Race report

Date: 6/24/07
Race: Owasco Flyer
Distance: 36 Miles

The Owasco Flyer is one of my favorite races. I can’t really put my finger on what I like so much about it. Maybe it’s screaming down the road at 30 miles an hour with a group of 200 people. Perhaps it’s the terrain that doesn’t really favor someone who is strong in any one area. In any case I was super stoked about this year’s flyer.

I was worried, sure, but for the first time I was going to be doing the flyer with my hombres. People have been sharing knowledge of every aspect of racing with me since I started cycling. I was excited, for the first time we were going to a race that none of the other guys had ever done. This gave me a chance to be the one sharing a little knowledge.

I have been dropped on this course a couple of times and knew where to pay attention and where to work. I also know who the fast guys are. My goal was to keep them in sight as long as possible. I succeeded in one respect; I kept the leaders in sight for the whole race. Unfortunately that was after they dropped me and I dug deep to catch back on. Alas, I had forgotten to pack my suitcase of courage. I kept the leaders in sight for several miles and I kept everyone else out of sight up to the very end. I was in the unhappy place called no mans land. I don’t remember much about the ride from the time I got dropped to the time I finished. All I remember was looking back at the top of each hill to see if I could spot any chasers. I only spotted them on the last hill before the finish.

I was very happy to have finished 8^th with a time of 1:29:56 (a 24 mph average) up one spot from last year and three minutes faster, and up 12 spots from the year before. The other boys did well with Jared finishing 34 with a time of 1:32:34, Tom finished 62^nd with a time of 1:35:37, and Eric finished 77^th with a time of 1:38:33.

12 Hours of Roundtop

Saturday June 23rd was the 12 Hours of Roundtop race in Athens,PA. I went down on Friday night to set up my pit canopy and pre ride the course. The course was a nice mix of flowy singletrack and short steep ascents. I rode it in 37 minutes while scoping out things and picking lines, So I felt pretty confident I could do 16 laps. The race starts with a 1/2 mile run which is to my disadvantage thanks to a bundle of sprained ankles in my day. Despite having a disadvantage I ran about mid pack and came back to the bike in decent position. The first lap went well and the pace was pretty fast but I felt strong so I pushed it to catch Dave Perry who went aroound me like I was sitting still on the single track. Dave later was having some major flatting issues so i was able to reel him in and go a lap up. I kept the cadence high and spun to victory with 18 laps in 11:30 something. Congrats to Jim,TJ,Matt and Fletch( Team Twisted Spokes) for an outstanding performance in the 4 person male category cranking out 23 laps and having the fastest lap of 28 min. More info here and pics.

Century

Hey,
Don't forget about the second annual Oswald Cycle Works Century! It will be on Sunday July 8th with refreshments and starting time to be announced soon. There will also be a shorter ride leaving at the same time and following the same course as the century for awhile.

Race Report

Date: 6/9/07
Race: Laurel Flyer Road Race
Distance: 24 Miles

The Laurel flyer is a course that has the effect of making everyone slow. It is hilly but not a climber’s course. It has a some good flats and downhills that don’t help the good descenders or flats riders. The race usually ends in a sprint finish but that doesn’t mean the sprinters are even going to have a chance. If you want to do well you have to be able to do a little bit of everything well. More importantly you have to do it well at the right time. On the other hand, you could be terrible at everything and still do well. It is for this reason that I love this race, that and it’s on my home turf.

This was my first bike race two years ago and I got third overall. I thought for sure that this would be my year. After all, I am stronger, lighter, a little smarter, and I have better equipment then I did before. My buddies had been egging me on for the last week and by Friday I was frothing at the mouth to get out there and dominate. Not only that Tom placed the trophies (strategically, I think) right in front of me at work. So, for two hours on Friday I tried to keep my eyes of them as I wrenched.

The turnout was good with a lot of familiar faces and in some cases “marks”. I knew there were some fast guys in the group and I wanted to be towards the front to avoid any wrecks early on. Unfortunately I had trouble clipping in and got pushed to the back. It’s at times like this when I think there just might be something to that Karma stuff. I say this because my buddy Jimmy worked like a mule to get me back up front. As I passed him and took my place with the leaders I heard a tire blow behind us. I was thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t get caught up in the crash like two years ago.

I have to digress for a moment and try to illustrate just what exactly happened when Jimmy pulled me to the front. First you have to understand that Jimmy has a good background in criterium racing, which is to say he can take insane chances in a pack and come out smelling like roses. That is exactly what happened. When he saw I had fallen back he slowed enough to let me get on his wheel then he accelerated. The next five minutes were the most poignant and exhilarating of the entire race. On the way out of the airport I saw Jimmy approaching the corner and I was thinking we are going to run out of pavement… we are going to fast… I am too young to die. Once we got out of the airport all I saw was Jimmy’s arse and people zipping by us as if the pack was frozen in time and we were zigzagging through them in extremely fast slow motion. Jimmy looking back and then gave me the thumbs up. I thought that was my cue to get out there and rip off some legs. Really, Jimmy was just telling me he had burned all his matches. In any case I said good-bye and rode my race and left him to his. Still, I think those few minutes were the best part of the race. You have to really trust someone to follow them blindly through the minefield like obstacle course of a peloton under full steam.

From that point on I just hung in until dibble hill when I moved to the second or third position. I turned the screws a little on the climb but everyone was climbing well so I didn’t push it. Then came the descent down Draper hill, I was doing fifty something dodging potholes and what not. I descend on my road bike well and am use to the poor conditions of the local roads so I was not at all surprised or worried about the sketchiness of the descent. We then made the turn in Stony Fork with a fairly large group. I believe we shelled a few on the climb to the Yellow Basket Shop. The second time around was pretty lame with little or no action. I did get sworn at a bit when I came to the front and soft-pedaled, I don’t think the dude understood that 1) this is not the Tour de France and 2) I wasn’t racing for him. Then it was just a matter of some serious suffering from the Yellow Basket Shop to the finish. Finally it came down to a sprint finish.

I ended up getting fifth overall and fourth in my age group with a time of 1:07:26, a result I was not at all satisfied with. I have to accept the fact that there were four faster guys out there but I certainly don’t like it. On the other hand, I can’t do anything about it. Some other notable results from the Oswald boys include 1. Jimmy with 1:19:54 2. Eric with 1:15:48

Pics

Hey,
Pics from the race are up so check them out. If you have any pics to add let me know.

The Lake Effect 150

Come join us on July 22 for The Lake Effect 150(not a race). The route starts and ends at my house 1812 Pennsylvania Ave. Pine City,NY. The course is a nice easy rolling course with a few short climbs. It leaves Pine City and heads up around Seneca Lake and then back to Pine City. There will be a SAG vehicle if you wish to bring your own food and drink or spare tubes etc. We will also pass a few mini marts as well. The ride starts at 8 A.M. I hope to see you there. Oh yeah, I hope you know how to ride your road bike on dirt! Email with questions jamesheverly@yahoo.com, leave comment if interested!

Course Map and Profile here.

My house here.

Addison Road Race

May 5th, 2007. While driving my mail truck up 15 towards Wellsboro, I started to think about the race as the sun was coming up and was beginning to wonder if my decision to work the night before the race was such a good idea. Got home about 6AM, picked up my trusty Oswald and headed off towards Addison. 7:30AM, pulled into school parking lot, parked the car and preceded to take a nap. Nap didn't really happen, too much commotion going on to allow that. 9AM, while heading towards registration I started to see familiar faces, Jared, Joe Allis, Mike M, and Dave Jelliff. Further down the parking lot, I see Josh, Tom and Jimmy. After exchanging a little pre-race chatter, I preceded to ready myself for the race.
As we waited at the starting line, the noise drowned out the race instructions. I did hear something about a chute at the finish line but didn't hear where the finish line was. As the horn sounded, we rolled out across the intersection towards Jasper. At the boro limits the pace quickened and the race was on. I picked up my pace to try to stay near the front and tucked in behind the biggest guy I could find. This worked until I decided to make my way a little closer to the front not realizing that they will let you go out front where there is a headwind. I pulled for a little while, then let off of it. There were lots of attacks but no seemed to break away. While climbing the first hill, I noticed on my right, the dynamic dual a.k.a. Jimmy G and Tom on the tandem passing me. They did this many times during the race. As we neared Jasper, I talked with Jared, he said the pace would pick up as we made the turn back to Addison and he was right. I fell off the back and had to work extremly hard to catch back up. The second half seemed to go much faster and as we neared the town limits, the pace got crazy as everyone knew the finish line was near. As I entered the chute I knew the race was over and I was happy with with my performance. I did much better than I expected finishing 3rd in my age group, Josh finished 2nd in his age group, and Jimmy and Tom finish 1st in the tandem category ,it was a great day for a race.

Addison race report

Howdy folks,
I thought I would try posting my race report a little differently then usual. So if you want to read about the race just follow the link. Addison Race Report

Team Oswald races in Tennessee!

Eric Franck,Myself and John Majors from Pittsburgh,PA headed down to Ducktown,TN for the second annual Cohutta 100 mountain bike race. The race is the first of The National Endurance Series. The sight of the race was the Ocoee White Water Center which also happens to be in the area of the kayaking section of the 1996 Olympic Games.
The race kicked off Saturday at 7AM and began with 10 miles of beautiful rolling single track. Eric and I stayed together for most of the single track. I was thinking "man I'll take 90 more miles of this stuff". My thoughts (or were they dreams?) would not be answered. The course then dumped out onto a gravel road which would be our home for the next 79 miles. I can remember getting into aid station 3 and the guy said"you are all done climbing, the hard part is over" I replied "what is your name" he said "Sam" I said "well Sam if there IS any more climbing I am going to hunt you down at the end of the race" and I was on my way. I no more than left aid 3 and said to myself" I am gonna find Sam and let him have it". There was plenty of climbing to come. It seemed as though every downhill there was an uphill double the elevation as the downhill. After mile 80, I strolled into aid 5 and the friendly staff informed me that there was one big climb left to aid 6 and then a technical downhill into the finish. I was leary thanks to Sam of their information, however I pushed forward. There was definitely more than one climb left and it was far from a technical descent into the finish.
The views were fantastic in the Cohutta's and the race was fun despite all the gravel roads. Thanks to Sam (whom I never found after the race) and all the others at the aid stations because If they told the truth how many people would want to continue?
Eric rolled in at 12:38 and I was able to finish in 10:05. The race was won by Chris Eatough in 6:45 with Tinker Juarez coming in second at 7hrs even.

New Sponsors

The season is now under way with two races already in the quiver. The team is happy to announce the addition of two new sponsors. We would like thank Papa V's Pizzeria (570-662-2651) and Thorne Technology Consulting (thornetech@epix.net) for their sponsorship.

A New Sponsor

Good news:
First Citizens National Bank has signed on as a team sponsor for 2007/2008.
Many thanks to our friends at the bank.

Race Calendar

Training Partners

Part 1: The Hawk

It was looking like rain for the after work hours on Thursday, so I slipped out of the shop early to get in a ride while the roads were still dry. There was a strong wind blowing in ahead of the approaching front. As I was pedaling up the last climb I saw what I thought was a sure sign that spring really is here – someone was flying a kite at the top of the hill. Then the kite flapped its wings and I realized it was a hawk hovering there at treetop level, riding the steady breeze at the crest. It took me a few minutes to get up to where it was and in that time it flapped its wings maybe a dozen times. As soon as I drew level it turned and flew alongside me for as I rode the ridge top. Then when the road finally started to turn down the hawk landed in a tree and watched me go. It probably doesn’t sound like much to read about it here on the internet, but it was one of those magical moments that can only happen when you’re in the right place at the right time, and on a bicycle.

Part 2: The Dog

Eric, Josh and I went out for a ‘cross bike ride on Sunday. It was a pristine day – 50 degrees, sunny with a few wispy clouds, and just as clear as they come. Eric said “I’ve been a bad boy lately, and I need to be punished”, so we headed down to Armenia Mountain. At the base of the climb, just where the first whiffs of punishment begin to appear, a dog came out to the road. There was no way I was going to out-sprint it on that grade, so I held out my hand and tried to make friends.

She sniffed at it, must have figured I was OK and went tearing after Josh, who was up ahead (nothing new there). She trailed him closely for a while, then trotted next him, then ran ahead and easily beat him to the top of the climb. That performance earned her a few hearty head pats as we regrouped and refueled. Mistake. When Eric tried to shoo her home so we could continue our ride, she just sniffed his shoe and wagged her tail. Apparently she had joined our pack. So we rode and she ran alongside. For miles. I started to feel bad about enticing her to stray so far from home. At first I hoped if we went fast enough she’d get tired and turn around. It’s a long plateau up on the mountain top, and the unplowed dirt roads were boggy with snow and snowmelt. At times she was running at full tilt with her tongue nearly dragging the ground, but we just couldn’t go fast enough to drop that dog. By the time we reached a downhill steep enough that she couldn’t keep up, she was so many miles from home that we thought she might never find her way back. So we waited for her.

She was starting to tucker out at this point. Doggie bonk. Eric fed her some Hammer Gel (!) and encouraged her to keep going. We changed our planned route so that we’d go back by where we had picked her up. Every once in a while we’d pass a house or a cabin and she would pause and look longingly at it as if she was tempted to make it her new home. By now she was limping a little. I’m sure her paws were sore from running so far in that snow and gritty mud. But she was no quitter and eventually, more than 2 hours later, we led her back to where she had joined us. And she kept following us. Finally we found someone who recognized her as being a pooch from that neighborhood and he held her there so we could ride away. What a pup! I was half expecting (and maybe even hoping a little) to find her on my doorstep the next morning. Or maybe in the garage, curled up next to my muddy bike.

So if you live near Armenia Mountain and your dog was missing for hours and came back covered in mud, with tender feet, and then slept for days, now you know why. Your dog is a champion!

P.S.: And if she has developed an appetite for energy gel, that’s Eric’s fault.

Spring Training in full swing! Well on second thought today might be a better day for snowshoeing.

Spring Training

The Oswald Cycle Works Team began their first phase of spring Training on Sunday. Eric gave excellant demonstrations on changing innertubes. Dan was quick to begin practicing these skills. Being able to change a flat quickly is a very important skill when racing. The rest of us observed as Dan and Eric took it upon themselves to change six flats just in case any of us were confused the first time. I also got to practice some offensive sag wagon driving and time trialing. All in all it was a good session with the culmination being the practicing of the most important racing skill......eating pizza. Thanks Jay!

More Frame Building Video

Oswald Cycle Works

More Great Sponsor News!

The Laurel Health System is again one of our great sponsors for the upcoming race seasons.
Thanks again to all the folks at Laurel Health.

Sponsor News

Good news - Strohecker Vision Care has agreed to sponsor the team again for 2007 and 2008. Thanks, Mark, Dr. Bob, and Dr. Jared!

Go see them when you're ready for some stylish new Rudy Project glasses.

2007 N.U.E.

This year is looking hot for the National Ultra Endurance Series. They have eliminated the requirement to do a Western race and also added to the venue. The schedule is as follows:
1. April 21 Cohutta 100 Tennesse
2. June 2 Mohican 100 Ohio
3 June 16 Lumberjack 100 Michigan
4. July 21 Breckenridge 100 Colorado
5. August 4 Wilderness 101 Pennsylvania
6. August 25 Endurance 100 Utah
7. Sept 2 Shenandoah Virginia
Check out www.usmtb100.com for all the details.

Fuji Sponsors 2007

Good news: Fuji has agreed to sponsor us again for 2007.

Team members - contact the shop for info on the '07 team race bikes!