Sunday, April 1st brought about the season opener, Bunny Hopbrook, for New England’s Root 66 Race Series, and DAS Racing had great turnout all across the boards. What’s most exciting is that there were more female racers for the team than male - a first for us. Not only that, but the women were all showing off their Specialized Fate 29ers. Racing at all different times made it impossible to get a picture of the four, but we’re hoping to get one sooner than later.
What’s nice about this race was that it was in-state and only 1.5 hours away from us. Also, it’s had a history of being cold and wet there on race day. In fact, it’s at a dam, so there have been sections that were close to flooded. Sunday’s weather was as good as an early April race can get, as long as you don’t think about the crazy spring weather we were spoiled with two weeks ago. It was chilly, but the rain held off until we were on our way home.
The day started off with the Cat 3 racers at 9 am. As Liz and John were driving into the park, they saw Crystal coming up through the woods to the road section, so the cheering and howling started right then and there (of course, Rich was already there for support). She looked strong, serious, and fast. Wow! There was definitely a new-found confidence with the mountain bike that she brought to Hopbrook and she was on a mission.
After the race, Crystal summed up her experience:
“1) Loved the course, especially the climbing... it was just technical enough to keep me on my toes and building confidence, but nothing super technical that broke me down.
2) I need to work on the down hills; I was getting smoked on the descents.
3) Overall, I’m very happy with my results and can't wait for the next race!
4) I wish we would have done 3 laps instead of 2.”
Crystal finished strong in second place. She’s looking forward to Winding Trails on April 22nd.
The Cat 1/ Pro field lined up at 11:30 for their race. While Cat 3 did 2 laps on a slightly shortened 4 mile or so course, the rest of the racers for the day were scheduled to race on a 5 mile course with Cat 1 doing 4 laps and a little over 20 miles, and Cat 2 doing 2 laps and a little over 10 miles. Lining up at 11:30 for the Cat 1 men (30-39) was Dan Biscup. It was his first official race as Cat 1 in the 66 Series.
Dan’s experience:
“Hop Brook dam, or a better fitting name would be, “hop brook hill climb” starts the first race in the root 66 race series. As this was my first round in cat 1, I was quite timid and started dead last. After the first few climbs, I noticed that this race was just like all the others, and with my confidence restored, I started to pick people off as soon as I could. With a 5th place finish out of 11, I feel great. One of the best parts of racing is the friendly competition. On the first lap, I passed a guy that passed me back on lap 3. I felt quite defeated, but then I really started to dig deep. On the last lap, I was able to reclaim my spot and make the pass stick. Also I would like to note, as the competition in cat 1 is quite intense, there are guys like Shawn Mottram and Bob Stine that are class acts. They really encourage the racers and promote the sport!”
Liz A lined up for the women’s pro race next to 6 fast women, most of whom have been quite accomplished in the off-road cycling world for quite awhile. For a total of 7 women to show up in the pro field this early in the season, it was exciting and a little out of the ordinary.
Liz said: “Knowing that I was racing against some of the fastest women in the area wasn’t the scariest part for me. The scariest part, was the gravel road that I knew I’d have to transverse 4 times. Lining up with those girls was actually more exciting than anything. I knew that I could only give it my best effort. It’s early in the season, so as long as I’m not too far off the finishing times, then I can’t really complain. I went out with my usual less than stellar start and hung on for as long as I could to some of the leaders, but I never feel strong on the first lap, so I kind of faded as they pulled away. By the third and fourth lap, I felt strong on everything except the climbs. They were killing me. It was kind of sad, but kind of funny at the same time. I know where I need to put my work in now; I knew I needed that going in, too (HAHA). In all, it was a great start to the season, and the course was really fun! There were some sections where the speed was unreal, and I just went with it. I can’t wait for the next race!”
Liz finished 6th out of 7 and was within 10 minutes of the leader at a time of a little over 2 hrs and 5 minutes.
Cat 2 held the bulk of the DAS racers with Rich in the men’s 19-29, and Tracy and Liz B in the women’s 35+. Tracy, just coming off her first season of cross racing, was eager to give mountain bike racing a try. Liz B had done some cross racing last season and the time trial at Burlingame the previous weekend, but the experience of lining up in a pack of mountain bikers was exciting just the same.
Tracy’s experience:
“This being my first mtb race, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I anticipated I would love it, and I was right. Most of my fear about racing (as I am sure other peeps fear as well) was about keeping the bike upright and not sucking. Then I decided, so what if I suck? The more I thought about it, who really cares if I come in DFL. Would my friends or family think poorly of me, stop liking me, will anyone even care? Probably not. So my goal was to keep the bike upright, push myself and have fun. Now for the play by play. Standing on the start line, I may have been a bit nervous or had to much coffee, since my heart rate was 120 YIKES !!!! When the whistle blew, I took off, and yeah, I wasn’t last pulling out of the gait, however, this was to soon change. After coming around a corner, I had 2 choices: take the high road or the low road. Since making snap decisions is not one of my strong points, I went for the high road then changed my mind and then went for the low road. Now I am pretty close to being last starting up a single track hill. All I can stay is cluster F***. I managed to get on through and eventually passed some peeps during the first lap. Then on to the second lap, you would think I would know the route by now HA!! I took a wrong turn shortly after passing 3 girls, but luckily I realized my mistake before I got too far off track. Now I had to try to re-pass the same 3 girls. For those of you who know how directionally challenged I am, this is probably of no big surprise, and you’re probably saying to yourself I can’t believe she didn’t get lost on the first lap. Now to sum it up, I had a blast, rode with some very cool peeps, pushed hard on hills and flats, road within my limits on descents and rocky sections and most importantly, kept the bike upright.”
It sounds like Tracy’s first mountain bike race will not be her last. She ended up on the podium in third place!
Liz B’s experience:
“All the Cat 2 Women started at the same time, and I got off the jump pretty far back. We were bunched at the very first climb, but once we got to the road, I was able to pass a few women. In the field, I passed a few more and was feeling good. That climb was brutal; I only made it about halfway up and ran the rest. Once the climb finally ended there was a rocky downhill at the bottom of which I took a trip over the handlebars. On the second lap, a guy told me I was in third! I kept pulling 2nd in and then losing her. I finally passed her and learned that she was in the younger age group. I never saw first; she was long gone out of the gate. I am very happy with my second place finish. I loved racing with the Fate. I think it made the climbs less brutal than they would have been on the FS 26. It was a cool way to spend the day: family-friendly and really awesome people everywhere.”
Liz’s entire family went out to race. Her husband Dan also gave it a try and seemed to enjoy himself, although the course didn’t seem to like him and left him unable to finish due to numerous flats. Regardless, he felt strong out there. Liz and Dan’s boys got to race in a pretty technical kids race too. They both had a lot of fun.
Rich had a great start. Throughout the race, he’d worked his way to around 4th place, but sadly, a mechanical took him out of the running for the podium. He was feeling strong and racing hard, but Rich says, “[the chain] Broke with a mile to go. Unfortunately, that mile was flat or uphill, except for the last tenth of a mile. I did have to scooter the finishing straight (HAHA).” Crystal and Liz were waiting at the finish line, and they knew something had happened when it was taking longer than expected for him to come through the finish area. When they saw him, he was disappointed, but he didn’t let is show as he used his leg to power through the finish area skater style. Even with the mechanical, he didn’t finish last.
Racing newcomer, John Hanson came out for his first race ever. On a 30lb full-suspension bike, he was in for a beating with all of the climbing, but he said he was flying past people on the descents. He finished his first race and is looking forward to beating himself up some more with the heavy bike so that he can really dig into a new level of speed.
Above all, the day was a huge success. Everyone was smiling and happy as they gorged themselves on bread at Bertucci’s on the way home. Winding Trails, here we come!
"Standing at the starting line waiting for the start, it didn’t feel like 15 years since my last MTB race. I was surprisingly calm, which is not normal for me before a race. The plan was to go out, have some fun and with a little luck keep the bike upright until the finish. 
"Rode bike. Rode face. Rode bike slower. Finished."
