FLCC> Hollenbeck - Tandem Race Report

[Donal Fitterer]

It was a dark and stormy morning. The rains came and the porta-potties
didn't. Sara illustrated why she is paid the big bucks when in minutes
she organized facilities at the local fire station and Greek Peak.
Others created their or porta johns in the back using some pallets and
an oil can. I busied myself by sexually harassing Marsha S (see her
bikini centerfold at http://hotbabes.moldflow.com) and Tania S. I
befriended Steve and Carol from Corning who were in their first tandem
race. "We are all going to ride easy at the beginning and let the
masters field go off by themselves. We will try to have the tandems stay
together until the final hill." When our race starts my words were
actually true. Once the masters were well up the road the Rhino and his
progeny, Daniel led the charge. The pace went from a sedate pace to
severe pain pretty quickly. Once our legs warmed up Li and I put in some
time at the front as did the others. It wasn't long before we had to
slow down again because we were catching the back end of the masters
field. 

 

Again, as we headed up Parker St, Bill and Daniel turned up the heat and
my legs were screaming. I yelled back to LiLynn to push harder. "I can't
push any harder!" she gasped as Deb and Paul rolled by. Luckily, we
regrouped at the top and waited for Steve and Carol to catch on.
Unfortunately, Ellie, Ernie's stoker invoked the Code of the tandems as
taught by her famous father; "Those that fall behind stay behind!" she
barked and off we went. The four pair meshed well and we began pace
lining with speed and precision. It wasn't long before we caught up with
the Prez and his Secret Service agent riding with him. Both Ernie and I
almost took them out when they joined our group. Luckily LiLynn has
experience at maneuvering single riders out of our path. 

 

Our pace became a bit more sedate as we headed towards the wall. Just
before the bridge Ernie and Ellie stood up and made a strong surge to
the front. This got everyone keyed up for the imminent climb. Paul had a
bit too much tension on the old chain when went to shift into the small
chain ring. He and Deb had to halt and get the chain back on. Good thing
Deb had some bike mechanic experience as they were not delayed too long.
The eight of us were soon back up to warp speed along Babcock Hollow Rd.
LiLynn was pushing so hard the frame of our tandem was flexing and we
had to be doing close to 50mph! 

 

We all stayed together at the end and pushed our hardest up Van Donzel.
I just kept my head down hoping that the next pedal stroke would take us
over the line. The crowd cheered as the tandems rolled across within
inches of each other to finish a fine race.

 

Well done to Sara and her crew!

 

Cheers,

 

Don

 

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