Friday, June 25, 2010

BCTC Ride -- July 31

Ahh yes, the three B's most every cyclist has a sweet spot in their heart for... Brews, Bicycles & Belgium.  (Beats the heck out of those 3 R's or 4 R's from school.)

Team Ommegang - Syracuse Bicycle will be hosting an informal, low key ride from Brewery Ommegang as part of the Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC) festivities on July 31.  We'll be meeting under the big arch at 9:50 am and will start the ride at 10:00 am sharp.   The ride is tentatively planned to circle Otsego Lake which from the brewery is about 32 miles or so.   We'll keep it low key but will be riding at a "club" pace of probably around 18-20 mph. 


This is an open, ride at your own risk invite but you'll need to be a fairly serious cyclist with a well tuned road bike, must be self supported (items to change a flat & know how to do it) and be able to ride at 18-20 mph in a pack for 30 miles.  We'll need to be back to the brewery by noon time so while our intent is not to leave folks behind, we cannot wait indefinitely.


IMPORTANTWe also need to put out a disclaimer that this ride does NOT get you access to the BCTC festival.  This event sold out long ago and unfortunately, there are no more tickets available.


Additional info .... you will see parking adjacent to the brewery as you will not be able to enter the brewery driveway.  The arch meeting point will be self evident at the main building.  The road on the western side of Otsego Lake (Rte 80) can be busy with car traffic -- we'll need to exercise appropriate caution.


If you have questions, please use the following link ------> Team Ommegang - Syracuse Bicycle Contact


Cheers !

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Fathers Day Weekend Recap

Dave Y and Paul S took their MTBs to the William Lake event (part of the H2H series) while a few of the guys hit the Giro of Otisco Lake.

Williams Lake Summary ....
It was very hot, but the course was fantastic. Very rocky and they run 
you through a cave that was lit with LED lights. Pretty sweet. 

Paul finished 2nd in Master's category and Dave finished 1st in the 
Single Speed  category.  It was a great course with many tight and 
rocky sections with full-power uphill bursts.
 
Otisco Lake: Summary ..... 
 A short but hilly road event found two of the newer Ommegangsters 
testing their legs.  Ray W and Dave M enjoyed some heat and hills to
finish in the top half of the respective pack.

A busy weekend but good to see a few got out.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Black Fly Challenge Recap

Black Fly Challenge Recap as borrowed from by Skinny Phil at http://mudbloodandbelgianbeer.blogspot.com/

Team Ommegang - Syracuse Bicycle was out in full force again for The Black Fly Challenge. This years addition brought wet roads and sand.

I think we had about 8 gangsters there to represent. Drummroll, AJ and I went up to Indian Lake Friday night to avoid an early morning commute. If you've never been to Indian Lake, its best suited for relaxing, so that's what we did. We drank a couple of Ommegang's finest, watched a little TV, jumped on an unsecured WiFi network for a little iPod e-mail, and got some rest. A few loud kids kept AJ up, and Drummroll spent some time trying to keep a mosquito out of his ear, but otherwise we got some decent sleep.

In the morning, Drummroll and I hit up the local diner for some eggs and carbs, and AJ stayed behind to drink a couple of bottles of Starbuck's finest and eat some Cliff Bars or something. Drummroll and I even signed a petition to help the fine folks of Indian Lake secure a new grocery store since apparently the local store had recently gone belly up.

Having worked out some automobile logistics in advance, we headed down to Inlet for packet pick up. As luck would have it, it was raining pretty hard. Close to pouring. When we got to Inlet it was looking pretty bleak. I'm always up for a challenge, but now I had to start thinking hard about what clothing I had packed, what to wear, how many layers, etc. Then, about 20 minutes before the race started, the rain stopped. Perfect . . . I think.

Quick warm up, second guess tire pressure a few times, and then line up. For what it's worth, I ran about 53lbs. I know some dudes went for closer to 70, but I thought I'd shoot for closer to CX, but with enough air to smack a rock at 35mph without too much fear of pinch flatting. Looking around at the crowd as we lined up, it was clear that this was a deeper field than last year. I was still optimistic, but thoughts of another 2nd place were tempered by more realistic aspirations of a top 10. Apparently Dan Staffo from Handlebars decided to check out what the Black Fly had to offer, and I made the mistake of talking team friend Tim O into going. That pretty much meant that barring a mechanical, first and second were pretty much wrapped up.

Right from the gun, Dan started driving the pace. It was clear that he wasn't going to wait around for the race to unfold. By the top of the first hill, there were only 4 of us. Thankfully things eased up a little and some guys got back on in time for the second hill. At that point, Dan got away and eight of us were left behind working pretty well as a group. So far the rain and wet weren't much of a factor. As we pressed on, keeping Dan in sight, it was clear that some guys in our group were strong, and others, myself included were drooling on ourselves. As we started to roll through the flat sections with wet sand, I started to worry that my brakes were rubbing. Sadly they weren't, it was just incredibly tough going. Riding in the wet sand was WAY harder than the previous years in the dry loose stuff. I'd also decided to roll with the Michelin Mud's instead of the Jets, and although I may never know, I think they created more traction than I really wanted.

At a certain point, our group started to splinter and Tim O, Eric Grimm, and Randy Hadzor built up a small lead on the rest of us. Next thing I knew, the rest of my group had built up a small lead on me. At this point, I knew I was in 9th and I had no choice but to ride within myself or risk blowing up, so I watched my teammates AJ and Fred roll up the road. Now I'm asking myself, can I hang on for 9th? A few minutes later, I see Eric Grimm changing a flat. Now I'm in 8th.

As I rolled along, I saw a couple of guys coming up on me, so I eased up, popped a gel pack and waited for them to catch me. Thankfully, it was Drumroll and a beast of a man named Paul from Battenkill-United on an MTB. As Drumroll passes me, he says "This dude is really strong." That was all I needed to hear. I recovered pretty quickly, and got to work with both of them. Drummroll made some rolling introductions, and I let Paul know that he was in first place in the MTB division. None of us had a reason for any team BS, etc. so we just kept on working. I felt pretty good about my top 10.

Once we hit the pavement, I turned around and saw Eric Grimm literally flying down the road. He quickly caught us and we jumped his wheel. At this point, I knew that AJ and Fred were in the next group up the road, so we just hung onto Eric's wheel for dear life. He dragged us right up to AJ, Fred, and another dude, and then right up to Randy Hadzor. Now we had a group of eight with three guys off the front. Getting dropped or blowing the sprint would mean 11th place. The group kept the pace high, and with a little less than a mile to go, Fred hit the gas and opened up a small gap. He was quickly brought back though, so I took a go at it thinking 4th would be pretty sweet. Sadly Drummroll and Eric quickly caught me, but luckily Drummroll held off Eric for fourth and I was pretty happy to hang onto sixth. AJ took 7th, and Fred took 11th after cramping. Four guys in the top 11 ain't bad. Fred deserves a special mention since he was on my old Trek XO1. It's a great winter bike, but I wouldn't want to drag it over all of those hills.

All in all, the team had a great showing. Team friend Tim O took second, and I think everyone was fairly pleased with their performance. There's no question that we all raced hard and left it all on the road (or wet sand as it were).

The race organizers did another awesome job with the course, packet pickup, chip timing, etc. Those guys really get it, and I'm sure that our team will continue to flock to their race.

After the finish, Mrs. Skinny hustled me off to Lake Placid where she was running the half marathon with some friends of ours the next day. Despite an injury, she did well and I consumed my weight in beer. Great weekend.

PS - somehow I ended up being listed as the first place "beginner" in the results. I know I was in the CX category when I picked up my packet so I'm not sure what happened there. I don't want anyone thinking I'm a sand bagger. I did clean enough sand out of my drive train, hair, ears and eyes to fill a bag though . . .

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Amazing Results Overview


Quick Summary ....

Brian H -- Ohio State TT Champs -- Gold !!
Craig N  -- NYS Cat 4 RR Champ -- Gold !!
Craig N & Eric G  -- Silver & Bronze at NYS Crit Champs
Dave Y  -- Silver NYS RR Champs
Drumroll, AJ M, Skinny Phil, Fast Freddie, Sean B, Rooster, Paul S and Jeremy K pulling off 4 of the top 11 spots at Black Fly and all within the top 50 or so out of almost 350 with some top age group placings as well.

Congrats Gents !!

Ohio TT Champs:  http://www.team-cobc.com/groveporttt.asp

NYS Crit Champs:  http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/06/13-Saranac-Lake-Downtown-Criterium.asp

NYS RR Champs:  http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/06/12-Wilmington-Whiteface-Road-Race.asp

Black Fly Challenge:  http://blackflychallenge.wordpress.com/race-results/

Monday, June 14, 2010

Amazing ....


So you're probably looking for a summary of all the various amazing racing this past weekend ... it's coming (soon), we're just awaiting posting of the various results so we make sure we cover all bases.

Anyway, while you wait, I strongly suggest you give this amazing Maredsous elixir a try ... no we're not jumping ship on Ommegang ...you see,  if you do your homework (part of your "ale-ducation"), you'll see that Maredsous is a cousin to Ommegang as it too is part of the Duvel-Moortgat family.   Try some and my bet is that you'll thank me

Friday, June 11, 2010

Lots O Racing

Ommegangsters all over the Binghamton and Rochester regions this past weekend.  ESG (Central) qualifier (circuit & TT) and the TVC 4/5 circuit race in Bingo along with 2 crits sandwiching a road race near the greater Rochester area.

Results show a handful of the boys will represent the CNY region at the Empire State Games (congrats !!), some top 10 actioan at the Bingo 4/5 circuit race & even more respectable results out of the Rochester races.   Results links are below:

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/06/06-ESG-Central-Region-Qualifier.asp
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/06/07-Tioga-Velo-Club-Circuit-Race.asp
http://gvcc.11net.com/

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Race 4 Hope Results

Four Ommegangsters participated in the Race 4 Hope held a few miles south of Skaneateles down the east side of the lake this past Sunday on Memorial Day weekend.

After some respectable results last year, hopes were high for a repeat this year.  As the race rolled out (with a rather up tempo "neutral" start  .... at about 28 mph), it was noticeable that the field was a bit deeper than the year before.   Some graying old vets (that seem to never age once on the bike) and some young guns mixed it up pretty good as the lead peloton dwindled down as the rollers gave way to a couple of more sustained climbs.  In the end, the Ommegangsters placed quite respectfully with a podium spot for Eric K in 3rd, Adam L with a 7th, Skinny Phil an 11th and Drummroll with a 16th to put all four in the top 20 out of 100 plus racers.

Special props to Ommegangster amigo Tim O for riding to the race from Caz, finshing 2nd overall, and then riding back home to Caz.  Skinny Phil gets a mention too cause he rode there as well from his casa, placed well, and rode off to a gathering of some sort after the event. 

Full results here:  http://www.skanraces.com/images/r4h_2010results.pdf