La Vague Bleue
Blue Wave Storms Over Syracuse
I Grabbed First Place But Didn't Win
By Michael Fallone
Setting out from Voorheesville at 5:45 am, I was eager to start my second race, but a bit uncertain of how the race would go and how I would hold up. Was my respectable showing at Jiminy a fluke? Exactly how hard was this climb in the middle of the course? Would I flat? What about that Norbert guy who flattened the 4/5 field at Jiminy - would he show up and squash us again? A melodious cacophony of Tool, Deftones and Faith No More - as well as several hundred fluid ounces of energy drinks and coffee - drowned out my trepidation as my car hurled its way toward Tully at speeds that would've gotten my license suspended.
I had set personal objectives of placing in the top five and of helping the team in any way that I could. That was my final thought as I, Bill, Tom, Paul, Mark, Brad (sadly without CBRC jersey) and sixty other shivering, drenched cyclists stood in the pouring rain prior to the start of the race.
We started, made our first turn and within seconds, trepidation was replaced by confidence as the team controlled the race from the outset. Every attack between the start and the first climb was reeled in - a CBRCer quickly on the attacker's wheel. We picked up the pace several times in an attempt to tire the field. Only a few cyclists, including the menacing Norbert O'Reilly (actually a very nice guy) from Metro/Sanchez, tried repeatedly to break away, but to no avail. As we approached the first climb, the field seemed to slow up a bit to save some energy for what was a somewhat challenging pitch up to the manure-studded farmland and roadways above Lake Otisco. A somewhat brisk pace up the climb certainly put a hurtin' on most of the field - a fact that we would work to our favor in lap two.
On the descent back towards Song Mountain the CBRC waited and saved its energy. As we passed Song Mountain, Mark led the race in the drops as his family cheered from the roadside (a fine moment indeed). It was after this point where we started to take a hammer to the field, which just didn't seem to want to race aggressively. Repeated attacks by Mark, Tom, Bill and Paul deadened the legs of the soaked 4/5 field.
Finally, as Mark attacked and I joined him on the flats going north along Lake Otisco, I decided to make a move. Drafting from Mark, who was already ahead of the field, I quickly shot past him and got a gap a few miles before the big climb. I glanced back several times and watched that gap quickly widen as the CBRC team took total control of the pack and shut it down, allowing me to attack on the hill and gain even more time. Keeping my heart rate at 90% to 93% of max, I rode for nearly one hour on a solo break and finished 1 minute and 47 seconds ahead of the pack - quite astonished at winning and knowing that my teammates had made it possible for me to accomplish what I did.
Like I said, I grabbed first place but the team won the race. Thanks again for all your help/guidance during the race and since I first met each of you for the first time five weeks ago. Much appreciated!
CBRC Syracuse Road Race Results:
Cat. 4/5
1. Michael Fallone
5. Bill Raleigh
6. Tom Butler
8. Paul McDonnell
10. Mark Sumner
16. Brad Sratton
Women 1/2/3
2. Lori Hewig
(Note: After a two-year absence from racing, Hewig has returned with smashing success this season. Hearing of Lori's comeback, Genevieve Jeanson rushed across the country to Syracuse. She was overheard repeating the following mantra:
"Must beat Hewig."
Cat. 3
13. Tim Huneck
Suffer Off To Buffalo
By: Tim Huneck
The Empire State Games Qualifier is the only race I don't look forward to. It's not because the race is long and hard, although it is plenty of both. It's because all year we race as a team, but in this race we compete against each other for a spot on the Adirondack team. It creates a situation where your friends are your competition. Plus, the stakes are high. You might be disappointed if you don't do well in any other race, but there is always next week. Do poorly at the qualifier and you lose out on a (nearly) all expense paid trip to the games. And anyone who has relished in the game's five-star accommodations and all-you-can-eat cafeteria longs for a return trip.
This year's qualifier was held Saturday, June 7. It was the second year in a row the Nassau course was run "backwards," or counterclockwise. I believe this makes the course tougher and more selective. There would be no sprint finish for a top ten spot this year.
The rain was supposed to hold off until 1:00, but in a fitting tribute to this season, it began to rain just before the race began and rained steadily throughout the morning.
This race typically begins slowly. No one is eager to attack with 76 miles ahead of them. The people who have made successful early attacks have all sworn they would never do anything like that again.
The first serious move came on lap two when Eric J. powered off the front. Andy Ruiz soon shot after him and, since I was on Andy's wheel, I followed. Andy Guptil quickly joined in, and before long we had a group of four. This seemed like my ticket to Buffalo, assuming I could last with these guys. But there were too many strong men back in the field and we were caught at the start of lap three.
Bill Pjontek went off the front next and Eric joined him. Soon thereafter, Andy R shot off again, taking Paul McDonnell with him. Things stayed like this for the next two and a half laps - Eric and Bill ahead, Andy and Paul a minute back, and the field another minute behind them.
Things came apart when Ian attacked hard up the golf course climb on lap five. This is the shorter of the two major climbs on the course, but it proved to be the most difficult all day. The field had split on this climb on previous laps, but had come back together when the pace slowed after the descent. This time the pace did not slow, and, with one exception, the final selection was made – Ian, Andy Guptil, Chuck Q, Dieter Drake, Paul McDonnell, Tom Butler, Greg Abramson, Dave Fisk, and me.
We continued at a rabid pace, first pulling in Andy, then Bill and Eric. (Paul had come back earlier in lap five when his seat came loose.) We were a group of a dozen beginning the climb on lap six. And, since several in the group were not planning on going to Buffalo, we were all qualifiers. Things slowed down, and there was much rejoicing.
My rejoicing was short lived. Just as the climb began I dropped my chain. Unable to pick it up, I had to stop. Gary Toth and Chris jumped out of the follow car and gave me a monstrous push to get me going again. Fortunately, the group waited for me to rejoin. Thanks guys.
A bit later, Tom flatted. No problem, the group waited for him, too. While were waiting, Bill Raleigh joined us, seemingly out of nowhere. He reported that a chase group was not far behind and closing fast. The pace instantly picked up. It was an unlucky break for Tom and for Bill P., who had dropped back to help him.
Somewhere in lap seven, the two Andys went off the front. I was entering the fog zone of pain and suffering at this point and can't really remember exactly where they attacked. I only know we chased pretty hard leading into the golf course climb, and that the climb caused me great pain. It was all I could do to clutch onto the back of the strung-out group. I got by on will power and the knowledge that all this hard work would be for nothing if I got dropped.
Ian was the next to launch off the front, at the beginning of the last lap. No one chased him. No one wanted to. You can tell a group is tired when several people give the same instructions: "No attacks; just ride steady; all we have to do is finish."
I knew I was in trouble, but I knew I wasn't alone. My mantra changed from, "Don't get dropped" to, "Don't get dropped by everyone."
Bill R. and I went up the golf course climb the last time with dueling cramps. The rest of the group surged ahead. On the descent, Bill and I caught up to Dave, who was experiencing his own pain, and Dieter, who had to stop because of a chain problem. Dave, Bill and I rode to the finish together. It was the longest three miles I've ridden this year. It seemed to take an hour, but, finally, the race was over.
The race was won by the two Andys; Ian finished third; next came the group of Eric, Chuck, Greg, and Paul; Bill, Dave and I followed; Dieter, with a straightened chain, came in shortly thereafter; Tom recovered from his flat to finish strong; Ed Lis led home the chase group. I'm not exactly sure who finished in which spot. But, I hear the cafeteria calling.
A Slightly Different Perspective on Above Race
by Ted Erkkila (web-guy)
Stop to pee. Uh-oh!.
Must chase in rain. Must suffer.
Did I just get lapped?
Time Trials
Three time trials have been held since the last newsletter was written, with two highs and a low. The first high came at New Baltimore on May 14. A record 20 people raced and two records were set. Michelle Rawlins set a new women's course record of 34:05. Mr. Hoener (no first name listed) set a 45+ record with a 30:46.
The record turnout lasted only until the Punkin' Town to Pinnacle Uphill Time Trial on June 18. Twenty-nine riders came out to test themselves against the hill. Ian Beilby won and set the first course record with a time of 15:40. Gene Primono won the 45+ race, establishing that group's record at 19:24.
The low came at the May 28 New Baltimore event when only 10 people showed up to race. It was a damp, cool night, but not as bad as many we've had this spring. Oddly, a rider from Team Bethel won this race. It's encouraging that our TT series drew someone from out of the area, but disappointing that only nine local riders showed up.
Results of the top three finishers in the under 45 class, and the top finisher in the 45+ and women's class are listed below. Complete results are listed on the website.
New Baltimore, May 14
1. Chris Shaffer 26:34
2. Dave Fisk 28:08.28
3. Chuck Quackenbush 28:08.7
45+
1. Hoener 30:46 *
Women
1. Michelle Rawlins 34:05*
New Baltimore, May 28
1. Mcgovern 26:48
2. Mike Fallone 28:07
3. Chuck Quackenbush 28:11
45+
1. Gary Gurney 31:06
Pinnacle, June 18
1. Ian Beilby 15:40*
2. Andy Ruiz 15:56
3. Chris Shaffer 16:28
45+
1. Gene Primono 19:24*
* Course record
Current Series Standings
1. Chris Shaffer 16 points
2. Andy Ruiz 12
3. Tie- Dave Fisk and Chuck Quackenbush 9
45+
1. Dave Mcleod 17
Women
1. Nancy Welsh 12
Cat 5's Out In Force at Butternut Valley
By: John Connors
The Cat 5's were out in full force on Sunday June 1. Well almost full force. Mike Fallone was there, but was allowed to race in the master's class (thank God, just kidding). So it was Dr. Rob Dadekain and I doing our thing.
The race went something like this. Cat 5's started with the masters, women 1/2/3's, and juniors. I thought it a little odd to combine those fields, but it is my first year on a road bike and racing so I have a lot to learn, as I will point out later. The race started from a dirt driveway, which I also thought was weird. Kind of a quasi cycle cross race.
Now, since the masters started with us, we still got to race with Mike F. Mike shot out front about 2 miles from the start. So obviously I tried to hold his wheel. I soon learned that was a big mistake. I made it to about the first short climb before I had to say good-bye and then watch as about 6 other riders went flying by me. Dr. Rob and I made it to the first long climb. I was really unprepared for this climb so I just picked a steady pace that I knew I could hold. Then there was Dr. Rob who was coming up pretty steadily behind me doing his Monica Seles impression.
Now for the fun part. As soon as we made it to the top of the first climb, looming off in the distance was the second climb. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though and both of us made it without any major problems. The rest of the first lap was mostly rolling hills, so it wasn't that bad. My girlfriend Ariana, who was at the race, told me later that 3 or 4 riders pulled out after the first lap.
The second lap went like this. Dr. Rob and I caught back up to the main field and were also more prepared for the second time on the climbs, even though the main field, which consisted of Lori Hewig and some juniors, still dropped us. By that time, Mike had just about caught up to the Cat 3/4 race that had started 5 minutes before us.
For the rest of the race, I was trying to catch back up to the main field because I didn't realize that Rob and I were out in front for the Cat 5's. Now this is where things could have gone better. We had a group of about 6 or so and we started taking turns pulling. It was my turn and I felt really good so I pulled a little longer than I probably should have. By this point I guess I pulled for 1 or 2 miles so I pulled off to the left, figuring since I pulled so long someone would be nice enough to come up and take over. I guess everyone was tired so they couldn't help. This is where I made my mistake. Instead of slowing down I sped up. I guess I thought if I slowed down everyone would shoot around me and I wouldn't catch back up. So I hammered up the final short climb before we made a right to head to the finish. With the finish in sight I knew I wasn't going to have much of a sprint left, and I was right. With only a few meters to go I heard Dr. Rob start his sprint from behind me. With all I could muster I mashed on the pedals but Dr. Rob who was smart and conserved his energy at the end of the race got a well deserved win and I managed to hold on for second place, which I was very happy with.
All in all it was a good day and all the CBRCers did exceptionally well. Later that evening my girlfriend took me out to Brook's BBQ in Oneonta for a post race meal, which brought a great end to a cold, rainy and windy day.
Cat 5
1. Rob Dadekain
2. John Conners
35+
1. Mike Fallone
Reuben Blue and the Big Scrape
By: Chuck Quackenbush
One of the greatest things about this sport of ours is that it's a lot like chess. Except that it's outdoors, it involves bikes which are cool, you can get maimed doing it and you don't get fat & squishy from doing too much of it. Anyway you know what I mean. The more you do it, the more you come to appreciate the subtle things that happen around you. With enough experience, the seemingly random, Brownian motion of racers around you begins to resolve into patterns of conscious design.
This process takes more time for some of us than others. Most of our CBRC'rs are quicker on the uptake than I am. For what it's worth let me review a trick which I've let myself get abused with one time too many.
Privately, I've given it a few names. Most aren't fit to print. Here, I'll call it the Cheap Slot. Here's how it goes:
You are in a breakaway. Unlike most of your break companions, you have no teammates with you. They decide that you are pond scum and must be scraped away.
When a break is running well, each member takes a short turn on the front, peels off into the wind, slides down the row and catches onto the end of the line. If the rhythm is good, the time you spend working back up to the point is enough to let you recharge for your next turn in the wind. Ideally, everyone has a common goal - pull far away from the pack & settle things fair & square with a couple of kilometers to go. Sometimes though, teammates in a break can combine efforts to strip riders out. There are different reasons why a breakmate needs to be dumped. He might seem to be a threat in final climbs or a sprint He might not be doing enough work, disrupting the rhythm. Or he just might be a stranger from upstate God-knows where New York who doesn't say chowder the right way and you just can't have the likes of him around.
Our rider (let's call him Reuben Blue) has bridged up to a group of 11-12 who have split away from a field of about 75. The group has multiple members of strong teams. Arc-en-Ciel has four. AFD/OSVC has two. Plus several guys from different Boston teams who all seem to know each other. Rube, the only rider in blue, feels lonely.
Reub latches on to the working lane of the double-file line, moves up & takes a turn in the wind. Pulling off he drops back. A rider in the line has opened a gap only five or six places off the front. Unsure whether someone's cracking or he's being tooled, Reuben slots in. Less than a minute later Rhewbe is on the front again.
Dropping back & looking forward to a longer rest, our blue man finds another mid-line gap. He thinks "right then. Downshift. They'll come up, close their own gap, tail will come up, off we'll go." But as Roob slows, so do his neighbors. They even come across the road to take his wheel. Then he realizes that each of the others has a teammate in the front end.
Rewb weighs options. He wonders what some of his mates back home would do. Marc Roohaz would jump the gap, attack the break, take two-three guys away & end the day for the rest. Egon Boolby would fill the slot several times, wait until his turn on point coincided with the big climb, then accelerate clear with a small group of whoever could stand it. Paolo Masocastri would use Jedi mind control to make his companions forget that he was there then rip them in the final sprint.
Ruub tries something else. When the gap opens to 20-30 yds., he jumps across, hoping some of the riders behind are actually tired. Nope. Next time around he just slots right in, hoping that he'll be able to go on with this & prevail by perseverance. Perseverance isn't enough. The slotting takes its toll. After ten or eleven cycles of this, the group accelerates up the climb & the old fellow in blue just can't hang.
Sometimes that's just bike racing. There are some points to take from all this. Here are only a few. First, even when you're getting worked over, race with class and don't complain. You'd be killing them if you were having a better day. Second, when you get to a race with teammates, keep this tactic in mind and don't be afraid to use it. Third, train harder & race smarter than some rube in blue. C'est le bon.
It Doesn't Get Better Than This
By: Tim Huneck
There are certain classic races I believe I should do. One of these is the Tour of Somerville. Somerville, in northern New Jersey, is home to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. The tour, held on Memorial Day for 60 years, is the longest running race in America.
I first heard about Somerville way back in my previous racing career when a bunch of friends traveled from Ohio to race against the fast east-coast juniors, guys like Chris Carmichael. I missed the trip, but listened to stories of Somerville and other races in Allentown, Pa., and Nutley, NJ. (I also listened to stories about them running out of money and bobbing for quarters in the fountain of a NJ mall. But that's a different story altogether.)
For one reason or another Somerville has never worked out for me. Either there wasn't a category I fit into, or I did another race that weekend, or my family had other plans. This year, however, one of the races was a Cat 3/4 masters race. Perfect. Even better was the talk of sending a large CBRC contingent to race. That never materialized, but I sent in my money and convinced my family to come along.
Somerville didn't seem like such a good idea Memorial Day morning. It was raining buckets. But I checked the usually pessimistic weather channel website, and things looked hopeful. The rain was supposed to taper off around noon, and clear after that. My race started at 1:00. Armed with that hopeful outlook, we set out.
There are many ways to describe the rain that pelted the van as we drove south. Tapering off is not among them. I remembered a bike tour I had done along the coast of Washington and Oregon where it rained for 16 straight days. Always looking for hopeful signs, my companions and I invented the concept of cloud definition, defined layers in the otherwise solid mass of gray that might indicate the weather is breaking up. Once again I looked for cloud definition, and remained hopeful. But now, as then, this theory held only water. It rained even harder.
It was still raining when we arrived. I found a parking garage close to the course, set the trainer up, and went through my pre-race warm-up ritual. Just before one, I made for the start, and lined up next to Paul Marchese.
I'm usually anxious before a race, but seldom nervous. This field consisted of 140 riders, many of them NYC track riders. I have ridden with these types enough to know their aggressive style often causes chaos, even in the dry. It wasn't dry. It didn't help when Ian and Dave Ebeling told me the recently completed Cat 2 race had a crash per lap, or that the announcer kept introducing current and former world and national champions who were in my field. He had time to make the introductions because the course was still littered with carnage from the Cat 2 race. I was nervous.
It didn't help when Ian and Dave Ebeling told me the recently completed Cat 2 race had a crash per lap, or that the announcer kept introducing current and former world and national champions who were in my field.
Finally, the race started and, while fast, the racing was almost gentlemanly. No one dove into corners. No one cut me off. People held their lines. Old guys know what it is like to hit the deck and they don't like it. Also, it had finally stopped raining, although the course was still saturated.
The course was basically a big rectangle, with two long straights, three 90-degree turns, and one 120-degree turn. I moved close to the front and stayed there as best I could. I found myself losing places on the slightly downhill backstretch and gaining them back on the slightly uphill finishing stretch.
An early break went after a prime, but I was too far back to go with it. I hopped on a couple of other breaks that looked promising, but when a big field lets one group get away, it seldom lets a second escape.
The last few laps I concentrated on staying near the front and saving energy. I looked for Paul. I thought I could maybe help him out in the sprint somehow, but I didn't see him until just before the last corner when he shot past me. He always seems to find the right place to be.
I came out of the last corner in good shape, about 15 guys back. It was still a long way to the line, too far to sprint. The pace slowed. This is the time when the guys from behind usually swarm forward and trap me in the middle. There's nothing worse than finishing a race with a sprint left to give and no place to go. I didn't wait. I led it out.
The first wave of real sprinters, including Paul, came by me quickly. For quite a while I held my own, just off the back of this group. I faded in the final 100 meters and a few more guys got by me. Still, when the dust settled, Paul had finished 10th and I was 16th, both in the money.
After the race we went to the Hall of Fame and watched a great pro race. We capped the day off with dinner at a Costa Rican restaurant. Who even knew they had such things. The waiter, who only my wife could understand (who knew she spoke Costa Rican), kept bringing plates of food we did not order. There were at least three plates of chicken and French fries for the kids, chips and salsa, and bread covered with cheese and something that may or may not have been squid. (I heard the guy say squid, but then, I don't speak Costa Rican.) He also brought food we did order, fish complete with heads and tails, burritos, and quesedillas. It was enough food to feed all of Costa Rica and it cost about as much as a trip to McDonalds. To top things off, every employee in the restaurant thanked us as we left. I felt like a king, the king of Costa Rica.
Money in a classic race, the Bicycling Hall of Fame, and plates of Costa Rican chicken. It doesn't get any better than that.
Tuesday Night in the B Group
By: Gary Thoman
Tuesday brings a combination of anticipation and dread. Anticipation because I will be seeing all my friends, Garret, Goedeke aka ArtieGee, Beals aka Bealsy, and all the other riders I hang around with. Dread because I will have to climb at race pace the hill on the back side of the course three or four times, each time causing a couple of minutes of intense physical and mental pain.
The riding format of the B group is pretty simple. After a warm-up lap we race 3 ½ (or sometimes 4 ½) times around the 5+ mile course, with a sprint (prime) point on each lap. Using the parking lot as an approximate starting point, there will be four sprints (the last one is the finish) and three trips up the aforementioned hill. I say "race" although it is actually race practice; there are of course no prizes and no accounting of how people finish.
The speed (and difficulty) of the B group varies from year to year, dependent on a rather subtle combination of circumstances. Since there is both an A group and a B group, you expect the fastest riders in the A group and the slightly slower riders in the B. And yes, it does work this way, except there is a speed gap between the two groups. The A group is probably only 2 or 3 mi/hr faster than the B group, but Einstein's theory of relativity contains a special codicil on bike racing that says even a relatively small increase in speed requires a huge amount of additional effort. There is a set of riders (usually 4 or 5) whose talent puts them somewhere in the gap, and here is where the subtlety lies. If the speed gap is small these riders will try to ride in the fast group, since you don't accrete bragging rights riding with the slow guys. However, if the gap is large these riders will stay in the B group and increase the pace to painful levels. The last couple of years the A group has been very fast, resulting in considerable difficulty for good riders trying to jump the gap. As a result, the B group has also been very fast.
Dave Spore is an interesting example of someone making the jump into the A group. About three years ago one June Tuesday he showed up in the B group and didn't even last the first lap. He struggled all year and on the last ride of the season finally managed to stay in the group all evening. Unfortunately, the next year (or maybe it was for two years) he drove us crazy; too fast for the B group but not good enough to cross the forbidden energy gap into the A. It didn't help that there were several other riders in the same position, all pushing the B group pace. I remember one Tuesday showing up and there was a very small B group, me and several of the these fast riders: Dave, Gary Gurney, Dennis (speedskater) the menace, Bob duBois and Paul Marchese taking an easy night. I knew it was going to be bad; mercifully it was short. After one lap way faster than I had ever ridden before I was dumped the second time up the hill (even with Marchese trying to help by pacing me). Anyway, Dave has now made it into the A group, where I know he struggles. We are happy to see him there, partially for his success but mainly to get rid of him. Unfortunately, others have taken his place.
Each lap in the race is about the same. From the parking lot we scream around the flat section to the sprint point. Since I have never had a single fast twitch muscle fiber in my whole body, and have somehow managed to actually slow down as I get older, I don't participate in the sprint. I do get a good view from behind. There is something about the sprint that makes the riders forget everything they know about bike handling, race rules and safety. Especially during the first part of the year, there are riders way left of the yellow line, all over the road, in the ditch, etc. The view is both breathtaking and scary, sometimes reminding me of the 8-year-old class at the BMX track.
After the sprint there is a few seconds for a regroup, then the right turn onto the dump road, which is very slightly uphill. Along here all body functions, legs, heart rate and breathing, need to be carefully monitored. If the pace along here is fast enough to hurt, then you can be certain of problems to come. The group arrives at the hill, actually a series of small hills. For the B group the hills are just steep enough that you have to be a little bit of a climber, but gentle enough that there is a good draft in the pack. After forcing my way up the first two I sit in the pack up the last long shallow rise. I am not fast enough to control the pack here, so it a simple matter of suffering at whatever level is required to stay with the group. If you had any trouble along the dump road, you can be sure it will be compounded here. At the top of the rise you tuck into the pack, speed downhill into the right turn and fly past the parking lot for the next lap.
Round and round and round we go
All right turns you're glad to know
The flat, the sprint, and then the hill
Its great fun to suffer so
Tuesday Night in the A Group
By: Tim Huneck
With a couple of exceptions, Tuesday night A group racing has gotten pretty predictable the past several weeks. We start with a group of about 20. The pace is hard from the top of the hill. Attacks are frequent. No one gets away. We keep this up for two and a half laps. Then, the much smaller group sprints. The sprint is usually won by Paul Marchese, unless he is the mood to lead someone out. Then, that person wins. We regroup until the top of the hill, and do it all over again.
In my opinion, these are the fastest Tuesday night races in several years. There are lots of really strong guys this year. In past years, a strong rider could escape and stay away. If two strong guys got together, forget about it. Especially in the second race, when people are tired. But this year there are always several strong guys in the field. Breaks, especially solo breaks, don't go far. The races usually last about a half hour each. I think that's about 26 mph. No wonder CBRCers are doing well at weekend races this year.
One exception to this pattern came on a damp, cool night in May. The turnout was smaller than normal, the race was longer (one four-lap event) and the pace was higher. A break made up of Andy Ruiz, Chuck Q, Mike Fallone, Chris Shaffer, and some guy from out of town went before the climb. Somehow Ian Beilby missed this move and he led the charge to bring them back, urging the ever-decreasing number of riders to pull through. We chased for a lap, finally reeling in the break just as the climb began. I figured things would slow for a bit, but Chris launched another attack. The same guys reformed at the front, this time taking Ian and Tom Butler with them. Dieter Drake, Dennis Humphrey, and I were left to a three-man team trial for another 2 laps. Everyone else wisely went home.
The second exception was June 17, the day before the Pinnacle TT. A smaller than normal group started and no one seemed eager to force the pace. Chuck and Tom made a nice move on the last lap, and stayed out front for a while, but they were doomed by a vicious headwind in the finishing straight. At the end of the first race, which was won by Paul Marchese, everyone quit. I've never seen that happen. Apparently the hill climb is a big event on the calendar and no one wanted to go in with dead legs.
Other Results
New York State Time Trial Championships, June 15, Tioga Center, NY
1. Dieter Drake 30+ 55:02 for 40K
Hollenback Road Race
1. Lori Hewig Women 1/2/3
Upcoming Event
If there are any members of your club who enjoy participating in a non-licensed "citizen" bicycle road race, would you be willing to tell them about our race?
The B.C. Bicycle Race For Sight is a charity event that benefits people who are blind and visually impaired. This year's race is being held on Saturday, July 19th in the small village of Windsor, NY (very near Binghamton, in Broome County). The race is 26 miles long, and proceeds over gently rolling terrain in the beautiful Susquehanna River Valley. It is a small, informal event, where riders can gain experience in road racing.
For more information, photos of last year's race, and a printable registration form, you can go to our website at www.bwabinghamton.org and click on "Bike Race."
Thank you for considering this request. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Joyce Bucci
Contribution Supervisor
jbucci@bwabinghamton.org
Final Thoughts
Thanks to everyone who contributed an article for this newsletter. There were a lot of new writers this month, plus another outstanding article by Chuck. Let's see if we can add to the number of writers next month. How about a story from a woman or master rider about the ESG trials, or someone's perspective on one of the club time trials?
Results continue to be slow in coming. My policy is to print only the results people e-mail me. A couple of people sent me a list of results as an attachment and those didn't come through. Even considering those, the results submission is pretty poor. Let's try to do better.
Finally, the past two newsletters have been slow in coming. I got bogged down last month by a broken computer and this month by the end of the school year, which is always my most hectic time of year. Time is about to be on my side, though, and I will be much more regular with my reports. My plan is to wrap things up around the 20th of each month and send the newsletter to Ian for final review. You should get newsletters near the beginning of each month from now on.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Tim
At The Back
The Presidential View
Believe it or not, July is the turning point of the cycling season. The spring campaign is over, the first warm races have been raced, the days are actually getting shorter and it's hot! This is the time of year that was made for bike racing; its like endurance drink mix and water. You give no thought about how many layers to put on, you just go. Its that sense of freedom that cycling, especially cycling in the Capital District fosters. Once out of the city the choices are endless. There are long flat rides, long hilly rides, rolling rides and everything in between. You can find whatever you are looking for or feel like that day. You are free to fit in whatever ride your fitness, water capacity and training partners will allow.
It is this freedom that keeps the last two months of the road racing season fresh for me. While training is important, there are plenty of races on the weekends to provide the really hard workouts most of us need and the midweek rides can be used to fine tune your weaknesses and prepare for your end of season goal; The Green Mountain Stage Race, Chris Thater, or the upcoming Cross season.
See you all on the road. Train Hard.
|
