As many of you know I rode the inaugural Natchaug Epic this past weekend put on by Richard Fries and his New England 'cross crew. They did an incredible job with the course, the timing and the post race chow. I rarely use the word epic, but this race lived up to its name.
First off I have to say thanks to Zack for lending me his SKS seatpost clip on fender. This thing is amazing. When you hook it up on your bike the sun comes out and the temp climbs to 60 degrees. When you remove it from your bike the sun goes away, the wind kicks up and the heavens open. Who knew this thing kept you dry and controlled the weather. For what it's worth, weather was the topic of the morning. For a week leading up to the event the forecast was saying 100% rain. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was asking what to wear and what to use on the bike for fenders. At the start when the sun came out it was estimated we'd beat the rain if we finished by 2PM. Suddenly there was a pile of clip on fenders on the side of the road. Southern New England has NO snow and the roads are crystal clear. However, there was some rain in the days leading up to the event so within the first mile there was a huge puddle across the road forcing everyone through it. A collective groan went through the pack as we each took it in the chamois wishing we kept the fenders on!
Here are my thoughts on what made this event such a good time.
Unique Format: This followed a mtb enduro style format with timed segments. The difference is that in true enduro the timing is on the descents, but here the racing portion consisted of 3 surprise sections of varying terrain. At registration we were informed no timing would occur in the first 25 miles. Eventually we would see a sign stating, "Timed Section in 500m." Sure enough, in 500m transponder wires would be on the road and we'd cross into the timed portion of the ride. (all riders wore a transponder with velcro around our ankles. It was just like being in a prison release program!) All the timed sections were on dirt. These were more like old jeep trails that were rutted and rocky forcing you to be on your A-game. You could definitely tell who were the roadies on new gravel bikes and who were the MTBers. Lots of carnage with ejected bottles and flats. I ran tubeless 38s with 45 psi and it was perfect both on and off road.
Civilized Racing: The ride was 100km, 13 sections of dirt/gravel spread out on course and 3 timed sections that were unknown location and duration. The vibe at the start was so chill and I was curious how the racing would turn out. I wondered if we would we go at party pace in between the timed sections or would it be like a classic road race the whole way. Turns out it was somewhere in the middle. Richard walked the field before the start and broke us into A, B and C groups before climbing aboard his own old steel 'cross bike with mustache bars. (boy Richard can ride!) I was smack dab in the middle of the A's among all the Boston hitters...CCB, Landry's, Minuteman, JRA, Bikereg, Brumble, etc. I heard one of the Boston guys say this was their 3rd race this year. I said this was my 3rd time on the road this year! In all seriousness it was a pleasure to race with these folks. They all know how to handle a bike and ride in a pack at speed. No yo-yoing, no fistfuls of brakes and no idiots barking orders. We were an organized pack for the first 20 miles. Once we hit the hills it was game on. This was way before the timed sections too. I decided to save some matches and get in a chase group with the Bike Barn gang and settle in for what would be a long day of racing. No one knew when the timed sections would show up or how long they would be. We were all focused on our computers waiting for mile 25 to tick over b/c the real action could come at any minute...
The Course: The CT roads were absolutely gorgeous with farms, horses, green fields and not a car in sight. It was perfect. The dirt sections were awesome. These were not gravel roads like Battenkill or Blackfly, but more like old New England jeep roads that were deeply rutted and rocky. You could get two across on these, but that was a stretch if you were forced to change lines quickly. There is also a 7-mile old rail section known as the "Airline" which was pancake flat, but very soft dirt. Almost like a loam that sucked all your momentum out. If you wanted to stay in contact you had to put the power down the entire section. Lots of wood cutting operations with sticks bouncing off wheels, puddles of questionable depth and mud slicked crowns that could change your line without warning. Our group was gassed at the end only to realize it was a 180 right-hander to the first timed section that ran parallel to Airline. Some guys took fliers whereas others tried to keep the group together. It's crazy, but you put a timer in front of a bunch of hypoxic cyclists and we're gonna bust the group apart. I was relieved when it turned out to be rocky and rutted to get around some of the tentative riders. We reeled in the fliers and stayed relatively compact as we crossed the pick up wires some distance out. It was then on to the feed zone at mile 35.
Logistics: We started at the Thompson Motor Speedway and had use of their facilities such as dining hall, changing rooms and bar. How civilized to not be squirming into kit in the front seat getting jammed by the steering wheel. Benches, lockers and plenty of room for both kitting up before and cleaning up after the race. When you signed in you received a transponder for your ankle, but also the option of getting a rain/food bag dropped at the only stop on the course at mile 35. When our group got to the feed zone everyone pulled over and saw the rain bags organized in 3 groups by last name. The weather was holding and folks were getting over confident. At this point it was close to noon and again everyone said we'd beat the rain if we made it to the finish by 2PM. Folks started stripping off layers getting down to short sleeves and shorts and chowing on race provided bacon/cheese sandwiches. Not this guy... where I'm from its still winter. I went right to my bag, changed into a dry cap, fresh gloves and put a rain cape in my pocket for insurance.
Final miles in the rain: As we pulled out of the feed zone the wind started kicking up and the skies were beginning to get that grey steel look about them. Immediately following the feed zone was a very cruelly placed 10% climb. As we crested the climb we could see dark clouds moving in. Finally, at about 1:30 the heavens opened. It was the kind of rain you can't draft someone closely in because you get a rooster tail of water right between the eyes. We sat off center on each wheel and tried to keep it together. It definitely added to the mystique and "epic" feel of the race. All those riders who stayed in short sleeves were shivering and turning blue. Folks were blowing out the back like bud cans in a pickup with no tailgate. We were motoring along not able to see a thing in the downpour when someone yells out, "Timed Section hard left!" We hit the brakes and slip through a narrow barricade to enter the final section. Noooo... it was another loamy and soaked section of trail that sucked the life out of you. We were hating life and wanted this madness to end. Looking down at my GPS I realized it was only 3 miles to go. I informed our group and didn't get any response. Turning around I realized it was only my new pal Bill from Gloucester and I remaining. We must have lost our compatriots at the turn to the timer.
Eventually we saw the big sign for the Thompson Motor Speedway in the distance and just put our heads down for the final mile. Water everywhere, soaked to the bone and shivering with the squeal of disc brakes on the descent. It was awesome. Time for hot chili and beer.
Toddster
I ended up 61st.
Most encouraging was that I was only 9 minutes off the leading times. 2 minutes separated me in Section 1, 2 minutes in Section 2 and then 4 minutes in Section 3.