Race Review - The Pinnacle Challenge

October 2nd was the Pinnacle Challenge in Newport, NH.  I learned about this race at the 2010 Pinnacle mountain bike race at the same venue.  I had overheard a couple of guys talking after that race about another race that involved running and biking.  That pricked up my ears.  When they kept talking for another minute or so without mentioning swimming, I was very interested.  If god wanted us to swim competitively, he would have made silly little rubber caps and big thick neoprene suits for us to dress in while we did it.  Anyhow, I did the Pinnacle Challenge in October 2010 and had a great time, so went back for more this year.

The race is four events.  Last year's order was a 4.8 mile road run followed by a 13.75 mile road ride followed by a 5.5 mile mountain bike ride followed by a 3.65 mile trail run.  This year they mixed it up a little and swapped the bike rides.  The runs were done in the same order though.


I've been running and biking plenty throughout the past several months, but not together.  I forget how tricky it is switching modes.  I did a bunch of rides with runs on the tail end of them to prep for the race.  I think it paid off pretty well.

Leading up to the race we had a good weekend weather report as of midweek, but it deteriorated quickly as we drew closer.  We woke up in Sunapee Saturday morning to the steady thrum of rain on the motel windows.  The weather forecast for Sunday (race day) looked downright dismal.  But I was pre-regged and we were in NH already.  We made the best of the day (see Cori's blog) and went to bed still expecting heavy rain in the morning.

We woke up Sunday and were pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't raining yet.  I had packed up my stuff for each transition in plastic bags the night before so it would at least start off dry.  We packed up the car and headed over to the venue.  We were there about an hour before the race.  Plenty of time to get set up.  I picked up my number and super-sweet wicking shirt.

I changed up into my bibs and Fisher jersey.  I wasn't sure about what to wear, but thought I'd be happiest with a lightweight chamois for the biking portions.  Not perfect for running, but probably my best option.

I found my friend and co-worker, Glenn Converse, before the race and after the racers meeting we headed over to the start for the run.  Still no rain.

We were hanging out at the start and caught up in a conversation about movies when out of nowhere, we hear the gun.  Oh geesh.  Go!  I hit the start on my stopwatch and got my feet going.  I think it also happened last year that I wasn't quite ready for the starting gun. 

I was definitely toward the back of the starting pack, but moved up pretty quickly.

The course is a fairly flat for the first mile or so before it goes through a covered bridge and starts heading up a couple of small hills.  It's an out and back.  I was probably two to three minutes from the turnaround when the leader was coming at me and he was flying.  I like the out and back because I like seeing all of the other racers, whether they are before or after me.  Great way to gauge your position.  I made it up to the turnaround and started heading back.  Pretty uneventful.  I held my position for the last half.  I finished in 33:44, just a hair over 7 minute miles.  Still not raining!

Into transition.  I had to change shoes, put on my helmet and gloves and grab a quick snack.  Somehow I managed to do this slower than everyone else.  Literally everyone.  Out of the 26 solo entrants in the race, I came in 26th, spending 3:29 in the transition.  Hmm.  I'm doing something wrong.

Headed out on the mountain bike.  Within the first mile you have to shoulder your bike and climb a ridiculous flight of stairs that lead up to a ski jump.

This is the shot we took the day before.

I'd picked up my mountain bike from Bicycle Concepts in Putnam three days before with a whole new drivetrain.  It had been raining ever since and I literally hadn't taken a single pedal stroke on the new drivetrain before I started the race.  The course was pretty muddy, but not in as bad of shape as I would have expected given the amount of rain there had been recently.  The drivetrain held up well and I was able to gain quite a few spots on the ride.

The course has a lot of steady climbing to the top (or Pinnacle) before it starts heading down.  Both were pretty hard in their own way.  The down was s-k-e-t-c-h-y.  Rocks and off camber roots that were really slick.  I didn't trust anything and was probably more tentative than I should have been through most of that stuff.  On the bright side, this was my fourth race at this venue, so I'm getting to know the trails pretty well.  That definitely helped with pacing myself.  I finished the 5.5 mile mountain bike course up the side of the mountain and back down in 40:56 for an 8.06 mph average and 9th of 26 on that stage.


I made it down to the bottom and headed back toward transition.  I had been at a triathlon a couple of weeks before and was pretty impressed with the fluid motion of getting off the bike and running into transition.  I unclipped my right foot and swung it over the saddle so I was just on my clipped left foot as I hit the transition mat.  I was looking super smooth.  And then I couldn't get my left foot unclipped and became a bumbling mess.  Fortunately, I didn't fall.  I made it into transition and did much better this time.  6th out of transition in 41 seconds.

Out on the road bike. And you know what?  STILL NOT RAINING!!!!  That was huge as I expected rain during the road ride to turn things treacherous. 

The road course is a solid 10 miles of FLAT riding along the river before taking a left and heading up a 3/4 mile hill and lollipopping around to finish on the same flat road.   The flat section was really nice and I was probably averaging between 19.5 and 21.0 mph.  Just cranking along.  I made myself rehydrate here because it was the easiest event to rehydrate on.  Just keep pushing the big ring.  The hill was almost comical.  As I turned on to it I saw about 20 riders strung out all over it.  It was truly a monster.  There were actually people riding the hill going back and forth traversing the road on the way up.  People in front of me, who I would have to guess must be pretty strong.

I made it up and then started the descent to get back to the flat road.  The descent was really nice with a couple of small rollers in it.  I was a little worried when I got toward the bottom and there was a church letting out.  The race had a dedicated traffic director there though and I was able to fly by the church at 31 mph without dying.

I lost a couple of spots to guys on pretty serious bikes on the return flat section.  They just had bigger engines.  I wasn't too worried though as most of them had ankle chips on, meaning that they were competing as a relay team, not solo.  I made it back to the transition area and, after my mountain bike dismounting fiasco, got off the road bike slowly and cleanly.  I finished the 13.75 mile road ride in 43:30, averaging 19 mph.  10th out of the 26 solo competitors.



My bike to run transition was slow again.  I took 2:20 to park the bike and gear up for running again.  That was 21st out of 26.

The last leg is the 3.65 mile trail run.  I came out of transition without any legs at all.  I had the form of running, but a 76 year old grandmother with a bad hip and a cane would probably have outpaced me.  I got to the (stupid) stairs again and had to walk up them.  No one else was running them either though.  I started to catch my stride a little, but was still not going fast enough for my liking.  I passed a couple of people, but heard a few others coming up on me.  Every once in a while you can see glimpses of those behind you through the woods.  I was definitely losing ground to what looked to be a pack.  As I was climbing the final ride to the highest point in the trail run, I looked back.  Unlike Orpheus, the woman I saw when I looked back did not fade back to Hades.  Instead she kept coming harder and stronger.    And with some guy on her heels.  They were like a freight train barreling through the woods.  That worried me.  How could they be running so fast?  I tried to make my legs move faster and they did something surprising.  They responded.  Nonetheless the girl blew by me a couple of minutes later.  I jumped on her coat tails and started down the hill with her.  I wasn't fast enough though.  I probably hung on a quarter mile, but then she started pulling away and the guy who had been following her ran past me as well and out of sight.  While I never saw them again, they were great for me.  I managed to keep my legs for the whole rest of the downhill and  finished the race strong.  My 3.65 mile trail run clocked in at 32:57 for a 9:01 pace and 10th of 26.
 
So my results in all the events were 9th and 10th places with some dismal transitions, but I still managed to snag 9th overall of the 26 solos and 4th in my age group.  Very pleased with the results.  Great awards ceremony in theNewport High School cafeteria afterwards while scarfing down a Newport Rotary Club BBQ.

And still not raining...

Great race.  Already looking forward to next year!