Willowdale Race Report

The answer to my last post: There sure was. 400 mountain bike racers on a warm spring morning can't be all wrong.
By now, most everyone local in the MTB racing scene heard what a turnout there was, how the course was fast, narrow and traffic plentiful. The race was pretty much everything racers want, including generous schwag being raffled(you didn't even need to buy a raffle ticket, just enter the race and you got one) and weather everyone in the entire universe thinks is a perfect day.

Smackdown Section One: ... maybe I misunderstood.

EFTA races are put on by individual promoters with EFTA sanctioning them and providing a series framework. What happens is someone who races manages to cobble together a totally non-profit EFTA race, and then thousands of us enjoy it over a period of several years, producing $1K-$5K in charitable donations each year. It is all about racing and and benefiting others. Racing welcomes people with uber-fit shark-like racing minds, recreational tourists out for a ride, and the rest of us in between. Races are a good thing to be able to access, live, breath and remember, and promoters deserve great appreciation for getting it done. Putting them on is an imperfect science and one with glorious results.

Since you looked over here, here's the race report I set out to write: Sunny, hardtail, high rollers, low seventies, dry, crowded, strong effort, consistent throughout, busted a spoke, stopped to wrap it and ate up 30 seconds or so, got back on, pressed, missed the win by 34 seconds, found my rear v brake rubbed for the last lap. That's it in a nutshell. I was ready willing and able but relegated to 4th and a taste of what might have been. Next up is the Pinnacle, a race that puts the Mountain back into Mountain Bike Racing. It has a solid climb, albeit tamed from years past, some sweet pump and the famous DH singletrack that begs you to stay off the brakes if you dare.

Smackdown Section Two: Any Expert Master/Cat 50+ in the northeast who wants to race a killer Mountain bike course head to head, be there. Let's have our own NE championship. Was that direct enough?

Oh and I rode with the GSW out of Concord last Wednesday. Ouch. Patrick Roane and crew sure do put out the wattage. Yes, I got dropped - with 2 miles to go- but still felt like something was accomplished.