Two weeks before the race my friends took me to Pittsfield/VT for a MTB ride to see those great switchbacks. After seeing the Green Mountain Trails I decided to man up and register for my first 'official' endurance race.
I arrived on Friday around 8PM and was looking for a camp out spot. I found one near Amee Farm just eastbound of 100 towards Stockbridge. It was a small field with a creek on the far side. There were some campers and tents of dirt bikers. I socialized with them a bit then I set up my hammock next to the creek. It was a real camping atmosphere at the camp site with tiki torches and other flickering lights all over the place. I woke up well rested at 6AM and was happy that the flash flood didn't reach my hammock. I broke camp and met Jason at Amee Farm when picking up my racing bib.
I had one hour to kill so I decided to warm up ride back to the campsite and try to ride on trails back to Amee Farm. My old Merlin bike was so anxious to roll that I accidentally rode too far and ended up the other side of Pittsfield.
The whole race was reflecting a calm confidence that everyone know what they do, 'take it easy, it's an endurance race' feeling! For me as I mentioned before, it was the first endurance event and felt comfortable from the beginning to the end of the race. The brief instructions before the race was clear, everyone was polite and I witnessed much of the sportsmanship along the trails. By the way, trail markings were great and simple, I felt like I was walking on my own backyard. The Green Mountain Trails has a very knowledgeable trail crew.
As we were getting closer to 9 o'clock, it was time to line up the bikes on the driveway and prepare for the Le Mans running start. What an intense synchronicity it was. We grabbed our bikes, start riding and we seemed to move like one big ant farm.
The first lap was a hot lap. For half an hour we could distinguish amongst jerseys and colors, but the rest of the challenge, mud color was dominating from head to toe. The muck added some flavor to the challenge!
All in all, the whole race course was safe and even a fallen tree was cleared off immediately from the trail that landed there between two laps. Thanks Jason for taking care of it!
Inside the race it was fun and exciting to be there. Every section had its own acquaintance. One of everyone's favorite is worth to mention at the Cabin on the top where Verna and Peter were cheering us and lifted our spirits with food and kind words!
At 2:30 PM I was able to start another lap so to finish 5 laps total for the race. It was one of the most remarkable one, because after riding alone for a while I spotted Matt was still on the course. I felt like the race just started there! It was rejuvenating to ride shoulder to shoulder with the trail guru!
The pork roast and the food was delicious after the race. They waited for us with it and had friendly talk with other bikers while eating. I kept my endurance mode on for the whole race for having fun, finishing the challenge and have enough umph to drive 5 hours back home. Next day morning I took my fixie to commute work and I might convert my MTB to single speed for the next race. I'm very much impressed by the endurance SS racers from this event of their performance and fortitude!
They say, 'hearts can never change', but
my first endurance race was a sort of life changing experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment