Dying 1,000 deaths in the DARK
-by Kim Foland
This report told to Kim F.
Missy and Kim S. went to Beaufort, SC for the SE Crit series and all they got was a crazy fast race in the dark and no t-shirt.
The story begins with a barge hitting a bridge in Beaufort, a beautiful coastal town in South Carolina. The bridge that the barge hit caused the local police to re-route all traffic through the downtown area and right through the race course. The women's race was supposed to begin at 6:00pm but this was delayed over 2 hours while commuters worked their way through the detours.
Finally, the race begun. The field of 60 women was jumpy because of the long delays and the course change. Officials allowed or forced the field to do a neutral lap since the course was new and thus changing Kim and Missy's position on the line. Starting position proved to be crucial as the jumpy field went balls out from the gun.
Turn 1 was narrow and the field drove through it single file. Kim and Missy worked hard closing gaps and after closing more than 6 gaps, the gap that they just couldn't close formed forcing them to chase. They chased in a small field and drove it with the main field in sight. The break caught them and rode through, then they were able to get back in with the rest of the field. But then were gapped again. It was a constant struggle of a sketchy course, the dark, poorly lit course and as Kelly Benjamin, the night's winner told cyclingnews: "It was war out there...".
Kim and Missy were glad to finish although Kim doesn't even know if she made it in to the results because the men's field, also delayed and jumpy had already started staging at the line.
It was one of those nights that you don't easily forget....