Wachusett Hillclimb

[Len_E]

Did the WaWa Hillclimb with my son Liam. Couple hundred riders showed up for 20 minutes of misery. No description of the route is necessary. Mile hill to the park, past the ranger's station and into the fog. Lots of fog such that no one could see the mile-marker signs on the side of the road. Two groups went off 5 minutes apart. The first was the youngster group - under 50 years old and the second was the old guys and special categories (clydesdales, tandems, etc.) Other than a rather excited clydesdale that knocked me off my bike at the start, there was nothing unexpected about the race. A handful of us set out on a steady pace and slowly dropped more and more riders. By the time we got 3 miles into the race the pace was pretty high and there were only about 5 guys in the break. I wanted no part of leading at any point and stayed behind a couple of climbers but there was no urgency to the pace and I was getting worried no one would make a move until the very end. After the flat section very close to the top there were only 3 of us left so as soon as we took the left onto the last bump I went for it. Only one of my two mates followed me but I had enough to hold him off at the line by a second or two to take the old guys race. Overall, I finished 7th.
However, at the podium event for the 50+ race the race director introduced me as the second place finisher behind the guy I beat to the line. Neither of us are sure what happened. He spoke to the director afterward to make sure he knew that I crossed the line but not sure what happened after that.

Liam road his first hillclimb and, despite the unrelenting pain he did well and finished 11th in the 12-20 year old division. The number of kids his age - 13 and 14 year old, is really impressive.

[Jacob]

A parenting and cycling win: hard work pays off! Nice job.

[Mkidd3]

Well done Len and Liam! MRC had a kickass weekend!

[jraguin]

Nice job Len and Liam. A win in your field and 7th overall is significant. There are some serious guys who just hill climb that do these events. No easy win that is for sure.

I didn't realize this was a mass start vs. a time trial. I would like to try a BUMPS race with a mass start one day.

[ahamilton]

Nice work Len and Liam. Wish I had been there. I actually tried to register on Tuesday and reg was closed. They closed it a week before race day, which seems a bit odd to me. Maybe next year...

[Bruce]

Wow congrats

[PJ McQuade]

Solid time, Len. Looks like all that winter/ early spring training around WaWa paid off.