The Pinnacle 2012 - Race Recap

Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  What the hell?  I raise my head from my pillow.  It's 4:00 am on the nose, an hour and ten minutes before the alarm is set to go off.  What's that noise?  Thunk.  Thunk.  thunk.  I look out the bedroom window to watch a car with a flat tire driving down the road.  It's stopping and going, presumably undecided as to how to handle its current dilemma.  It eventually drives away.  Thunk.  Thunk.  thunk.  Thank god.  I roll over.  Maybe a little more than half awake.  I didn't get to sleep until after 10 pm.  I need more sleep before the race.  I put a pillow over my head.  Don't think about the race.  Drifting back off to... Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  The driver changed his mind and is driving back past the other way.  It's over.  I'm doing this on six hours sleep.

It's Father's Day and my wife has magnanimously given me leave to ride the Pinnacle again, but has opted to go visit her own folks with Harry rather than schlep him 2.5 hours each way to Newport, NH, and back. I can't blame her.  She's made that trip with me three of the four previous times I've been up.  I believe that makes her eligible for canonization.

Anyhow, I wanted to get on the road by 6:00 am and had no trouble achieving this goal given my early rising.  A quick kiss on my semi-sleeping wife's forehead, shove a couple of last minute things in the cooler and out the door.  Mission accomplished.

I know racers like to talk about nutrition, so I'll let you all in on a little nutrition secret of mine.  A dirty, little secret.  Dunkin Donuts blueberry cakes.  Two of 'em.  If you show up before 6:00 am, the donut lady may have to go get them from the back room.  You might wonder why they're not warm if that's the case.  I find it better to pretend I didn't notice.  And an XL french vanilla hot coffee with cream and sugar.  There, now you can be middle of the pack in sport, too.  You're welcome.

I learned a lesson last year while driving up for this race.  I'd like to think it's as insightful as the donut lesson, but I think most of you probably already know this one.  Listen to the GPS.  It's better than you at figuring out how to get there, wherever there is.  Last year I struck out on my own against the advice of my Garmin.  An nearly missed the race.  This year I listened.  And you know what?  I was there an hour before the race started.  When you arrive early instead of late you have time to do things like consider your gear as you get it ready, use the bathroom, pre-ride.  All useful tasks in preparing to race.

On my way in to grab my number, lucky 245, I run into Brian Spring.  The only other guy I know there racing sport.  He was supposed to have been at the Grind two weeks earlier, but as it turns out had fallen ill and forfeited his preregistration.  That seems pretty sucky to me.  Here he was not preregistered and was ready to race.  Ever a mystery, Mr. Spring.  He was doing quite a bit better as of late and only had a lingering morning cough.  Things were looking up for Brian.

I grabbed my number, hit the head (school bathrooms beat the not-so-proverbial crap out of portapotties) and went out to do a little pre-riding.  Trying to preserve the delicate balance between working out the kinks and not overdoing it.  I climbed up and did the Plummet a couple of times.  Everything seemed to be firing pretty well and the small section of trail I came across looked super.

Pinnacle Plummet!!!!!!

At 9:15 we headed over to the start area for the racer's meeting.  As we were getting ready to hear what the director had to tell us, a guy came up to me and said, "You're Rob, right?"  Turns out that he had read my blog posts and was one of the two guys who beat me out during the last stretch of the Glocester Grind.  Nate Elder.  He is also the first person I've met who knew the blog before he knew me.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Almost cool enough to forgive him for stealing my Grind podium.  Elder.

When I had first arrived in Newport I recall having been a little chilly when I exited the car.  The early morning clouds were still breaking and the sun hadn't made it in to warm everything up yet.  By the time we were ready to race though, it was much warmer.  76.1 F according to the thermometer on my bike computer.  Most folks were standing in the shade.  I knew it would be plenty warm, but was thankful that most of the course would be shaded.

I found out at the racer's meeting that Sport Senior and Vet I would go off at 9:30 and that Vet II would be out two minutes after that to give the crowd some time to thin before hitting the singletrack.  The Elites and Experts would be going off after our race, at 12:00.  The novices were off on the heels of the Sport groups.  At 9:32 we were off, right on time.


I had lined up well and had a pretty good position as we were about to hit the first section of doubletrack climbing.  At least I thought I had.  Just as we were going in about half the field passed me.  Geesh.  I wasn't last, but was definitely the last 25%.  I started to get worried, but decided to remember that this is a long race and there would be plenty of time to earn my position in the end. I also knew there would be a fair amount of doubletrack throughout the course in which to grab places. 

So I didn't get too caught up having lost those places.  I grabbed a few back in the first quarter mile before we hit the short piece of paved road and about five more taking a slightly gnarlier, but very doable, line up a hill on a wide piece of trail.  That helped clear my head. 

The course is challenging, but fun.  The Pinnacle is about 550' of vertical per lap (I think).  The Sport group was doing a half lap, cutting out the second half of the ascent, followed by two full laps.  Full laps were just a shade over five miles.

The full lap had a steady climb up to begin.  Over a couple of small bridges and dumping out at a pair of water towers.  That's where the course turns to a jeep road that climbs.  And climbs.   The beginning lulls you into a false sense of being able just to drop your gears, drop your heads and pedal.  About a third of the way up though, it gets just a little wet and the turns to large, loose stones interspersed with wet ledge.  Pay attention or prepare to unclip.  Mistakes are generally not forgiven.

After what seems forever, but is probably a third to a half mile, a singletrack forms along the left side of the jeep road and the course veers onto the same.  It's still pretty tough going for a while until it settles into a pattern of very welcome switchback climbing.  The switchbacks eventually dump you back on the road you had been climbing and you follow jeep road up to the Pinnacle.  That's where the fun starts.  There a long fairly straight descent that eventually throws you onto a short piece of fire road before you do a little more singletrack climbing and then hit some fun rock ledge built into the trail.  That takes you into the pump track which takes you into the berms.  From there its pretty much all down to the start/finish area where you start to climb back up and do it all over again.

Let me back up.  I said berms and moved on like they were inconsequential.  These berms, however, are the bomb.  High built rock piles covered with dirt letting riders fly into the turns and out just as fast.  These are berms that you read about.  I know this because you just did.

Jon Modig comes through the berms racing Expert Junior.

2012 Olympic Mountain Biker Lea Davison killin' it.

And Steve Segenchuk, racing Expert Vet II, killing himself to hang on!

 Experts!

I noticed pretty early on that my left hand was killing me on the descents.  My finger is still not quite healed from a sprain about three and a half weeks before the race, but it's really more my palm on the bar that's hurting.  Not sure what that's all about.  I'm kind of falling apart.  Whatever it is, it's stealing away a little downhill confidence, but almost instantly feels better whenever I start climbing.  Of  course then my legs and lungs start to groan.  No injury there.  Unless you allow that I might have sustained a broken will.  To do hill repeats. About 42 years ago.

Other than that, feeling pretty good.  I was gaining a couple of spots here and there and giving up less, so that's got to be positive.

Climbing up the second time, I've got company.  Another guy in my age group I later find out by looking up his number is Colin Johannen.  He was chatty and recognized my Bums kit and we talked about the Treasure Valley Rally.  Really nice guy.  Except for his ability to hold a conversation while climbing like it's no thang.  I didn't like that about him.  Anyhow, Colin said he absolutely adores the TVR.   Nice to hear such great feedback.  Chatty Colin pulled away and I was left climbing on my own.

The rest of lap two was uneventful.  I climbed.  I descended. I rode well.  I rode mostly alone.  Around the top of the climb I was passed by a mountain goat in a unitard.  I'm cool with that.  If you're rocking a unitard, I expect you to pass me.

Third lap was a schlog of a climb, but once I hit the top, I gave it everything I had.  That said, it was tough gaining on the downhill.  I don't think the extra gear has as much impact as it would during the climbing.  As I hit the pump track though, it started to pay off.  I was catching glimpses of folks in front of me and before I knew it I was passing El Unitardo.

Shortly after I started running into the novice group, presumably finishing their second lap.  All were super cool and moved over before I said anything.  They even offered some words of encouragement.  I tried to reciprocate, but was pushing hard.  Hopefully I didn't come off as an ass.

After getting by the novices, I hit the berms and heard a racer coming up on my wheel.  I figured it must have been one of the people I'd recently passed.  I held my position for a little bit and when I couldn't shake whoever it was, I let them pass.  Guess who?  Elder!

I tried stepping it up to hang on and make it a spring to the finish, but this guy's got kick like nobody's business and I was soon alone, my salty tears running down my sweaty face.

I did finish strong and came into the finish a mere 11 seconds post-Elder.  As it turns out, I've been just behind Nathan Elder all season. One place behind him at Weeping Willow.  Two behind at Glocester.  And now one behind at the Pinnacle.  Going to have to work on that.

My final stats:

1.7 mile warm up.
13.368 miles raced
1:40:07 elapsed
    19:39.50 - Lap 1 (1/2 lap)
    40:20:08 - Lap 2
    40:09.42 - Lap 3
32.9 mph max
8.3 mph avg
8th/19 in Sport Vet II

After the race I had a chance to speak with Brian Spring, who came in a few minutes after me.  His cold, it seems, was only abated when not climbing mountains on bicycles.  He said he was coughing like crazy through the course.  Still finished a respectable 12th.  Nice work!

After the race, I put my bike up on the Element and walked the course to get some pictures and video. of the Expert and Elite heats.  Those racers are sooooo fast.  It's awe inspiring to watch.

 Experts!

Steve pays homage to Gene Simmons.  Or maybe Michael Jordan.

Nearing the top on lap 3.  Probably questioning riding 69 miles yesterday.

Alby loves to dress up as his favorite superhero.  Bikeman.

I later learned from Steve Segenchuk that Lea Davison, one of two women on the Olympic Mountain Biking Team, raced the elite heat.  She's the one killing it in red in the video clip below.

All in all, another great time at the Pinnacle.  Maybe I'll work on the hills between now and next year.  Next confirmed race - the Hampshire 100 where I'll be racing the 100K option in August.  May try to get the Hodges race in before that in early August.

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

Tour of Italy

Well hello.  It's been awhile since I've done anything worthy of a post.  But I'm back with some big news.  And yes it is about biking.

I'm going to Italy.  To tour Venice and the surrounding area by bike.  With my girlfriends.  It's going to be awesome.  It's going to be epic.  Rob is envious.

Here is the itinerary:

Day 1: Vicenza - Individual arrival. A nice and cosy historical city centre characterized by the buildings of the famous architect Andrea Palladio (16th century).
Day 2: Vicenza – Bassano del Grappa (approx. 25 miles/40 km)From Vicenza you cycle towards Marostica, famous for its castle and the chessboard in the main square. The last stop is Bassano del Grappa with its covered wooden bridge and the “grappa”.
Overnight in Bassano del Grappa.
Day 3: Bassano del Grappa – Treviso (approx. 38 miles/62 km)You enter Asolo, which presents us with the only real uphill section of our ride. The downhill run takes you to the land of Prosecco vineyards and on to Maser. The trip ends in Treviso.
Overnight in Treviso.
Day 4: Treviso – Mestre/Venice (approx. 24 miles/38 km)Leaving Treviso behind you follow the course of the River Sile up to Casale. At the end of the trip Venice awaits for evening among canals and narrow streets; accommodations are in Mestre.
Overnight in Mestre or Venice. A supplement applies for lodging in Venice.
Day 5: Mestre/Venice – Chioggia (approx. 20 miles/33km)
Leaving Mestre this morning you head into Venice pedalling on the 2.5-mile (4 km) bridge “della Libertà”, then to Tronchetto harbour. From here you take a ferry (payable locally) along the canal Giudecca to Lido. It is the most exciting day, pedalling on two narrow islands that divide the sea from the lagoon: Malamocco and the island of Pellestrina.
Overnight in Chioggia.
Day 6: Chioggia – Padua (approx. 37 miles/60 km)You pedal along the two rivers that carried trade in and out of Venice in this area centuries ago: Bacchiglione and Brenta. You continue on to Strà, famous for the majestic Villa Pisani. On arrival in Padua, you will find the great basilica dedicated to St. Anthony, the historic Caffè Pedrocchi and Prato della Valle.
Overnight in Padova.
Day 7: Padua – Vicenza (approx. 30 miles/48 km)The Bacchiglione River points the way out of the the city and you reach Costozza, a little town at the foot of the Berici hills. The bike path passes in front of Villa Rotonda, the most famous of the Palladian villas. Just before entering Vicenza you see the Villa Valmarana ai Nani with its marvellous frescoes by Tiepolo.
Overnight in Vicenza.

Day 8: Vicenza - Departure from Vicenza. 

So that is 6 consecutive days of cycling for a total of 174 miles.  I'm going to need to train for that.

And there seems to be vineyards along the way.  Which means there will be some wine tasting.  And bike riding.  Together.  I'm going to need to train for that.

It's possible I could get a flat tire.  And my husband won't be on the same side of the Atlantic as me.  Uh-oh.  I'm going to need to train for that.

So what is my plan?  It's super laid-back.  Ride often.  Ride with friends in places where we can do some sightseeing, have a glass of wine, and continue riding.  For the next four months, I will spend a lot of time in the saddle.  Get some instruction on changing a flat.  Practice it a few times.  Hope (and maybe freak out a little) that I don't get a flat in Italy.  Ride some more.

I'm also going to read this:

Venice:  Pure City

And watch this:

Under the Tuscan Sun

I'm going to consider the book and movie my cross training. 

Have you ever done a similar bike trip?  Any advice on how to prepare?  I'd love to hear any bits of experience or words of wisdom!!

Ciao!

~Cori

Race Review: Weeping Willow, Ipswich, MA

This past Sunday I raced Weeping Willow at the Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, MA for my first time.  First off, WOW!  Keep your shirts on ladies.  The WOW I'm talking about is more like holy bejeezum.  What a course!  More on that further on.

This year Weeping Willow is the season opener to the EFTA NECS series.  This is a series of eight races running through 9/23/12.  I really like the vibe of the EFTA races.  They seem a little more chill than the Root 66 series.  At least they do to me.

I was pretty excited that I was able to make this race.  It has a good reputation.  I signed up about a month ago when I heard they've sold out or come close to selling out before. This year they sold 425 slots pre-reg for a race that is supposed to sell out at 400 riders.  I suspect they were counting on some no-shows.  Anyhow, I was registered along with several of my riding friends, acquaintances and people I stalk (shhh...).

I spent the weekend at my MIL's in Taunton with Cori and Harry.  Went through the bike head to toe, soup to nuts, A to Z on Saturday afternoon.  Gorgeous day for working on the bike out in the back yard and everything was  dialed.  Or dialed as well as it could be without throwing money at it.  I was in bed for 9:30 Saturday night after a great dinner of pasta, chicken and vegetables and drinking plenty of water (which for me is two glasses).  Up at 6:00 am, showered and out the door for 7:30.

We followed the GPS and were at the venue for 8:40 with an impending start time of 9:30.    Met up with Brian Spring (BMA) immediately.  His parking options were limited.  I guess his Element must have been in the shop because he showed up to the race in this:

BMA beats out a Hummer H2 for least green ride.

The other guy I was parked near.  Fast Car = Fast Rider?

 I caught up with Bryan Gareau and his fiancee April almost immediately afterwards.  This was Gareau's first race since TVR of 2008, where he took first in Vet I Sport, beating Steve Segenchuk out by nearly four minutes.  Gulp.  I've never had the pleasure of racing with BG and was pretty stoked to get out there with him. Although I have to admit my first thought when I heard he was racing was, "Crap, one more position from the podium."  BG can make me feel slow on my fastest day.

Me and BG Pre-Race (notice the tools and water strapped to my back)

My group in particular was stacked.  They sold it out at 50 pre-registered riders.  That's 50 pre-registered males racing Sport between 40 and 49 years old. I don't know how many pre-regged, but between Novice and Expert, there were another fifty-seven 40 - 49 year old males starting.  That's 107 aging men walking around in spandex.  Oh so hot!    

The Sport, Novice and  Clydesdale (fat guys - sorry Clydesdales), were scheduled to go off at 9:30.  The Experts, Elites and Singlespeeds were slotted for a noontime start.  Most of the folks I knew were racing Expert or Elite, so I didn't bump into quite as many people as I knew to be racing.   I did see John Hansson, who is starting racing this year by jumping right into Sport thanks to some crazy-assed advice from Liz Chabot Allen.

The morning was absolutely flawless. Bluebird skies.  Temps were super comfortable.  The past few days had been dry, so I was expecting the course to be grippy with no slipperiness on the roots and rocks.  I was not disappointed.

I got a short warm up in.  Made sure the bike, legs and head were working.  Two out of three ain't bad.  Seriously though, everything felt good.  I was pumped and ready to go.

I've raced a mess of races now over the past three years.  This is the first time that my group has ever been the first to the line.  I'm used to watching several groups go off first, but not this time.  The great thing about being the first group off is that you know that every person in front of you is your competition. And every guy coming up behind you too.  At least for a little while.

Sporty Start!

We went off just about on time.  As it turns out, despite 50 pre-regged riders, we were only 45 deep starting.  That's a whole lot of guys pedaling down the trail.  The race was touted as two laps totaling 15 miles, although in the end I had 16.125 over the two laps.  The first 0.45 miles or so was double track, which had everyone vying for position before we hit the singletrack.  I'm not sure exactly where I was when I got to the singletrack, but I would guess top 20.

We were pretty tight as we got into the woods, just a really long line of pretty quick riders.  I was hoping some folks would mess up in front of me so I could get by, but it wasn't happening for me.  We hit a little more double track and I took a place or two and as we were hitting the singletrack again there were two guys ahead of us trying to get the hole shot.  Neither backed down and they wound up both having to get of their bikes and so did everyone trying to get in behind them, including yours truly.

We got going again and the line of riders started to string out more.  Great.  But the guy in front of me was losing ground to the group in front of him.  That got into my head.  And started to grow.  And grow.  I was working myself into a frenzy.  I'm going to lose the race back here.  Really the guy in front of me should have offered to move.  I probably should have said something.  Instead I waited until I had a place with a 10% chance of successfully passing, went for it and failed miserably.  Then I watched three people who had been behind me pass by me.  Including BG.  Awesome.

So I kept pedaling and slowly worked on picking these folks off.  I made the same mistake one more time, watching four people pass me that time, including Brian Spring.

The lesson I learned here is that I either need to say something to get by or wait until the truly appropriate time to pass.  I fell in and didn't make any more rookie mistakes like this.    I bided my time and slowly passed people where I could.  I was gaining a couple of places and was not losing spots to anyone.  Pretty soon I was behind Brian Spring again.  He made a strong move up a hill on the right where a balance beam ran down the middle. I had stayed left and got caught up behind the guy he was passing, so was back two spots from him.  He looked really solid hauling up that hill. 

At mile 6.5 I heard someone coming up hard behind me.  Then I heard the shout - "30 to 39 coming through."  It was the leader of the wave behind ours.  The guys who are about to be old like me, but aren’t quite there yet.  I moved over when I got a sec and fell in behind him.  He pulled away and I kept plugging along feeling pretty strong (for me).  

Within a minute there was another guy in front of me pulling over asking if me and the guy in front of me were the 30 to 39 group.  He had already pulled over, so I told him no, thanked him for the compliment and took his position from him.  Maybe not the most sportsmanlike conduct, but didn't make sense to wait for him to remount and start riding again.  He never caught me, so I think I made the right decision.

As we emptied out onto double track just before the end of the first lap, I caught Brian Spring and managed to open up enough to get by before we hit the staging area.  Catching the hurrahs of the crowd and the sounds of cowbells, I found another gear and surged into the start/finish area.  Shouts from Harry, Cori and April urging me on.  

I felt great.  Then I saw BG in front of me.  I think I would have been less surprised if I saw Tinker Juarez in front of me.  Really?  Bryan Gareau?  Something was up.  I caught up to him as he was getting a drink at the water table set up there and we rode a little ways together.

Bryan had decided to race bare bones, stripped of any tools, tubes, pumps, CamelBak, etc.  He had only brought one water bottle on the race and had lost that half way through.  He was dehydrated and tanking.  Super-crappy.  Ugh.  

After a little bit I pulled away from BG.  I’m going to say that one more time because I’ll never be able to say it again.  After a little bit I pulled away from BG.  

I was passed shortly thereafter whilst still on double track by some guy with a bicycle link on the back of his biking shorts.  Since he hadn’t passed me on the singletrack, I was taking a stab that he was either (a) a younger age group or (b) a roadie that has good strength, but mezzo-mezzo tech skills.  As soon as we hit the singletrack I realized it was the latter.  Bobbled on the first rock we came to and I was by him.  I made it a point to look out for that rather unique kit when I finished the race so I could stalk him a little.  As it turns out, everyone was wearing that kit.  It was the host shop's kit. So someone in a Riverside Cycle kit's a bit of a roadie.  The truth comes out. Sorry about the milk that came out your nose.  I know it must have been shocking.

 Anyhow, I had a great second lap.  Said hello to Gareau's water bottle.  Held my position pretty well.  Got passed by three guys practically riding in a peloton and who I can only assume were some younger age group as well.  I was trying to ask them their age as they were flying by, but I think the Doppler Effect was messing with our conversation.  Toward the end of the lap I heard someone back just a little way.  They would gain and drop back, gain and drop back.  Not knowing which age group they were in, I attempted, with some modicum of success, to ramp it up.  I pushed hard for the last couple miles.  I managed to hold him off.  By 24 seconds.  He was in my age group.  Glad I pushed now.

Coming into the FINISH!!!

As I crossed the finish, there were a bunch of folks at the finish line milling about.  I was a little worried.  How far back was I?  As it turns out, many of them were in the novice group, who only had to do one lap.  

I was greeted by Cori and April.  And BG.  Uh oh.  He never passed me.  Why was he at the finish line?   As it turns out, he had flatted shortly after we parted ways at the beginning of lap 2.  Riding light was not kind to Bryan this time.  A lost water bottle and a flat.  Crummy race.  Sorry Gareau!

Deflated!

In the end, I finished 9th of 45 starters and 40 finishers in my group.  I was damned pleased with that. 

Post-Race

Other interesting stats:

Lap 1: 41:33

Lap 2: 41:22

=========

Total 1:22:55  (3:51 out of first!)

Total racers starting (all Cats): 429

Total DNFs: 34 (7.9%)

Total CT racers:  12

Racers I know:

Karen Potter: 1/6 - Elite Female

Liz Chabot Allen: DNF - Elite Female

Paul Simoes: 12/33: Elite Male

Alby King: 15/33 - Elite Male

Chris Beriau: 3/4 - Expert Female Veteran

Jon Modig: 3/5 - Expert Male Junior (crashed, I think)

Matt Chandler: 8/21 - Expert Male Veteran I (injured)

Steve Segenchuk - 9/31 - Expert Male Veteran II

John Hannson - 14/15 - Sport Male Senior I (crashed badly) 

Rob Paton - 9/45 - Sport Male Veteran II

Brian Spring - 12/45 Sport Male Veteran II

Bryan Gareau - DNF - Sport Male Veteran II

After my race was done, we went up and got clips of some of the Elite and Expert groups going off.

Male Elite Start

Female Elite Start

Male Expert Junior Start

   

Expert Vet I Start

Expert Vet II Start

All in all, a great day and a great race.  Stoked I made the trip.  Topped it all off with a clam poboy at Captain Carlos' in Gloucester.  Cori got the lobster quesadillas!

Next stop, the Glocester Grind in two weeks!

Goat Hill Time Trials Reprise

This past Tuesday marked the finale of the Goat Hill time trials series in Uxbridge.  Same course as last year.  Same charming timer.  One new face consistently above me in the results every week.

I'd smile, too.

The course was impeccable the first two weeks.  After a very dry spring, we finally picked up some rain and the course turned super grippy.

I gave it hell the first week. I was fast.  So fast.  In fact, I knew I just must have won.  Well, probably.

As it turns out, I did win.  Because first and foremost time trials are a race against yourself.  And then against the eight (yes, eight) jerks that beat you when you feel like you are on top of the world.  The laurels were shared between Matt Chandler and John Beaupre, tied for first with 28:03.  Third place was only four seconds out from first.  Guess who?

Have you been tanning.  You look kind of bronze.

Last year my best go at this 4.75 mile loop was 31:00 flat.  The first week I turned in a 30:55.  Sweet!  Not only did I put up a time slower than eight people.  I put up a time faster than eight people.

That's right.  All you folks with eleven year old kids at home are jumping up and down yelling, "That's the median.  The one in the middle!"  Yes.  It is.

Those of you who are actually checking the results are jumping up and down yelling, "You're a liar.  Ten people beat you!"  Well, I guess you're right also, but technically two of those were people that beat me twice and I'm not counting them.  I know you would have beat me a third time if you had run the course again.  And probably a fourth.  Stop showing off.

Show Off

 The next week turned out to be just as perfect for riding.  A light rain through the ride, but not enough to make it slippery.

Steve Segenchuk hammers out of the start, the roar of the crowd ringing in his ears.

Steve Segenchuk and the crowd.

Did I win, Mike?

How did my week two go?  Well, I was able to shave 48 seconds off for a 30:07.  So close to that 30 minute barrier.  Next week.  That was good for 8th of 18.  Better than median.

The second week winner was Steve Segenchuk with a 27:32.  Second was...

28:19

And rounding out the top three was Derek with a 28:57.  Damn those guys are fast.

I went out after my run and saw how the real bikers do it.

Potter rolling the rock...

And Modig doing the same...

Here's Zimma on the rocks.  Zomething different indeed.

Here's Dave Flynn killing it on the same rocks just before the end of the lap with Jess Bly coming in just behind him. 

And speaking of Jess.  He was 43 seconds behind me the first week.  The second week he cut that down to 17 seconds.  Man, oh man.  Nervous about week three.

As well I should have been.  Week three came and with it real rain.  No longer grippy, the course was truly wet.  Rock and root alike were ready to rob you of your uprightedness.  I dabbed.  Twice.  That after two clean weeks. I still felt pretty good with the conditions, but didn't know how the others would do in the adverse conditions.

I went out on the minute mark after Jess.  I knew I had to try to gain ground on him to stay in front of him in the week's standings.  Try as I might, I just couldn't catch a glimpse of him.  He was FLYING.  After climbing the last real hill and heading into the flowy downhill stuff, I finally saw him.  And not the way I wanted to,.  He was walking down the trail, bike over his shoulder.  Flat in front.  Ugh.  As it turns out, he was having the run of his life.  Hitting all the turns perfectly, fast enough to almost be out of control.  Almost.  Shredded his tire on a rock just after the bomb holes.  The Stan's couldn't seal it.  Jess's race was run.  And I would remain ahead of him for yet another week.  30:33 beats a DNF every time.  And was good enough for 6th out of 17 in week three.

Week three was won by John Beaupre with a 26:46 (fastest time of the entire series).  An injured Matt Chandler took second with 28:56.  And with 29:03 and 3rd?

3rd, 2nd, 3rd.  Stupid kid.

Following the finale at Goat Hill we huddled under a couple of easy-ups and had a good old fashioned Bums cookout.  Burgers and dogs on Mike's big ol' commercial sized grill and awesome taco salad courtesy of Russ.  Great series.  Great food.  Great people.  Thanks Mike Tonry.   Now onto Mendon Road! 

Mike Laplante, Bryan Wilson, Rick Nelson and Wayne

Our fearless timer emerges from the woods.  Methinks he's a golfer, not a mountain biker.

BSTRA Ride, Roll and Run Relay

Where to begin?  About two months ago I saw a post on my mountain biking group's forum.  There was this CRAZY relay race happening in Douglas State Forest on 4/29/12 put on by the Bay State Trail Riders Association (BSTRA).  The race was three legs - a 6.8 mile horse ride followed by an 8 mile mountain bike ride followed by a 5 mile trail run.

Rick Nelson from my mountain biking group, Team Bums, had found an equestrian on the BSTRA forum looking for a runner and a rider to fill out a team. Rick signed up for the ride and I agreed to take on the trail run.  The race was the same date as the Massasoit Lung Opener, which I had ridden the last couple of years.  I chose this instead.  I like the message the race is about - sharing the trails with all other users.  I also liked the proximity - Douglas State Forest - and the cost - $45/team.  Plus Mike Cove's insurance agency was sponsoring the race and he's a great guy and a mountain biking friend.  Way to go Cove Insurance Agency.

The race maps were posted up on the BSTRA blog a month or so ago and I checked them out.  I was smitten with the run course.  The only downside I saw was that it followed the horse course and had the possibility for a literal crapload of horse crap.  When I saw the mountain bike course, I realized that it was not a mountain bike course at all.  80% paved (with passing traffic) roads and fire roads.  A little piece of trail that is slightly more technical, but all in all, the course was a hammerfest, not a skills course.

Rick got out and pre-rode the course a couple weeks before the race.  He completed in in just over a half hour and was shooting for a race day time of sub-30.

A few days before the race, I got out and did a trail run at West Thompson Dam.  I was feeling good.  Very good. I never pre-ran the actual course, but if you ask my wife, she'd probably tell you that I know the Douglas trail system better than my neglected yard.

Rick is the only one who had spoken with our rider, Justine, before the race.  The report I received was that her horse was fast.  Not just fast.  "Crazy fast."  She was planning on bringing a companion horse and rider to do the race with her; perfectly allowable per race regulations (and actually mandated for riders under 16). 

So Rick was solid, Justine was solid and I was solid.  Hoping for good things.  Little did I know what was to come.

I was also hoping for some good karma.  Rick had been helping the race organizer with all things mountain bike and I went out two days before the race and leaf blew the one semi-tech section. 

We met at the park this morning at 8 am for registration.  I pulled in right at 8 and Rick and Justine we already there.  Justine's riding companion was named Ryan.  They had driven up this morning from the Cape.

Team 32

 The format of the race was the horses going off first, but so the trail didn't get too crowded they were starting it time trial style, with horses going off every two minutes.  That meant that even once you'd finished the race, someone coming in behind you could still beat you.  By the time we got over to the registration table, they were booking for 9:22, but it looked like the first horse for 9:00 am had just been scratched, so we scored the first spot!!!

We got ourselves together and our rider was ready to go at about 8:50 or so.  It was just before then that we learned another guy, Joe, who was not actually racing, was going to go out with them as well. I wasn't too sure about this as I thought the race literature had said "a" companion horse.

The woman starting the race, not the organizer, came over and was trying to call up team 25 to start first.  We were team 32, so asked what was going on.  Some minor confusion, but she said she'd let us out first.  There was no 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go.  Just, "You can start now."  And they were off sans fanfare.

Rick rode his bike up to the transition area, in a field about a mile away.  I jumped in the Element with my two favorite spectators, Cori and Harry Paton.  We pulled in and made some small talk with the other racers waiting for the horses to come in.  The couple of volunteers up at the transition explained what to expect to the handful of teams already up at the transition (most folks were still down waiting for their horses to take off).

We were told to expect between one and two hours for the horses.  The first horse came in at 40 minutes.  And it wasn't ours.  Then the next one came in and it wasn't ours either.  Not only that, they hadn't seen our horse on the trail.  And our horse was the first one out.  Uh oh.

After the third horse came in, I drove my car back to Rick's car to get his cell so he could call and figure out what was up.  As I neared the parking area back at the horse start, I pulled over and spoke with one of the race volunteers.  She knew the deal with our horse(s).  Apparently they had gotten lost and had ended back up at the start three times.  Super uh oh.

I grabbed Rick's phone anyhow and drove back to the transition.  At about 10 am, an hour after our start, Joe, the guy who was riding with our team, but was not on our team, came in with the relay bracelet (in lieu of a baton).  We learned that one of the other horses had lost a shoe and was not finishing.  Aargh.  Things looked bleak.  Rick took the bracelet anyhow and headed out.  Not sure what number biker we were out.  Not sure that it mattered.

Rick heads out

I did know, however, that Rick is fast.  Really fast.  I was surprised when he came in 40 minutes later.  Especially since he did it in just over 30 when he wasn't racing.  Rick had missed a turn as he came out to the Wallis Street lot and got back on the road.  He took a left instead of a right (and was not the first one to have done that).  He ended up riding all the way around a lake that was not part of the course before coming full circle and getting back on the course.  3.8 miles later.  Given that, 40 minutes was admirable.  Damned good, in fact.

I had, while waiting for Rick, seen one runner go out and make it back to the transition area minutes later, having immediately become lost.  That didn't worry me.  I had studied the map, knew the woods and knew the course intimately.  Once Rick flew in and I learned of his missed turn, I took off.

I went out a little too hard immediately, but caught my stride and was feeling good within a half mile.  I did see a volunteer talking to some horse riders pretty soon in at an intersection.  And more horses coming out of someplace that wasn't even on the course.  What the heck?  As I approached the first uphill, I came up behind three horses riding three abreast across the fire road.  Called out "Runner back" and they moved over. They called out to me that they had missed a turn.  I shouted out where transition was, but kept on going.

Up the hill.  And a left towards White's Highway (SW Main St).  I saw the first (and only) runner I would encounter and worked to catch her.  I caught her just after we crossed White's Highway.  After the initial turn that other guy missed, I thought the course was pretty well marked.  There were plastic plates with arrows marking the turns (orange for runners) and also had a circled L or R for left or right.  I didn't have any trouble.

After crossing the road, I came to the rockier portion of the trail run, but remained sure footed and feeling good.  I crossed back over White's Highway and back onto the fire road.  Just a couple of miles on fire road and paved road to finish.  Mostly downhill or flat.  Super.

I came across the same three horse riders three abreast again and called out my "Runner back" again.  This time instead of moving over, they started to run the horses.  They were faster than me, but not a lot faster.  After a tenth of a mile or so, they slowed to a walk again and I was right behind them still.  This time they moved over.  I came back to the same volunteer and asked if we were taking the little shortcut we had taken in out as well, or were taking the cart road straight out to the fire road.  He didn't know.  That frustrated me a little.  I know he was a volunteer, but this is exactly what he was supposed to know.  Ugh.  I headed straight instead of taking the shortcut.  It was the right decision.

I motored past the transition and headed down the park road to finish up.  Hammered out the end and finished the stated 5 mile trail run in 35:33.74.  Super happy with that.  I was the third runner in.

Finishing

Now to figure out what the hell happened.  One thing we quickly learned was that Joe was persona non grata at the BSTRA events.  Word on the street was that he lacked trail etiquette. Rick had talked to the organizer and he recommended since our team's horse never came into transition (actually walked out on the road) and Joe was not really on our team, we would take a DQ.  My first DQ ever.  Great.

Apparently the organizer went over to Joe after the race and gave him a piece of her mind, basically telling him he was not permitted to attend any more BSTRA events.  She told us that he was told he could ride, but since he wasn't on a team, he should go out last just for the ride.  He states he was told to go out first.  I have no idea what happened.

Post-race with our new rider, Joe, added in

Apparently everyone was talking about team 32.  I think there was a feeling that our riders were riding too fast for the conditions.  Our actual rider, Justine, said that she was going fast because this was, after all, a race.  I don't know enough about horses to take an educated position on this.

We stuck around for a lunch supplied by the race of baked pretzels, fruit, sandwiches, chips and desserts.   Yum.  Also had a great (free) 10 minute deep massage by Lisa Carrachino-Tangney, a massage therapist who had set up there (and knows Karen Potter).  It was painfully delightful.

We watched the awards ceremony.  It was tough because I think I had a great race and Rick would have as well had he not gotten lost.  I was talking to another rider who was heading up a sandy fire road and said Rick passed him like he was standing still.  Did I mention Rick is strong?

After they announced the awards, I spoke to the organizer to see where I actually placed in the.  Rick was there with me.  She apologized for us getting caught  up with the riders we got caught up with.  In the end though, if we didn't get DQed, we would have been DNF for the thrown shoe.  It wasn't really our racer's fault.  I'm not sure sending someone else on with the bracelet was a great idea, but whatever.  Again, it didn't matter.

When the organizer looked me up, she had my run time as 48 minutes.  Again, I started my watch at the get go and stopped it as I crossed the finish line and had it as 35:33.37.  I pointed this out and she double checked her math.  She noted a mistake and then marked my time as 37 minutes and change.  Still a minute and a half off, but not worth fighting given the DQ.  As I scanned the results over her shoulder, I don't think I saw anyone faster than the 37 she quoted me, but I could be mistaken.

As I was headed home I had a message from Rick saying he saw where he went wrong in the Wallis St parking lot.  The lot had a sign pretty high up on the right exit, but Rick followed up the left exit, which was not signed. I took another call from him later on and he explained the exact extra miles he had completed.  That sucks Rick!

All in all, a good day.  This was the first Ride, Roll and Run Relay (there were some Triple Crown participants also, doing the entire thing solo).  I expect they will learn from some of the issues that they had and that this can be a great race in the future.

And for your entertainment, here's a guy after the race screwing around on his mountain bike.

Nope

Yep.