First I would like to thank all the weather people for being pretty much wrong with the forecast. The predicted inches of rain never happened making the decision to race much easier. I also want to say that my report will have a much different vibe than Mark, Dan or Tim. Starting in the first wave and spending most of the race in the top ten overall meant I got to experience the course before hundreds of tires had a chance to chew up the trails. All but a few short sections were solid footing and overall the riding was quite fun.

So here we go with the details. The race started at 6:15 under very warm and dark conditions. The first few miles are fast and slightly downhill. The entire knobby tired peleton rode this section very calmly which was nice considering the lack of vision. Things quickly sorted out once the road turned up as the faster guys established themselves off the front. Two guys quickly jumped out and pulled away never to be seen again. I settled in with the second group, running anywhere from third to seventh swapping positions frequently. Guys I recognized in the group included Thom Parsons hammering his singlespeed, MTBminds Chris Gagnon, and EFTA 2008 Vet1 champ Steve Humphries. All is going smooth and to plan until I hit a diagonal root and I executed a nice superman. This was the first time all year I had a full body on the ground crash, forgot how fun it could be. At this point I had settled into fifth overall and was still feeling good. Then came my one mistake as I missed a left turn and proceeded up a long steep driveway. As I approached a nice two car garage I figured something did not seem right. Did a u-turn and headed back down and finally found my error. Now I am mad and up the tempo to attempt to make up some time. Entering a long straight gradual climb I give a quick glance back and see nobody. I hammer up the climb feeling great and knowing I?m making up time and pulling away from those behind me. As I finally get to the top of this long section I look back again to see three people on my butt, that put me in my place. We are now about half way through the race and my left inner thigh starts to cramp. I quickly back off a bit and adjust my calorie and fluid intake up drastically. A few minutes later all feels good again and I am able to pick up the pace. Then it was onto the longest section of singletrack the course offers up. I was a bit timid on the roots because of the earlier crash, but it was still a lot of fun. At one point on this section you go through some folk?s yard who are always out on their porch cheering. This is where I cramped last year and sure enough it happened again this time. Once the house was out of sight the cramp went away. I think the people on the porch are witches and cast a cramp spell on me each year. Mile 35 and I starting to drag a bit as Gagnon goes by, so I try to use him to keep my pace up. It works well as I play wheel sucker for the next fourteen miles. This entire section there was nobody else in sight front or rear. It would have been hard to keep a good pace if Chris had not been there to keep me pushing hard. As we pass the final aid station I?m getting excited knowing there is only 20 minutes left based on last years times. Unfortunately this section had been altered and the stuff added was not that fun, especially when I thought the hard work was done. Finally get back on last years stuff and see the 1 mile to go sign. Chris bobbled a bit here I ended up in front of him. Not wanting to beat him after all the help he gave me, even if he did not realize how much help he was, I backed off once on the slopes to the finish and let him by. Ended up finishing 10th overall, 4th in class with a time of 4:53. That is 12 minutes off last year, mostly because of the slippery conditions. Probably lost a couple spots because of the wrong turn, but overall I was happy with the results. I think I rode a better race than last year even though the end results do not show it.

It may be awhile before the official results are on-line. The number plates apparently were made out of a super fast biodegradable material. Within 5 miles I had already seen two numbers on the ground, and there were only a few people ahead of me. My number already was hanging by it's last tywrap, so I ripped it off and stuffed it in my pocket after committing the number to memory. All this was happening in dry conditions, I think they all would have fallen off at the start line if it had been raining. At each check point we had to scream out our number and I'm sure many folks did not remember their number. It was really hectic at the finish line, especially once folks started arriving in clumps. I would estimate that over 95 percent of the riders were crossing without numbers. Not good for a race that threatens to be cancelled each year if any litter is left behind by racers, the clean up crew is busy today I'm sure.
 
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The week before the event looked like the rain was going to make a decision of no go for me but Saturday was not too bad and even though we knew it was going to be wet the temperature looked good. So with that I went to bed early Saturday and was up a little after 3am Sunday. Left the house after 4am stopped at DD and got a good parking spot at the mountain. I wanted to get there at least an hour before the start which for me was 6:20. Yes it is still dark especially on a cloudy morning. I was entered in the Expert Master II class which is for all of us over 55 years old. Not sure how many were in the group I think less than 10 but the results are not posted yet. We started with all the single speeds and about half of the older expert riders. During the few miles of road ride I was doing well staying about in the mid pack as we got to the single track the group spread out but I held my own for the first half of the race. The trail conditions were good and mostly fast considering the amount of rain before the event. In reading Brian's post he writes about the root he did the superman on. I know where it is. I was riding fast close behind another rider when he hit it and did a complete side way flip I then hit him and did a managed recovery. That was fall #1 for me. At about mile 20 I started getting huge cramps in my quads and hams. This is very unusual for me. I thought I had been drinking and eating and watching my electrolytes closely. I was literally off the bike screaming in cramp pain. I think it scared the crap out of a few riders all of whom offered to help. After recovery I would ride again and then have to stop. About half way through the race Mark showed up and I tried hanging with him for a while. He was riding strong and upset with himself because he missed a turn. I followed him up a steep hill and I had to get off figuring I would catch him on the downhill. I started my downhill and was moving pretty good when something caused me to go airborne with the wheels not in the usual down position. I hit very hard on a giant rock smashed my helmet, face, chest and thigh into the unmovable object somehow jamming my thumb along the way too. It hurt very bad and I just stayed there for a while. A rider behind me stopped to help as well as two other riders behind him. I must have looked bad I had a laceration above my left eye and blood was everywhere. I was more concerned about my chest which hurt more than my head. Anyway after getting bandaged up and checking my balance etc. I got back on the bike and rode to the next aid station where I got my bike fixed and my cut cleaned up. The rest of the ride was hell. I hurt I was still cramping and I had a long way to go. The first rider that stopped to help me was great, he had the first aid material and he stayed with me to the aid station. He was from Massachusetts and I can't remember what he said his name was. But I have a big IOU to pay back. I finished well over 6 hours but still took 3rd place. One less band aid at the aid station and I could have taken 2nd. I received a nice plaque for the effort. I am sore from head to toe and most likely have a cracked rib again my thigh is bruised badly. I am out for a week or two which does not work well for the upcoming Pinnacle Challenge. But I will not disappoint my runner I have a super secret rider to take my place and I predict they will win with best time overall.

BTW this was my last Vt. 50 I have had enough.

One of the many challenges of the VT50 is getting up before dawn, lining up for the race in the freezing cold. Not so this year ? it was warm and humid. I was dressed for a summer race. It was good to see some familiar faces at the start: John, Tim, and Pete. Pete and I have had a friendly rivalry going on at the EFTA races. He usually ends up ahead of me, but not by too much.

The downhill paved start went off fast and furious. A group of six or so broke off the front immediately. I tried to chase them down. I was closing on them, but slowly. I looked over my shoulder to see a long pace line strung out behind me, so I decided to give it a bit of a surge and try to drop them. The goal at this point is to enter the first climb at the head of the pack. Otherwise, when one person bobbles on the climb, everyone is sentenced to dismounting and pushing their bikes in an uphill death march

My surge started to fade, but then Pete came around me and said ?I?ll pull for a bit.? Pete is almost a Clydesdale, and we started a slight downhill just as he started his pull. We flew! We bridged up to the breakaway in no time, I slingshotted around the group, and had a few moments of glory ? in first place.

Then we turned up the first big climb and all hell broke loose. Brian reportedly had a damp, relatively firm trail to ride. By the time our group came along, 100+/- bikes had churned the trail up to greasy peanut butter in places. The conditions weren?t awful, but they were a challenge. Half way up the climb, I?m still on my bike, but drenched in sweat, my glasses are fogged and muddy. Time to get off and push- only 47 miles to go!

The first 15-20 or so miles went by OK. I took a wrong turn and lost a few minutes. And just like last year, I found the middle third of this race mentally very difficult. I was cramping, the hills seemed to get steeper, and quite a few riders passed me. I was considering quitting.

I was starting to perk up a little when I came up on Dan. He was of good cheer, despite, I found out later, that he was battling the same ?my-legs-are-cramping- and-I?m-considering-quitting demons? too. I guess we all keep our demons to ourselves during the race. I dug deep to pass Dan, but the pass was followed by a downhill, and I thought for sure Dan would run me down like a dog on the downhill. I started riding out of my element, and managed a flop in a mud puddle, a reward for my ?keep-ahead-of-Dan? efforts.

For the final third of the race I managed to stay focused and start reeling in various competitors, despite battling hamstring cramps. Funny, I cramped up by the same porch (the one with the cramping witches) and so did PJ, on his race a couple of years ago.

The story of the pipes is worth mentioning:

The race finishes with a traverse of the ski slopes. Two years ago, I tried to cross a pair of wet cast iron snow- maker water pipes, and crashed hard, my only crash of the race. Last year, they were dry, and I tried to ride them- and crashed. Wet, dry, they are impossible for me to ride over. This year, they were wet, and I dismounted, running over them. I should have walked. My foot hit the second pipe, down I went. Pipes ? 3, Gurney ? 0.

I actually went the wrong way at the finish, and it cost me a place. I finished twelfth in my group; I?m very pleased with the results. My time was 5:58, 20 minutes slower than last year, but I moved up in my field of typically 130+ racers. If there is a next year - right now I?m too tired to declare anything other than ?never again?- I need to remember to mentally prepare for the mid-race ?depression? (I can?t think of a better term at the moment) and to neither ride nor step on the damn pipes.

Congratulations to Brian and Dan for their fine showings in their respective Expert fields. Brian finished with some very fast company and Dan earned third in his Expert category despite his need to reassemble his body parts ?and riding almost half (at least 20 miles) of a very challenging course in considerable pain.

Next year I get to move up in an age category. Instead of being an old guy in a bigger category, I?ll be a young guy in a smaller category. OK, maybe next year?

MG

I skipped the race. I was extremely frustrated with the weatherman/mother nature. I did not trust either going into Saturday afternoon. This weekend I coached two soccer teams and we had canceled all games on Friday, and were tentative about Sat but did play. When I got home I heard that the Red Sox were canceled, it was raining...and I just looked at my wife and said...I'm not going. It will be a muddy mess, humid and wet...which I do not do well with. I was then in the a horrible mood and wanted to kill somebody. By Sunday at noon, I got over it. It sounds like you all had good races...you are all real troopers. Dan, sounds like a tough ride, but you did really well. You post makes me think maybe I made a good decision.

This bike season has been really good for me (except the racing thing). I have learned a lot. Thanks to all you guys that tought me all the good tricks.

See you on the trails!!

Brian
 
When in doubt, ride

Congrats to all who rode. Dan, sorry to hear about your crash, that sounds painful.

Good to hear the weather held out for you guys. It poured all weekend long in Maine. Your experiences make my measely 4 mile trail run (aka swim) sound like childs play. Something like 25% of the trail was under murky water 12+ inches deep and the dead deer carcus at the beginning of the trail didn't exactly give me a warm fuzy for being in the woods by myself.

Ryan

Results are up. Apparently I made a pass sometime during the week and moved up one spot and onto the podium. Maybe by the end of the month I will be in first. Compared to last year Mark is the only one who made progress, moving up 9 positions. Dan and I are stuck in third.

[url]http://www.vermont50.com/html/2008_mt__bike_results.html[/url]
 
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Congratulations Men.

Brian, one has, now if the other two fess up not to being vets, then you'll take it.