|
|
Briarlee Ramblin' Rumble |
|
|
|
Written by Sean Daley
|
|
Monday, 26 May 2008 |
Brairlee Ramblin' Rumble
Ashford, CT
5/11/2008
 | | click to enlarge |
Sunday was great race. Kyla and I loaded the Saab and headed down to Ashford at about eight in the morning. I made sure to get some extra rest the night before and felt good. When we arrived at Brialee Campground we drove by teammate Dave Barr, who was playing with his son, and wound up parking beside teammates Mike Joos and Andrew Freye.
The place looked great, nice camp sites, good weather, and an all around great atmosphere. I stretched out and got ready to pre-ride as much of the course as I could. I followed Andrew Freye and right away I was bummed about the course. Another Farmington I thought to myself, just this one is rougher. Farmington was fast and rolling, Brialee seemed to be fast and rolling, with a number of rocks and roots. Needless to say I made my way to the start and found that I was not feeling up to the challenge.
When the gun went off we started down an open road into some single-track, right away the pace slowed, people were jammed up and someone went down. I hopped off my bike and ran around the mess and continued on. In a line of about 10 guys we made our way off into the woods.
It was fast and technical, during the first hairy single track I caught a glimpse of a rider going off the trail at full speed still clipped into the pedals, but with his hands stretched out in the air (not on the bar), waiting to catch the first tree coming his way. It happened so fast, we were really moving, I didn’t get to see how he made out. It was one of those things you knew wasn’t going to be okay, it just didn’t look good.
I continued and started attacking at every chance I could, we kept getting bunched up at these ridiculous mud holes that were like 20 yards long and everyone was soaked with mud. The holes were filled with rocks and roots that could take you out with a poor line. I was having luck and managed to pass a few guy, I traversed the mud like a champ and had a lot of good luck on my line choice the first couple laps.
Kyla was feeding me and it was great to see her each lap, and my buddy Trevor showed up and was giving me support so I felt great. On the third lap I had moved to about 6th place, and passed a rider who had flatted so I moved to 5th. I really thought I had the guy in front of me, Robert Poole of Bike Barn, but on the last lap he was able to pick up the pace a little more than I was able to hold. I took some poor lines and dumped twice in the mud holes. It was a rough fourth lap, but I was psyched to finish 5th and can’t wait until the next race. I love Vermont and am ready for the long drive through the beautiful country.
After the race I watched Andrew Freye get his award for the Pro race then Ky and I hung out to watch Trevor win the Sport race. Brialee was a great race, rough, technical, and dirty. I loved it. Can’t wait to go back. It was nice to see so many Team Bikeman riders and thank god the sun was showing.
Until next time, I’ll see you at the races.
Sean
 |
|
|
|
; "click to enlarge")
Show/Hide comment form
