No, it was the competition between two former Valley residents, Charles
McCarthy and David Glick, now living on distant shores, who seemed
unfazed by weather that had sweat leaking from every pore of every rider
who attempted the 4.3-mile ride. McCarthy rendered the pavement and
dirt as scorched earth as he flew to the top in a time of 20 minutes 19
seconds. That was well off his own record time of 19 minutes flat, but
given the temperature of 84 degrees at race time, pretty darned good.
Glick applied admirable pressure, but his time of 20:31 came up just
short.
That put pretty much all other riders in a different league. Adam
Whitney, a talented climber in his own right, took third, but was more
than three minutes arrears of Glick. While the rest of the field did a
lot of huffing and puffing up the hill, McCarthy and Glick seemed to
float upwards effortlessly like hovercraft.
Among things that seem as inevitable as nightfall and taxes, count
Marilyn Ruseckas' winning an uphill bike race within that realm of
certainty. She arrived at the summit finish looking as if she had done
no more than ride to the local store for a quart of milk. The woman is
truly an ageless wonder.
Once the racing was finished, McCarthy was last seen turning around at
the Four Corners at East Warren Road and Roxbury Mountain Road and
heading back toward the top of the gap for a second lap. One ride up the
brutal climb was apparently insufficient. Hot? No way. The word is
sick.
Next up on the time-trial schedule: an 18-mile out-and-back ride between
Warren and Granville through Granville Gulf on Tuesday evening, July
27. As always any rider with a bike and a helmet is welcome, and entry
is free. Race information and full results can be found at
madriverriders.com.
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