Root 66 Grafton Ponds/West Hill Race

Anthony and I packed up the GTI and headed out to Grafton Vermont for the Root 66 Grafton Ponds/West Hill Race this past Sunday.   This would be our first time racing this event and had no idea what to expect.  We did our usual drive to the race ritual and stopped at Starbucks for some coffee and a snack.

 

We arrived at Grafton Ponds about an hour and a half prior to our race start so we decided to walked around, pick up our number plates and then ended up sitting under the Seib’s Bikeman tent chatting to Collin Johannen and his son Scott for a while (trying to avoid the sun).  Did I mention it was hot as hell out!!  WOW, it was freaking wicked hot and humid!  Good thing we had a cooler full of refreshments for post race hydration.

So about 45 minutes before the start of the race Anthony and I decided to suit up and stretch our legs out by going for a little cruise down the road and back.  Once we returned we spoke with a gentleman who claimed to be the trail builder at Grafton Ponds and he highly recommended that we pre-ride the beginning and the end of the course, so we saddled up and headed out.

We rode a small section of the start and then crossed under the tape and finished with the ending portion of the course.  Just that little loop got us excited for what type of race it was going to be.  The trails are a mix of rooty and rocky singletrack with a small amount of double track dirt road mix.  It was going to be a blast!

Race time!  We all got lined up in our respective categories.  The wave of riders that went out just before single speed open had a collision and one of the racers broke his collar bone.  Bad way to start the race.  They cleared the course and single speed open was all lined up.  I keep telling myself not to worry about the hole shot.  Just go out and get in a comfortable pace and see how things go.  Whistle blows and we are off, and everyone is going way faster than I really want to go, but I don’t want to be the last rider in my class to hit the singletrack so I pin it and pass the field and give myself a pretty large gap, but of course I red lined, and then about halfway through lap one I’m in total recovery mode (not good).

I ended up seeing Anthony on one of the switchback sections in the woods.  Not feeling so hot going into my second lap I decided to back my pace down and take it easy.  I think it worked because I felt better on my third lap and never saw any of the other single speeders during the race.  I did get to see a great battle at the finish between Lane Maher and Steve Lehmann for the second and third spots.  I have to give major kudos to Lane Maher.  The kid is like 12 years old and slaying it out there.  He will be a force to be reckoned with in the future for sure.

Anthony hauled the freaking mail and took third place in the Cat II 40-49.  We celebrated after the race by jumping in the pond and then drinking a few tallboy PBR’s before the awards ceremony. We even got to stand on the Podium.  Good thing I brought my podium shoes.

It was a great venue.  I will definitely go back next year and will bring the entire family with me.

 TEC

Cat II 40-49

 

SS Open

Post race beverage

 

Cat II 40-49 Podium

Single Speed Open Podium

Skull & Cross Beers

Here is another kick ass collaboration with Peter Keiller (Mr. Misfit Psycles) skully extraordinaire and Clark Brothers Racing on a new CBR t-shirt design.  The new shirts are going to be freaking awesome!

Option One

Option Two

Option Three - APPROVED

Contact me if you would like to order a shirt.
tayloreclark@gmail.com

Pats Peak Mountain Bike Festival

Taylor and I headed over to Pats Peak for the Mountain bike festival on Saturday. We had made up our minds earlier in the week that we would do a 2 person 6 hour team and figured we could be relaxing by 6:30. The way things had looked on the weather scene we could tell prior to the race that we were headed for a shit show. 3 Plus inches of rain was set to fall Friday and into Saturday morning but rain or shine we were going. It’s a local race for us and neither had raced there before so why not.  We could sleep in and head out at 9:30 and be home at a decent time. 

Upon arriving the sun was out and we set up shop next to the Seib Family. You can’t say enough thanks because Don, Kristen, Donnie and Melissa basically extended their welcome to everyone. Thanks! After setting up it was off to the racers meeting. You have little time between the racers meeting and the start of the race to get your stuff together. I decided to do the “Petite La Mans start” only because I run once a year when I get the winter blues and Taylor had no objection.  After the national anthems ceased we we’re off and running.

 I hit the bike and took off on a course that I had never ridden before. I kept telling myself you’ve got 6 hrs. Just follow those skinny tire tracks laid out by Steve Crossley and you’ll be just fine. Another rider from a four person team was riding my wheel both of us just following the course not knowing how much energy to expend.  Somewhere around mile 4 he said “We have over a mile of downhill coming up.” I let it fly. This paid off as I was able to hand the baton off to Taylor putting us in front for our class. Pats featured 800ft of climbing per 5 mile lap. The course has a good feel to it. You climb for a while on single track and fire road only to get your reward of over a mile of downhill to the finish, all with a river of mud and water beneath you. You know you’re going to need to service the brakes and bearings when this one’s over. Taylor ran his bike single speed and we put in 4 laps each.  We had a strong race showing and that put us in first place for the 6 hour 2 men.  We were able to get changed in to some dry clothes and catch up with fellow riders. You’ve got to hand it to the 24 hour solo riders and teams they stuck it out for 18 more hours. Cheers!

-AC 

Anthony getting ready for the petite la mans start

Taylor after lap one

Taylor's bruised and battered Misfit

CBR first place

CBR Racer Profile: Anthony Catauro

Name: Anthony Catauro

Age: 41

Hometown: Barnstead, NH

Discipline(s): Expert XC

Years racing: 3

Favorite race: Horror at Harding Hill or any single speed races (SSUSA / Singlespeed-A-Palooza)

Occupation: Landscape installation and maintenance

Team role: Wing Man; encourage others to do their best

Career highlight: 3rd place finish at the 2012 24 Hours of Great Glenn and 1st place finish at the Pinnacle

Favorite places to ride: Bear Brook State Park, Kingdom Trails, Waterbury and Stowe

Favorite beer: Did someone say beer? Yes please! I like just about all of them with the exception of strong IPAs and Milwaukee's Best.

The stable: Pivot Mach 429, Pivot Less and Misfit Dissent

Pre-race ritual: Doing exactly what I didn't do the race before

Post-race ritual: A couple of beers and if I win anything I give it to my kids and wife so they don't throw me out