Congratulations to Brian and the team for another fine result at Jiminy. Also, Laura, nice work on the track. I managed to commute on the new Cannondale to/from work four times last week. The legs are coming around. This past weekend, Deb and I did a lot of running. On Saturday morning, we ran the Salmon River 5.5 Run. It was on dirt roads along the Salmon River in East Hampton and Colchester, and on the Air Line Rail Trail. It was a nice course. We saw fellow cyclist, Trent Sullivan and his little boy. Trent pushed him most of the way before letting him finish on his feet. Deb won the women’s race pushing Shep in the Chariot. The funny part of the story is that we were really late arriving at the race. We got there at 10:00 when the race was supposed to start. Fortunately, it didn’t go off until 10:05, but we still didn’t have time to register. Deb got us permission to run without numbers. She was asked, “Are you going to win?” She said, “No, I’m pushing a baby carriage.” So, they let us run. Then, she wins! It was all good fun and the race benefitted the Colchester Land Trust.

 www.chariotcarriers.com

We have the CX-1. It is amazing.

 The Salmon River Run was just a warmup for Sunday’s main event: 7 Sisters. Sisters, is one of the epic trail races in New England.

http://www.7sisterstrailrace.com/ 

It is an out and back course in Hadley/S. Hadley, MA across a section of the Holyoke Range. It is reported as 12 miles, but the GPS reported it as a little under 11 yesterday. Who knows what to believe? Who cares? One thing that seems accurate: there is 10,000 feet of elevation change on one of the most rugged trails, the Metacomet-Mondadnock Trail (M-M), in Southern New England. Check out the GPS data. 5000 feet of up and 5000 feet of down. Even Matt would appreciate that course profile. None of this is rideable! Look at the gradient averages.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2660027 

The race starts at Mt. Holyoke State Park and goes west through Skinner State Park on its way towards the Connecticut River. The course literally goes over the porch of the Summit House on the top of Mt. Holyoke. This is the big white house you see when driving on Rt. 91 towards Northampton. The mile from the Summit House down to the turnaround is amazing. What is even more amazing is that mile back up to the house with more than 200 people headed back at you on a narrow trail. This race has an amazing vibe and the views were spectacular yesterday.

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/Skinner.gif

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/skin.htm

Deb is finally back to form and we battled the whole way. I led the first 4 miles before she picked up the pace. I caught her again on the way up to the Summit House. Then, she caught me on the descent and put a minute+ into me by the turnaround aid station. On the 800+ foot climb back up to the house, I caught her again, but she stayed in front. Then, we went back and forth at least 10 times over the next 2 miles. Every time it went up, I passed, every time it went down, she passed. Finally, she dropped me hard and I ended up 3+ minutes behind at the finish. Still, it was thrilling, especially because she won the women’s race. My hammered legs are proof how hard this race is on a “cyclist”. The Cyclonauts had a cheering section (they rode the access road to the house to watch) for a few of their gang members. Team Horst got the best of them yesterday!  One guy even wore is cycling jersey, which was pretty cool. Every finisher deserves credit. This is one tough race. I’ve done it four times now and Deb had done it eight. If you ever want a real challenge, try it!

http://www.runwmac.com/gt2007/sisters2007.html