Bad mood, blame the rain

I find myself doing something that I haven't done in a long time: posting to GBBM from Uncommon Grounds. As readers may remember, I regularly blogged from Uncommon during the first half of 2009. In fact, during those six months, (part 1, part 2) when I didn't have an Internet connection at home, it was nearly a nightly-tradition.

Although I enjoy relaxing and socializing at Uncommon and other coffee shops, I really prefer to do my writing at home or at the office. So, why am I here tonight? I'm in a bad mood and felt that getting out of the apartment might set me right.

Why am I in a bad mood? Well tonight is the second night of Passover, for one thing. Not that Passover puts me in a bad mood, but because it's Passover, I made the decision last week to take Tuesday (today) off from work and drive to Brooklyn to have sader with my parents, along with other family and friends.

Then, sometime over the weekend, I decided that I was really too stressed out and had too much going on to make an overnight trip to Brooklyn in the middle of the week. But, I'd already arranged the time off from work, so, of course, I continued with the less-stressful plan of staying in Saratoga, but not working. Tough decision, I know.

What was I going to do with this un-programed day off in the middle of the week? Go for a long bike ride, obviously. Here comes the part where I'm in a bad mood. It started raining on Sunday, and hasn't let up since. You can probably guess what happened to my long ride, but in case you can't, I'll just tell you: it turned into a medium-length roller ride. I think I should have just gone to work, after a long winter, I've had about all the rollers I can tolerate.

So, not only did I not celebrate one of my favorite holidays with my family (Passover is second only to Thanksgiving), but I didn't get to enjoy an extra day off, spending instead angry with the weather, and then angry with the rollers. To make matters worse, I think my computer (I may now have Internet at home, but I still don't own a TV) has watched all of the shitty movies it can handle, as it is now making a habit of stopping DVD's mid-scene, usually during an especially climactic moment, and then crashing.

As if riding my rollers when I should have been enjoying a nice six-hour ride up at Sacandaga wasn't bad enough, I didn't even get to see the end of 2012. Anyone care to fill me in?

So, that's why I'm in Uncommon. Is being here helping my mood? I'm not sure, but I do feel better after getting all of that off my chest.

In one nod to the holiday, I did cook part of a traditional Passover dinner -- a brisket, which roommate Marissa and I enjoyed a little while ago. Unfortunately, I was so unmotivated to ride my rollers today that I was late getting started on them, and consequently wound up starting to cook the meat much later than I'd planned. Out of hunger and impatience, I probably removed it from the pot a little earlier than would have been ideal. It was still delicious. Marissa is moving across the country in a little less than two weeks, so this may well be one of the last dinner we enjoy together. Last supper, anyone? Easter is right around the corner. Speaking of which, Marissa was very tolerant in enduring my surly version of the Passover story.

I should have taken some photos of the cooking process, to have some visuals here, but I didn't think of it in time. Sorry.

P.S. Even if the brisket could have stayed in the pot longer, it was still pretty good. The gefilte fish that I bought at Price Chopper, however, was less than delicious. There's no question that the food would have been better in Brooklyn, where Mom served homemade gefilte fish (not made in her home, of course, that old world tradition appears not to have been embraced by her generation.)

One final note: I love the New York Times, and read its online editions nearly constantly. Yesterday, however, they posted a story about the Winter 46ers. Although I'm well on my way, I am not yet a winter 46er. Even so, I could have told writer Liz Leyden or photographer Nathaniel Brooks that Mount Jo, on which two of the story's subjects are shown in an accompanying picture, is not one of the Adirondack High Peaks. The mention of this peak in the story without explanation, is, I think, I little misleading. Shame on you, Gray Lady.

BikeSnobNYC unmasked!

I had something pressing that I was going to write about tonight, but I can't remember what it was.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter because something that's been long-hinted at has finally come to pass -- the enigmatic Brooklyn-based blogger BikeSnobNYC has been unmasked and identified as Eben Weis, 36, a member of the CRCA/Gotham cycling team.

The first time I ever read his blog, during the summer of 2007, it was still relatively new. At the time, I was working at JackRabbit Sports in Park Slope, and someone emailed someone the snob's 2008 Dreambike Shootout. It's a good think there were no customers in the store at the time, because all of the staff working that day were crowded around the cash register snorting, giggling, and eventually laughing out loud with tears of mirth streaming down our cheeks. I've been a regular reader since.

Although his identity was known to me and most anyone associated with the NYC racing scene (one big open secret), that he has now been named in mainstream media is certainly worth mentioning.

Obviously, I'm a big fan of the BikeSnob (yes, I do intend to continue using the pseudonym, it's just too familiar to give up!), and have made reading his posts a daily ritual. Beyond enjoying his take on cycling "culture," I also respect him as a writer, and feel that I've learned a few things from his unusual and compelling style.

So, it is nice to know who this teacher is.

Incidentally, I also agree with Mr. Snob on things like hipsters, the joy of cycling, the necessity of brakes on fixed gears, and silly, overpriced marketing schemes dreamed up by manufacturers of bikes and cycling accessories. I even had to stop and think when buying my Scott, because it came equipped with Ultegra SL, equipment deemed "stupid" by The Snob -- and I agreed.

I've exchanged emails with The Snob on a few occasions, which have been duly reported here on GBBM. Of course, my mission in such exchanges was to earn a mention on his blog, but it hasn't happened yet -- I'll have to keep trying!

The reason, by the way, for the unmasking of His Snobiness is that he has a book coming out this spring. Will I Buy it? Only if it offers something more than a mere regurgitation of what I've already read on the blog.

Johnny Cake Lane #2

The second of three Johnny Cake Lane races rolled off Saturday morning with a more-typical result than last week's contest.

This week, there was one all-day breakaway that went away at some point, then everything came back together, then the race-ending break containing all the likely suspects went just before we got the bell, and stayed away to the end. I was joined, this time, by teammate Sergio, who drove up from the city to enjoy the sunshine and Saturday's winter-like conditions.

Johnny Cake is almost always won out of a breakaway, making last week's bunch-gallop somewhat unusual. This week, a stiff breeze made thing brake up a little bit.

I continued to use the race to hone my threshold power -- if not my tactics. The most decisive thing that I can claim to have done in Saturday's race was to drag a two others up to the all-day breakaway, in the wind and pretty much without help. Of course, once we got to the break, the riders who had been up there were no longer interested in any kind of cooperation, and looked fairly cooked anyway.

We were shortly back in the fold. Wasted effort? Yeah, I guess so.

A lap or two later, when THE break went off the front, I was no where near the front, and could only watch it go. I worked my way to the front, where Keltic, which hadn't managed to place a rider into the break, was giving the chase full gas. I rotated through with them once or twice, then sat on the back of their paceline for a couple rotations before launching a flier, in what I knew would be a vain attempt to reach the leaders.

The only hope, I felt, would be if someone else joined me in the chase. Of course, that didn't happen, so I dangled out in no-man's land for 2/3s of the 6-mile lap, then wound up back in the fold with about half a lap remaining in the race. It should go without saying at this point that I did not contest the field sprint. Sergio, however, is a good sprinter, and said he finished somewhere in or around the top-10 in the sprint.

Reports were sketchy, but I believe that Roger Asphlom won.

I drove to the race with NAV's Mark G., and took a cool-down lap with him after the race. Somewhere around the last little hill my legs sucked the last fumes of gas from my tank, and I struggled to make it back to the car. Two thoughts with respect to that: 1) Bonking sucks, but after a race is better than during, and 2) bonking makes Subway taste really good.

The forecast for Johnny Cake 3 is for sun and 70s, and with Battenkill the week after, I'm going to pledge now to workout the one muscle that I haven't exercised yet this season, my tactical cortex. Watch out.

Congrats to Aleks on her 12th place at the Fontana national!

THIS JUST IN: Olympic gold medalist Demong to attend Tour of the Battenkill

Updated, 11:29 p.m., Wednesday: As mentioned yesterday, this was the big news from Dieter Drake. Read the whole story here. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BY THE TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL – www.tourofthebattenkill.com

March 23, 2010

Cambridge, NY – Organizers of the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill are proud to announce that Vancouver Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Demong will be a guest of the April event in Cambridge, NY. Demong, a native of Vermontville, NY won the gold medal in the Nordic Combined large hill competition and silver in the team competition along with teammates Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick, and Brett Camerotta. Demong’s gold – the first ever in the event for the US - also capped an historic Olympic Games for the US team as they captured the first ever medals by an American team in Nordic Combined. Before Vancouver, only 2 US athletes – Bill Koch’s silver in cross country skiing in 1976 and Anders Haugen’s bronze in ski jumping in 1924 – had ever won Olympic medals in any Nordic event (biathlon, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing).

Beginning on Saturday, April 17, Demong will ride the Tour of the Battenkill Ride2Recovery CycleFest non-competitive ride on the course at 9 AM. The Ride2Recovery CycleFest is a benefit ride for wounded & disabled war veterans and will be held the day before the professional invitational scheduled for Sunday, April 18 at 11 AM, where 22 teams from around the world will compete over 2 laps on the difficult, 62 mile course in Washington County, NY. Though he will not be competing in the race, Demong will also be present during the start of the professional invitational on Sunday to help kick off the international event. Demong is also an elite-level road cyclist and has competed in several national-level cycling events including the Tour of Utah, Tour of the Gila, and the Sea Otter Classic.

The 2010 Tour of the Battenkill, presented by Pepsi will be held over two weekends in April: the Pro/Am on Saturday, April 10; the Ride2Recovery CycleFest on Saturday, April 17, and the Professional Invitational on Sunday, April 18. The Pro/Am race on the 17th is the largest road race in North America and expects more than 2,000 riders in 25 different categories competing over the rugged 62 mile course in Washington County’s scenic Battenkill Valley. The Ride2Recovery CycleFest program is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation (501C3) in partnership with the Military and VA Volunteer Service Office. 500 recreational riders are expected for the Ride2Recovery CycleFest. The Professional Invitational will feature 22 teams and 200 professional and elite riders from North America, Europe, and Australia competing over a 124 mile course that features 25% dirt roads. All events start and finish in Cambridge, NY where a race expo will provide entertainment, food, sports & fitness vendors at various locations in Cambridge and nearby Greenwich. A live race video broadcast is also planned for the Professional Invitational.

THIS JUST IN: Olympic gold medalist Demong to attend Tour of the Battenkill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BY THE TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL – www.tourofthebattenkill.com

March 23, 2010

Cambridge, NY – Organizers of the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill are proud to announce that Vancouver Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Demong will be a guest of the April event in Cambridge, NY. Demong, a native of Vermontville, NY won the gold medal in the Nordic Combined large hill competition and silver in the team competition along with teammates Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick, and Brett Camerotta. Demong’s gold – the first ever in the event for the US - also capped an historic Olympic Games for the US team as they captured the first ever medals by an American team in Nordic Combined. Before Vancouver, only 2 US athletes – Bill Koch’s silver in cross country skiing in 1976 and Anders Haugen’s bronze in ski jumping in 1924 – had ever won Olympic medals in any Nordic event (biathlon, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing).

Beginning on Saturday, April 17, Demong will ride the Tour of the Battenkill Ride2Recovery CycleFest non-competitive ride on the course at 9 AM. The Ride2Recovery CycleFest is a benefit ride for wounded & disabled war veterans and will be held the day before the professional invitational scheduled for Sunday, April 18 at 11 AM, where 22 teams from around the world will compete over 2 laps on the difficult, 62 mile course in Washington County, NY. Though he will not be competing in the race, Demong will also be present during the start of the professional invitational on Sunday to help kick off the international event. Demong is also an elite-level road cyclist and has competed in several national-level cycling events including the Tour of Utah, Tour of the Gila, and the Sea Otter Classic.

The 2010 Tour of the Battenkill, presented by Pepsi will be held over two weekends in April: the Pro/Am on Saturday, April 10; the Ride2Recovery CycleFest on Saturday, April 17, and the Professional Invitational on Sunday, April 18. The Pro/Am race on the 17th is the largest road race in North America and expects more than 2,000 riders in 25 different categories competing over the rugged 62 mile course in Washington County’s scenic Battenkill Valley. The Ride2Recovery CycleFest program is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation (501C3) in partnership with the Military and VA Volunteer Service Office. 500 recreational riders are expected for the Ride2Recovery CycleFest. The Professional Invitational will feature 22 teams and 200 professional and elite riders from North America, Europe, and Australia competing over a 124 mile course that features 25% dirt roads. All events start and finish in Cambridge, NY where a race expo will provide entertainment, food, sports & fitness vendors at various locations in Cambridge and nearby Greenwich. A live race video broadcast is also planned for the Professional Invitational.

Windy, wet, miserable -- now on Embrocation!

As promised last week, here's a video of Friday's Tour of the Battenkill press conference. It took me longer than I thought to find a hole in my schedule to edit and post the video online, but there it is, in all it's glory.

The big news tonight is my latest essay on Embrocation, on learning my limits at Grant's Tomb. Here's an excerpt:

"... a monstrous blast of headwind, larger than any other we’d yet experienced, ended the peloton’s carefully-choreographed dance; cyclists careened in 19 different directions, resembling a fleet of sailboats tacking across the wind. With that, something finally clicked. I jumped into the car, shivering, and started stripping off wet Spandex ..."

So, go read it!

Also, Dieter won't tell me what's up, but his facebook profile says there's a big ToB announcement coming tomorrow, so look for news on the race, here, later in the day Wednesday.

Carnage and the yellow line at Johnny Cake #1

Tragic
The result of a head-on collision Saturday
This bike is toast, fortunately, it's rider is not

There was some carnage at Saturday's Johnny Cake Lane #1. I didn't witness it, but a local cyclist and CBRC* member Paul M., who was racing in the A field on Saturday, was the victim of a head-on collision with someone contesting the B race.

Head-on collisions between cyclists are fairly uncommon (we tend to hit each other from the side), but they do happen, and as you can see from the photo of Paul's bike, postmortem, the results are not pretty.

Here's what happened, according to an email Paul sent to the CBRC listserve: After flatting out of the A race and receiving a wheel from the follow vehicle, Paul rode another lap or two, then linked up with a friend. The two decided to ride the course backwards, so as to be marked by officials as DNFs and not to be counted on the results.

While riding backwards on the course, the two cyclists saw the A field go by, and then continued riding. They were on Murderkill Road (ironic, I know), when they encountered the B field. Despite riding on the gravel shoulder on the right side of the road (the opposite side that the B field should have been racing on, as they headed in the opposite direction), one cyclist came out of the bunch, and accelerated toward Paul, hitting him and causing the above damage.

In addition to the dearly-departed Look, Paul also received two separate breaks in his collar bone, road rash, bruising, and everything else you'd expect after such a collision. Paul was driven into his friend, whose arm was cut open by something toothy (chain ring or cassette), and required 15 stitches. The offending B rider does not appear to have suffered any major injuries, and reportedly offered a "half-hearted" apology.

So, the take away: Both the A and B fields were racing across the entire width of the road on some stretches Saturday, including Johnny Cake Lane and Murderkill Road -- these roads are narrow and not marked with a center line. Still, we all know that the rule exists. It's one thing to get bumped over the yellow line (or the center line, should there be no physical line), but it's something else entirely to advance your position over the line. That this person injured a fellow cyclist while appearing to advance position is really disappointing. For the record, this person claimed that he was forced out by another sketchy rider in the B field.

I was surprised that the official monitoring the A race (Bob Pavelic), wasn't being more aggressive in enforcing the rule during our race, as there was nothing subtle about the way we were using the whole road. I think it's safe to say that he and other officials, will be less tolerant next week.

The the bottom line is that when we race on the roads, we are responsible for the safety of those around us, as well as ourselves. The yellow line rule exists not to make life more challenging, but to keep us from a head-on collision with a car -- Paul may have broken his bike and collar bone, but if the same cyclist who hit him had hit an oncoming car instead, that person may not have crutched his way out of the ER, and left in a box instead.

So, don't be stupid, follow the rules. And, if you are going to break the rules, at least keep your head up -- it's best to see where you're going.

All that being said, I'm not going to pretend that I didn't race over the line on Saturday. It's the age-old "if your friend jumps off a bridge, would you?" This seems to come up for me at Johnny Cake every year.

In the second race in 2009 I resisted the urge to cross the line when the field was strung out to single file in a ripping cross wind. By doing so, I came out of the draft, and was quickly dropped. The choice between getting dropped and breaking the rules is not any easy one to contemplate. The answer? Be more aggressive so that you can dictate your position on the road, rather than leaving that decision to your fellow competitors. At least, that's my plan.

On a completely unrelated note, I love the Tour of California, but it's absurd that Team ShackAttack (TM) is going to skip the Giro in favor of a week-long stage race. You really mean to tell us that a Pro Tour team with 25+ riders can't field teams for two races at once? So much for America's newest Pro Tour team.

*Thanks to the 18 people who emailed me this link on Monday.

Johnny Cake Lane #1

If there was any doubt, the Johnny Cake Lane series as arrived. I've been racing this upstate, early season training race (promoted by CBRC* and Thomas Butler) since 2006. Each year, the race has seemed to grow.

This year, the series, which opened on Saturday, filled three field (1/2/3, 4, and 5), and there were wait lists for at least two of them.

For me, the series has become a staple of my annual plan to race my way into shape, and the low entry fee, relative proximity to home has made a great spring tradition for me. The past two years have seen the added benefit that a really competitive field shows up for the 1/2/3, "A," field.

On Saturday, 85 racers lined up for the A race, including a big presence from BikeReg, Wheelhouse (son of Spooky), Roger Asphlom, CCNS, Keltic, and a some others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Being that this is a training race, I made it my business to attack frequently, with the aim of getting into a breakaway. In classic Bernstein style, I put in one attack, got reeled back, and was then gassed when the counter-attack went -- of course, that turned out to be the all-day breakaway, which stayed away for the majority of the 52-mile race.

Still not content to sit in, and since I was flying the ChamSys flag solo, I made a few effort to bridge across, including one move with a Westwood Velo rider that I thought actually had some traction, although it turned out not to. We caught the breakaway shortly before the start of the bell lap, all but assuring a bunch sprint.

Since I'm trying to keep my Freire-esque sprint under wraps until the Battenkill, I opted to sit in for the last lap, and to be content with a mid-pack result, after putting in a very honest day of intensity training. I may not have won, but I'd like to think that I'd be a candidate for most aggressive rider, should such an award ever be awarded at Johnny Cake.

Race notes:

-My college cycling buddy and former room mate Travis made his return to racing Saturday in the B field, after a two-year furlough, earning a top-15 finish. Congrats!

-Word on the street is that B field is really sketchy, and even caused serious injuries (bone broken twice) to a local rider who had been forced out of the A race by a mechanical. Paul, I hope you get well soon.

-Wind usually defines Johnny Cake Lane, and Saturday's relative light wind may have made the race easier than some were expecting. Look for more carnage next week.

*Despite the fact that I can't locate their website, and that their blog hasn't been updated since last June, CBRC does a great job promoting several races around the capital district.

Pro treams announced for Tour of the Battenkill

Promoter Dieter Drake and Marketing Director Christine Hoffer present pro teams for 2010

CAMBRIDGE - Building on what was a successful event in 2009, promoters on Friday announced a list of teams expected to take the start in the April 18 Tour of the Battenkill Pro Invitational at a press conference Friday.

Headlining the list are international teams Rapha-Condor, of the United Kingdon, and Fly-V Australia, which is based in both the United States and Australia. In addition, top domestic teams Trek-Livestrong U23 - owned by Lance Armstrong, Team Type 1, Mountain Khakis-Jittery Joe's, Kenda-Geargrinder Pro Cycling, Team SpiderTech, Jamis-Sutter Home, Holowesko Partners, and Bahati Foundation will line up for one of only six professional bike races sanctioned by the UCI - the sport’s international governing body - in the United States.

Promoter Dieter Drake said he was excited to host a field of such high caliber in Washington County.

Missing from the line up are two of the top three teams from the race’s 2009 edition.
Team BMC, including 2009 winner Scott Nydam, a California native, had a conflicting event in Holland, said Drake.

"We will hopefully have them back in future years," said Drake.

Since 2009, BMC has strengthened its program, adding both world champion Cadel Evans and Lance Armstrong’s long-time sidekick George Hincapie. While the effect for that team was to allow them to race larger events, it was a loss for smaller races such as Battenkill, which now fall lower on the team’s list of priorities.

Also missing is the team of 2009 runner-up, Karl Menzies. The team now known as United Health Care, which races as OUCH-Maxxis in 2009, is focusing its program on stage races in 2010, rather than single-day events such as Battenkill.

The top team returning from 2009 is Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy, whose rider, Francois Parisien, finished third last year.

Rounding out what is expected to be a 200-rider professional peloton are lower-level semi-professional and elite teams from around the nation.

Included in the list is Western Massachusetts-based Wheelhouse Racing, which includes several riders from the Albany area.

Other elite teams expected to take the start are: Champion System Racing and CRCA/Axa Advisors, both based in New York; IF Racing, CCB, BikeReg.com, and Met Life Pro Cycling, all based in Massachusetts; Haymarket Cycling, from Vermont; and Canadian teams Jet Fuel, Ride with Rendall, Garneau Club, and MazurCoaching.com.

Teams are expected to determine their rosters in the coming weeks, with the final list of athletes to be released shortly before the event.

In addition to the April 18 Pro Invitational, the Tour of the Battenkill will feature the nation’s largest race for professional and amateur athletes on April 10, with an expected 2,200 participants. On April 17, a Ride2Recovery, to benefit veterans, will be held in Cambridge.

All events are held to benefit Farm Team Cycling, a youth cycling club based in Cambridge.

"Without this race, these kids would never have the opportunities they have had in the sport," said Battenkill marketing director Christine Hoffer at Friday’s press conference.

The race is sponsored primarily by the Pepsi Bottling Company, as well as Glens Falls Hospital, both of which were represented at Friday’s press conference.

*I did shoot video at the press conference, but have not yet had a chance to turn it into anything useful. Stay tuned.

Shorts weather! -- Big Battenkill announcement coming

Yes readers, shorts weather is here. Today, while completing some 1'30" intervals on West River Road I reached the the breaking point at which my legs were uncomfortably hot. Somewhere between reps 2 and 3, while resting, I executed the much-envied (by cat 5s) move of on-the-bike-knee-warmer-removal.

It was such a relief, temperature wise.

Of course, there's always something a bit disconcerting about the first day of shorts weather. My legs, which still bear impressive tan lines leftover from 2009, look rather pale nonetheless. I almost felt a little concerned that someone would judge me for my pallid skin, and think me sickly or some such thing.

There there's the little discomfort I felt in stripping my legs of their protective sheath for the first time this year. All winter, and since the late fall, my legs have been shielded by at least one fleecy layer of spandex. Although it was a relief, I also felt a little, well, exposed. As if it wasn't quite right to let my flesh meet the air.

The concerns quickly vanished when I began the next interval, and by the time I got home I couldn't ever imagine wearing knee warmers again. Of course, it is still March, so I'm sure I haven't seen the last of my winter protection, but the forecast is looking stellar for the weekend, so I'm hopeful that it'll be knee warmer-free riding for a little while, at least.

In other news, the Tour of the Battenkill is holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon, to unveil supporting sponsors, as well as the list of teams that will ride in the April 18 pro invitational. I'm not sure if team rosters will be set at this point, but I'm looking forward to seeing which teams are planning on showing up.

Check back here early tomorrow evening for a report, photos, and -- possibly -- a video. Of course, we will have complete coverage in Saturday's Saratogian.

After the announcement earlier this month that Pepsi would come aboard as a presenting sponsor to Tour of the Battenkill, promoter Dieter Drake hinted that some other large corporations were going to throw some coin behind the race. I'm excited to see who, exactly, he was talking about.

So, check back tomorrow for news on the announcement.

Finally, since it's Thursday for another 13 minutes, and since it's been a while, and since I didn't post anything last night, here's the week's top and bottoms:

Tops from the week:
1) Unexpectedly sleeping in this morning -- and still getting to work more-or-less when I wanted to.
2) Rumor has it that there are a bunch of shiny new bike parts -- hidden a PBR box -- waiting for me in Stillwater. Hopefully I'll be able to pick them up this weekend.
3) It may be high school track, but writing a story is better than not writing a story!
4) Johnny Cake Lane #1 is Saturday, the real season opener -- and the entire race is full!
5) As mentioned above -- the weekend weather forecast!

And a special # 6) BIG announcement regarding the new look of the Marshall & Sterling Saratoga Spa Crit ... (stay tuned...)

Bottoms from the week:
1) Grant's Tomb (duh.)
2) Wasting last weekend, from both a cycling and non-cycling perspective.
3) Changes at work made this my second-consecutive 6-day work week. I'm really hoping to avoid #3 next week.
4) Related to #3, no time to plan anything in advance is turning out to be fairly stressful.
5) I'm soon to say good bye to 106 Caroline St. -- time to find a new residence!

Hello, spring -- Goodbye Union Vale

Spring is definitely here. I rode in knee warmers for the first time since Thanksgiving today, and overheated while wearing only two layers.

The first, deliciously salty drop of sweat dripped off of my brow and onto my lip while I dragged my carcass up Lake Desolation this morning, and there were a few patches of green in some of the lawns I cruised by.

As someone who spent a whole lot of hours on the trainer this winter, I couldn't be happier. I'm hoping that the current, near-perfect, forecast for this weekend's Johnny Cake Lane race in Coxasackie turns out to be accurate. In the event that it does, it just may be enough to compensate for this past weekend's trauma at Grant's Tomb.

Unfortunately, it seems that a prominent New York State road race has bit the dust. I learned from the promoter today that Union Vale has been canceled for 2010. Fortunately, it seems that another even is in the works to replace it.

Here's a note from the promoter:
"Unfortunately the Town of Union Vale has decided not to allow us to hold the race this year.
But there's no need to fear, the Pawling Mountain Road Race is near! We have a 20 mile course with a few hearty climbs, and we're in the processing of getting approval from the Town of Pawling. If this goes through the PMRR will be on the same date (July 11). We'll keep you posted!"

In the words of James:"What the fuck does the town of Unionvale care?"

Indeed.

I have had mixed results at Union Vale, but it was a cool race with a great uphill finish. I'll miss racing it this year, but look forward to the new event.

Not much else going on around here tonight.

There have been some exciting developments in the world of spa:crit recently (I take no responsibility for anything that John has posted on the blog), including a bike reg page, and I will be expounding on those in greater detail in the near future. Tonight, however, my computer is not allowing me to type efficiently (I think there may be an Internet connection issue), so I'm going to cut this post short. See you tomorrow..

The long trip home

It rained a lot this weekend
There was a river over the guardrail that was way over its banks
The photo didn't come out, unfortunately

In case you didn't get the gist from last night's post, I'm pretty unhappy with the way I spent my one day off this past weekend. Aside from sleeping in a bit on Saturday morning and a pleasant dinner that same evening, all I did was drive, crash my bike, race in the rain (Grant's Tombfoolery, if you will), drive some more, sit in traffic, and finally, drive in pouring rain.

Really, it pretty much sucked. At least there are some appropriately-"epic" photos from the race on facebook. Click to see photos of me, if you're interest. No hyperlink, because I don't own the photos.

To cap the weekend off, on my way home, to go to work on Sunday, I got word that the office's Verizon connection was down, and we'd be heading to Troy to produce Monday's Paper. So, I went home, did the fast-ever "Strength-A" circuit at the Y, showered, and turned my car around to drive south again. If I added insult to injury on Saturday by ripping a pair of jeans, I repeated the feat on Sunday, by finishing work in a reasonable-efficient manner and early (with help from Nicole), only to then have to drive 40 minutes home. Uhg.

This was the jam I found myself in on Sunday afternoon
Really, really not fun
I did eventually get home

However, the worst of the weekend was getting stuck in horrific traffic I-87, where 287 merges in. I've encountered bad traffic in that spot before, and in similar climactic conditions. Yesterday, though, I was determined not to sit in the traffic, so I turned to my extensive collection of road maps (maps are what people used to navigate before GPS), and plotted what I thought would be a reasonable detour around the stand-still traffic.

Unfortunately, I badly-miscalculated how confusing the nexus of roads would be at the junction of New York and New Jersey. I did eventually manage to circumvent the jam (thus depriving myself of the only reward sitting in traffic ever has to offer -- rubbernecking), but only after spending 40ish minutes driving around in circles. After eventually finding the detour route I wanted, I discovered something that should have been obvious from the get-go -- I was not the only person in the metro-New York area who would attempt to get around the jam.

In fact, a lot of people had a similar thought -- way more people than the secondary roads could handle. Thus, more traffic-sitting ensued.

When I did finally reach open roads, I drove happily for only a few minutes before getting stuck behind this person:

Rain+Old person=really slow driving
I eventually had to pass this person in the oncoming lane
But it was either that or commit suicide

Really, I just wish that I'd had the good sense to stay home this weekend.

Of course, had I stayed at home, I would have missed the opportunity to do laundry at my parents' house. Like many chores, laundry is not something that I enjoy, and paying to do it at the laundromat is even worse, so I try to take it home whenever I head to Brooklyn.

Washing my clothes is one thing, a matter of necessity, really. Folding it is something else entirely. I probably wouldn't ever fold my laundry, except that it's annoying to dig through the bag every time I need a sock or T-shirt. To force myself to fold and put away my clean clothes in a timely manner, I've gotten into the habit of spreading it all out on my bed, thus forcing me to deal with it before I can go to sleep:

The bed trick
It's the only way my clothes get folded quickly
But it also seems to be a form of self-loathing

This has proven fairly effective, although, on nights like tonight where all I really want to do is crash, I often find myself mad at myself. So it goes. Time to attend to the clothes...

Grant's Tomb fail

I got a gift at Grant's Tomb, courtesy of the wind
Here it is, all wrapped like a gift
can you guess what's underneath?

My 2010 racing season, only two weeks young, has already seen both highs and lows. The first (of many) high points came last week at the Springs Series in Central Park. The first of (hopefully a few) lows came Saturday afternoon at Columbia University's Grant's Tomb criterium.

It was in the 40s and raining -- hard. It was also windy, think monsoon. I later described the race as like racing in a washing machine. I've never raced in a washing machine, but if you had added soap, that was what I imagine it would be like.

Before the race even started, a pair of Rudy Project sunglasses that I've had since 2005 (forever immortalized in this blog's header), took flight from my helmet and flew off a viaduct on River Side Drive, never to be seen again. Then I got blown over a curb, ripped my knee warmers and my knee. It was awesome.

For some reason that I presume to be weather-related the course was shortened from the normal six-turn Grant's Tomb affair to a kidney-shaped course with a chicane at either end.

When the race started, the first couple laps were OK but then some A-hole who didn't get the memo about the weather sucking put their foot on the gas and lined the smallish field out. I held on for a bit, but on about the eighth or ninth lap a gust of wind buffeted the peloton, causing racers to tack, sailboat-style, across the head wind.

There's the gift, pre-shower
At least I got this year's crash out of the way early
As far as it goes, this one really wasn't too bad

I'll be very honest: suddenly going from a peloton moving in standard, forward direction of travel, to a bunch of individual cyclists going in 19 directions freaked me out a bit. On top of that, I couldn't hardly see through foggy glasses (fortunately, I always travel with spare glasses.) Shortly thereafter I found myself dangling a little off the back, and rather than getting out of the saddle and getting back in, I sat up, rode a couple more laps for good measure, then headed for the car.

Sadly, no one from the team finished, although Sergio put in our best effort. Clayton Barrows of Axa Equitable, probably the only guy in the race big enough not to get blown around, won the race.

Insult to injury:
While at dinner, I managed to rip my jeans
The current pants tally: two pairs ripped, two pairs intact

After everyone had a chance to change out of wet spandex and into wet street clothes, we headed to Henry's for a team dinner, which was delicious, and much more fun than the race.

Pepsi makes it official, with a press release

You read it here first, but here is the official press release of Pepsi's sponsorship of the Tour of the Battenkill:

PEPSI TO SPONSOR 2010 TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL

(Cambridge, N.Y. – March 11, 2010) – Organizers of the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill are proud to announce Pepsi as Presenting Sponsor of the April cycling event in Washington County, NY. Pepsi will provide the event the long sought after support for the professional race, held on April 18. Based in Purchase, N.Y., Pepsi will also supply a variety of beverages for riders and spectators, including Gatorade and Aquafina.

“The Tour of the Battenkill is a world-class event that essentially takes place in our backyard,” said Bill Morgan, regional sales director, Pepsi Beverages Company. “We have seen the type of excitement it has brought to the community and we’re pleased to officially support the event this year. We look forward to watching the athletes compete on race day.”

Tour of the Battenkill Director Dieter Drake is happy about the new sponsor.

“We’ve struggled since December to find a way to make this event happen in its entirety,” said Drake. “Getting on the international pro calendar was a goal we accomplished this year and Pepsi will allow us to move forward.”

“This is a fantastic event for New York,” said Morgan. “As a New York company, it’s important for us to engage in the events and communities that make our state so special.”

Joining Pepsi as a major sponsor this year is Trampoline Design of Glens Falls, NY (www.designtramp.com). Trampoline Design is a fully integrated design & communications firm and is providing all media for the 2010 event, including event logos, all branded material, event advertising, and the newly-launched website – www.tourofthebattenkill.com, which has received more than 200,000 hits since its launch in mid-February.

Drake sees the launch of the website and the media campaign leading up to the April event as critical to the overall success of the event.

“I am incredibly pleased with what the folks at Trampoline Design were able to do with our media leading up to the event,” said Drake. “They’ve brought a level of professionalism that is well-beyond our small staff’s capabilities. On top of that they are cyclists and cycling fans who clearly understand where this event can go in the future. Well done!”

The 2010 Tour of the Battenkill will be held over two weekends in April: the Pro/Am on Saturday, April 10; the Ride2Recovery CycleFest – a non-competitive ride to benefit wounded veterans – on Saturday, April 17; and the Professional Invitational on Sunday, April 18. The Pro/Am is the largest road race in North America and expects more than 2,000 riders in 25 different categories competing over the rugged 62 mile course in Washington County’s scenic Battenkill Valley. The Ride2Recovery CycleFest program is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation (501C3) in partnership with the Military and VA Volunteer Service Office. 500 recreational riders are expected for the Ride2Recovery CycleFest. The Professional Invitational will feature between 22 and 25 teams and 200 professional and elite riders from North America, Europe, and Australia competing over a 124 mile course that features 25% dirt roads. All events start and finish in Cambridge , NY where a race expo will provide entertainment, food, sports & fitness vendors at various locations in Cambridge and nearby Greenwich . A live race video broadcast is also planned for the Professional Invitational.

PepsiCo Beverages Americas

The PepsiCo Beverages Americas (PBA) portfolio features market-leading liquid refreshment beverages, including the Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist and Mug trademarks in the carbonated soft drink category. PBA is a division of PepsiCo, which offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than US$1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in More than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly US$60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. In recognition of its continued sustainability efforts, PepsiCo was named for the third time to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and for the fourth time to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America) in 2009. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

For volunteer and sponsorship program information, please contact Race Director Dieter Drake at 518.275.6185 or info@tourofthebattenkill.com.

Wednesday douldrums

I'm not having any flashes of inspiration tonight. I didn't ride today, it being my day off the bike. Instead, I went to see my doctor in the morning and had a bagel with Ed at Uncommon, all before spending several hours re-arranging some displays of lubricants, cleaners, tools, tires, and tubes at the shop. It wasn't really productive, training-wise, but I do think things looked a little better once I got through moving stuff around.

Then I went to the other shop, where I spent the remainder of the day being a Sports Editor, which is, after all, my primary occupation. I know it's easy to forget that, in light of all the bike racing I do.

Somewhere in the middle, I went home to cook a chicken breast to eat over a salad for dinner. While at home I saw my room mate for the first time in a few days. What did we talk about for 15 minutes after not seeing each other for several days? She tells me she's thinking of going to journalism school in the future, and I immediately start talking her out of it. In the meantime, I filled the apartment with smoke from the frying pan, put my salad together and walked out the door. I felt like such a jerk. So it goes.

Marissa is moving out sometime in early April, and I'll be moving shortly thereafter. So, I'm on the hunt for a one-bedroom apartment with laundry in or nearish downtown Saratoga. Let me know if you've got any leads!

Looking ahead, kinda

This guy really likes
Cycles Gladiator wine
Read the whole story here

Lost in the shuffle of all of the Tour of the Battenkill-related news that I was putting out on the blog toward the end of last week was a story by me, on Velo News, on the Tour de New York. Read it here. The UCI 2.2 event is slated to expand to six days this year, with road, TT, and crit stages in and around Rochester. should be a good time!

I found a video of Saturday's Spring Series race over at Cyclingreporter.com, but my internet connection is to slow to let me watch it. If you check it out, let me know if I make any cameos!

In other news, earlier today I rekindled my love/hate relationship with time trials, by attempting my first 20-minute intervals of the season. Ouch. Theoretically, I should have been doing the intervals on my TT bike, but that rig hasn't been touched since sometime Fitchburg-ish, so it's in kind of a sorry state. To be specific, the rear brake cable is hanging slack, and there's dust on every flat surface. Actually, I just realized that because I switched to Shimano pedals, I don't even have pedals on the bike.

So, I used my-much preferred road bike for tt duty today, and ripped up same pavement out on West River Road. With today's intervals safely behind me and a rest day beckoning from ahead like a warm bed on a cold winter night, I can safely say that my legs will enjoy away from the bike, no matter what kind of bike it is.

Also out ahead of us is the Grant's Tomb Criterium, as an elite rider I have the distinct pleasure/obligation to race in the final "wave" of the day. In fact, my race is the last event of the day. Hopefully, we'll get rolling around 5:30, putting us close to dark. So, that will make for great photos, I'm sure -- unfortunately, the weather is calling for lots and lots of rain.

Nothing says "fun" like racing a crit in the rain, at night.

First race of the season: 8th at the NYC Spring Series

In college, my room mate had this poster on his wall
In 2010, I will be racing with it on my ass
Think about that.

This post is the first race report of the season, but I first have to relate the following conversation:

After this morning's spring series race, when I was standing around with Brian Breech, another former BVF rider who has come up in the world and is now riding for GS Mengoni, another racer came up to me and asked if he could take a photo with me.

"Uh, OK," I said. "Any particular reason?" (I was trying not to assume that he wanted to document my careful curation of facial hair for later study and emulation).

"I really like that wine," he said, pointing my chest.

You see, Cycles Gladiator is a sponsor of my new team, Champion System Racing. As such, the winery's iconic label art (illegally reproduced at the top of this post), adorns both the chest and ass of my new kit.

If you ask me, Cycles Gladiator has one of the most ingenious marketing scheme I've ever encountered, at least as long as cycling enthusiasts are your target audience. After all, sexy naked lady + bike = who cares what it tastes like?

Incidentally, I think someone at Champsys team HQ has a bit of an affinity for bringing alcohol-themed sponsors aboard. We're also supported by www.drinkupforless.com, which, as far as I can tell, is a mail order liquor store, and, when my team manager gave me a kit to race in this weekend, it came with Hamptons Vodka lip balm. Awesome.

Actually, I'm wearing a Cycles Gladiator T-shirt (official team issue) and applying the lip balm as I type this post.

BTW, I did take a photo with that guy, and exchanged email addresses with him, so as soon as he makes his way home to Virginia (I guess they don't have bike races south of the Mason-Dixon line) I'll reproduce the image here as evidence that I did not invent this story as a ruse to call attention to team sponsors.

But on to more serious matters:

The first race of the year is now under my belt. First races can be a mixed bag -- sometimes you're fit, sometimes you're not, and you never really know until the whistle blows and off you go.

Fortunately, I seem to be on track this season, and took 8th this morning in the NYC Spring Series opener in Central Park, while racing for my Champion System Racing team for the first time. Hopefully this portends well for races to come.

The race took off quickly, and was marked by lots of attacks. True to my favorite kind of racing, I was aggressive early and often, but wasn't able to get into the right move, as everything seemed to get sucked back in after a couple miles. Of course, when the right group finally did come together and started to pull away -- I think it was sometime during the 3rd of five laps -- I was out of position and missed it. So it goes.

However, Champsys was represented by Todd, so myself and Igor sat in and watched the gap grow. Unfortunately, Todd wound up getting popped toward the end of the fourth lap. Upon seeing him come back to the fold I took the opportunity to attack once more, and wound up in a three-man group with BVF's Ben Woodbury and some guy from that new BH team, who was riding a very expensive bike with poorly adjusted brakes and a suspect glue job on his rear tubular.

We got a good rotation going, but started the last lap 55 seconds behind the lead group of seven. Folks up the road must have started to look at each other and play games, because by the time we came back around to the finish at Cat's Paw, having made our chase group stick, we were only seven or eight seconds behind the leaders.

If I'd known they were that close I would have ridden a little harder -- despite Coach Scott's warning that I would have too many matches to burn, I think I had the legs to sprint for a higher place. Next time. Incidentally, David Wiswell won, Brian Breech was second.

I out-kicked my chase group companions to sew up eighth place, and the gas money.

After standing around in the cold for a while, waiting for said gas money, Igor, Todd, Kozak and I spun up to Piermont for a muffin. Including my ride to the park, I think it wound up being a 90-ish mile day. Then I drove home and spent the rest of the night at work.

So, I'm pretty tired. Did I mention that I was up at 4:30 to be in Central Park for the 6:30 a.m. start? Also, it just occurred to me that I have a history of finishing 8th in races in Central Park. Funny how that works. Also, I just remembered that there are no sheets on my bed. FML and these endless chores.

Pepsi to sponsor Tour of the Battenkill

Soft drink manufacturer to sponsor the Tour of the Battenkill (this story will appear in Saturday's Saratogian):

CAMBRIDGE – Days after hinting that a sponsor had been secured to allow the Tour of the Battenkill Pro Men’s Invitational to go forward, organizers announced Friday that Pepsi Cola has joined the race as a presenting sponsor.

“It’s really exciting to announce Pepsi as our presenting sponsor,” said promoter Dieter Drake. “This enables the pro invitational to take place, we had come dangerously close to having to cancel the event.”

The Tour of the Battenkill Professional Invitational, unusual for being held on a mix of paved and dirt roads, will be raced on April 18. The pro event will be held on the second of two weekends comprising the Tour of the Battenkill.

Organizers are expecting about 200 professional cyclists from North America and Europe to take the start. The race will be run for the second time in 2010, but is designated "UCI 1.2" by the sport’s worldwide governing body for the first time, requiring a major infusion of cash. 2009 presenting sponsor GlobalFoundries, the microprocessor company that is building a manufacturing facility in Malta and Stillwater, opted not to participate, forcing Drake to seek other sponsorship.

“I approached them in January, right after our previous sponsor canceled, and they were receptive to talking about it,” he said. “It’s a New York-based business, so we approached them with an eye toward highlighting the local big event, and they were receptive to that and really wanted to participate.”

Although soda and professional athletes may not be the most-obvious connection, Drake pointed out that Pepsi owns numerous brands, including Gatorade and Aquafina bottled water.

“They want to brand the event with those products,” said Drake, noting that part of the sponsorship included products that Pepsi will supply for race participants and volunteers.

The presenting sponsor designation for Pepsi Cola represent an un-disclosed cash sum, and allows the race to go forward, however Drake noted that he is hoping to secure a title sponsor for 2011, which would provide additional financial security to the event.

While the April 18 Pro Invitational will represent the highest level of athletic competition seen at the Tour of the Battenkill, an April 10 race for professional and amateur athletes is expected to draw about 2,000 participants to southern Washington County. Preceding the pro race is a non-competitive Ride2Revocery Cyclefest on April 17, which will raise funds for veteran’s services, and is expected to draw several hundred participants.

Both weekends will feature race expos in the Town of Cambridge, in Railroad Park, near the race finish line. Drake noted that with some uncertainty over the winter about the event’s sponsorship, vendors for the expos had been slow to commit, and he is looking to fill spots in the expo.

Dubbed the Cycle-Sport & Fitness Expo, the expo will begin on Friday April 9, and will continue during the April 10 pro/amateur race. The expo will resume the following weekend during both the Ride2Recovery and the Pro Men’s Invitational. Both weekends have spots available, and are expected to feature vendors from sports, travel, and tourism industries throughout the region.

For more information on the Tour of the Battenkill or race expos, visit www.tourofthebattenkill.com.

Wasting time at the Times Union/St. Rose blogging forum

As viewed from my seat in the peanut gallery:
The TU blogging panel discussion
Lots of flash, little content.

Earlier this evening I trekked with some co-workers down to The College of St. Rose to attend a panel discussion on blogging, sponsored jointly with the Times Union. The discussion was billed as a discussion between some of the TU's staff and citizen bloggers, as well as some other notable bloggers from the area and St. Rose faculty.

In a previous life (like, two months ago), I was the author of an award-winning blog (three different awards, in case you were wondering) on local politics at a daily newspaper. Today, I'm the author of a future-award winning blog on bicycle racing, craphole apartments, home made granola bars, and other topics of note. I'm also the sports editor at a daily newspaper and supervise a growing number of staff blogs.

In either case, I have a professional and extra-curricular interest in blogging, so I jumped at the chance to attend the forum, thinking that the Times Union, which operates an impressive nexus of blogs, would pull together some interesting discussion.

I'm going to get straight to the point: The self-congratulatory panel discussion might have been interesting to a class full of Journalism 101 students, but was completely useless to anyone who blogs as a part of a professional news gathering agency. My main complaint is that the discussion lacked any real substance, as the panelists spent nearly an hour hauling out well-trod points such as: "you should blog regularly to develop a loyal readership," "anonymous comments are annoying but are also a fact of life," "develop a thick skin," "be passionate about your topic," etc...

Like I said, stuff for the intro lecture.

The TU was represented on the panel by food writer Steve Barnes and Bradshaw-wannabe Kristi Gustafson. Barnes had some interesting things to say, but I found his assertion that he has no interest in whether or not blogs are profitable for the TU to be naive -- especially for someone who has been around media for as long as he has. As a journalist, I am very concerned with how my company is going to make money as more and more readers turn away from our bread and butter -- the print edition. In my humble opinion, any journalist not concerned with these issues has either got their head in the sand or has squirreled away enough savings that they'd be OK if the pay checks stopped coming. I don't know which is true of Barnes and I wouldn't venture a guess, but I would express my surprise that he has no interest in such an important topic. I wonder if his response would have been the same, had we been taking about pay walls. But that is a topic for another day.

As for Gustafson, who has recently, apparently, been elevated to some sort of social media strategy position for the TU, I was completely unimpressed by her answer to my question, which pertained to how the TU balances the use of social media and their website to break news. The answer I got was some sort of mumbling about how she doesn't really do news. Yes, I know, you're more concerned with discount luxury spa treatments (oxymoron?). But, as a social media strategist, shouldn't you have some kind of answer?

The panel needed a representative from the excellent Capital Confidential blog. Barnes put his two cents in to answer my question as well -- sort of -- dragging out another well-established procedure: break the headline on the website, post a brief story, then have the reporter continue to develop the story for print. Gee thanks, Steve, but I was asking about social media.

Others on the panel included Greg Dahlmann, of All Over Albany, who didn't really have anything interesting to say, except that he strives to create a community of commenters who police each other. That would have been good advice during my days at the Saratoga City Desk, where my community seemed to want to kill me (see "thick skin," above.) I felt kind of bad for Dahlmann, because he kept trying to make jokes, but they either weren't funny or the audience wasn't receptive.

The fourth panelist was a member of the St. Rose faculty, but I didn't write down her name because she didn't say more than a couple words on the importance of using correct grammar -- a point with which I completely agree.

If you are a regular reader, you probably won't be surprised to hear me say that I think blogs can be great. I do love the speed they offer, as well as the opportunity for reader interaction, and topicality that they can bring to the table. I would like to participate in serious discussion about their place in the current and future media, and I respect St. Rose and the TU for trying to provide a forum for that discussion. Next time, I hope that there will be some substance to said discussion.

By the way, I would have thought, based on the number of laptops and iPhones in the audience, that there would have been some post out there somewhere about the forum, but I couldn't find anything, not even on the TU's own blogs. That's why I haven't provided a link of any kind to more information about the panel, if you're wondering.

Pro men's invitational safe, sponsor secured

This story will appear in Wednesday's The Saratogian, obviously very good news for race fans and athletes a like:

Battenkill secures sponsor for pro men's invitational
By ANDREW J. BERNSTEIN
The Saratogian
CAMBRIDGE - After a scare that a major professional cycling race slated for April might have to be cancelled for a lack of sponsorship dollars, promoters said Monday that the event would go on.
"We have some major regional sponsors that have committed to supporting the event," said promoter Dieter Drake. "All of a the sudden, everything came into line."

Drake said he planned to announce a major sponsor, as well as secondary sponsors, early next week.

The Tour of the Battenkill Professional Invitational, April 18, is the second competitive event for the two-weekend Tour of the Battenkill, and will feature about 200 professional cyclists from North America and Europe. The race will be run for the second time in 2010, but is designated "UCI 1.2" by the sport’s worldwide governing body for the first time, requiring a major infusion of cash.

The weekend prior, on April 10, about 2,000 professional and amateur athletes will compete in the Tour of the Battenkill pro/am.

In 2009, the first professional invitational was funded in large part by a sponsorship from GlobalFoundries, the microprocessor company that is building a manufacturing facility in Malta and Stillwater. In 2010, the company opted not to participate.

GlobalFoundries spokesman Travis Bullard said in an email that at the time the 2009 sponsorship was negotiated the company was still a part of AMD, which has a history of supporting cycling events. Since then, the company has been spun off into a partially-owned subsidiary.

"We are now a start-up company and working on developing our new operations - both globally and here in New York," said Bullard. "We are working to build a new company that values community involvement, but right now we are in a very cash-intensive phase of our new business and 2010 will be an incredibly critical year for us."

The GlobalFoundries sponsorship had been negotiated, in part, through Senator Charles Schumer’s office. On Monday, the senator said that his office is "working with the race organizers to explore all avenues to see that the event goes forward."

Drake noted that he values Schumer’s support.

"They’re helping out with getting state police support, but they’ve been tremendously supportive of the event," said Drake, adding that Schumer "Understands the mission of the event, which is to keep a place like Washington County going for the next 25 years and hopefully beyond, because it’s tourism, itself, that is going to keep our economy going, and they see the value in it."

In 2009, the Tour of the Battenkill organizers said the event drew 50,000 spectators to southern Washington County over the course of one weekend. By expanding the event to two weekends in 2010, Drake hopes the number of spectators will increase. In addition, a non-competitive Ride2Recover, which will raise funds for veteran’s services, has been added to increase the event’s appeal.

In the end, Drake said he felt that working an aggressive sales campaign at the 11th-hour, combined with a little sympathy for losing a major sponsor late in the game, led to the deal with the yet-to-be-announced sponsor.

"We’ve got an incredible amount of exposure, but the sponsorship hasn’t followed," he said, noting that the economy continues to impact sports sponsorships.

To increase the number of people able to watch the race and add values to spectators on the course, Drake noted that promoters are planning a live web cast for any racing fans to pick up, and to be shown at two race expos - one in Cambridge and one in Greenwich - on race day.

As in 2009, the 2010 pro/am will feature a race for elite and professional women. While a number of teams have committed to the men’s professional race, including the Lance-Armstrong owned Trek-Livestrong U23 team, Drake noted that the professional women’s team, Kenda Pro Cycling, had also committed to the race.

"We’ll have exciting competition on the women’s side as well," he said, "That’s real positive."

The chilly apartment saga, part II

Fun Day mug
Usually white
Now blue from the cold

I'm fairly pleased with the description of the spring smell that I wrote last night, just because I think it's reasonable proof that I do have some dexterity as a writer. I will admit though, that like Groundhog Phil's shadow, I hoped my post would become a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, and that spring would arrive in full force some time around noon today, because I smelled it on Friday and wrote about it on Sunday. I've had these kinds of thoughts before, and they have a history of not working.

Worse still, it seems that I'm being punished for my optimism. Not only is it seasonably cool outside (I mean, I'll take it!), but it's freezing in my apartment, as it seems there is some kind of problem with the building's heat. No wonder the parking lot has been empty for the past few days -- seems the residents who don't live in Apartment No. 4 have picked up and moved out, waiting for heat to return. Marissa and I are toughing it out for the moment -- at least until someone loses a toe.

Actually, despite all my incessant whining, it's not that bad. I just threw an extra comforter on my bed last night, and I was perfectly comfortable -- until I had to leave bed this morning. 8:30 a.m. wake up turned into 9 a.m. wake up by the time I summoned the courage to confront the cold. Then I washed a bunch of dishes, just for the pleasure of having warm water running over my hands and steam in my face. When I left for work shortly before two this afternoon I could see my breath and Marissa was wearing all her outside layers while eating lunch. I never thought I'd say this in winter, but it was a relief to get to the frigid newsroom.

I don't have a thermometer in the apartment, so I can't quantify the cold, or be sure if my landlord is violating the laws mentioned in the comments on Sunday's post, but I do have the plastic mug pictured above.

My classmates from Skidmore might recognize that particular relic -- those mugs were given out at Fun Day 2007. For anyone who didn't get to experience the joy, Fun Day is the traditional final day of spring classes. Good times, despite the rain that year. The mug -- which has sat unused on my night stand since I moved in here -- is usually an opaque plastic-y white color. But, it turns blue when your beverage is chilled to the proper temperature. Given that the faux stein is mainly intended to contain beer, and given that most beers -- in the United States -- are served at temperatures around or below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, I feel that it's safe to surmise that the temperature in the apartment is around 50-degrees, or at least cool enough to turn the mug, despite that fact that it's empty. Hmmm....

So that's fun. Word on the street is that we'll have heat back tomorrow -- here's hoping, since it doesn't look like spring is going to arrive at my beck and call! In the mean time, I'm going to call it a night, as my fingers are getting rather cold.