RMO Preview - Battle of the Bs

on 06-13-2007 05:07

This weekend’s Rocky Mountain Omnium is about to kick-off with more than 350 racers, including 45 disabled cyclists, half of whom are handcyclists.

Now in it’s 8th year, the RMO is known as a big-time event. 2007 is no exception. It is the U.S. Handcycling Time Trial and Road Race Championship as well as the U.S. Paralympics National Road Championship. The big event is Friday’s time trial in Bear Creek Lake Park. The new, 13.2 kilometer course will be used to select the World CHampionship Team this year, and is step #1 on the road to Beijing for aspiring U.S. Paralympians.

The handcycle field is fully stacked. Alejandro Albor will make his first appearance since March, and despite his usual sandbagging, is expected to be fit an ready to rock. His old rivalry with Scott McNeice might be rekindled albeit in a bit of a role reversal with Albor being the man to beat these days….throw Oz Sanchez and Seth Arseneau in there to make it interesting and you’ve got a fast front group.

The HCA field looks good and will see James Watson and Scott Rimmer square off for the first time, which should be exciting, and we expect Dave Randall and Brian Mithcell to have some fun in the C1 race.

The real story this weekend however, is the HCB race. Bs have been kicking butt all season long. Matt Updike was killin’ it early season and Todd Richardson has turned it on lately…both have schooled their “more able” C1 counterparts in every race. Meanwhile, Keane West of Lake Placid, FL has been at every race and is definitely “not slow” so long as his bike doesn’t break.

To make things really exciting however, David Lee — dominator of the season opener hill climb in Redlands, CA — and former HCB World CHampion Greg Hockensmith (aka Harry Lockensmith) will be on hand to really pump things up. So who is the favorite ? That’s a tough one. All of these guys have big guns and egos to match…and the word is that the trash talking is getting out of hand. “Joker, Dirt Bag, Pretty Boy, etc” we’ve heard it all here at the USHF headquarters, but we really don’t have an odds-on favorite at this point.

Updike is local and has the advantage of having ridden the course a bunch. Lee however, trains like a maniac and has been rumored to be staying in Boulder for the past 2 weeks to acclimatize….and Hockensmith….well he just rides a lot and we can’t remember a time when he was slow. Richardson meanwhile has something to prove after missing the registration for lat year’s nationals in PA, and Keane West just plain likes to compete any chance he gets.

So….pick your favorite and place your bets…but get ready for some thermonuclear action!

Check back for some more results, photos, stories, and details!

The start list for Friday’s Time Trial can be found HERE.