April 7
Hopbrook Dam Mtn. Bike Race, Middlebury, CT

Anyone interested in going here with me?

http://www.root66raceseries.com/schedule/schedule.php

I'm still on the fence between Hopbrook and Sugarbush. I need to decide in the next couple weeks for my potential 'bush partners. If you wanted to go together we would have to leave early enough for my 12:00 start time.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

sounds good. Maybe you will get a Leaders Jersey.

Maybe, if I slip your's into my bag when your not looking.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

Looks like I am doing Hopbrook as 20-29 Sport

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

[quote:57fb2d0ba4="Brian"]Maybe, if I slip your's into my bag when your not looking.[/quote:57fb2d0ba4]

Out of context this doesn't sound too pleasant.

PJ, do you know if any of the utes would be interested, or able to go down for this? Dana is thinking about racing and it would be cool if we could get another Novice going down.

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

no utes......What time is novice? early?


P

Yeah, I talked with Dana. Its a little too early, too far. I think start time is 9am. I never even checked before hand.

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

He can always run sport for the miles.......It being a norba event, it doesn' t hurt his efta novice status. There aren't any real norba's up this way so he should consider it. 16 miles.....no problem.

PJ

Most recent post on the Root 66 message board

http://www.root66raceseries.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=4515&t=4515


Re: Hop Brook Pre-Ride
Author: Snoskier16
Date: 04-06-07 19:29

Got out and rode this afternoon. Pretty dry considering it is still the beginning of April. There are numerous water crossings and mud puddles, but it could surely be much worse. The way the course was marked, the start will go from the volleyball court and make a shart left turn, following the water around to the road. Overall, the course was not what I was expecting; much slower and more climbing than I anticipated, but it should make for a good race tomorrow.

NERAC Earth / SixSixOne

The final results are in.

Brian: 1st 30-39: 01:35:45
PJ: 2nd Sport SS: 01:44:20
Dan: 4th 50+: 01:58:45
Ken: 7th 19-29: 01:48:52
Mark: 11th 40-49: 02:03:19
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

Race Results: [url]http://www.root66raceseries.com/results/index.php?method=search.results&column=race_id&race_id=41&race_date=2007[/url]

Well, I guess I will be the first to do a race report.

To start, the race was fun, the day was long, and TP kicked butt.

We got to HopBrook nervous about how much warmup time we would have, so we got ready real quick, just to find out that the start time was already delayed by atleast 30 minutes. So we rode around checking out some of the course. We continued doing this for about an hour before we finally lined up to race.

Being my first Sport race, I decided to sit back in the starting pack and let the "better" sports lead out. We started out and were immediately bottlenecked on the start. I just stayed back for the first few minutes until things stretched out. I made it through the first section of single track fine and hit the first section of paved road. I had already passed about 5 people by that point, so I was feeling good. I hit the field and got sucked into the mud for a few seconds, but made it through. Then I climbed up out of the field right on the rear tire of the rider in front of me. I followed behind him for a little till we hit an open section where I passed and went onto my next "Pacer". There was some fun rockbeds to ride though and this little metal thing in the ground that made a cool little noise. The single track continued around the field and spit you back out onto the paved road. At this point I had passed a couple more people and I was finally getting comfortable. I took the right off the road and started into the big climb. I jumped off right at the beginning of the unrideable section of hill and ran passed the couple people trying to ride it, got to the top, jumped on the bike and kept riding. I climbed to the top and started down. The downhill was a blast, a couple good rocky sections and some screaming downhill sections. My favorite part was coming back down towards the parking lot at top speed, looking at the spectators sitting there and saying to myself, this could really hurt if I lose control. You hit the banked corner at the bottom and just keep flying. I then realize Brian is coming up behind me. How did that happen?? He has already made up like 6 minutes on the FIRST LAP!!!!! He followed behind for a couple minutes, told me to keep pushing and then he was gone.

On the second lap, it was more of the same. Slowly picking off some people on the descents and technical sections, and then I realize PJ has caught up to me on his Single Speed on the hill. It made me proud to be caught by him, because it meant that we had a SS in the top 3, SWEET!!. So PJ motored past and I just kept riding.

Last lap came around and I was feeling pretty tired, but I just kept pushing. I had to walk a little more of the hill than I wanted, but atleast I was walking faster than the people around me. I made it to the top of the last hill and was caught by another racer. He could have easily passed me, but he let me go because I dropped him on the last descent and he didn't want to be backing me up, THANKS!!! I hammered the descent and caught up to another racer that had passed me just a few minutes earlier. I passed him right before the last section of paved road, sprinted the paved section, hit the last little hill, made it to the top, did the last descent and came across just slow enough so Brian had time to finish, sprint to the car, get changed, get back, get the camera ready and take my pictures, even though he started about 6 minutes AFTER ME!!! Go Brian.

So, finished 7th and was very happy.
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

The race went fairly well for me. The front of the pack hit the woods at a very fast pace and I settled in around fifth. One by one the guys in front of me made mistakes and I was able to squirt by as they were trying to get their bikes righted. By the time we hit the big climb I was in the lead. This is where I had planned on making a move. With no move to be made I settled into a solid tempo pace and focused on riding smooth. The guy in second was never far behind, often making his presence felt in the flatter terrain, then I could stretch the lead back out on the climbs. I was happy with my early season form and the bike was flawless. The skewers I was too cheap to buy for my new wheels ended up being the first place prize. Congrats to all the other TPers for the strong showing. All that fun and a great meal at Maggies, good way to kick off 2007.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

hey guys. i know i'm not a pinnacle team member or anything but i hope you dont mind my comments. I enjoy reading your message board, you'd be surprised what one can learn from just reading...

just thought i'd say i raced down at hop brook on sat. awesome race. it was my first mtb race so i had no idea what to expect. the directors suggested i ride as a first timer...not a good suggestion as i felt i was just getting warmed up when i finished my lap. the little bit of "racing" i experience was alot of fun. can't wait to try it again. hopefully in warmer weather and in a higher category. beginner or sport?

Question: you guys carry tube patch kits or tools when you race? or do you not bother during races?
 
www.meetup.com/upper-valley-trail-runners/

If your reading the forum and talking to us and MTBiking, then your a member of Team Pinnacle.

I didn't carry anything, but some of the guys did.

Glad to hear you had a good time.


-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

Mikey,

What I carry really depends on the length of the race and how far away from my car I will be. A short loop like HopBrook I carry a tube, tire lever and CO2. If anything worse than a flat occurs I will hike it back to the car and head home. For longer events I add a multi-tool, derailur hanger, another tube and CO2. Pretty much all the stuff I would carry on a normal group ride.

Brian
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

awesome. thanks guys. :)
 
www.meetup.com/upper-valley-trail-runners/