The Bond Brook Tread Fest is a cross country mountain bike
race held for the second year in Augusta, Maine. The
trails at Bond Brook are a blast, and the facility itself is a perfect example
of what can happen when a town/city gets works hand in hand with the local outdoor
recreation community to develop a coherent trail network on city owned
land. One thing that I really enjoy
about this trail system is that the trails can be enjoyed by all ability
levels. Experts can rip through the
twisty turns, but the track itself is relatively smooth and not intimidating to
a beginner rider. According to my GPS,
the race course loop was about 6.5 miles long and had about 800 feet of
climbing per lap… and it’s almost 100% singletrack.
We had a pretty decent showing of people from the Qualey
Granite/Rose Bike Team. Bill Brown, Craig MacDonald, Corey Adams, and
myself raced in the Expert category (3 laps), Corey Oderman, Scott Neal, and Frank Cookson raced
Sport (2 laps), and Julie Brown competed in the Novice (1 lap) category.
After a quick pre race meeting, the Expert class lined up
and took off. This year, the race
organizers sent us around the parking lot to help spread us out… this was a
good thing because we weren’t all over each other once we hit the woods. By the time I hit the woods, I was somewhere
mid pack, pretty much even with Craig, and a fair bit behind Bill (our quickest
rider that day), and way behind the race leaders (Tony Giguere and Andrew Freye
were flying).
Eric and Craig
Bill Brown
Corey Adams
Frank Cookson
Julie Brown
After the first climb up “insulator” I was
feeling good (not great) but I was hoping that my legs would come to life a
little later on like they do sometimes. I
tend to start slow & finish strong anyways… so I wasn't concerned. A little bit into the first lap, Craig
started struggling a bit with cramps (I think), and he fell off the pace. At the time I thought to myself that this was
too bad because he has made some incredible strides in his first year racing
bikes, and I really wanted a good result for him. It was also about this time
that I caught a glimpse of another white jersey riding right on my tail. I figured that it was Corey Adams… but it was
the other Corey, who was absolutely crushing the Sport class, as evidenced by
him picking off guys in the Expert class.
That’s a pretty good indicator that Corey will be racing in a different
category next year.
Corey O. Chasing Paul Denis from Insight MRI
Corey O. crushed the Sport Class
Corey and I chatted
a bit until I insisted that he pass me because it was clear that he could go
faster. I knew that some of the Bikeman guys
in the Sport class had raced as Experts earlier in the year, so I was expecting
them to be right behind him… but no one came for a long time. After about 6 minutes, the guy who was in 2nd
place in the sport category caught up to me and as he passed, asked if Corey
was liable to blow up… I said… “honestly… I have no idea… the dude just started
racing bikes”. Corey has dropped
something like 70 lbs since winter and and has been riding a ton. Monster.
It was around this time that
Craig apparently sorted out whatever issues he was having because had caught me. This was fine by me, because I could stick to
his rear wheel. I think Craig and I
leapfrogged positions a couple of times but ultimately I just couldn’t keep up
so I made the decision to let him go and dial it back a bit so I wouldn’t
completely blow up nutritionally and literally.
I had to tip my hat to Craig that day… he had the legs… I did not.
I was having a hard time staying on the trail
as it was… and a physiological meltdown would not help things at all. For me, the finish line could not come fast
enough, and I finished in a little under 2.5 hours, behind Craig and Bill from
our team. Also, Corey Odermann was able
to hold on to win the overall sport class race, and Julie Brown won her
division as well. Not too bad for what
is probably the last race of the year for most of us. Stay posted for a year end recap at some
point soon
Overall:
Bond Brook is an awesome venue, and the Treadfest is a great
event. Huge props to Chris Riley and his
crew, as well as the City of Augusta.
I witnessed the coolest thing I'd seen in a race that day. Dave Richard (one of the Central Maine Cycling Club Racers) did the race side by side with his young daughters, at their pace. I hope everyone cheered for them and offered support when they hopped off the trail and graciously allowed the more competitive people to pass them.
Two of the Richards looking strong!
The Richard Family Finishing Together! Freaking Awesome!
Local Races are awesome.
If we do not support them… they will not exist anymore… though this one
has caught fire
Everyone should be asking Corey O. to do a writeup for this event. The guy has dropped a ton of weight and become an animal in one season. Anyone who doesn't think they can get fit and fast needs to look to him for inspiration.
*** All Photos are from Bond Brook Tread Fest FB page.
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