(Click here to zip down to Tom Merrill's race report...)

Vermont Eco-Bike Tour
A 60-mile ride to raise money for rural Vermont farming organizations. (Sorry, no photos - I had film, but my battery died…)

DAVID ALDEN
It was another one of those mornings where we're up at 4:45, and on the road by 5:30. Sometimes I wonder why I do things like this. We had to drive 3 hours to do a 60-mile ride, starting and ending in Montpelier, Vermont.

The ride was a fundraiser for a rural Vermont farming organization. We love Vermont and any excuse to go up and ride is a good one for me.

Anyway, it started at 9:00 and we had to make sure that we were signed-up and lined-up on time - there was going to be a police escort out of town.

All in all, the ride was great. Plenty of fun hills to ride up, and although the weather threatened to rain at any second (including some thunder) we never felt a drop. The scenery was spectacular and I got to spend a few hours on m bike with friends. Except for Doug that is… We thought he went the wrong way and we stopped to figure out what to do. Doug in fact went the right way, but never bothered to stop and wait for us. It would have served him right if he got kidnapped…

DOUG SALB
Yes, on my trip of the 60-mile mountain bike ride from HELL I feared for my life as I was going up mile-long hills at 3mph. There was no one in sight for miles, I could hear a pin drop. Where were all the people? Where were the rest of the bikers? Does anyone live out here? Where do all these roads go? If I was kidnapped no one would find me, but alas I am ok.

Somehow I got separated from Dave, Jean, and Nathan. I just kept trekking along and would meet up with some bikers along the way but then they were gone.

A dog came out of nowhere and chased me for what seemed like a mile until I got to a downhill and hit about 35+ MPH. Oooh, what fun! I kept thinking what if my wheel fell off, or I got a flat, I would be eating much dirt.

Of course I had no pump and no map with me.

All I could do was hope to see a yellow sign with an arrow at the end of the road telling me which way to go. At mile 30 or so my legs were burning, I asked myself can I really do this? YES I CAN, and I kept going. My legs started to feel better, but would soon be burning again from the evil hills someone has put in my way. Hill after hill, it just wouldn't stop.

I started to talk to myself and it calmed me.

I just had to drop to a low gear and take it one hill at a time. As I got towards the end I saw houses and people, I started to smile. I rounded the corner and saw a gold top roof of the building I started at 6 hours ago, and there was all the people that I started with many hours ago. I couldn't believe I was back.

I finally met up with my friends Dave, Jean, Nathan. All they could say was, look at all the salt on his face, jacket and camelback.

Did I care? No, not really. I just wanted to eat, drink and be merry. It was an experience I will never forget.

JEAN ST. PIERRE
This is my recollection of the Ride for Rural Vermont . . .

Sunday morning, Dave shoved me in the van at a very early hour. We drove 3-hours. It wasn't very nice out. Dave said we where riding no matter what the weather did. Damn!!!

We rode. We rode up hills, we rode down hills - for about 6-hours. We saw some great scenery. there was one farm that had a herd of Jersey calves that ran alongside of us as we rode past. They looked so sweet with their big brown eyes! We saw lots of farms and some beautiful flowers. Mostly though, we saw hills. Cat 3, Cat 2, more Cat 3 . . . all day. Especially the 30-mile extender. It was brutal!!!

My brain was feeling a little fuzzy around mile 30. By 45, I had to concentrate on which brake was my back brake. I thought I was sucking down Hammer Gel, and eating all the time, but when I finished, my Hammer Gel vials only had 1 serving of each missing from them. Oops! I went 6 hours on 2 shots of hammer gel, an energy bar bagel and a Luna bar. And, about 100-ounces of water. I got that part right!

But, scenery was great, the air was clean, and it didn't rain!!! It was a good day. Oh, AND, we won a pastel drawing done by a local VT artist. Nice!!!

(target anchor to this section from the link)

Bradbury Mtn Challenge Race Report

TOM MERRILL
I started the 3rd MTB race of my life looking for my first championship points in the Novice Vets. My race went immediately downhill with a muddy, bogeyed filled, 1st fourth of the race. I started with Senior II's and had to come back and line up on the inside of the track 3 -4 rows deep. Then when the Vets when off, I got pinched on the inside and didn't have the top end to get past half pack when we entered the trail head. Trail became very slippery due to mud and Sport & Expert Riders wetting all the roots. I boogie 3 -4 times with riders passing me, before I stopped and let air out of my tires. A bunch of riders passed me. Now, I figured I was at the back of Vets pack and another goose egg for points. I said screw it, just concentrate on riding the last 3/4 as smart as possible, try to learn more about MTB racing, and try to pass as many riders as possible to keep my confidence up for the next race.

I had good rider come up & pass where I didn't think you could pass on single track. Just tucked in behind him while he passed riders and added "There's 2", passed 4-5 riders in the slick single track. Lost him at the double track, so I passed 4-5 riders on my own (last 2 weeks of time trial training paid off). Two / Thirds through the race on a Left turn and I saw a strange site a whole line of 10-15 riders coming up a hill making the left turn a Tee intersection, they were riding across the taped off area. What's Up?? No time to think, hooked up with another strong rider who just came through the Tee and passed another 6-7 riders with him using "There's 2", then raced him to the finish.

MY BEST MOVE occurred in the last 1/4 of the race, I passed 3 riders with one short technical seated climb. They and I had dismounted and were walking up a hill when I noticed a second path to the right, mounted my bike, crossed the small flat, then cleaned a steep little rooty knoll, while the leader rider bogeyed in front of me & made me adjusted my line across a 3 inch
root at very low speed at the crest of the knoll.

Legs were dead but grin on my face was huge. THE BEST NEWS: the strange Tee intersection was a horde of riders in front me getting back on course, after getting lost and losing minutes to me. Result, a surprise 6th place and 130 points. :-))

Ran my 23rd Running Race of the year at Marsh Post Charles River Ramble "Remembering D-Day" 2.6 Miler on June 6, 2002. It was cold, rainy and raw night with a limited field due the conditions and JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. Ran against my friendly nemesis from the Logan Post runs in Somerville, MA, Mr. Paul Hennessey. He evened the series at 2 all, by smoking me by 1:02 minutes. The beating continues, he is 10 years older, finished 2nd the night before in the Lynn Woods 5K, & this was his 3rd race in as many nights. My stats: Finish: 4 /28 Time: 17:10 [6:36 / miles] Points: 88.3.