24:27. 32 seconds faster than the previous Allen Clark Hill Climb record set by Stefan Bumbeck in god knows when. Unofficial records seem to indicate the the record stood for 12 years. Do the math. Okay, I'll do it for you. 1998! I was a freshman in college in the fall of 1998. Wow! Back in the fall of Elliott Smith's XO, which played on repeat in my 1992 model JVC stack stereo my dad purchased for me for my birthday in 1992, when I was in seventh grade. Man, that stereo sounded so great. Thanks, dad. Anyway...
...yeah, so I haven't written in awhile. But really, who cares? Haven't you gotten sick of the bloggers you've followed repeating ad nauseum that "they haven't written in awhile"? Really? Gee, I couldn't have figured that out for myself, since the last time I wrote was August 11, in the year of our lord, 2010. Holy Smokes! so much has happened since then. I can honestly say I have good reason for my blogging truancy. You see, I was recently hired as the new 5/6 grade teacher at the Ripton Elementary School in beautiful and lung-busting (at least by bike) Ripton, Vermont. My days have been chalk-full (no pun intended, as we do still use the chalkboard) of classroom management and, well, ummm, that's about it. No, really, I'm enjoying the heck out of teaching and if I could only get my 16 students to stop talking over one another, they'd be so much better off. Anyway, my days are devoured by teaching, EST meetings, Lunch Recess, Bus Duty, Morning Meeting planning, pencil-finding, and occasionally, some sleep. Bike racing has taken its place way far back on the burner.
Looking back at my schedule over September, however, one could easily assume that I've been racing almost more than I have during the summer. In some ways, yes, this is the truth. Over Labor Day weekend, I raced in the Pro/1 division of the Green Mountain Stage Race where a lackluster performance in the time trial on the first day, due to my being five hours late of my start time because of teaching, did my hopes of any high placing in right from the get-go. It was a blast to race for my old team, MetLife presented by GroSolar, anyway and thanks to Nick Bennette and Andrew Gardner for making it happen. I scored a sweet new 2010 MetLife kit, one which I wear while out on rides from time to time with great pride. After GMSR, I took a one week break and Liese and I got some much-needed vacation time in Maine (home state). The next weekend, I was back in Maine at the 12 Hours of Bradbury with race teammates Jake White and Matt Redman. I've known Matt through Liese for two years and it was great to watch him own the course on his 29" Singlespeed, walloping most of the geared riders out there in the process. I met Jake between laps and I must say, the dude is awesome and he can really ride. Seems like us grad. students need more time to ride though as Jake said he wasn't firing on all cylinders due to school (Jake finished 5th at Cat 1 Mountain Bike XC Nationals this year). 12 hour racing is where it's at, at least if you've got great teammates like Jake and Matt. Thanks, bros! I want to go again.
The next weekend I sulked my way into my least favorite city in New England, Boston, where the TD Bank Mayor's Cup circumvented City Hall. Bissell's Daniel Holloway, the 2010 US Pro Crit Champ, was there and he won...big deal. He looks like he should audition for Mad Max 4: Revenge of the Troglodytes (I'm saying he wasn't very nice and very ugly-the faux hawk is SO 2007). I finished the crit, let's just leave it at that.
Seven days later and I showed up ten minutes late for the 2010 Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb up the east side of Appalachian Gap. Out of 126 people, I went last, thanks to my unprecedented ability to show up at the very last minute for this race (I did the same in 2004 and my time reflected it). In 2010, however, while I did register 10 minutes past the closing of registration (thanks to Mr. Peter Oliver, race director, for letting a slacker like myself register late) I did manage to put my start time in the 11:00am range in a race that saw the first time trialist go off at 10:00am. After changing into my spiffy new MetLife kit, I had about 35 minutes to warm up.
Now I lived in Waitsfield for nearly six years prior to my move over the mountain to East Middlebury. I know all of the roads. In fact, I know all of the cracks in those roads. Off I went on a glorious Sunday morning in October warm-up mission. A loop around well, the Loop Road, of course would suffice. Past my old boss Drew's house, past the daycare house where my old co-worker Amy started a nursery, past the Old Center Fayston Road, past the huge Silver Maple tree whose leaves I love to stare at, and back. I felt good. At least, I didn't feel bad. When it was finally time to go (thanks to Ian Buchanan of Fit Werx for giving me a great bike hold prior to start), I relaxed, took a few last second breaths, and off I went.
There's math to this TT. Even though I've only done it once before officially, I used to live here and, like I said, I know not only the roads in the area, but the cracks as well. I knew that if I could make it from the westward side of the Valero gas station at the junction of VT Routes 100 and 17 - the start of the race - to the Hyde Away Inn in five minutes, then I'd have a pretty good shot at the record. I got to the inn in 4:30. Game on. Then, I knew if I could make it from the Hyde Away to the Battleground, where the real climbing starts, in another five minutes, then I'd really have a good shot at the record. When I passed the Battleground, my computer said 9:25. The game was really on. From this point, the road turns skyward, my speed went from a steady average on the flats of 22mph, to a steady 12-13mph on the lower slopes of the climb. By the time I reached the kick before Mad River Glen, I was picking off the time trialists in front of me like a scene from the video game Road Rash. I was picking up momentum. Past MRG, and I fired heavily on the pedals, out of the saddle and trying to blast off toward the radio tower atop App. Gap. The wind was slightly in the riders' favor, out of the northeast. It helped propel me along the last painful kilometer of the climb. By the time I reached the last steep pitch along the course, I was well within reach of breaking the record. If I could just keep my speed above 8mph (yes, 8) then I'd almost guarantee myself the record. I put my head down, thought smooth thoughts, tried to use every motion within each pedal stroke and then...I crossed the line. 24:27, beating the old record of 24:59 by 32 seconds.
This record is the most important to me out of all of the Mad River Valley climbing records I have to my name. The Allen Clark Hill Climb has always arrived just a bit too late in the season for me to really feel fit enough to go for the record. But this year, since I moved all of my training back by months in an effort to focus on the BUMPS series, my fitness was not lacking in early October.
And not to stand alone, Marti Shea of Marblehead, Massachusetts, beat the old women's record by two minutes, too! It was a day for records to fall.
Anyway, I finished fourth overall in the BUMPS series. How, may you ask, is that possible? Well, let's just say the scoring system didn't favor my lack of racing the Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Climb. My younger brother got married on August 21, the same day as the MWARHC and I was his Best Man. Sorry cycling, family will always take precedent over you.
You're a close second, though.
NICE. will be moving to fayston soon and hope to compete in this next year.
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