Fools Classic – “Only one dirt section and we already look like Hell!”

By CJ Rudy

 

The Hell of Hunterdon hogged the goodness this year. This was obvious the morning of the ride. Last year saw 45 riders roll out while this year saw cold and wet conditions that intimidated many.

 

While the weather conditions were less than ideal the night before the event, a pre-ride email message by event director Brian Ignatin (Kermesse Sport) simply asked, “What Would Tom Boonen Do?” Apparently the entrants searched within themselves and asked the same questions, arriving at the conclusion that Tom Boonen would ride in the gritty conditions.  The roads were glazed and the dirt was waiting. Tom would definitely go; 22 riders followed his lead.  Of the participants, one rider came as far away as Maryland to take part in the ride.

 

The “Fools” were thrown deep into the grit as the peloton cruised down the first dirt sector on Cuttalossa Rd in the rain, emerging onto River Rd looking scary.  Every rider’s face was caked with mud, despite some provisional fender applications. Road grit found its way into teeth and kits in its typical manner.

 

Some riders swore allegiance to Euro riding and neglected to skip the optional portion of Bradshaw Rd.  Using the Paris Roubaix ranking system, Bradshaw’s half mile sector was rated as five-stars, as it consisted of larger stones.  Though the parallel Point Pleasant Pike was an official option, many riders cited paying for the full experience, and did not skip the sector.   

 

According to the official statistics, the Fools Classic amassed total elevation gain of ca 5,000 feet.  Of all the climbs, Lodi Hill Rd. provided a heart checker. The steepness, mixed with gravel and rain tested riders’ moxie on two switchbacks. Several climbs took place in the dank unpaved roads of Upper Bucks County. The emergence of springtime leaves created foreboding areas that bordered on eerie.

 

At mile 42, riders were greeted by wonderful volunteers at the feed zone at Tinicum Park, who offered fresh fruit, cookies, refreshments, and human contact.  The stop helped return feeling to numbed body parts. Though there is a long stretch down River Rd., the final miles of the Fools Classic were anything but easy. The final climb sent riders up and over Buckingham Mountain, better known as Holicong Rd.

 

All Fools were greeted at the finish with hot chili, hot soup, and complementary River Horse Lager and Hop Hazard.  Due to all of the no shows, each pre-registered rider left with terrific raffle prizes. 

Fools' Special Correspondent Gary Snyder decided to do a little recon for us.  Here is an excerpt of what he reported:

"I decided to head a little north on the PA side this morning to check on the conditions of a few roads,,,,,and my condition too.... overall summary of roads & me....."soft"

After a warm-up by riding River Rd north, I made the left on Smithtown Road!  It was fine going up, but I probably wouldn't descend w/ any speed on it...   It was wet, of course, but a couple of areas were soft & tire grooves have formed making things a little interesting.......but not bad, really....that was a short section...the rest was just firm, wet, mud road....."    

After riding Cafferty Rd. (road of pain), UTC, and Perry Auger, "I then thought, hmmmm-wonder what Lodi looks like.....so I went there & went up Lodi...  I put it in my lowest gear & decided to just go slow & steady....the surface was good,,,hard, wet, packed mud.   There was no evidence that they have done road resurfacing, except that there were no potholes....I was going slowly enough to look, so I thought maybe that the new composite gravel hard pack they were supposed to put down was pushed to the side by the plows??    Anyway, the freakin' hill is still there & still is a mother.

One other note, there were a few places where the "paved" surface was worse than the unpaved....freeze/thaw has destroyed a few pieces of road."


 

Brian Palmer of The Washing Machine Post did a fine write-up on our annual rights of spring, in his ever unique and eloquent style.  Please visit http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net/ and look at the March 6th entry to see the article titled, "it's hell out there".  Don't blame us if you resemble his remarks...

 

The article now resides in "the post archive" pages under the heading of "early(ish) march 2010".

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Spring Classics Series:

 

 

Other Rides & Races You Might Find Interesting

 

Paceline Products, manufacturers and distributors of many fine cycling accessories will be providing buh-bump to the Hell of Hunterdon and Fools Classic. 

buh-bump is a cream similar to the solutions used during EKG tests which greatly improves the reliability of heart monitor transmissions.  It is especially effective in cold conditions.   Look for samples in the goody bags, and full size products in the raffles.

 

Read a great review of buh-bump here.

Paceline is also trying to secure support from some of their other lines for us.

The Spring Classic Series (Fools Classic & Hell of Hunterdon) will be sanctioned by American Bicycle Racing in 2010.  Despite the name of the organization, don’t fret, these events are still rides, not races; our sanction will be for a non-competitive event.  The ABR was established to promote grassroots cycling.  Since they are not concerned with forming national teams, or winning World Championship and Olympic medals, they avoid the conflicts of interest and pitfalls that most National Governing Bodies fall prey to.  Since all of their resources are focused on their general membership, we believe they are a very viable alternative to USA Cycling, and are proud to be affiliated with them.  

Registration opened today on BikeReg.  Since the field limit is 200 riders, please don’t wait for the 10-day weather forecast.    Only pre-registered riders are eligible for all of the raffle prizes, so register today.    http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=10276

When you are battling dirt roads and harsh weather, you want your drive train to have the utmost in lubrication.   Chain-L No 5 loves the spring classic conditions, which is why they agreed to sponsor our events.  While you may be praying for a warm dry day, your chain won’t care if the opposite occurs, assuming of course you apply some Chain-L before start time.    

Please visit their website, as it contains some very interesting information; much of it is counter-intuitive.

River Horse Brewery of Lambertville, NJ sponsored the Hell of Hunterdon in 2009.  Not only did they renew their sponsorship for the Hell of Hunterdon for 2010, but they extended it to include the Fools Classic as well, crossing the Delaware River into PA.   This means the traditional finishers trophies are going to be of much higher quality this year.  Some of their products will also make it into the raffle.   We can’t thank them enough, as it couldn’t be a Belgian Themed Event without beer!