Pat's Peak

Cat 1 Singlespeed, 32/20 gearing (could have gotten away with 21 or maybe even 22), placed 1 of 4

Pat's Peak is not a singlespeed-friendly course; let's just get that out of the way early.  Could explain why our field was small.  I enjoy climbing as much as anyone, but there were fairly long sections of steep and slick singletrack that was nearly impossible to ride on a SS, and I even saw lots of geared riders walking those sections.  That being said, much of the rest of the climbing was thigh-busting, lung-sucking fun.  And nearer to the end of the lap was a sinewy piece of sweet smooth singletrack climb that was super.
Then there was the down.  Awesome. Technical in spots, flowy most of the way - it was a real treat and I couldn't stop grinning the whole way down.  I love bike racing.

From the lot. What goes up.

Our SS field of four lined up with the 30-39s, and off we went with Ricky H taking the lead, then his teammate Dave R and me keeping an eye on Ricky.  After a few minutes of mostly climbing, I decided to inch past Dave and got to Ricky and he seemed a bit off. He said he was ok, so I passed and went on. Dave, good teammate that he is, stayed back with Ricky for a bit.  Then I went up and down and up and down and up and down and won.  Dave came in a couple minutes after, then Ricky and few minutes back - not his day, happens to us all.

I won a case of Red Bull.
Promptly gave it to a DH-er who was beyond psyched.
(photo Scott Snyder)

Pat's Peak puts on a great day of racing.  And props to S&W Sports in Concord NH for sponsoring, as well as Red Bull and Mt Dew and whoever else I'm missing.
Some cool things about the race:
> Our team, Sea Sports / Cape Cod Mt Bike Racing, was all over the podium. Bryan, shop owner Jeff, Jim, Karen, myself all got on the podium.  Mark, who spends him time making sure our bikes are podium-worthy, ironically had a mechanical issue and his placing suffered as a result.  He'll have to resume climbing the Cat2 40-49 race at the next stop.  I think everyone else on the team got points.  We flatlanders did pretty darn good up there on yonder mountains.

Bry up top, Jeff (and Katie) on left
(photo Scott Snyder)

> The Pro men went off a few minutes before us.  As I was coming down the mountain on lap 3, I heard someone coming up from behind very fast.  I glanced back and saw Adam Snyder (Jamis Bikes) bearing down on me, so I pulled over and he flew past (clipping my bar in the process, but thankfully he didn't crash).  I immediately jumped on his wheel and re-passed him by jumping over him as he walked a rock section. Uhhhmmm...ok, what really happened was I hopped in behind him and he skittered over the rocks and snaked through the turns while I ploughed my way like an ox.  The 5 seconds I got to watch him was frickin' cool though. Then he was gone, leaving me to wonder if it ever really happened.
> I'm a big fan of cyclocross even though I don't race it myself.  One of my favorite CX racers is Maureen Bruno Roy - she's from Boston, rides for Bob's Red Mill, rocks the plant-based diet, and seems funny as hell.  Well as I adjusting my brakes before the race, she comes rolling up the hill (warming up before she won the pro women's field).  I said hi and we chatted a bit.  Met her hubby after the race too - both really nice peeps.  I told Kristy about it later and this is about how our conversation went:
Me: So you know that female vegan pro cross racer I talk about?
K: Yeah.
Me: I met her today before the race.
K: Oh cool.
Me: Then I got my picture taken with her afterwards.
K: (slight pause) Geek.

It's true, I'm a bike geek.  I don't care.  Me and MBR:

Mo Bruno Roy with Prince of BikeGeekerdom

> Julian hung out with my folks and his cousins while I raced.  Kristy and Helena went to some Cape Cod Militia Rally (or maybe it was a holistic families bbq).  My parents' bdays were this weekend and it dawned on me that they're both in really frickin good shape for slightly older folk.
> On Monday I took my compensatory post-race vacation day and pplanted some ppeppers with J-man while Helena celebrated her 11th monthday by playing in a basket:

Jude loves the garden

Helena loves being adorable