News10Now came out to do a story on the Syracuse Race. My ugly mug was running on the 24 hour local news channel non-stop all Saturday night. Cait McVey the News10Now reporter did an extended story that can be seen on the website.
The Road Race went well which it usually does. The weather was perfect with temps in the mid 70s and low humidity and lots of sun. Once the race was going I did not have too much to do except drive the course backwards to make sure that everything was OK. My biggest fear was that the Otisco Fire Dept was not going to do their usual awesome job, but those fears were for nothing.
The Giro is in full flight and Il Killer looks to be in his best form ever. Riccardo Ricco gets angry at Bettini. Ricco experiences his first “complicated moment”, Lemond gives TMI while the Landis camp looks boneheaded. Meanwhile testimony looks good for Landis, but the whole situation is far from over. All this luscious news for me to comment on, but I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. The promoter hat for Syracuse Race Weekend is getting sweaty as the race is near.
A couple of things I have been dealing with in the past few days and you will see what the life of a promoter is all about. It is not all bike babes and booze. Well the booze will come later, hopefully Ommegang will setup something nice.
(video preview of the Inner Harbor/One Mile TT, sorry for the shaky camera)
On Monday a bunch of guys from the MaxPowerCycling Team and I decided to test ride the new One Mile Time Trial course for the Syracuse Race Weekend. Since Sam and I decided to forgo the Street Sprints in favor of a short Time Trial there have been questions about the course.
When you hear Italian cyclist speak they always talk about being calm or serene in their racing or training. It is almost like they are talking about going to a spa instead of an intense bike race. This is particularly interesting since Italians are know for their hot tempers. Up until this year Danilo DiLuca has been the poster for for serene cyclist. The Abruzzese cyclist really did not show his emotions that much until his win at Liege and the Liquigas Team Time Trial victory at the Giro.
The picture above is probably what each of the cyclist were thinking at the moment. Enrico Gasparotto forgot that Danilo was supposed to go over the line first. DiLuca was well aware of the error and looks to be screaming at the top of his lungs. One can only imagine the conversation between these two on the team bus.
(Sam Sampere of the Onondaga Cycling Club on Bridge Street)
The “Media Blitz” for the Syracuse Race Weekend continued this week with co-promoter Sam Sampere setting up an appearance on local talk show Bridge Street. The show follows “Live with Regis and Kelly” at 10am weekdays. It uses a similar format to Regis and Kelly too. I don’t have much of a chance to watch this show as do most working folks, but we wanted to hit the demographic which would include moms to promote the Kids Race at the Syracuse Race Weekend.
(Andy Melnychenko finishing the Pro 1/2 race at Hollenbeck)
Sunday I headed down to Virgil, NY for my first crack at Hollenbeck. This is probably one of the oldest races in Central New York. It goes back well into the 80s and is known for its hills and tasty treats that you get at the end. The Finger Lakes Cycling Club put on a great event which had a huge turnout.
The Cat 4/5 field which I ended up racing in had 65 racers which was a nice large field especially on the first flat sections just before the first tough climb. Noel Bonk gave some good advice on the race. He said that the key to the race is to stay with the group on the first climb. Easier said than done especially when I am still weighing about 220lbs. The first 5 miles were super easy pace. The pace was filled with mostly experienced riders, just one or two squirrelly guys to watch for, but nothing major.
Today at 3:20pm Sam Sampere and I appeared on the Jim Reith Radio show on 570 WSYR Radio here in Syracuse. We were interviewed on the phone to talk about National Bike Month which is May and Bike To Work Day which is May 18th. Sam talked about some rules of the road and helped to remind everyone that they should watch out for bikes and a brief looks at some rules.
I talked up the Syracuse Race Weekend by describing the events of the race. We have three events the Song Mountain Road Race on Saturday May 26th, the new One Mile Time Trial on Saturday night at the Inner Harbor and the Syracuse Criterium.
I was a little nervous to make sure that I mentioned everything that I needed to in the short time that we were on. I did get most of the info out there, but wish I mentioned more about the kids race and d’oh I forgot to give out the website address for the Syracuse Race Weekend site. Oh well.
Next week Sam setup some time at a local morning TV talk show called Bridge Street where we will be talking about cycling and the race. Paul from Syracuse Bicycle will bring lots of gear to show off and help to promote the race.
Ivan Basso looked like he redeemed himself yesterday with the honest admission of working with Dr. Fuentes and admitting that he is “Birillo”. But Basso has a career and palmares to think about. The Giro victory was a major milestone that was ripe to be taken away now that Basso admitted to doping.
The news is not so much shocking as it is refreshing. When Ivan Basso quit Discovery Channel last week it seemed to be a quiet admission of guilt. This time was not going to be so easy for Basso to get around the CONI investigation. More evidence came about and the DNA match of blood bags with Jan Ullrich did not bode well for Basso. The walls of justice were closing in on Basso.
(Brian Blake and Matt Panzarella in the Cat 5 Race)
The Binghamton Circuit Race was my first race of the season. The Tioga Velo Club puts on a great low key race at Kirkwood Industrial Park in Binghamton. Easy to get to the race and the course is nice for a circuit race. Kudos to Jeff Poulin and the rest of the Organizers of the race.
I was down for two races, first the Cat 4 mens race and then the combo Cat 1/2/3 and Master men race. I switched out the from the Cat 3/4/5 race since it was not going off until 1:45 so I did not want to wait that long.
The Cat 4 race went first at 10am in cold drizzly conditions. It actually stopped raining, but the roads were still wet. I did not bring any warm gear other than a set of arm warmers, but they seemed to be enough. The goal for my race was to stay near the front. No accordion effect to ruin my race was the thinking, especially with the little hill just before the finish.
