moser (Kelly Benefits) and their breakaway lasted about 10 miles until we hit the first of the several smaller hills in the race. Several riders lifted the pace at the front of the peloton and the race was all back together. Hernandez continued to attack, and he was joined by Rolly Weaver (North Georgia) and Spencer Miller (Kelly Benefits) over the top of one of the hills. They had just the slightest gap on the descent but when we made the turn onto the flat highway nobody from the peloton took up the chase and the breakaway was gone. Around this time, I started to realize that Tanner had flatted out of the race.

While the two biggest teams in the race had a rider in the breakaway, I was confident that there were too many strong riders in the peloton for them to stay away. After being fairly active in the front these first 30 miles, I would spend the next 30 tucked into the rear of the peloton conserving as much energy as I could for the finale while Bryce monitored any moves at the front. We had a very brief storm pass over us and a painful descent with the large, stinging raindrops. When we passed the feed zone at mile 55 we heard a time gap of four and a half minutes to the three leaders. Several of the top riders began to take some pulls at the front, but there was still not much organization. Somehow, though, we managed to chip 30 seconds off the deficit in the span of about ten miles. With about five miles before the final climb, the Robson Forensic team sent some riders to the front and the chase became more organized. We hit the base of the climb about four minutes behind Weaver and Miller, who had dropped Hernandez.

Immediately at the base of the climb, Ben Wright went to the front to set the pace. I worked my way up to where I was sitting third wheel with Isaac Bryant in front of me. I wanted to avoid having to work my way around any slower riders as they failed to hold the pace. We caught Hernandez within the first mile of the climb and shortly later heard a time check of two minutes to the leaders. As we hit the halfway point of the climb, our chase group was down to four riders – Wright, Bryant, Chris Mathis (Carolina Cycling Team), and me. We had the two leaders in our sights and the catch was inevitable. As we rolled past the leaders, Spencer Miller was able to hang onto our wheels for a few minutes but was soon left behind. At two miles to go, it became clear that without any attacks it was going to turn into a four-man sprint of the final bit of climb, which was not a scenario where I liked my chances. I tried to launch an attack, but a cramp in my left calf cut it short. I settled back into the group resigned to take my chances in the final sprint. I was the first to open up the sprint with about 200 meters to go, but soon Isaac Bryant came flying around me with the other two riders following. As I tried to match their acceleration I cramped again and slowly pedaled across the line for fourth place in this race for the third consecutive year. Isaac Bryant held on for the win, followed by Mathis and then Wright.

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Although I was disappointed to miss the podium again, I was happy to have put myself in position to win all the way up until the end. I ended up ascending the final climb more than 90 seconds faster than any of my four previous attempts. With the road race done I grabbed an Oatmeal Creme Pie at the top and began my ride down, turning my focus to recovering from the effort and preparing the time trial that evening.

The time trial course is a five-kilometer course with the first kilometer flat, then a one kilometer climb at 5% followed by a one kilometer descent with the final two kilometers up a false flat. It was always one of the more painful races trying to put out an intense seven or eight minute effort after a long road race earlier in the day. My results here in the past have been hit and miss, but with a slightly different setup on the cockpit of my TT bike and a better approach to recovery after the road race I was more confident in my TT chances. I was able to execute a good race and placed seventh, 34 seconds behind the winner Tanner Ward, which moved me up to second in the omnium standings.

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The 90-minute crit on Sunday was a short four-corner course in downtown Elizabethton. A mistake at the start caused me to fall toward the back, where I was stuck for much of the race. A breakaway of seven riders lapped the field, and Tanner who was in the breakaway attacked late in the race to take his second win of the weekend. I got dropped late in the race and fell to fifth overall in the final results. I always enjoy my trips to Johnson City and this one was no exception, especially considering it was my first road race since Covid-19 shut everything down in March.

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