Race Review - Vermont 30 MTB Endurance Challenge (AKA Vermont 666)

I returned to the Vermont 30 race this year for the second time, having survived last year's go at it and even enjoying most of it.  This is a six hour race on the super awesome Green Mountain Trails in which you do as many laps as you can, but as long as you cross the start/finish line before the six hour mark, the following lap counts irrespective of when you finish that lap (the last one to cross the line did so in 7:39).

The race was on Saturday with a 9:00 am start time, but we went up Friday night and picked up Harry from Camp Downer, where he'd spent the week.  We had booked a room at the Mendon Mountain Motel and Orchard just outside Rutland and about 25 minutes from the race venue, which started at Amee Farm in Pittsfield, VT.

Amee Farm.

Green Mountain Trails are SUPER!

On the way from Camp Downer to the motel we hit a lot of on again, off again rain.  We took a route that went right by the race start and swung into the Pittsfield General Store to see if I could register there, but we were a couple of hours early.  The storekeeper recommended we try to stop by the farm and see if we might have better luck there.  At the farm I ran into a guy loading a very muddy mountain bike onto the roof of his car.  He was not racing the next day.  He had just swung by to ride the course.  He said he had hit some rain while out on the trail, but the trails would have been muddy even if it hadn't rained.  Oh boy. I was unable to find Jason to register and didn't sweat it too much as there was a registration period again the next morning.

We headed back to the motel and I went out and got some supplies and some Chinese food for dinner.  We had a low key night, watching Men in Black with Harry on the laptop and were asleep by 9 pm.  The next morning I awoke refreshed and ready to go.  We went to the country store at the motel and picked up our complimentary coffee (Green Mountain Keurig cups) and hands-down the best apple turnover I've ever had.  If you're ever in the area and even if you aren't staying there, you should definitely stop in for one of these babies!

It looks so innocuous, just sitting there minding it's own business.

We got up to Pittsfield for 8 am and swung by the General Store for one more cup of joe before we got to the farm.  We ran into Karen potter, Steve Segenchuk and Brian Spring at the store.  They were there with Chris Gagnon, from Mountain Bike Mind, whom I'd met briefly at this race the year before.  These four certainly made me feel like I was wussing out only racing a single six hour endurance race this weekend.  They were doing the Vermont 30 and then the following day doing the Hampshire 100 (100K).  I'd like to think maybe I'm the sane one in this equation.

I got my coffee and we drove the half mile up the road to Amee's Farm.  After parking the Element, Cori, Harry and I schlepped all the stuff across the road to the start/finish area.  Cori and Harry would be there for six plus hours, although Harry was going to do the kids race at noon.

Harry and I pre-race (as evidenced by the lack of MUD).

Waiting for the Le Mans start.

Just need those begrudging runners to get around the corner.

I got all registered, picked up my number and my awesome new t-shirt.  Ready to go with 15 minutes to spare.  Last year the race was a Le Mans style start in which all the riders left there bikes at the start/finish and then walked down the farm road down a steep hill and then ran up to the bikes and started in.  Running that hill first thing was really tough, especially in bike shoes with a full Camelbak on my back.  This year was also a Le Mans start, but they didn't make us run the hill.  We ran around a sizable garden and then up to the bikes.  It was only 49 seconds of running (for me).  We hopped on the bikes and hit the trail.

The race doesn't have any waves.  We all start together.  Beginners, sport, expert, elite, single speed.  I was racing sport.  I had taken fourth place last year in this category behind three kids who were 15, 13 and 15.  Kids who were evidently sired by mountain goats.  Kids who climbed like nobody's business.  The good news is that it didn't look like they were around this year.  Maybe they couldn't get a ride.  Whatever.  That's what they get for beating up on innocent forty-something-year-olds.

The lap is a super-switchbacky 4.7 mile climb to the top of the mountain followed by maybe a mile of rolling singletrack around the top of the mountain before making maybe the most awesome, enduring descent ever for four plus miles back to the farm.


So on the first ascent it took about 10 minutes to entirely negate all the painstaking bike cleaning I had undertaken two nights before.  Mud.  Everywhere.  Under my riding glasses in my eye,  In my mouth.  In my drive train.  In my brakes.  Everywhere.  Mud.  All varieties.  Wet, runny mud. Thick, gloppy mud.  Everything in between.

I was hurting lap one already.  The course was a lot wetter than last year and it was taking a toll on me.  I reached the top in 44 minutes.  Guess I wasn't winning the King of the Hill again this year.  $100 prize to the first male and first female to the top on the first lap.  Not sure who got the male, but Potter won the female prize.  Great aid station with two dedicated volunteers at the top.  Water, Gatorade, chips, bananas, gummy bears and M&Ms.  I passed by the aid station the first lap. 


It was then that I realized the course had changed from last year.  We usually hit a tight, twisty trail called Labyrinth and then begin the descent.  Instead we hit a trail called Zebedee that did a lot more rolling than last year's course.  And quite a bit longer.  The course then starts going through a series of crazy bermed switchbacks that seem to go on forever.  Some of the switchbacks are right on top of each other while others are maybe 1/4 - 1/2 mile apart.  All of them are CRAZY FUN.  I was hot on the tail of two other riders all the way down, but they were cooking along, so no need to try to get by.  This downhill is ALMOST enough fun to make you forget the climb you have in front of you again.  The trails lets out of the woods and hits a bridge over the river that supports two ways race traffic.  I'm always impressed with the camaraderie amongst mountain bikers.  Everyone wishing each other the best and offering words of encouragement.  After the bridge the people finishing follow a trail along the river and through a field before climbing a dirt road back to the start/finish.  That dirt road is a lot harder than you'd think.  Your pedaling muscles have been on the back burner used as you bomb down the hill.  Now after twenty or thirty minutes you have to make them work and work hard for several minutes.  I got up to the top and picked up an Hammer Endurolyte Fizz drink that Karen Potter had given me that morning and Cori had prepared for me.  Did I mention how nice it is to have a support person at a race?  Awesome!  I made the first lap in one hour, eighteen minutes.  My cyclometer was reading 10.4 miles, but a couple tenths of that was pre-race warm up.  Anyhow, the endurolyte drink was really good and much needed.

One down!

By now my bike must have weighed at least five pounds more with all the mud all over it.  I headed in for lap two.  Definitely harder.  I was walking more areas than I had the first lap.  Traffic had definitely thinned out, but I still managed to pass a couple of guys and was also passed by a couple of racers.  I made it to the top in 52:10, eight minutes slower than lap one.  Not so good, but I was still pedaling.

The downhill was just as good and I got back to the start/finish in 1:28:50, about ten minutes off the first lap.  I was pretty happy and ready for lap three.  But not before having a Powerade and hunk of blueberry zucchini bread, lovingly prepared by my number one fan, Cori "Annie Wilkes" Paton.  I definitely was not that far from feeling as if I'd been hobbled.

I went out for three and my bike was just screaming at me. Literally.  The rotor in the brakes was just barely rubbing, creating a ringwraith-like piercing shriek.  It was so bad that I felt badly for anyone who came into the vicinity.  Fortunately we were spread out enough enough by now that the only person really being driven to the brink of insanity was me.  It was also a little better inasmuch as only acting up when I was not moving quickly.  Any time I'd get a little speed, I'd be rid of the squeal.

In addition, my drive train was toast.  Mud was literally so thick on it that there was no glint of metal any longer.  Miraculously, the bike was still hitting most of the gears, but it definitely didn't sound happy.


Lap three was definitely my weakest.  I felt sapped.  One and two had given me the old one-two and I was on the ropes.  I came into the race with hopes of making five laps because that is what I'd made last last year.  That, however, was before I'd learned on the sloppy conditions and longer lap this year (it was about a mile longer each lap).  I made it to the bottom and, thinking five was well nigh impossible, stopped at the bottom and had a quick banana and a little less than 1/2 a PB&J (my mouth's still dry thinking about that sandwich).

While refueling I was talking to Cori about my drivetrain woes, I was happy to hear that other racers were washing their bikes with a nearby hose between laps.  I headed over and was a few seconds too late and had to wait for one other person to wash their bike.  A few minutes later I was hosing the mud off my bike and was on my way.  BIG MISTAKE.  The missing step was lubing my now super dry chain.

I thought there might have been a bike under there!

I made it to the top of the lap way better than I had made the third lap.  Maybe better than the second.  I think this is all because I sensed the end.  The drive train was definitely balking.  There were certain gear combinations that were sounding like the drive train was going to explode.  Stayed out of those.  I got to the top and there were a few people at the aid station.  I wasn't sure, but thought one was in my racing class.  I knew there was another guy climbing up behind me that I was pretty sure was also in my group.  I had seen him earlier in the lap during the switchbacks, but felt like I'd put some distance on over him.  I decided to pedal through without stopping at the aid station.

It was right about then that I was lapped by the first person I recognized to be riding the Expert/Elite class. Chris Gagnon, who I'd mentioned earlier as the Mountain Bike Mind guy. As it turned out, Chris was actually in third, meaning two of the people who passed me at some point were not in my class and had not passed me, but lapped me.  Bittersweet.  While I just gained two spots, I was also now being lapped. Chris went on his screaming way and I sat back and caught my groove.

The drive train was sounding progressively worse, however, and it was during the rolling mile on top of the mountain that the chain snapped.  I was now in the position of having to decide whether to fix the chain (I had a chain tool on me) or roll out the last five miles without it.  Two things were going through my head.  It would probably take three to five minutes to fix it, but there were no guarantees it wouldn't blow up again.  The other thing I was thinking was that it was only five miles and there was a lot of downhill.

I decided to finish the last five miles without a chain.  I pulled it out, threw it in my Camelbak and started the final half lap.  There was still a lot more up/flat that I just hadn't realized when I had a chain and was able to pedal through it.  I ultimately fell into a pattern of coasting the downhills, sitting on the bike and using my right leg to push through the flats and running/walking the uphills.  The guy who had been climbing the hill behind me caught me about half way down.  He recognized my plight, gave due empathy and went on his way.

Chains are for wusses and guys who come in second.

 No one else caught me on the way down.  Once I hit the bottom and just had the river trail and the field I was feeling better, but kept looking over my shoulder.  Harry was playing with another kid (named Fury, I believe) along the river and then came up and finished with me.  Those last hills were tough and I gave a good sprint across the finish line, but I was done.  Four times up and down the mountain.  Forty miles.  6:10:26.

All friggin' done.

And the icing on the cake.  I still managed to grab 3rd of 18 in Sport (no age groups).  The guy who passed me on the way down took second, so maybe I could have had that if not for my mechanical issues.  Who knows?  Maybe that guy had mechanicals too.

After the race the organizers have a great pig roast.  They start cooking the pig on an open spit over an open fire as the race starts.  It is absolutely delectable.  Served up with green salad, macaroni salad, and cookies.  And supplemented by a couple of my own delicious #9s.

Harry named the pig Dave.  Dave was delicious.

All in all a great day's racing.

Oh, and

• Potter did five laps and took first of all females and fifth overall.
• Segenchuk did five laps as well and took 5th in male expert/elite and 7th overall.
• Brian Spring did three laps and took 14th in sport.
• Chris Gagnon did five laps (although he was in under six hours and could have gone out for a 6th) and took third in male expert/elite and third overall.

Great race.  Hope to do it again next year.

Millstone Trails - Barre, VT

Last weekend we brought Harry up to his first sleep away camp in Sharon, VT. We were dropping off Sunday afternoon, but went up Friday afternoon and made a weekend of it. I decided to bring my mountain bike to get some miles in to prepare for the Vermont 666 race this weekend. We stayed in the Stage Coach Stop Hostel in Vershire, which was pretty close to Harry's camp. I'd not recommend this place. It was $45/night which was great, but you get what you pay for. A little out of date. No wi-fi. No cell signal. And the bathroom was just dirty enough to make me want to wear sandals into the shower.

Anyhow, we went to Woodstock on Saturday afternoon and I asked about local trails near Vershire at the LBS. The guy working the counter thought there were some, but didn't know anything about them. He recommended shlepping over to Barre to hit Millstone.

I did try to find some local stuff Saturday afternoon riding out of the hostel and was successful in finding the Cross Rivendell Trail which runs 36 miles across a number of towns. It was billed as foot traffic only, but it had been pretty dry and I decided to check it out. I took it toward Flagpole Hill. I probably got a 1/2 mile, but it was up and Up and UP. It definitely wasn't made for bikes (just like the sign said). It was pretty smooth single track, but the climb was so unforgiving. I turned around and bombed down. Wound up putting on 14.5 miles, but mostly dirt roads and some paved road. Not what I was hoping for.

Cori, super wife extraordinaire, suggested maybe we could drop me off at Millstone Sunday morning before we headed down to Camp Downer to drop Harry off. Arm twisted, I agreed to suck it up and ride Millstone. I've been hearing about it for a while now.

It was about a 40 minute ride up from where we were staying in Vershire. We stopped at the Soup N' Greens Restaurant for a really good breakfast in Barre. I had the chipped beef over toast with home fries. Awesome!

We located the Touring Center for Millstone with a little work. Bought my $10 day pass from a super friendly attendant, albeit one who was quite obviously not a mountain biker. She asked me my level and I decided to say advanced. She suggested I go right out the back and start following the red arrows. That was supposed to tie together two and a half hours of their premier advanced single track. She also mentioned a bunch of new trails - Roller Coaster, Screamin' Demon, Harrington Heights, but said they weren't on the red loop.

I decided to take the 2:30 hour lap. Cori agreed to meet me 2:45 later. Despite having been told that Millstone was more about the flow than big ups and downs, I felt like I was climbing out of the gate. I was heading up to the Grand Lookout, from which I was told I'd be able to see all the way to Canada. It was a steady climb on a fire road with deep quarries on both sides, but the climb was not too steep. I knew from what I'd been told that I'd hit the Lookout and head right back down. About 2/3 of the way up I was summoned off the red loop by the Sirens' song of Roller Coaster summoning me to my left. So much for the red loop.

I started into the Roller Coaster following right beside a three million foot drop into a water filled quarry. There were some cut slab of granite at the end that had a wicked cool series of bridges down them. The bridges were very well built. They were kind of like if you put your fingers together interlocked knuckle to knuckle and tilted into the center. That made it so if you slipped, you'd slip toward the center of the bridge.


Within a 1/2 mile of starting Roller Coaster I was again drawn off the trail. This time by Screamin' Demon. This trail was super fun, technical rolly single track. There was one area where I was headed down a rock that was slick and off camber, falling to my right. I was sliding down the slope of the rock and downward at the same time. It was steep enough down that I was thoroughly unable to stop. I saw the dip at the bottom and knew I was going over. And go over I did. That was the hardest I've hit my helmet on a rock. I got up dazed, shook it off and took a physical inventory. I was all there. Time to move on.

After some fun bridges and wooden planked berms covered in chicken wire, I was back on Roller Coaster. I got a little stuck after that for about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. I was stuck in Abbott's Run, Rock and Roll, and Holy Roller. There was a really cool spot called Train Wreck in this vicinity.

But after riding past this four times I still hadn't found my way back to the other trails. I rode back to Roller Coaster a couple of times, but it was a one way down the way I came. Eventually a local came by and explained my best bet was going out to the road and the Touring Center where I started was right around the corner. He was headed to Harrington Heights and was singing its praises. He offered to show me over there, but I opted to get out and back onto the main Red Loop again.


This time I headed all the way up to the Grand Lookout, almost tempted back into Roller Coaster, but I tied myself to my mast and made it past and onward. The view from Grand Lookout was all it was cracked up to be. If you rode past the edge, you were facing a certain death. I was going to say a quick and certain death, but I imagine it would take you quite a while to reach bottom.

I headed back down the trail and picked up Whetmore, staying on the red loop. Some nice single track. Went past a weird area with piles of granite slab and on top of that all sorts of steel cables and on top of that a wind turbine. An old car sat at the bottom of the pile.




I crossed over the road and hit some nice trails. I remember Switchback being a lot of fun. Although I did encounter a family of four riding with a dog that chose to abandon the family and ride with me for a LONG way. Finally, they reclaimed control of Rosie and I continued on my way. As I'd wasted too much time when I was side tracked on Roller Coaster, I wasn't going to be able to finish the red loop. I headed back from whence I had come. Made it back to the Touring Center area with a half hour left and decided to hit Roller Coaster and Scremin' Demon one more time.

So how was Millstone. Hilly. Fun. Infuriating (when I was stuck). I'd really like to get back there with a full day to explore. And maybe some locals to show me around. Definitely worth the trip and worth the $10 fee. Do it.

Final Stats: 12.491 miles at 7.4 mph average.

Two Rides: Flat and Fast

I did two rides last week.  Nothing monumental, but I'm starting to ramp it up a bit to get ready for the Buzzards Bay Triathlon, which is coming up in September.

My first ride of the week was hill repeats.  My friend Wendy and I were scheduled to ride up and down Thompson Hill 2 or 3 times.  So I headed out towards the dam.  Just as I was starting to cross the dam, I heard the dreaded sound.  Hissssssss.  No, not snakes.  A flat tire.  Ugh.  Big confession.  I don't know how to change a flat.  I don't even have any equipment to do it.  I carry a spare tube.  So I called Rob and he came right down to rescue me.  While I was waiting for Rob, I texted Wendy to let her know I'd be late.  The dam is narrow.  It is one lane in each direction with absolutely no shoulder.  Quite the opposite, it has a guardrail with a steep drop off on both sides.  I was smack dab in the middle of the dam.  So I just sat down on the guardrail and waited.  Many cars drove by and no one stopped to offer help or see if I was okay.  That seems normal to me.  But then a state police officer drove by.  Nothing.  Not are you okay?  Do you need help?  Can I make a call for you.  Nothing.  I'm still stewing about it now (a week later).  Wendy rode up to the dam to make sure I was okay.  And of course, Rob changed my tire for me.  Wendy and I still got in the hill repeats.  All good.  Lesson learned:  don't ever forget your cell phone on a ride!  Or bring a person who can change a tire.  Or learn how to change a tire.

This is where I got a flat tire.  No shoulder, steep drop off.

My second ride was fast.  I rode with my friend Ken.  We did the same route that I did recently in the big ring.  But faster.  It didn't feel crazy strenuous because we were chatting the whole way.  I was packing up Harry for camp that day and Ken had just gotten back from touring college campus' with his daughter.  Oh the parallels I was drawing between the two situations.  Soon Harry will not be going to camp but will be off to college.  It happens that fast.  I know.  But back to the ride:  it felt good to go that fast!
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Stats:  (I forgot to clear out my computer between rides, so these are both rides combined)
22.32 miles
13.1 average MPH (Ken tells me our ride was a 14.9 average, so those hill repeats did me in!)
30.7 max speed
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Take care and keep pedaling!
~Cori

Thompson Kids' Ride Program Recap

Last Thursday marked the final week of the kids' mountain biking program in Thompson, CT. Last year I had strung together some kids' rides with friends, but thought I'd try to do something more formal this year. Renee Waldron from Thompson Rec happily obliged.

We did an eight week program at the West Thompson Dam, although two of those weeks were rained out. Another one of my Wednesday night crew, Dave Violette, was kind enough to assist with the program. It would have been impossible without another volunteer. Big props to Dave for coming through, especially when he didn't even have a kid in the program. Thanks Dave!

The program had ten kids signed up, including my son Harry. All were between nine and 12 and they were equally split between boys and girls. Most of the kids were pretty consistent in their attendance, although summer vacations and baseball playoffs definitely took their toll.

We had a great summer of rides. Starting with just a little single track and rides of less than 2.5 miles to the last ride we did which was almost all single track and was nearly five miles. Several of the kids showed significant growth in skills and endurance. By the end a few of the kids were approaching some of the tougher obstacles with an eye on getting over them rather than with an eye of figuring out where they should get off their bikes.

The penultimate week we had Ben Stone show up from Bicycle Concepts in Putnam to give the kids a quick bike clinic. Super awesome. Thanks Ben!

The Thompson Villager also showed up that week and did an awesome write up that appeared on page A-9 in last weeks' paper.

The program was only $10 per child and all received a water bottle and a t-shirt. The kids really seemed to like it. In the end we rode a total of 19.89 miles together.

Harry talked to a ton of kids at camp today that had read the article in the paper. I think he liked that quite a bit. Hoping to do the program again next year.

Quick Ride

I had a superbusy day today but decided I really needed to get back in the saddle.  I hadn't ridden since Grey Fox, which is the third weekend in July.  While Rob and Harry were off on the kid's mountain bike ride at the dam, I decided to do a quick road ride.

I took a right out of my driveway and found I was already in the big ring.  I thought of Beckie and all the training that she has been doing for the Pan Mass Challenge.  She has been training for a 120 mile ride.  That Lance Armstrong is also doing.  To crush cancer.  She and 5,000 cyclists are riding this weekend.  I decided right then and there that I would ride this entire short loop in the big ring. 

I took a right onto a windy country road that also happens to have some rolling hills.  I was just starting to get in my head, thinking how hard some of these rollers would be without my middle ring when I came around the corner and saw a beautiful deer just standing in the road.  I unclipped and stopped in an effort to not spook him.  Got out my phone and started to take some pictures while the deer just stood there and stared at me.  When a truck finally came along and stopped, the deer still just stood there motionless.  Both of us were talking to it trying to coax it off the road.  And then some idiot cyclist came up behind the pickup truck and passed it on the left narrowly missing the deer and just pedaled away at full speed.  He never even looked at the deer or acknowledged the people standing in the road.  Sometimes you have to take time to observe the beauty.  This was one of those times.

It's a little hard to see, but there is a deer in the road ahead.

Here's the deer starting to scamper away.

When the deer finally ran off into the woods, I continued on my way.  And suddenly, those rolling hills seemed easy.  Big ring and all.  I turned left to go up by Roseland Park.  I had to stand up a bit to make it up that hill, but I never dropped gears.  And the rest of the ride home was uneventful.

Beautiful night for a ride!  I'm so glad I got out again, even if it was a short ride.
Good luck and happy pedaling to all who are doing the Pan Mass Challenge this weekend!

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Stats:
8.42 miles
14.00 MPH average
26.7 max speed
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~Cori

Recycling: Our July Stats

Well July has come and gone.  Rob decided mid-month to abandon his marathon training which has freed up his time for riding.  So our numbers are on the rise! 

Our Mileage:  222.16

1. Rob rode 43.5 miles on the road and 110.77 in the woods.
2. Cori rode 50.67 miles on the road and 4.1 in the woods.
3. Harry rode 13.12 miles in the woods.

How far is 222.16 miles?  Well, if we started at our house in Thompson, CT and went north-ish for 222.99 miles, we would be in Stowe, VT!  But you wouldn't want that.  Because we wouldn't come back.  Ever.

Random Stats:

# of races - Big fat zero. 
# of states ridden in: 4 (CT, MA, RI, NY).
# of states ridden in 1 day:  3 (Rob rode to the tri-state marker where MA, CT and RI meet).
# of bike commutes - Big fat zero.  It was too damn hot!
# of tires changed - Big fat zero.  Woo hoo!

Coming in August:

Rob is racing the Vermont 30 and the Treasure Valley Rally
Harry is doing the 4 mile Youth/First Timers race at the Treasure Valley Rally
Cori will be starting to do some training rides to get ready for the Buzzards Bay Triathlon in mid-September.
The last Thompson Rec-sanctioned kids' ride at the West Thompson Dam will happen 8/4.  
Hopefully, we will have time to post more than twice!  But rest assured, we are out there pedaling!