Nate- Putney West Hill - ReCap
The race was fast and dry which was a great change from the past. The first lap was dusty until a little bit of rain hit the area, or at least I experienced a little bit of it. I guess at some points it was a downpour. It was just enough to have some fun to drift and slide through the corners. I had a three way battle the first two and a half laps, where I was in the lead for the whole lap except the last climb up cemetery hill. We kept attacking each other trying to find the others' weaknesses. I then settled into second place and was able to hold on for the rest of the race. I was very happy with my overall result as I was much faster than last year and also was able to step up on the podium. It was a good change of pace from the last two races, where I destroyed my whole drive train on the last lap of the Winsted Woods race and ran the second half of the lap. The Coyote Hill race was not great either since I could not find my legs. I am very excited for the rest of the season and hope that I have gotten rid of my bad luck for the year and can keep this momentum going.
Mike- Putney West Hill XC
Putney is one of the classic New England races, or at least so I am told. In the four summers that I have been out here in New England, Putney is the only race I have been to all four years. It is an awesomely brutal trail, with tons of climbing, and short steep descents, so you feel like you are climbing almost indefinitely.
I had not raced an XC event in 5 weeks, with my last race being the 24 hours of Boyne 4 weeks ago, so I was excited to get back to racing at Putney. As we lined up the field was really strong, and we were joined by the World Cup Vet. Mike Broderick, so the stakes were high. As the whistle went off Broderick took off, and us other mortals tried to keep up, so the pace was really high. As we came around the first lap I knew I had gone a little too hard, and while Broderick was long gone, the rest of the top 5 was still more or less together. As I intentional slowed down so I could last all 5 laps, I dropped back to 7th or 8th place. After climbing and climbing I turned the gas back on and started moving up, and finally caught up to John Foley and made a point of closing the gap. I caught him on a steep climb, and climbed hard and put a gap on him. I finished the race strong, with hopes of catching my buddy Chris Hamlin, but as I caught a glimpse of him up ahead and started the charge with only a few minutes to go, my chain dropped to the outside and I had to dismount to get it back on. I came across the line in 4th place, a great result for me, as I had hoped to place in the top 5.
Well another year, and another Putney race, I will certainly be back next year, with hopes of cracking into the top three.
Mike- Putney West Hill XC
Putney is one of the classic New England races, or at least so I am told. In the four summers that I have been out here in New England, Putney is the only race I have been to all four years. It is an awesomely brutal trail, with tons of climbing, and short steep descents, so you feel like you are climbing almost indefinitely.
I had not raced an XC event in 5 weeks, with my last race being the 24 hours of Boyne 4 weeks ago, so I was excited to get back to racing at Putney. As we lined up the field was really strong, and we were joined by the World Cup Vet. Mike Broderick, so the stakes were high. As the whistle went off Broderick took off, and us other mortals tried to keep up, so the pace was really high. As we came around the first lap I knew I had gone a little too hard, and while Broderick was long gone, the rest of the top 5 was still more or less together. As I intentional slowed down so I could last all 5 laps, I dropped back to 7th or 8th place. After climbing and climbing I turned the gas back on and started moving up, and finally caught up to John Foley and made a point of closing the gap. I caught him on a steep climb, and climbed hard and put a gap on him. I finished the race strong, with hopes of catching my buddy Chris Hamlin, but as I caught a glimpse of him up ahead and started the charge with only a few minutes to go, my chain dropped to the outside and I had to dismount to get it back on. I came across the line in 4th place, a great result for me, as I had hoped to place in the top 5.
Well another year, and another Putney race, I will certainly be back next year, with hopes of cracking into the top three.
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