The Hampshire 100: It's Really Just an Eating Contest

More than seven hours into my day at the Hampshire 100 something my friend Brad had said to me echoed in my head as I ground my way through a long steep climb.   I was ten minutes past my twenty minute deadline for downing another Gu but the thought of one more oozy ounce of the sickly sweet gel made me want to get off the bike and barf.  Despite extra gulps of Gatorade, I could feel my legs starting to seize.  The last thing in the world I wanted to do was eat something.  And then the meaning of Brad’s seemingly absurd advice became clear: 

“It’s really just an eating contest.”

CircumBurke 2012

The course map. Of course.

Twenty four miles.  Three thousand feet of climbing.  Bridgeless stream crossings. A soul-crushing twelve-hundred foot, three and a half mile 7% grade climb straight out of the starting gate.  Speeds approaching 30 mph down a glorified streambed covered with leaves.  Twisty singletrack up the side of a mountain that makes FOMBA look like an airport runway.  And let’s not forget the half-dozen or so mud pits big enough to make your redneck friends build a bonfire, buy a case of beer and make a mess of their favorite truck.

These are the foes that line up to do battle with your psyche when you step up to the start of the CircumBurke ride. 

Winter Wild Uphill Race Series: Total White (ski) Domination

Gered on Mt. Hunger with the White Skis.

This past weekend marked the start of the 2011 Winter Wild uphill race series at Whaleback Mountain in NH. Winter Wild is in it's second year, and can boast 4 great randonee race locations, a 300 percent growth rate in attendance over last year, and still an outstanding ratio of giveaway prizes to participant (.5:1, and good schwag too).

The race allows any mode of muscle driven transport up and down, with the most popular categories being skate skis, telemark equipment, running shoes with spikes, and the noble donkey (punch). Check it out. Do it. It's pretty great.

TeamScrappy was in attendance for this year's opener and posted a 3rd place finish and record breaking 12:54 time in the telemark category. In a race series dominated by washed up old olympic nordic skiers, the telemark ski is often overlooked in favor of the lighter and snappier skate ski. Well, this year they got their comeuppance. Always expect the Spanish Inquisition. And now, the White Ski.