I'm still a little flat from this weekend, but will try and liven things up a bit as I write.
Cheers to beers!
Saturday brought the heat back as I found myself driving up to Quakertown with the AC on part of the way to meet up with the crew of Intercourse Brewing Company at the McCoole's Spring Beer Festival. I was pretty psyched to hang out there for a few hours and pour some delicious brews for the crowds. The weather was fantastic and everyone was good-natured and absolutely loved the beer! I did partake in a little myself, but only a little........ After a few hours, I said my goodbyes and was off to the office for a 1.5hr race prep ride. After standing around for 3+ hours, it was much needed and the legs felt better after the ride!
Nicole (owner) and Jay of Intercourse Brewing Co.
Sunday was even hotter, with a little overnight rain to help intensify the humidity. This time, I drove down to the Granogue MASS race in Wilmington, DE with the AC on the entire time. Not wanting to hang around outside too much before my start time, I got there about 2hrs early. After setting up the tent and going over the raffle sale instructions with my helper du-jour (aka my Aunt!) I checked in at registration and hung out in the shade watching the sport racers tackle one of the steeper climbs on the course. I was dressed and on the bike with about 30 minutes to start time which was perfecto on the day. I was sweating profusely at the start but wasn't too worried thanks to the fact that I had been prepping with my Elete Add-in and Tablytes. That stuff is a miracle in a bottle for warm weather!
Elete: Puppy and Hebrew Cyclist approved!
One of the more humorous moments of the day, aside from Marc's shirt and tie, was Mr. Dupont driving through the start line with 30 seconds to spare in a sweet vintage car. We all gave him a round of applause and thanks for letting us use the property for the race and we quickly got re-set with just enough time to breathe before Marc said 'GO!'.
Mr. Dupont on his solo parade lap. Sweet ride, what's it got, a hemi?
Marc lays down the rules while I check to make sure I put on clean socks.
Up the road, we bore down on the cones that directed us to the right and into the first short section of singletrack which dumped us out on the climb up to the iconic tower seen in all the pictures for the race media. From there, it was a ton of sweet flowing singletrack with plenty of slick roots and rocks and off-camber sections to keep you on your toes. The end of the course was littered with short steep rocky climbs that were still a little slick form the previous night's rain, and bit into the legs pretty good before getting out into the open for the climb up the Koppenberg to the finish. Ironically, while it's usually unbearable up that climb with the steepness and the heat, this year the winds gave you a cool breeze as you topped and went through the start/finish. Thank you mother nature!
Despite a little fatigue in the legs from standing and beer-pouring the previous day, I felt great on all the climbs, but was riding the off-camber like a sissy, and had trouble on the slick climbs at the end of the lap, where I normally excel. Went from 6th to 10th in the second half of the race, but won't complain as coming in 10th with a relatively poor performance is much better than what I would have done last year!
Big HECK YEAH to FatMarc Vanderbacon for putting on a sweet race, and to Elete for supplying an awesome product that kept me hydrated and cramp-free all weekend!
I'll be taking the next weekend off from racing, but will still be with the team at French Creek. I'll be toting around the raffle tickets so don't give me too hard a time and buy a few! $3/ticket and 2 tix/$5 gets you in for a sweet prize pack from Intercourse Brewing Co. and our other sponsors with over $200!!!! See you there!
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