2006 Vermont 50
Home, but only for a brief spell as I must do laundry and re-pack for another 4 days on the road... this time off to Las Vegas for Interbike.
Vermont was beautiful, and the race was amazing. Peak foliage is still 10-14 days away and the rain threatened to make a mess of everything, but for race-day, the rain held out until the end of the day with a few bursts of rain in isolated spots then sunshine prevailed.
I started in the first wave with Expert and Singlespeed classes. This was my first Expert race and I was not prepared for how fast everyone would be right from the line. With 50 miles of climbing ahead, I assumed a somewhat laid-back start speed for the bulk of us, while the real contenders sprinted off. Instead, most of the people sprinted out and I was left trying to find a fleeting draft to hang in.
The start was quite foggy and sunlight was only enough to barely light the sky, finally starting to light the roads about 30 minutes into the ride. The course was softer than last year, and I felt like I was working a fair bit harder on the dirt roads to maintain my speed uphill. The singletrack was a greasy affair with lots of mud and slick roots. I dabbed a lot in the last 15 miles of singletrack as my composure started to wane to the fatigue of riding a hardtail. I crashed once too, after taking a hand off the controls to sip water inbetween 2 stands of trees in gnarly singletrack. Luckily, nobody saw =)
In the end I finished strong and with energy to burn in just over 6 hours, a 40 minute improvement over my time last year. The course was about 20 minutes longer too, due to the conditions and since they added more singletrack. My goal was to cross the line in under 6 hours... 6 minutes shy, there are a few things that added contributed to not meeting my goal, including stopping to say hello to my girlfriend and helping a fellow NJ rider with a flat tire. I'm more than content with my finish though:
16th place, Men's Expert Senior II division
Total time, 6:06:45
To crack the Top 10, I'd need to shave another 30-40 minutes off my time...
Sandbaggers were rampant, with Sport class riders finishing ahead of some of the Top 10 Experts, and Novice Veteran and the Top 3 Novice Sport II riders finishing ahead of me.
Vermont was beautiful, and the race was amazing. Peak foliage is still 10-14 days away and the rain threatened to make a mess of everything, but for race-day, the rain held out until the end of the day with a few bursts of rain in isolated spots then sunshine prevailed.
I started in the first wave with Expert and Singlespeed classes. This was my first Expert race and I was not prepared for how fast everyone would be right from the line. With 50 miles of climbing ahead, I assumed a somewhat laid-back start speed for the bulk of us, while the real contenders sprinted off. Instead, most of the people sprinted out and I was left trying to find a fleeting draft to hang in.
The start was quite foggy and sunlight was only enough to barely light the sky, finally starting to light the roads about 30 minutes into the ride. The course was softer than last year, and I felt like I was working a fair bit harder on the dirt roads to maintain my speed uphill. The singletrack was a greasy affair with lots of mud and slick roots. I dabbed a lot in the last 15 miles of singletrack as my composure started to wane to the fatigue of riding a hardtail. I crashed once too, after taking a hand off the controls to sip water inbetween 2 stands of trees in gnarly singletrack. Luckily, nobody saw =)
In the end I finished strong and with energy to burn in just over 6 hours, a 40 minute improvement over my time last year. The course was about 20 minutes longer too, due to the conditions and since they added more singletrack. My goal was to cross the line in under 6 hours... 6 minutes shy, there are a few things that added contributed to not meeting my goal, including stopping to say hello to my girlfriend and helping a fellow NJ rider with a flat tire. I'm more than content with my finish though:
16th place, Men's Expert Senior II division
Total time, 6:06:45
To crack the Top 10, I'd need to shave another 30-40 minutes off my time...
Sandbaggers were rampant, with Sport class riders finishing ahead of some of the Top 10 Experts, and Novice Veteran and the Top 3 Novice Sport II riders finishing ahead of me.
posted by BubbRubb at
9/26/2006 10:01:00 AM
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