The 11th nearly annual
Shartkozawa!


An unregulated funfest/sufferfest/race/ride to be held Feb. 27 at 10:00am.
  Participants will meet in the Stop and Shop parking lot in Wilton.

Be there ready for fun in the mud when you ride
The Classic in Connecticut!


Shartkozawa - the Millenium Challenge

Hopefully, this will be the most grueling ride you will have this year. Tchmil's Paris Roubaix? Nothing - mere mud and cow manure. Hampsten's Gavia? Child's play - what's a flake or two?. Chiapucci's Sestriere? Hey, he was warm. So Hinault lost sensation in his pinkie during his 10 minute victory in Liege Bastogne Liege? Big deal. It was merely cold and, oh, yeah, it snowed a bit. No, this is the race, ah, ride, to separate the, um, crazy from the sane.

Shartkozawa is "only" 19 miles long (30 km), only parts are dirt, and it's mainly flat. So what's the challenge? February weather in lower Connecticut (barely rideable), the normal fitness level of a New England rider in February (poor) and the balance of road surfaces (smooth pavement, broken pavement, dirt, a shallow climb, two steep climbs). The goal - wet snow or rain, softened dirt roads, and riders rendered unrecognizable because of mud and salt. Of course, we'll settle for anything else except sheet ice - unless you have a set of spiked and studded tires...

In the past, we've seen crystal clear 20 degrees, rainy 38 degrees, balmy 55 degrees, and (the best!) freezing sleet, snow, and fog following about 4 inches of snowfall the night before. And of course, you know that dirt roads are plowed last....

The course is designed to be challenging to a typical February New England rider, so the climbs, though not easy, are manageable. The longest steep climb is only about 250 meters, and the shallow climb is about 1200 meters. Named for the 4 former riders working at the former shop that sponsored the former team that created this day, Shartkozawa celebrates its move into the millenium from its roots in the late 80's....



Click on the link below to see a map of the course.

Shartkozawa! Course Map

 

| Home | Race Calendar | Roster  | Team Rides | Member's Information | Team Chat | Shartkozawa | Team Specials | Team Mailing List |


Web Design by Odin's Crows, contact us at info@OdinsCrows.com
Copyright © 1998-9 Odin's Crows, all rights reserved.