Mad River Century - 2010

Photo: Team Tammy at the Start in Waitsfield

TCC was proudly represented at the Mad River Century on August 28th by over 20 people with a tie to the club. The event, now in its 20th year, is an annual tradition for many of us. Alan Chasse has done the event something like 19 times, and many of the rest of us are now pushing double digits. The Century is put on by "The Hideaway", a local restaurant that figured out a few years back that people would be willing to pay for an organized ride sprinkled with good food before, during, and after the event.

The weekend starts out on Friday night with a pasta fest at the restaurant. Most of us rolled in between 6:00 and 7:00 and spent an hour or two carbo loading before finding our way to local hotels to sleep off the gluttony. We assembed as a group at 7:45 for a few photos and by 8:00 we were ready to head out in two groups. Team Tammy consisted of its namesake, Tammy Walesczczyk, as well as Beth Hankins, John Jackman, Dave Burdete, Rob Yost, and Bill Penn. Their mission was to ride a steady solid pace line and work as a team to lay down the fastest average they could.

Our second team, which I dubbed the Ontario Express, consisted of my high school buddy Adrian Zahl (now from Ottawa), Barry (another Canadian), and a cadre of people that ride our A-Group including yours truly, Eric Anderson, Alan Chasse, Dave Jacobowski, Chris Stoltze, Phil Forzley, and Marty Spallone. Our goal was to demonstrate to the world that even fat people over the age of 50 can average 21 mph at Mad River.

The ride starts in Waitsfield, VT and heads north on Route 100 toward Montpelier. The first 25 miles to Montpelier are gently rolling but more down than up. The Ontario Express got to work quickly, and picked up a couple of racers from the Green Mountain Bicycle Club along the way. We realized the pace was quick, but were a little suprised when we arrived at the first rest stop at the State Capitol lawn in Montpelier with a 24.0 mph average. A few minutes later Team Tammy rolled in, with smiles on their faces and 20.5 on the odometers.

After peeing in the same urinal as the Governor of the Green Mountain State, we were back on our bikes for a 35 mile ride down Route 12A to Bethel. Speeds dropped somewhat as we realized that none of us had the legs to continue our initial sprint. Beth and Team Tammy limped in a little while later. Beth had broken her rear shifter cable and had been riding in her 12-tooth cog in the back for 15 miles. Dave Burdette had broken one of the 16 spokes on his rear Rolf Wheel and his brake was rubbing badly - he hadn't really noticed this, because he is Dave Burdette. Alan and John Jackman completed some speedy repairs and all hands (and legs) were back in business.

Photo 1: Phil Forzley at the State Capitol

Photo 2: Alan fixing Dave's busted spoke

The third leg of the ride cuts back west and heads up a river valley on Rte. 104. This section leads back to Rte. 100, where the ride turns back north toward the point of its origin. Route 100, which takes you from about the 70 mile mark to the finish line, has been deteriorating for several years and has become a difficult road to ride with potholes, crevasses, and all manner of busted up pavement. We soldiered northward - slightly uphill and watching the average speeds drop steadily. At the rest stop at the 75 mile mark we ran into Steve Yau, who had originally been caught in no-man's land between the two groups but had missed the second rest stop and ridden about 50 miles without a break (ouch). We also ran into club members Todd O'Keefe and Lou Blanchette, who were riding together and looking forward to the only large hill of the ride - Granville Gap.

Granville Gap comes at about the 85-mile mark of the ride and consists of a 2.5 mile hill, which is gently sloping at the base and then kicks up a couple of times more sharply near the top. It is the official Big D___ climb of the ride, although Beth claims that TCC women do not participate in Big D___ contests. Teamwork rules are suspended and the slug-fest is on for the duration of the grade. About three-quarters of the way up the hill I decided it was looking like I'd be this year's champ. Seconds later, my 51-year old high school classmate Adrian sprinted by me like I was on a 45-pound Huffy and I limped the rest of the way to the top. We gathered the group at the top of the hill, saw that our average had dropped to 21 mph, and headed down the other side of the hill determined to keep it over 21. The last 10-miles of the ride are downhill or flat, and allow you to add a few tenths to the average. We pressed on to the finish in Waitsfield and recorded 21.6 mph as determined by Alan's official computer (he stops it whenever we're in a town going less than 10 mph). Team Tammy showed up at the finish a while later with a very respectable 19 mph average. They'd ridden as a team the entire way and in many stretches other groups pasted themselves onto the back of the group, realizing what a steady and strong pace Tammy and her crew were setting.







Photo 3: Chris, John, and Eric at the top of Appalachian Gap

To put an exclamation point on the day, five of us continued up Appalachian Gap - a 7-mile 1500-foot climb from Waitsfield to give ourselves 120 miles on the day. Why? We still don't know, but it hurt.

A barbecue under a big-top completed a perfect riding day. We all slept well, and woke up Sunday for another annual tradition - a short bike ride over some covered bridges before heading home to the Nutmeg state. Rumor has it that they will be paving Route 100 next year. We'll be going back regardless.