2010 Owasco Flyer!
June 28, 2010
NY Bellas Kim Behrman and Linda Tersegno duke it out for the finish line!
Hot, humid and hilly. Those are my three main adjectives to describe this year’s Owasco Flyer, a beloved citizens’ race in Auburn, New York. Of course, it’s hilly every year, but some years those climbs are more painful than others…and obviously heat and humidity contribute to the perceived elevation of the last “Three Bears”, the finishing hills, which annoyingly are really FOUR climbs, not three. The worst is, that while you know you’ve got those four last grinds to get up to the finish line, you forget that there are about 87 other hills to climb BEFORE them! (Ok, maybe not 87, maybe really 12…10? ok, how about 8 pain in the *ss climbs?)
This year, there were somewhere around 250 racers, which made for a CRAZY “controlled start” with people jockeying for position before even a mile had passed. (The course is 36 miles.) Survival includes suffering the usual terrifying shouts of “braking! Braking!! Braking!!!!”, the SMELL of braking and the knowledge that lots of people in this massive pack possessed neither skills nor the understanding of how squirrely riding can have a dangerously domino effect. Nonetheless, all participating Bellas made it unscathed - we were treated to shrieks of enthusiasm from the lead car, carrying none other than our distinctly vocal LiLynn, who was sitting in on account of her injuries from an awful crash in last week’s citizens’ race, the Giro de Otisco.
Kate whistling a little ditty as she finishes.
Everybody has a different story of the outcome - mine was of being dropped on the first hill, but working with a splendid crew to miraculously catch back up to the “pack” at about mile 12 - the pack still being in the range of 100 people! Then on yet another climb, an unexplained pile up (I looked up and saw bodies somersaulting into the ditch - and a dog shooting out of the pack, but no one else seems to have seen the pooch..) broke up the pack again, and from then on it was, for me, various small groups of fellow suffering non-hill climbers. Thumbs up from a corner marshall that I was “3rd woman!” which turned out to be off by two, rats! Oh, well, I’ll take it.
Excellent to see Linda and Kim mounting the last hill side by side, then a sudden burst as they tried to out sprint one another for the final stretch. You can see from the photo proof above who got it, sorry Linda! Meanwhile, Sue Kahler devoted her race to assisting newer racers by hanging back and being encouraging. I had chatted in the bathroom with a woman who said it was her first race ever and that she’d “never even ridden more than 24 miles before” - Sue had her work cut out for her. This was also the first race for NEW NY Bella, Kelly Bulkely - who has ridden her bike something like 483 days in a row, and who raced, as far as I can tell, with PLATFORM PEDALS and NO clips?!? (But WITH, mind you, a 4 tiered black mini-skirt over her bike shorts. Gotta flaunt the flair, baby, flair. And she’s working on getting a jersey…at least her handlebars are pink.)
All in all, we had a decent showing (thanks to LiLynn’s berating email urging everyone to race because we were “lame” this year. It worked!) and the NY Bellas are BACK!
Bellas in Repose:
Front: Honorary Bella Ruth (2nd woman overall), Sue A, Kelly, Kate, Ellie
Back: Kim, LiLynn, Sue K, Linda
Kristin (and her brother-in-law, Mr. Clean) who missed our group pic.
Results:
Overall 3rd place woman, former NY Bella, Gaetane Perreault
Women 19-29:
- 3rd Kristin Mullally
Women 30-39
- 4th Kim Behrman
- 7th Kelly Bulkelly
Women 40-49:
- 1st Kate Stewart
- 5th Sue Atwood
Women 50-59:
- 2nd Linda Tersegno
- 5th Sue Kahler
Tandem:
- 7th Ellie and Ernie Bayles
Kim does the Black Fly Challenge!
June 19, 2010
June 12, 2010 Indian Lake, New York
Let’s see…
It was pouring buckets and a balmy 52 degrees as we headed to Indian Lake to
drop off the pick-up car on this point to point race. I had many colorful
comments for my lovely husband, who thought this race would be a “great
training ride” to prepare us for our upcoming trip to Moab UT. So… I fell
for it.
It was hard to decide what to wear as the rain let-up as we picked up our
packet and chip in Inlet. As we lined up for the race I abort the rain coat
(yes, I am that much of a sissy) and opted for a vest.
The race started off up the paved road in town and turned onto another paved
road for a while - a mile or two. Then, here we go - Dirt! Lovely dirt. Wait
- it this uphill? Ok, so a little at the start, get it out of the way. As it
turns out, it climbs pretty much for the first 20 miles - when it wasn’t
climbing, it was sand. Sand, not the fun stuff at the beach, but wet sand
that wanted to suck you in and hold you back - sure, the flat part even had
to be hard.
At about mile 20 (just before it started to descend) I had a bit of a hissy
fit. I was bonking and hotter than heck - wishing for some of that rain I
dreaded earlier. So as I watched this chick pass me, I pulled over and had a
little quality time to myself.
Near 8 miles left, the road turned to pavement and stayed that way until the
finish. Which, for me was somewhat lackluster, as I rolled in, thankful to
finish at last.
So, insight? Not really, hard race, good time, I hear its pretty there -
can’t really testify to that - lots of dirt road - there is a nice Mexican
restaurant in town for post-race grub.
Editor’s note: Kim finished 4th of 26 in her category, Beginner Master Women!
Bellas Take Ithaca Parade by storm!
June 19, 2010
Ithaca, New York, June 3rd, was the site of Flair Capital, at least for a few hours. The NY Bellas, primarily Ithaca Bellas pulled out all the stops to show folks how it’s done. For the Finger Lake Cycling Club’s entry into the the often bizarre Ithaca Festival Parade, several notorious Bellas set the bar high in terms of costuming and frizzle-frazzle. We managed to get some extra miles in by circling our section of the parade like vultures, though this was not exactly a real intense training ride…
FLCC ready to roll!
Pre-race strategizing. Laura K and Carol B.
LiLynn’s a tough biker chick.
LL Dawg (always in pearls) and Cindy
Garden Fairy and beau Velo Fella Brian
Race for Hope, Borodino, NY
May 31, 2010
NY Bellas Kate, LiLynn and Sue
A fun and still “little” race, the Race for Hope is in honor of a well loved local cyclist and racer who died four years ago of cancer. Our little crew of NY bellas has been not very active the last year, and hopefully with the success of yesterday’s race, energy will be imbued into the crew and we’ll pick up our participation.
This was a short, 24 mile citizen’s race, with a 3 mile climb which, thankfully, pays back with a long, sweeping decent to the finish. The weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too cold, very little breeze; one couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day.
LL Dawg Graves has been training all winter with her Ithaca Homies and has come into the season in the best shape of her life. Her workout program (self designed) has whipped her pals and her into such incredible buffness, we’ll be seeing her on the podium a LOT this summer. Sue and I, on the other hand, are not in our best fitness, but we went out there anyway - got to get a ride in sometime, eh?
The L Dawg and I were together in the chase pack for the first 6 miles, but as I expected, as soon as a hill came, I was spit off the back and I got to watch the pink fluff on her helmet lightly ruffle in the wind as she danced on her pedals up the hill. I then jumped into the second chase pack, tried in my usually bossy way to get them to work a paceline and none of these guys were having it, and predictably, the next hill did me in, and I was feeling pretty silly about having given suggestions to those fellows about how to ride. Along came chase pack #3, and not even with them could I keep up on the hill. I dropped a chain on the upper part of the last hill, just as I trailed the grumpiest lump of a miserable cuss after having foolishly again suggested we work together. (He did not like my helpful tips and told me to shut up - oh, did I want to trounce his little round ass.) To try to shorten a long and boring story, LL Dawg had a fantastic race, pulling her little crew up the hills and she finished 2nd woman overall and let the boys in her pack sort out the finish among themselves. I rode all alone for miles behind Mr. Shut Up and finished nonetheless cheerfully realizing I had gotten 3rd woman. Did I get lucky!
Sue, in the meantime, was in her own little pack plugging along, until the guy in the front unexpectedly bunny-hopped over a pothole and lead Sue right into the pit. Bam! Flat tire. Tough, resourceful cookie that she is, Sue came prepared and she stopped, changed her tire and finished her race well ahead of loads of people. Now that’s an attitude which we can all emulate!
Here’s a random picture from last week’s Syracuse Crit (taken by Marcus Lewis http://www.varietystudios.com) Suffice it to say, I stayed with the women (1-2-3s) for 21.5 of the 22 laps…considering it was my first fast ride of the year, I count myself lucky. Former NY Bella Gaetane Perreault got 3rd Cat 3!
Snowshoe Nationals - NY Bellas’ Jano!
March 13, 2010
Fabius, New York
Saturday, March 6, 2010
(pictures courtesy of NY Bella and professional photographer,
Laura Kozlowski
(Be sure to see her “pets” section on her webpage…)
It was a delightfully sunny and balmy day, and thanks to a more than 2 foot dump of snow the week before, there was plenty of snow for the racers to actually run through. While Janet looks the relaxed sunbather in the pic above, the 10K course for the senior racers was incredibly grueling. The finishing hill was at best “pukable” and Jano’s cheering team all agreed, we would not want to do what she just did.
Almost done…just a few more steps!!!
Too pretty, eh?
LiLynn sporting the proper Bella Cheerleader Flair.
Janet’s Fan Club (this pic not by our professional, but rather a course marshall who was very excited by the bella hoopla that just came with us…)
We are so proud of her!
Binghamton Bingo Cross Race
November 16, 2009
Binghamton Bingo Cross Race - 15 November 2009
“My report” from L. Dawg Graves
About 3 weeks ago I started taking this sport a little more serious. I started pointing questions to the “pros” on strategy and specific training and all I could get was just go “balls to the wall” and hope you don’t blow up. Well easier said than done. That is a very scary place to go without a little guidance. So I had to practice this feeling and try to get used to it. Kinda like riding “crossed eyed.”
I’ve been dragging my cross friends out on Tuesdays to do these painful 30 second to 1 minute all out sprints with 1 minute easy x 12 times on a gradual uphill. We have been doing these on our road bikes and they make you want to puke especially when it’s 40 degrees out. Then skills work on Wednesday in some park for a few hours. Some really cold road rides for as long as we until we can’t feel our extremeties on the other days. On saturday we get together and do a little skills work and then some 5 min medium intervals with 5 minute rest and then some 1 minute grass sprints with 5 minutes rest and race on Sunday. Not much but it definitely kick started my confidence into cyclocross “redlining” for 45 minutes.
No more riding a cross coarse like a 50 mile road race. NO SPINNING. And to think I have spent a few years mastering the art of high RPM’s. Just throw it out the door and make those thighs burn baby. Power to the pedal. Well that’s what I keep telling myself and it’s starting to work. Plus my sprint work has helped my starts so much. I have started out in second place the last two races and finished 3rd overall. Up until my “training” started 3 weeks ago I was mid to bottom of the pack. Whoooo Hooo.
And now that I’m figuring it out, It’s quitin’ time. And soon it will be time to go back to spinning on the road bike. So I guess I am hooked on cross and will be back next season. I might even train a little before I start racing.
Final ‘cross news from NY Bellas
November 15, 2009
Katina Badass Sayers-Walker is #1 in the NY Series!
Katina finished the last race of the NY series in Delmar, NY today and managed to maintain her overall standings to the win the overall NY Series!
Bellas placing in the NY Series were:
Christina Perkins - 1st Cat 4
Jennifer Clunie - 4th Cat 4
Kate Stewart - 22nd Open Women
Sue Atwood - 33rd Open Women
LiLynn Graves - 41st Open Women
Balmy temps in the high 50s today but still muddy enough require a rack on your car afterward…
Other NY Bellas finishing strong in the Delmar Race were:
Cat 4 Women:
Christina Perkins 2nd
Jennifer Clunie 3rd
Previous news…
Podium Girl Laura Kozlowski
gets 3rd in the Ellison Park Cross Race in Rochester, NY on November 1st!
LiLynn Dawg Graves (a.k.a. L. Dog) comes in a dandy 7th place!
“I won a pint glass for being the only master woman. Ha!”
MUD CITY: NY Bellas Go Cross
October 25, 2009
Red Cross Race - hosted by the Cornell Cycling Team
Broome-Tioga Sports Center, Richford, NY
October 24, 2009
How is it cold, rainy and muddy weather still don’t prevent L Dawg from flashing her model-like smile? Must be the pink handlebar tape. In any event, it was wet, it was muddy, it was gross. But hell yes, it would have been a blast on the moto-cross track if it had been dry.
Classic Whoop-de-doo bumps!
Katina shows her winning pace. A hanging tongue helps to keep the momentum up.
Another NY Bella with great teeth (and pearls): Laura Koz.
Final results - Open Women:
1st - Katina Sayers-Walker
5th Laura Kozlowski
8th LiLynn Graves
Ommegang Brewery Cross, NY
October 12, 2009
Better late than ever…but the setting and these photos,
courtesy of Sue Atwood and Rebecca McCarthy, should make the lateness of the report worth it…
October 4, 2009 Cooperstown, NY
A total blast of a race - complete with beer handoffs, the course running through a circus tent, celebrity racers in the Open Women, a great live band and Nutella as prizes.
Open women had a VERY tough field, including a 19 year old junior pro who had been racing for Lip Smacker, Anna Young. Suffice it to say, she smoked the field quite handily, and then went off and did the open mens’ race and beat most of them as well.
The changing leaves in brisk central NY…it was a BITTER cold start, but by the time the open women’s race began, it was warm enough for some to race with jerseys unzipped…see the blog link below.
Sue entering the beer tent…
Buff-legged Katina rounding a corner..
So, here’s the celebrity sighting: Bicycling Magazine’s “Fitness Chick” Selene Yeager, who was no slouch. At all. Check out her blog on the race
Official results have yet to be posted, but here’s what I THINK we got:
Women 4s:
Christy Chambers - 1st
Open Women:
Katina Sayers-Walker ~5th?
Kate Stewart ~ 8th?
Sue Atwood ~ 10th?
PS. Here’s our Race Wench, Kim and assistant Eric. She “won’t” race cross. Yet.
And I couldn’t help but add this other mascot - from our “Brother Team, SCARR-Ommegang”
Here’s mud in your eye(s)!
September 28, 2009
…and in your teeth, in your ears, in your nose, and every other orifice you have..
Buck Hill CX Race
Ithaca, NY September 27, 2009
At last, “real” cross conditions in upstate NY. Cold, rainy and muddier than hell. Just what people, ahem, “want”. Not to go on and on about it, but in order to get the kits cleaned, we had to lay them on the driveway and spray each article of clothing one by one with the garden hose on full blast before we could even think of putting them into the washer.
About 16 women lined up - this was not part of the NYS series and wasn’t a race to earn points to anywhere or win big - other than bragging rights, a bagel and and apple. It started after the rain had damped the course all night and the masters had been slogging thru a light drizzle. About halfway through the first of the five laps, the rain began anew and with an increased intensity…
As in every previous race, Katina Kat-grrl dominated. Few of the women in the Open category were anywhere even close to Katina - other than the usual suspect “Ruthless” Sherman from the Corning Cycling Team. (And she’s an honorary Bella anyway.)
G. Dawg shows off her tremendous barrier hurdling form on the very first (still dry) lap.
And shows here her sheer pleasure at whipping little boys’ butts.
Katina less smiling, but on the other hand, she’s out in the front and there are no little boys to splash with mud up here.
Lastly, this was the footwear of the wise: decorative rubber boots. Now that’s what I call Functional Flair.
Results:
1st Katina Sayers-Walker
5th (?) Kate Stewart
6th (?) LL G Dawg
(results aren’t up yet, but we only care about #1!)
