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Syracuse Herald American (NY)

July 1, 2001
Section: Local
Edition: Final
Page: B2

ROAD IS BEAST TO CYCLISTS RACING FOR PARK BEAUTY THEY PEDAL 17 MILES AROUND OTISCO LAKE TO RAISE MONEY TO SPRUCE UP BORODINO PARK.

   Magin McKenna Contributing writer

After speeding ahead of 60 bicyclists on a 17-mile stretch of hilly land surrounding Otisco Lake, Jeremy Clay crossed the finish line and tossed his bike to the roadside.

 

Exhausted, he sat down in the middle of the road and watched his competitors during the Giro of Otisco Lake Bike Race on Saturday in Spafford. "I'm pretty tired," Clay said, shaking hands with Reid Gurnee, who finished second.

 

Clay, 24, was awarded a first-place trophy by race organizer Gianfranco Frittelli about an hour later.

 

Frittelli organized the race to benefit the Borodino Community Park Beautification Project, which is currently making improvements to land near the Borodino Methodist Church.

 

With racers paying between $15 and $20 to participate, the project raised more than $1,000, Frittelli said.

 

Bicyclists launched into the

 

race at 10 a.m., peeling past the historic Side Hill Schoolhouse at Stanton and Willowdale roads.

 

They rode north on Willowdale to Route 174 to the Otisco Dam, and then headed south on Otisco Valley Road.

 

They wound back around 11 a.m. to the schoolhouse. The last 0.6 miles of the ride included a 10 percent uphill grade.

 

"That hill was rough," said Gurnee, 23. "But there is a beautiful view."

Illustration: PHOTO<
Frank Ordonez/Staff photographer<
JEREMY CLAY of Tully cools off Saturday after winning the Giro of
Otisco Lake Bike Race. Sixty-one bicyclists raced the 17 miles.


Copyright (c) 2001 The Herald Company