Bitter Pill 2016 live updates
If things go as planned, this post will automatically publish when the race starts, and you’ll see:
- A brief course description!
- General details about where and how to be a spectator!
Here’s our twitter feed. For much of the day, we’re out of cell range, but we’ll try to get things updated here and on instagram. Tweet @gmara_org if you have something good to share. More race-day details below…
Basic details on the course:
Teams drop their bikes at Bolton Valley lodge and we bus them to the race start, at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury.
They’ll grab canoes/kayaks at 5am and have a short ~1k portage to the Winooski River.
They’ll paddle ~7k, grab a couple checkpoints and reach the Bolton Dam (Map) for a second portage.
After that portage, it’s another ~13k paddle to TA1 at the Beeken Rivershore Preserve parking area. (Map)
We expect teams to take from 3-5 hours to get to TA1 because the water level is so low. Some might be faster, some slower.
From TA1, they bike up a couple big hills, grabbing checkpoints all the way, and eventually land at TA2, the “Sugar Shack” about two miles up the Bolton Valley access road. We expect teams to arrive here anytime after 9:30. (Map)
At TA2, they drop bikes and head off on foot to find a bunch of CPs near Bone Mountain. Lots of fun terrain in the woods there!
They return to the Sugar Shack after hiking, and pick up their bikes again for the final climb up to the Bolton Valley resort, and finish on the back deck.
If you want to catch some of the action, your best bet is to start early and watch for teams on the river – the Long Trail footbridge might be nice viewing, or really any spot where you can see downriver. Once they hit bikes there’s not a great spot to find them, but if you head up to the Sugar Shack and hike into the woods from there, teams should pass you eventually.
There will be volunteers with more information at both transition areas – TA1 and TA2 – so you can also head directly there and ask what they know!
