A Couple of Grabs From The Thater Crit

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I had to go into the Binghamton for something anyway - drop off a dead phone that needs to go in for replacement, and pick up a couple of Monster drinks that I had accidently left in the fridge from earlier in the week.  That was, of course, the most important reason for going there ....  <grin>

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The Chris Thater bike races were also happening downtown.  I used to race bikes in a former incarnation of myself - a skinnier me.  I stopped doing that though quite a few years ago - it's very hard and I'm very lazy.  I was lazy back then too, but I had pain in the ass teammates who would drag me out and "make me" go riding / training.  I'm glad I did though - they were all a bunch of good guys.  So anyway - I knew the races were happening so I grabbed a camera and a couple of lenses and decided to take them with me.

The weather sucked.  This made me even more happy that I was no longer riding...  I used to hate racing in the rain.  I spent the better part of an afternoon at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital up in Oneonta, N.Y. one time as a result of racing in the rain.  I only stuck around for a little while as, again, the weather was not all that great, and I wanted to get back home to get my gear ready for my current favorite sport - the WNYOA Harescrambles races up near Norwich tomorrow at Thunder Ridge.

So -- here are a couple of grabs from the race action that I did stick around to see, and there is a small gallery of 40-some-odd keepers there too - the link to those is here.

This chick is supposed to be some kind of badass from what my friend Mike told me.  I guess she did the womens version of the Tour De France earlier this year and has won a boatload of big races.  The race always calls up all of the top contenders and introduces them to the crowd. | Click the photo to view it larger

The Pro Womens field about to start | Click to photo to view it larger