Verge Northampton International 2021 - Day 1 - Elite Women's Highlights and Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It5_JPHrReQ

Verge Northampton International 2021 - Day 1 - Elite Men's Highlights and Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyAlX_WSpgQ

Verge Northampton International 2021 - Day 2 - Elite Women's Highlights and Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIWo4aYWGKo

Verge Northampton International 2021 - Day 2 - Elite Men's Highlights and Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAaW46Fm2Cs

This was my first time racing at noho.

Patrick and I went up on Friday. I think it was a 4.5 hour drive, but we got there with enough light to do one lap in street clothes. The course felt really fast! We paused on a couple of sections to look at lines but with plenty of time to do that the next day so moved on to getting food, getting our numbers, and checking in at the airbnb. 

6:15am alarm, frost covering everything, looked amazing outside, but also, 25 degrees. the first field is the cat 5s racing in sub 30 degree temps and frost covered grass. it’s warm enough during the day that the ground isn’t frozen beyond a thin top layer. low 40s by the time we raced, and much less slick.

our race was at 10:45, in three waves starting with the 3s, then the 40+1-4, then the 50+1-4s where Patrick, Thomas, and I were lined up at the back. downside is, 164 racers on the course all at once. upside is, 100 racers in front of our field means the front of our field will have to move up through the scrum before making much time on those of us in the back.

there was a bottleneck very early in the race, followed by a massive run-up that led to the top section of the course. here’s a video from someone in the 40+ field. it’ll give you fomo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQZZj0IcLh8

i moved up to 48/64 after being lapped by the leaders of the cat 3 field. had felt going in that i had more in my legs, but really happy with how i was riding on my limit. i’d been making mistakes when at the limit in recent races and had been working on this.

highlights: the massive run-up and section preceding it - holy heck this was fun, the whole upper section was fast, tricky and rewarded attacking it. every section encouraged pushing to the limit. the sweeping and tight grassy turns in the lower section were just next level fast. 

day two, the course was reversed and the entry and exits to the top section altered a bit. this time every uphill was ridable if no traffic, and the most difficult section was a downhill that had 3 lines with slight variations. one line was FAST but not obvious, and the day before, Patrick, Thomas, myself, with several others were inspecting and debating which was the best line. so of course i had to nail the fast line. and i did. except for one time where i bounced off a tree (didn’t crash).

finished 38/51, same lap as the leaders, after starting from the back row again. my lap times were more consistent on day one, but felt much better and rode more cleanly on day 2. as with day one, battles emerged in the last half of the race. this helped a lot in distracting from the pain of being at threshold the entire time!

it was amazing to see so many NYC folks there. good times hanging with Patrick and Thomas between the races. i hope to do this one again!

frostbike:

keith garrison racing in the elite field:

that's the fast lane, that higher line there on the right:

1. Start hard
2. Make the lead group
3. Settle in
4. Sprint for the finish!

Mark Taylor said:

I keep seeing a rear disc wheel ?

Mark Taylor said:

I keep seeing a rear disc wheel ?