Hodges Dam - Hot Damn

August 5th's race in Oxford, MA brought drier weather than last year's monsoon and flooded trails, but this time, it was the heat that was brutal.  The temps were in the 90s and humid.

John Y ditching the camelbak for a bottle

This race had a great showing of DAS racers; Dan, Liz A, John H, and John Y all raced.  Liz's daughter, Skyler came out to race the first timer's race, and Liz B (and boys) and Tracy were there to cheer everyone on.  The race course was only about 30 minutes or so from DAS headquarters in Danielson, CT.

Skyler raced at 9:30 and it was a long challenging course for her at 6 miles.  She was still on the course when the Cat 1 / Pro racers started to come through.  She pulled off to the side and cheered people on, including her Mom and buddy Dan.  Luckily, she had a very patient helper along with her the entire way around.  She managed to finish after a long time out there, and hasn't completely sworn off riding her bike.

Dan and Liz went off at 11:30, and the heat was Sauna worthy - even with the wind gusts that were fortunate enough to blast through the area.  Dan finished in 6th and Liz in 3rd, and both did 4 laps on the 6 mile course.

John and John set out at 2pm for their 3 laps.  John H finished in 5th for Cat 2 19-29 and John Y in 12th for 30-39.  In the final lap of their race, a thunder storm moved in.  This made the course more of a challenge, but it sure felt good after the heat all day.

The next race in the series is at Millstone Quarry (the very same venue of Dan's 12 hour race).  With it being a 4+ hour drive, there probably won't be many DAS racers in attendance.  However, the NH 100 is also coming up, and Dan and Liz A will be representing in the 100 mile category.  Meanwhile, Matt will be racing solo singlespeed next weekend at 24 Hours of Great Glenn...  if you happen to be there, cheer that guy on!!