Spoken for

Watching the wheels at the Longsjo Classic

by Sally Cragin

Among the monuments on Fitchburg Upper Common are a Winged Victory commemorating World War I by noted sculptor Herbert Adams, an obelisk honoring more recent veterans, and a smaller memorial honoring Finnish-American Olympian Art Longsjo. A fortnight from now, hundreds of cycling athletes will pay homage by whizzing around the common as part of the 38th Longsjo Classic. Arthur Longsjo was a Fitchburg boy who competed in the 1956 Summer and Winter Olympics -- a feat almost impossible to think of anyone achieving today. "He was a speed skater first," says longtime cyclist Raimo Ahti, who knew him in the 1950s. "He became very good. If he was riding in the 30-and-under [competition] today, he would be good today, too." Dr. Ray Wolejko, cyclist and Longsjo promoter, is also fascinated with the Longsjo legend. "This was a kid who did it because he loved to do it. He did it at a time when exercise wasn't popular, but it fit well with his Finnish background and heritage. One of the spinoffs of the race is that schoolteachers have children research Art Longsjo."

Ahti describes Longsjo with a Finnish word, sisu."He had a lot of stamina and endurance -- sisu," says Ahti. "If you don't have anymore hope, you got sisu. When all the hope goes, in any situation, you'll still make it from one hour to another, day to day. I would say Art had sisu, and he had a little bit more."

Tragically, Longsjo was killed in a car accident in Vermont, in the late 1950s. "He had just won a race -- Quebec to Montreal, 275 miles, and was coming back home," Ahti recalls. "He would have been on the 1960 team."

The Fitchburg Cycling Club decided to honor the memory of this extraordinary athlete by naming a bicycle race after him. The original Longsjo competition lasted just a day, with races in downtown Fitchburg. Thirty eight years later, the Longsjo Classic has mushroomed into a four-day extravaganza sponsored by the Fitchburg Cycling Club, the Minuteman Road Club, and the North County Chapter of the American Red Cross. More than 600 riders are expected, from world-class cyclists and seasoned riders, to eager amateurs. "There are a number of entry-level riders," says Wolejko. "And last year, we had the Australian and Norwegian Olympic teams, and the USCF women's rider of the year was also here."

The Longsjo begins on July 3, with time-trials, starting at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel at Routes 2 and 31. Riders compete as individuals in this 7.8 mile race, in which they race against the clock. On July 4, you can see the Aubuchon-Glidden Circuit Race, a 3.1 mile loop in the Fitchburg State College area. Men make 25 circuits, and women 10 in a race that offers more than 100 feet of climbing per lap. The following day features what some consider the most grueling event, the Wachusett Mountain Road Race. This is another lap race, but this time the course is 11 miles long and extremely hilly. Each lap has more than 550 feet of climbing, and the final sprint adds another 650 feet when racers lunge to the top of the mountain. The final day features the Longsjo Criterium, held in downtown Fitchburg. The laps here are less than a mile on a fairly flat surface, but male riders must complete 55, and women riders 28, before the winner is announced. Each race has challenges and excitement, but the Mt. Wachusett race has a special mystique. "If you've ever tried to ride to the top of Mt. Wachusett on a bicycle, and then realize that cyclists are doing nine laps from the wall in Princeton Center, it's unbelievable," marvels Wolejko. "Downhill, they hit speeds at 65 miles per hour. Everyone is looking for thrills going to the amusement park, but Mt. Wachusett is the real thrill ride."

Cyclist André Goguen has ridden this circuit and says, "the road race up Wachusett is the determiner. Somebody wins by five or six minutes, and you can't make up that time in the Criterium. Going into Princeton Center is hard -- it's really fast. That's usually where the race is decided. Individuals win, but it's through team tactics. There's a team of five guys, and if one guy takes off, the other four guys stay behind. People can't penetrate the blocking of that group."

Except for the time-trials ("the race of truth," laughs Goguen), most of the racing you'll see at Longsjo features a pack of cyclists in shiny, colorful lycra. With their legs pumping in unison, shoulders down, and a resolute gleam in their eyes, the mass of cyclists resembles an unruly, lightning-quick organism whisking over the tarmac. Cycling has a long tradition in Fitchburg. The Fitchburg Bicycle Club began in 1879, when there were just three bicycles in town, but business really picked up when Norwegian emigrant Iver Johnson, who'd had a successful career as a gunsmith, began making bikes in 1884. The original Iver Johnson bike was a high bike, with big wheels, but he tinkered with the design by making the wheels the same size, and adding pneumatic tires. The new bike was the Lovell Diamond, which coincided with the bicycle craze that was sweeping the nation.

One of the first cycling stars was a black man from Worcester named Major Taylor, nicknamed the "Worcester Whirlwind." He was World Champion in 1898. "He actually rode a bicycle from the Iver Johnson Arms and Cycleworks," says Wolejko. "They signed Taylor up and paid him $1000 for him to ride their bikes for the next two seasons." The Whirlwind rode in the newly built Madison Square Garden ("built for cycling," adds Wolejko), but he died penniless. "At the turn of the century, cycling was much bigger sport than baseball," says Wolejko, who hopes that Worcester will be able to organize a tribute race to the Whirlwind in the near future.

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A Lexicon of Cycling Terms, Strategic, Technical and Amusing

(with thanks to André Goguen and Raimo Ahti)

Breaking the wind: Being first person in the pack. This is a a difficult position because there's 30 percent more air resistance in front of you than behind.

Drafting: When you ride behind another cyclist who's "breaking the wind." A team would have its best sprinters drafting until near the very end.

Wheelsucking: People who sit on your wheel and draft and don't do any work.

Holding your line: Riding in a straight line. For much of the race, the cyclists will ride in a huge pack, and it's crucial not to veer to the right or left (see Squirrels). Attack and Breakaway: An attack happens when a cyclist decides to leave the pack and get way out in front in a breakaway.

Block: If you're on a team, and in a breakaway, teammates will ride strategically to block the other teams from catching you.

Squirrel: An unstable rider who wavers a lot and doesn't hold the line. Riders get "squirrely" in a Criterium because the entire race comes down to the last turn. "There's mass hysteria," says Goguen, "with people going all over the road to get across the finish line. It's crazy, and ends in pile-ups and crashes -- even the winners -- because people make stupid moves and do anything to win."

Pile-Up: Twisted assemblage of bike and body parts. "One person makes an error and many people pay," says Goguen. Pile-ups are serious business, and riders can be penalized with fines and competition suspensions.

Fred: Inexperienced rider. A very slight difference between a Fred and a Squirrel. A Fred is a nonprofessional who dresses up like a European professional in a jersey of a team that already exists.

Sisu: Finnish word for strength, hope and heart that prevails against all odds. You'll see this word on license plates of cars driven by Finnish-Americans.

Tarmo: Stamina, endurance. "Steel," says Ahti. "When you run out of sisu you still got tarmo left!"

Sally Cragin drives, but rides a bike if the distance is less than 2 miles and the temperature above 40 degrees.

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The Tales From Tritown archive

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