Two Hours From Anywhere Omnium

by Matt Reeder, Boneshakers

Race: Two Hours From Anywhere Omnium
Date: Sept. 26-28, 2003
Place: Murphy, NC

The Boneshaker Bicycles Boys had another great weekend of racing. Eric Anderson, Richie Hunt, and Matt Reeder all raced in Murphy NC. Matt and Eric competed in the whole omnium, while Richie did the road race on Saturday.

The time trial course was flat and windy, and like all time trials, extremely painful. Matt must have suffered well on the 9 mile course, because his time put him in third place.

The road race course was amazing. The 15 mile loop was very rolling with the exception of a long gradual climb that preceded a short steep climb aptly named "the wall." Richie raced in the master's field, which did three laps. Eric and Matt did the same distance in the Cat 4 race. The course guaranteed an exciting race with so many opportune places for attacks. However, the highlight of the day was Eric's selfless riding. Early in the first lap, there was a crash that brought Matt to the ground in a ditch beside the road with a tangle of bikes and other riders. Eric looked back to see Matt hit the ground, and pulled over and waited while Matt straightened his stem and adjusted his front brakes. Once Matt was back on his bike, Eric put out an incredible effort to pull him all the way back to the field. For the rest of the day, Matt stayed near the front so he could go with the climbers on the breakaways. Every time that Matt got stuck out in the wind, Eric would ride to the front and set a hard pace to string out the group until someone else pulled through. On the second lap, an attack split the field, and on the third lap, about 6 riders got clear. Matt won the 6 man sprint for the win. He made sure that Eric's hard work was for a good result. The Masters field raced at the same time as the Cat 4's, so details on Richie's race are unknown. Richie finished the race in the first chase group behind the winning break. He finished in 10th.

The crit course was short and technical with a small incline, a stiff wind, and a 120 degree turn. In every field that started with more than 15 riders less than half finished. Since Matt was leading the omnium going into the crit, he was a marked man. He couldn't go anywhere without chase. Consequently, he sat in the front of the field and waited for the field sprint where he took 5th.

Matt's results of 3rd in the TT, 1st in the RR and 5th in the Crit were good enough to get him the win in the Omnium. However, the real highlight of the weekend was Eric's superb riding that made Matt's RR win possible. Eric
showed anyone watching what it means to be a Boneshaker rider. I'm proud to be his teammate.