17 May 2010 - 20:18Flower Power Weekend

The Flower Power bike race was held on Saturday at Catamount in Williston. This is the second year we have sponsored the race. We arrived with time to set up the tent and get a practice lap in. I managed to not bring any tools with me, but that didn’t stop Joe from fixing a few people’s bikes with a set of allen wrenches. Joe is good like that.

The weather was a little iffy, it was cold and raw, and very unmotivational. I did my practice lap with every piece of clothing I brought. Thankfully, it didn’t rain, and once we all got moving at race time I was at a good temperature.

The singlespeed race (VSSSC) was three laps, and we left with the other 3 Lappers. The course was very up. It started out on the grassy field side, and climbed to the top meadow. The grass was freshly mown, and it was a lot like riding on broom bristles. A very odd feeling indeed. Then we traversed to the lower meadow before going into the woods where the singletrack was very tight, up and punchy. It was really hard to ride fast, as some of the turns were quite sharp. It was then a relentless up to the back of the upper meadow again, with some very evil features that are hard to clean when your heart is pounding in your ears from all the climbing.

After that though, it was practically all downhill. With one small low angle muddy momentum robbing climb in between some really challenging singletrack, it was all about lighting up the afterburners and getting to the next lap.

We were definitely a little less prepared this year, but we all looked good wearing our new kits. It was also great to see some folks wearing the old jersey too. Bike 29 was well represented.

There were only 16 singlespeeders duking it out for the title. Mandy of course won the women’s title, but this is by default. She was the only woman on a singlespeed, out of three ladies that raced the 3 lap. A pretty bad showing for the girls! I was 14th, which I was a little bummed about, because I thought I was riding well, but I did pass a lot of people on gears. My time would have placed me 7th with the rest of the starting group.

We did well as a team though, T-Vo was 2nd, Maggs was 6th, and Jay Pro 8th.