| Store Happenings | |
Tuesday - 6/7, Intermediate WOW Ride, 6-7:30pm, Marcellus Park.
Tuesday - 6/7, Onondaga Cycling Club Time Trial, 6pm, Caughdenoy Rd, Jerome Fire Department.
Tuesday - 6/7, Tuesday Night Training Series, Ray Middle School, Baldwinsville.
Thursday - 6/9, Beginner WOW Ride, 9:00-10:30 am, Jamesville.
Saturday - 6/11, Green Lakes Triathlon , Green Lakes State Park, 8:30am.
Monday - 6/13, Beginner WOW Ride, 6pm. Green Lakes 290 entrance.
Tuesday - 6/14, Intermediate WOW Ride, 6pm, Manlius Nice and Easy. |
| Politicking the Peloton |
"Repeat after me: Don't drop Trish." That was the message
that I passed along to my fellow riders at the Tour de Cure on Sunday. I planned on fitting in a "quick" 100 mile ride at the Tour and needed to be back home in time for my oldest son's Confirmation at St. Ann's Church in Manlius at 1:30pm.
As I lined up with the other riders at 6:45am, I knew I was going to have to stay with the lead pack if I wanted to be back in the park 11:30-12:00 noon at the latest. The 50 or so assembled riders for the 100-mile ride headed out and a group of about 15 riders quickly broke off the front of the pack.
Now I'm a triathlete. I've never actually raced a road race. Truth be told, I really haven't spent all that much time even riding in groups. I have a very basic understanding about peloton etiquette. I figured my best strategy was to position myself somewhere in the middle, introduce myself and let the politicking (begging?)begin. "Hey, I'm Trish," I began as we pedaled comfortably along the flat, scenic roads south of Oneida Lake. "So I really need to be back by noon at the latest - what do you think?" No problem! We formed up a nice paceline and took turns at the front maintaining about 23-24mph. OK, so maybe my pulls at the front of the pack were short or even non-existent, but I sure enjoyed the ride being 5th or 6th person back! As we passed through the halfway point in about 2:05, I was overjoyed and looking forward to the post-ride cookout I would now be able to enjoy with my earlier than expected arrival back at Verona Beach. Then I felt it. A little vibration off the back of my seat that eventually turned into a loud rattle. "Hey Trish, you're about to lose your rear bottle cages," reported Max, one of my fellow paceline riders. I ignored it as long as I could, knowing that to stop now would mean goodbye to my spot in the peloton. Max was kind enough to pull over with me to help me get the bottle cage assembly tight. Note to self: carry your own hex wrench and do a better job tightening all bike accessories! Max and I tried our best to catch the lead group over the next 40 miles. But it's hard to get the same kind of draft going with just two riders. We pulled into the park at 11:50am - just enough time for me to grab a plate of food and head back home. So THANK YOU to Tom, Kyle, Jamie, Brian, Max, Marcia, the other Tom and everyone else in that lead group at the Tour - I made it to the church on time! And THANK YOU to the Syracuse Bicycle 2011 Tour de Cure Team. We raised an amazing $4317 and had 13 team members! Bob Burnett, James Connelly, Kelly Grace, Victoria Lightcap, Debi Loewy, Michael Manfredi, Ann Pfohl, Sripriya Prince, Walter Putter, Tom Shea, Jim Simko, Mary Ellen Sofinski. Our thoughts are with the 24 million Americans living with diabetes. We hope that through our participation in the tour and our fundraising efforts, we'll help eventually prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of those affected by this disease. See you all next year! |
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Dear Cycling Friends,
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You know you've been logging serious miles when you have tan lines like these!! |
Syracuse Bicycle employee Anna Young earned a spectacular finish at the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia last weekend, racing against top international competition including the Women's World Champion Giorgia Bronzini. She came in 2nd in the Under-23 category and 33rd overall, racing as a member of the MVP Health Care Cycling Team (sponsored by Syracuse Bicycle).
If you haven't had a chance to meet Anna yet, what strikes you first about this impressive young woman is that she looks like she's 16 years old, but carries herself with the confidence and maturity of someone twice her age. What we appreciate most about this energetic 20-year-old is how she easily manages to share her passion for cycling with every customer that walks through our doors.
Anna has built an impressive cycling resume beginning at a young age. As a Junior (ages 17-18), she was a USA Cycling Road National Champion as well as a Cyclocross National Champion. More recently, as a member of the Marian University cycling team, Anna used a strong performance in the team time trial to help the Knights successfully defend its USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championship last month. Marian's women's team turned in an amazing time of 37:51.87 to win by just under a minute, averaging just over 26 miles per hour throughout the race.
Anna got off to a great start as a member of the MVP Health Care Women's team this past April when she raced in the Women's Open category at the Marian Classic in Indianapolis. "A small group of us broke from the pack, chasing my collegiate teammate Kaitie Antonneau who races for PB and CO 2010. We weren't able to catch her and she won; but I managed to out sprint another rider for 2nd."
Keep your eye on this young cycling dynamo; she's bound to post more impressive wins this summer. We're excited to have a young woman of her talent and expertise on staff. Congrats Anna and welcome back!
Happy Riding,
Paul Komanecky & Trish Dugan Syracuse Bicycle315-446-6816 |
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Tales From the Tuesday Night Training Series
by Phil McCarthy
The Tuesday Night Training Series is a "practice" race experience for cyclists who want to learn the ins and outs of road racing, pacelining, accelerations and bike handling in groups. Every Tuesday night at 6pm at Ray Middle School in B'ville. Contact Phil for more info.
Tuesday Night brought out another strong crowd and 90+ temps. We headed out to the "rolling" course, rode our obligatory warm up lap to see what winter might have done to the roads, split into A and B groups, and let 'er rip.
The B group started 30 seconds behind the A group, but after a big pull from Big Dave (some of you may know Dave as the 6'8, 240lb guy in the Team Ommegang-Syracuse Bicycle kit that often frequents OCC rides) the fields merged. Dave had decided that the heat was going to be tough, so he would do his damage early. Our team had planned a break late in the first lap. On the only real hill on the course, I pegged it to stretch out the field. It worked, and on the next right hand turn, my teammates Eric K and Fred H got off the front with Dave "The Hammer" Faso. Three strong B racers created their own trio and began chasing. Behind them, another trio, including myself gave chase after briefly recovering. I assume there were people chasing behind us as well, but my heart rate was pegged at 180-190 and turning around never occurred to me.
Long story short, everyone chased in vain but no one could close the gaps. Our group got within 15-20 yards of the group in front of us on the second lap, but it was too much to close as they worked well together trying to bridge the gap to Eric, Fred and Dave. My only hope was that Eric and Fred were wearing Dave out. Sadly for us, Dave is as strong as he is ageless and hammered the sprint to get the win for the Max Power team.
In the B group, if you could call it that since they were in front of more than half of the A group, the new guy Ian took the sprint for his first win in as many tries. Last weeks winner Nate was right with him, so it looks like the racing will remain interesting.
Two wins is an automatic upgrade to the A's, so I think they'll be upgrading soon.
I have a 750ml bottle of Ommegang burning a hole in my pocket, so maybe next week we'll have a prize for the A race. If any of the B racers beat the A guys, they can have it (assuming they are of age). If they are underage, the prize defaults to inside the race promoters belly. |
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 Cycle de'Cuse Swinburne Memorial Ride
to benefit b.i.k.e. Syracuse
Saturday, June 18th
Cycle de' Cuse Swinburne Memorial Ride provides a wonderful, scenic bike ride through the City of Syracuse, safely, with either a 10-mile or 20-mile option. For the more experienced biker, there is a challenging 40 mile route that takes bikers out of the City, up some challenging hills and out to beautiful Otisco Lake and back.
Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. at Burnet Park at the pool area. The "group start" for the 40 mile ride is at 8:30 a.m. and the "group start" for the 20 mile ride is at 9:00 a.m. However, if you can't make the "group starts", riders can come to the park any time between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. to ride one or all of the routes!!
This is b.i.k.e-Syracuse's biggest fundraising event and your registration and donations help to provide breakfast, lunch and programming for the children enrolled in our program. The more money we raise, the more biking and adventure programming we can provide to our children.
Even if you don't ride, please come out and meet the kids of b.i.k.e.-Syracuse. There will be food and entertainment!
Music provided by:
Corcoran Live Rock Bank (kids and staff of Corcoran High School) (11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.)
Food provided by Mama Nanci's
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Tri Oswego - SIGN UP TODAY
***Registration Closes June 12th***
Saturday-Sunday,
June 25-26, 2011
The Tri-Oswego Triathlon Weekend is sure to attract first-time racers, seasoned triathletes, and relay teams from across the Northeast. With the courses' connection to the natural landscape, the Tri-Oswego Triathlon events are magnificently scenic, spectator friendly, and gentle on the environment.
The Sprint event offers a refreshing 800 meter swim in the Oswego Harbor; followed by a 13 mile bike course through beautiful Oswego County; and a 5K run culminating at a finish line that rewards you with a panoramic view of Lake Ontario. Not sure you want take on the entire distance? Form a relay team!
The Intermediate distance Event will consist of a 1500 meter swim, 24.9 mile bike course, and a 10K run.
Bring the whole family! Weekend also features the Novelis Kid's Fun Run.
As one of the official race sponsors, Syracuse Bicycle will be on site providing technical support in the transition area and on the bike course. Come by our tent and say hello!
Race Website |
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Syracuse Bicycle COWBELLS!
Get Ready for Mud, Blood, and Cowbell!
 It's only June, but we're thinking ahead to CYCLOCROSS season with our team issue cowbell - titanium ringer, carbon strap - this thing is pro!
And speaking of CYCLOCROSS (which has to be about the most fun thing anyone can do on their bike), we'll be having a clinic in late August/early September for anyone who wants to learn more about flying mounts, leaping over barriers while shouldering your bike and building up an insane amount of lactic acid over the course of one hour.
Or you can just buy a cowbell, stand on the sidelines and heckle (I mean cheer on!) racers as they navigate the steep run-up at Longbranch Park in the Syracuse Grand Prix Cyclocross this fall! |
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