Kristen Gohr (Cat 1) and Rich Cohen (Cat 4) headed up to Vermont to partake in the Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb. The race is part of the Bike Up Mountains Points Series (BUMPS) which takes into account eight major hill climbing races in four states. The time trial course climbs the east side of Appalachian Gap. The legendary climb is a classic in New England for its steep twisting grade.
Kristen Gohr had an exceptional race breaking the 7 year course record. Kristen also won her age classification for the race and the BUMPS series. Kristen again showed her strength as an elite hill climber powering up the climb like it was not even there. We look forward to seeing more great results from Kristen next year. Rich Cohen had very strong performance. Rich admits, hill climbs are not his specialty, but he can suffer it out with the best of them (see Rich's race report below)
Great job guys!!!
Article on the race:
http://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2714&Itemid=42
Race report Provided by: Rich Cohen
The Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb is a 6.2 mile time trial up App Gap in Vermont. The first 3 miles are a gradual incline until it really kicks up for the last 3 or so miles. As I lined up, my strategy was to start slow and increase the pace over time. Seth Haskell once told me to TT is like rolling out a carpet. Sound advice. I took off and my HR spiked. I could not understand why, as I was just starting. Then it occurred to me that Kristen Gohr was 30 seconds behind me, adding a completely unpleasant layer of pressure. After a few minutes, I decided to take a look. She was a fair distance back. I thought to myself, WOW, I am having a great day. Maybe I can hold her off for a little bit. I settled in, blinked my eyes a few times, cleared my throat and jumped out of my skin as Kristen cranked past me like I was standing still. I honestly have no idea how fast she was going but considering how much distance she just covered, she was flying. As I watched her disappear into the distance, passing other riders, I knew she was having a good ride. My vision of grandeur erased, I watched my HR go back down to an easy 182 BPM, having the additional pressure removed in a blink of an eye. Kristen had an awesome race, shattering the course record that has stood for 7 years. She also won her age group for this race and for the 2009 BUMPS series. Congratulations to Kristen on an amazing result.
