Hanson Hills race report brought to you by the letters T, B , the number 50 and Mitch
Due to the fact that I really won’t be able to race for
the month of June I decided to try my hand in the Hanson Hills 50. With a start
time of 7:00am heading up the morning of the race just did not sound like a
great idea. So after work Friday I loaded the car with my camping gear and
headed for Grayling.
This race was kind of a two-for for me; my first foray
into endurance riding this year and the trial of the new THUNDER BURTS.
To start with the race: my alarm went off at 5:02am to a
brisk but beautiful 38 degree morning. After a quick breakfast and a long
debate about how to dress for a race that would start at 40 degrees and end at
75 I mounted my bike for the 3 ½ mile ride to the K-Mart parking lot downtown
where the race would start. There was a short rider meeting in which we were
warned about dune buggies running us over (or sharing 2 miles of trail with us)
then the police escort that would guide us through town and back to Hanson
arrived and we were ready to go. The race started with a 2 mile neutral rollout
behind the police but a bit before reaching Hanson our escorts peeled away and a
pace line formed. I kept myself in the top 10 but not right out front as I knew
there would be a few guys who were just out of their minds. We hit the trail as
one big group but quick broke off the front in a group of about 10. Over the
next 45 minutes we continued to drop people until there were only 5 of us left,
one solo 100 rider, two 100 teams, myself and a fellow 50 miler (David Sweeney).
After a few miles of fire road the three 100 mile riders pulled away (these
guys were crazy) leaving us lowly 50 mile riders on our own. At this point I
was not concerned about putting any space between David any myself I just
focused on efficient riding and picking good lines but after another 15 minutes
I started building a small gap between us. When I came through for my first lap
I heard them announce I was the first 50 mile rider through and I saw David not
too far behind.
As I started lap two, I new David could put some speed
down on the straights so I turned it up a bit in the turns and on the climbs
where I was able to pull ahead on lap one. What I did not think about was it
was 20 degrees warmer and I only had 1 ½
water bottles left so at about 2.5 hours my quads thought they wanted to try
cramping a little bit but my mind said there is no way you are letting anyone catch you. After 15
minutes of spinning my legs out nice and easy whenever possible and not pushing
too hard they were feeling much better.
All in all, lap two was pretty uneventful; I rode the entire time by
myself and built a large lead over the other 50 mile riders, but because Hanson
Hills has such a good trail it really was an enjoyable time. The next thing I
knew I was on the last big climb up the back of the ski hill with about 5
minutes of riding to go. I rode through the finish knowing I had just won my
first race in a few years, since 2011 actually.
And for the new Thunder Burts:
This was my very first ride on
these and my initial impression as I was cruising down the paved road was these
are smooth, quiet and roll fast; while you cannot really get a feel for a
mountain tire on the road, that was quickly remedied. When I was in the pace
line with everyone the Burts held their line well, there was plenty of grip in
the turns while at a good pace and most important while in a mountain pace
line, they had plenty of stopping power for the unexpected but guaranteed to
happen sudden stop for no reason.
Once I got on my own I was able to get more of a feel for
these tires and Hanson Hills was a good place to test them, there was sand,
soft loam, hard pack and just about everything in between. On the trail the
front felt twitchy for the first few turns but that was mainly due to the light
weight and good grip, if you point these tires somewhere that is where they are
going to go. Once I got used to how fast the front responded handling was razor
sharp. In sand they floated as well as any tire can be expected and did not
wiggle or slide too much. When pushed hard in a turn they provide a lot of
feedback, I could start to feel them loose traction and they would slip a
little but they had enough left that I could bring them back without a problem.
One loose climbs I did find I had to put a little more weight over the rear
tire than I am used to but that may also be down to a change in bike. One huge
advantage I noticed with these tires is how fast and eager they are to spin up
under acceleration. The light weight really shines through here. The only thing I did not get to test them in
was mud, but then again, I have no desire to test them in mud. In conclusion,
the Burt rolls like no other, holds in the turns and can climb. I have ridden
tires that will do a single one of these better, but not one that does all
three as well in combination as the Thunder Burt.
So in a nutshell:
(Next race: 6/1/14 the kids on the street travel to Stony Creek for the annual XC Marathon)
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