Glocester Grind 2012 Race Review

 I was going to write this blog earlier, but I just got out of that last mud pit a few minutes ago.  Two other guys were still stuck when I finally got out. I grabbed a picture before I left.

This was my third year doing this race.  I'm becoming a big fan of the Grind.  It's uber-technical and I ride it pretty well. This year it is the second race in the EFTA series.  It was a last minute addition after some confusion and another race having to pull out.  I hope they're back again next year.

I showed up for the elite/expert/singlespeed/sport heats going off at 11:00 am.  The novices had gone off earlier and most were wrapping up as I was getting ready.  The day before the race it had rained two inches.  Pretty much non-stop, all day.  I think I've managed to stay dryer while swimming than I found myself to be during the disc golf tournament I had played in on Saturday.  But that's another story.

The good news is that Sunday I woke up to drop-dead gorgeous temps and blue skies.  I conjured up some hope that maybe things would have dried out a little.  Those hopes were quickly dashed as I took my first glance at the earlier heats coming out.  Mud, crud and more than a little blood.  

Upon arrival I bumped into Steve Segenchuk, Matt Chandler and Jon Modig.  All racing expert.  Matt and Jon had ridden to the race together and showed up early enough to ride a full warm-up lap.  My deductive superpowers were substantiated.  Muddy it would be.  I was able to pick up a couple of good pointers on what to expect and how to handle it.  Probably not as good as riding it myself, but I saved the legs and the drivetrain.  In the end, I have to say I'm content with my decision.

Cori came down to the race to assume her role as spectator extraordinaire.  We kicked around for a little bit checking out the goings on, collecting my number, snapping pictures and getting geared up before I took my bike to the road to stretch out the old gams.

Team Bums - Me and Matt Chandler

 Unlike Weeping Willow two weeks prior, the sports were grouped with the experts this time, so no hopes of being the first group out at my start time.  We watched the elites, experts and singlespeeds go out, then queued up ourselves.  My wave was 12 riders between 40 and 49 years old.

Next up!

The course starts by wrapping around a sizable lawn before heading into the woods.  I was middle of the pack by the time we hit the trees.  Having learned from my mistakes last race, I fell into the line and did not try to pass in places that had a higher likelihood of losing me spots than gaining them.

The course is advertised as three laps of six miles apiece, but in reality is closer to 4.75 miles per lap.  I slowly picked up some places, but wasn't sure exactly who it was I was passing due to the numerous groups that had gone out in front of me.  I was riding well, but was stuck in line and, as lines go, was getting caught up periodically. Keeping it out of my head, I focused on riding the smart race.

Some of the highlights of the course include several really tough rock gardens.  I think if I were in a battle defending against an army of mountain bikers, I might lay a line of rocks exactly like these to stop them from getting through.  There were also some pretty deep mud holes.  You never quite knew what you were getting into.  Thin, watery mud.  Thick, goopy mud.  Super stinky mud.  My favorite though is the mud hiding the unnavigable rocks with eel-like roots twisting through them.

Just over the rock.

And Modig doing the same.

There were a couple of bridges as well.  One was topped by plywood.  As it turns out, wet, muddy plywood is not grippy.  This was one of the course features of which I had been forewarned by Matt and Jon, who both fell during their warm-up lap.  First time through, I decided t try going through the water instead of testing the bridge.  It did not work.  I dabbed. I am not sure if dab is the right word.  Dab sounds light and graceful.  While it was only my feet that touched, the sound was more of a ker-plunk.  Next two times I rode the bridge.  I rode it slow and I rode it evenly, but I rode it all the way through.  I think Ted Stevens may have had something to do with its construction though, for it was truly a bridge to nowhere, landing me squarely in a mud bog.  The only hope was to risk a wheelie drop off the end of the plywood and hope to get ample purchase to pull through the mud.  I succeeded.  Somehow.

One thing I really thought was pretty cool in the race was a new area that was clear cut.  I'm not great with eyeballing area, but it had to be several acres.  The course followed the clear cut area all the way across and then turned, came back all the way, headed into the woods again and then came out and back again.  This resulted in being able to see riders strung out all the way through this barren wasteland.  I found it to be a gorgeous scene.


I had a couple of good crashes in the second lap.  The first was resultant of a poor job navigating through a pretty tricky rock garden.  I went down pretty hard, but just some bumps and bruises to me.  I also smacked my brake lever and bent it.  Still rideable though.

Brake broke

The second crash was in one of the aforementioned mud/rock/root pits.  That one was a little more problematic.  I forgot to mention that 10 days before the race I sprained my left middle finger.  Really sprained it.  It was quite swollen and I couldn't bend it.

I think it's twins!

Post-race and slightly mangled

 Race day (and still today, almost a week later) it was splinted and protruding from my left handlebar.  The good news is I get to flip everyone off.  The bad news is its pretty vulnerable and I couldn't used it for things like holding onto the handlebars and braking.  This second crash caught the splint on the brake lever or handlebar and ripped it almost all the way off.  Ouch!  I had to stop in that mud pit and take the time to rebend the splint to it's original form and fit it back on.  That involved removing gloves and all sorts of other time consuming nonsense.  Lost some good time there and a wee bit o' confidence.


The beginning of the third lap I was going back and forth with another guy.  He looked young, but I wasn't sure how old.  He was certainly super friendly and we chatted a little. He had driven down from New Hampshire for the race.  I finally asked and found out he was in the 19 - 29 age group.  Not my competition.

I wasn't really sure what place I was in, but in the wasteland near the end of the third lap I was passed by a guy whose number was close enough to mine to know he was definitely my age group.  I just couldn't hang on as he went by.  Another passed me with probably a mile or less to go.  A little frustrating, but I kept plugging away.  They were the only two who got by me in the end.

I finished the race in 1:55:06.  As it turns out, before I was passed in the last lap, I was in second place.  Those two guys put me into fourth.  After nearly two hours of riding, I was 25 seconds out of third and 37 seconds out of first.  Still pretty happy, but would have loved the podium.

Other folks I know who raced finished as follows:

Steve Segenchuk: 1:41:07 - 4th of 9 starters (7 finishers) in Expert Vet II.
Matt Chandler: 1:41:25 - 5th of 10 starters (8 finishers) in Expert Vet I
Jon Modig: 1:39:51 - 2nd of 4 starters (4 finishers) in Expert Junior

Congrats to Jon for the podium.  And for outracing Steve and Matt (and, of course, me).  And congrats to all who came out and made this race great yet again this year.

Post-ride all were a muddy, muddy mess. So muddy that I didn't even mind heading across the street like many others and washing up in the pond.  It didn't smell that great, but neither did I.   

Next up, The Pinnacle in Newport, NH, on 6/17. 

Little muddy

Pond scum