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Fat Tire Classic |
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Written by Andrew Freye
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Saturday, 22 April 2006 |
 Race number two of the year for me was stop number two in the Root 66 Race series down in Farmington, CT. I think this is my 7th year in a row coming down to this race. I don’t believe there is any other race that I have done as many times as the Fat Tire Classic. I have raced the Fat Tire Classic in all conditions from snow, to heat waves, and pouring rain. The weather wasn’t your ideal race conditions with temps around 45-50 degrees and a constant rain.
 I traveled down to CT with the Perley family again which was a huge help, saving me several hours of drive time. We arrived at the race with plenty of time to register and actually do a warm up. After putting on several base-layers, a healthy coating of Greyhound Juice on the legs, two pairs of shorts, a couple pairs of socks, a good wrapping of duct tape on the shoes, and some nice home remedy asthma cotton balls up my nose I was ready to go do a lap with Brad and Kirk.
 Now I’ve never ridden disc brakes until this year and I thought hydraulic disc were supposed to be much better in the mud compared to old school v-brakes. Maybe it’s just me or the disc brakes on the bike I am using, but I am not impressed. My rear brake was gone after the pre-ride which was not cool. Because of the bad weather the official cut the laps down from 5 to 3. I tried voicing my opinion that 3 laps would give us aprroxiamtely an hour 15 minute race but the official thought otherwise.  There were approximately 12-15 other pros on the start line. Looking around at the start line I knew I was going to win this race. I just looked at everyone and told myself “This race is all mine.” Having that type of attitude certainly helped me out. Right from the gun I lead the entire thing. I was able to climb up hills that others had to push there bikes up and I was able to ride through the deep mud sections where others were left walking. The closest anyone got to me was going through the lap area after the 1st lap when I let 2nd place catch up just so I could play games.
 I finished the race in 1 hour 19 minutes (not too far off from my prediction). This was a big win for me. It was my first time winning a Root 66 event and winning a race like the Fat Tire Classic right before a NORBA national is good for morale. I was very pleased with my performance considering I had come down with a slight head cold a couple days before the event. Two more weeks and I will be racing the first NORBA National event of the year with all the big pros! It should be an exciting event. Also I have now moved into the leaders jersey for the Root 66 Race Series! Again thank you to all that have helped me out.
A
Race notes:
- I raced on a Carver 96’er because I am still waiting for my drive train to come in for the Salsa El Santo. I could tell the 29 inch wheel up from was a big help going through some deep mud sections and over logs in the single track. Thank you Bikeman.com for hooking me up with a sweet ride.
 - After riding the 96’er at the 1st race and seeing how poorly the tires (non-Panaracer) that came on the bike performed in the mud I switched out the rear tire and put on a Panaracer Trailraker. The Trailraker was amazing! It allowed me to get grip where no one else could. If I only had a Trailraker in a 29'er for the front I would have been all set and maybe I wouldn’t have received this nice cut on my leg from the front wheel clogging up with mud.
- The healthy coating of Greyhound Juice that was applied to my legs did an excellent job like always keeping my legs nice and warm but not too hot for the entire race. It would be nice if Greyhound Juice could some how come out with a nice spray on applicant that you can cover your entire body with for cold race days so I can stay warm!
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