Not much into doing race reports lately, but Sunday?s Weeping Willow EFTA race deserves the recognition. Aaron, Dave, Derek, Maz and anyone else involved in making this race happen get major kudos from me and all the other racers. The course was as fun as it gets, just a non-stop good time on the bike. The turn out was incredible and reminded me of how it was when I first discovered this great sport. Aaron, Kieth, Mark and Tyler made the trip along with me and all had a great time. OK, onto my recap??..

After wading through the sea of spandex and helmets I find my group staging close to the front of the crowd. My plan on the start was to go not too hard and settle in around the middle of the pack. I was not sure how the legs would respond after the hard effort and sudden stop with zero cool down at the Sunapee road race the day before and did not want to explode early. As our group takes off I settle in fifth wheel on the early double track. On the final rocky rise before we enter the single track I take the right line, everyone in front of me goes left. The left line bogged down a bit and I pop into second entering the single track. The guy in first is setting a pace I am not willing to match, not sure I could of anyway. I figure he will either implode or I will never see him again. Turns out the latter was the case. My legs actually felt much better than expected, might have been the course being so fun I did not think about it much. The entire first lap was spent catching and passing racers who had started in earlier groups. I spent a good amount of time going back and forth with a dude who knew the trails and was not opposed to letting his tires leave the ground like I am. I would pass him on the climbs, then he would take his turns on the down hills. It was so fun watching him fly of all the jumps and drops scattered about. Towards the end of lap 1, now Vet2 racer Aaron Millet caught up with me and we chatted for a bit. We had some good battles a couple years ago in the VET1 class. Amazing how he can bust his butt running this event and still be so fast during the race. I ended up gapping Aaron and the jumping dude at the start of lap 2 and spent a bit of time alone before encountering the tail end of the novice crowd. It was so fun seeing all these new people out giving this racing thing a try. They must have been in awe as the elites screamed by them. At this point I start scanning the trail ahead of me looking for my son, hoping I would not see him until the finish. When I hit the double track that leads to the finish and there is no Tyler in sight I am as happy as one could be. Tyler is waiting for me as I cross the line in second place. I asked him how long he had been waiting and he says, ?I already been back to the van to get a drink?. Very cool indeed! Turns out he claimed second place also, not bad for a 12 year old in a 12-17 class. He still has not stopped grinning about this one.

All around great event that I can not recommend enough for next year. Heck, I wish they could hold another race there this fall.
 
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Congratulations Tyler and Brian good job.

Not sure if I can post a "race" report based on my performance, but I had a fantastic time...Brian and Keith mentioned they were heading down to this one, and it sounded like a fun day - the course definitely delivered on that front, and it was a great day in the woods and hanging out with everyone.

Getting ready to line up I couldn't believe the number of participants, it felt like EFTA races 6 or 7 years ago. I think the final tally was close to 400 riders. Vet 1 sport had 31 racers, and was pretty fast off the line, and I tried to keep reminding myself on the first lap to hold my pace, remember I wasn't in great shape, but the singletrack was so much fun I couldn't help myself. A guy wiped out on the off-camber root in the first singletrack section right in front of me, but we had seen this section during the preride so I had picked a good line to go around. Pretty uneventful after that - lots of traffic picking up groups and being passed for those of us in the mid-pack, made for a fun day. Gurney caught me about 6 miles in, latched onto his wheel for a long doubletrack, but quickly had to let him go - he was cranking! Anyway, I was good for about 13 miles, but due to the lack of race fitness I definitely slowed down through mile 18. The elites caught me with about 2 miles to go, and for some reason it just upped my cadence out to the finish. Most important thing - I had a huge smile on my face the entire time.

Definitely a great course - no major "climbs", but quite a few steep up and downs that kept you interested. Nice balance of double and single track, and the single track had really good flow as well. I will definitely do this one again.

Thanks to the group for talking me into it and getting me back into racing. Hey, might even race the Pinnacle this year. Hope to see everyone on a Wed night soon,

Aaron

Can't say I'm surprised Tyler has Daddy's legs. Congratulations on a great day Brian & Tyler.

Sounds like Aaron & Mark had a good day to, good job guys.

Ryan