Horror at Harding Hill - NECS #5 - Sunapee, NH - Keith Reynolds 7-10-07
The course—Last Sunday we went to the Horror at Harding Hill race which is a challenging ~5 mile loop with a few stepped climbs that burn your legs, a fair amount of roots, some mossy rocks and this year only one mud pit. Last year the race was held in September and had plenty of mud and some standing water. This time the base was dry and hard packed with only a few soft sections holding water from the rain the day before. Our bikes may have had just as much mud as the year prior but the trails were noticeably faster.
To ease things on the event staff there was a mass start by category spaced 10 minutes apart just as last year. That meant men, women and juniors in the same class all go off together- causing a little confusion and adding to the excitement. To give you an idea of the start this was 30-40 riders wide, two deep in a grassy field headed into a 90 degree left hand turn that narrowed into double track (4 wide); all no more than 200 feet away. Reminiscent of movies like Braveheart I guess. The double track lasted about a mile and had some hills to allow things to settle down. Here you want the hole shot to get out of the field as fast as possible.
Portions of the course had tall grass or a soft section just before a technical area- giving your wheel a little slippage. This included the turn into the final stretch of single track. The final 50 feet of single track has a nice uphill step-up onto a rock where you could hear a lot of cheering as you approached as this led to the finish line only a hundred meters away.
Considering 200+ riders were on the course at the same time there were times where you had plenty of room and other times you were blocked in the single track. The great thing is that there has been many positive comments from racers on how courteous everyone has been, years ago I remember this wasnât the case.
Next race is 3 weeks away; see http://www.efta.com
Team results—Fillipe Silva – DNF Novice Sr 1
Fillipeâs first race concluded with a tumble in a technical section shortly after the multi-stepped climb that robbed you of oxygen. Luckily he and his head are fine thanks to riding with a helmet (required in all races).
Jeff Palter – 5th Novice Vet
We all saw non-life threatening âFirst Bloodâ on Jeff, heâll be hooked soon. In some confusion on the course he took a wrong turn but still corrected and came back with a great first time finish.
Keith Reynolds – 1st Sport Sr 2
On lap 3 I caught one of the chase groups. There were a few riders responding back and forth which was great! Finally I shook a MTB Mind guy by riding the mud pit and then suffered on one of the final stepped climbs to reel in a Noreast rider. There were two Littleton riders in different age groups that had the lead the entire race and kept the overall by 4 minutes.
Norm Collard – 3rd Sport Vet2
Norm was in between packs for a while; he put in the mental effort and chased down his lead group battling a few guys in the bumpy, rooted single track and had a great finish.
Andy Tucker – 6th Sport Vet
We found out Andyâs returning to racing and had considered BRC but felt NEBC was more of a fit. Heâs doing well with these technical courses and enjoys the challenges. Weâre all looking forward to riding more with Andy.
Anthony Laskaris – 8th Expert Vet2
Still using the 29er to his advantage! Anthony was said to look great out there, continuing to better himself each race. Considering 4 of the guys in this same age category are considered semi-pro our balanced triplet of Michael, Kurt & Anthony are doing very well!
Michael Good – 10th Expert Vet2
Michaelâs first Expert race! Everyone cheered him in; including all the MTB Mind guys heâs been battling against in Sport. Following a hard week of riding he did very well even with an extra lap.
Kurt Johnson – 11th Expert Vet2
Kurt rolled his tubeless tire off his rim but a minute later he was back on and riding.
Recap—The team numbers are obviously growing and weâre gaining ground on the competition. Weâve got a presence setting up camp around the Cycle Loft trucks. Michael Del Rossi & his finance Melissa were there along with Kurtâs son Matthew to cheer for us all during the race.
A warm welcome goes out to Jeff Palter, the Cycle Loft owner, as this was his first MTB race!
Congrats to Michael Good on his promotion to Expert after his multiple podium performances- Moody Park was enough to bump him. With good humor he kept his low number from the sights of the MTB Mind guys who have been his competition over the past few years. I was there when they all breathed a sigh of relief knowing they didnât have to contend with Michael in the Sport class.