FLCC> Strawberry Race - short report on the 3 lapper

[mgarcia at borgwarner.com]

I had always wanted to try the Strawberry Fest road race
but for whatever reason I had never been able to make it.
Seemed like the kind of race I would like -- hilly and low-key.
So somehow this year I managed to spend some Father's day
credits and get it on the calendar.

A beautiful day dawned on Sunday.  Needing to get some miles in
my legs, I chose the 3-lap option.  There were only seven people
in our group, but that suited me just fine.  The first lap was
pretty much at a Sunday ride pace, but it was Sunday and I wasn't
familiar with the course so I didn't mind.  I chatted with Andy M
and made the acquaintance of my fellow riders.  The roads were so
pretty, winding in and out of the woods and fields with sun
and shade that I kind of wanted to ditch the race and sit under
a tree somewhere with a nice view and take a nap.  But to paraphrase 
Dr. Seuss, races are races, and racers must go, you know.

At the end of the first lap Andy starts saying his front wheel
might be flat.  I didn't believe him at first but it soon became 
apparent that his wheel was indeed going soft.  Kind of a bummer for
Andy but at least maybe he won't out-sprint me at the finish.
Well the luck of Andy struck again because just as his wheel was
losing the last of its air, we passed the Start/Finish line and who
is sitting there but one of his teammates, apparently out with a pedal
problem, but with a set of Zipp 440s ready to loan out.

Andy drops back to swap wheels and a couple of the other riders 
start to push the pace a bit on the climb.  I'm thinking since we are
all together anyway why don't we just wait for the guy and then start
racing.  So I managed to get some people on board with the plan and
we waited up for Andy.  He rejoined near the top of the climb and
we were off for a second lap.

About the same time as Andy started having wheel troubles, Casey
Carlstrom 
had caught up to us.  He broke away from the 2-lap group that started
behind 
us and was now riding at about the same speed as we were.  Have to give
him a lot of credit, he diligently stayed out of our group and worked
on his own the entire second lap, although we gave him some moral 
support and encouragement.  I thought maybe the group behind us was
going to catch us and cause a little chaos, but that didn't happen.

The second lap was ridden at a slightly more athletic pace than the
first
one, although still nothing I would call painful.  Somehow the course
did not seem quite as hilly as the profile made it look, although there
were a lot of roller kinds of climbs and a good headwind in spots.

At the base of the climb at the start of the third lap, we had only
managed 
to drop one of the people in our group and a few of us figured it was
time 
to get down to business.  So after the third trip up the main climb we
had
a group of three riders with a gap - me, Andy, and Sergey Shteyn from
TVC.
We worked together and kept the pace steady but not painful.  Turning
onto
one of the last sections of rollers, Andy jumped a bit and I stood up to
try to get on his wheel. I heard Sergey swearing about something behind
me 
and then he disappeared.  I suspected he had some kind of mechanical
problem
but I was trying to get on Andy's wheel, so I was not looking back.

"Hey, Andy, want to wait up for Sergey?"  No response.  Guess we were
not
going to wait for Sergey.  So Andy and I rode it on home.  I was a bit
tired at this point, and I was pretty sure Andy would dust me in the
sprint.  
But you have to try.  I tried to make it interesting but it must have
looked 
pretty pathetic when Andy blew by.  Always the bridesmaid, never the
bride!

Sergey managed to not get caught and finished shortly afterwards.  Turns
out he had dropped his chain.  He was probably a little frustrated since
we waited up for Andy but not him at the end.  But he was gracious about
it.  
These sporting decisions on the fly are governed by a very nebulous set
of 
unwritten rules and he drew the short straw I guess.  Sorry Sergey!

A wonderful lady at the finish (who turned out to be Karen Holm) gave us
sandwitches and cold water that really hit the spot, and we had a nice
cool-down ride back to Hickories park which is a pretty little park
close
to Owego on the banks of the Susquehanna River.
 
So that was my take on things.  Not too much anxiety, a beautiful
course,
and a fun and safe ride.  I don't know why the 3-lap race doesn't draw
more of a crowd, but if it was up to me, I would just keep it that way.
The only thing I missed was having Ernie around.

Any other race reports?




Mariano Garcia 
BorgWarner Morse TEC Inc.
Ithaca Technical Center
770 Warren Rd.    Ithaca NY 14850
Ph: 607-266-2136 (desk) 607-266-2243 (recep)
FAX: 607-257-5033
email: mgarcia at borgwarner.com