The rise and fall of Catamount weekend

It started out so good. The car was packed when I got out of work, so it meant just a short drive from Boston to the hostel in Burlington. Head over to eat burritos, then on the way. In Stoneham Thom is turned around talking to me and says "We just lost a wheel."



"What?" - Roger

"A wheel just flew off the roof" - Thom

*please let it not be my wheel* - Everyone.



Turns out it was Thom's wheel. We take the rest of the wheels off the roof, and get back to driving. Anyone who's ever taken me somewhere knows that I'm bound to fall asleep in the car. Probaly mid conversation. I don't know why, but it happens all the time. I even once fell asleep while drinking a Red Bull, clutched in a death-grip in my hand. After my nap we listen to the new Madball (awesome) and a Brian Posehn comedy album (listen to it.)



I'll tell the Hostel story another time (night digging) and start with getting to the race venue way too early. The Catamount Outdoor Center is an awesome place, lots of great views, and a ton of rideable terrain. Watching the fog burn off in the morning, and having it get about 10 degrees warmer in about 35 minutes was pretty awesome too.

Day one: Front row start. Ken from Threshold and I go out pretty hard and are leading up the first hill. By the time we get to the first left turn I've drifted back to 10th wheel or so (ah uphill sections.) I don't remember much except getting myself back around Giesel before we get back through the start/finish. Honestly this whole race is a blur. I do know that I rode up the bike jump every time, and that I managed to stay upright the entire ride. I also passed a couple of riders on the last lap n order to take 6th on the day.

I took a ton of photos after my race and proceeded to watch the Tim Johnson show before packing up and heading out for pizza and beer.

Day two: After a night of restless sleep it's back over to the venue super early for pre rides. It looked to be more suited to me (less climby) than day 1 and looked to have only 1 real feature to separate the race out (at least in the 4 field.) I was cautiously optimistic about my chance but was not getting good sensations from my legs during pre rides.

Front row start again. Again Ken leads it up the first hill and around the corner. Unlike day 1 I drift really far back during this part. I realize that there is now at least 1 Geekhouse rider ahead of me. I cannot allow myself to be treated this way and decide to move up on the left hand side. All the way to the front, and then to ride harder. I'm first wheel headed into the turns and still first wheel after the run up (yes I ran in every time.) I got passed just before it went back downhill, but stayed in the front group of 5 or so. We traded places amongst ourselves for most of the rest of the lap and rolled through the finish with me driving a train of 6 to the hill. I realize this is a really bad spot for me to be in so I weave around a bit to get off the front (in retrospect maybe the front is where I should have stayed.)

Back around the course on lap 2 it feels pretty good riding with this front group until we get to the downhill part. I managed to overcook a soft right hander and land right on my head. I also somehow manage to drop my chain behind the cassette and into the wheel. I get right up and realize that my oxygen starved brain can't fix my bike so I pick it up and start running.

I ran a lot. All the way down the hill, over the barriers and to the pit. I vaguely remember Roger yelling at me to keep running as he passed by. Stephen Pierce and Dave Wilcox, god bless their souls, met me in the pit to try and help out. I put my bike down and said "Chain. Needs fix." or something really intelligent like that. Between the 2 of them, and with an assist from Neutral by Mark himself I was back out of the pit quickly and right back into 14th place.

I proceeded to push myself harder than I ever have before in an attempt to catch not only the Geekhouse rider just ahead of me, but I needed to reel Roger in too. I relatively quickly caught up to the Geek (he washed out in a corner I think)and proceeded to cross paths with Roger for the next lap and a half or so.

I make a move to pass Roger and he lets me by with some words of encouragement. I think I see Giesel ahead of me, but he's to far to catch, so I just keep turning over the pedals trying to make up some time. Good for 12th on the day.

Overall I think we did pretty well for ourselves. I know Thom wasn't to happy with 16 on day 1 and 14 on day 2, but Roger seemed happy with 15 and 13.

Up next is the Noreaster and Suckerbrook. Keep an eye out for a special guest rider on Saturday.