Even though this was only the third running of the Tour de Susquehanna, this was by far the most anticipated one yet. Each year has seen a number of competitors, yet only one champion – Brett Baronak, a native of the area who travels back (from Florida) to get in on the action.

Last year, Jeff Miller (reigning King of the Mountain champ) came to test his luck, but could only pull off second place.

Then for 2008, despite the addition of prize money, the big names stayed home! The best placed rider to return was my riding buddy Mike Yankevich, who placed third in the 2006 and 2007 editions. Even Spokes N Skis, a fairly local team who usually sends five or six guys, had just one rider in the peloton this year.

We had been planning our race strategy for this exact situation!

But Mike and I (Marathon Equipment) didn’t have it easy. Todd Mann (Spokes N Skis) was looking good, Chad Swanger (Allied Milk Producers) was ready to go, and Kevin McElhinny (Countryside Cycling) looked like a powerful rider to be reckoned with. To top things off, a few 15-16 year old kids lined up in front of us – you have to watch these young guns, you never know when they’ll blow up the entire field!

Here’s how the race went down…

The start was like any other – despite instructions to take it slow for a rolling start, the pace car zoomed off and overzealous riders sprinted by, hoping to win the 22 mile race in the first few yards. I avoided the commotion and slowly made my way to the front section of the pack, keeping my eyes on the previously mentioned riders.

Things were pretty calm on the first hill. A few new riders set a decent pace at the front, but they could only hold it so long, and eventually faded back… leaving maybe 10 strong riders setting the pace. All the pre-race favorites were right up there together.

On the final section of the climb, as I rotated to the back of our little paceline, I noticed that our little group had started to open a gap, without any actual attacking! I was so excited I surged back to the front to make sure the pace stayed high and our gap widened.

And that it did. At the crest of the first fill, we had a seven-man paceline with a big enough gap that only a strong team effort would have any chance of catching us. I was thinking, “great, now we can ease off a bit and have a steady ride until we hit the next hill.”

But as luck would have it, the group consensus was more along the lines of a super fast paceline. At least we had a good group this year and everyone did their part. In past years, there were a few notorious wheelsuckers that sat in the back and got pulled to the finish, fairly effortlessly. (This year even the skinny young climber Chad Swanger was putting some serious power down on the flats!)

I hung on, but the big gears were taking their toll – I was pretty beat by the halfway point. So much for any kind of attack on the second hill!

I think we were down to six at this point, and Todd knew we were hurting, so he put the hammer down on one of the many twisty little hills on these back roads. That dropped the rider from Advanced Office Systems, and myself, although I dug deep and caught back on.

But that didn’t last long. A mile or so later, we hit the base of the second hill, and Todd, Mike, and Chad picked up the pace. I couldn’t counter another attack, so I had to let them go and focus my attention on Kevin. I stuck with him and we traded spots once or twice, but towards the top of the climb I could see he was really hurting…

So I thought, “why not go after the top three?” Somehow the climb gave me some extra energy, and I exploded over the top. Good news – the top three were still in sight!

I gave it all I had, railing the turns, big-ringing the short but steep inclines, but couldn’t catch on. All the while, Kevin was looming behind me…

Once I hit the final six miles of flat road back to the finish, the leaders were totally out of sight, and Kevin was gaining on me. I slowed slightly for a few seconds before he caught me, making sure I’d be ready in case he tried an attack right there to secure fourth place…

I think we were both too tired for anything that exciting, because we kind of worked together and moderately pacelined back into town. (I say “kind of” because I was running on empty, just hoping not to be left alone again.)

About half-mile from the line, Kevin accelerated slightly, opening about a five second gap. With the finish around the next bend, I stood and sprinted, but I didn’t pick up any speed! I was just too exhausted. I just kind of rolled into the finish (with that five second gap,) and rounded out the Top 5.

Mike, Todd, and Chad were already waiting for us at the line, having had a chance to cool down, grab some cold drinks, get massages, and do some photos and interviews for the local paper. (OK, they were only a minute ahead of us, but that’s a pretty good lead to have built up in the last six miles.)

About the three leaders…

Last time I had a good view of the leaders was about 1/4 way up the final climb. I guess they stuck together on most of the hill, but Mike launched a decisive attack right at the top, giving him a little gap. Todd and Chad caught him, though, before that crazy S-bend turn on the downhill.

On the flats again, they pacelined for a few miles, but things got tricky coming into town – a good jump on the sprint would be key to victory, so they all jockeyed for position. Mike was able to make a good move, and although it was a long sprint to the line, he got the win!

Chad and Todd came in a few seconds apart for second and third, respectively, to round out the podium. Props to those guys for holding a fast pace the whole way through!

So we have a new champion…

Although I played virtually no role in Mike’s victory, I was still pumped to see a local rider (and my teammate of the day) take home the Tour de Susquehanna victory! And the rather large, exquisite trophy that goes with it!

I’m sure Brett will be back next year with hopes of taking back the title!

Overall…

It was a superb race, probably the most fun yet! Thanks go out to Mike Butler for organizing the event, the American Legion for serving breakfast, the other racers for attending despite super high gas prices, and definitely to all the volunteers and local authorities who ensured a safe, smooth race for everyone!

Full race results provided by Runner’s High at RunHigh.com.

Photo credits: Randy Hurley

As if it wasn’t hard enough to train for a race, drive there, and keep your mind focused on race strategy, there’s another obstacle thrown in… packing everything into your car! You have to pack your bike and clothes for the race, plus everything else you may or may not need before, during, and after the race.

If you throw stuff in at the last minute, yes, it’s hard. But with some planning beforehand, you can pack everything you need without worry. Just create a checklist of everything you need.

Don’t worry, I’ve posted mine below. Feel free to use it.

___ Bike

___ Water bottles (filled)

___ Seat bag
      – spare tube
      – tire levers
      – CO2 inflator
      – mini-tool

___ Helmet

___ Sunglasses

___ Jersey

___ Undershirt (optional)

___ Gloves

___ Shorts

___ Socks

___ Shoes with cleats

___ Energy bar and/or gel

___ Change of clothes

___ Post-race food and water

___ First-aid kit

___ Bike lock (optional)

___ Camera (optional)

___ Towel

___ Baby wipes

___ Money

___ Registration form and/or license

___ Floor pump (for topping off your tires)

___ Stationary trainer (for warmup)

To make things easier, I suggest printing out a copy of the checklist and checking off items as you pack them into your car.

Want to download and print out a fancy copy of this in PDF format? Just click here. (Right-click + “save as” to save it to your computer.)

Or…

Prefer to race off-road? Then see our MTB Race Equipment Checklist.

It’s July and that can only mean one thing – bicycle racing! Central Pennsylvania is home to races in both Brockway and Clearfield, and I think there’s a big race in France, although I couldn’t tell you anything about it because the news just focuses on doping scandals these days. So I’ll stick with what I know…

I needed a chance to test my legs before the upcoming Tour de Susquehanna, and the (recently re-named) Le Tour de Brockway seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was excited for this year’s race (even though they raised the entry fee) due to a totally new course! A few years back they had a nice course, but recent years left something to be desired with their out-and-back route.

(Did I mention the out-and-back route led to people cheating? Yeah, it happens. It’s unfortunate when competitors at a local bike race cheat, considering the $0 grand prize.)

Onto a more positive note… the new course was a 15.5 mile loop on some very nice, backcountry roads. It even started with a “peloton parade” through downtown Brockway. Too bad the spectators for the annual 4th of July parade weren’t yet lining the streets at 10:30 AM!

I thought I was ready for the course thanks to my use of Google’s satellites, but it turns out the internet is no substitute for a proper pre-ride of the course! Things are different when you’re actually out there, especially when everyone else is beside you.

So let’s talk about the race itself…

We all lined up at the start/finish behind our police escort for the “controlled start.” The plan was to take it easy as we rolled through downtown and then the race would get going once we hit the highway. I’m not sure if it was the intense competition between the Hollyloft and Spokes-n-Skis teams or Shane Gouldthread out front on his mountain bike, but we were moving pretty quick as soon as the gun fired!

Then the pace really heated up once we passed Sheetz and got onto Route 219. I noticed a couple attacks, but I decided to just stay in the pack a while, but I got bored real fast. So I decided to follow this one guy out front. I got to actually see some of the road ahead but still had a draft, so I rode there for a bit until the pack swallowed us back in.

Soon enough we were on the twisty back roads and it was time for more frequent attacks. Every so often someone jetted out front, but every move was immediately countered by a simultaneous, almost orchestrated move by the Spokes-n-Skis team. They did a good job of keeping things together, but with the pack being a little too big, I was anxious for something to happen.

Next thing I knew there was a sharp right turn that took us up a fairly steep, twisty hill. It wasn’t massive, but I wasn’t ready for it at all. I jumped out of the pack and watched some green jerseys disappear around the turns as I struggled to keep moving. (I guess some Hollyloft guys were already out of sight.)

A few guys passed me, so I tried to catch them but everyone kept slipping away. Then I saw a group coming behind me so I decided to rest for a couple seconds and latch on to them. Those few seconds of rest paid off because I was able to tuck into this group and get situated again.

By this time we were halfway through the race, but just on #2 or #3 of the course’s 7 hill climbs. We rode in a group the rest of the race, which was either up or down for a few miles. We kept seeing glimpses of the front groups, but they were just far enough ahead that no one could catch them.

From that point on, I just stayed calm and tried to hold my position. We only had two small climbs and then a long downhill stretch to the finish. It was pretty uneventful for us as we careening through a few downhill twists and hit the big straightaway, where we could see the winners. I had two guys with me (one being Shane) and no one else close enough, so I just went hard to try to better my time.

I crossed the line with no pressure for a sprint, but Shane wasn’t far behind me. I think my time was about 41:25, roughly two minutes behind the winner.

It was good to be done, but after getting dropped on that first hill, I was fairly disappointed with the day’s outcome. It wasn’t until later that I realized all the good things that happened.

First, it didn’t storm or even rain, and the weather was beautiful. The forecast said hot and humid with afternoon thunderstorms, but the weather seemed fairly cool and pleasant. Second, the course was amazing. I would gladly go for a joy ride on those roads sometime. Third, I got to see my fellow racers I haven’t seen in probably an entire year. And last but not least, I got a nice blue race t-shirt in size medium! (A lot of races only offer size large shirts!)

I also met some relatives from Texas who happened to be in the area and signed-up for the exact same bike race, but that’s a whole other story…

I ended up in 15th place overall, but all I really wanted was a better idea of what might happen in the Tour de Susquehanna, and I certainly got that. (While I’m at it, a shout out to Mike Yankevich who placed 4th overall!)

Now I’ll just sit back and relax while checking the race results online.

P.S. Wondering why there’s no picture of me crossing the finish line, even though my mom was there taking pictures? As I was coming up to the line, a car decided to pull up beside me. So there was me on the timing mat, then a car sneaking through, then my mom on the other side of the car. Talk about bad timing! I wish she had taken a picture of the car so I could put it up here for public humiliation. I mean, who drives through the middle of a bike race, let alone across the finish line?

P.P.S. If you’re up for racing at 8 AM on the 15th, hit up the Tour de Susquehanna in Clearfield, PA.

And just one more note: a couple more pics can be seen at the bloombikeshop webshots page.