Snot, Beer, Jiffy John . . . Obviously a Must Read

I did the VT50 mtb race last weekend. I should have had a snot rocket going like some of our past teammates have done in photos.

Course was great, super dry. In fact, it was a little dusty. This was the fourth year in a row I have done this event. My wife and I make it a weekend away. I ride, she runs, but only the 50 k this year.

Dump the kids on my mother for the weekend before she heads to FLA. I had no expectations other than a long ride through the woods. I am good for 1.5 to 2 hours, but have no long rides in me and no road miles with extended hills that are critical to do well here. Upset stomach for the middle part of the ride slowed me a bit. A stop at a jiffy john took a few more minutes than i wanted to expend but it may have been better than a stop in the woods.

Only 1 beer during the ride. In the mid 30's you go up a set of swithbacks to a house. A friend of mine and I have grabbed a beer off them the last 3 years. This year they had a cooler out. I slammed down a Long Trail Ale and got out of there quick as i could see a conga line of riders coming up the switchbacks and didn't want to get stuck behind on the next downhill. Those 12 ounces sure helped out with my hydration and carbo loading. Under these conditions, I managed a 6:55:35. Good for 55th out of 88 in the lazy, fat slob, beer drinking, soccer coach with 3 kid category, aka Sport Master 45-55. This was a 10 minute PR and oh about 3.5 hours faster than last year in the mudfest.

Like I say every year, not sure I am going back next year. We will see on signup day next May when I am sitting in front of the computer at 7 pm waiting for registration to open. Time for a different fall event, like 12 hr of Bradury.

-Dan