Pat’s Peak

Henniker, NH
Saturday July 10, 2010
by: David Alden-St.Pierre

24hrs of Pat’s Peak

Yeah, I *raced* on a 5-person Co-Ed team at this year’s 24hrs of Pat’s Peak—held, ironically enough, on Pat’s Peak (a real ski mountain), in Henniker, NH. I use the word “raced” with some reluctance as we found out at registration that we were the only 5-person team. So, simply by showing up, we won.

I could have left that little detail out. I could have just said that we won. I could have done that, but then I’d be inundated with sponsorship proposals for 2011, team offers, and all that fame. I just can’t handle that.

Seriously though, with the competitive edge removed, the event became a weekend camping and mountain biking with friends, and ain’t nothing wrong with that!

The course was fairly short—just about 5 miles per lap, and it had a fair amount of climbing—about 800ft per lap. I had actually ridden the course a few weeks before the race and HATED it. I can’t explain why, but on race day, I had a blast. On my pre-ride, I had been using my fully rigid SS, and the downhill sections were a bit rough. A squishy fork on race-day did, I think, make all the difference (as a minimalist, I will state that that fork is now leaning against the wall in my workshop, and the rigid fork is back in action).

Anyway, more details, more photos, and more of the drama can be found here—>http://x-blog-x-team-x.blogspot.com/2010/07/pats-peak.html

So check it out.

Now, I’m planning on the Wildcat Epic 100 (http://beardedbiker.blogspot.com/2010/07/epic-ride-for-wild-cat-epic.html), the VT30, and CYCLOCROSS SEASON!!!!!

Oh, and by the way, a word about the photo. I didn’t get any good pics in my new METAL kit, so I found the most metal photo I could—a shot of my dearly departed grandmother throwing a “slayer” to salute my Iron Maiden CD (photo taken sometime in 1999). Hell yeah, rock on Nana.