Wachusett was a huge success!
To view series results Click Here.
BUMPS now – 11 Races – 10 Mountains
New for this year - Mt. Kearsage
Saturday, September 28
Ready to roll for 2013
Citius, altius forties! Let the games begin! Heralded in with all the Olympic fanfare we can muster, the 2013 BUMPS season is about to get going. To kick things off, riders will start heading up the hill at 9:30am on May 11 in the second annual Wachusett Mountain Hillclimb. Eleven races later, riders will finish the season at the top of Vermont’s Appalachian Gap on October 6 in the Allen Clark Hill Climb.
Faster, higher, and stronger aren’t the only comparative adjectives in play this year. Add bigger and better. Bigger in that a race up southern New Hampshire’s Mt. Kearsarge on September 28 is now a part of the schedule, making for an 11-race series covering 10 climbs. Better in that last year proved that the competition – if you set aside the ridiculous indomitability of Marti Shea – is tighter than ever. Last year, 20 men finished with more than 400 points, twice the number guys who surpassed that magic mark in 2011. Expect that number to go up again in 2013.
It will also be harder, at least to accomplish what seven men and women did last year – ride in every race. With another race added to the calendar, riders will need one more notch in their belts to earn one of the coveted Ironman trophies lovingly handcrafted by Burke Mountain race director Keone Maher.
If you haven’t already signed up for Wachusett on bikereg.com, now is the time to get in the game. Although winter snows still cover some of the BUMPS race roads, spring is thankfully rushing in in a hurry. Crocuses, then daffodils, then the Wachusett Mountain Hillclimb – all signs that spring has arrived and that the summer riding season is not far ahead. Get off the trainer, get outside, and be ready for the start of the 2013 BUMPS season. Let the games begin.
2013 – BUMPS Jerseys & Socks!
You can order online at: Click Here
Socks are available for immedate shipping
Jerseys avaiable to ship in July.
2012 BUMPS season in the books:
Ahearn, Shea overall champions
The longest season in the four-year history of BUMPS came to a conclusion on a cool cloudy day in early October with the running of the Allen Clark Hill Climb, the time trial up Appalachian Gap in Waitsfield, Vermont. With the addition of the Wachusett Mountain Hill Climb on May 12 to open the season, the series for the first time involved 10 events, spanning six months.
When the final points were tallied by master BUMPS scorekeeper Raina White, the results were both surprising (on the men’s side) and as predictable as the east-rising sun (on the women’s side). For the first time in BUMPS history, the determination of the overall men’s winner came down to the final race. Going into Allen Clark, Gerry Clapper trailed overall leader Tim Ahearn by just a couple of points. By beating Ahearn to the top of App Gap, Clapper had a shot at the overall and affirmation that the over-50 crowd can still cut it when competing in hill climbs against younger punks
The women’s overall, of course, was a totally different story. In four BUMPS years, there has been one winner, the inimitable Marti Shea. In fact, let’s put forth a challenge to archivists: When was the last time Marti Shea did not win a hill climb she entered? Anybody? Anybody? The answer is not known here, and “never” is a conceivable possibility.
Looking at winners, of course, is like looking at the series with a narrowly focused spotlight. Shed a broader floodlight over the total results, and the breadth of participation reveals a better idea of what BUMPS is more comprehensively and inclusively all about. The Hensler family alone might be representative of the BUMPS-for-everyone theme.
While twentysomething Karl was one of seven ironmen and women to compete in all 10 races – Michelle Day, Lisa Perkins, Paul Mikkelsen, Greg Larkin, John Cico, and Bruce Hiltunen – mother Doris put her feet to the fire in four events as a sixtysomething. No – she wasn’t fast, but she was there. As they say in Aussie, good on ya, Doris. And perhaps even better on Karl – he takes the ironman concept to the highest level by being the only rider to have competed in every BUMPS race since the inception of the series.
Preparations are now underway for the 2013. Start your training now. There are fewer than 180 shopping days left until next year’s season opener at Wachusett.