Empire State Games: Day 1

I write this post from a dorm room at Binghamton University. I left Saratoga Springs around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, en route to the Empire State Games, which will be contested here all week. On the way, I stopped in Albany to pick up my team mate Bryna Nestor, who dabbles in road racing, and is also a pro on the Sobe-Cannondale mountain bike team. It poured all day across most of the New York, and our bikes got pretty wet on the ride down, as I drove slowly to avoid hydroplaning.

After three hours of white-knuckle driving, we made it to Binghamton in time to collect our very cool blue ESG sweat suits, and to get settled into our dorm rooms. Most of the athletes here at the games are high school students, since most sports contested here don't have much in the way of amateur organization. Cycling is another story, with some of the best riders from New York turning out to contest the four events.

After going to sleep around 11 p.m. (the earliest I've gone to sleep in months), we woke up early for breakfast in the dining hall. Sleeping in dorm rooms, eating in a dining hall, I almost feel like I should knock on my door before I go back into my room, just in case my room mate doesn't want to be interrupted...

In any event, the first day's race was an individual time trial. As most readers know, I recently built a time trial bike in anticipation of this event. Since building it, I've ridden the bike outside twice and on my trainer once. Although I understand the importance of a good time trial in a stage race like this, I really like riding my road bike better, so I didn't put in as much time on the bike as I probably should have.

In any event, the race was on a T-shaped course with two turn-arounds. The start/finish was in a state park. I pre-rode the course prior to the start, and it was mostly flat with a few small rollers and a stiff headwind after the second turn. I rolled up to the start with a minute to spare, and tried to get set to race.

Riding a disk wheel borrowed from team mate Nathaniel Ward, I started out as hard as I could, and cruised along the first section of the course. As I approached the first turn around, I could see my minute man ahead of me, and I did my best to increase my pace in an effort to catch up. I was very nearly on him by the second turn around, and blew by him shortly there after. I pushed my 53x11 as hard I could going into the downhill finish, to stop the clock at 24:43. I was more than a minute off the winning pace, but very satisfied with my effort. I placed 31 out of about 60 riders.

Dieter Drake led the team home, taking third in the event. I didn't get his time, but it was fast. The western region team took first and second, but because we had eight of our ten riders in the top 21, we are currently leading the points race, with a 20-point lead over the Western region.

In the women's race, Beth Miller took the win for the ADK squad, and her two team mates, Bryna and Meredith, finished eight and ninth. They are currently second overall in points.

There were photos taken, but I've forgotten my camera cord, so you'll have to wait a bit to see them. Sorry. Tomorrow is the road race, and there should be plenty of fireworks on the road. Stay tuned.