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Hollenbeck Race Wrap-up
 I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who volunteered for and raced in the Hollenbeck's Spring Classic yesterday. It was once again a huge success even with a bleak weather forecast and constant drizzle. I was impressed that just under 200 people lined up to race in little Virgil, NY. We had our largest women's fields to date! Pres Dave did do his regular job of bringing the beautiful weather, it just appeared a wee bit late. Dave, next year make sure to remind the weather gods that we're actually 4 hours behind them according to GMT.
 This race would not be possible without FLCC's incredible network of volunteers. You all step-up year after year and deserve a huge pat on the back. I thank you all immensely as it makes my job so much easier. I had people emailing me asking if they could help out the day before the race and even on the race morning itself. We're lucky to have such a charitable group of folks. Mike Ludgate and Ludgate Farms generously donated a ton of very tasty apples, thank you. Also the Maxxis Series and Matt Howey provided some great prizes and support.
Glenn as always you're the master official, sacrificing your race to come pick at the finish, give entertaining commentary, and answer questions. I am continually amazed at how much gear he packs in that little car of his. Check it out, you might just find your next TT bike stashed in the front seat. Marcia, my head volunteer, thanks for being available to take care of whatever situation arises no matter how messy! Sign set up and tear down, course maintenance, and cone dispersal was expertly executed by Twinkie Mark, Darron, Andy M, and my wonderful "I'll do anything you ask on race day" and really did, husband Elliott. Just wondering if anyone's found Andy's where's waldo sign in Tompkins County yet.
The toughest and definitely most unexciting job of the day was probably the operation of the computer with racer input and results calculation. The race spreadsheet created by Trevor and Mark R is really a great asset to our racing in NYS. I'm glad Hollenbecks could help work out some of the bugs. It certainly made results tabulation much faster than in past years. Tara Heiss, Trevor, and Mark we all appreciate your diligence yesterday. Word has it that Tara might race next year. I'm not sure what I'll do without you!
The registration crew worked expertly under some very adverse and quite soggy conditions. Tania, Aimee R, Jeff Poulin, Karen L, Mike Anderson, Sarah Ferdinand, Brad, Jeffrey Barlow, Kerry, thanks guys for keeping a level head and for working in such a cramped space. Hope your hands aren't too sore today. The lines were much shorter than last year. I really think pre-registration helped and would recommend bikereg.com to all local promoters. Jim Bondra thanks for doing junior rollout amongst all your other numerous duties for the day.
We developed a new relationship this year through Katie Foley at the Ithaca Youth Bureau and her crew of sorority volunteers. All corners were diligently covered by our local veterans, Steve Ast, Dan Barbasch, Kerry Kaylegian, Ann Carter, Anne Shapiro, and Todd Lemmiksoo (if I forgot someone I'm sorry) as well as a great group of dancing and waving college women! Many racers and pace/wheel drivers commented on the amazing corner coverage and entertainment. I even heard some of the women exclaim "it was so fun, I'd do it again next year." Don't worry, I was listening.
 Our pace/wheel crew did an extraordinary job leading the troops safely through the farmlands. Steve Bowman and Jim Bondra, thank you, thank you for driving 66 miles at probably the slowest pace that you ever could have imagined. Someone at the finish mentioned that you probably could have gotten pretty darn close to Boston considering the amount of time you spent in the driver seat. Tania thanks for helping out with reg and then driving 2 laps. Andrejs I appreciate your wheel van prowess, plus sign organization. Joel managed to stay in front of his women even after the confusion of moving through a couple fields, calling me, taking a pee break, calling me, and a donut stop (or were you just dreaming?), Tim Reynolds glad you didn't decide to run your wife off the road after her proclamation to the field about your wheel changing abilities :-)), Sarah and Keith thanks for guiding a crazy field to safety and Tom for your expert wheel changing abilities described by Don--are you still engaged? Sandy and Myriah, your husband/dad did pretty well! Guess my advice of sticking on your bumper worked or maybe it was the bungi cord on the wall. Also appreciate your lugging all the equipment from Meck-burg to your house. Paul, Holly, and son hope you brought a lot of books!  Thanks for agreeing to do this at the last minute. Elliott I appreciate you taking over the wheel for Mark R even after a muffler crisis. James and Elliott sounds like you two got to play a little cat and mouse out there with your riders. Glad you're both skilled drivers! Jim and Andrew, their wheelmen, hope they didn't give you too much of a scare! Jim did your wife enjoy the scenery?
Our finish line crew basically ran itself, just like clockwork. We were all so accurate that we really didn't have to check numbers after awhile. Aimee R, Mike Anderson, Brad, Bill Lodico, Shelley Mulvaney, Karen L I really hope you guys will return next year to pick. Blaine, the esteemed results driver, we should give you Dave Miller's Porche or a BMW motorcycle next year to make your hundreds of trips up the hill just a bit more interesting. Zach Fitterer, thanks for running the video/entertainment at the finish! I'm glad we had some good finishes to tape. Did you get the guy who yakked just after he crossed the line? They love that finish.
 Last and certainly not least, in fact it's the reason most of the racers come to this event, thanks to the extremely busy Mark and Amanda Shenstone for purchasing and delivering the "famous cookies" and other race day goodies. As usual the food was swallowed up by the group. Mark even managed to race well in the Masters field after witnessing him almost fall asleep on his feet Saturday at the Farmer's Market.
Trevor and I worked until late last night cleaning everything up and getting it ready to send off to USCF and other interested parties. Trevor, appreciate all the work you did with prereg. We hope to get the results posted later today or tomorrow morning. If I missed any of the volunteers I apologize. My brain is a bit cloudy this morning. Also if any volunteers did not get a T-shirt (only large sizes left) or a FLCC/SwanCyles water bottle, please see Dave Ruppert as he has the stash.
I hope you will all come on out next year
Thank you,
Sara Barker, VP for Racing
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