I knew I was in for it this race, being my first race of the year and not quite yet having race legs yet. As expected the leaders shot out and I was LAST into the woods after a long stretch of dirt road. I thought to myself that I DO NOT want to be DFL at the finish so quickly picked up the pace.
Lap 1 and 2 were very dusty with so many people off the front. A friend of mine, Matt Myette, took a digger and was walking his bike back off the course. His face was coated in dirt, a telltale sign of a hard fall. In his words, he ended up with “Pretty good trail rash, some stitches and lots of bruising to my left leg from the knee down but it could be a lot worse..”
It forced me to back off a little since falling was a real possibility with the fast conditions and the washed out corners, not to mention the baby heads around blind corners and encroaching saplings on the singletrack seeming reaching out to grab your handlebars. Regardless, I ended up taking two good falls this race, luckily without injury.
My carbon hardtail SS w/suspension fork ran great without any issues although this course is better suited to a full suspension in my opinion due to the rocks and roots. Going into lap 3 I was starting to feel a bit fatigued but fortunately the trail was opening up and I was able to get into a flow- keeping momentum through the corners and climbing all but one hill. I was running 37/21 or a 1.8 gear ratio and felt a bit under-geared. There were some flat stretches where I was spinning out and very little elevation gain to justify a low gear..
I ran out of water at the end of lap 3 and came across my friend Rob Paton taking some photos of the riders. I asked him if he would fill up my bottle for me and like a good friend, he took off and sure enough met me 15 minutes later with a full cold bottle of water. The conditions were HOT and I cramped up a bit and definitely could have taken in more electrolytes pre-race and during.
This is a well run race w/a clearly marked course, easy parking, and stream to cool and wash off afterwards. The volunteers from Bike Alley, Worcester do a great job of running the registration, awards, and there were burgers and drinks available for purchase post-race.
My friends all did well: John Modig get a 2nd place medal in Cat 1 12-18 in a blistering 2:03:35 just 2min51sec off the lead; John Beaupre was awarded the Mass state championship prize placing 4th in Cat 1 SS in ~ 2:10, but the fastest Massachusetts resident in his class; Rob Paton placed 14th in Cat 2 40-49; Steve Segenchuk put the power down placing 6th in a very competitive field of Cat 1 40-49 in 2:01:56, right behind fellow bikeman.com racer Steve Witkus who placed 5th in the same category in 2:00:38! I finished 7th out of 12 in Cat 1 SS, in 2hr 15min with two racers in my class not finishing. See all the race results here Hodges race-results
John and Beckie Beaupre were gracious enough to invite us over post-race to their beautiful home in Sutton for beverages, swimming, and BBQ. Everything including the lobsters, clams, and sushi were delicious. The monsoon rains made the festivities interesting and we fortunately found safety in the boat house (luckily w/a stocked fridge) and avoided being struck by lightning.
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