Chris Thater Memorial Criterium happened Saturday and Sunday down in Binghamton, NY. This is one of the oldest races on the Calendar and one of the most prestigious. Top pro men and women come out and this year the event was even on TV.
My event was the Category 4/5 race which goes under the classic name of the Senior Men’s Category 4/5 event. The race was run at 8 am on Sunday, a brutally early start to racing in a Criterium. The Crit is followed by a 5K running race and then the Cat 3 men followed by the Pro Men and Women. It is a big weekend of racing. The early start for the Cat 4/5 field stinks since it gives zero time for warming up and makes you get out of bed at extremely early hours. I was up before the newspaper was even delivered. Ouch.
I scrambled to get to Binghamton which is not too far from Syracuse. Once I arrived I could see plenty of cyclist already on course warming up. After signing up and getting my number I was ready to race. There are some little hills around the course and did some sprints to get the blood flowing. The weather was good, it was cloudy annd temps were in the 60s to 70s which was a huge improvement from the previous day of 90 degrees and humid.
(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.
Sunday April 29th will be my first race of the season. I couldn’t go to the Rochester Giros, the MaxPower Racign Training series was frozen out by bad weather and I also missed out on Bloomfield last week.
BINGHAMTON, NY (November 13, 2006) – Eventual 8th place finisher, Mike Kumiega (RUUD Racing) took the hole-shot, but Ted King (Priority Health) took the reigns quickly, and never looked back. It’s probably a good thing he didn’t, because he would have seen Cory Burns (Fiordifrutta) chasing within 20 seconds for the entire race. Matt Dickinson (Placid Planet) solidified his position in 3rd after being over-taken by Burns inside the opening laps.
In very wet conditions, competition is fierce on 6-corner Thater course
By Matt Howey
Hilton Clarke (Navigators) Salutes Victory at Chris Thater
Binghamton, NY (August 27, 2006) – In pouring rain and cooler temperatures, many of the United States’ brightest cycling stars stood at attention as the national anthem was played in anticipation for the start of the men’s professional race at the 2006 Chris Thater Memorial Criterium. The race, in its 23rd edition, is held on a tough and semi-technical 1.2 mile course around Binghamton’s Recreation Park. With a short climb, substantial prize money (to the tune of $20,000 for the pros alone), and a stop on the national racing calendar, the Chris Thater Criterium has become known as one of the toughest events of the year to win.
Brandon Chricton (Symmetrics) Took 25% of Available Primes
