2 Races in two days!

It has been an extremely busy fall thus far. I have really been focusing on using my time wisely so that I can get in better shape and actually be more competitive when racing. I am happy to say that all those rides pulling Lars in the trailer and early morning treadmill runs seem to have paid off abit. Last weekend I raced the Cheshire Cross race in Cheshire, CT and then the Spooky Bikes Cross Race in Easthampton, MA.

The Cheshire race turned out to be a blast of a course. Several people called it a mountain bikey course. It must have been because alot of the course was in the woods. I absolutely loved the course as it was a bike handler's course and there were two sizable run-ups. Hunter did a great job with the course. I loved the way he made the twisty stuff in the most technically difficult areas such as on a downhill that was both muddy and covered with pine needles! In the most recent races I have been close to last or last but on Saturday I managed to pull 12th place.

On Sunday the Spooky race turned out to be a similar course in terms of the twisty aspect. There was not as much elevation change which did not play in my favor. The guys with lots of gear grinding power fair much better on these courses. I did like the course. The barriers and run-ups were put in strategic areas that I never really got the right rhythm on. I spent most of the race playing cat and mouse with Dan C. He had my strengths and weaknesses figured out. I had been struggling in the sand section the whole race and he attacked me in the last sand section of the race to get a gap. I think that he was just plain stronger than me anyway!

We capped the weekend with lunch in Northampton with some friends at La Veracruzana Mexican Restaurant.

I will have to work on my cross technique some more for the remaining races this year and of course make sure that I keep up my early morning exercise during the week. It really makes a difference both mentally and physically.

Hartford Cross

What a great day for a cross race. Last night we had torrential rains that made for an extremely tough race. I got down to the course at 7am to make sure the course was in order after last night's rain. We set up most of the course yesterday. This was a smart move as it made it a whole lot easier to focus on registration.
As of last night we had 78 people preregistered. We ended up with about 180 people racing today.
The course turned out to be a good blend of muddy sections to grind (literally) through and fast smooth. It turned out that the rain did little to the course.
For the first cross race of the year for me, I felt OK. Especially since I got home at 11am yesterday after flying all night Friday to get home from Mexico in time to set up the course.
I will post some pics as soon as I get them.

Hike in the Whites

This past weekend Mel and Lars and I were up in Maine for a wedding. The day before the wedding I had the chance to do a hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with a couple of college friends, Pete and Greg.

We started in Gorham at the Appalachia trailhead and headed up the Airline trail. As it turns out the Whites were true to their name and it had snowed a couple of days before. This made for slow going. There was just enough snow to make it slippery and not enough for crampons or the like.

We covered Mt. Adams and Jefferson and then came back along Randolph Path.

With the snow walking downhill was even more treacherous that up. We put on our Yaktraks for the decent. These are a great tool in these conditions. We were all wishing that we put them on earlier in the day. However the rocky trails were not kind to them. I ruined mine and so did Pete. Luckily for Pete, he had just purchased his so he would be able to return them.

All in all we returned to the trailhead 9 hours later tired and happy.

Hartford Cross

Come check out or race at the Hartford Cross race this Sunday. For more info go to:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8721

CTNEMBA Fall Fiesta

On Sat September 19th CTNEMBA held its annual Fall Fiesta at Gay City SP in Hebron CT. This event is our big fall event and also the annual meeting where we elect and/or elect the board.

It was a perfect day. It started out a chilly 45 deg. but ended up being 70 deg. We had several rides including a long ride that explored both Gay City and Case Mountain. We had 14 people on the ride and got to experience some of the best singletrack in the area with some dirt road sections in between.

The event also had rides for all abilities that were marked with arrows in the park and a skills clinic by Salem Mazzaway. Everyone came back with smiles on their faces.

The event concluded with a pizza lunch and then a raffle where almost everyone won something. We even had a raffle for a GPS.

The existing board was reelected. However, due to term limits, we will be changing some of the officers. I am at the end of my term and look forward to serving on the board next year in another capacity and also helping the next president be successful.

Once the cleanup was done a group headed out for a second ride! They were also gracious enough to take down the arrows. It is important to leave the park as we found it.

Our next event will be Take A Kid MTB day at the West Hartford Reservoir on October 3rd.

Check out http://www.ctnemba.net/ for more information.

Landmine Classic MTB

Two weeks ago I did my final single bike MTB race of the year. It was the Landmine Classic in Hingham, MA. After an extremely rainy Saturday the race promised to be wet. We had stayed a friend's house near Boston the night before so we didn't have too far to travel. So after a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and coffee we headed out. We got to the general area with enough time but the Google directions let me down. So after about 30 minutes of going by gut feel we got to the race with just enough time to get ready and line up.

The race course was a single 25 mile loop. I like this format. It helps keep the different classes separated better. We started out in the usual fast pace and quickly settled in as we reached the single track. The first part of the course was fast singletrack that was moderately technical. As the race progressed we got into some terrain that had relentless roots and rocks. This part, although I really like this kind of riding, really took its toll on me. Did I mention the hub deep water also? It made for some really tricky lines through wet roots and slimy bridges. Fortunately, I was able to keep the rubber side down for the whole race.

I didn't feel great on this day but sure had alot of fun riding this course. I will be back next year and maybe if I can find the fitness I will do the 50 miler.

Mel and Lars also had a great time riding the roads and dirt roads of the park.

Although this was my last single bike race I will be racing the VT50 on a tandem for the 3rd year on Sept. 27 and then look forward to a handful of cyclocross races.

happenings as of late

After my trip to Guaymas for work I have been flat out between work and NEMBA events.
I did race at Hodges Village Dam in Oxford, MA 2 weeks ago though. It turned out to be an extremely hard race for me even though there wasn't too much climbing. If you haven't ridden there it is great fun. The trails are not super tech and flow really well. This was the longest race of the year for me. It was 25 miles. Needless to say, after 18 miles I started to cramp up a bit and then by 22 miles I couldn't stand up anymore or my legs would cramp. It took me 2.5 hours but I finished and was happy just to complete the race.
The real highlight of the weekend was that my son Lars did his first kids race and had a great time. We had to hold him back at the start. He wanted to jump the gun! Apparently the race was too short for him as he had to keep riding for quite awhile after the race. It was great to see the excitement in his eye about racing.
Last weekend we hosted the IMBA Trail Care Crew in Milford, CT. Joe Woyciejes has been working hard to get the town's permission to restore a shared use trail system at Eisenhower park in Milford. It has been a challenging battle as there is no real precedent for what he wants to do and there are many groups with interest in the park. Kelly and Collins Bishop from IMBA and I sat down with Joe and put together a proposal for a pilot project to demonstrate NEMBA's skills in restoring a shared use trail. Then we met with Mayor Richitelli and several town committee members to discuss our proposal. The meeting went extremely well and the Mayor asked us to select the area for the pilot project and make it happen. It was a great success.
Even with all of this going on I also managed 2 group rides and to commute by bike 2 times this week. Tomorrow I look forward to riding the Tandem MTB with my tandem partner Mark to prepare for the Vermont 50 and then riding with Lars and Mel. On Sunday I will ride from Granby to Springfield and race the first cyclocross race of the season on my new GT Type CX cross bike. It built up nicely and came complete with the correct size bars and cranks. I sometimes have trouble with this as I have shorter legs and a long torso. Kudos to GT for thinking of me.....
Next week I will again commute to work at least 2 times.