Farmington, the start of it all

This is the race that started it all for me, Farmington was my first bike race 5 years ago, On a 30 something pound K2 Lithium, not the bike for the job, but hell you have to start somewhere! Last year it was my first race in the Pro/Cat1/Open class; Winding trails isn’t a race I have ever had the best of luck at, but still plenty of sentimental value, and always a good time.
This year we were faced with perfect weather, mid 50’s for the day, blue skies, and tons of riders. Because of my stellar performance the previous weekend (and being a tad late to showing up to the line) I didn’t get the front row starting slot I was hoping for. The second row would have to do for today. Farmington is one of the faster races in the area, and I was ready to give put in my best effort to stick with the front runners from last week.
The whistle blew, and I felt like I got a very good start I narrowly missed a crash in the sand and entered the singletrack after the quarter mile of sandy slog to wide open double track inside the top ten and was moving comfortably. Once I got settled in the pack and started to get into a rhythm and get a feel for the pace my eyes started drying out and before I knew it my left contact lens had dried up and fallen out. (The same thing happened 3 years ago here, when am I going to start racing in sunglasses?) This setback was not something I really wanted to deal with, and even though it made the cornering pretty difficult, and I had the finesse of a bull after being surprised with a branding iron, I soldiered on.
I rode the majority of the race with Cary Fridrich, who was also sporting his swanky Darkside prototype. We stuck together for 3 laps, and had an awesome ride. The course was blazingly fast as expected and bone dry save for one totally unnecessary mud bog, seriously it was awful. But after racing Cross all fall I got the running down and was able to keep my bike which was perfectly suited for the course riding perfectly all day.
My buddy Jeff Lukach (Hit him up if you need a photographer, his pictures come out awesome, and he’s just out of college, take pity) took a couple great pictures of me running through ankle deep slop, awesome.



Despite the minor setbacks today I feel like I’m right on track for an awesome season on the bike, The darkside was the best tool for the job today, light 26er hardtails with semi slick tires can race with the fastest riders out there, even if I’m not quite there.
-Matt

Early season bike races

Part 1:
After an unusually tame New-England winter cross country racing started off with a bang in Middlebury Ct at Hop Brook Dam. I have been doing this race for years, and it is one that I always look forward to; like all early season race it shows off who has been working hard over the winter, who has been slacking off, and gives everybody to catch up after the winter months. Fortunately I had a fairly full winter, playing off mother nature’s kindness in giving me enough days above freezing to get out on the bike; that along with some awesome days of downhill skiing had me ready to ride my super sick Darkside at shit break speed for 2 hours….AWESOME!

I got to the venue early Saturday morning with a car full of bicycles (Darkside, Skeletor, Dirt Crab, and Supertouch) got registered, schmoozed in the parking lot (as important if not more important than actual bike racing), and got warmed up. After warming up on the road bike I got to the line and was enjoying the great view of the water from the front row, I’ve never gotten a front row starting spot in one of the Pro/Cat 1/Open Root 66 races, and damn it I was determined to make good use of it!
The whistle blew and I was off like a rocket, got the hole shot, and motored on down the first straight off the front with about half the field in tow (I guess riding street paid off, sprinting around for hours with Mickey built some leg speed, HELL YEAH!) Unfortunately my time on the front didn’t last very long as I led about 8 other racers off course because of all the excitement, honestly it was too good to be true, and I didn’t really want to ride that fast. By the time I got back onto the course I lost about ten places. The first lap was over before I knew it, the course at hop brook is like your typical Connecticut race course, rocky, some mud holes, and plenty of climbing. I was able to hold a pretty smooth pace for the 4 lap race, felt pretty strong, and had a great time finishing just in the top ten. Not too bad for an early season race if you ask me!
After the race I got in a good cool down, got a fair bit of shit for running a good portion of the field of the course, and packed the car and made way to New Haven along with Chris and Mike from UVM for the Collegiate road races hosted by Yale (They had raced a time trial in the morning, the Mountain bike race in the afternoon, and were going to be lining up for the road race in two hours, DAMN!) We made it to New Haven in time for them to race on the road, and while they were racing I got to do some more parking lot and sideline schmoozing!
When the racing was over for the day I went to meet up with the Bowdoin College race team to pick up a jersey for tomorrow’s criterium, to check out their hotel room, to go get some AWESOME pizza, and went out for a night on the town with J.B. New Haven is awesome, Yale has a really awesome campus, and awesome people call the castle home for 10 months of the year. After a really long day, and night it was time to make the floor as comfortable as possible, I slept like a rock.
The following day I got to do my second road race ever, and naturally I was terrified, after seeing crashes at 20+ MPH all morning I was getting plenty spooked, and was playing with the idea of sidelining my the awesome Edge 68’s hanging from my Skeletor. I elected to keep the wheels on my bike, and suited up in Bowdoin kit and lined up. When we started off I got settled into the middle of the pack, and was riding comfortably, and felt safe. Just as I was getting the feel for the group somebody got a little loose after taking the inside line on the 4th corner of the 5 corner course. I got wrapped up with the 5 people that went down, and because I am an ignorant mountain biker I had no idea I could take what I hear is called a “free lap” and jump right back into the pack.
I spent the entire race working my ass off trying to get back the 40 seconds I lost in the crash. I got about 34 of the 40 seconds back (This made me really appreciate the blazingly fast Edge wheels) before I was pulled. 12 solo laps, that hurt like hell, and I’m hooked!

(Photo courtesy of Chatura Atapattu, I don’t think I know you, but you took some sweet ass pictures!)

All and all it was a great weekend of racing to kick off the race season, lessons were learned, the bikes rode better than I could Imagine, and bike racing in New England is alive and well! Oh did I mention that all 4 bikes I lugged around for the weekend are the best bikes I’ve ridden? Yeah they are, and these rest days are killing me!