fair hill classic

[Schilling]

sat 8.23: after weeks of thought i decided to head down to fairhill in elkton, md to race in the fair hill classic. im so glad i did. fair hill is a fast and flowy park with some punchy climbs, and alot of fun. if you havent been, i would recommend. it can also be doubled up with its neighbor white clay, which is amazingly only minutes away for an awesome weekend!!!

a big shout out to the delaware trailspinners, they are a first rate organization. this event was so well run and went off smoothly. registration was fast, the courses (single laps for both the xc 26ish miles, and endurance 37ish miles) were well marked and they had marshalls and aid stations positioned throughout, and the finishing times were posted promptly both at the race and on the web. everything that you needed to know was communicated to you in a timely fashion.

post race everyone went into the the infield. this was opened up for team ez-ups, food vendors, and a live band. definitely a good scene, with most of the racers hanging out afterwards chillin.

there was some of our board riders down there as well. mitch (podiumed 45+ endurence), grateful rider (won the season open endurence), roadie tim borsetti (cat 2 podium), mike montalbano (endurance ss podium), skippy waters and yo bike lady kerri, dan mathews, one speed martin, scotty slimm, eric whitehead, and oscar diaz (won cat2 ss series).











such an awesome day. good times with great people. that is what its all about.

 

[Schilling]

some podium shots

 

[JDurk]

Awesome day and race. Did my first Endurance race. Expected more mileage, but was happy to see the finish area. Glad the weather wasn't an issue.

Congrats to all.

JD

 

[1speed]

Yeah, that was a fun day and I loved the changes to the endurance race itself (one lap instead of two.) I was surprised by the length as well -- it was supposed to be 42 miles or something and as we were hitting the last two splits, the signs were saying 9 or 10 miles to go and I was reading under 30 total. Then it seems to get even shorter from there. Ultimately, I read 38 miles, but I know a few other people read even less than that.

I spent a good portion of the race riding with Mitch, which was a nice change for me. I never really ride with anyone else during a race. We kind of played back and forth -- he'd lead out the flats and descents and I'd take us up the climbs. It worked really well because he is just stronger than I am in the roots (even though he was running rigid and I wasn't!) and on the downhills, and I had an easier gear so I could spin a bit more in the climbs.

I ultimately finished sixth in the SS Endurance, and I'm pretty happy with that. It was my last long ride before SM100 next week, and I rode a nice long distance pace that never felt like I was too stretched out.

 

[Mitch]

Nice pictures Schilling.
These guys know how to put on a race. Pretty much every base was covered from Reg to finish. Can't say enough about how easy they made this race flow. It seemed like every time you popped out of the woods they had a AID station with tons of volunteers handing out water cups and water bottles. Every Split in the course had a volunteer directing us which way to turn and go.
My race felt good from the start, very relaxed start on a flat gravel that ran for about a mile and a half. I thought it was going to really put us Single speeders in the way back being that we would just spin out but as so as things opened up I jumped on the grass and just started passing people all the way up untill the 1st single track. Course was tight and fast and passing only came on the straight a ways which were few at the start. My gearing seemed dead on and was working for pretty much for me. All I did was pass people for the first 15 miles then I came up on Marty (1speed) as we hit this long twisty climb, I was going to try and surprise him but he just stood up and took off and I was like I guess I'll catch him later because he Wissahickon legs and I have Allaire legs. After the climb myself and Marty rode together for a good 15 miles of fun stuff but then my gearing and fitness kicked in and the climbs got a little longer and Marty keep going strong. At mile 32 we were told 6 miles left and I was like???. But I was happy because that was all I had left, so I pushed what I had and at mile 36 I pop out and I'm told this is the finish.?? So the Fairhill 50 is was really only 36.5 on my Garmin but I was happy with the results so no complaints now. I ended up 4th in the Endurance 45 plus group so I was happy with the end result. Too bad I couldn't stay as stong in the end as I would have liked to but I raced a little hard in the beginning for an endurance race and got lucky that it was cut short on mileage. Good planing in my mind.
As Schilling covered they had all the bases covered with Music, food, drinks and lots and lots of cool bike folks. Really glad I did this one race and glad my friends came along too. Put this MASS race series on your calendar for next year and you to could hang with us and have fun...

 

[MMuller]

Idiot I am I'm looking for the "Like!" button. Great job and congrats.

 

[wheelsolias]

The course wasn't shortened on purpose. There were issues with the state and with the park. That's one of the reasons south park was omitted.

PS- You can thank me for the added elevation. 😉


Carrie

 

[GratefulRider]

Carrie- nice race. Thanks for the effort. Neutral water was great. Course markings were outstanding. Road crossings well staffed. Mileage, not what I expected.

Friendly feedback....next time, either let people know at the start that the course was shortened or send us out for a modified 2nd lap. I'm sure I wasn't alone in pacing for 45 miles and was quite surprised/confused at mile 25 when I learned I had 9 miles left.

Thanks.

 

[de00304]

Great to see you guys out at Fair Hill. I was also surprised by the length, but happy as well cause I was toast by the end. Also surprised by the amount of climbing, about 4k in total. First long ride on a fatty, it was fun!

 

[1speed]

I already told Mitch this story, and he told me I should post it. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. After the race, I had just gotten my post-race meal of champions (hot dog and a coke) and I saw Mitch chatting with a few other racers, so I wandered over that way and he was looking around for a cup to pour his beer into (in case booze wasn't allowed.) As he headed off to find a cup, one of the guys he's been talking to said "That guy loves his beer." And just then this other guy standing nearby says, "Yeah but just think how well he'd do if he didn't do that." That cracked me up. I didn't say anything, but my only thoguht was, "the guy just made the podium in an open class riding a rigid SS. What more do you want him to do? Let him have his damn beer!"

BTW, I'm glad to hear there was an actual course change. Initially, I thought it was maybe my Garmin crapping out. I had no problem with the course as it was -- it was my favorite Fair Hill race ever -- I was just surprised to find out I was done when I popped out of the woods.

 

[MMuller]

More amazing is that Mitch is 74 years old. Hides it well though. Well, mostly....
Seriously though, pretty cool when guys in the 50+ can hang with the kids like that.