3/30/03 by Becky Leidy Blice
Four members of the Allied Decals Cycling Team (Denis Osowski, Shawn Adams, Jim Gilmore, George Liolios) plus a few more Freewheelers (Mike Polce, Ted Ingraham and Josh Blubaugh) braved the frigid weather, sometimes gusting wind and snow squalls to compete at the first of the Covered Bridge races in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area on the morning of March 30, 2003.
While the turnout was rather light, I would guess about 20 each in the "A" and "B" races, this certainly did not mean that the quality of riders was absent. In attendance was Go-Mart rider Paul Martin, Team Akron's Jeremy Grimm and Marcus Tullio, and Cuyahoga Valley Velo's (or whatever name they are going by now) Tris Hopkins, Dave Chernosky, Brian Batke and Tom Frueh, making this a very competitive first local race of the season.
The "A" riders had 6 laps to complete for a total of 30 miles. The pace was strong from the beginning and within the second lap, a breakaway of 5 set off consisting of Don Lu of Tri-Tech, Jeremy Grimm, Brian Batke, Paul Martin, and our very own Shawn Adams! With the group so diverse team-wise, the pack seemed content to let them go and do little work to chase. With this working for them, the break quickly created a very comfortable gap, staying together until the last lap, when Lu was dropped just past the covered bridge. The remaining four continued on together to the end, and ADCT member Shawn Adams sprinted in for a very respectable 4th place. A bridge group containing three riders, one of them Tris Hopkins, came in next, while the main pack, of which George, Jim, and Denis were a part of, rode in a couple of minutes after that.
The "B" race rode 25 miles, or 5 laps of the course, with the group staying mostly together, only occasionally shelling a rider off the back here and there. Ted Ingraham said that the pace was only moderate, but knowing Ted's style of constant hammering, I'm sure that was an understatement! He did a very nice job, pulling off 4th in the final group sprint, in the midst of a snow squall!
Let's all hope that the weather is warmer for next week's race! See pictures here