[BHV] Corning Circuit Race

[Jeremiah Ayers]

Dan/Brian,

Hey just wondering if, since Corning came up so big for this event, there
was anyway we, all of us at BHV/Corning Team could say thanks to them.
Maybe something together or do you have any other ideas or recommendations?
Maybe this would go a long way toward next year.   Just a thought.

Jeremiah



On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:14 PM, Dan Reed <cdan88 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> I thought I'd chime in with a few of my own comments, many of which echo
> Brian's.  This might be a long email but I'll try to keep it interesting...
>
> First off, the whole idea kicked off last July when I posed the question to
> the BHV listserve about the possibility of hosting an Elmira Downtown
> Criterium.  I didn't even know Brian at the time, but he quickly replied
> that he wanted to organize a race and thought that a circuit around the
> Arnot Mall would be a great place.  We quickly joined forces with Kent Goben
> and Jack Chaney and the rest of the Southern Tier Bicycle League.  We all
> met at the July monthly meeting and toyed around with locations to hold the
> race.  Initially we planned to have it at Harris Hill, but poor road
> conditions prevailed and so, with the help of Jack Chaney, we locked in with
> Corning's Sullivan Park.  As a sidebar, I used the bike race as a final
> project for a Master's project management program I'm enrolled in... worked
> perfectly.
>
> After months, I kid you not, months of coordinating property usage
> agreements and settling security concerns with Corning, we had an official
> site to host.  Corning Inc. came up big as our title sponsor, and we
> solicited other local businesses for sponsorship.  Dave Schirmer stepped up
> immediately and Corning hospital later jumped on board as our presenting
> sponsor.  We rallied some additional sponsors, such as Kingsbury's Cyclery,
> Swift Glass, Oswald Cycle Works, Notubes, Rural Metro, and Watkins Glen
> International (I had to plug them, since they made the race possible.)  We
> got all of the USA Cycling stuff straightened out (it was not easy), got our
> officials, the timing service, pit crews, ambulance, sound equipment, and a
> million other things in order, and we were ready to go.
>
> Based on this past Saturday, the effort was worth it.  As I swept the main
> corner for close to an hour Saturday morning, the timing service rolled in,
> then came the sound equipment, then came two officials on motorcycles that
> had USA Cycling Marshal and USA Cycling Official displayed on the front of
> their bikes.  I thought to myself, "Wow, this is the real deal!"
>
> Prior to the first race, we had riders, we had officials, we had timing,
> but no pace car!  Luckily we had listed myself in addition to the Watkins
> pace car on the USA Cycling insurance, which is why you saw my sporty whip
> (yeah, the gold Ford Escort) cornering like a champ around the course.  I
> had the chance to ride with 3 of our 4 officials, and they all absolutely
> loved the course.  Some of them had experience officiating events such as
> the Tour of Missouri and the Tour of Ireland and some other big races.  They
> were all pleased at the end of the day.  They all felt the race would grow
> and commented that the course could handle 100 rider fields.  It was a fun
> break in the action to have the kids races, too.  Darrly Heckle did a great
> job organizing the helmet giveaway, helmet fitting with the state trooper
> and the races for the kids.
>
> One thing I thought was pretty cool is that two Cat 3 riders wanted to race
> the 1/2/3 race, but since we cancelled it, they rode the 3/4 race.  They
> were only to be beaten by our own Matt Tammaro, and the other two took 2nd
> and 3rd.
>
> Overall an excellent day, capped off with the Corning Race Team taking 1st,
> 2nd, and 3rd in the last race of the day.  Congratulations to the Corning
> team and thanks for coming out and showing support for the race!!!  It was
> for you.
>
> Thanks again to the volunteers.
>
> The race is going to grow and I look forward to being a part of it.
>
> Dan Reed
>
>
>
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>


-- 
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"
-Jim Elliot
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