Event: Stewart 45
Place: Stewart State Forest, Montgomery, NY
Ridden: July 2015
Click on video to play
After a few weeks of not racing, due to a last minute change of plans we decided on a whim to travel to Montgomery, NY for the MTBNJ race the Stewart 45. After not racing for a bit it was a harsh reminder of what it felt like to wake up early, spend a good chunk of time driving, and go through the pre-race rituals and nervousness; but we needed this to get us back into the grove going into a 24 hour race next week.
As the name implies, the Stewart 45 was a 45 mile race. It consisted of three 15 mile laps within Stewart State Forest. The terrain was fairly flat, only about 600 feet climbing per lap. What little climbing there was consisted of short, steep, punchy climbs often followed by short, steep descents. There were little to no technical sections, a few rocks and roots here and there but nothing technically challenging. However, there were tons of fast, sweeping turns to keep racers on their toes. This course was very similar to Fair Hill and the local Nockamixon trail system.
Maybe the course was not super challenging but the temperatures were. Temps were in the mid 90s for most of the day. The aid station volunteers certainly were kept busy handing out water and filling bottles (thank you to the volunteers!). Many racers were affected by the high temps and dehydration.
Overall this was a race that Joël and I would recommend to others. The course was well marked and the race was well organized. Post race food was good and the pay-outs for awards was high. Not the most technically challenging course, but if you are looking for a course where you are pedaling the entire time and want to work on your turns, then this is the place.
We each raced hard and were happy with our results, I was 4th open women and Joël was 8th open men.
- words by Jess
- video by Joël
