Berkshire Highlands Pentathalon

To describe this event I think that the official website description does it best:

The first annual Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon features many of the best outdoor adventures in our area. The five events - a 10k trail run, 23 miles of road biking, 5 miles of kayaking, a mile to the top of the mountain and a downhill ski to the finish - can only happen on the same day at the turn of the seasons. It may be a bit cold for road biking and kayaking and a bit warm for skiing, but where else can you do it all on the same day?

That's right, five events, too cold for biking too warm for skiing, just perfect for awesome! I was very excited for this event because a) it is very unique, b) the proceeds for the race go to preserving the beautiful woods of Western Massachusetts, and c) I was part of a two member team, the other member, my wife Caroline!

The race started with a 10k trail run, which Caroline took care off. She did an awesome job, running up and down the muddy hills and doing it all very quickly. Below you can see a picture of the start.

 

After Caroline finished the run she tagged off to me.  I then hammered around the 23 mile course, up the many hills and managed to stay pretty warm on the balmy 35 degree day.  Below you can see me coming into the bike finish.

After the bike I hopped into the kayak and made my why down the rapids.  The water was frigid and flowing fast, it was quite intimidating.  I managed to make it down the river without falling in, but just barely, this was a very cold and at times scary as I was fighting to stay upright down the rapids. 

I finally got out the the river (it seemed like it took forever!), and I tagged back to Caroline so she could start her run up the ski hill.  Below you can see her run right after the tag off!

Caroline made it up the ski hill, and it was time to ski down the tiny patch of snow that was left.  I managed to wind my way throught the gates and through the finish!  You can see the ski course below.


This was a great experience.  It was a truly unique event and althought it was cold, wet, and exhausting, Caroline and I both had a great time.  We both decided that we are going to do this event next year!!!  You can see our team at the finish line below!

 

Hodges Dam Race Report

I wish I could swim better.  After racing through what felt like waist deep mud puddles, trails them could have been running streams, and strong rains for 2.5 hours, I am not so sure I was pedaling as much as I was swimming.

I like hodges dam, I raced it for the first time last year, and loved the punchy climbs and quick turns which are mixed in with the roots and rocks.  It is a good course for me, and last year I placed 2nd, and as I was the first Massachusetts resident to cross the line, I was the Pro Open Massachusetts State Champion in 2010, and I was looking to extend this into 2011.

The race was filled with plenty of great racers, and with overnight rain continuing to the start of the race, I knew it was going to be interesting.  Last year at this race, it was extremely dusty, so although this was going to be totally different, its certainly in the cards for New England mountain bike racing.  As the whistle blew to start racing everyone took off, I was able to jump into about 5th position or so, and as we went through the first round of shallow puddles I had to keep my eyes closed, a mixture of dirt, mud, water, and who knows what else was pouring into my face.  When we made it to the single track, the full extent of the rain appeared, and we were blasting through deep puddles.  The riders in front of my were blowing water about shoulder height as I was trying to ride in their wake.  Things started to get better as it opened up a bit, but still my eyes were constantly getting covered with dirt and water I was kicking up, and most of the time I had about one eye closed and the other half shut.  As we came around the first lap (of five) I was sitting in about 5th place, and kept pushing on through the streams that were once trails.

As the laps wore on my bike was getting pretty worked.  On the fourth lap I noticed that my rear brake stopped working, and to make matters worse it actually completely shut on my rotor, and when I got off my bike to spin my wheel it only managed to rotate about a quarter turn.  So with chain suck and a stuck rear wheel my lap times got slower, which was okay, but then the front brake went too, so at this point it was just about finishing.

I came across the line in 6th place, not where I wanted to be, but thats okay, I still managed to have fun.  I wish I could have continued to be the Mass. state champion, but I will be back next year for sure.  

To date, I believe this is the wettest race I have done, I have raced in deeper mud and worse conditions, but this had the deepest puddles, and the least amount of dry ground!

Speaking of dust, this is what I looked like after last years race!

And so there was Mud!!!

Check out this sweet pic of Sean Kennedy, Nate Peppin, and my self after the Putney Cross country race!

Mansfield Hollow and Stratton Brook Cyclocross Races

Last weekend was my first time racing cyclocross on both Saturday and Sunday (and Caroline's first double weekend of support and pictures too).  On Saturday I headed down to Mansfield HollowDam  Connecticut, right outside of where I spent two summers interning as an engineer. I spent plenty of time riding my mountain bike around the dam, so I was excited to race my third cyclocross race around a familiar location.  When I arrived I started to ride around and I heard a familiar voice yelling my name,  I turned around and it was the one and only Peter Hurst, my college roommate and stupid fast bike racer.  Pete and I enjoyed trying to annihilate each on the bike while on the U. of Michigan Cycling Team, whether it be on dirt or on the road, riding up a mountain or riding through the roads of Ann Arbor, we had some good times.  I finished warming up, and went to the line in the Category 2,3,4 race. 

Pete and I before the race

The race started and I jumped into the top 10, ripped a few corners, and bombed down a steep hill into a straight away, at which point it was time to start moving up.  I got into the lead group, and after the first set of barriers and a couple of quick turns I was feeling pretty comfortable, however then came the sections of straight away power sections.  Being a light mountain biker, I am much stronger on tight corners and quick accelerations, however when it comes to the flat power sections, I lose some time.  

Jumping the barriers

With about 15 minutes to go I was sitting in 4th place, and I saw a monster named Pete on the attack.  Pete is the type of guy I lose time to on the straight aways, and I knew that I would have to fly through the technical sections and try to keep him from keeping up on the straight aways.

Going hard out of a corner

With the final set of straight aways to go, I could see that Pete was coming up fast.  I decided to step on it through the final turns, and as I was coming out of the last one I went down, and Pete came around me.  I jumped on my bike as fast as possible, I managed to get back on his wheel, but the final 30s was a drag race, and Pete got the best of me!  I finished in 5th place, and had a great time, however it was time to get back home and get ready for the race on Sunday.

This time Caroline and I were off to Simsbury, CT for the Stratton Brook Cross race.  I managed to put in a nice warm up and ride about half of the course, and I found that with the plethora of turns and a 200 yard sand pit I had a good chance of doing well.  

The gun went off and it was a sprint to the first set of barriers, which were important for what was coming up next!  I got to experience my first pinwheel!  A pinwheel is a circular obstacle in which you ride into a big spiral (thick of flushing a toilet) and when you get in the middle you turn around, and spiral back out!  They are awesome to say the least! This is pictured below.

Pinwheel

After the spiral I was sitting in 2nd place, and when we got into a straight away a racer attacked from behind, I immediately jumped around the guy ahead of me and onto the attackers wheel, after a minute it was down to him and I.  We rode together for the first 3 laps of 5, and when we got to the sand pit I had mentioned before, I put in an attack! (as seen below)

The winning move (nice picture Caroline)

I powered through the beach like sand, and kept up the pace through the next few sections, and when I turned around I had put a nice gap on the second place racer.  

Flying Solo to the victory

I kept the pace high for the remaining laps and came across the line first, for my first cyclocross victory!

I enjoyed racing both Saturday and Sunday, and to finish in 5th one day and win the next I was really excited about how the races went.  Caroline also had a good time, and took some great pictures, so we are looking forward to more double headers in the future.

Crossin for Canines

It was a 90 degree day in the middle of September, the perfect way to start my cross career.  I had gotten my cross bike on Saturday, rode it once or twice, and it was now a week later and I was lined up to race the the Category 3-4 cyclocross race for a bunch of dogs (hence the Crossin for Canines).  So needless to say I could have used a little more practice time, but sometimes you have to jump right in.

The gun went off and the group surged forward, I made a few quick passes before the first corner, and was sitting in  about 3rd place.  I kept this up, and when the first hill came I jumped ahead and was leading the race.  We started entering some barriers and corners, and at this point a few guys started coming around me.  I watched them flow through corners and glide over barriers, and then I tried to follow suit, however I sort of made it through corners, forgot which way to swing my legs over barriers, but either way I was racing!

This continued for 45 minutes, with me trying my best to get through corners and over barriers and during this time I was baked in the heat, but I crossed the line in 4th place.

It was a great first experience, and since the race I have gotten more practice, and feel much better on the bike, as you will see in the following posts!

Last 2 Mountain Bike Races of the Year

Its been a little while since I have last posted, however I have raced two mountain bike races, Bikes for Bovines and the Landmine Classic.

Serious before the Bovine Race

The Bikes for Bovines race was pretty fun, it consisted of a 30 minute climb, followed by some rolling climbs, then a fun twisty downhill, and finally some speedy sections till the finish.  It was raining just a little bit, so some of the rocks were a little slippery, however nothing to get too worried about.  As the gun went off nobody was really going for it, as we all knew we had a big climb to overcome.  About half way up the climb the pace picked up, with Adam Snyder leading the charge I jumped on his wheel, and held on as long as a could.  After I lost his wheel a settled back into a group of two other dudes, and we chugged along from there.  Half way through the lap I heard a knocking sound coming from my bike, and l looked down and my water bottle was falling out.  I quickly reached for it and tried to pull it out but I could not, I then tried to push it through and I could not, so in a last ditch effort I yanked it out, breaking my carbon fiber cage, and one of the sharp edges slashing my finger.  I started to bleed, however I was not about to slow down, so I stepped on it and got back to the group.  The rest of the lab went well, blood getting and my handle bars and all, however the light rain kept everything pretty clean.

The second lap came around and I wanted to drop my group, so I got going on the climb and never looked back.  I crossed the line in 2nd place, I had ridden the second lap a couple minutes faster then the first lap, and finished only about a minute behind Snyder.  Overall a really fun race, a lost a bottle cage, but a got my second consecutive 2nd place, pretty great.

Me and Nate after the race

After Collecting hardware, and Apples!

The final race of the Root 66 Series was the Landmine Classic, and it was shaping up to be a great race.  My finance Caroline was ready for her first bike race since moving out here, and the field was looking very strong, including the likes of Matt OKeefe, Tom Sampson, Neal Burton, John Foley, and Tim Daigneault name a few.  The race started off pretty fast with the Cannondale killers Matt and Tom keeping the pace high.  I was on their wheels until a hit a rock that I did not see and it threw me off the trail.  However I speed back up and next thing I knew Tom was sitting on the edge of the trail with his pedal in his hand, and Matt had speed off.  I kept up the pace however I came to a junction in which I had no idea which was to go, so I had to stop and wait for other rider to catch up and decide where to go.  Once they got there we decided to go left, however I was planning on going right, so it was a good thing that I waited.  At this point I settled into this group and rode along at a good clip for a while.  I got to the front and tried to drop riders, however the nature of the course did not make this easy, and I was unable to do so.  This went on for a while, until we reached two miles to go, and I really went for it, and as soon as I had put a little gap on I hit my pedal on another pesky rock and my chain fell off. As I watched Neal and Tim fly by I knew I had to be quick, so I got my chain back on and rode like crazy.  I caught them pretty fast, however I was out of gas, luckily so were they.  So I got back on pace, and Neal and I dropped Tim and it was off to the races.  We then ran into the beginners and had to swerve in and out right until the finish line, where some dude was running his bike in over his shoulder, essentially blocking me off of Neal's wheel, and going into the last turn I could not get around the bike carrier and Neal took second place, with my finishing in third.

3rd Place at Landmine, all right!

This was a great way to end out the MTB season, finishing 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd against some very strong fields. I will now try my hand at cyclocross, it looks like a lot of fun, and should be a good way to gain some high end for next mountain bike season!

Hodges Dam Race: On the Podium! (with a dead car in the parking lot)

A few weekends ago I had a very good weekend.  It all started out with my sister and her two friends coming out for a Boston Red Sox game.  They started driving from Michigan on Friday at noon, and left Sunday at 9:00AM, in between this we spent almost all day Saturday in Boston.  The Red Sox were playing the Detroit Tigers and we all made out first trip to Fenway Park to watch.  Before the game we took a tour of the Sam Adams Brewery and did a little sight seeing in Boston.  Although I do not have any pictures of all of us, I did manage to put a good picture of Fenway together:


Long story short, it was a nail bitter and the Red Sox pulled off a 5-4 win, with a walk off double by Big Papi.  It was great to have them come visit, but hopefully next time they can stay a little longer!

Now comes Sunday and the Hodges Dam Race.  My original intentions were to go to the race to see how two nights of little sleep, drinking beer midday the day before, eating ball park food, and walking all over the place would impact my performance.  I made the trip down, but before I parked I noticed a rather loud knocking in my rear end.  With this I decided that I made the trip, so race first then take care of the car later.  I registered, and started to warm up, and I felt pretty fatigued, it was hot and dusty (terrible for asthma), and  the field was very strong, with the odds stacked pretty high, I knew this would be something.

The race started, and I wanted to get into the single track first because of the terrible dust.  I accomplished this goal, and to my surprise I actually put a little gap on my chasers, however my chain then fell out and I had to hop off the bike.  Once I got it back on I had fell to 9th place or so.  I then began my chase, and slowly started passing a few dudes.  I then caught up to John Foley, and him and I continued to ride through the field together, and at this point I actually started to feel pretty good.  We kept it on until we caught Mike Mooradian, who was in second place.  At this point we rode together, which meant that our group represented 2nd-4th place, I have placed 4th too many times, so I knew this was a good chance to crack the top three.  With this is mind I got up front and pushed the pace.  However we were sticking together, and I just kept it on, and eventually with about 30 min left to race it was just Mooradian and myself.  I knew that I was feeling good, so as we got into the singletrack I kept the pace high, and was able to  put gain some ground between myself and Mooradian.  I was now on second place, and knowing that Seamus Powell was up front I wanted to try to keep second place.  However, I started noticing that my rear tire was losing air!  I franticly put CO2 into the tire, and hoped back on.  I was ten minutes out and just slammed on the gas, and as I was making a corner I went down.  I got back up, and then kept up the pace until I crossed the line in second place (Nate got second in his race too).

On another note this was the Massachusetts State Championship Bike Race, and as Seamus is from New York I won the state title in the Pro/Open category (my grandparents claim that I am now the King of Mass!)

So my experiment turned out differently than originally expected.  I ate horribly, drank beer, walked all over the place, hardly slept, and had the stress of a broken car and I managed my best race of the year.  I do not think that I will do this before every race, however everything lined up pretty well and the course was a good fit.  Check me out on the podium, still in my racing clothes covered in the dust (why you might ask, keep reading):

After the race was over I started working on getting my car home (hence not changing).  I called AAA, and found out that I could get my car towed 3 miles for free, and than pay a ton for every additional mile.  As I was about 60 miles from home I decided to have it towed near by, not ideal, but it would get my car out!  In times like this I am always happy to have my buddy Nate Peppin around, who stepped in with his 100 miles tow card, and I called AAA back up and let them in on this new development.  The tow truck showed up, as seen below, and took the car to Nate's house:

Nate and I had looked around the rear end and noticed a broken rod in my rear suspension, we thought we could fix it.

Nate took the reins and got the part ordered and installed, he then came and got me and I picked up my functioning car!  I would like to thank Nate and his mom Dawn for helping me out in this situation, I am happy to have had these great people at bike races for all of my four summers out east starting back when I had my internship in Connecticut.  Whether its bottle support or sitting around waiting for a tow truck and then feeding me dinner afterwards, they have truly been an instrumental part in my mountain bike racing!