Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Moose Brook Fatbike Run 2018

Temperatures forecast above freezing for a full 24 hours before the race.  What could possibly go wrong?
I have already decided to crash at the bottom of this hill.

I have seriously got to get more aggressive for the start of these.  I watched the starting video and I was 4th from last.  I was regretting that for the first walking parade on the singletrack.  When ONE person lost momentum and walked EVERYBODY had to stop and walk.  Even on sections that could be ridden it wasn't hard for somebody to plow off course and stop the flow. I'd say the course conditions were:
  • 30% Fantastic
  • 30% Decent
  • 30% Rideable
  • 10% Walking
Firm enough to ride..."That's what she said"

Slightly Squishy


I did manage one slow motion OTB crash and a bunch of mishaps.  My legs are banged and bruised from bashing them with the peddles in the running section.  The worst part was when you had to put your foot down and the snow to the side of the trail gave way allowing you to tip over.  Stand-over height on a bike don't mean nuthin' in 2' of snow.
That's me down on the left with my head in the snow.  I let all these guys by and had to pass them again.

I think my commuter skills really kicked in.  Since I prefer to take bike over a car whenever I can, I am use to riding in less-than-ideal conditions.  I managed to squeak out 19th place out of 58 which is an improvement over my usual middle of the pack.  Racers were out there from just over 1 hour for the fastest rider to over 3 hours for the less skilled, WOW!

This shows the "mashed potatoes" condition that a lot of the trails were in.

It looked kind of like this but with snow. Relive Moose Brook Fatbike Run

The breakfast, food and beer were wonderful as always.  This is a great race. Thanks to SonLight Photography for capturing it.  All photos in this post were taken by SonLight Photography and used with permission. Check out all the race day photos here:  Moose Brook Fatbike Photos 2018

I'm starting a petition to Mother Nature for 2' of snow, followed by a 2 day warm spell for packing, followed by 4" of snow for grooming 3 days before the race followed by a 28 degree and cloudy race day with no wind.

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