October 19, 2004 - Hult Wins

Peter Hult wrote this great race report as he finished the road season with a win on one of New England's toughest climbs.

Hult Wins Mt Greylock Hill Climb, October 3rd

I drove out to the Greylock hill climb early in the morning, and somehow managed to keep the Subaru rubber side down coming around the hairpin turn on route 2. I toned it down a little bit afterwards when I remembered the time Hamblen commented to Curt that, “Pete’s pretending to drive his car like it’s a WRX”. Someday it will be… but only if Hamblen wins a few more thousand dollar primes.

Warming up was interesting to say the least. A parade was taking place next to the start area, and North Adams was out in full force. I resisted the pull of the parade tailgating, and proceeded to warm-up on the parade route while flouting my flaming red and green spandex body suit. Amidst comments of, “Look mom, Richard Simmons came dressed as Santa,” and old men lamenting, “Dat is just wrong” as I rolled by. On to the race… It was a nice day, a little bit chilly, but nothing like the previous years 40-50 degree temps and pouring rain. It’s a tough climb because of the length, and there are a few steep pitches in the first 20 minutes that you need to blaze up like Phil Wong on the final pitch of Mt. Washington. On the other hand, there is an extended flat section at the top that you need to roll over as if you are Curt Davis chasing a giant donut.

The starter yelled, “Get it on!” and I was off. I ended up having a decent time, just over a minute faster than last year. Unfortunately I missed the record by an ambiguous amount, because the promoters speculate the record is “just a little bit faster than my time”… at least that’s what they tell me every year at the finish. Afterwards, I went for a ride with some of the locals and future teammate Mike Cody. Mike got confused about the seasons, ended up riding too much before and after the race, and subsequently bonked. I saved him with a Clif shot as he continued to mutter something about cyclocross.