Galena Growlers climb standings after Oneonta Epic race

ONEONTA – On Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, the Galena Growlers traveled about 35 miles east to the City of Oneonta to compete in the Central New York Epic NICA Mountain Bike Race number three of the five-race NICA circuit.

The event was centered around the Oneonta High School, with a part of the course traversing the length of Oneonta’s Wilbur Park.

The middle school course was a loop about three and a half miles long consisting of challenging hill climbs, over twisty single track strewn with rock and slippery tree roots. All middle-schoolers would race two laps over the course.

The high school course was the over much the same terrain as the middle school course with an addition of about a mile of twisty single track through some pines with an additional hill climb.

Saturday morning, the Growlers spent the day helping the Oneonta and Cooperstown based Otsego Composite team set up the race course with the NICA New York staff.

Later in the day, there was a Girls Riding Together (GRiT) all girls ride, where about 35 girls went out on an hour ride that the Growler Girls participated in. Once the event concluded, the race course was open for course pre-ride to allow the riders to become familiar with the course.

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At 9:30 a.m., the races began. As the day would go, 16 Growlers took to the trails, but 14 of the 16 finished the event.

The day was threatened by storms to our north, but Oneonta was spared with no rain affecting the day of racing. Instead of rain, the heat of the day was something for everyone competing in temperatures going up into the low 90s by the end of the racing – something the upstate New York team isn’t acclimated too with the usual cool, wet Spring.

“Overall, it was a great day of kids racing on mountain bikes,” said Galena Growlers head coach Rob Baker. “It was a great showcase for the city of Oneonta as well.”

Stealing the leader’s jersey by the end of the race was Growlers’ sophomore Bailey Olds of the the girls side. She placed first, earning 500 points for the high school squad and holds the series leader jersey.

Also getting on the podium for the Galena Growlers high school team was freshman Dan Scholl, who went into the day as the series leader for the NICA New York Circuit. He placed fourth.

With the top fourth riders combining for 1854 points, the Growlers have moved up in the standings to eighth-place for the season – position held out of 23 teams competing this season.

The lone middle-schooler who stood on a podium spot was Vida Hendrickson, a new rider to the team who travels up from Maine-Endwell to be a part of the Growlers. Hendrickson placed fourth overall.

The Growlers completed race number four of the season at the Walnut Mountain County Park in Liberty, NY over the weekend. Battling the muddy, hilly and twisty mountain at the park, the Galena Growlers returned home with five podium finishes. Details of the fourth race will appear in a later edition of The Evening Sun.

Now, the Growlers are preparing to travel about 90 miles east as they are set to attend the 2019 New York NICA State Championships at Windham Ski Resort. “Busy, but great times right now in the high and middle school mountain bike scene here in New York,” said Baker.

Results from the Oneonta Epic Race: