Vermont 50

50 miles of beautiful vermont mountain biking. Who could ask for more?

Race Results

Race Commentary

Ed Castine

Lessons learned at the VT50
- The lighter the tire - the weaker the sidewall
- Fold a dollar bill and wrap it around the tube when you tear a tire -
it's a MYTH
- A flexible plastic insurance card will patch a hole for a good 20
miles or so (no more though)
- A standard-issue credit card is not flexible enough for long-term tire
repair
- Walking 3 miles to an aid station in bike shoes will give you really
big blisters.

Thanks to eveyone who helped me out - a lot of people stopped and
offered tubes (I used 5) and one guy even gave me a pump after I ran out
of C02. I got passed by a runner while changing the last flat - clear
that the credit card was not doing the trick, but I had nothing else. I
vowed to hang it up if I flatted again, which happened almost
instantly. In the end, I made the 37.5 mile aid station on foot for a
ride back.

Matthew Juros

IT WAS EPIC.
really a tremendous experience.

with very few exceptions the entire course is ridable. the scenery is
fantastic - off-road sections are great, great riding. of course there is
alot of climbing, but the descents were f*&%cking out of control fun. I
spun out my big ring/little cog several times - I mean this stuff is FAST !

I'm happy with my performance. no major crashes or mechanicals (wonky rear
derailleur was bit of a pain). right now I feel about as shattered as I did
after Great Glen.

Wil Malonson

I had a negative attitude going into the race. Having never done this I didn't
know what to expect. I wasn't feeling good with a crappy cold. It was way too
early in the morning. You couldn't see a thing getting on the start line. How
the heck are we suppose to see in the trails? And I was freezing. Soon the sun
was rising and I forgot about my thoughts of riding in the dark. I warmed up
within a few hills but I was hungry. I don't have a computer on my bike so I
couldn't track the mileage for the feed stations so I pulled out a power bar.
Soon the feed station came up and I chowed some yummy food. I soon realized
that these hills were killer and if I treat this like a two hour race I'm
gonna burn out. So I stopped at every station except the last one and enjoyed
the food, company, and views. I even stopped at the station on top of the
mountain for almost a half hour. I ended up riding with a bunch of the sport
class and made a game of taunting them along the way. It was fun. Now I
want to do more of these races. I can't wait until next year. You know what I
mean!

Paul Fleming

Hadn't had a chance to do to many long rides prior to the race (mainly just
ride to work), so I took it fairly easy the first 30 miles. Stopped a lot to
eat at the great aid stations and chat with fellow riders who all seemed to be
having a good time. The last 4 miles I was glad I had saved something, as I saw
several people rolling around in the bushes clutching their thighs due to
cramps. The course wasn't as challenging as, say, Bear Brook or Bradbury
Mountain, but I as kind of glad most of the climbing was on dirt roads.
Towards the end I would have had to walk a lot if the climbing had been on
techical singletrack.

Matt Potter

Perfect day for an epic like the VT 50. I went out
with designs on not coming in last. At 30 miles in
this started to look like it might happen, so I
reduced the amount time relaxing at the feed stations,
and started riding a little faster -after all, this is
a race I told my self. My mission now was to catch
the four runners who passed me while I was pigging out
at the feed stations. They had put too much time into
me though and I had to be happy with my 405th placing,
which I was. It was a great day and a superb course.

Leo Kiefer

What a race! I planned to ride a sub-6 hr last year, but that got washed
away, so I was really glad this year proved to be about 500% more enjoyable.
Great scenery, fun conversations and the best aid stations around make the
VT50 my all time favorite. Highly recommend to anyone who has not tried this
one yet. With the 6 hr goal achieved, maybe a 5:30 next year?

Hank Kells

This was a truly awesome race and the weather was perfect. I raced for about
the first 35 miles until I started cramping. After that, I took it easy and
just rode with some lengthy stops at a couple of Aid Stations to stretch,
hydrate and eat.

I started with the Clydesdales just as dawn was breaking. I dropped off the
extra layers that I stared the race with at the mile 12 Aid Station. The extra
layers were brought to the start/finish area by volunteers, a really nice
service that was much appreciated. I passed a couple of other Ragers,
Tim O'loughlin and Dan Hurwitz and caught up to Michelle and went back and
forth with her for about the next 25 miles until the mile 38 Aid Station
when I had to stop for awhile due to leg cramps. After the final Aid Station
I felt a whole lot better and rode most of the final section. It was a real
thrill to finally cross the finish line.

I am very grateful to the Alexanders who let me stay at their house in nearby
Hartland, VT and to Brian and Adam at JRA Cycles in Medford, MA for making sure
that my bike was tuned up and ready for the race. I had no mechanical problems
whatsoever!

Brian Nash

Man, that was one tough mother. I could really have
enjoyed this if it was the VT25. Felt pretty good for
the first half of the race, but dragged ass through
the remainder and was on the verge of getting either a
quad, hamstring or calf cramp at any particular point
in time. Also had nasty stomach cramps and didn't eat
anything solid for the entire race, which is a shame
as the food at the rest stops looked really good,
especially those salted boiled spuds everyone kept
raving about. Managed to force down about a dozen GUs
and other assorted energy gels along the ride so at
least I didn't completely bonk. Definitely should
have trained for more distance (including big hills!).
But it was a beauty of a fall day and there was some
sweet singletrack thrown in there......hmmmmm, maybe
next year.....

Tom Varga

What a fantastic race! My plan was to ride at a pace and HR that I believed
would be maintainable for the duration. I loved that downhill high-speed
start. Going nearly 40 mph in the near dark was quite a thrill. The first
couple of climbs had me worried about my take-it-easy plan. I was hurting a
lot and already hike-a-biking ... along with most everyone else. At around the
5th climb I think I settled down to a pace that seemed more reasonable,
although still a little fast. I concentrated on my pace while ignoring the
people who tried to blow past and then a few minutes later fade behind in
exhaustion. The climb to the mile 20 aid station was brutal. Hey, that was a
first having to climb a barbed wire fence! The view from here was spectacular.

Up to this point, it felt no worse than any usual race. Harder than I wanted
to go, but not dangerously so. At mile 25 I looked at my computer and I've
been riding for 2:30. A much faster pace that I expected to do. At mile
30ish, there was about 5 miles of some of the neatest single track that I've
done. It was often narrower than my handlebars. The downhill switch-backs
were so tight, I had to skid my back tires around each time just to make the
turn without losing too much speed. The downhills in the middle 3rd of the
race were just friggin' awesome. I was doing stuff at speeds that makes me
shudder just thinking about it now.

We were warned about mile 35. Don't go out too hard because many people bonk
at this point. The nearly 1 hour climb certainly didn't help. It just didn't
let up. Think pinnacle++. I was watching my HR to make sure that I wasn't
blowing up. I spent an incredible amount of time in my granny and 1st.

Around mile 43 I was probably getting a little sloppy in my shifting between
the big ring and the granny. To keep the effort level constant, I was doing
non-stop shifting. Well, I broke the chain. Argh! #&^*@. Within 2 minutes, a
dozen people passed me by. I ripped off a link and put things back together in
less than 10 minutes and started chasing down as many people who passed me as
possible. That's if you can call hike-a-biking faster than the next guy really
passing them! :) I think I reigned in about 5 of them before crossing over the
the final 3 mile climb. Uugh, did that suck. I caught up to a group of 4 just
before the final downhill, let it rip on the way down and managed to pass all
of them. Way cool!

Overall, a wonderful race and a heck of an experience. I'm planning on doing
it again next year!

Michelle Wilson

It was a beautiful day how could I not enjoy this race. I loved it! First, I'd
like to thank all the organizers and volunteers for doing such an excellent job
in putting together a fantastic race. These people really know how to put
together a race. Other race series should take lessons from them. I've never
met such wonderful friendly people. The feed stations were plentiful and the
people were very helpful and encouraging. This race could not be finished
without them. The racers were also very encouraging and polite. Always a
"how ya doing?" as you were being passed or passing. The course was well
marked. I'm terrible with following arrows but there was never a time when
I even second guessed myself as to whether I was off course. They do what
should be done at every race. There were warning arrows that a turn was
coming and then within 50 feet there was a confirmation arrow that let you
know you took the correct turn and a "W" was in plain sight for the wrong
way at a intersection. What a concept! Great job guys!

I heard so much about the horrible climbing and the cold early morning start
that I went into it expecting the worse. Well certainly the climbing lived up
to my expectation. The race course designers are without a doubt sick sadistic
individuals. Well, OK so are the 700+ racers. Anyways it was a nice morning
and not as cold as I expected. The trails were dry so it was going to be a
good race. About 5 miles into it I realized that my rear brake was rubbing on
the wheel causing friction, I had not eaten breakfast (who eats at 5am?),
and I'm over heating in my layers of clothing so I started to fall back.
I get to the 2nd feed station and chowed down some serious food (potatoes,
peanut butter sandwich, cookies, bananas, and some gatorade-like fluid).
With a full tummy and layers of clothing stripped now I'm ready to race
if only I can fix that brake rubbing. Luckily Dan Hurwitz caught up to me and
offered his allen wrench so I could loosen the brake cable. Thanks Dan. You
saved my day.
The next 35 miles went great. Basically, I broke it down to...get to the
next feed station, fill your face, refill water bottle, and off I went. At
first Dan, then Matt Potter and friend ( I should know his name but crs I
don't), and Hank kept me company. Plenty of women out there too passing each
other. For 50 miles I was never alone. That was nice. It sure helped on those
never ending hills. There seemed to always be a nice downhill reward. Some of
them put huge grins on my face. There was even a hill climb that reminded of a
mini Pyrenees. The course came out of the woods onto a hillside where the trail
switch backed up the mountain and you could see a steady line of riders all
the way up to the top where you could also see and hear the feed station. So
cool. Then my legs started tighten around 37 miles and I no longer wanted to
go downhill cause that meant I would have to pay for it. But surprisingly I was
on track to finish in 7hrs. My goal was under 8hrs. Then around 40 miles
the legs cramps kicked in. Little aliens were moving about in my thighs. I
stopped on the side of the trail and started talking to them to get them to
stop. Apparently I was also delirious. The last ten miles were torture and
a bunch of women passed me. But the thing with that race is that you don't
care who passes you because first, the field is much larger and second, it's
more of a personal goal to just finish. I had to keep a sense of humor as
the insane hills kept going and going. I tried to stay on the bike and pedal
as many as I could cause walking/pushing my bike was much more painful and
would ignite the leg cramps. I was too afraid if I spent any time off the
bike that my legs would stiffen to no end so I blew by the last two
stations. I finished with ten minutes to spare of my goal and I was happy.
No crashes, no mechanicals after the brake issue, and other than the leg
cramps I didn't feel as bad as I thought. In fact, I felt better than after
the 2nd Start race. Then I looked at my results. Wow! Fifth place out of 12
Sport Vet woman and 16th in the overall sport woman class. Not bad for a fun
day in the woods with beautiful views amidst peak foliage. I can't wait until
next year.