OWASCO - Some 275 cyclists from all over the country and Canada gathered bright and early at Emerson Park Saturday morning, eager to get started with the fourth annual Owasco Stage Race.

“Our numbers are up a little from last year,” Dean Furnia, race director and founder, said. “We're happy about that. It is a busy weekend in the northeast. The amateur national championships are going on this weekend and we still got a pretty good turnout.”

Over the past several years the race has gradually established itself as an event not to be missed within the cycling community.

“We have people from 20 different states,” Furnia said. “It is a little uncanny. We have really good numbers this year and most of the people are from far away. I think a lot of people heard about this at the national on Tuesday and just decided to pop on up to Auburn and see what it is all about.”

The race is also heavily promoted through the website, www.owascoveloclub.com.

“A lot of it is word of mouth,” Furnia said. “But I'd say about 95 percent comes from the website. We get 10,000 hits annually, which is pretty unusual for a riding site.”

The race, which spans two days, is a unique event in the sport of competitive bike riding. The Owasco Stage Race kicks off with the East Lake Time Trial, which starts at Emerson Park.

The 12-mile ride saw a few small changes this year.

“We tried to make it safer,” Furnia said. “There is a lot of traffic on this road this time of year so we moved the finish two miles up the road just to try to make things less confusing and to make it safer for the riders.”

Tim Howland of Rochester won the Men's Cat 5/Junior time trial at 9:00.00.

Andrew Baldwin of Auburn took fourth (9:01.30).

In the Cat 4/Men, Pete Avitable of Albany won with 9:30.00. In the Masters 35+/45+, Garrett Abbey of Burlington, ON won with 10:29.00.

Susan Atwood of Casenovia won the Women Open (10:51.00), Ted Michaels of Arlington, VA won the Men Cat 3 (11:05.30) and Guillaume Nelessen won the Men Pro 1-2 (11:40.00).

Saturday evening the race moves into the second stage, the Prison City Downtown Criterium.

Last year this stage of the race had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the road construction that was taking place downtime at the time.

But this year it has returned with a few added twists.

“We tried to make it a little more challenging,” Furnia said. “We went back to our original course. Loop Road is pretty oval and pretty fast, but we tried to make the course a little more challenging, still fast but with a few more curves in there to make it more of a challenge and a little more technical. There is some sidewalk construction in the area this year but we can still race.”

The third stage of the race concludes Sunday with the Owasco Challenge Road Race

The course varies from 40 to just over 72 miles, depending on riders' skill levels and looping through the eastern side of Owasco Lake.

This kind of intense and grueling race is a rarity.

“They are few and far between,” Kevin Kolodziejski, a rider from Pennsylvania, said. “They are pretty hard to find, but when you do find them you try to make it to them. I'll be in three total this year. They are fun races to be a part of.”

In the cycling community, the Owasco Stage Race has built a solid reputation for being a challenging, but ultimately a rewarding race.

“You hear about these things through word of mouth,” Glenn Snyder of Pittsburgh said. “If there is a good race you are going to hear about it. This race has some nice hills and good streets to ride on and when you go to other events you hear about it, so I thought I'd come up and check it out.”

With 275 riders, there was a certain amount of chaos to be expected, but Furnia said the race got off to a good start.

“If you don't start on time it can get a little confusing,” Furnia said. “But I haven't heard anyone complain so I think everyone is happy and enjoying the race so far.”