Pat's Peak 6 Hour by Abe Furth
June 13th, 14, and 15th were awesome. I got to use my 2x2 bicycle rack on the back of my motorcycle and ride down 202 all the way to Henniker, NH for the Pat's Peak Mountain Bike Festival. This bike festival includes downhill races, xc races, and 6, 12, and 24 hour team and solo races. I was looking forward to doing the 6 hour solo race as a tune-up for the Sugarloaf race. Pat's Peak is a ski mountain, and Henniker is the small college town where Pat's Peak is. Both the town and the mountain were great. The race was run super well, and the shop that helped with any last minute bike problems was awesome.
My transportation for the race
Saturday was the day of the 6, 12, and 24 hour races, and it had poured Thursday and Friday. The course goes up a long, technical, steep and windy uphill, then goes down a steep technical downhill that included some small drops. Thanks to the rain, it was muddy and slippery, but overall the course drained well, and there were only a couple mud pits that were not rideable. At the line up for the Le Mans start I recognized Bill Brown from our team and we wished each other good luck. Always good to see a Rose/Qualey rider! Once the race started it was 6 and a half hours of continuous riding for me except at the mandatory dismounts at the end of every lap for the checkpoint. Each lap was about 5.5 miles and included over 873 feet of climbing! I ate a bunch of Bonk Breakers from Rose, had a few bites of burritos from Verve, stayed hydrated, and had a great/painful/fun time suffering through.
This is definitely a race to hit every year. We took 3rd and 6th place, strong showing for Rose/Qualey for a race far from home!
Bill Brown riding strong
Me at the the finish
At the podium 3rd place
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