Pat's Peak - Henniker, NH

Up in Henniker, NH on Sunday, June 10th, we were brought face to face with a mountain of a challenge, literally.  Pat’s Peak Mountain Bike Festival had it all.  The ski-resort was full of fun; there was a down hill event, a 24-hour event with 12-hour and 6-hour options, and on Sunday, there was a classic cross-country race which was also part of the Root 66 Race Series.  

Liz A and Tracy with some of our friends from the Providence team...

A mere 5.62 miles in distance, the race course itself boasted of 873 of vertical climb per lap, and this was the same course used for all of the cross-country events as well as the endurance events.  According to the Pat’s Peak website, “the course is a technical mix of single track, dirt, logging roads, switchbacks and downhill.”  They weren’t kidding.  The words “technical” and “switchbacks” are probably what might stand out most in the minds of the racers who gave it their all out on that course.  Leaving you little (if any) time to rest, the course demanded focus for technical lines, endurance for the long grinding climbs, and confidence for the long challenging downhill which was complete with some steep rollers and very challenging lines.  Many racers were comparing this course to Mt. Snow, a venue that had hosted national events in the past.  Some racers hated it, others loved it, but nobody can deny that it was a truly challenging course.  It was so challenging that the lap requirements for each category were brought down in number.  Cat 2 went from 3 laps to 2, Cat 1 went from 4 laps to 3, the Pro women went from 5 laps to 3, and the Pro men from 5 to 4.  

Many of the team-members arrived early in the weekend to cheer on participants of the longer endurance races.  Ray Insalaco was in for the 12 hour race coming in 4th with 8 laps, and Liz B’s husband, Dan had signed up for the 6-hour event and completed 6 laps.  For the two-person 12 hour category, DAS shop mechanic, Chris Ames and his sister (freshly graduated from high school and quickly thrown onto a bicycle without much time to prepare) took up the challenge of the mountain coming in 3rd with 8 laps.  

Sunday was the biggest turnout for DAS racers.  Racing Cat 2 at 11:30 was Liz B who took the top of the podium in 1st place.  In Cat 1 at 1:30 were Dan Biscup, who finished 6th, and Tracy who took the podium in 3rd, and Liz A lined up with the Pro/Open finishing in 2nd. 

Dan Biscup:

“Race, good.  Wrong turn, bad.  6th place.”  

Tracy:

“This was a challenging, but fun course. I felt pretty good out there but, have much work to do. I have to work on nutrition prior to the race as well as getting more comfortable with descents and my overall technical skills. I am starting to feel better with the longer races but, still haven’t quite got it all down. Overall I had an awesome weekend with great friends.”

Liz B:

“After pre-riding the course on Saturday I seriously doubted registering for Sunday's race. It was a very technical course with a good deal of new single track that I couldn't ride. I was also doubting whether or not I should race anymore at all. My problem is how anxious I get before and during a race. So after talking with friends and teammates I decided to register, but to go in relaxed and be happy to finish regardless of place. My goal was to take it easy enough that I could smile throughout the course. (I didn't want to see any more of those ugly pictures of me gritting my teeth!) To be honest, I really didn't think I could do it. 

The course rode much better on Sunday thanks to drier conditions and the very well defined lines created by Saturday's endurance racers. I was in 4th position off the start and comfortably staying with the three women ahead of me. This gave me the opportunity to see that they were all walking the technical stuff. The four of us stayed bunched up for the first mile or so. Gradually, I passed each of the women as we were on the wider trails and fire roads. I kept telling myself 'relax, don't push, keep smiling'. I finished the first lap feeling great and in first position of all the women. Kelly, from the younger age group passed me shortly into the 2nd lap. I didn't see any other women after that point, so I continued with my game plan of taking it easy and not taking any chances. It worked! I had more fun than I've ever had in a race because I wasn't anxious. I didn't crash once and the photos show that I was smiling! I was very happy to finally get to the top of the podium for a Root 66 race.”

Liz A:

“I went into this race thinking that I wasn’t ready for all of this climbing, and it’d be good training for the world cup race at the end of the month.  I didn’t realize that the course would be so technical; it used to have a lot more fire roads and a lot less fun stuff.  I revel in stuff like that.  I’m pretty sure that I was grinning from ear to ear on that crazy downhill with all of its steep rollers and tricky lines.  

So, I started off conservatively, but I could see towards the top of the mountain when I got to the singletrack that I had a lot more speed in my legs than I thought I would.  I had rode most of the way up with Jena, who ended up dropping out with brake issues, and as soon as I realized that my legs wanted to go, I took the pass and went with it.  There was no catching up to the leaders, or as it turned out, leader, but as I came through to start the last lap, I was told that Mo wasn’t that far ahead of me.  In the end, I found out that she was 8 minutes ahead of me, but I’ll take it.  Second place felt good.  I must be learning to do something right because I felt tolerable during the race, managed to push to limit many times out there, and still felt good enough after the 3 hour drive home to wash my bike and do my laundry.”


Did we say challenging?  In case we didn't, it was challenging.