April 7, 2007

Hop Brook Dam MTB Race Root 66 #1

By: Dan Walsh

Soccer was cancelled a day early due to remaining snow and frozen field. The only one happier not to have soccer than me was my 8 year old daugher whose team I coach. Little league field cleanup could wait. With Easter on Sunday and me taking my wife's parents to brunch that day, I earned a house pass to race Hop Brook Dam, the Root 66 Series race #1 of 2007.

Crazy to drive 2.5 hours plus for a 16 miles race. Yeah. I shook my head the whole ride down wondering why I was going. By the time I hit Hartford, I realized I could have had a nice workout in at home by then. All changed when I got there. It was a race. There were teams and uniforms and $7,000 Specialized bikes. Cold and breezy standing in the never moving registration line. Changed in the car, off to the bathroom, and on the bike with 20 minutes to post time. Perfect for warmup up and down the paved park road. Nice little rise at the end of the road too to work in some power.

Unfortuately all that went wayside when the experts were out on course way too long. Let's see. Experts start at noon, winner did 2:02 or so and the last expert woman did 3:25. You do the math. The race went off an hour late and temp did drop a little as the sun faded in the clouds. The way they stage age groups, I was about where 30-39 set up. They rolled up and I ended up in the front row of my 40-49 age group. Not where I needed to be, but with a 180 degree left 100 feet into the race, I was ready for the holeshot on the first of 3 laps.

The quick start put me into oxygen debt early. I eased back to catch my breath and watched the leaders slowly pull away. The course wasn't that bad but my handling skills were. There was one short steep gully I knew I would not make on laps 2 and 3 so I planned accordingly. Only one moderate climb with a few switch backs. Later in the season I would probably ride it middle ring, but today it was granny. A few stream crossings required proper gear selection going in to get up the other side. Other than that it was not much of a course. Good for race #1 of a new year.

About 1/2 way into lap one, my toes froze. Those mesh uppers are great in summer but not splashing streams at 40 degrees. So that is why those guys had duct tap on their shoes. I thought they were too cheap to buy new ones. I considered getting out at lap one to avoid frost nip or frost bite. I decided one more lap may warm me up and I was starting to hit the groove. I loosed the straps on my shoes to see if the blood would flow to the toes. No luck.

During lap 2 you could see who worked out this winter. People just stalled at some short steep rises. The climb section also made many walk during my race. But granny just kept peddling along. I did walk one section with hope of gaining some feeling back from my ankles to toes. At the end of lap 2 I nearly bagged it again due to frozen feet. You know, first race of the season, just feeling it out, not wanting to get hurt, and all that. Well, I did a little brake adjustment due to a slipping cable or the new pads being ground to nothing and was off again.

During lap 3, it felt just like a spinnervals or CTS workout in my basement over the winter with changing gears to simulate rollers and steady climbing. I started passing people and rolled through the few technical sections were others were all clustered. Definitely not the level of bike handlers that the EFTA series attracts. I was going back and forth with one other guy for the final 1/2 lap. I thought I lost him when my shifter jammed. I caught back up when his shifter jammed. He took off hard with what I thought was too long to go. I nearly caught him on a stretch of pavement. I should have pulled right up to him on that pavement. I couldn't gain any more in the last section of singletrack before the finish.

Real cold at the fininsh. I just wanted to get warm. My lungs were burning from the effort. they still hurt today. Wearing a long sleeve and knickers made getting out of muddy clothes relatively easy. I wiped the remaining mud off my shins with gloves still on. Man did my toes sting when the thaw began. I got out of there without even checking the results. After the way they did the scoring at NS Classic last year, there was no way I waiting around. I can't wait to clean my bike.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. The season looks salvagable from here. I got 10th place in my age group, the same as my first race last year. However, there were 34 entered in this race and only 13 last year. Good for 35 points. Upgrade here we come.

Pete Dunn had a pretty good day. Look for his report too.

-Dan

By: Jonathan Flynn

Warning… this is looong, read at your own risk.

Well, I got my first ever Mountain Bike race behind me at Hop Brook
Saturday. I went into this with simple expectations, to enjoy the
experience and learn what racing was like. I wanted to come away
craving another, even though I knew going in I was at some
disadvantages with my older equipment and lack of endurance training
and experience. It was more difficult then I expected. I now have a
lot of respect for those who complete even more laps in the Sport and
Pro categories. I only completed one lap at "all out" race pace with
a 46 minute lap time. I plan on working hard between now and the
next race so I can complete the next one.

As I explained in my introductory messages, it has been about 10
years since I did any regular bike riding and 3 years since I have
even sat on my bike! This year I expect to purchase a new XC race
bike and ride regularly again, but until I have the funds freed from
the sale of my house I need to make the most of my existing
equipment. I'm not complaining though, I'm out riding again having
fun and that's what really matters. As I expected, Saturday's race
pinpointed exactly what advantages a new bike and equipment should
provide for me. I got a few comments on my "fully rigid" ride and
toe clip/strap pedals from other riders. I had never raced and
always wondered what it would be like to ride in a real race with
others, now I know. I'm glad I dusted Ole Sally off for a real race,
my 1992 Univega Alpina Pro hard tail with rigid front fork served me
well on recreational rides years ago and deserves a couple more
beatings before she's retired. I feel like she's got to go out with
a bang. Did I just say that? We've been through hell and back on
some rides, she get's a little sassy at times and likes to send me
over the front handlebars, but we soon kiss and make up. I was up at
5am Saturday morning to dust her off (and yes, literally run my
fingers between the spokes to get the cobb webs off). Of course I
also had to put air in the flat tires. Sally called shot gun so I
reclined the passenger seat all the way back and loaded her in next
to me so I had someone to talk to for the 2.5 hr. early morning
ride. Something told me giving her a heated ride down to CT might
pay off with a ride without any equipment failures. It was a balmy
33 degrees when I left N.H. for CT. As I looked down at the worn
teeth on my front sprocket, it dawned on me that I had experienced
some chain skipping issues years ago, only on certain gears though.
We cranked a little Nickelback and got the Honda up to 85. I arrived
in Middlebury at 8:00am and waited in line for 20 minutes to
register. I tried to chat with a couple guys in line but they seemed
to have their race faces on and acted all business, so I shut up and
tried to come up with a race face of my own. They actually had to
start the 9am Beginner race late due to the slow registration
process. I guess they had a record turn out from the sounds. I got
back to the car and pulled on my fancy hunter camo Under Armour Long
Johns (Don't be jealous, you can buy them at any Dick's Sporting
goods store in the Hunting section). That's so I don't spook any
game on my rides. They grouped us by age group at the starting line
and I had no place to hide in the back with two groups, including the
youngest positioned directly behind me. I felt scared and exposed
without my mommy to run to!

We got a 30 second warning and off we went. I managed to get my
hiking boots into my cages by the first turn and the adrenaline was
pumping. I paid $650 new for Sally and I was going to get my money's
worth dammit! I figured we would have the best course conditions of
the day because of the cold temperatures. The harder the ground the
better I thought, bring on the cold! Just no ice please! We rounded
the pond on the grass and hit a little short section of pavement
before taking a sharp left up into the woods. To my complete
surprise the three riders directly in front of me got just 10 yards
up the hill and had to dismount there bikes. Of course I had no
place to go and lost all momentum, I was forced to get off my bike.
Sally would typically eat this climb up without batting a lash. I
could still look back and see the starting line on the other side of
the pond! It was a shocker to me, but my first lesson into what
racing so close to others would be like and what the rest of my day
pretty much would be like. I often thought about this years ago
while riding by myself. What would I do if I didn't have my line of
choice on the technical sections I normally could power my way
through. Yikes! After the first uphill technical section, the rest
of my ride went as expected for the most part. Most starts to any
uphill technical sections, I had 2 or 3 guys jumping off their full
suspension bikes right in front of me. I couldn't understand why they
weren't preparing by increasing their speed before they got to it.
Speed and momentum are so key and I couldn't use it. My typical MO
is to increase speed as much as possible before getting to the start
of any technical uphill, choose my gear and cadence wisely to match
the hill steepness and technical terrain, then stand up and pull like
hell on my bar ends while swearing at Sally. Some of the guys in
front of me never attempted to stand up or had bar ends! Am I
wrong? Are the new bikes really that good that you can just stay
sitting down and keep the same speed into uphill technical sections?
I guess I'll know soon enough when I get one of my own. Anyway, one
thing I do know, passing was out of the question. Much of it was
self inflicted though, unless I'm able to pick a descent line for my
front tire seeing I have a rigid front fork still, I'm done. A real
handicap I soon discovered. I can't soak up a tougher up hill line
to get around them as I suspect I will be able to with a sus bike. I
tried to go around one guy once and hit a rock I couldn't see under
the leaves which sent me over the handle bars. It was no big deal,
just got up and ran up the hill next to him. My thought is, if your
not crashing then your not pushing the limits enough, right? That's
how I ski race anyway. I didn't see anyone else crash. I went down
good twice. I did pass 5 or so riders, but couldn't shake these last
2 or 3, I found myself running up the hill with them and then I felt
I had to give them the right away at the top of the hill because they
could fly down hill with the suspension advantage while I struggled
to hold on to my handlebars from the jolting front. I got some great
compliments on my efforts out on the course though and got some great
double takes from the five or so riders I did manage to pass. I
think they were jealous of my rigid front fork. As I approached the
Start/Finish line for the first lap I soon realized I had several
issues and a major decision to make. I was clearly working WAY too
hard on my older bike then the others around me and my arms were
taking a serious beating on the rocky downhills. The toe clips were
rusted and worn and I wasn't used to having to get in and out of them
so much because I'm used to having room to pick my lines and pace and
do my best to stay in them. Sally was failing me on my forward thumb
shifter and would actually work ½ the time. I think the lube was
freezing up and getting gummy on me. I felt it was best to walk away
after only one lap (I guess approx. 5 miles?) feeling like I had met
my objective. I did give it everything I had, full out race pace. I
felt OK, but was not quite ready for these type of distances at full
race pace yet. Perhaps I will just need to learn how to pace myself
for the next race. I know where I am now compared to some others and
know I need to train hard if I plan on finishing the next race at
this pace. I checked in with the race starter to get my first lap
time of 46 minutes. Not sure what a second lap would of looked
like. I didn't want to leave without craving that next race though.
I loaded up Sally in the car and didn't mind that she covered my
front passenger seat with mud. The Sport and Pros began showing up
for their races at that point. I talked with a couple guys riding
trainers in the parking lot who had some nice 5k+ carbon bikes and
took a little test spin on a demo Cannondale full Suspension bike
around the parking lot for fun. Wish I could have stayed longer to
meet Pete and any others from Crank who were racing later but I had
committed to other plans for that afternoon back up in N.H. I hope
they finished well and look forward to hearing their report on the
race.

Jon