Friday’s National Criterium Championship at the Clocktower Classic in Rome, GA showcased great racing in front of great fans, in a great town. Despite the ominous threat of hail and lightning, the race went off without a hitch on a tailor-made handcycle course in downtown Rome.

Due to the significant climb between turns three and four, many groups formed and there was significant strategy and competition throughout the field. The fast, downhill finish favored the power and downhill prowess of Oz Sanchez (CAF), and he did not disappoint…putting in an attack on the last 2 laps that dropped Krige Schabort (Invacare) and left Sanchez with only Scott McNeice to contend for the win. To his credit, McNeice hung on for dear life after turn 4, but simply could not generate the same amount of power, and was content to watch Sanchez blast through the finish line to the delight of the big crowd.

The longseat race once again saw Matt Updike (U.S. Handcycling) take the win, using a tried-and-true strategy of making his competitors chase from the gun. During the first three laps of the race, a large field of 10+ racers stayed together. When Krige Schabort pushed the pace, riders began to drop off the front group one-by-one. As was his strategy in the previous day’s road race, Updike was the last to get dropped from the group of three kneelers at the front, leaving the rest of the longseat field to chase him. California’s David Lee chased Updike furiously for most of the race’s 30 minutes, and at times closed to within on quarter of a lap. Meanwhile, a group that included Rafael Ibarra, David Randall, Todd Richardson, Dane Pilon, and Brian Mitchell, organized themselves to chase down both Lee and Updike. As the final laps ensued, Updike’s advantage increased, but Lee found himself changing roles from ‘hunter’ to ‘hunted.’ Updike came through for the National title, and on the final lap, Lee was caught by the group and – to add a little salt to the new wound – passed in the sprint and left to finish at the back of the group. Ibarra showed his experience as a veteran athlete with a final burst of power to finish in the front of the group by half a wheel and take 2^nd in the longseat, as well as the best-placed 45+ finisher.

Further back, some great battles developed throughout the field, with the PVA’s Geoff Hopkins, and first-year racer Niel Harding (W. Bountiful, UT) battling things out all week long, with the big kneeler, Gerard Ah Fook (Bothell, WA), Josh Sharpe of Florida (Bike-on.com), Ken Bestine (Clymer, NY), Rick Gilliland (Kenai, AK), and future star Jose Pudillo (Atlanta, GA) throwing their hat in to the ring at times to make things interesting. Tenessee’s Tom Kahler welcomed the cooler weather, but made sure to have ‘water throwers’ on the course this time to maintain a low body temp. And of course, there was the “return of the twins,” JSG [John Scott Gilger], and Rich Wagner, who always show-up with plenty of jokes, and a few cheeseburgers.

Finally, there continues to be great competition in the new 55+ category, with Vern Achenbach showing tremendous fitness, holding off Joe Dowling for the entire race, and finishing high overall, almost a lap ahead of Dowling, who was also working hard to stay ahead of Dennis Clark, who seemed to get faster as the weekend progressed.

The day ended with a great dinner, catered by local restaurant, Harvest Moon, and there was an awesome award's dinner, complete with the now traditional presentation [by the Floyd County Wellness Progra] of the Warren Strickland Spirit of Inspiration award, which went to Scott McNeice for his mentorship and tenacity as a veteran racer [69-year-old Joe Dowling was the runner-up for the award].

Full results are below, and don’t forget to check out the video from the Rome News Tribune.

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