SWAMP CLASSIC 2021 Sponsored by Carbonbike-usa | USA Hand Bike Circuit

Swamp Classic kicks the year off right. The handcycle start list was modest do to Covid 19. The able body start list was massive. The host hotel was buzzing with 400+ cyclist preparing for their first race of the year. When looking down the start list cyclist came from as far as California for the race. When talking to racers the common theme was simply” lets race”!

A term often used when discussing racing is “the race within the race” but in the case of this event it would be better adjusted to” the race outside of the race”. Focus was on the H3 classification. Two of the major U.S. players Brandon Lyons, Ryan Pinney  squared off for round one of a title fight that would eventually lead to a Paralympic birth. The Swamp Classic tactically has given these two a good look at their race packages and performance potential. Strategically it has no bearing on their ultimate Paralympic goals. Mentally, only one will come out with the upper hand.

the new carbonbike-R-2020

The road race and TT course were on what could be termed slow pavement. Much of the course gave the feeling of riding on a false flat. The start of the race was a typical drag race to form a small selection of the fastest riders by the first right hand turn and then another quick culling after the first kicker. To no surprise a breakaway containing James Cook, Owen Daniels and Matt Tingly formed around the Paralympic square off of Pinney and Lyons.  The second lap with about eight km to go proved to be the breaking point. Pinney said “I looked in my mirror and saw a gap, I felt with 8 km left I’d try doing it alone”. By the end of the race Pinney turned the gap into a 58 second difference between himself and Lyons. Pinney took first, Lyons second and then a chase group containing Daniels, Tingly ,Cook and Mccabe .

The TT course was again on slow pavement. With a decent amount of wind and 200 feet of elevation gain. Saving enough energy after the turnaround would be key to finishing with a good result. Tom Davis and Freddie Del Los Santos joined the group for the afternoon to do the TT. Davis posted the fastest time of the day with Pinney 2^nd. Lyons churned out a time that was 30 seconds behind Pinney.

The Sunday Crit was a wet one. It rained most of the night before soaking the track leaving puddles and a wet racing surface. The sun did finally show itself offering a nice temperature for the final event. Again, from the start a sizeable group formed that stayed together for most of the race. The group shared the work through out the 30 minute effort on a course that had many left and right hand turns. Pinney took the crit win ending his race weekend with 3 wins. This was his first outing on his new Carbonbike R-2020 and if the weekends results are any indication of how good the handcycle is working for him he is in for a good year. Lyons ended the weekend a close 2^nd but has a few things to sort out before Huntsville in April which will be round 2 of this H3 battle.

Other notable observations on the weekend would be Alicia Dana remains a stout WH3 competitor and is on a flight path for the Paralympics. She too is on a new Carbonbike R-2020 and looking fast. Mathew Tingly showed up on a Carbonbike RevoX- 33 with camber and posted significantly better times then last year. Gainesville’s James Cook sporting an old school Carbonbike on 700c was in every lead group over the weekend and had a great omnium.

For results go to

TOPVIEW SPORTS