unh / brockton
to this weekend were 2 smaller races that i had hoped to do well in..
Saturday was UNH & i was pretty stoked to be back at the school i graduated at 10 years ago (gulp). Allie was with me. My parents showed up, as did my friend Chris & his little boy Enzo. so i do 1 warmup lap & realize this is going to suck. aside from the 100 feet of dry gravel road, the remainder was a horrible muddy mess. thick, gross, impossible to ride- mess. I got a decent start & was in about 8th place with the leaders right in front of me... as we were all going only 4mph, they were literally right there :) anyways.. with about 2 to go, i faded to 10th. then my wheels stopped turning. i got off & took 2 large & complete handfuls of mud stuck between the wheels & the fork/frame. got back on. still no go. again, remove more goop. people go by. ugh. back on.. in 13th. i did everything i could to stay there... which i did.. not quite what i was hoping for.....
saturday was Brockton. I opted for this instead of Putney, as it was close & it seemed most of the team was headed thier for the same reasons. So i pull up & a 7yr old kid is directing traffic. I park on the side of the road & get directed to registration.. this ended up being about a 10min walk up the road.. i get thier & ask for the bathrooms. "we couldnt get them up here". im directed back to the other end of the park, across a main road. nice. after a long ride, i find 2 portapotties (one without TP). ugh.
i get back to my car, suite up, then check out the course. there is randomly placed "caution" flagging. not on both sides.. just randomly placed tape. ugh. sooo poorly done. the course started on pavement, then a tad bit of grass, then into this loooong stretch of singletrack with sooo many rocks sticking out, it was ridiculous. we then cross over a narrow (ie: 3' wide) bridge... on to some doubletrack with more rocks... then back on the road.
i was a little pissed. it was soo NOT a cross course. plus it was $25. this was a $10 race, maybe. ha.
anyways, we all get to the start line.. and then it starts to downpour.. just to add insult to injury. ugh. im riding well & after a few laps someone says im in 10th place. that cant be right. then me & ctodd go thru & they yell "5th & 6th". wow.
then we go thru at 4th & 5th. even better. then i go thru at 3rd place, alone. wow. this is going to end well. im careful in the singletrack & punching it on the doubltrack. im gaining on 2nd & still feeling good. i pass a lapped rider and then POP!! front tire flats. ugh. im soo far from the pits.... plus i didnt even bother to put my wheels in there. oh well. game over. greg took my place & finished 3rd & ctodd crashed hard, but fought back for a solid result.
Me & allie dried off, then headed to IBC to see jon lewis & pick up some supplies. that guy rocks. then off to Know-fat for lunch... then to trader joe's... then to the grocery store to get some soy ice cream :) yum!! back home, clean the bike, take a shower, watch tv & go to bed at 7pm. hahaha.
Saturday was UNH & i was pretty stoked to be back at the school i graduated at 10 years ago (gulp). Allie was with me. My parents showed up, as did my friend Chris & his little boy Enzo. so i do 1 warmup lap & realize this is going to suck. aside from the 100 feet of dry gravel road, the remainder was a horrible muddy mess. thick, gross, impossible to ride- mess. I got a decent start & was in about 8th place with the leaders right in front of me... as we were all going only 4mph, they were literally right there :) anyways.. with about 2 to go, i faded to 10th. then my wheels stopped turning. i got off & took 2 large & complete handfuls of mud stuck between the wheels & the fork/frame. got back on. still no go. again, remove more goop. people go by. ugh. back on.. in 13th. i did everything i could to stay there... which i did.. not quite what i was hoping for.....
saturday was Brockton. I opted for this instead of Putney, as it was close & it seemed most of the team was headed thier for the same reasons. So i pull up & a 7yr old kid is directing traffic. I park on the side of the road & get directed to registration.. this ended up being about a 10min walk up the road.. i get thier & ask for the bathrooms. "we couldnt get them up here". im directed back to the other end of the park, across a main road. nice. after a long ride, i find 2 portapotties (one without TP). ugh.
i get back to my car, suite up, then check out the course. there is randomly placed "caution" flagging. not on both sides.. just randomly placed tape. ugh. sooo poorly done. the course started on pavement, then a tad bit of grass, then into this loooong stretch of singletrack with sooo many rocks sticking out, it was ridiculous. we then cross over a narrow (ie: 3' wide) bridge... on to some doubletrack with more rocks... then back on the road.
i was a little pissed. it was soo NOT a cross course. plus it was $25. this was a $10 race, maybe. ha.
anyways, we all get to the start line.. and then it starts to downpour.. just to add insult to injury. ugh. im riding well & after a few laps someone says im in 10th place. that cant be right. then me & ctodd go thru & they yell "5th & 6th". wow.
then we go thru at 4th & 5th. even better. then i go thru at 3rd place, alone. wow. this is going to end well. im careful in the singletrack & punching it on the doubltrack. im gaining on 2nd & still feeling good. i pass a lapped rider and then POP!! front tire flats. ugh. im soo far from the pits.... plus i didnt even bother to put my wheels in there. oh well. game over. greg took my place & finished 3rd & ctodd crashed hard, but fought back for a solid result.
Me & allie dried off, then headed to IBC to see jon lewis & pick up some supplies. that guy rocks. then off to Know-fat for lunch... then to trader joe's... then to the grocery store to get some soy ice cream :) yum!! back home, clean the bike, take a shower, watch tv & go to bed at 7pm. hahaha.
posted by Justin at
7:04 AM
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