Friday, August 07, 2009



Options? Not Really

There are three event penciled in on my calendar for next weekend:

- The Kenda Cup at Windham Mountain, NY
- The EFTA Hampshire 100 k
- The Dark Horse 40

I have about fifteen minutes to write this AM, so this may be spastic and disjointed (more so than usual). I never really had any intention of going to Windham and racing my Single Speed against real Pros at a Ski Area race. If you haven't done Windham, it's like a Super-Pat's Peak (with lots more trail development and maintenance). It's straight up, straight down. Exposed climbing and high speed, non-technical descending. Like Mount Snow after it went to the vet for a little snip snip. So that's out.

The Hampshire 100k has gotten, let me say...mixed reviews since its appearance on the calendar a few years back (I hear tell of a really sweet section where you ride along the side of some railroad tracks for quite a while). It is a 60 mile race less than an hour and a half from my house, which is enticing. Here's the rub - it's $115, there's mandatory check in the night before (hey this ain't the VT50 where you got 800 some odd racers checking in so you need to do it the night before, c'mon!), it starts at 6:45AM and there's no mention of prize lists that I can see.

Now...the Darkhorse 40. It's almost four hours away, it starts at 9AM, I have to work Saturday, I doubt I can get down there to camp the night before, it will hurt, but...
I have ridden the trails of Stewart Forest during the Singlespeed-A-Palooza, they are dope, those guys have a great track record of putting on amazing events, they're putting up $300 to the first overall finisher and $200 to the first Expert finisher, if you register for the Single Speed class (which I might just have to) you get $200 and a custom painted carbon Niner rigid fork (as James pointed out to me). Oh, did I mention BEER? They have beer.

So if I want to do The Hampshire 100 I would have to grind out a three hour roundtrip drive the night before, which effectively puts me in the car for the same amount of time which going to The Darkhorse will net me.

Options? I don't see any stinking options.

Almost forgot...Fells MTB Loop last night, 28:10, new record, all systems go for GG24 bitches. I might be fat, but I also might be back. Watch out now.

13 comments:

dicky said...

Easy. Go win that fork and sell it to me for $100.

Then spend all that money on animal porn (it will go a long way).

Mike said...

I would do the DH 40. I have raced it twice, the course is awesome, and the race is very well run.

Colin R said...

I'm doin' the 40. Windham US Cup is $60 for Cat 1, racin at 8am for $0 in prize money. Easy choice.

G-ride said...

60 bucks?!?! WTF. Ski areas are doing it again. They never learn.

Colin R said...

I really wanted to support the US Cup, too, but $60 sets a precedent want nothing to do with.

Darkhorse Cycles said...

look forward to seeing you at the 40!!!

Georges Rouan said...

Do the 40- and if you and your girl want a place to stay in NYC the night before (still need to drive 1.5 hours up to Newburgh day of) I can give you a place to stay for the weekend. As long as you dont mind no sofa....

Unknown said...

after a wk of monster rest, i too am all systems go. let's crush this mofo.

the nh100k is no fun. darkhorse it is.

sbc said...

the 40! The race will be great and if you need a place to stay Saturday night and do not mind a few crying babies you are welcome to stay at my place, we are about 45 minutes away.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of the 100k, I've done it both years. Fortunately, I will be doing D2R2 that weekend. Anyway, I'm 20 minutes from the 100k, if you want to crash on our futon the night before. Sounds to me like the 40 is better anyways, but wanted to give you the option.

DaveP (good friend of HillJunkie)
Email: davep15@hotmail.com

leahpb said...

"...Fells MTB Loop last night, 28:10"
seriously? i mean, i know i just started riding the fells 2 weeks ago but today it took me an hour and a half. wtf am i doooing??? (besides going slow...)

Anonymous said...

This from the Hampshire 100 website....
"Good news! - An additional volunteer has generously offered to tend to packet pick-up early on Sunday morning. So, although all racers are generally expected to pick up their participant packet on Saturday, August 15th, between the hours of 2 – 9 PM, there will be an opportunity for Sunday morning pick-up for those that cannot get to the venue on Saturday without undue hardship. This is packet pick-up only. No new registrations will be allowed on Sunday morning."

rick is! said...

I haven't done the 40 but I have to say that I really like the Hampshire 100. I've done it both years so far and had a blast both times. It doesn't have a ton of single track but it's still fun.

andy would have loved the train track section if he hadn't clipped a pedal and cartwheeled into the trees.