Conference noted::bicycle

    Glad to see some other DEC people made it to Killington.  It was
    a terrific two days of racing.  Sounds like you did pretty good
    for a old man.  I was amazed that the best time for the Vets on
    the time trail was an 8:37 (something like that).  There is some
    strong competition in your class.  
    
    I had two minor gripes.  Stage II was too flat.  Our CAT III pace
    stayed together for the whole race, so like you we finished in a
    massive pack sprint that was a bit dangerous since the road was
    not closed off.  I thought it was too bad that there was not a 4th
    and 5th stages.  Hopefully next year they'll expand it. 
    
    By the way do you train during lunch.  I'm located at LTN1.  If
    your interested in riding either after work or during lunch let
    me know.
    
                          ped-dler
    
    

    So, it was you guys. A friend of mine and I did a bicycle tour from
    Vermont's Canadian border to Bratteboro on Saturday and Sunday this
    past weekend (200 miles). I was a bit embarrased walking my bike
    up Terrible Mountain as hoards or racers came down the mountain
    at what I would guess were 50MPH or better speeds. Did you have
    to climb the 2 mile 9% upgrade befor getting the nice downhill
    ride? I wasn't sure if the race started at the top or not. Hope
    I have the right race.

    There is a citizen race this year at the Killington
    Stage Race.
    
    The race is on Friday Sept 1, 1989, starts at 8am.
    Registration (same day reg is ok) is at 7am.
    Cost $10.
    Distance: 18mi (Cit B) and 36 mi(Cit A).
    
    The race is over the "Northeast Passage RR" route.
    
    For more info call: (617) 244-1577.
    
    Question: Does anyone know what the "Northeast Passage"
              route is like? Hilly?
    
    Mark

< Note 459.3 by USMRM5::MREID >
                         -<  1989 - one citizen race >-

>    There is a citizen race this year at the Killington

I did this last year.  It was a lot of fun, tho the packs were very large.
    
>    Distance: 18mi (Cit B) and 36 mi(Cit A).

Cit B is 1 lap, Cit A is 2.
    
>    Question: Does anyone know what the "Northeast Passage"
>              route is like? Hilly?
    
Hilly?  Somewhat.  There's a long climb about halfway thru the loop.  Not real 
steep, but it will slow you down.  Its followed by a screamer descent over 
somewhat rough pavement (who knows what its like this year) with a fairly 
sharp right hand turn at the bottom (hit 52mph on this last year!).  Rolling 
terrain from here to the finish, which is a long flat straight following a 
downhill, so the finish sprint is FAST!  It wasn't hilly enough to split up 
our pack much which must have been 30 or so in the A (36m) race.

'Bout all I remember.

Kevin

>    Question: Does anyone know what the "Northeast Passage"
>              route is like? Hilly?
    
Not hilly, starts out with a long descent with a sharp right hand turn over a 
bridge onto a narrow road. Its best to get to the front before you get to the 
bride. The there's a long gradual climb that you can do on the big ring.
This is followed by a screamer descent over somewhat rough pavement. It is so 
fast you can smell brake blocks burning cause right at the bottom there is a 
sharp turn then a stop sign where you make another sharp right. Rolling 
terrain from here to the finish. The finish is a long flat straight following a 
downhill, so the finish sprint is FAST VERY FAST. Coming off the downhill we 
were holding 45mph (the wind was on our backs) and were radar timed at 54mph at
the finish line. Was one of the few times I was REALLY scared sprinting in a
pack because of the speed. I was spun out in a 53-12. Put your biggest gear on
and good luck.





    

    	Is anybody going this year to the 5 day stage race. I was 
    there Last year. I raced it and had a lot of fun doing it. I was
    a Cat IV then and didn't know how to ride that good. out of 144
    I came in 62. This year I am better then ever. I am a Cat III. I
    am looking to win this race. I was wondering if any other Digital
    people were going.
    	This year they add one more day. So we won't have to race two
    races in one day. I hope the weather is better then last year. It
    was rainy and cold.
    
    Love My Trek
    Mike

    
       I'm going up.  I'll be in the cat III race with you.  My Training
    has'nt been real consistant lately but I think I can still be
    competitive.  Maybe I'll See you there.
    
                  JOhn C.
    

	I would like to know how the other digital people did at this
    race. as Cat III riders. going into the last stage I was in 61 place
    	Stage 1 time trail. It was a good day had a good tail wind. I
    did the 2.8 mile course in 9:03 put me 67 sec out. They had my time
    30 seconds off but they wouldn't change it. so I went to the next
    day. instead of being out 37 sec I was out 67 seconds.
    	Stage II slight rain but it stop before our race. there were
    two hot spot at the start finish line and three king of the Mt.
    At the highest part of the race. the hot spot took time off your
    total time. 1 st took 15 sec. off. 2nd took 10 sec off. 3rd took
    5 sec off. the course was a 18 mile loop. the Cat III had to do
    three loop. I need to make up time so i went for the hot spots the
    first time around i was about 1 km out I made a break I held it
    all the way to the last 10 feet were three people pasted me up I
    held a speed of 47 m/hr but was not good enough. so the second time
    I held in there till the end when I got a nice lead out but was
    to late I got 4th i was spinning to fast. we were doing 52 m/hr
    across the finish line. At this point by missing out on the 2 hot
    spots I was getting ready to go for the stage win. This time about
    a mile out half the pack went arcoss the yellow line. none of these
    people were DQ. So we had about 50 people going about 50 m/hr pushing
    each other. I thought this was to crazy. I sat up and finish in
    the pak.
    	stage III. The long brandon Gap race this year they change the
    finish line. they put it up on top of Bear Mt. I thought it was
    enough to just make it to bear Mt. access road. But it didn't it
    was a 2 mile up hill finish. I made it over brandon grap just after
    the pak. We had a good chase group to reel the pak in quick. we
    caught the pak right after the hot spot. I stay with the pak all
    the way to bear Mt. were they drop me 1 1/2 mile before the finish
    line. Ilost in that mile and half 4 mins. So I went to the next
    stage 5 mins out.
    stage IV The crit. .8 mile loop this crit had 6 corners it was a
    very fast race it had a 50 ft climb in it. right for the word go
    the riders were strong out. I stay in the top 15 all the way to
    the last lap. I move up to the top 8 to go for the win. Going into
    the z turns the person in front of me rode his tire. I went to
    ride around him. while doing this someone jump over the man that
    was down and slammed me into a spiked fence. I came very close of
    getting a spike though my neck. I turn my head just in time. I caught
    the flat part of the spike on my jaw. the only thing I did to my
    bike was I rip a new cotton tire and dented my front rim. They gave
    me pak time because of this.I pick up a lot of places. A lot of
    people were drop in this race
    stage V the last day of racing nice day. there was a 8 mile climb
    at the end of this race I lost the pak on the last climb I lost
    2 min. so over all I was down about 7 mins.
    after all this. this was the best race I did all year.
    
    Love my Trek
    Mike Norton

    I did the citizen race at Killington this year; 2 times around
    the 18 mile loop. Citizens aren't allowed to do the whole stage
    race - only the one day "Northeast Passage" road race on Stage II.
    
    I have to warn the readers ... my account of the race is going to
    be pretty boring compared to Mike "Love my Trek"'s account ...
    no fence spikes in the neck ... no massive climbs up bear mountain ...
                    
    I couldn't believe how flat the course was, considering there were
    mountains all around the area. The race started with perhaps 75
    riders, and the first half of the course was downhill & flat. The
    pack stayed together; I stayed near the front to avoid the inevitable
    stupid citizen crashes. Halfway thru the first loop there's a gradual
    climb for about 3 miles - so gradual that I rode it in my 53 x 17-19.
    We pushed the pace for most of the 'climb' and some riders slipped
    off the back, but the pack mostly stayed together. At the top of
    the climb there's a scorching downhill (50+ mph coasting) then a
    90 degree righthand turn. Fun stuff! It was a good test to see if
    those tubulars were glued on properly! After some more flats the
    pack regrouped (it stretched out a little on the descent), then
    we started the final few miles, mostly downhill to complete the
    1st of 2 loops. As we were zipping along about 45mph some guy crashed 
    (who knows why?!) and luckily skidded (for a long way) off the street 
    onto the shoulder. A bunch of us just missed him (I was preparing for
    a really high JUMP when he slid off onto the shoulder & out of my
    way) but the pack became nervous. Someone dropped a waterbottle
    ... panic ... people swerved and screamed like it was a hand grenade!
    We finished the first loop, and Pssssssttttt - a flat. I was done.
    Half of me thought "Good - glad to be out of that squirrely pack"
    - and the other half thought ... "Oh no, this was a race I might
    have placed in." I used to ride 150g Panaracer Ultimas in races, but I
    had decided to go with something HEAVY for this race ... a 190g Avocet 
    Fastgrip tubular. That'll teach me. Flat after 18 miles due to a rock 
    sidewall cut. At least I flatted right at the start/finish line, so I had
    to walk a mere 100ft to my car.
    
    See, I told you it would be boring compared to Mike's account!
    
    In the final lap my teammates again pushed the pace on the climb,
    but nobody was able to get away. It was an amazingly fast pack 
    sprint to the finish. It was so exciting to watch since we could
    see them coming down the straightaway for about a 1/2 mile.
    My teammate got 4th place. Good for him, Bummer for me - I usually
    beat him in a sprint ...
    
    Mark (who now uses 250g tubulars in RR's!)