I have been wanting to ride at Berry College for the last several years. Renee and I had previously attempted riding at Berry in 2009, to no avail, since the trails proved elusive. Today was a chance to finally go exploring and I'm glad I did. The Assail the Trails race put on by Cycle Therapy really showcased all the trails available in the wilderness surrounding the college. This is a beautiful area and it was so beautifully surreal to climb up to the House of Dreams in the misty clouds with trees around in brilliant orange, red, and yellow.
I didn't sleep well at all last night waking up every half-hour it seemed with thoughts of, "Can I really ride 35 miles tomorrow?" I thought we would be out on the course the entire 35 miles but it turned out that we would make 3 laps with each lap heading out on different length courses. Honestly, I was under-trained for this race since I have been resting for most of October and plan on continuing to rest in November. I have been focusing more on strength training lately with a few short bike rides per week and the occasional trail run. This race was more of a C-priority race, just a chance to have some fun and ride some new trails. The last time I rode was on Tuesday at Blanket's Creek for about 10 miles. I rode at Chicopee for 30 miles last Sunday. Rested Thursday and Friday and ate huge. (Entire pizza on Friday and the equivalent of 2 steaks on Thursday.)
Arrived at the campus around 9:30, set up and paid registration then had a parade start at 10:10. I thought I was going to be able to hang with the lead pack but they left me behind as soon as we made it to the dirt road heading out to the trail. There was one other guy riding Singlespeed and he turned out to be a beast. I think he beat me back by 17 minutes. I tried my best to keep pace with them but I was also trying to pace myself and not burnout too quickly because I had no idea what was in store. I usually race a race of attrition as opposed to starting fast and maintaining a lead. I like to pick guys off one by one. We quickly made it to fire road that was flat for a few miles then began to climb some. Fire road would be the prevailing theme of the race. I was trying to keep an even pace but my legs were already starting to get heavy. I wasn't laboring too much though and breathing was good. A few miles later made it to the first big climb of the day up what is called the Snow Loop. I think it was about a 2 or 3 mile climb that seemed to go on and on. Thankful when that leveled out. Next onto some nice singletrack, of which there was precious little in this race. I would say the race had about 30% singletrack and the rest mostly fire/jeep road. The first loop was 9 miles so I finished that relatively quickly. I was starting to feel warmed up on the 2nd loop which had us climbing up Hurtin' Gator then more climbing to the House of Dreams. There are times on a Singlespeed when one questions if it's really worth it and these long fire road climbs are one of those times. It's just an unending stream of pain. Good pain, it's a good pain. The House of Dreams was mostly covered in fog and mist so I couldn't see that much of it but I was glad to get to the top of that hill. Next onto some gnarly singletrack for a mile or so. Then bombed back down more fireroad and eventually back to the finish. This took about an hour or so. On the 3rd lap we went back to the Snow Loop and back up that lovely climb again. There was a guy in front of me and we kept leap frogging. I couldn't quite shake him on the downhills but was beating him on the climbs. I saw him pushing his bike up one hill and I figured he was getting cooked so I took advantage and passed him on a brutal uphill. The fireroads were starting to blend together. It reminded me a lot of Bear Creek and Pinhoti but the climbs weren't quite as long. Next we had the wonderful opportunity to climb back to the House of Dreams again. The guy that I was leapfrogging told me after the race that he almost started crying during this climb. I was calling it the House of Nightmares. After 20 minutes or so the climb ended and I nimbled my way through more technical singletrack downhill. 4 of my spokes on my rear wheel had broken and one of the spokes wrapped around the hub making an awful clanging noise.
I finished strong in about 3 hours and 20 minutes. Renee said I looked fresh while the other racers looked worn out. My legs were pretty shot but my overall fatigue was low. Turns out I didn't need my Osprey backpack but it was nice to take sips of water without reaching for a bottle. I drank half of my 4-scoop bottle of Perpetuem and nearly all of my Skratch 3-scoop bottle. Hydration and nutrition were great. Did 2 gels and no solid food. This is the quickest 35-mile race I've done, thanks to the flat fireroads and bombing downhills. Perhaps a higher gear would've been a better choice for all the flats but that would've made the climbs unbearable if not undoable.
Overall pleased with my effort for an untrained race and unfamiliar course. Beautiful scenery and trails on an ideal fall day.
On to the next!
I didn't sleep well at all last night waking up every half-hour it seemed with thoughts of, "Can I really ride 35 miles tomorrow?" I thought we would be out on the course the entire 35 miles but it turned out that we would make 3 laps with each lap heading out on different length courses. Honestly, I was under-trained for this race since I have been resting for most of October and plan on continuing to rest in November. I have been focusing more on strength training lately with a few short bike rides per week and the occasional trail run. This race was more of a C-priority race, just a chance to have some fun and ride some new trails. The last time I rode was on Tuesday at Blanket's Creek for about 10 miles. I rode at Chicopee for 30 miles last Sunday. Rested Thursday and Friday and ate huge. (Entire pizza on Friday and the equivalent of 2 steaks on Thursday.)
Arrived at the campus around 9:30, set up and paid registration then had a parade start at 10:10. I thought I was going to be able to hang with the lead pack but they left me behind as soon as we made it to the dirt road heading out to the trail. There was one other guy riding Singlespeed and he turned out to be a beast. I think he beat me back by 17 minutes. I tried my best to keep pace with them but I was also trying to pace myself and not burnout too quickly because I had no idea what was in store. I usually race a race of attrition as opposed to starting fast and maintaining a lead. I like to pick guys off one by one. We quickly made it to fire road that was flat for a few miles then began to climb some. Fire road would be the prevailing theme of the race. I was trying to keep an even pace but my legs were already starting to get heavy. I wasn't laboring too much though and breathing was good. A few miles later made it to the first big climb of the day up what is called the Snow Loop. I think it was about a 2 or 3 mile climb that seemed to go on and on. Thankful when that leveled out. Next onto some nice singletrack, of which there was precious little in this race. I would say the race had about 30% singletrack and the rest mostly fire/jeep road. The first loop was 9 miles so I finished that relatively quickly. I was starting to feel warmed up on the 2nd loop which had us climbing up Hurtin' Gator then more climbing to the House of Dreams. There are times on a Singlespeed when one questions if it's really worth it and these long fire road climbs are one of those times. It's just an unending stream of pain. Good pain, it's a good pain. The House of Dreams was mostly covered in fog and mist so I couldn't see that much of it but I was glad to get to the top of that hill. Next onto some gnarly singletrack for a mile or so. Then bombed back down more fireroad and eventually back to the finish. This took about an hour or so. On the 3rd lap we went back to the Snow Loop and back up that lovely climb again. There was a guy in front of me and we kept leap frogging. I couldn't quite shake him on the downhills but was beating him on the climbs. I saw him pushing his bike up one hill and I figured he was getting cooked so I took advantage and passed him on a brutal uphill. The fireroads were starting to blend together. It reminded me a lot of Bear Creek and Pinhoti but the climbs weren't quite as long. Next we had the wonderful opportunity to climb back to the House of Dreams again. The guy that I was leapfrogging told me after the race that he almost started crying during this climb. I was calling it the House of Nightmares. After 20 minutes or so the climb ended and I nimbled my way through more technical singletrack downhill. 4 of my spokes on my rear wheel had broken and one of the spokes wrapped around the hub making an awful clanging noise.
I finished strong in about 3 hours and 20 minutes. Renee said I looked fresh while the other racers looked worn out. My legs were pretty shot but my overall fatigue was low. Turns out I didn't need my Osprey backpack but it was nice to take sips of water without reaching for a bottle. I drank half of my 4-scoop bottle of Perpetuem and nearly all of my Skratch 3-scoop bottle. Hydration and nutrition were great. Did 2 gels and no solid food. This is the quickest 35-mile race I've done, thanks to the flat fireroads and bombing downhills. Perhaps a higher gear would've been a better choice for all the flats but that would've made the climbs unbearable if not undoable.
Overall pleased with my effort for an untrained race and unfamiliar course. Beautiful scenery and trails on an ideal fall day.
On to the next!