West Hill Grinder, Putney, Vermont

Another great weekend in Vermont, and another great gravel ride, this one put on by the legendary West Hill Shop in Putney, Vermont.

The course was great and the weather was amazing. I had originally signed up for the 4-Gap  loop, for 40 miles and about 4800ft of climbing, but with my leg still recovering, I opted for the 2-Gap, for 34 miles and about 3800ft. It was super fun, and I've love to do the 4-Gap next time around.

Jean, Liz and Dan rode too, and had a blast on the West-West loop.

2018 Carrabassett Backcountry Cycle Challenge [CBCC] 100K Race Report

Not much to say about this event, aside from the fact it absolutely rocked, was the ‘A race’ for my 2018 season, and exceeded expectations on all counts.

All roads led to the Carrabassett Valley this past July - starting last November ‘17 on the rollers, on the freezing porch, racing a bunch of other online hammerhead nerds in Zwift. The solid base built up through the winter with a mix of climbing, endurance, and 1-3 all out short race efforts (35-75 minutes) morphed into pretty good outdoor on-bike fitness, but it took some weeks to re-acclimate to the mountainbike. Late spring and early summer saw good gains and an increased ability to go harder longer out on the trails. This was key to doing well at the CBCC as it’d be a minimum of a 6 hour effort required (based on optimistic projections and a bit of good luck) to finish in decent shape.