Today I returned to mountain biking for the first time since last fall’s Vermont 50. I’ve been on a mountain bike a few times, but this was the first event or organized ride. Hmm, now that I think about it. I rode the same bike that I rode today at a cyclocross last fall called Secret Squirrel. It’s a gnarly course and was more suited for a mountain bike.
Less gnarly, but no less fun is the Fat Tire Class course at Winding Trails in Farmington, Connecticut. Winding Trails is my “home course” having raced there more than 80 times including 11 prior Fat Tire Classics. My first was in 2000. The other events were off-road triathlons, adventure races, and cyclocross races dating back to the mid 1990’s. You could say that I know the trails well.
That bike I mentioned is my Seven Sola SL singlespeed mountain bike. I ride it rigid and it is perfect of the “benign” trails at Winding Trails. There are still a lot of roots, but not that many rocks. The trails were built for XC skiing, so they are generally wide. There is some singletrack, but it isn’t that rough. ‘
After more than 12 years of riding exclusively on a singlespeed, in 2022 and 2023, I mixed it up a bit and have been using a geared bike with suspension. It’s easier on the body. However, yesterday, I went back to my tried and true titanium frame/carbon fork combo with a single gear. I don’t even know my gear ratio because I never change it. It is what it is. It’s a big gear, but I do my best to push it.
It was a small field of 10 riders who started in the last wave of the Cat 1 grouping. We were a mixed age and mixed gender bunch…but we only had 10 gears between us! Anthony Vecca shot off the start line and I drafted until the first steep hill, and then he was gone. Kurt D’Aniello got past me in the first wooded section and I never saw him again. Kelly Catale (resplendent in her stars and stripes jersey!) and I traded spots a few times before she gapped me. I ended up chasing Kurt and Kelly for the whole race, but never got close enough to see them again.
I knew that I was being chased by Myles White and Michael Parent, so I couldn’t let off the gas, even though I was hurting on the last lap. There were four sections of mud, so that meant we were going to have to wash our bikes. For the first few laps, I tried to stay clean, but eventually I gave in and went through the bogs at a quicker pace.
Art Roti was the other teammate in the Cat 1 field. He had gears and he had a good race. I thought I saw him through the trees on the last lap when the course doubled back on itself, but it may have been a mirage because I didn’t see him again until the finish.
Team HORST Sports and the CCAP Team HORST Junior Squad had a great kickoff to the year. We have new team tents, new kits, some new riders, and new energy. There is nothing better than seeing more kids on bikes. Debbie and our kids came to watch. Shepard and Dahlia had a couple of big track meets on Friday night and Saturday (all day) so they were in “recovery” mode hanging out and cheering on their Dad and others.
It was a blast to see everyone on Team HORST together again, and we also saw lots of friends from the other teams. It was nice to ride the Winding Trails loop. I’m thinking about doing some of the Summer Tri Series races. I only did one in 2023. A comeback may be in the cards.
Life Adventures 