A set of 50's in September in Southeast New England

A set of 50's in September in Southeast New England

Landmine and Freetown?  What exactly do these two have in common?  Well, they both take place in September, they are both in Massachusetts (Southern New England), they are both littered with rock gardens deposited from the last ice age (a staple of Southern New England riding, and really Northeast riding in general), and they both offer 50 mile options.  Oh and did I mention they are only a week apart? 

I couldn't surpass the chance to challenge myself against 2 very difficult races with very difficult recovery/tapering in between.  The races are just as challenging as figuring out how to do the recovery and taper in between.

I had done Landmine a few years back on a mamba hardtail.  The mamba was on ok bike, but it wasn't for me.  I found the bike to be heavy and rough.  Not exactly a racing bike, but tough enough for a 50, or so I thought.  The bike handled decently enough, but it did manage to beat the crap out of me.  I finished, although barely, at just under 7 hours.  And I remember experiencing a kind of pain I hadn't felt in many, many years.

This year I was determined to break that record and come out in tact and not crying in a fetal position in the corner.  I brought the Epic and was very glad that I did.  Sections of landmine were still very rough, but were manageable with an FSR and the brain shock set in the middle for dampening.  My first lap was fast and felt great.  I managed to come in in about 2 and a half hours.  My second lap was slower and more annoying.  My last 5 miles really got me in a mood.  I was sick of getting tossed around like a pin ball.  So I turned that negativity into a tirade only a sailor would be proud of and pushed it hard against the course.  I managed to come in at a respectable 5 hours and 17 minutes.  I had shattered my PR from all those years back, and better yet, proved to myself that I could rematch a course that had destroyed me all those years ago, and then I realized that I don't have to come back now :) 

A week later I found myself pulling into the Freetown State Forest at an earlier hour then I would usually be awake on a Sunday.  I was ready to sample the Freetown 50.  I had heard that this forest is haunted and possessed by a little creature known as the puckwudgie, a gremlin like creature that likes to lure unsuspecting people into the woods and push them to their deaths.

Now, I did not get lured anywhere except to a trail that was as technically difficult as it was beautiful.  The Freetown 50 is one of those courses that really manages to shred everything it touches.  Bikes, biceps, bipedals, it doesn't matter.  Whatever rides through these trails comes out the other side tenderized, traumatized, and tantalized!  To say the course was difficult is an understatement.  The first 8 miles of this course were like nothing I have ever seen in a 50 mile race.  I'm not sure I was breathing much through this section.  It required the kind of concentration only a Swiss watch maker has mastered.  From what I remember (please excuse me as my brain, like the  rest of me, experience quit a bit of vibrational trauma) the course was gorgeous, and tough.  Whenever we rode on single track it was littered with rocks.

There weren't many roots here, there was no room for them as they had no way of penetrating the quarry of rocks.  Concentrating on the line was not only recommended here, it was necessary if you were to survive.  Falling on any rocky section here would mean an instant DNF and most likely a trip to the ER.  There was one section called the "demotivator" that really should have been named "the bone breaker".  The rocks here were more like small boulders. 

I managed to come in at 5 hrs and 35 minutes.  A decent time considering the terrain and what it did to my bike.  After the first 5 miles of the course my bike began to ghost shift.  Then after the first lap my shock became over-pressurized and I didn't fix it until the last 10 miles (but thank goodness I did).  When I finished it took me a good 2 hours before I felt like I could drive the 1.5 hrs home without passing out.  I didn't feel right until after a 1 hour sports massage where the masseuse informed me that they successfully broke up the 30 knots in my shoulders, neck, and back!  My bike didn't come out unscathed either.  A trip to the shop revealed the need for a new chain and a tune up, as my wheels were knocked off true (what a surprise). 

Still, the course was a rip.  Definitely a gem of a course for New England (or anywhere!), and definitely tough.  I think next year I'll leave the Epic at home and opt for a heavier, slower bike, one with 6" of travel :)