OK, boys and girls and cycling fans of all ages, it’s time for a quick pop quiz to prepare for this weekend’s Natchez Bicycle Classic.

What is squirrelly?

All right, bring your eyes back down from my mug and listen good. Squirrelly is a term used to describe a nervous or unstable rider.

Actually most cycling fans are pretty familiar with bike race lingo, considering the first Natchez Bicycle Classic was held in 1989.

But just in case, we’ll refresh the memory banks.

An attack is a sudden acceleration to elude another rider or group of riders.

Besides individuals racing for a first, there will be teams competing, such as the local Herring Gas Road Team, which captured the Tour de Louisiana earlier this month.

Mercy Cycling of Fort Smith, Ark., did a good job working as a team to give team member Steve Cate of Norman, Okla., the United States Elite Men’s National Championship Road Race title here last month.

The more riders a team has the better its chances because riders can take turns pushing the field on the road race, which goes out to Kingston.

Then there’s blocking, when one rider or a group of riders attempt to slow the field to allow the lead riders to break away. It serves the same purpose as attacking.

A domestique is a team rider who will sacrifice individual performance to work for a designated teammate.

A breakaway is when a rider or group of riders leaves the main group behind.

If you hear the word bridge, no someone didn’t take a wrong turn to the river, it means a rider left one group of riders to join another group that is farther ahead.

A derailleur is a mechanism that moves the chain from one gear to the other.

Drafting is riding in a slipstream (the area of least wind resistance behind a rider), or a pocket of moving air. This enables the second rider to maintain speed with less effort.

An echelon is a staggered line of riders, each downwind of the rider immediately ahead.

Feeding occurs when a member of the team’s support crew in a designated area on the course supplies liquid and food to riders during the race. That area is the beginning of the loop on Kingston Road.

A field sprint is a sprint to the finish among the main group of riders, while a flyer is a surprise attack, usually done alone.

Take a flyer means to ride off the front suddenly.

Hammering is riding hard, going all out.

Hanging on is barely maintaining contact at the back of the pack, while hook means to move one’s back wheel against the front wheel of a following bike.

A lead-out is an intentional sacrificing tactic whereby one rider sprints early to provide a high-speed draft to the rider on his wheel.

That rider comes around the leader at an even faster speed just before the end of the race.

Pull means to take a turn at the front of the group, maintaining the same rate of speed.

And finally appreciation is what the riders have for those spectators who cheer the first and last ones across, which is pretty common for the Natchez Bicycle Classic.

Let’s let them know we’re glad to have them back again.

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached by calling 446-5172 ext. 232 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.

&160;