Sugarbush Racing Club’s Second Race Jan. 17

Sugarbush Racing Club does almost the same thing every week: get ready to race, race, and party. Could sound boring, but members find the races exciting, even though the prize money is less than it is in FIS. This year SRC racers are wearing numbered bibs. It makes it easier to find yourself in the race videos. Those in the know, (i.e. those who can find the SRC web site,) can also discover the bib numbers of other racers, which allows them to offer constructive criticism of their competitor’s race technique. Just the thought of it brings a smile.

This year’s second race was held Jan 17. Participation was light again, with weather being the usual deterrent.

Elizabeth Walker won on both yellow and blue courses, with times of 33.78 and 33.93 seconds respectively. Anne Halvorsen was less than 0.3 sec behind on each course. Both women earned gold NASTAR medals. Mary Carol White was a few seconds behind and earned silver. Janella Pennington and Barbara Brady were about 10 seconds behind the winners and earned NASTAR bronze. Chelsea Winch finished in the middle of the field, but she is too young to qualify for a medal.

The men’s races showed the renewed competition between Rick Duckworth and Riley Winch. Rick had the fastest time on the yellow course, and Riley had the fastest on the blue, which was also the fastest of the day. Both Rick and Riley were faster than the pacesetter. Winch’s total time was 0.1 sec lower than Duckworth’s, but only earned him gold, while Duckworth earned platinum.

Douglas Day and Mark Haberle were about 1 second slower on each course. They earned NASTAR gold and platinum respectively.

Peter Wicklund, David Ellison, Dave Seymour, Jula Fender, and Al Hobart all finished about 2 sec slower. They earned NASTAR gold, except for Jula Fender, whose tender years limited him to silver.

Ray Bollerud, James Cutchins, Peter Koch, and Albert Pierce were this week’s silver medal men. Rich Jones had a similar time, but his experience allowed him to claim a gold medal.  Roughly 10 sec behind the leaders came the six bronze men: Peter Menkes, Al Carr, Michael Strojny, Richard Brady, Stephen Ham-Ellis and Bernie Pistilli.  David Koepele and Donald Simonini competed for gentlemanly honors by allowing everyone to finish ahead of them. Both won.

The Jan 17 Post-Race-Party was held at the Localfolk Smokehouse. The ribs were awesome! The race video was shown on the Smokehouse’s big-screen, which really helped everyone to appreciate member’s variety of race techniques. Personally, I had eaten so many ribs that I could not stay for a meal, but only had an appetizer and desert. They were equally as good as the ribs.

Today’s Party begins at 4:30 at the Avalanche Pub on Sugarbush Access Rd.

SRC and Sugarbush Race Department are offering a Women’s Race Clinic on the Racer’s Edge trail tomorrow, Friday, Jan 25. The 2 hour clinic, 10AM – noon, costs $35 per person. Men’s Rights organizations have indicated that they do not intend to picket, both because it will be too cold out and because they are afraid of cold shoulders.

The next major SRC social event is the Winter Interlude, Feb 05 at the Avalanche Pub. This festive pot luck dinner and DJ Dance begins at 6:00pm on a Tuesday evening. RPM Entertainment will provide popular dance music again this year. Cash bar. Cost will be $15.00 per person. ($20 for non member guest) Please sign up before Feb 1 by selecting the event on the CALENDAR or SOCIAL page on the Club web site: https://sugarbushracingclub.com/