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THE OWASCO STAGE RACE HAS BEEN
CONSOLIDATED TO A SUNDAY ONLY
ROAD RACE. THIS STAGE HAS BEEN
CANCELLED. PROCEED TO STAGE THREE
TO READ ABOUT THE ROAD RACE.
In any stage race, time is either your enemy or your friend. Which is it for you? Maybe your luck is
about to change.
In previous OSRs, the East Lake Time Trail was
predominately everyone's enemy. It was just too long for
an event comprised of only three stages. Time gaps after
completing stage I were
excessive despite reducing our original course of 16
miles down to 12 miles in 2007. So after careful review, the Race
Committee settled on a 6.15 mile out and back course with
a total vertical climb of only
171 feet. If you are a
climber that relished our
original East Lake Rd course, you
will just have to wait for this
year's road race to capitalize on
your climbing skills. Sorry! If
you're accustomed to walking away
with multi-minute time advantages
as in previous years, you'll just
have to come up with a different
game plan to win GC honors for
the weekend.
Our new venue is not on a
State Highway, but rather a 3.1
mile section of Town Hall Road
between Walker Rd and Swartout
Road in the Town of Owasco. (For
you Google fanatics looking to
check the course out via
satellite, just do a search for
Town Hall Road, Auburn, NY). The road will be 99% closed
to all traffic, except for a few of the locals. Who
knows, we may get lucky and ask them to marshal the
course. That may get us to 100% closure.
This year
riders will use the Sacred Heart
Church parking lot
on Melrose Road as the staging area. This will also be
where Saturday morning registration and packet pick up will occur and
a great place to say a prayer if you are so inclined.
Hopefully for you, God will be listening. All we'd
settle for is a sunny and dry day. If you recall, 2007
was a complete down poor.
Click
here to see directions
from Emerson Park to
Sacred Heart Church. From the map
below you can see the distance
from the Park entrance is about 2
miles. From the church parking lot, racers will need to bike
about 1.5 miles to the start/finish line
(Follow the green line on the map
below) . As you can see
from the profile below, the course has a slight uphill
bias on the trip out. You should expect to improve your
split time the second half of the race. Here are a few
tips from the Race Director.
- Be sure you are fully warmed
up because the first slight
incline, though only 7/10ths of
a mile can be difficult if there
is a head wind from the south.
- Psychologically your race is
over after the first mile
because that is the most
difficult part of the course.
- Although the road's pavement
is a bit course, you will
benefit by using aero bars and your best
wheels.
- It might be wise to inspect
the turnaround. It is narrower
than usual, but still more than
adequate
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