UMASS MTB Race

Training is starting to pay off. I felt pretty good last weekend at the Orchard Assault race. I beat a few people that had beaten me previously. My training method of riding to work and one MTB ride on Wed night seems to be starting to payoff.

I also think that riding with Lars in the trailer up 7 mile climbs tends to help also! It also takes your personal best time on the climb and almost doubles it.

Looking forward there are some great events coming up. CTNEMBA is hosting a trail school on Saturday May 16th in Redding, CT. See www.ctnemba.com for the details. On Sunday is the Winsted Woods race. This is one of my favorite races. It has some great technical sections. The GT Zaskar Pro will handle them perfectly. I really love how nicely the lightweight carbon frame handles the technical terrain.

Tomorrow night is the CTNEMBA board meeting at CFPA headquarters in Rockfall, CT. See our website for details. We will be riding at Wadsworth falls before the meeting and then meeting around 7 pm.

Time flies

I can't believe that it has been two weeks since I last posted! It has been a busy two weeks. I have been doing the usual training by riding to work and the weekend family rides.

Last weekend I raced the Winding Trails race in Farmington, CT. Lars and I got there early to get a good spot for the Dirt Coalition tent. We were 100 feet or so from the start line. Once we got the tent set up we camped out under it and had lunch. As usual Lars used his outgoing personality and smile to draw people over to the tent. We talked to several NEMBA members about the goings on in their area of the state and fielded a bunch of questions about GT. As we reached the hottest point of the day (92 degrees!) I got ready for the race. When Mel arrived (she rode from home), I headed for a lap of the course. It was in good shape and would be a fast day. The race started out quickly. During the second lap of the race the heat started to take its toll on me. I was going through the usual thoughts of dropping out but that wasn't going to happen today. As I was descending one of the final hills of the course, I could see Mel and Lars in the corner and Lars yelled "Go Dada!" That is just what I needed to get remotivated and recharge for the remainder of the race. All in all I improved over my finish at Hopbrook. I came in 18th. If I can maintain my steady climb in finishing spots I should be in the top ten before the season is out.