The One & Only Black Fly Challenge

Black Fly Race Report from one of our own PHILosophers -- Skinny Phil:

Warning, this is going to be a long race report and given a lack of oxygen to my brain during the race, some of the facts may be questionable at best.

Eight Ommegangsters made the trip to the Black Fly Challenge this year. Jeff W., AJ, Drumm, Body Builder Phil, Jeremy, Mike (The Red Rooster), Kevin and myself. For those unfamiliar with the BF, it’s one of those races that you talk about all season. Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring, the BF gets brought up on more Ommegang rides than any other.

A bunch of us drove up the evening before, chomped some Subway, watched some hockey and a few of us drank an Ommegang or two. The BF was one of my “A” races this season, so I can’t say that I slept very well. I had a decent finish last year, and anything less than a top 10 would have been a failure this year.

At 6:50 Drumm, Jeff W., his lovely wife Katina, team friend Fizz and I rolled out for some breakfast. The others stayed behind to eat Cliff Bars, drink hotel coffee, or pack a pint of Ommegang via IV. Friends of the team, Jason and Mike brewed up some espresso in an attempt to offset a night of hockey watching and overindulgence.

After a sweet breakfast, we packed up and made the 40 minute drive to Indian Lake. For the uninitiated, BF is a point to point race and alternates direction each year. This year the race traveled from Indian Lake to Inlet. After waiting in the obligatory bathroom lines, we were ready for a warm up. After a decent warm up, it was time to line up. This year there were over 300 racers. The biggest turnout by a wide margin. The first 9 miles was going to be on pavement, which meant a bunch of MTB’ers and CX’ers humming down the road at breakneck speed. It also meant that those that never road race were mixing it up with those that do. The start of this race was one of the sketchiest sketchfests I’ve ever partaken in. I started out in the front of the pack, but quickly found myself drifting back. At one point a guy racing in the actual race T-Shirt and cargo shorts started to weave all over on a small climb and I thought we were all doomed. I’ve never, not even in a local club ride, seen someone ride so poorly or dangerously. I immediately decided that it was time to burn a match and get right to the front. The second I did, I heard a huge crash right behind my back wheel. Luckily only two riders hit the deck, but it was amazing that was all. Finally we hit the dirt. Now it was time to do work. We started to hit some rollers, and began thinning the herd. Ommegangsters were everywhere. It was really impressive to see.

Eventually we hit our first long sustained climb. After hanging on to a few wheels and working my way toward the front, we crested the hill. When I turned around, I noticed that almost everyone was gone. There were only eight of us left, and 4 of us were decked out in Ommegang kits. We kept riding in a fairly unorganized fashion and I kept thinking, 8th place, I can live with 8th place. Somewhere around 20 miles in, we’re heading down a hill and Drumm asks how I’m feeling. I tell him I’m feeling great. He then asks AJ how he’s feeling and out of nowhere Drumroll’s bike kicks sideways and in a big cloud of dirt, he’s off the road. I see him jump right back into the road, so he’s presumably ok. Then there were 7. 7th place, I can live with 7th place.

Unfortunately Drumm never got a chance to get back on. Right after he crashed, one of the guys yelled, “chasers” and all of a sudden we were in a pace line hammering. No small task on rocks and dirt. From that point forward it was all business. On one of the big down hills my left hand slipped off of the handlebars and I nearly yardsailed it at 30 something MPH. After a very lucky save I was refocused in a big way. The next downhill we were probably pushing 40 when we came across a sharp right turn at the bottom. One of the guys up front took it way wide and barely saved it. Jeff W. railed the turn and luckily I followed his line. AJ had let it all hang out as he was rejoining our pack and unfortunately had an outside line when he realized the turn was coming. Another gangster down. 6th place, I can live with 6th place.

By now, everyone other than Jeff W. was looking pretty beat. Jeff is a manimal and pretty much set the pace for the day. Jeff continued to push the pace and next thing I knew, there were 4 of us. Now I’m thinkin’ top 3. This might be the race of a lifetime for pack fill like me. We hit the pavement and another uphill. I’m glued to the wheel of a CRBC guy from Albany. He’s glued to Jeff’s wheel. We crest the hill and I think my legs are going to explode. Then there’s a sweet downhill and a minute to spin out some of the evil in my legs. Next move is a sharp right hand turn at speed onto what turned out to be sand. After some sliding around, everyone keeps it upright and Jeff starts to pull away. I’m in third position and I don’t want to drag the Albany guy back up to Jeff, so I sit in. Then there’s a 1 mile to go sign and it’s all trails to the finish. Jeff had opened up a decent gap, and I felt like it was now or never so I jumped around the Albany guy and got to within 10 yards of Jeff. From there, I just followed his sweet lines and rolled in behind him for second. AJ and Drumm rolled in shortly after and we had 4 guys in the top 10. We ended up with 8 guys in the top 50. Jeff’s lovely wife Katina also came in first in the women’s race and slayed a bunch of strong dudes in the process. Talk about a power couple.

Sadly, team friend Fizz suffered a bad crash and won a ride in an Ambulance. 3rd degree shoulder separation and a scuffed up face. The good new is that chick’s dig scars.

If you didn’t get out there this year, get out there next year.

Results at http://www.blackflychallenge.com/