So, let me share our 2007 Empire State Games experience with you.
If you don't know what the Games are, let me fill you in. Every year in the summer and winter, NYS holds a 'mini-Olympics' of sorts. The summer site is rotated around the state; the winter site is always in Lake Placid (site of the 1932 & 1980 Winter Olympics). The state is divided up into 6 competitive regions - Western, Central, Adirondack, Hudson Valley, NYC, and Long Island. We live in the Adirondack. For cycling, competitors can compete in one of two ways. They can qualify which places them in the Open division - they get free room and board and they compete as a team - or simply sign up for the masters events, pay their own way, and compete individually.
Dieter and his cycling buddies like to go the open route. They participate in the qualifier in June and race in the Games at the end of July. For 4 days, they eat, breathe, drink, and sleep cycling. They stay in college dorms and have strategy planning sessions every evening after dinner. It's a tradition and, let me say, these guys live for this every summer.
Wednesday - Day 0 - Opening Ceremonies
The Games officially open on Wednesday with a fine ceremony. We have a little ceremony ourselves as Dieter leaves. I take a picture and wave good-bye. He gets into a car and drives away. Every July.
Thursday - Day 1 - Individual Time Trial
I have no photos for this day which makes complete sense since this is the only day that Dieter medaled. (Whenever I go to a race, Dieter does not medal. I should really stop going to races.) He took #3 in the Individual Time Trial - his specialty. One of the ESG coaches was kind enough to send me a picture of Dieter on the podium from the year prior for this event. Just pretend it's from 2007.
Friday - Day 2 - Road Race
This was a circuit race this year. This means that the cyclists rode a set loop over and over until they reached a certain mileage. We arrived early enough to see a few laps before the finish. I managed to get one blurry picture of Dieter (because he was going so fast...hahaha...)
In all seriousness, Dieter is pretty fast. He's ranked 11th nationally this year for his age group in road racing. And he probably won't be happy that I shared this information with you all. That's o.k. I know how to get him to forgive me....I'll tell him that he can get a new bike.
Now, let's jump to after the race. Here's a nice shot of 3 of the guys relaxing afterward. If my memory is correct, and I know that it is, it was close to 90 degrees this day. I think they were plum tuckered out. Poor dears - I bet they were wishing that it was December and cold.
The kids and I were pretty much standing around most of the time as the spectator spot was not very large. Liam, who just loves having a job to do, spied the water jug for the cyclists and recruited a friend to yell "Free water for sale". They had quite a few takers and filled many a cup. And no one commented on the fact that the 'free water' was 'for sale.'
After this, we went to our air-conditioned hotel with 2 other families sans the men. They returned to the dormitories for showers, campus food, and an evening of planning for the next day's event, the Criterium.
And so ends Day 2 of the 2007 Empire State Games. Look for Days 3 & 4 soon.
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