Live blogging Squam: Day 1

Location: Squam Lake, Holderness NH Team Reporting: Scott, Elizabeth, Mom, Dad, Jen, Connie, and Dave Favorite Activities: Eating, Kayaking, Eating, Biking, Eating, Hiking, Eating, Swimming, Eating I'll write a real trip report when the week is done, but for now, here are some pictures! Day 1:

The Longest Race: Prologue

Date: September 2003-June 2009
Event: My graduate degree
Location: Cambridge, MA
Team reporting: Me
Special honors: Everyone who has been really patient with my absence

You'll notice, dear reader, that I have not posted in about 15 months. That's because I've been dedicating myself to the longest race I've ever run. That race continues, but will hopefully be reaching is conclusion sometime soon. After that, expect posting to resume, starting with an account of the last 15 months of my life, and, universe willing, news about where and how the adventures will continue.

Stay tuned!

Birkie X5

Date: 2/23/08
Event: The 35th Annual American Birkebeiner
Location: Hayward, WI
Team Reporting: Mom, Dad, Jen, Connie, Dave, Jessica, Al, Tom, Cathy
Special Honors: 1st Korteloppet for Mom, 5th Birkie for me, 25th for Connie

Report: Like a guilty Christian who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter, so I have become a February skier. I train all season for one race, THE race, at least in this country. Of course I'm talking about the American Birkebeiner, the Greatest Show on Snow. I skied my first in 1999, but then school and , ironically, ski racing, prevented my return until 2005. Since then, I've skied them all.

To begin, the family arrived in Minneapolis, our arrival perfectly choreographed by the machinations of my father, so that we all got off our planes and into the rental car in about the span of 10 minutes. We had a little bit of trouble getting the skis and 4 of us into the Saturn Vue, but a little creative packing solved the problem. Then it was off to Connie and Daves sweet, sweet house in Hayward, where we got to meet our newest family member, Saddie Mae. We also got a sweet view of the lunar eclipse. We then watched the 35th aniversery bikie DVD for the first time. I had been feeling sick all week, and though I was feeling less feverish, I was quite congested, so sleeping that night was a bit of an issue. I just took psuedoephedrine and sort of flitted in and out of consciousness.

The next day brought interesting new challenges. My Aunt, being an upstanding member of the Hayward community, decided to volunteer my entire family for the Barnebirke, the local children's race, which meant we had to get up early (8 am), put on all the warm clothing we had, and drive into town. We then got assigned to various spots on the 1, 3 or 5k courses, and were tasked with the job of coralling the 1800 odd children who we going to ski. My mom and my sister, both elementary school teachers on winter break (ostensibly from children), were at the start line of the 1K race, helping the littlest kids get their skis on. My dad, aunt, uncle and I were on the one hill, where our job was to pick the kids up when they fell. Anyway, it was 10 degrees out, but we still had a good time wading through the sea of skiing children to save the fallen ones. The whole process took several hours, but it was kinda fun. And also probably good karma.

Returning home, I began waxing my skis, and then it was decided that my family job was going to be to wax all the skis. So, I worked on skis for a while. My mom got Fastwax HS-20 on her waxless skis, my dad and sister got a bunch of layers of stuff, culminating in HSF-10, and I put on HSF-10 in front of the kick zone, HSF-20 behind it, and Cera-F (yeah, I used Cera) over both. Connie and I were then trying to figure out kick wax. It was supposed to be 10 at the start, but warm up to 25 or more over the day. So, rather than cover VR-50 with VR-40, or whatever swix thought we should do, we put on like 9 layers (thick to stick, baby) of Rode multigrade purple, which we then covered with a secret fluoro-coating: Rex Hydroex. It was a gamble, but, given that I can't just double pole for 10k anymore, I really, really wanted kick. Incidently, after dinner that night we watched the 35th anniversary DVD. Again.

Friday we went to Telemark to get our bibs. For the first, and probably last time, I had a bib with only 3 numbers. Thats right, I was in wave 1/elite classic. I also picked up a sweet new racing jersey, with a birkebeiner warrior on it! Yeah, I was that guy, the one who wears the commemorative race clothing in the actual race, but my Dartmouth suit is 10 years old, and kinda worn out. Anyway, the family then toured the various ice sculptures and took goofy pictures, a sample of which I provide for your amusement.











That night we had a big pasta dinner, as many of connie's friends had showed up. And then we watched the 35th anniversary DVD. Again.

So, you're probably kinda bored by now hearing about my family vacation, so I'll cut to the chase. We arrived at the race start, after driving for an hour and then taking a bus. I looked, alas in vain, for Brayton, but there were thousands of people there, so, I couldn't find him. I tested the wax, and it was a little draggy, but I just decided to make it work, and ride my tails on the downhills. The tracks were flawless: hard, but not icy, and very numerous. I skied a little bit to get warm, pounded a double espresso goo, dropped my bag off, and got in the starting coral.

My wave, it quickly became apparent, consisted almost entirely of men aged 40+. The Elite peeps got to line up in front, and the remaining 100 or so of us got behind. The race started with little fanfare. I got in the middle of the pack, not intending to put in any heroic skiing in the first 10k. The pack was tight, but there were 5 tracks for the first 2k. At that point, I got in with a group of maybe 15, most of them old enough to be my dad. The leader of the women's classic race was with us, and we all sort of skied together, up and down (but mostly up) for the first 16k. They all had faster skis than I did, but my downhill technique was much better. The classic trail was flawless: 3 sets of perfect tracks, rolly, interesting terrain. I can't wait until next year when it goes all the way to OO. When we finally got to Firetower hill, our pack sorta started breaking up, and I sorta realized that I'd been skiing pretty agressively. You'd think I would maybe learn...

We got dumped into the Birke trail proper right in the middle of wave 2 for skaters, the people I would normally be skiing with. They were all going just a little faster than I was, which was somewhat annoying, and also we now only had two tracks, one on either side. The skaters did a good job not skiing on the tracks, so we coexisted peacefully. The course rolled on...I double pole kicked and strode more flats than I would have liked, and had to bust out a little heringbone, but I was skiing pretty well. Turrets hill didn't seem as big as usual, and we got to OO, 23k, in a little less than 90 minutes.

I was hungry going through OO, but just didn't feel like wasting the time to get a goo out of my back pocket. I refuse to staple goos to my bib just so I can rip them off and throw them in the tracks. Incidently, anyone whose goo packets end up in the tracks deserves to have their skis stoneground by a drunken rhesus monkey. Anyway, I skied the next 10k, with each passing k marker sign becoming even more tired and grumpy. I finally caved at 35k, took off my poles, and shot that sweet, caffeine laced, viscous syrup into my mouth. 1 k later, I felt better, and I was able to soldier through the last couple of hills. Bitch hill wasn't so bad, although the bitches were dressed as bees, which just wasn't really funny. Oh well.

The last 9k we out in the open...farm fields with nice views. I skied strong, not bonked, but not really all that fast. The last hill came and went, and I dueled with some dude my age for last couple of k to the lake. By the time we hit the water I had zero arms left, so I strode the whole lake. Not very fast, but I made it work. Once I got to main street, I went back to double poling, mostly, and so crossed the line of my 5th Birkebeiner. I worked my way to the clothing bags, and then tried to stake out a spot in the changing tent that didn't involve me getting a face full of old-man ass. I was successful...mostly.

Well clothed, I found the food tent and ate a chicken soup, a brat, and washed it down with a dew. I then took my Subaru cowbell and waited to cheer for Connie. She skied in about a hour after me (finishing her 25th!!), got her clothing and food, and then we got some beers and waited for the Korte skiers to show up. I called Liz, and she gave us results from the internet, and then the rest of family finally showed up, and we went home for drinks, sauna-ing, and steak. And the Birkebeiner 35th anniversary DVD. Again.

Bear Brook Ride

Location: Bear Brook Park, Allentown, NH
Date: 8/11/07
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:30 moving, ~4h total
Trails like: The bastard child of The Fells and Kingdom Trails

I felt the need to get in some MTB action this weekend, so, with all of my MTB friends out of town, I decided to trek up to SoHamp and hit up Bear Brook State Park. I've been wanting to go there for a while since it offers 20+ miles of trails. Not riding the same loop over and over = less loss of will to live. I searched the web for what trails were good to ride, and from Northeast Cylcing I obtained the following map.

I arrived at Bear Brook around 11:30, the trip from Boston taking about 90 min. It cost $3 to get into the park, and with permit obtained, I drove over to the Podunk road parking lot. I got my bike set up, and started looking for the trails. This project took a while as the trail marking system was...sporatic. Give me three weekends, a troop of boy scouts, and a couple of GPS units and I could make a map and trail markings to be proud of.

I finally found the Pitch Pine trail, and road it for maybe half a mile. Not bad...narrow, rolling, a little rocky and generally fun. Unfortunately, the trail entered the archery practice area, and so I bailed to the road, lest I be mistaken for a deer or, even worst, a masshole. I quickly got on the broken boulder trail, which turned out to be pretty flat, wide singletrack. I road the trail into the woods and eventually crossed a stone road which turned out to be Podunk road. I then go onto a sweeeet no name trail that had smooth twisty singletrack. I relished this for a while, and then got dropped back on on Podunk near the 4H camp. My location acertained, I ate some lunch, drank some dew, and got ready for more.

My next excursion put me on the hedgehog ledge trail...fun for a while, and with a beautiful little pond. The trail then became a series of unrideable stone staircases and so I got in some requisit hike-a-bike. I ended up in Hayes field and went back in for the Carr ridge trail. Again, fantastic single track at the beginning, nasty descents at the end.

The Carr Ridge trail ended in the Cascade trail, easily the most memorable of the day. On one side, steep uphill slope. One the other, a precipitous drop into a stream. In the middle, a 1.5 foot wide trail that liked to twist and climb, and try to throw unwarry bikers into the water: an oreo cookie of doom. It did not succeed in throwing me, but came damn close. I rode it to the end with several falls and a few scrapes and bruises. I definitely want a rematch.

At the end of the cascade trail I was bonking, so I sat down, drank half a dew, and had a handful of starburst jelly beans. I decided to take a short cut down to the lane trail, as the next section was supposed to have many unrideable sections. The lane trail turned out to be a dirt road, but with no small amount of climbing. Also, at the bottom of a little downhill, a stone arrow directed me into the woods. Intrigued, I bypassed the arrow and found myself at the edge of a four foot deep ravine that dropped into a stream. The road had been washed away, probably in last years floods. With enough speed one could probably jump it, but, with 2 inches of suspension, my bike almost certainly would have buckled.

The lane trail eventually dropped me off back at Hayes field for my final two laps. Both involved riding uphill on Podunk road for a while, and then downhill on singletrack. What a fantastic idea!! The Chipmunk/Bobcat/Salt lick trail was fun, but not very technical but, oh man, the Little Bear Trail rocked. Twisty, smooth downhill with a few jumps. It made for a great end to the day. To be sure, it wasn't sidewinder, but it was way more fun than anything in the Fells. Little Bear dropped me off in the parking lot, and so I racked my bike and drove back to Boston.

All in all, I really liked Bear Brook Park. There were more trails that I didn't ride that warrant exploration, so a second trip is probably in order. It might also be a fun place to take new mountain bikers as the technical sections are short and not sustained. Either way, its just another reason why Boston is a great city for outdoor enthusiasts.

Getting hit with a 2x4

Event: 24/12/6 Hours of Pat's Peak
Race: 6 hour solo
Location: Henniker, NH
Date: 7/14/07
Race loop: 5 (4.25) miles, 850 (950) feet of vertical/lap (GPS)
Downhill portion: BRUTAL
Results: www.patspeak.com

Last year, you may recall, I raced in the Jay Challenge MTB race. 72 miles. 14000 feet of climbing. An unimaginably epic ride. If you took the Jay challenge, and distilled away all the pavement and dirt road sections, leaving only the nasty single track, well then you'd have the 6 hour solo race at Pat's Peak. If the Jay Challenge was drinking good beers all night until you were really sleepy and content, then Pat's Peak would be like pounding shots Jack until you passed out.

I arrived at Pat's Peak around 9:30 and went to register. I was slightly annoyed that, despite have preregistered, I had to fill out all sorts of paperwork, but it turns out that they switched from EFTA to USA cycling after EFTA (apparently) screwed them royally. I know this because that Pat's Peak guy railed on them for a solid 5 minutes during the pre-race meeting. He also yelled/belittled the downhillers for riding on the grass and reminded us that Pat's Peak could be making $20,000 for hosting a wedding. A real classy guy. This meeting was from 10:45 to 11:15. The race started at noon, so, I worked on my bike for a while, had lunch, and drank some Mt. Dew.

The start was Lemans. Only three guys actually ran fast. I grabbed my bike and rode somewhere in the middle of the pack. People were not taking it out fast. We tooled around a snowmaking pond for a while, and then it was into the woods. The course alternated between tight, pretty technical singletrack and grassy, rough double track for about 2 miles as it climbed slowly up Pats Peak. I screwed up one single track section and had to wait for what seemed like the whole field to pass me. The course peaked at the top of one of the chairlifts, and there was a steep, doubletrack, grassy downhill. I let my bike fly, but the course was too rough and I had to rein it in. Fortunately, I did so before I hit the hidden waterbar of doom. When I hit it, I got thrown into my handlebars, but somehow barely managed to stay on my bike. My fellow racer and compatriot from the Jay Challenge, Dennis, was not so lucky. Hope you heal quickly, man.

The downhill ended in a sharp, loose rocky turn, and then there was more single track, followed by a long grass/loose dirt climb. In the afternoon sun, that was quite nasty. At the top of the climb there was a single track section that was windy, loose, and climby. I rode it maybe twice during the race, the other times I ran it (nominally slower). After this section came the downhill of pain . Twisty, narrow, rough single track littered with day ending endo-rocks. My 2" of Headshok were not up to the task. Those guys that used rigid single speeds must have been really hurting. Of course, anyone on a 4" x 4" dual suspension rocketed by me on the descent. I stayed on the bike for the single track section, but only just, and my arms, shoulders, and legs got really tired from absorbing shock. We then has a downhill on a very washed out dirt road. I was on the rideable line until it came to an abrupt end and dropped me a foot and a half into loose sand an volleyball sized rocks. I endoed, but landed on my camelbak and was pretty much unhurt, just covered in dirt. I got back on the bike and rode the small uphill and downhill to the start/finish.

After going through the tent, I stopped briefly for some food and water, and headed back out to the course. My second lap I was really feeling the descent from the first lap, and the realization came to me that this was going to be a long day. And so it was. Round and Round I went. After the second lap I decided to rest more between laps. After the third I took a 20 minute break. The race director wandered by, looked at my bike, and was like "I bet you're in a lot of pain right now, this isn't a hardtail course". The fourth and fifth laps saw me walking and taking some Mt. Dew breaks out on the course. I also started cramping up, and realized that, without electrolytes, I was pretty boned. I grabbed some energy drink mix and poured it into my camelbak. I guess I grabbed the ass flavor, because my stomach recoiled in horror when I drank it, but, it did stop the spasming in my legs. I completed the 6th lap at 5:45. I had the option of doing a seventh lap (you get credit for a lap started before 6 hours is up), but it had long ago ceased to be fun, and I didn't think my body would have survived another descent. I checked out, hosed myself off, and got the hell out of dodge.

Racing is always fun, but some races are less fun than others. This one was one of the less fun ones. Riding loops until you're too tired to ride anymore wasn't nearly the exciting day I'd been hoping for. It would have been fun with a team to the 24h race, because you'd spend most of your time hanging out with you friends, but solo...its just not the same. Hopefully Jay will be back next summer. Of course, theres always the Vermont 50....

All the Queen's Men

Its 5:10 a.m. Sunday morning, and I'm sitting in the firetower on Burke Mtn. with Ck, Ct, B, and Ca exhausted, suffering from a bad head-cold, and utterly content as the sun rises over the mountains and the clouds marking the last day of our adventure... But lets back up.... Its Thursday afternoon and we're sitting in the shade near the Dartmouth shooting range having just completed a rollerski biathlon. Everyone is near heat stroke and we still have the triathlon left to do. No one wants to do it, but all rally and push back their tiredness and mount up for another epic event... But lets back up again... Its midnight at the Wednesday/Thursday juncture and we're swimming across the Connecticut river in the pitch black, stroking towards far away lights and unknown challenges... But lets really back up... In 1999 five freshmen came together on the Dartmouth Ski Team. One was a VT superstar; one was a legend from New York state; one hailed from far away Alaska; one came from snowy Rochester, NY; one came from suburban Simsbury, CT. Over the next 4 years they shared a remarkable college experience: defeat and triumph, frustration and hope, and rivalry and friendship. They ran together in the mountains of New England both white and green. They tasted together the first snows of winter. They dwelt together in a house that is no more. They sang together of the granite of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains. Then they scattered, each to find their own fortune. It so happens that Ck NROed an anthro class for refusing to write a essay about the topic: How do we know the pyrimids weren't built by aliens? Thus, she lacked the distribution requirements to get her degree and had to take an extra term. Since J was trips director over the summer between Ck's senior and super senior years, Ck got tasked to choose tripees for each trip. For his own trip, she found a former member of the US women's ski team who seemed bad-ass and awesome in every way. The rest is history..Ck proposed to Ct at Moosilauke ravine lodge at the end of trips two years later. The need then arose for the choice of a Best Man. Ck, being Ck, decided rather to let the Best Man choose himself and established the Bestmanthalon, an event by which the Best Man might prove himself worthy. The event would consist of contests of Brawns, Brains, Skillz, and Fun. The first events, Chess, Go, Bridge, and Gobblet, played over the internet, started 9 months ago. It turns out that only B and I wished to contest these events, and his victory in chess gave him the slight advantage going into the live events in Hanover. We convened at Ck's house Wednesday night., and, after some light refreshment decided on our plan for the evening. We would kick it off with some video games, followed by the first event of the modern pentathlon: swimming. Video games included Mario Kart Time trial, SMB points time trial, Wii Tennis, and Wii Boxing. Brayt took the Kart TT, and I was in Second. The SMB points match heavily favored those seeded later, and so Levi and Jon clean up. I tooled on Everybody in Wii Tennis, and I think Jon took first in Boxing. Not a bad start. Then, 11 p.m. rolled around, and we all trekked down to the Connecticut river. B and I had wetsuits and there was a safety canoe, but, damn, the river looked wide at night. The canoe went ahead of us, and we followed the lights. Ck surged to the lead, and finished the crossing in ~5:30, with B, L and J following, and me taking up the back. We then embarked on a ninja mission, the details of which I am not at liberty to divulge. This got us back to Ck's house at 2 a.m. I turned in for the night, as the next day promised a triad of tough events: the decathlon (nonathlon), biathlon, and triathlon. The decathlon started at 7:oo a.m. with the 110 high hurdles. High means HIGH: they come up to my chest. I couldn't jump over them, not even a little, so I ninja kicked every one down. The 110 hurdles took me 30 seconds. J, with impressive technique, won the event. We then had the high jump, which B won, and the long jump, and the shot, and the 100, 400, and 1500. The pole vault we eschewed, lacking the proper gear. We then trekked over to the training field for the javelin and the discus. The highlights of the event for me where the 100 where I came in 2nd and the Javelin where I won for the manthletes. Unfortunately my 100 was 13.1 seconds, making me slower than Hitomi Kanzaki. The shame! We stopped at Molly's for lunch, but Ck wouldn't let us rest long. We had yet the rollerski biathlon. Ca brought out her Anshutz rifle, the one I think she used in the Olympics and let us shoot with it, which was really sweet. Of course we all pretty much sucked-ass at shooting, so it was a rollerski race. The penalty lap for missing a target was an out and back on the soccer field in the burning sun. Brutal. We had an interval start to space out the shooting. It was pretty obvious that B would win, being a pro cross country skier. I hadn't rollerskied in 4 years, so it wasn't pretty. We had three skiing sections (2k, 3k, 2k) and two shooting sections (standing and prone). I hit exactly zero targets, which made the event long and torturous. Running penalty laps in ski boots is not fun. I finished DFL. After the race we all sat in the shade and talked about how tired we were, and how the triathlon wasn't a good idea. Ck, being Ck, rallied us, and off we went to Storrs pond. I was in a bad way at the beginning of the sprint tri. I was heat exhausted and dehydrated and fucking tired. Never-the-less, we got our gear set up and lined up for the race. Hitting the water was intensely refreshing. The swim was 400m, and I was really tired, so it took forever, but it totally killed my heat exhaustion. I got out of the water last, and jumped on my bike for the 10 mile bike. The course was 4 miles of up and then 4 miles of down, and then 2 miles of rolling terrain. I was able to crank pretty well, and I used the bars as best I could, but I wasn't going fast. I got through the course, and started the 3k run just as B was finishing his run. Yeah, its hard to compete against a professional athlete when you're a grad student, but, that's how things go. The sprint tri concluded the hard part of our day, and we headed back to Ck's house to help her pack and to ready ourselves for the exodus to Burke. Packing turned out to be taking Ck's possesions, then loosely organized, and put them into cars that had free space. This process took the better part of 2 hours, during which time other equipment was obtained from various locations on campus. All the cars were marshalled, and the caravan rolled out of Hanover at 7 p.m. We did not, however, go straightways to Burke. We stopped in Bradford for mini-golf, a very fun event that was very close. Afterwards we were all hungry, myself very much so. I recall telling Ck that my eating of food would be "rigorously necesary" She handed me a bag of chips, and that was dinner. We got our caravan reformed and headed northward in the summer night. The "Fun" portion of the manthalon remained, of which I will comment little, only saying that I competed manfully, though not alas to victory as I would have hoped. The day we were slated to finish the modern pentathlon with a bike race (horse back riding), Wrestling (Fencing), pistol shooting, and the 3000m cross country run. Things didn't quite work out that way. I arose around 9:30 and scrounged around for coffee. My caffeine need being met, I planted myself on the deck at Burke and sat in the sun chatting with all people. Ct and Ck went to go get their marriage license, and upon returning, Ct put Ck in bed, and told him not to wake up for many hours. Brayt and I figured that Ck was out of commission for the day, so we headed over to Kingdom Trails for some MTB action. Kingdom trails were , as B put it, sublime. Challenging, yet really fun, fast yet technical, windy yet scenic. Basically, the best mountain biking in New England. I can't wait to go back. We biked for 3 hours and it was just amazing. Sidewinder in particular blew my mind, ludicrously scary and yet ridable...fantastic. We met up with Ct and rode with her group for the last hour. You might recall from previous entries that Ct is a kick-ass mountain-biker, so that was really fun. We returned to Burke around 2:30 ready to chill some more, but Ck was up, and had other plans. Ck planned an MTB crit for us, so, after some heal dragging on everybody's part, back to Kingdom trails we went, with Ck's family and B's parents in tow. The course was a 1 mile loop called Old Web, basically 50% downhill 50% uphill. Really, really fun to ride, but I had no legs left. We did four laps, and I rode as hard as I could, which turned out to be pretty slow. Apparently L and B had a good fight for the win, but I was happy not to get lapped. We drove back to Burke, and dragged our feet some more, but Ck still had time before the rehearsal dinner, so, wrestling was next. We had a "king of the hill" style match. Basically, if you were in the middle, you were getting time points. One person would challenge you and either take the hill, or get thrown out or knocked down. I started in the hill and controlled it for three seconds. I spent the next four minutes getting my ass throw and knocked down repeatedly. Still, it was fun. L, being the biggest, won the event, and we had time left for only one more, the pistol shoot. We had six shots with E's .22 revolver at 10 yards. The other competitors didn't hit the target more than once. I hit it three times, two shots grazing the center ring, so I took the victory. It was too little, too late, but damn it felt good, especially after wrestling. The points were added up, and the results anounced. In 4th place me, 3rd L, 2nd J, and the Best Man, B. It really didn't matter, though. That night at the rehearsal dinner, we all decided to give speeches during the reception anyway. The Best Manthlon wasn't about winning or losing; it was about 5 friends having the time of their lives. To that end, there were no losers. Or as our coach used to say, "there are no non-heros on this team". Ck and Ct's wedding ceremony was really gorgeous. The view of Willaby Gap was breathtaking, and the weather cooperated perfectly. During the reception we took a good 20 minutes to give our speeches, but for love of Ck and Ct, that seemed like a short time. The food was delicious, and we danced the night away to the best jazz band I've ever heard. By this point I had developed a nasty headcold, so it took 600 mg of caffeine plus 3 cups of coffee to keep me going, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. At some point I agreed to hike Burke Mtn to see the sunrise in the morning. I figured I was already sick, hiking probably wouldn't hurt. Sure enough, at 4:30 a.m. Ck knocked on my door, and I suited up for the final athletic event of the weekend. It was a nice hike, in the dark, up the ski trails, and the view from the firetower at the top was exquisite. It was a fitting end to an epic 5 days. I don't think there will be any weddings next year, but we all agreed to all get together for an adventure. Hopefully our fellowship will reconvene in Moab, or some other suitable playground, and we can tell tales from manthlon and of all the years past and look forward to those left to come. Ck and Ct, we couldn't be more happy for you. Thanks for having such a kick-ass wedding!

Boot and Rally

Event: Salomon Xwing Transalp Rally Qualifier Date: 2/17/07 Location: Loon Mtn, NH Team Reporting: Ullr's Avengers: Scott and Alex Skis: Xwing Tornado: 170 cm At Stake: A chance to win a trip to Europe, and also a bunch of swag Fatal Flaw: A sense of honor/stupidity This was to be my first downhill ski race since the mid 80s, so, you can imagine I was stoked about it. Basically, it was a scavenger hunt on skis. Salomon was putting on the event to promote their new "all mountain" ski series, the Xwings (They must have paid off George Lucas) and so they outfitted us with a pair of skis for the event. There were orienteering style checkpoints all over the mountain and then also scavenger hunt type photos (i.e. a neon ski suit) and also bonus point photos (i.e. chair skier). You also got points for the number of vertical feet you skied, as measured by an altimeter watch. I spent the night in Littleton with C and C, and so we got to Loon at like 8:30. C and C started right away, and then A showed up soon after and we started. They tried to give us the super fat Xwing skis, but, it being NEW HAMPSHIRE, we just laughed and asked for the skinny ones. That settled, armed with camera, altimeter watch, and checkpoint list we got in line for the high speed quad...and discussed strategy in the 15 minute wait for the chair. Ouch. That was a significant chunk of our alotted 4 hours. We rode singles for the rest of the day. Basically our plan was to get all the orienteering checkpoints as quickly as possible, and then move on to the photo scavenger hunt. We decided not to split up and not to pay attention to vertical feet skied. BIG MISTAKE, but alas, splitting up we thought was against the rules. It wasn't. The checkpoints were easy to find. They were all on marked trails, and were, for the most part, easy to see. We got every one we set out for the first time, except one that briefly eluded us. On most runs we got more than one. I also tried to shoot as many photos as I could in line and on the chair, but the camera they gave us was kinda crappy, and it was hard to tell if the photos came out. Some of the checkpoints revealed bonus points, which were find a chair skier, take pictures of both train stations, take a picture of you sticking your tongue out at the top of the mountain cafe, and one other that I can't recall. As we moved into the photo shoot phase we tried to get the highest scoring photos first, and then the lower scoring as they presented themselves. I got a guy wearing a cowboy hat simply because I rode the chair with him. We kind of lost track of time, and when we went to check in, we were told we had ten minutes. We scoured the lodge and base area in a whirlwind photoshoot. We actually got the picture of the adaptive skier at this point, and that was huge: 50 points. In the lodge, our camera fogged up, and ruined some pictures, but, with a little ingenuity, it was brought back into working operation, but not before some drunk guy wanted to punch me for taking his picture. oops! We handed in all our stuff with 1 minute to spare and got our tickets for the after party, to be held in the base lodge. It was 2 p.m., so we all hit the slopes for a while. My Scott Aztec Pros are a lot less carvy than the Xwings, but, then they're also a little big. If I want carvy, I can use my 155 rossignol 9Xs. Anyway after a few runs, we returned to the lodge for the after-party and awards. C went back into town and picked up some malt liquor, and we brown bagged it rather than paying out the nose for beers at the lodge bar. Ah being a graduate student! C and C tooled on everybody else and took 1st place. A and I were not in the top three, so, no prizes for us, but a good day in all.

Christmas Camp

Location: Quechee Lakes Golf Course, Quechee, VT
Days: 4
km skied: ~60
Average snow depth: 1"
Better than: Rollerskiing

When we left my parent's house in CT on Tuesday, we were pretty sure we were heading to VT for hiking and running. but, Ullr be praised, the Quechee golf course had about 2" of crusty snow, enough for skiing. Being resourceful people, we set up a 4k loop, and got our cross country skiing on. Our options were few. Mountain Top and Grafton had 1k loops; Craftesbury, 2 hours away, had a 5k lake loop, and that was it for New England.

Tuesday it was warm, so, we didn't ski. Wednesday morning, it was cold and the snow was fast and crusty. Connie and I skated in the morning, about 18k. We returned in the afternoon for 8k of waxless classic skiing. I used my mom's Fischer Revolutions, which were fantastic for resistance training. Thursday it was still cold in the morning, and, like a fool, I skied classic on grundwax covered with purple. I had kick...for about 5 minutes. So, I made it work, and did some specific strength. I am not very strong right now. I'm a have to work on that. Friday and Saturday it was warm and mushy, and I skated, and again it was slow, but conditions held up and the golf course was more or less skiable, provided one had the ability to jump over cart paths.

All in all, not bad, especially given the conditions. I headed up to Trapp on Saturday night and Alex and I skied Stowe on Sunday. They were hurting for base, but they had a little snow which made the moguls skiable and the woods absolutely lovely. We ducked ropes from 1 p.m. till closing with the attitude that if we got caught, at least we'd skied the good stuff while it was fresh. Rain came on New Years Eve, and so the next day we snowshoed through the woods for a few hours.

We need more snow...please

First Tracks

And so begins the 2006/2007 ski season!


This year is my 20th on skis!


Ullr be praised!

An Ode to Aunt Connie

Many athletes have a professional as their hero: a Lance Armstrong, a Bjorn Daehli, a Bonnie Blair. I have my Aunt Connie. From my earliest days, she has been a sports instigator. She gave me my first tube to swim with in Squam lake and hiked with me up Rattlesnake Mountain and then Mt. Washington. With her, my sister and I got to see Acadia, the Wisconsin Dells, and Noah’s Ark, the world’s largest water park. Connie was the one who first equipped me with cross country skis and skied with me around the golf course at Quechee. When I decided to join the cross country ski team in high school, she sent me poles, wax and an awesome homemade waxing video, and let’s not forget the sweet 80’s spandex suit. We skied the Birkie together for the first time in ’99 and that was an epic trip. Without her inspiration, I never would have become a cross country skier, and I would have missed some many of the adventures I have enjoyed

It goes without saying that my aunt is a phenomenal athlete. Connie retired from teaching high school math a few years ago. For most people, retirement means relaxing into the easy life. For my aunt, it meant a chance to bike and ski the world over. She moved up to Hayward, WI, a fantastic training ground for skiing, biking, kayaking, blading, cat skiing and enjoying the outdoors in general. Now, she trains and races year round. She’s been to Switzerland, Germany, and France, pedaling up big mountains. Alpe de Huez? She’s climbed it. Her roller blade racing team, “The Blady Bunch” is well known on the Midwestern circuit. On snow, she’s been augementing her 25+ year Birkie ski experience by attempting to complete the World Loppet. This year, she’s hitting up the Kesskinada and the Vasaloppet. Yeah, the second one is 90k. Could you ski it?

Happy 60^th birthday Aunt Connie! For me you have been an inspiration, a teacher, a hero, and a friend. I look forward to having adventures with you for many years to come.

A little practice

Workout: MIT Team Time Trial practice
Location: Newton, MA
No brake laps: 4


So, I showed up at MIT team practice. We went out to Wells Ave. in Newton and did some Team Time Trial practice. Interesting point: TTT is MITs speciallty, and its not hard to see why: they actually practice the techniques involved. That and they (er, we) have a good coach. Oh, and the wind tunnel research helps too. Anyway, here are some pics. Yours truely is not so good at drafting and TTT, but I got a lot better over the course of the morning.

More MTB action!

Race: UNH Kingman Farm Classic Date: 9/30/06 Distance: 15 miles (Actually 13.5) Laps: 3 Weather: Sunny, high 60s Trails: Muddy, wet, slippery Class raced: B Course marking: Poor to none Number of races Courtney beat me in: 2 Race Report: More MTB racing? WTF Scott? I thought you were, like, a triathlete or something like that... Nope, recently MTB has been dominating my training/racing time. I haven't done a road ride in months, though that will probably change this weekend. I've got to say, I really love mountain biking. It combines the endurance of XC skiing with the balance, skill, and exhillaration of tree and mogul alpine skiing. That makes it a big winner in my book. If you check the results from last race, you'll see that I was a pretty mediocre C class biker. I decided this time to race up a class in the Bs in order to get a longer race and capitalize on my (perceived) greater endurance. We arrived in Madbury, NH at like 7:45, but not without bottoming my car out on the access road to the park. I guess VW jettas aren't really "off road" vehicles, even when pimped out with 3 bikes on the roof rack. Anyway, I don't think anything important got broken. We hung out at the start for an hour and rode the course a little bit. It was super fun with some double track, open field type sections and a lot of technical single track with roots, mud, twisty descents, and some jumpable log barriers. The roots were wet and VERY slippery. If you missed hitting them at precisely the normal to the tangent of their curve, you were going to slide, and slide hard. While I was warming up, and whole group of Dartmouth racers arrived, including C! She said she was going to race the Women's B race which started 3 minutes after the Men's B. That made me somewhat nervous. At any rate, we got to the line, I cleared the cache in my GPS receiver, and we were off! The race started in a field and immediately hit some wide single track, which descended into a 90 degree turn. CARNAGE! People went all over the place. I stayed on the bike and kept my wheels on the dirt and picked up a few places. We then climbed a little bit on a single track, and exited onto double track, which continued for about a mile through cornfields. Another crash occured when the pack came into a 90 degree turn at 22 mph. We climbed a little bit, and then returned to the woods. The first thing that happened in the woods was a 1.5 foot log jump. I botched my first attempt, but managed not to break my bike or get railed from behind. We then descended into the gnarly , muddy, rooty, rocky single track. It was fun, but I managed to crash, again saving my bike but loosing places. I was now riding with S and O, my two teammates in the race. We hit the puddles and dismounted and ran through, and then got on some fast doubletrack. Another 90 degree turn and S went down. I slowed, but he urged me to continue. He later went to the hospital on fear of a broken leg, but it turned out to be a hip muscle injury. That left O and I in the race for MIT. The next single track section was the switch back climb. The straights were flat, but very narrow, and the curves were VERY steep. The first lap, I ran most of them. We got to the top of the hill, and then had a nasty, switchbacked descent. It was hard to ride fast, but I did what I could and played it safe. That cost me at least two places, but I really didn't want to crash. We then had more field riding down to the start line, thus finishing the lap. The second lap was certainly interesting. We hit the hard downhill turn, and like 10 people, including me, went the wrong way. I stopped after 100 yards and yelled at the pack, but they went on, thus cutting off a solid 1/3 of the loop. These riders were not disqualified, and I lodged no protest since UNH completely dropped the ball with course marshalls and marking, even though they had about 10 guys in the C race. Anyway, I got back on course and lo and behold C is right in front of me, kicking the crap out of the women's B field. I caught back on to her on the double track, but she lost me on the single track with her mad skills. Then on the climb I got close again only to watch as her chain exploded. I passed her, and rode through to the end of the lap. Incidently, C picked up her bike and ran to the finish, 1.5 miles away, and still took 2nd in the race! Lap 3 I was off the back with a UVM guy, and so I concentrated on riding as much of the course as I could. I managed to clear all but one or two technical sections and was really psyched about that. I finished 21/29, 1:33. In general, I'm pleased with that result, especially since many riders in front of me cut the course. O had a great race and did not take the shortcut, so, well done! We then had short track XC. The course was non-technical, and I had no legs for it. I got lapped right quick, and then it was just sort of like a Cake song. I was definitely going for distance, going for speed. All alone, all alone, in a time of need. I kept racing for appearances and finished in the back. Some leg strength would be awful nice. I'm going to have to work on that if I'm going to race road this spring, which looks rather likely... After short track I chilled out for a while, enjoying the nice day. C decided to race women's A's and she came in 3rd, with a time of 1:31 for 3 laps. Damn, she's good! This race was it for MTB season. I can't go to RPI or easterns, so, it looks like if I'm racing in the next month, its going to be...CYCLOCROSS. Results are here GPS data: XC, STXC

Now you can stalk me!!

New Gear: Garmin Foretrex 101 GPS receiver
Aquired: Sept. 17 2006
Use: Record training activities
Nerd factor: Very, very High


I got a sweeeet ass new toy for my birthday! Its a wrist mounted GPS receiver: the Garmin Foretrex 101!


And you thought the calculator watch was geeky? This rad device puts that shame!

So whats really cool about this thing is that it tracks your movement and you can upload the data to your computer. The best free program I've found for this is MotionBased, which has a sweet web interface which allows the world to track your workouts, if they desire. Now you can see what I've been up to! I wear this for biking and running so you can click on the MotionBased link on the left and get all the latest data on my workouts!!!

They finally got me...

Race: ECCC's Wampatuck Whatchamacallit, presented by MIT Date: 9/17/06 Location: Womatuck State Park, Hingham, MA Weather: Clear, sunny, kinda hot Length: 7.5 miles Catagory Raced: C Shock Pressure: 100 psi Tire Pressure: 40 psi Bike feel: way too stiff After 3 years, I finally signed the wavers, paid the dues, and joined the MIT cycling team. I've ridden with them in the past, but I've never raced with them. In a way it seemed treasonous to put on the Red and Grey to do battle against the Green. Never-the-less, I committed such treachery at Wompatuck state park this weekend. Fortunately, the Big Green fielded no racers in the C division. Wompy, as the locals call it, is about 35 min from Boston. It's a state park which has camping, lakes, and a pretty extensive trail system. Unlike the Middlesex Fells, all the trails are "inbounds". The course we were on was mostly single track, with a little bit of paved road and double track. In terms of technical difficulty, it was rootier than the Fells, but had fewer loose rock sections. There were some tough rock gardens thrown in for good measure. Anyway, I'm definitely going to make another trip out there before the winter starts for some exploring. Leaving Boston Sunday morning was supposed to occur at 7:15, but actually happened at 7:30 because people were not organized. We arrived at the race site maybe 45 minutes later. Giving me about 45 minutes until the race start. Registration was easy, and I borrowed an MIT jersey so as not to be disqualified. I rode my bike a little to warm up and check out the beginning of the course, and then got ready to race. The field was maybe 15 riders. Most were riding older bikes, and two had no shocks. The whistle went off and we busted off the line. The start was an open field which narrowed down into some double track. There was no carnage. I jumped in in maybe 5th place and we screamed down some easy trails for a solid half mile. We then hit some technical parts, and I realized that my bike was NOT dialed in correctly. The tires and the shock were way too stiff and I was bouncing off everthing. I could barely keep the bike on the ground. Not good. Compounding this problem was the fact that my shoes wouldn't stay clipped in: the cleats were too worn. the front group dropped me, and two others came around. We then had an extended climb on a loose dirt hill. I rode the first half and ran the second. We then had 2 miles of technical single track and I couldn't stay on the bike very well. I was reminded of the Forest of Despair, but the despair was really more like frustration and anger. One of the MIT guys passed me, and I hung on him for a while. The course then dumped us a paved road, and I started cranking. Having stiff tires and suspension meant that I could fly on the pavement, and I road that mile as hard as I could. I passed the MIT guy, H, and that was the last I saw of him until the end of the race. We faced a short steep double track uphill, and then more single track. I was feeling a little more confident, and there were fewer roots on this section, so things went a little better. There were some rollers where losing your balance meant sliding down a steep embankment, but I managed to avoid that trap. The course descended down some gnarly rock gardens, on of which I decided not to ride, and then there was more fairly tame single track to the end. I caught on guy who was having mechanical problems, but otherwise I was riding alone. The course finished at the same place it started, and I was kinda ready for another lap. So, after being done for 5 minutes, the race organizers figured they'd set a short track XC course and run another race. I didn't object. Short track XC is exactly as the name implies. Many laps around a very short (200m) usually very technical trail. This course had a sweet little steep hill, with rocks to jump at the top, followed by a twisty tree slalom, followed by a flat bit of field. All in all very fun. We did a preview lap, and then lined up for the start. The field sprinted off the line and attacked the first corner and the hill. I managed to get good position for the tree slalom, and I held it for 3 laps until I botched the rock jump at the top of the hill, fell, and lost my place. I tried to chase back on, but it didn't happen. I finished somewhere in the back of the pack. All in all, a very fun day, and a good way to start year 26. MIT did a great job putting on the race, so I hope they get to do it again next year. The results are here. Pictures are by Keith Berkoben

And the winner is...

Race: Boston Triathlon
Date: 9/3/06
Course: Swim 400m (Boston Harbor), Bike 11 miles (Memorial drive) Run 5k
Weather: Inclement
Winner: Ernesto




Yep, the race was canceled due to rain and wind. I was kinda bummed, but, then again, the weather was shitty, and the race wouldn't have been that fun. There is no rain date and no refund, so I dropped $45 on a T-shirt.

Its a nice T-shirt, but not that nice...

I'll post soon with my racing/adventure plans for the Fall

And We All Climb On: The Jay Challenge Part II, MTB

Event: The Jay Challenge MTB race Date: 7/30/06 Location: Jay Peak, VT and environs Course length: 72 miles Total climb: 12500 feet (Update: actually it was 14000 feet) Total descent: 12500 feet (Update: Yeah, 14000 feet, holy crap) Number of functional disc breaks: 1 Miles of hike-a-bike: 10-15 Estimated caffeine intake for race (in mg): 600 Did I finish? -Check out the results or just read my post! Bike Setup: 2000 Cannondale F800 with Super Fatty Headshok, Thudbuster LT suspension seatpost, Sun DS2+XC Rims with deore hubs, Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes, SRAM attack shifters, LX, XT, CODA drive train, and Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires (blue sidewalls to match my eyes). Light and fast uphill, not terribly comfy in the other direction... Report: I had anxiety dreams the night before this race about drawing molecular orbital diagrams for my boss. I'm not sure what that means, but, I was definitely nervous. This was the first race I had ever entered where finishing in and of itself was going to be a real challenge. 72 miles with 12500 feet of climbing and some nasty singletrack. How much climbing is there in 4 gaps...maybe 8000 feet? This shit was going to be epic, no matter how you look at it. C again made bacon and eggs cooked in bacon fat. Ah, delicious. I was already nervous so I eschewed coffee or tea. We packed up our shit, threw it in the car, and headed for Jay Peak. We arrived around 6:30, and I began to rush to get my bike setup for a 7:00 start. Well, at about 6:45, we were told there would be a 30 min delay. That was fine, as I was able to relax a bit and loosen up. From a mechanical standpoint, my bike was in good shape: the shifters and breaks seemed well dialed in. Some dude tried to convince me to buy a lefty for my bike, but, uh, no, the lefty is FREAKING UGLY, and has no advantages over, say, a SID or a Skareb. Headshoks, for all their faults, are at least wicked light. We hung out at the Tram base until 7:40 when finally the gun went off, and the day began in earnest. I saw no reason to push the climb up Jay, so I rode those parts that were easily rideable and walked those that weren't. We started with a gradual climb up an access rode, followed by a quick descent to the base of one of the chairlifts. We then just climbed right up the mountain for a solid 40 min. At the top of the chairlift I got back on the bike and rode to the summit. The weather was perfect. Clear, sunny, and mercifully not hot or humid. I arrived at the summit after about an hour of climbing. 70 miles lay yet ahead, but the view was awesome. The descent of Jay was ridiculously scary, and my mental MP3 player switched to "Symphony of Destruction". The first pitch was steep with slippery wet grass. I had it together until the very end of it, and then I locked up the rear and went over, taking some damage to my thigh. I poped back on for the second section, which was a little less steep, and managed to ride it, no problem. We then got onto the trail Ullr's Dream, and I managed to not spill despite locking up the rear again on a really steep dirt section. I basically jump turned to avoid falling. I walked the next gnarly section, and then hit the less steep but more technical pitch of many wooden bridges. A dude in front of me ate it, and was back boarded out. I took it conservatively, and walked a little, and made it out ok. The rest was pretty easy, gradual descent on rolling grass. Its the part of the ski trail that forces you to skate for like 5 min to get to the chair lift. It was way more fun on a bike. At the end of this section I noticed something rattling on my bike. Fearing for my derailuer, I looked back to see that my rear disc brake caliper had come detached from the frame. The bolts were gone. Not good. For a moment I considered picking up my bike and spiking on the ground and quiting the race, but, I decided just to make it work with only the front. I mean, thats where most of the power comes from anyway. The rear does provide balance, and, believe me, I missed it, but, instead of give up, or take a different bike which was unfamiliar to me, I stopped at Aid Station 2 at the base of Jay and calmly removed my rear brake, cable, and housing, and put them in my camelbak. After that, it was back out onto the course. The reason for my rear brake failure is probably due to my use of spacers to make everything fit. The bolts, I guess, were not engaged all the way. Cannondale, I blame you, but I should really blame myself for not considering that eventuality. We next followed the access road up and out of the ski area and onto rt. 242. This took us to the top of Jay gap, and the climb in that direction was short. At AS3, at the top of the gap, I took gatorade, and for the first time, Monster energy drink, thus beginning the day's intake of caffiene. At every subsequent AS, I took Monster. The course proceeded onto some climby, fun single track, and then descended into woods and mud. I rode nearly every section here because they weren't very technical, and quite honestly, the mud wasn't bad either, despite some claims to the contrary. We then climbed up to AS4 on single/doubletrack of a pretty tame sort. AS4 dropped us off onto the dirt road section of the course which I believe was almost 13 miles. I was making time to the guys I was near on the climbs in this section, but losing it all on the descents. The light dual suspension XC bike was definitely the machine of choice for this race, as you could just fly on the long, bumpy downhills. Anyway, after a nasty climb up a dirt road gap, we descended a precipitous section of pavement to AS5. A friend was waiting there and gave me salami, cheese, and a snickers bar. That was awesome, and that snickers bar came in handy later on. At this point she told me that C was 30 min up on me. Leaving AS5 I climbed up a steep section of pavement, and then into a farm field, and then finally into the second single track section. This one was technical, and twisty to the point of being nonsensical. The various twisting routes cris-crossed the trail heading back out, and so I kept getting glimpses of guys way ahead of me. Basically, it went up, and then back down, but it was so convoluted that I began to think I was in the Lost Woods in Zelda. Up, up, left, down, left...fuck! I'm back where I started. I rode most of the uphill part, but had trouble on the downhill without my rear brake for balance. I got in a bit of hike-a-bike. Finally I found my way out of the woods (the trail was well marked), and I hit up AS6 at 34 miles. We descended some single track and dirt roads back to pavement, and then, once more, began climbing. This time, the dirt road was really, really steep...20% or more. I stayed on the bike for 2/3 of the climb, but, the Lost Woods had sapped some of my resolve, so I dismounted, cracked open a Mountain Dew, and walked the rest, pushing my bike with one hand, and pounding a Dew in the other. At the top of the climb was AS7 (38 miles), and I refueled and the Mt. Dew kicked in. Unfortunately, the next section was the Forest of Despair. Yeah, like an hour and half's worth of nasty, narrow, twisty, god forsaken single track. I couldn't ride it for the life of me. I was tired and cranky, especially after taking a top tub to the balls on botched descent. This may have been the most awful thing I've done on a bike. Wait, no, scratch that, the UNH road race senior year when it was 39 degrees and raining is still the most awful thing I've ever done on a bike, but this was damn close. I knew that after this we had the road climb to Jay gap, reputedly really hard, and I was looking forward to it like starving man looks to a Big Mac. If I die and go to Hell, then Satan himself will force me to ride that singletrack over and over again, on a rigid fixie, for all time. I'm not convinced that the Dark Prince himself was not consulted in the forging of that trail. Some parts were hard to walk let alone ride. Finally, the woods ended, spilling us joyfully back on rt. 242. The climb up to Jay gap was hard, but so much less stressful than the Forest of Despair that it was like a holiday. A long, hot, gear mashing holiday. I climbed in the middle ring in the front, and it worked pretty well. I passed a racer, and they adopted my gearing, and then blasted past me. I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, the only person I was racing in this even was me. The only thing that mattered was finishing. Anyway, I still felt good passing a lot of people who had put time on me in the F.O.D., even when they passed me back when I stopped for a Hammer Gel (good shit). AS8 was at the top of the gap, 47 miles into the race. By this time it was around 2:30. The next checkpoint was in Jay villiage at 55 miles, and I had to make it there by 5:30 to not be cut off. No problem, I thought. We had about 3 miles to Jay peak, and then 5 miles of single track to Jay. I thought, you know its downhill all the way, how hard could it be. Pretty fucking hard, as it turns out. The trail was more rideable than the F.O.D., but my increased fatigue didn't help matters. I rode with one of the bad-ass Jay Challengers (3 day racers) for a while, but she lost me. We climbed for a while, and then descended along this river bank. All the "bridges" over streams were busted, and so a lot of hike-a-bike ensued. I think I started running h.a.b. downhills at this point. I stopped a couple of times to refuel with Sunny B's. I felt really tired, but not, strangely, bonked. The single track rambled on, and abruptly dumped us in Jay village. AS9 was at Firstrax bike and ski shop. The bike mechanic was there, and he offered to lube my chain, even though, as he pointed out, he never works on cannondales as a rule. The lube helped alleviate some annoying squeaking and deraileur angst I was feeling. My tiredness was alleviated by a Vault soda. I left AS9 at 4:40, 1 hour before the cutoff. I honestly don't remember the next section very well. It was more single track that I could ride about 50% of. Anyway, I showed up at AS10, mile 58 (actually like 61), at 5:40, pounded some M&Ms, Monster, salty potatoes, and electrolyte pills, and hit the trail again. At this point I had been riding with a dude from Team Weak and Feeble for a bit, and we rode more or less together for the rest of the race. The race volunteers told us that the next three miles were really technical and would take about an hour. I was fully expecting something like that, so, I just went with it. The next three miles were about 75% hiking/jogging, but I didn't think the trails were nearly as gnarly as the F.O.D. We climbed a big hill, and then descended down the other side. We then had a sweet, sweet road descent into AS11, mile 64 supposedly. I ate more potatoes and M&Ms and took my final hit of Monster. I think by this point I'd taken something like 600 mg of caffiene over the last 11 hours. Thats a lot. The AS workers told us we had nasty, nasty climbing left, but when I heard it was on dirt roads and not single track, I was psyched. At this point it was really just a test of will, and more technical riding would have been a severe trial. The climb started on pavement, and then in about 1.5 miles went to dirt. We were warned that the climb was exposed to the sun, but, guess what, at 7 p.m. the sun was behind the hills. Hah, take that, race director Dan, you sadist. I never cried, by the way. I rode 70% of the climb and walked the rest since I was really tired of riding. At the top we descended dirt roads for a while, and then double track for a while, and then some pretty easy singletrack. We crossed the road near some of the Jay condos, and the policeman at the intersection told us that we had two miles left. Sweet, almost there. It was almost 8 p.m. and getting dark. The next mile was single track of the "fuck you" variety. It was thoroughly unridable. At one point, rather than cross a nice bridge, near at hand, we had to drop our bikes down a stream bank, cross the stream, and throw them up the other side. Blessedly, the last mile was easy double track. I was certain we were going to have to climb the access road again, but no, the finish was just up the little hill to the chairlift base. C and C were there cheering, having waited for 2 hours. You guys are awesome! I finished in a time of 12:36:31, 106 out of 114 finishers. The post race food was gone, the showers were gone, but my friends were there, and I was glad to be done, and even gladder to be going home with a finisher's medal. In the final analysis, this race was really epic. My technical skills were at the bottom of the pack, but my fitness and will were pretty strong that day, so, I was able to compensate. I'll definitely hit this race again next year, and I'm going to practice descending a lot over the next 360 days, and I think I could cut an hour off my time that way. My strategy and feeding and hydration were all fine, although that night, when the caffeine wore off, I shivered for a while and felt like dying. Now, several days later, I'm still tired, but my legs and ass have stopped hurting, so I'm guessing I'm out of the woods. Maybe I'll get back on the bike this weekend... I'm going to be busy over the next few weeks moving, so it'll be a while until I race again, probably Boston Tri in Sept. If I do anything epic or even kinda epic between now and then, I'll let you know!

Jay Challenge, Part 1: Prologue

Event: Jay Challenge, travel Date: 7/28-30 Location: Jay, VT and environs When I first heard about the Jay Challenge I was filled with a burning desire to do all three events: a 26 mile kayak race, a 31.5 mile mountain marathon, and a 65 mile MTB race. In the future, I may do just that, but this year, due to training restrictions and lack of kayak, I decided to throw my hat in for just one race: the MTB, reportedly the longest and most grueling of the events. C, have greater athletic ability than I (but still no kayak) decided to throw down on two events: the run and the MTB. That being the case, we shirked our duties to the greater good of Science, and left Boston at 2:00 on Friday. We had our first adventure of the weekend on the trip up. You see, on rt. 93N on weekdays, the breakdown lane is open from 3-7 p.m. to help ease the engorged flow of traffic. However, regardless of the state of traffic, the breakdown lane is not open at 2:50, as the police officer was so kind to point out to me after pulling us over. Fortunately I played him nice, and he gave me a $25 ticket for my cracked windshield. C and I then wished we could have run through that situation a few more times, just to see how playing the cop hard would have gone.  We engaged in no more civil disobedience, save mild speeding, and continued northwards. We stopped for dinner at 4 at the Wendy's in Derry, and then stopped for supper at the Burger King in Littleton. Ah, the cuisine of champions! 7 p.m. saw us rolling into Jay for C to pick up her packet for the marathon. This accomplished, we headed back to Orleans, some 30 min away to Es house. On the way, E called and said his car was experiencing electrical issues, and that he suspected alternator trouble. So we just went to his house and let ourselves in. I was preparing to go pick him up, but by 9 p.m. he had purchased a new alternator and was installing it. That's pretty bad ass. He arrived around 12:30, but we didn't see him until the morning since we were already asleep. We got up early, and C made bacon and eggs (in bacon grease) while E made oatmeal and coffee. I drove the runners to the soccer field in Jay, and hung out until the start, which was actually quite impressive. Wanting to experience the climb up Jay myself, I jumped in my car and drove to the base. I then spent the next 45 min hiking up the course. Sure it was steep, but footing was good. Running in most places would have been extremely counterproductive. It was a beautiful day for a hike, even though the summit was shrouded in fog. I waited at the top for about an hour before C and E came through. They were in good spirits, as evidenced in the photos I took: I had to wait on top until the vast majority of runners had come through. It took a while, and I realized pretty quickly that most of the people in the race had never run up a mountain before. Sorry all you Boston Marathon fans, Heartbreak Hill does not qualify as a mountain. Not even a little bit. I drove back to the Start/Finish area after I got down, and hung out in the shade until the runners showed up. E came in around 5:45, looking strong. I then waited for C, who took her sweet time. She arrived around 40 min later. We then went and chilled in the stream for a bit. C was then displeased to learn that the beer tent required $3 per brew. I hit up the general store for a 6er, and the three of us passed the afternoon with ease. We then hit up the Belfry for dinner, and returned to grab our numbers for the MTB race the next day. That story is soon to come!

Agro in the streets of Boston

Event: Legend of Zelda Replay Race Type: Alleycat bike race Date: 7/15/06 Team reporting: E, J, C, C, and Me Location: Boston and Cambridge Number of times crossing the bridge by Science park: 6 Race Report: Imagine all the nastiness of criterium bike racing: the breakaways, the nasty corners, the aggressive, relentless pace. Now imagine doing it in the streets of Boston on a Saturday afternoon. Add urban orienteering, and that should give you a taste of what this race was. It all started the night before when C, C, and I, promised both a). cheap beer and b). info about the race showed up at a downtown bike shop for a "bike porn" show. No, gentle reader, no mechanical sexual deviance actually took place, just a lot of tatooed, grungy, bike messenger guys showing of their pimped out fixed gear bikes. We voted on our favorites, got the race info (a cryptically marked 1960's map of Boston) and a start location (the Hatch shell) and headed back to C's, seeing as between the three of us we had too few tatooes to hang with that crowd. We arrived at the start around 3:20, and got "registered". Just before the race start we were told we would be given the list of checkpoints at Winter Square. Some of us thought that was Winthrop square, but in the end, that didn't mater. At go the 100 odd racers jumped on their bikes and the madness began. We rode right across Storrow drive and onto the streets of Boston. It became immediately obvious that the strategy was to follow people who knew where they were going. So, I jumped on a big group with C, E, and J and we rode to Winter square, wherever that is, and got the list of checkpoints. There were 8 corresponding to the 8 dungeons in the "Legend of Zelda" video game. Here they are: Pierside, 3 Dolphin Way, 02210 St. Johns, 9 Moon St. 02113 Step Inc, 31 Beverley St., 02114 The Dirt Pile, 23 East St., 02141 Ampitheater, Terry Ring Way, 02109 along Quaker Lane, 02109 the end of Carver St., 02116 the Kings Castle, 10 Scotia St., 02115 We busted out maps, which I unwisely didn't have, thinking all maps save the one we got the night previous were forbidden, but then just decided to follow a group to the first checkpoint. Riding with these people was a harrowing experience. Basically, you sprint through the streets, traffic (and traffic laws) be damned. It was a challenge. In looking for the actual check point, C crashed pretty hard, but got back up and continued the race, torn and bloody. We finally got to the first checkpoint, a warehouse on the waterfront that looked the start of a GTA mission, and got our first USPS priority mail envelope, this being a bike messenger race and whatnot. I threw this in my messenger bag, and jumped back on the group. They busted off towards cambridge, but soon I lost them, being simply not able to ride that speed and getting cut off by impenetrable traffic. I got to the bridge by the science museum, and then ended up pairing up with a woman named R, who, as it turns out, is a pro mountain biker and triathlete. She was awesome enough to let me tag along for the next 5 checkpoints. Her style was absolutely fearless: she would take lines into gridlocked oncoming traffic, riding between the cars. It was all I could do to keep up. At Moon st. we hit our second checkpoint, and had to do a shot of tabasco and whiskey to get the envelope. It was unpleasant, but never the less, we did it. We then bike back to the science museum and hit up East st., the checkpoint at which, we were told, had been broken up by security. Undaunted, we headed to 31 Beverly st. where we had to dance around in Too-toos to get our prize. We then hit up the ampitheater on Terry Ring Way (in the naval ship yard), where a wasabi fig and spinning 10 times were the price of completion. Quaker lane, we learned from a fellow racer, was off congress street, so, that way we went. Along that way, we met C, C, J, and E, and road with them for a while, though we took different ways to the checkpoint in the end. We stopped at Quincy Market to ask a policeman where Quaker Lane was. He looked at us, and laughed, and said he was on his way there to break up a group of bike messengers. He then said he was in no particular hurry, and gave us a wink and directions. Dude, you rock! We found the alley, and did 20 pushups for our prize. On the way to the next checkpoint I lost R in traffic, but picked up C, C, E, and J, and we rode together to the end. Carver st. was an alley near the common where we had to meditate and eat cashews, and the final checkpoint, Scotia st., was right by C's house at Fenway. They had no challenge for us, so we proceeded to "Death Mountain", which was a three lap circuit of Boston Common. By the third lap of cranking at maximum velocity, I was very tired. J and C broke off to get a final checkpoint C had missed, and the rest of us headed to the finish, a bar over by Longwood. Here's a map with all the checkpoints. According to the GMAPs pedometer, we rode 15 miles...as the crow flies. What that is in actual miles, nobody knows. The race took about 2.5 hours, and I was never riding any speed less than all out. The race was as exhilarating as it was dangerous, but that's just kind of how life works. I definitely learned a lot of traffic tricks, and maybe even became a touch more agro myself, so, it was definitely worth it.

Swimming with the Beavers

Event: Holliston Lions Triathlon Date: 7/9/2006 Location: Stoddard Park, Holliston, MA Weather: Sunny, temps 75-80 degrees Course: 800m swim, 15 mile bike, 5 mile run

Report: This was an unusual race in many respects. For one, the distances were really strange for a “sprint” tri. Never-the-less, it turned out to be pretty fun. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., and drove over to pick up another MIT triathlete, M, and then we headed to Holliston. There was no parking at the race start, so we parked on the street like ¼ mile away. Registration was easy. I told them my name and they handed me a bag with everything in it. K, the MIT captain was hanging out near registration, and gave me my sweet ass MIT jersey. I then set up my transition zone, which was in prime real estate close to the run/bike interchange, put on my wetsuit and headed to the beach. The water was warm and murky, but not overly weedy, so I warmed up and waited for the start.

Right before the the race start, the Lion's Club guys (who organized the race) played the national anthem, the version of which they had chosen was only slightly better than the one with Rossanne Bar. It was HARD not to laugh. The 40+ men got to go off first, and then the sub 40 men, and finally the women all with 3 minute intervals in between. The swim was typical: grabbing wetsuited legs and getting kicked in the face for 200m and then open swim for the rest. In the absence of current and 3ft swells, swimming in straight lines was pretty easy. I was out of the water in about the middle of the pack, which is about my speed these days. I suspect that the 14-year-old version of myself, country club champion no less, would be faster, but, whatever. I ran out of the water and had my suit half off by the time I reach my rack. I then peeled the rest off, jumped into my bike shoes, and started out again much, much, much faster than last time.

The bike course was sweet: 3 laps around a 5 mile loop with short, steep uphills followed by long gradual downhills (link). There were no flats and the course ran fast. The first lap I was feeling the swim, but by the end I was cranking pretty well, turning decent gears. I got in with a group of dudes and we worked off of each other. The second lap was pretty much the same, but I was feeling much better on the uphills. On the third lap, all racers were out on the course, and it was crowded. In places it was like being in a peleton, and the yellow line and no drafting rules got violated like the prime directive. Still, we were moving along well. With two miles to go I noticed another MIT racer pass me. It was M. I climbed the final hill and slipped my feet out my shoes. This proved well, as the people in front of me Mau-Maued the transition zone and took each other out after jamming the brakes and slipping on their cleats. I dodged and jogged through. Racking my bike and putting on my racing flats took all of about 20 seconds and I was back on the course.

The run loop was the bike loop, only in reverse. Think about that for a second…do you see a problem? Yes, that’s right, we were running against bike traffic, which was a bit scary as the main group was coming in when I left. Still, there were no close calls, so, all turned out well. My legs didn’t feel dead, just not terribly fast. Also, I should not have worn my 8 year-old cross country waffles. They now have several blood stains, and I think its time to grab some road racing flats. Anyway, I soldiered on as best I could. The course was actually pretty challenging with long, gradual climbs and short steep downhills. The first 1.3 miles took something like forever, but afterwards I sped up a bit and passed a bunch of people. At around mile 4, someone behind me yelled “go tech!" It was M. She passed me, and we ran together to the last hill where I pulled ahead again for my kick to the finish. We finished around 1:33:25 on the clock, a final time of 1:30:25 for me 

So, in the end I finished around 40^th out of 250. I was hoping to finished sub 1:30:00, but I was pretty close, and I’m psyched about my bike split and my transitions. If I’m going to get back to being as fast as I once was, I’ve got to work the run and swim more (my run split was 35ish and my swim was 12ish). The MIT triathlon people were really fun, and we hung out for a while after the race waiting for awards; M took second in the women’s race, not bad for her first ever tri, and another one of the women, C, took an age category award.

Overall, a fun morning and a good race!

My next tri will be the Boston Triathlon, which will certain be an adventure, what with the swim in Boston harbor and the bike on Mem. Drive.

That’s assuming I survive the Jay Challenge MTB race :)

Crazy C's Big Ass Adventure Race

Date: 6/24/06 Location: Franconia Notch, The White Mountain's, NH Team: Me and D Duration: 11 hours Total miles on foot: 18 Total miles on bike:23 Total Elevation gain: 7500 feet Check points reached: 6 Overall Place: 3rd Liters of water consumed by the team: 9 Ah, adventure! How best to describe it? Let start with a little history. Last year C, C and J won the MIT GNARPMFSK adventure race in Acadia. Their prize: to organize this year's race. They moved the race to Franconia Notch, pretty much home turf for Dartmouth Skiing, and set two challenging courses: a medium-core and a hard-core. The medium-core was mostly road biking and hiking, with some team swimming as well. The Hardcore was Franconia Ridge, some mountain biking with orienteering checkpoints, and then Mt. Moosilauke with several orienteering checkpoints. Friday night the weather in Boston was really crappy: rain with threatened thunderstorms. The weather for the next day in Franconia looked no better, and I was concerned that severe weather might cancel the event. However, we got our stuff together and set a northward course. There was some doubt as to the end point of our Friday night journey. However, I got in touch with C, and she invited us to stay with her mom, so I mashed go and the cruise control and blasted up 93. When we arrived, C and B were busy writing up the hardcore course, which looked the best for us due to its epic hiking. We decided to eschew the mtb section, since we had road bikes, in favor of a day on Franconia ridge and Moosilauke. We fell asleep to C and B arguing about how to convert GPS coordinates to the system on the map. Saturday broke with rain, and I was not amused. Never the less, we suited up a drove over to Echo Lake. We got the bikes set up and obtained maps and coordinates from C, and then helped some old hippies jump start their conversion van. They gave us the peace sign, which I took for a sign of good karma for the day to come. We then sat in the car for 30 min and tried to mark the map. Due to the early hour (and my lack of caffeine) this process went slowly, and but for D's quick coordinate-to-centimeters calculations and my improvising a straight edge with a piece of paper, we would have been screwed. With the map marked, we jumped into echo lake, the temperature of which was actually quite pleasant. At this point, the rain had abated, and we mounted up and hit the bike path. After about 10 minutes, we arrived at Lafayette Campground, one of the Franconia trailheads. We locked our bikes up in the woods, and started up the Old Bridal Path. At first, we were running, but, knowing we were in for a long day, I slowed down our pace. The climb, about 3400 feet and 4 miles, took us a little over an hour. The trail was empty of people and absolutely gorgeous, especially after Greenleaf hut. The sun began to break through the clouds as we cleared the tree line. We summited Lafayette at around 9:15, our high point for the day at 5260 ft. The ridge continues on southward, and we followed it that way, jogging on rocks in ringed in clouds. The lack of other people on the ridge was a real treat: normally on a summer's morning its a like a crowded highway being only a 2 hour drive from Boston. Lincoln was maybe 3/4 of a mile from Lafayette over wonderful, rough terrain. I'm not sure why I'm not smiling in the picture. Maybe I'm trying to look tough. Our next checkpoint was Shining Rock, a water fall about 1000 feet lower than the ridge. Reluctantly we headed down the Falling Waters trail, which turned out to be steep and slippery, and probably would have been a better way to come up. Shining Rock was really cool, especially since I'd never seen it before. We continued down Falling Waters, which crossed many streams and involved a lot of slipping and sliding. However, we managed to keep our ankles safe and our knees unscratched. We returned to Lafayette campground at 11:00 a.m. after about 10 miles of hiking/running. After getting some calories and water, we set out on the road biking portion of our quest. It involved about 15 miles, 6 of them on the flat/downhill bike path. The bike path is a real rush. You know how in Return of the Jedi there's a speeder bike fight on the moon of endor? Thats what it feels like riding the bike path at 20 mph. When the bike path ended, we took turns leading and drafting, and came to the town of North Woodstock feeling pretty strong. Turning west on rt. 112, we climbed once more into the mountains. 6 miles of road with 1000 feet of climbing lay in front of us. We were fine up until the 4th mile, but then the earlier hike caught up with us, and we had to put the bikes in the easiest gear and suffer. We arrived at Kinsman Notch trailhead around 12:30 somewhat fatigued, so we rested for 10 min and consumed perhaps 300 calories each. Our plan was to summit Moosilauke first, and then get as many orienteering controls as we could. However, the Beaver Brook trail lay in between. It climbs to the summit of Mt. Jim from Kinsman notch in the steepest way possible. 1000 feet/mile. In places, there are steps carved into the rock and iron bars driven in as handholds. These aids make the climb possible. In slippery conditions, this trail can be terrifying, and the rain from the previous night had not entirely dried. Undaunted we started up. After a mile, we were in a bad way. The climb, though beautiful as it follows a roaring flume, proved difficult on our legs and our water was spent. D had become pale, so we sat down, drank our remaining water, and ate sugar. I had skittles, and they tasted good! I also had a hammer gel, which was the most palatable gel I've ever had. After 15 min we were refreshed, and we continued our journey. After reaching Mt. Jim, the trail flattens out, and we jogged again a little bit, and ran across B and C on their way down from setting the last checkpoint. They told us we could still win. I was skeptical, due to our previous near bonk experience. We finally made it to the summit of Moosilauke at around 3:30. We chilled for a bit, shared a Mt. Dew Amp, and decided that we needed to start back down at 5 pm to make the 7 p.m. race end. That gave us 1.25h to find 3 checkpoints. Not possible. So, we chose the closest one, and went after it. A little bit of compass work led us down a rocky pitch to a forest. We could see the orange tape on a tree, about 200 meters away. The forest was the impenetrable white mountain sort, the kind you have to body surf through, the kind that you can only hope to endure. A 15th level druid would still be troubled by such a passage. The 200m took us 30 minutes of hard, hard bushwacking. We did find the control, our reward for cut, bruised shins and hard labor. The climb up was easier, since we didn't need to set a precise course, but every branch hit me in the most painfully cut part of my leg and I cried out in agony many a time. Finally, we were back at the summit at 4:45. We had 2:15 to get back down, and it was all downhill. Beaver Brook was still slippery, and our legs were tired after 9 hours of effort, so we took it slow after jogging between the summit of Moosilauke and Mt. Jim. We were at Kinsman by 6:15 and on our bikes for the awesome 6 miles of fast descent by 6:25. D started the descent before me, and I gave him 2 minutes headstart. I jumped on my bike, grabbed my aerobars, and cranked the downhill at 40 mph. It felt awesome. I caught D 3 miles later, and we rode together to the Traunt's Tavern, arriving at 6:45. The Pemigewasset river was right there, so after checking in we chilled our legs, and chatted with the other racers. D passed out for about an hour while I got shuttled to the car. Truants had cold Guiness and good burgers, so I was content. After dinner, we finished off a good day by joining B and C in beating up on C and her friends in Taboo and drinking Coors lite. We finished 3rd in the hardcore division, but the first with an MIT student (me), so next year, I'm in charge of the course. I think we'll return to the whites :)