Monday, August 11, 2008

Mt Agementicus



Always wanted to try a time trial, but never had the chance. Mt.Agamenticus looked interesting when it popped up on bikereg many months ago.
First time trial, so why not try something uphill with a long dirt section? Course description is "7.4 miles, featuring 3.5 miles of smooth, mostly flat pavement, 1.4 miles on a FAST hard-packed dirt road, to a paved finish on the top of Mount ‘A’. Mount ‘A’ features a 0.7-mile climb with an average gradient of 10%, with sections at 12%-14%." Perfect.


My legs have been shit for a couple weeks, so I was not expecting a fun time, but the legs felt good when I woke up for a change and we go there super early(sorry). Driving up through some serious Stephen King fog made the morning a little ominous and kept the high points obscured. Got in a good warm up and I was actually getting pretty stoked. It was nice to realize you didn't have to worry about anyone else's Cat 5 antics fucking up the program. The flipside was how strange it was to be alone with no group around you. It was like doing a long terrible interval with only the fear of getting caught by the guy who started 30 seconds back to keep you company.

The dirt section was a lot like Deerfield only wider. You hit it going pretty fast and then it went up hill. There were a lot more little lumps and rollers than I expected before the main event.
Turning left onto the final climb, it was pretty clear you were cannonballing into the pain cave. Some steep switchbacks, some drooling, and it was done.
Unoffical time was 27:32, slower than I wanted, but I felt good with how I rode so no complaints. I clocked a max HR of 204 and an average of 190 so I was definitely going full gas. Well one complaint, Smuttynose sponsored the ride, so how about one measly keg at the finish? Dropping down fromt the top and back over the dirt road with a belly full of beer would have been a trip worth taking. Billy and Nick killed it. Ride back to the car was more Deerfield flashbacks. In the blink of an eye we were at a cookout eating way more than we burned off. Beers and steak tips. Repeat and roll out back to Boston. It was a 12 hour day door to door for 27 minutes of racing, but somehow well worth it.
Definitely will come back and do this again next year.

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