Tri-State Velo

May 14-15, 2005: Owasco Stage Race – Auburn, NY - This was the weekend I had planned to fly down to Arkansas to revisit the Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville and stay an extra week to do the Tri-Peaks Challenge in Russellville. With some major changes happening on the “work front”, I opted for Plan B...a trek to upstate New York to do a 2-day, 3-event stage race. On the women side, Sarah Charlesworth and Sue Duff made the trip as well. There were 2 women events: Category 3 / 4 and Pro, 1, 2, 3. Sarah competed in the 3 /4 event while Sue and I raced in the Pro, 1, 2, 3. The Women’s Pro, 1, 2, 3 field started out with 32 riders.

Saturday consisted of 2 stages: TT (26k/16 mi) in the morning and a Criterium (21k/13 mi) in the early evening (5:45 pm). Sunday was the road race (124 km or 75 miles - rolling to hilly).

The weather was favorable the morning of the TT, but the winds were fairly strong and variable which made the riding even more challenging on this rolling/hilly course. Since I don’t ride time trials too often, I was pretty nervous about the distance and the task at hand. So instead, I decided to focus on maintaining a steady effort on the way out and back in the hopes of not getting passed by too many riders. With the winds swirling, I sort of expected to have a fair amount of tailwind on the return...that was wishful thinking. In the end, I was passed by 3 riders and my effort yielded a 25th place with a time of 43:35. Sue’s time was 1:30 better than mine, which put her mid-field in the overall standings. How is this for an amazing time...the winner covered this difficult course under windy conditions in 37:30!

The evening criterium offered a little excitement. As we staged on the start line, it started to sprinkle. By the time we completed the 2nd lap (1.5k circuit), the sky had opened up and it was tough to see for the remainder of the race. Fortunately, the field was a manageable size and cooler heads prevailed. The race ended in a field sprint and we finished together. A couple of riders must have dropped out or something because Sue and I moved up 2 places in the overall standings.

Sunday morning greeted us with fabulous weather. The race was long and the course very challenging at times. There were 3 QOM sprints: 1st was not too bad; 2nd one hurt like hell (2 km with an avg. gradient of 7.8%); 3rd not too bad, but placed towards the end of the race around the 55 – 60 mile mark. The first QOM did not do too much damage in breaking up the field. The second one was a different story. Almost immediately, the field began to detonate and more so with 1k to the sprint line. The leaders pulled away effortlessly. I reached the top with 4 other riders and immediately, we began our pursuit of the leaders and the riders ahead of us. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably around 10 miles, the leaders were caught finally. We stayed together until the third QOM. 9 riders pulled away, which left about 7 or 8 riders chasing. As we hit a few tough rollers, we dropped a couple of girls. After 75 miles, I felt strong enough to sprint for 4th in our chase group or 13th place overall. This finish moved me from 23rd g.c. to 13th g.c. Unlucky for some, but I was pretty ecstatic. It's been a while since I felt good from start to finish in back-to-back events. All in all, I have to say it was a terrific weekend of racing. However, I definitely need to do some more work for time trialing. I've got the bike, now I have to dial in the rhythm.

Consider placing this race on your calendar for next year. The events started at a reasonable time and there was enough time to recover in time for the next one. Some of us stayed at the Holiday Inn which was an easy 10 minute ride to the start of the TT and road race (Bonus #1: not having to pack the car and drive to the starts). Bonus #2: The hotel is located 1 ½ blocks from criterium course. The organization of the event could be improved, but it’s a fairly new event and they are working out some of kinks.

Thanks for reading to the end : )
Maria