Where was everyone today?
I'm not sure why the turn-out for Cycling Concept's Dirty Dozen Hill ride was south of 30 riders this year. I'm sure that having the word "hill" in the title scared some off. And in looking at the course profile, you'll see that moniker aptly describes reality.
I could think of a few more possible reasons for the low turn-out. While there didn't seem to be any conflicting races in the area yesterday, I know of quite a few riders who've been racing Cross for weeks on end. Perhaps this weekend was a long over-due Honey-do catch-up weekend to accumulate a few brownie points to escape for more racing next weekend?
At the other end of the pendulum, there are many racers now deep into the off-season. After racing for six or seven months, some folks might then need a nice long stretch of low intensity to recover. With two or three months without any focused training, it might be hard for some to go from 0 to 60 and face the challenge of 13 of the toughest hills Glastonbury and Portland CT have to offer.
It might even be the case that Cycling Concepts wanted to keep things hush-hush. Given that it was an "unofficial" race, open to anyone (even unlicensed riders), perhaps it is in their best interest to keep the event on the smallish side. CC seems to have decent advertising for their bigger events up on their website, but after wasting a bit of my lunchtime earlier this week poking around and finding nothing on their webpage, I came to the conclusion that the omission might have been deliberate. Lots of riders clogging up the road waiting at the top of each hill, especially if some of those riders aren't long on racing experience, might be a liability they don't want to worry about.
Sign me up for next year!
I doubt the hearty souls who did show up really gave much thought to the question of the low numbers once we got rolling shortly after 9:40 in the AM. They were all having too much sadistic fun to think of anything else! "How the heck can hitting hill after hill be fun" you might ask? Well...let me count the ways.
First off, the format for the race is nothing like any other that I've done to date. Here's how it works (as copied from their flier): "Riders will follow a pace car to each climb at a leisurely pace. At the base of each hill an official will signal the beginning of the sprint with a blow of a whistle. Another official will be waiting at the top of the hill to record the top 5 places."
This means that the whole crew will stay together for the entire event. No need to worry about chasing down break-aways. Plenty of recovery time between sprints. Best of all, people who normally don't race together get to mix it up and socialize on the same course at the same time. There field ranged from a few local top racers (maybe 3 or 4 cat 1s or 2s) to Cat 4s like myself, to non-licensed cyclists just looking to get a little taste of competition. A true road race would instantly string out such a varied field with the guys in the back never seeing the guys in the front after the gun goes off. But on yesterday's jaunt through the hills, no more than a minute gap temporarily opened up on each hill sprint (as no hill took more than about 2 or 2 and 1/2 minutes to ascend), and it quickly closed afterward as we all congregated, recovered, and socialized at the top.
Another reason why I'm mentally already signed up to return to do the Dirty Dozen again next year has to do with the course. With the start and finish located just over 4 miles from home, I could ditch my car for the day as I'd never be more than ten or so miles from home all day. The course travels over many of the same hills that I've used countless times during the season to get into race shape, perhaps giving me a slight insider's advantage when it came to pacing up the hills. On more than one occasion guys blasted off the front like rabbits charging up the hill, only to be passed by me, the slow and steady turtle who knew the true distance to ascend.
While I enjoyed the course due to the insider's advantage I tapped, perhaps the course was exploited even more by those who were entirely unfamiliar with the roads. The tops of a few of the local hills afford some truly scenic local vistas that were enhanced by yesterday's ideal late fall weather. Unfortunately we're now a week or two past the peak foliage color, yet even the now much browner landscape was still good enough to get some of the racers to ignore the lactic acid coursing through their arteries at the top of the hill and to focus on the beauty around them. I don't take for granted the grand views I have on the local roads I use for training, but I got a slightly greater appreciation for them yesterday when I overheard some of the comments made by those taking it all in for the first time.
Yet another reason to savor yesterday's "unofficial" race was that it broke up my long gap between official races. The last time I signed a race waiver was back in mid-August, and I won't pin a number to my back again until early March, so yesterday's ride served as a thirst quenching oasis in the desert of my offseason. In fact, it almost felt as though I notched 13 different races on my belt. With but one exception, I think I finished in the top 6 for each climb (mostly placing either 4th, 5th, or 6th, with one or maybe two 3rd place finishes), so for me that was 13 better finishes than I had in all of my 2010 official races combined!
Want one more reason to sign-up for next year's ride? The Dirty Dozen Hill Race (13 hill sprints + 43 miles of riding (add on another 9 miles for me riding to/from home)) = lots of calories burned. Octoberfest Pizza = Lots of Calories. So, using the transitive property, combined with the generosity of the Cycling Concept's staff, the Dirty Dozen = some very delicious post-ride pizza!
Mmmmm.....looking forward to doing this ride again next year!
