Hampshire 100 Pro UET
Well my introduction to marathon distance mountain bike racing was a little disappointing but at the same time, way more than what i was expecting all in one. It was disappointing in the fact that right before a decisive climb 25 miles in an old rusty rail road spike went through my side wall shredding it to the point that i could not finish the race... That was really the only disappointing part of the whole weekend...What you wishing for more drama? Your probably thinking that i should be more annoyed about not finishing, but the fact is, i was having the most fun racing my mountain bike in a really long time. Making it in the lead group after the first climb, hammering in a pace line on a fire road with Tinker Juarez and Manny Prado and feeling great was wonderful. Of course the spike went through my tire ending my high.
But as much as this race was not what i was hoping for, it was eye opening and enlightening at the same time. Having never started a Ultra endurance race before, it was hard to know what to expect. Was Tinker going to attack from the start? how hard are these guys going to go? Camel pack or bottles? But these were the eye opening and learning part's. These guys do go hard from the start, but not cross country hard, just hard... as for the attacking it was more like getting on the front and pushing the pace on climbs trying to pop the suckers. Here comes the enlightening part...i was good at these efforts. i made that group of 6 riders in the first 1/3 of the race. i was riding confident and starting to dream of battling with the endurance MTB stars Manny and Tinker for the win. But of course my dream was cut short by that little guy above in the picture. (at least i have a cool souvenir). The race has left me wanting to try another Ultra and finishing it!!! I don't know why i never looked into these as being a important part of my racing calender but for next year you can bet there will be more of these on my calender and maybe even a Leadville 100 start...WHHATTT!!!
Good job to a new friend Justin Spinelli for the win this weekend and every on to put a great event on.
-Seamus
But as much as this race was not what i was hoping for, it was eye opening and enlightening at the same time. Having never started a Ultra endurance race before, it was hard to know what to expect. Was Tinker going to attack from the start? how hard are these guys going to go? Camel pack or bottles? But these were the eye opening and learning part's. These guys do go hard from the start, but not cross country hard, just hard... as for the attacking it was more like getting on the front and pushing the pace on climbs trying to pop the suckers. Here comes the enlightening part...i was good at these efforts. i made that group of 6 riders in the first 1/3 of the race. i was riding confident and starting to dream of battling with the endurance MTB stars Manny and Tinker for the win. But of course my dream was cut short by that little guy above in the picture. (at least i have a cool souvenir). The race has left me wanting to try another Ultra and finishing it!!! I don't know why i never looked into these as being a important part of my racing calender but for next year you can bet there will be more of these on my calender and maybe even a Leadville 100 start...WHHATTT!!!
Good job to a new friend Justin Spinelli for the win this weekend and every on to put a great event on.
-Seamus
posted by Giant Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Team at
8:35 AM
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