Fall Plans & An Update

I hate to admit it, but fall is in full swing here in New England.

The weather has been erratic and it absolutely poured through the two weekends of peak foliage.  Some days have been warm but overall it's been overcast and rainy more often than not.  The volume of rain hasn't been that high yet the rain that has fallen has been spread out enough that we've only had 2 or 3 completely dry days in the last 2 weeks.

Fortunately I got some road miles in when the weather was cooperating the weekend of 9/22.  Of course I didn't realize that the Peak 6/12/24 Hour race had been moved to that day so I didn't know I was missing out on competing.  I even rode through Pittsfield though I didn't pass the venue.

My original season plan was to focus on the summertime endurance races without putting much effort into 'cross.  In years past I've felt like I've spread myself too thin and in doing failed at both by neither fully committing to endurance races nor being fully rested to start a cross campaign.  As I've said before a bad day at a marathon means suffering to a decent finish while a bad cross race means getting shot out the back on the first lap; I've decided to focus accordingly.

With my August burnout/allergy issues I didn't set a firm schedule for September.  I was tired, and felt like I needed a break so after 2 weeks off I started training again with the primary goal of losing weight without worrying about maintaining top end race fitness.  During the season I can maintain my race weight but have a hard time getting below it without wrecking my power output, so this was really about getting lean first and foremost.  Over the summer I realized that I could take another big step forward with even just a modest weight decrease, and losing 10-15 pounds would make me unstoppable.  I was riding just behind the next tier of regional racers and with some improvement I could close the gap.

The results have been interesting.  I've had some awesome rides and have mostly been climbing better, but I've also had a few rides where I've felt weak and empty.  On one ride in particular I cut 9 minutes off of my best time for a 21 mile loop, so on some days I feel like I can do some damage on the race course.

So really I made some improvements but I don't feel like I'm done yet so I've signed up for the CircumBurke at the end of the month.  I'm not sure how cooperative the weather will be in East Burke in late October, but it's worth a shot.  I'm expecting that it will land somewhere between a smooth, fast day out and an "epic".  As long as it isn't a total disaster I'll be happy.

And what about 'cross?  I pretty much missed all of the Catamount 'cross races and as of mid- October have yet to get a bike which obviously makes competing difficult.  I do still love 'cross, and helping Carrie get into it has been a lot of fun for me.  It's a lot easier to stand on the sidelines and cheer than it is to compete, but it's tough to stay a spectator when I know I have some fitness.

So what will I be riding?  A Ritchey Swiss Cross.

  
In this post I mentioned that I'd missed my opportunity to own one of these from the last production run and now I'm very excited to run one.  This year I'll probably do 2 races- the Spa Cross in Saratoga and the Paradise Cross Frenzy next month, but more than the races I'm looking forward to a beatiful smooth steel ride for mixed surface rides and dirt road epics. I'll be sure to post some pictures once it's all built up.

I can't wait.

Time to Sack Up, Part 2

This week I've been working on polishing my form and getting ready for the Wilmington 100 on Sunday.  At one point I was shooting to qualify for Leadville on Sunday, but after a rough fall and winter I decided to scale back on that plan and just do the race for experience.

Of course polishing said form isn't quite going to plan, either.  During the warmup for last night's Catamount race I wondered how my back and hip would hold up, and as I warmed up a bit I tried to not let it consume my thoughts.

Remarkably I was able to get a good start and went into the woods following some good wheels and riding smoothly.  It was almost hard to believe, but I was holding my pace around corners and through the obstacles.  I was holding my own.  Whoa.

Halfway through lap 1 Grass Moots teammate George politely rolled by at which point I was wondering how the hell I'd managed to stay ahead of him for that long.  As lap 1 wound to a close Marc and Ross passed me and encouraged my effort.  I'm a familiar face at these races, just not with that group and not at that point in the race.

From there my pace slipped a little, but I was able to yo-yo with a consistent group of riders, and all-in I was riding the flat, technical course really, really well- way better than two weeks ago.

I ended up finishing five minutes behind my target, but within a very manageable three minutes there were quite a few riders that I'll be focusing on in the coming weeks.  The biggest change was really the focus on reading the trail.  That's not something I think I do as aggressively as I should, and really maintaining that focus for the full distance takes some discipline.  

My performance on a flat, twisty, bumpy and technical course is not predictive of how I'll do on Sunday's steep, long dirt road suffer fest, but I'm encouraged nonetheless.


I'll leave you with this picture of 2011 Leadville Winner Todd Wells' bike as he raced it on the day (jacked from Singletrack.com- how come nobody scalped that url before?)   

One Down, Several To Go

I'm glad my first race of the year is out of the way.

This week was my first Wednesday Worlds, and my first race of the year.  Sure I'd been training pretty aggressively and had some new found trail skills to put to use, but a lot has happened since my last event on August 21, 2011.

I've deliberately avoided posts about training.  Some of that is probably because I can tell I'm improving but still don't have a good handle on where I am relative to last year, and some of it is because I'm a little self-conscious about it all.  Somewhere between the whining about hard efforts and existential crises taken out of context is the day-to-day of riding and training.  Keeping track of my performance has always been a challenge for me and I don't want to add pressure to myself or try to get too grandiose about how bad ass my training has been or how I'm going to take people apart on the race course.

Racing is hard, and although I remind myself of that regularly there's still no way to fully prepare for that all-out effort unless you're actually toeing the start line.  Physically and mentally there's no replacement for racing.

Leading up to Wednesday's race I was nervous.  I've been totally off the local cycling grid and have been riding almost exclusively by myself.  That suits my introverted style, and I push myself, but it makes it tough to benchmark relative to the competition.

So how'd the first Wednesday Worlds of 2012 go?  Overall pretty well, though I was ready to pull the plug halfway through the first lap.  This year's hill course is similar to years past, but somehow it manages to incorporate all of the sharp climbs at the expense of the long diesel ones.  I like the long diesel ones.  They suit my riding style and I know I can dig a little deep and reel people in towards the top.  I don't like the short, sharp ones.  It's tough for me to produce such short, sharp repeated efforts and I have to factor them into my pacing strategy.

I didn't do Flower Power, and I didn't get a full warm up.  The start of the course was similar to what we'd done before, so I anticipated where the hard efforts would be based on that.  I was planning on a handful of short, sharp efforts and was metering my effort accordingly.  My start was good, probably a little too good.  I was heading up the second steep climb with the group I want to ride with but can't quite yet.  I backed off a little and let a couple guys go who I knew I couldn't chase.  After that I got a little too aggressive punching it going over the wall and started to feel the effects of the start right when I needed to be maintaining my pace.  Ouch.

I started to slip a little, but recovered slightly for what I thought was the last steep pitch.  Previous loops had the gravelly slog up to the rockwall as the top of the course- but not this year.  After bouncing over the rockwall it was all new singletrack trough the woods- and a shit ton more climbing.  Barely halfway through the hard part, I was hurting pretty bad and going backwards fast.

From there to the top of the seemingly endless climbs I was essentially soft pedaling as racer after racer slipped past.  At some point Nemesis caught me and we started riding together.  Before long we were in a small group and were trading places with each other for the next few laps.

By that time I was starting to settle in a little, and knowing how much climbing lay ahead I backed off a little on the early steep sections.  That didn't really make it easier but it made the overall pace more sustainable.  Meanwhile my trail skills were totally gone.  I was riding like I'd just crashed (even though I hadn't) and was just losing time on every stupid turn.  Dammit.

On Lap 3 things improved a little.  I'd sorted out how I needed to attack the climbs, knew how long they were and was able to get a little smoother on the turns.  Simon's instructions about falling into my socks were starting to change my actions instead of just rattling around my head like some empty affirmation.  Looking back I think I've just done so many races there that my well-worn bad habits crept back when I was on the rivet.  I had to relax and back off a little so that I could let go of some tension and really feel the trail, and while I wasn't really smooth I was certainly smoother.

Nemesis and I had traded places many times through laps 2 and 3 with some other riders in our group trading pulls periodically.  Somewhere on lap 4 I got a gap and stretched it to 30 seconds by the finish.  Beating him is not why I get out of bed in the morning, but it's a very real performance benchmark.  Last year I had a couple of early season races where I was way ahead, and yet as I thought my fitness was improving he caught right up.  

Really I have no idea how I'm doing compared to last year.  Wednesday's race was a favorable indicator and I'm glad I finished when I really just wanted to quit.  I think my form is pretty good and if I can tweak my pre-race prep a little (by pre-riding the course and getting a decent warm up) with the right pacing I can improve on my performance.

Maybe I'll do Coyote Hill this weekend. 

Race Report- Windham Race the World

This past weekend was the Windham round of the Cross Country World Cup (or XCO for Cross Country Olympic Distance) and the only World Cup round in the US this season.  A "citizen's" race was held in conjunction with the  World Cup where domestic pros, aspiring wankers and weekend warriors could tackle the same courses as the international elite riders in an event billed "Race the World".  It is a pretty cool concept that was commonplace ten to fifteen years ago at venues like Mount Snow before the UCI decided that the elites had to race separately...because they said so. 

This non-World Cup event was an event within the event as part of the Root 66 Series--a long-standing and well-run group of races held across New England from April through October.  This meant that there were some familiar faces in the timing tent and on the start line.

So why did I sign up for a race that isn't my forte?  I was planning to check out the World Cup anyway, and Windham is close to my parents' house so I can combine several objectives into a single trip.  My own effort to race was almost incidental and really only came to mind when Spinney suggested that this weekend was a good one for an event as it was between hard training cycles. 

My expectations were pretty low heading into the event.  I had a string of bad luck but still was enjoying decent form so I decided to push on, and I suppose it could have worked out better under different circumstances. 

Wednesday's Catamount race was a disaster, and I wasn't fully recovered from Monday's two-mountain epic.  I climbed really well during Thursday's group ride, but my derailleur broke and I couldn't really test myself or work on my skills.  All of that is documented in my previous "Time to Sack Up" post.

I spent most of Friday night building Carrie's new bike--a Niner EMD.  George had helped me out with the frame and some parts, and the rest of it was re-purposed from my parts stash that had been allocated for a long travel full suspension bike.  Carrie didn't have a mountain bike, so for me to have 3 seemed a little ridiculous when she had none, so it was an easy decision.  She's had a growing interest in the sport this season, so I've been slowly easing her into it while trying not to be an overbearing "hockey dad".

After completing her bike I got mine cleaned and prepped and got to bed at a reasonable-ish hour.  Fortunately the elite men's race didn't start until 2:30 so I could sleep in a little and still not be rushed. 

Saturday morning I got up and got on the road as planned.  On the way out of town I grabbed some breakfast and food for the road since I knew there wasn't much once I got out outside of Burlington.  As I made my way through the aisles of my local grocery store I thought about what would make a good snack for the trip with the added twist that anything I bought had to be resistant to heat, as the car was likely to get pretty hot when parked in the 80+ degree sun.  I opted for some almonds--Jalapeno Smokehouse to be exact. 

For the record I have no problem with Mexico, Mexican people or Mexican food.  I do however apparently have a problem with Jalapeno Smokehouse almonds.

Earlier in the year Carrie had a couple rounds of a stomach bug that caused her to miss some work.  She attributed it to eating those same Jalapeno Smokehouse almonds, and I thought she was being ridiculous.  After all I had eaten the same almonds with no trouble, so although she had certainly been very sick I also thought that the almonds were most likely not the root cause. 

As I made my way southward I ate my breakfast and sipped my coffee.  The sky was clear, traffic was minimal and I was looking forward to seeing some real race action.  It was almost lunchtime as I approached the New york border, so I opened the almonds and had a small handful.  Eating the day before a race is a delicate balance--you don't want to overeat and risk digestive trouble, but you also don't want to under eat and bonk halfway through the race.  With that in mind I stick to the usual snack staples in my usual portions, and I thought about how smart I was to have thought ahead and brought some snacks with me.

Right after I reached Fort Ann, New York I started to feel bad.  My stomach got queasy and I had a splitting headache.  Soon I had a metallic taste in the back of my mouth and felt nauseous.  I stopped for Tylenol, but the problem didn't get any better.  As I approached Lake George it got worse, and I pulled over thinking I was about to vomit.  A few uncomfortable minutes later I was still feeling ill.  Damn it.  Carrie was right--the almonds were what made her sick, and now it was my turn. 

I got back in the car and tried my best to avoid the snarl of Lake George weekend traffic by taking backroads that I thought would get me closer to I87.  Meanwhile my stomach was still in trouble and I was feeling no better.  Somewhere in Queensbury I found respite in the form a Stewart's gas station and pulled over in search of any over-the-counter medication that might help my condition. 

Adjacent to the Stewart's was a vacant storefront, and I spent the next 15 unproductive minutes dry heaving in their parking lot next to the dumpster.  My condition hadn't improved, but I cleaned myself up and headed inside in search of Pepto and some mouthwash.  Residents of Upstate New York and the Vermont communities of Fair Haven and Rutland are familiar with Stewart's for their inexpensive gas prices, wooden shingled roofs and excellent selection of locally made hard ice cream.  They also had both generic pink stomach salve and mouthwash. 

After three times the recommended dose of chalky pink party punch I felt like my condition was starting to improve.  I had no idea where I was, but made my way through Glens Falls and back onto I87.  All of the drama had added quite a bit of time to my trip and I had quickly lost the small time cushion I had built into my travel plans. 

I got to Windham about 15 minutes after the start, and Jaroslav Kulhavy was solidly in the lead and motoring his way out onto his second of six laps.

Kulhavy killing it.

2009 World Champion Nino Schurter was in second, followed by a chase group of Burry Stander, Christoph Sauser, Manuel Fumic, Marco Fontana, Florian Vogel and a handful of others.  Over the next few laps I walked around the course snapping photos and checking out what I'd be riding on Sunday morning. 

The course was typical of the World Cup--about 5k in length with 700 vertical feet of elevation gain, and the leaders tackled a lap in about 16 minutes.  The climbs were numerous but short and punchy rather than long and grinding, and the descents were fast and rocky.  It was a cool course, and would be fun to ride, unlike many others I've ridden.

Kulhavy improved on his gap and won by a solid margin.  His performance made it look easy, but the faces on the riders chasing him showed just how hard it really was.  In one particular uphill section most of the top 20 riders were pushing the big ring where I knew for certain I would likely be struggling in my lowest gear.

Places 2-4, all in the big ring. 

After the race I picked up my number and stopped in to talk to the guys at the KMC both.  I talked with Dennis, their North American sales guy, for a few minutes and gave him some Pro-35 stickers.  After all, I still have about 477 of them, and I wanted to thank KMC for their support. 

I headed to Mom & Dad's for a low key cookout and some family time.  After catching up with everyone over a perfect pre-race meal I headed off to an early bedtime knowing that 5:30 was going to come early the next morning. 

Sunday morning went mostly as planned--I got up, showered and dressed in my kit and left the house just a few minutes behind schedule.  In my mind anything before 6:00 AM is considered airplane early, meaning that the only reason I would get out of bed at that hour would be to catch an airplane.  Needless to say, I don't do well with airplane early and avoid it as much as possible.

There wasn't one thing in particular that didn't go smoothly that morning, but I got to the course late, had to search for a bathroom and got a very brief warm-up for what I knew was going to be a fast, uphill start.  Saturday's health adventures had kept me from doing any warm-up riding, so that and Friday's planned day off meant that I hadn't turned a pedal since I broke my derailleur during Thursday's group ride. 

I made the most of my brief warm up and tried to relax as I lined up in the staging corral next to a particularly chatty French Canadian.  Vermonters are familiar with the Quebecois as they're frequent visitors to our state, especially during the summer.  In typical Frenglish my new friend was telling me in words and gestures about how he liked his older ti bike, how cool he though his new Easton cockpit was, that he was a new father and his wife and infant were on the sidelines--all within the three minutes as we counted down to our start time.  

The gun went off and I slotted into fifth position as we made our way up the first climb.  It was loose and steepish and I was being careful not to burn too many matches.  We made our way up the first section, over the short singletrack and back onto the gravel, all the while I was drifting farther back into the group. 

I was quickly noticing that I was climbing reasonably well but that I couldn't really pin it and that the lack of a decent warm-up coupled with the attack almonds meant that it wasn't going to get any better.  I fought on for a few more minutes, but as racers streamed by me it was becoming clear that I wasn't competing, I was in the way, so I exited the course and headed back to the car. 

 

Yes, that's a Gorillaz CD case in the door pocket.  

In the parking lot I changed back into my normal clothes and put the bike back into the trunk.  I was disappointed, but I knew that given what had happened leading up to the race I wasn't going to come away with a strong finish regardless.  I kicked the half-full Budweiser can that had been lurking near my car and tried to put it all out of my mind. 

The expo area was pretty quiet at 8:30 AM, but the Kenda guys were around and happy to talk about their tires.  At previous events Kenda has had a presence that was part trade show booth and part flea market with large bins of deeply discounted tires on offer.  This year was different, and although there were still some tires for sale, the overall presentation was much more polished and refined with only the new releases and best sellers on display.  I spent over an hour talking with Jake and Ben about what I'd been using this season and what they had planned for new releases.  Ben recognized the design of my Pro-35 shirt, and if I had one in his size in my bag I would have given it to him on the spot. 

 

Without spilling the beans, there's a 29er mud tire in the works in addition to an adaptation of Tinker Juarez's yet-to-be-released 24Seven and another John Tomac signature pattern.  The 29er mud tire definitely had my attention.  It's a variation of their Kommando tread and should weigh around 500 grams in 29 x 1.9 and should be available next spring.  A wider 29 x 2.2 version is also in the works.    In talking with these guys I got a chance to really geek out on tire specs in a way that I can with few others.  Casing shape, rubber compound, width and tread pattern were thrown around in reference to current and past tire designs. 

The Kenda konversation (sorry- couldn't resist) was the highlight of the event, and after I thanked the guys for their support I got in the car and headed home. 

Next up is the Darkhorse 40 on July 31.  At 40 miles it is a true endurance event and more in my wheelhouse.  I've raced at that venue before and know it will be fun, although if it's wet it can be very hard on the equipment.  Until then I'm going to control what I can control, eat right, train and sleep hard and work towards the best. 

Catamount Race Report, June 1

This Wednesday was my second Wednesday Worlds of 2011, and my first on the RSL.  I would describe racing on this bike with one word- awesome.  

Earlier this week I had done some pretty intense training so I wasn't sure how good I was going to feel.  The usual Saturday MTB ride and Sunday endurance road program got rained out, so I ended up doing a hilly gap climb on Sunday and 65 mile endurance ride on Monday.  Both of those rides were on the deceptively difficult terrain of Addison County, and the temperature was over 80 degrees both days.  Normally I can handle the heat, and I can ride two hard days back-to-back, but I also have Monday and Tuesday to recover.  This week I just had Tuesday.   

At Catamount last week we ran a similar course when I raced the YBB.  Some of the muddy sections had been removed so the lap was a little shorter but with more climbing.  Overall lap times were faster and the field was slightly larger so I didn't feel like I was riding solo for 75% of the race. 

As we lined up I told myself to take it easy and just ride for as long as I could with the goal of finishing rather than setting the world on fire.   I felt fine on the warm up, but wasn't really feeling snappy.  At the start I slotted into a decent spot and cranked up to speed. 

The first thing I noticed was how fast I was going on the starting stretch and up the first false flat sections.  I didn't go crazy and deliberately slotted into the well-worn groove even though it meant staying behind some slower riders while other racers zipped by in the grass.  I maintained my pace, stayed seated and turned over a reasonable gear in the big ring, and all of a sudden I realized that I was flying. 

With the bigger wheels I knew I wouldn't be able to push the same gearing on the climbs and that I might not be able to stay in the big ring like I did last week.  Fortunately the XX 156q crank has a chainline that allows for a full cross chain, so I shifted down to the 39 x 36 and kept it rolling. 

I was pulling a group of six reasonably fast racers as we entered the first woods section.  Normally I can stay in contact in the woods if I push it, but I'm not comfortable leading.  We skipped over the first rock sections, around the roots through the sweeping turns, then up and over onto the slick mud covered rocks.  I was still comfortably leading my group.

The excitement of leading through that section caused me to get a little too aggressive and push it even harder through the next technical section.  I rode it cleanly, but burned too many matches and had to back off going up the steep uphill at the exit. 

With this same feverish pace I pushed through the first lap and was hauling through the sections that had dogged me the week before.  The course was dryer and faster, but I was also more confident and had a level of focus that it possible to sustain my pace. 

Coming out of the last flowing woods section I was pretty smoked and was too far in the red.  The group of six that had been behind me zipped by as we started to work our way back up toward the finish line.  The climbs weren't terribly long, but they were steep and psychologically I was gassed.  I never was able to catch back on.

Last week I targeted one racer who finished two minutes ahead of me, and as we rolled through the start of lap 2 he passed me.  I composed myself and tried to limit the damage and stay in contact.  For most of the second lap I was 15-20 seconds behind him- always in sight, but a little too far ahead to catch. 

Through lap 2 I maintained the same distance, but as we entered the start of lap 3 I could see that his pedal stroke was getting wobbly and that I was slowly reeling him in.  As we snaked through the rocky sections at the top of the course he was maintaining a 10 second gap, but he overshot the exit of the sweeping high speed turn and all of a sudden I was right on his wheel.  We rode together for a few hundred meters before he bobbled on one of the uphill hairpins and I was able to sneak by. 

With a slight gap in hand I pinned it for the last lap with the intention of putting as much distance as possible on my new nemesis.  Some other racers were hot on his heels and I was soon being chased by a small group.  I didn't take notice of exactly how far back they were, nor whether they were working together but rather put as much as I could into the drag strip climb.  Where the course doubled back on itself I could hear other riders behind me and made sure to push as I hard as I could without overcooking the technical sections.

As I hit the last woods section I just tried to stay smooth and keep my gap.  I could hear some jockeying for position behind me and gave it a little extra gas through the G-outs and over the roots.  At the bottom of the last uphill I was already in the red, but I knew that if I could get to the top of the steep grassy climb with a gap that I could recover on the slight downhill before the finish. 

My plan worked, and I streaked across the line with no chasers in sight.  I didn't win, nor even garner a noteworthy place in my category, but I beat a racer who's consistently been ahead of me and put almost four minutes into last season's nemesis.

Overall a great race, and a great start to racing on my new favorite race bike, the RSL. 

The Plan

 

This is my 2011 season plan.  It includes the buildup to my endurance races this summer: Pat's Peak, the Dark Horse 40, Hampshire 100 and Land Mine Classic.  

Can't read it?  That's the point.  I don't want anyone knowing my semi-secret training program, I just want you to know that I have a training program.  

Saturday is going to be a mountain bike ride at tempo effort for about 2.5-3 hours.  Sunday is going to be a long steady endurance ride in the 5 hour range.  I'll be riding in some semi-familiar terrain in Southern Vermont on Sunday so that will be a nice change of scenery.  

Unfortunately my new camera won't arrive before the weekend so there won't be any photo essay ride reports just yet, but I will be riding, and I hope you will, too.

Tonight is the first Wednesday Night Worlds at Catamount of 2011.  My form has been good over the last few months, and I'm feeling pretty lean so I'm hoping that will translate into a positive result.  The first race of the season is always brutally hard, so I just need to remind myself that it's going to hurt a lot and I need to pace myself if I'm going to finish.  And the goal is to finish, then worry about results.  

Ned Overend said that if you finish a race your legs will hurt for a few days, but if you pull out your head will hurt weeks.  Simple words, but true nonetheless.  

The next step in the plan is to follow's Ned's advice, and finish tonight's race. 

Verge New England CX Opener- Day 1 Race Report

Well that was hard. 'Cross is always hard, and somehow I always forget that. With my recent focus on endurance racing I haven't been spending much time at or above anaerobic threshold, and although I'm glad I raced it was pretty much pure unadulterated suffering.

Next weekend in the Vermont 50, the second and final objective of my mountain bike season. It's a great event, and both times I've done it in the past (2002 and 2004) I had a great time. Some years (2003, 2009) it's horrible muddy mess so I'm really hoping that it stays dry for us this time around. I got rained on for most of the Hampshire 100- does that count for something?

With the 50 on my mind I was heavily debating whether or not to race this weekend, but considering the race was under 50 minutes and 20 minutes from home I went for it. Recently I've felt like my form has been coming around and I wanted to test it. 'Cross is great prep for 5+ hour mountain bike race, right? I guess I'll find out on the 26th.

Catamount was the host venue for the first stop of the 2010 Verge Series. I'm lucky to be able to race their weekly training series events over the summer. It's pretty cool to be able to race mid-week on a good course with solid competition.

The course was a modified version of the usual Wednesday Worlds 'cross course that we'd been riding this season, and the changes were welcomed. Grass and hills made for tough going, and the sprint up the table top jumps on the mountain cross was a total pain cave every lap.

For whatever reason I debated about signing up for the event, so when I got around to it I had secured myself a last row spot out of a field of about 120 racers. Did I mention that they're staging the juniors in the same race as the 3's, and starting us together? There are some well renowned fast kids in New England that are very strong racers, but for the rest of the juniors field and all of the 3's starting after 20th position it's pretty miserable. It was full gas and wait for the whole first lap and the only places to move up were sketchy and already occupied with sketchy riders when I got to them so I had to sit tight and let the leaders put a solid minute on me before the end of the first lap.

Realistically if I had a decent start spot or at least room to pass more safely I would have finished a little better, but not enough to whine about. This was for training anyway, and the start staging just reinforced that. I felt good that I was holding the same gap to some fast riders once I was able to start my race on lap 2, and that was encouraging.

We'll see how intermixing 'cross and enduro racing works out. I might take a different approach next year. What happened to the New England season opener being the first weekend of October in Pittsfield?