Sunday, April 18, 2010

Root 66 - Winding Trails: Fun; fun; fun!

I was wondering if I was going to regret having ridden nearly 12 miles the day before or not but it turns out I felt really good for the race today. It was a bit difficult to predict whether it was going to be warm or cold on the course and I ended up racing in the same kit as last weekend and I was just fine. The course at Winding Trails has to be some of the buffest riding in Southern New England granted the roots were killer.

Photo Credit: Adam Roth

First lap was pretty good although after the whistle blew I wound up in the sand pit and lost control. A single speeder on my left collided with me and there was a guy on might right that I think I hit his tire. It was awkward but we made it out OK. That set me back but then I picked up speed and actually caught another single speeder. That jubilation quickly faded when he passed me in a rooty section that I couldn't hammer through - I should have though because that would made the bumps easier to handle I bet.

I chickened out on a few of the climbs when I could have probably ridden them. The mud after the bridge sucked because it just sapped all my strength and then there was a real bitch of a hill that I did the cyclocross scramble up. Halfway into the second lap my front tire slipped off the trail and I went down and afterwards that's when I started having some problems. It seems that when braking, there is so much torque that it caused my QR to come undone. This must have happened three times. On the third time, I got it tight enough so that I could finish the race.

My third lap was my best lap because I really pushed myself and hit just about every climb. The one climb that went practically straight up, I got 3/4s of the way up it but then had to walk the rest of the way.

Photo Credit: Adam Roth

Look at this, another Dillinger in Connecticut. This guy came in fifth. His name is Fabian, he is NEMBA member and rides Fixed, too!

It was certainly more muddier than hop brook. Apres race, it was nice to enjoy a little BBC Maibock and then some Giles Corey IPA. I took somewhere in the neighborhood of a 150 pictures of the CAT 1/Pro Racers that I am going to publish to a google albumn later in the week.

The Results Board

I got tenth again!

All Squeaky (I hate that word when it comes to biking) clean. After I cleaned the Dillinger up and unloaded the car, I proceeded to take the bike apart to clean and reset everything.

Adam Roth


Art Roti

3 comments:

Steve Miller said...

Looks like an awesome trail. I love the windy ones. Great blog activity lately, keep it up!

fabian said...

Great blog Mark, nice pictures too.

fabian said...
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