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| photo by Amy Biscup |
On Sunday, May 6th, a few DAS racers headed over to Burlingame, RI for the first ever Battle at Burlingame classic mountain bike race. The Burlingame Time Trial a month or so earlier was in the same park, but the courses were entirely different. The Battle was a ripping fast circuit that had a little bit of everything: bridges, roots, berms, wide open flats, short punchy climbs, short steep descents, and a nice ridge line full of rocks. With it being around a five mile or so loop, the different race categories did everything from 1 lap to 6 depending on their level of expertise.
Due to time constraints with a hectic work schedule, John Y raced the novice singlespeed category at 9am which turned out to be an impressively fast group of men. As soon as his race ended, he was off to New Jersey for business. There’s nothing like squeezing in a little racing where ever you possibly can:
“The Battle at Burlingame was an after thought race and ended up being the most fun I've had racing since my duathlon days. I had dropped down a class to "novice," which in this case only meant distance (10 miles), as I raced my singlespeed, and the singlespeed was an "open" class (any skill level). This race probably would have gone differently if : a)I hadn’t been hung over and b) I had ridden my singlespeed at all within the months before the race. I literally took it off the wall, put some sealant into the tires, pumped, and loaded the bike onto the car. So, I was under-geared. And hungover. 1st and 2nd place simply walked away from us (gearing) as I furiously spun my cute gear and battled for third with some guy (henceforth known as Mr. Poopie Pants. Mr Poopface Poopy Pants. Mr.Poopface Poopy Pants III esq,). Pants sucked my wheel for the first lap. I'd gap him, attack, and gain some time, then run off course (twice), and he'd latch back on. The course was fast and fun BTW. So going into lap two, I had 10 seconds or so on him. I screwed up a section of wooden bridges, and he caught up. I let him pass figuring that since I lose him on the flats, I'll just follow him and try to drag race him up the rise to the finish. Plus, I was tired of setting the pace. Well, I not only screwed up the bridges but I really screwed up a technical ridge section so bad that I lost sight of him. Already red lining, I went ludicrous speed after Poopface Pants the Stupid Head. At this point I actually started tripping on lactic acid. I actually almost caught up to the dude but I was at my limit. I came around one of the last corners which was 90 degrees into a log and stopped dead. Are you F'in kidding me? I crossed the line 15 seconds back. Poopyhead turned around to thank me for a great challenging race, that it was most fun he'd had in years. I half listened, pitying him for clearly being less endowed than I. I spent the next two days being bitter to Supidheadsmallweiner but I realized that it was all my fault, I handed him the race. I'm over it now and have forgiven myself and Poopface Poopbreath IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou.”
Something tells me that in us waiting over a week to post this write-up, John has not forgiven himself or Mr. Poopyhead.
At 11:30, Dan and Liz A lined up for the expert and pro categories. For a first time race that didn’t count towards any sort of points series, there was a very respectable turnout of fast racers. The whole day was extremely well organized, and it was obvious that a lot of work had gone into the setup. It will, undoubtedly, be a venue that will see more and more racers each year.
After haggling all week over whether or not he would race, Dan finally decided to sign up for the Expert Men’s group, and he did well:
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| photo by Amy Biscup |
“The Battle at Burlingame is a long race, 27.5 miles for cat1. To make up this many miles they had us do five laps. To many people it is an easy task to count up to five, however when you are at your max anaerobic threshold for 2 hours, it becomes quite daunting. To make sure I did not miss count, I put tape on my bars, every lap remove one, this is how I rolled! The first lap was the normal ‘wish I knew the course and warmed up, blow up sprint.’ I was going to try to stay on Shawn Mottram’s tail but got quickly dropped as my heart rate went through the roof. I settled in 3rd place for a while until I picked up a stick that proceeded to slightly bend my rear rotor! I stopped on the trail as my good friend John Sumner passed by. At this point I felt a little out of the game. I started up again with my breaks rubbing and squeaking feeling the drag. Then, miraculously, my pad contact let out and I had no drag! I started hammering. At some point I must have passed another guy and I caught back up to John to finish 2nd. It was a very fun course, a great amount of single track. For me the parking lot crossings were the most challenging! On the last lap I went the wrong way off the course for a few seconds. Had to turn around and ride back and watch as John was closing the gap!”
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| Photo By Meg Dineen McMahon |
Liz A arrived at the race knowing that she would have at least one woman to race against in the Pro Women’s group. Jena’s bike issue from the previous race (broken frame) had derailed her plans to head to Delaware for the AMBC race, so she was able to race Burlingame instead. It was a pleasant surprise to have Karen Potter show up - she’s an unbelievably talented and hardworking ultra endurance racer. Not only that, but Susan Lynch, the Cat 1 racer who usually beats Liz, decided to race the open category this week. There might not have been a huge field of competition, but it was a fast and talented one:
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| photo by Amy Biscup |
“I took off with the group and maintained contact for most of the first lap. It seemed like the technical sections were saving me from losing site of them because that’s where I usually relax and do what I’m good at. It was the flats and the slight ascents that were killing me. I really don’t have any road legs yet... as I’ve whined about previously... I know that’s my weakness, so I just have to suck it up and push harder. I had my usual mental crisis during the 2nd and 3rd laps, but somewhere during lap 4, my pity party ended and I started feeling like it was time to race. Too bad that I’d let myself get so far behind. On the final lap, I saw Susan below me on a section of singletrack, and I knew I could catch her if I just left all I had out there in the dirt... that was the incentive I needed to ride recklessly. I took off, and there was no stopping me... except there WAS stopping her... her chain snapped on one of the short punchy ups. I was a whole lotta ticked off because my motivation took a quick dive. After that, the thought of her potentially catching me again kept me sprinting the last few miles to the finish.
I finished strong, which makes me think that I could have gone harder earlier on. Oh well, there’s lots I am learning about my racing style, and there’s lots I need to improve. Every race is a new learning experience. I just need to stop making the same mistakes over and over again... I’m looking forward to Weeping Willow on the 20th.”
Niiiiceee write up!
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