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gobblecross 2018 (eight)

It’s that time of year again!! We are making the preparations for Gobblecross 2018 (eight), the annual unsanctioned backyard cyclocross extravaganza.

If you’re making the trip out, especially if you want one of the commemorative limited edition shirts, be sure to ‘reserve your spot’:
https://goo.gl/forms/i0mDVTNFK6bDpCPo1

You can also check out more lead up chatter and likely post race photo repository on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/464696230719061/

The RATSNAKE ‘reverse triathlon’

Randy Hadzor takes 1st place by 8 minutes, setting new course record at THE RATSNAKE.

2016 RATSNAKE Syracuse crew
Post RATSNAKE 2016, Gilbert Lake State Park – Syracuse Crew

With a crew of Syracuse area athletes, Randy carpooled down  to experience the phenomenon known as THE RATSNAKE; a backwards triathlon consisting of an 11 mile trail run, 29 mile bike ride and 26 yard ‘swim’.

The race is held in memory of Dr. Ken Stalter, an inspirational endurance athlete.

It was an absolutely wonderful weekend of camping, craft beer and  good challenging racing. Everyone was amazingly kind. The sense of community, competition and fun was unbelievable.

The Syracuse crew put up some solid results, Shannon Baum winning   overall for the ladies in an exciting mad dash through the water. Tom Garby cranking out a 4th place, Ben Reller  not far behind with 5th and Ben Gaulin coming in 7th.  Also of note Shannons performance was a super solid top 10th in the  overall, regardless of gender.

Race Results
http://theratsnake.com/results/

Randy Hadzor cranking away in the final stretches of The Rat Snake 2016:#migonismultisport  #melloveloracing  #biggergearshighercadence

More  photos:

Facebook album : Mello Velo Elite Racing, RATSNAKE 2016
Facebook album : 2016 Rat Snake – photos from the Triathlon portion

More science numbers:

Ratsnake Top 10
Top 10

Thanks to those who helped make it happen! Great race, great people, great fun.
theratsnake.com

Du the Lakes, 2016

For the first time since 2009 when one co-worker asked another (approximately),

“Hey do you wanna go and run and bike at Green Lakes? A handful of people are doing this thing…”  – coworker1

“um, sure!” – coworker2

“We’re going to run around the lakes, then go for a bike ride, then run around the lakes again” – coworker1

“really? you’re just going to leave your bike at the park.. while you run, what if someone steals it??” – coworker2

Fast forward 7 years:

Saturday, May 14th, 2016 Matt Migonis (coworker1) and Randy Hadzor (coworker2)  did the Du the Lakes together again.

The run started off nice and smooth, chasing Sam Morse of the Syracuse Track Club.

Matt, Randy and one other competitor all went through t1 at roughly the same time, Migonis and the competitor with variations of the triathlon-shoe-on-the-bike-thing, getting over the transition mat first but fiddling with their shoes a bit, Randy ran through and took off with a cyclocross style remount.. only to have slight difficulties getting the chain on the big ring on the way out of the park, the chain falling off to the outside and luckily he was  able to shift down to replace it and eventually get it situated on the properly large chainring .. only after  Migonis took over the lead..

Once out on the roads Migonis and Hadzor were hammering along at roughly the same pace, which was fun;  though they had to resort to riding a very awkwardly-wide-side-by-side orientation to be sure there was no drafting advantage, this went on for one lap until Migonis took the lead… lap two, Hadzor spent chasing the bright orange shorts in the distance, eventually getting back to the park and arriving at the dismount line at about the same instant, apparently Migonis had been riding a flat rear tire for the final 2 miles of the bike leg, apparently he accidentally hit a jagged 3inch rock “totally my fault” he exclaims, somewhat bashfully.. t2 was exciting as the race organizers took bets on who would return from the run first, the coach or the athlete, the teacher or the student!

2016 Du the Lakes, Hadzor and Migonis on the run
2016 Du the Lakes, Hadzor and Migonis on the run. Photo by Beth Lancer

Out on the run Hadzor took it out in a bit of an optimistic 5:20 minute per mile pace, only to be slightly slowed by a four across family out for a stroll, after just a small bit of confusion and polite exchanges of apologies.

Migonis and Hadzor ran together for 2 of the 3 final running miles, chatting about finishing together though Hadzor insisted he prefer to put up a chase, and so Migonis effortlessly took the lead, or perhaps he just had to pee really bad; since he took off, finished in record time, setting a new course record, and ran straight to the potty.. Randy finished up just about 30 to 40 seconds later, claiming 2nd place for Team Migonis and putting Mello Velo racing on a multisport  podium for the second weekend in a row.

2016 Du the Lakes, Hadzor and Migonis on the podium
2016 Du the Lakes, Migonis and Hadzor take 1st and 2nd

It was a great day, with lots of familiar faces out at the races. A great showing of friendly competition and wonderful weather. Duathlons are the best and nothing beats the local multisport community coming together to run, ride bikes, compete, and have fun; all while raising a little bit of money for a great cause.

2016 Fly by Night duathlon – Hadzor wins

Coming off a decent 10 mile run at the Mountain Goat the week before, Randy Hadzor went out to Watkins Glenn and revisited the Fly by Night for his first duathlon in a while.

Hadzor ended up 1st overall,  winning by 4 minutes, and clocking a time of 1:19:44;  the second fastest course time we were able to find on record..

The 2013 time 1:18:21 by Travis Kuhl is rumored to be a year where the course was a bit shorter due to construction at the Glen.. either way, something to shoot for.

(Also, let us know if anyone can confirm or dispel these rumors!)

2016 Fly by Night duathlon results
Randy Hadzor wins 2016 Fly by Night duathlon in 1:19:44