As darkness fell on the first Fly by Night Duathlon, a lone figure approached the footbridge which would take her up and across the race track below. She had passed this spot eight times already during the evening, but she still wore the same goofy grin as the first time around. The moment was fleeting, but special - for the first time since its opening in 1948, Watkins Glen International opened its historic gates to cyclists and runners seeking a chance to hug the same lines Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon had in the past.
On June 4th, 109 athletes swarmed the starting line for an evening Formula 1 duathlon in the wide-open spaces of Watkins Glen International, a twisting, turning, rising, and falling 3.4-mile circuit where speeds of 124 miles per hour have been attained in NASCAR qualifying races. The unique Formula 1 format followed a run-bike-run-bike-run order in which every run segment covered 1.75 miles, and each bike segment looped the track three times, covering 10.2 miles.
The transition area was constructed over the roar of Porsche engines - the Porsche Clash was on the track from 8:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, giving athletes and volunteers a front-row seat for the Fly by Night's pre-race spectacle. Once the track cleared and crews had a chance to clean the pavement, the first cyclists took to the track for an hour of warmup - and the quiet cadence of whirring chainrings replaced the thunder of internal combustion. Porsche drivers paused with the beer at their lips, mechanics stopped in their work and looked out - a sea of human horsepower was streaking into the Ninety and dropping down into the turn-heavy Boot.
At the stroke of 6:30, a siren signaled the start of the inaugural Fly by Night. Athletes tore up the infield, past parked Porsches and trailers heavy with tools, tires, and fuel, and made their way to the far reaches of camping, under the race track at the West Tunnel, and back over the track by way of the Pedestrian Bridge at Turn 11.
First onto the track was Corey Boilard, a 26-year-old from Keene, New Hampshire, followed closely by Corey Rynders of Virginia Beach, Virginia in pursuit. The Corey Show came to an end shortly, though, as John McGovern (Kingston, NY) wasted no time capitalizing on his strongest leg - the bike - and came into T2 over a minute and a half ahead. He split 25:43 over the 10.2 mile circuit, an average of 24.5 miles per hour on a course that included two substantial climbs on each of the three loops. From there, McGovern was not caught - the race was for second place.
Women at Fly by Night were outnumbered five to one by their male counterparts, but the fastest woman of them all - Beth Burchill of Rochester, NY - dominated just as McGovern did for the men. Her long, steady strides and powerful pedal strokes made quick work of the worst of Watkins, and she came across the line nearly six minutes ahead of West Henrietta, NY's Kristine Mallory (1:42:57) in second.
The race was not the story, exhilarating as it was. The chance to live a childhood dream, to take bicycles where they normally cannot go, and to have miles of wide, sweeping pavement to yourself was the thrill and fascination of Fly by Night.
