FLCC> Pink Slipper

[Glenn Swan]

	It's in the record books...The 2006 road racing season reached its 
conclusion for many of us last night, as the final Tuesday night race took 
place. The famous race for the Pink Slipper (and the race for the Brown 
Birk and the Pink Converse) put many of the riders in a new and exciting 
position - racing for a prize of immense value in a race where it was 
essentially "winner take all". Ride like there's no tomorrow ! ("Well, the 
weather forecast is for rain, so maybe we won't be riding tomorrow...")
	Anyway....... I have heard that the winner of the Pink Slipper (A race) 
was Danny Timmerman, though he was so far ahead that nobody saw him finish, 
so an investigation has been launched to find out whether he actually 
won.  I witnessed the finish of the B race for the Brown Birk, as newcomer 
Jon Goulet won a two-up sprint under cover of darkness. Most-improved rider 
of 2006 Daniel Blakely took home the Pink Converse for the C's, and was 
immediately voted out of the C's and forced to ride with the A's and B's 
next season.  Congratulations to the winners and to all those who made them 
earn it. Without everyone else, our accomplishments would be worthless.

	My view of the A race is somewhat limited, but I'll throw it out there and 
then you can compare it with what others saw, did, and thought during the 
race. It's always interesting to hear multiple perspectives on the same 
event...  As we rolled out to the course Ano Garcia sidled up to me and 
asked, in a conversational tone, who I would be watching during the race. 
This is "social spying" as he was most likely fishing for what I knew about 
names/faces that were new to him. Ano is a great climber and amazingly 
tenacious, making him a top finisher on any Tuesday night (when work and 
wife let him out...) that has hills. I knew he would be a player. But I 
also knew that Danny T was the odds-on favorite. Jeremy Wickham, Ryan 
Morris, Don Sproull, Andy Melnychenko, and a few others would all be major 
players, and anyone who made any mistakes would be crushed and thrown to 
the sharks by all of these guys. In addition there were a few newcomers who 
obviously have experience and looked good on their bikes. I knew that Danny 
T could smoke any of us (especially me) and that there were at least a 
couple of guys who entertained thoughts that they could keep up with him 
and if they could make him do enough work they might outsprint him in the 
end. (dream on guys...) My strategy was to be aggressive from square one 
and try to put those guys on the spot by making them chase me. Many of them 
have been relative wheelsuckers all season, and on a night like this where 
there seems to be special reason to want to win, they would be especially 
reluctant to pick up the chase, instead waiting for someone else to do the 
work. I might escape while they wait for each other to do something. Vanya, 
another Cornell rider, and I took off right away. We smoked across Midline 
Rd. opening a good gap and all sharing the load. They started to fade just 
a little near the end of Midline, and the field, led by Jeremy Wickham and 
Bill Erickson and some other A-/B+ riders quickly mowed us down. The big 
players were apparently sitting in waiting for later. I threw in a few 
small attacks after they caught us, but I was caught quickly before the 
downhill to 79. Still the major players were being coy. As the field hit 
the hill on Ellis Hollow South I blew by and hammered up the hill. This 
could be suicide if I get caught and countered at the base of Hurd, but I 
kept the effort under control and waited a bit as I saw Ano Garcia bridging 
up alone. As he caught on I heard him say, "If I had a nickel for every 
time I have made this stupid move...." and away we went. The big guns were 
obviously waiting for each other, figuring that they would attack Hurd Hill 
and blow Ano and me out of the water. They knew that Danny wasn't going to 
sit around and let me get away, so it looked like the bus was just idling 
along for the moment, and was scheduled to pull out of the station at the 
bottom of Hurd Rd. The players figured they would wait and be fresh so they 
could be on it when it went. Meanwhile Ano and I rode firmly ahead, with a 
solid lead. I was beginning to think that we might have a successful 
escape. As we reached the part of Hurd  where it flattens out a bit I 
looked back and saw Danny coming across alone. Apparently Ryan was feeling 
pretty confident of his power (rookie mistake) and started driving the bus 
at the bottom going at top speed. Unfortunately, although it had most of 
the players gagging, trying to hold onto his wheel, it had little effect on 
Danny, who waited patiently until Ryan's fuel gauge was looking a little 
low, at which point he just jumped away from the group and floated up to 
us. This was good for us. With his horsepower, it was going to be hard for 
anyone to catch us, especially when they had just temporarily toasted 
themselves. Of course, this also meant that it might come down to Danny 
versus me for the finish, and this is not a situation that bodes well for 
my chances of adding my name to the slipper. Oh well. We got down to 
business and stretched the gap a little more. Once we were on 79 heading 
for Snyder Hill I was pretty confident that the chasers would never reach 
us, no matter what. Danny was probably similarly confident about his 
chances relative to Ano and me, as he picked up the pace and shredded us 
entering Snyder Hill. He looked like he was toying with me, looking back 
while "toodling" up the hill, becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. 
I kept a solid pace (for me) and finished well behind him. Ano had been 
suffering a bit more than I during the break and was cut loose at the base 
of Snyder Hill.  The chasers had certainly not given up hope of catching 
us, and as they charged up the hill toward the finish, they caught him and 
chewed him up. Alas, they had saved too much energy and given us too much 
real estate early on, and their race was for 3rd. Jeremy Wickham 
demonstrated that he can sprint from the next county, leading it out from 
farther away than we could see in the failing daylight, and holding on for 
the satisfaction of winning the group. Don Sproull showed that his many top 
results of the season were no fluke as he hung onto Jeremy all the way, 
hoping for him to fade and allow him one last blast....Spirits were high as 
riders congregated at the finish line waiting for others to come in. This 
is a good group and we push and pull each other to greater heights than we 
would reach alone. It's been a pretty good year for us.  Ithaca rocks !

Riding home in the dark emphasized that it's time to make the switch to 
'cross, where we are off the roads and away from cars. 'Cross practices 
will start at 5:30 Tuesdays at Swan Cycles and go until dark. Because it is 
a small closed course, we will do many laps, allowing riders to arrive at 
any time and just jump in. So plan to come up and stay as long as you like. 
'Cross and mountain bikes are the preferred toys, but if it's not muddy, 
plain road bikes are usable. It's fun. It's pretty social. It's good 
exercise. C'mon out.

Glenn