2 0 0 1   R A C E  R E S U L T S

Bradbury Mountain, Maine- June 3, 2001

Why?, Why?, Why? was the question of the day. Why am I driving 2 hours to race in the rain? Why don't I see a psychiatrist about this problem? Here's the update on the Bradbury Mountain adventures.

Jeff Udell accurately described this as a triathlon (biking, running, swimming).

Biking: The skies stopped pouring just before the start and hope abounded. As the Experts and Sports went off, those hopes quickly faded. The start was in a water bog and then turned to what looked like fast singletrack. Puddle, mud, deeper puddle, mud, deeper puddle -- time to shed the glasses -- is this going to end? Answer: no, not now, not any time soon. On and on it went -- 3"-deep tire sucking mud, broken only by 20 yard water bogs. Jen Shea and I rode together for awhile with another racer, taking turns at endo's into the water bogs. I haven't heard that kind of swearing since hanging out with Dale.

Running: The uphills were slime and running was faster than riding. After one 10-mile lap, I looked at my bike computer and it read 6.5 miles -- 3.5 miles of running.

Swimming: Back on the bike, the world slowed down at one point as I watched my front tire disappear into a puddle. I then saw my front hub disappear, then the fork, then the sky. Momma, Momma, I can't see! Blugh, blugh.

Since it was Sunday, many bikers seemed to be offering a consistent prayer - "Please God, let my chain break, flat my tire -- let me go home. I'm sorry for everything I did to deserve this!"

Note to self: Don Grahn had it all figured out. Emerged from lap one and chatted with the Ragers in the feed zone. He's in 3rd place. Valiantly declares he's finishing. Rides into the woods just out of site and quietly sneaks back to the parking lot!

We had 3 new female riders join the team -- welcome Andrea, Kate and Sally. Here's how the team did: 19 racers showed up in all that muck and produced 10 top ten finishes!

PHOTOS

• Page 1 , 2, 3 - from Don Grahm

• Page 4 - from Max S.

Race Observations:

Dave Currie
3rd (and 3rd overall -- Oh, Canada!) - "Except for losing my shoe twice, getting lost once, and endoing at least a half dozen times. I think I did pretty well!"

Tristram Langford
~20th (Kiwi was last seen sleeping at the rest stop just south of Freeport)

Scott Smith
Valiant Effort (first place until a wrong turn turned into an unplanned tour to a cliff's edge)

Jeff Udell
Placing not disclosed - "Jeff "Udder" Udell was one of the lucky ones to be able to pull off two triathlons two weekends in a row. In addition to last week's triathlon at Killington, I experienced the "Bradbury Mountain Challenge/Triathlon" which consisted of three events! First I had to swim across singletrack/mud-flows for 3 miles, then I had to run up and down a combo of mud, roots and slick rock for about 4 miles, then finally I got to get on my mt bike (that weighed about 42 pounds after being dragged through the mud) and ride for about 3 miles. Udder finished with an all time record high time of 2:15:41! ;-)"

Sally Hewitt
"I wiped out and hurt my knee at about 0.5 mile, and then had more serious accident at about 1.5 miles, doing a face plant in the mud on a downhill stretch, endoing, and getting mud even up my nose. Tim Post saw me, and I must have looked like a frog in the road. He wins the prize for Nicest Rager, 'cause he sat with me there after the accident, as I checked my head for dizziness. Poor Tim was DNF 'cause he ripped a calf muscle about 1 mile in. I finished 13th or something out of about 18 or so Novice women. My time was 2:15? Anyway, Don G. took a bunch of pictures, and we all had fun at Gritty's in Freeport afterwards."

Not disclosed

20th