Conditions in the woods improved yesterday after about 4" of snow plus a little rain and freezing rain fell. A few days earlier it was downright nasty as there was open water and thin spots.
No wonder I'm confused, I don't know which way I'm going!
This is the trail intersection bearing Jon Kindig's name. He grew up in Wayne (yes, Wayne, Maine!) taught here on the Hill for a few years and coached mountain biking. He has moved on, but continues to compete at a high level in the silly 24 hour solo discipline like the World's.
After consulting with last year’s stage winner Anders Larson and weighing my bikes, I opted to use my Major Jake for the 1.8 mile assault up Mt. Washington’s Auto Road. When I did the full hillclimb event in 2006, I used my mountain bike to be sure I had the proper gearing. My ‘cross bike has 36 inner chainring and a 12-28 cogset, so I figured I had the proper gearing and thought the lower part of the road was less steep. WRONG! Man I buried myself. 
I blew up so badly, my upper body was hurting as much as my legs. I thought I had a pretty good warmup, but I may have overdone the flat start relining it from the get-go, never to have a chance to recover my heartrate below 180 until the end. There were actually times when I wanted to just quit, or at least get off the bike and walk. It was the most suffering I’ve felt in a long time on the bike. And what did I show for it? A mere 4th place. I really thought this was my event to excel in, at worst finish 2nd, not get beaten by 3 others. I wish I knew what bike and gearing they used.
This was by far the most unique race I have ever been involved in. We actually rode around inside Storyland around rides, pools, over bridges/traintracks, through tunnels, it was wacked! My strategy was to actually ride behind someone because there was so much eye candy, I was not confident I’d know which way to turn for the first few laps. I thought the technical nature of the course would be in my favor and give me a chance to get away, but the other racers were strong, despite the significant accordion effect in the pack. 
There was a long, windy straightaway which favored group riding, so a pack of 6 of us stayed together until the final lap. There was a mad sprint on the last straight before diving into the park for the final time and I was fortunate enough to be 3rd, behind legendary Paul Curley and the overall leader Pete Ostroski in first. 52 year-old Curley tapped his years of experience and executed his planned move to pass first place on a short rise mid-way through the course as I was only beginning to figure out how I could make a pass. It wasn’t until the final turn in the park that my card was played for me. 
Pete caught a pedal, altered his line and missed a pedal stroke. I took evasive action and just managed to avoid rear-ending him and slipped by. Unfortunately, this bobble was enough for Curley to get away and I cruised in to take 2nd. Ostroski must have struggled to regain composure as he was passed by another rider and finished 4th. So, a good point day for me, putting me only 5 back heading into the ‘cross race.
The overall stage win came down to today. The points difference between 1st and 2nd was 5, then it was 4 from 2 to 3 on down. No matter what, I needed to finish 2 places ahead of Ostroski. The previous night's weather brought rain from the hurricane, but there were no signs of it today. It was a clear, brisk, dry day almost perfect for 'cross, minus the mud. My legs felt solid and I was ready to give it to 'er! I did a couple of recon laps to discover it was a pretty long lap, with some long open straights, little technical sections, and a couple of short steeps requiring a drop to the inner ring. My confidence rose a couple of notches when I noticed Ostroski lined up on a mountain bike! 
The start was clean and I was 2nd. I followed the leader most of the 1ts lap, but felt he was a little slow on the turns so I took over the lead for the 2nd lap. 
The pace was high and the pack was quickly whittled down to me leading Curley, Ostroski, and another guy who is in the 'Cross in the Glen Series lead. 
My hope was to lose Ostroski somewhere back there and I accelerated on the 3rd lap, bringing only Curley with me. Unfortunately, I caught a pedal on a turn and ended up on my side. Curley passed on and by the time I righted myself, the other 2 were in tow and it was recovery time. 
Curley led a lap, and even Ostroski led 1 which was nice. But I was the one with the most to gain from this race so the work came on my shoulders and I found myself back out in front pushing the pace. We dropped Pettengil and on the back side of the course with 2 to go the savvy Curley made his winning move accelerating from behind me to create a gap.
I responded as best I could, but for the life of me could not close the gap. Ostroski was dropped, but unfortunately there was no one between us. I could only maintain the gap Curley had on me and he went on to victory. I knew I had to catch him, but I was at my limit. Oh well, Ostroski came in 3rd and thus won the overall by 1 point.
Let me take a moment to explain the lineup procedure for the series’ races. Since there are a buttload of racers in almost every category, and the races last only 30-60 minutes, a proper start is integral to your success. For my group, which consists of racers age 35-54 category 1,2,3, they call up the top-15 racers from the previous race (top-10 from last year’s series), then by order of registration. Within this call up, there may be some 45+ racers who are scored separately and receive their own top-5 call up. Thus, there’s a potential for there really to be only 10 35+ call ups (out of 97+ mind you). So, there’s a race within a race to register as soon after it opens online as possible. I was in Vermont racing when it opened, so I actually had Babs register for me at the stroke of noon when it opened! She got me registered in the top 30, so that meant I was on the line in the 40’s on race day.
The race: The start was uneventful. It took me a little while to get the engines firing on full cylinders. We had about 200 yards of standard road pavement before we were condensed into 4-wide or so and onto a grassy field with turns. I don’t think I gained or lost any places. Once things were spread out, I lost some spots, but gained more. I tried to follow Big Al’s strategy of doing whatever it took to bridge any gap of the group ahead, then hang on for dear life. The problem is the top-20 guys are very fast! I tried to find a comfortable pace, but it was clear from the gun, this race was all about 100% redline effort and if you couldn’t hold on, enjoy the view from the rear. Fellow mtb and road racer Mark Gunsalus came by soon after some of the Westwood Velo legends did, and I set my goal to stay with him. I knew we were top-20, but not sure exactly where. We had a couple of Stevens Cross guys within our group so there was some entertainment. Mark did the lion’s share of the work leading us around the course which was best described as wide open with very little technical elements where I could gain some ground save for a sand pit where many ran, but was easily rideable. There was a steady breeze, so any wheel you could ride behind, the more energy you conserved. We worked pretty well together. I took a pull up the finishing straight with 2 to go and it looked like we had a chance to catch the group ahead of us which definitely had a top-15 result. But I was maxed out, I could not go any harder. 
Positions stayed the same, Mark finished first in our group and 1 of the Stevens guys came around me for the sprint which I had none. The worst part is, we were battling for 16, 17, and 18th spot. So, despite the fact that a top-20 finish in this field of studs is fantastic, it meant nothing in terms of the series, no call up the next day = another top-40 start!
Despite the disappointment, I enjoyed having my dad out there cheering and spurring me on to finish. Although the course did not suit me well, I was competitive in the toughest field.
