I Made the New York Times!

A story on the BUMPS challenge ran in the sports section of Sunday's Times. The online version can be read here. The printed version had more photos. It is posted below. I had hoped to score a photo in the Times, but Bill Dunkerley took these honors. My website was linked, which is cool. Thus far I pay out of pocket for domain name and hosting services. I've thought about monetizing it. I really have no idea if it is worth it or not. If the pages of content become littered with ads and it nets $10 per month, it is not worth it. $100 per month, I might consider it. The site draws well over 20,000 visits per month during the summer. Anybody out there know if this has any income producing potential?

I've been invited to participate in the organization of the BUMPS challenge as a "racer consultant." The race directors from the 9 individual events run the series. Keone Maher, the Burke Mountain hillclimb director, got the whole thing rolling. There have been other hillclimb series in other parts of the country, but nothing that matches the scope of BUMPS. Climbs from four states are represented, NH, VT, MA and NY. The series is creating a new buzz in the hillclimb scene. It will be interesting to see how participation shapes up in this abysmal economy.

Hillclimb season is upon us. The season kicks off with the Whiteface Mountain climb on Saturday. It is in the evening, after the toll road closes to traffic. Thus most competitors will spend Saturday night in the Lake Placid region. The Adirondacks are a mighty fine place to spend a day or two in June. I've been on a two year hiatus from Whiteface, so I'm anxious to see how I will do. This year I decided to skip the Housatonic road race in favor of Whiteface.

Typically I do a mountains ride the next morning. The last time I raced Whiteface, I did a recreational paced ride back to the summit early the next morning with another rider. This is permitted, actually. The toll operators only request that cyclists be off the road before the toll gate opens. It is a marvelous climb when not raced. Very peaceful. Whiteface is comparable to Alpe d'Huez in vertical and average grade.

Other years I've ridden one or two laps of the Ironman course the following morning. Quite mountainous and highly scenic. Two laps entail 112 miles with many thousands of feet of climbing. I'll have to see what interest I can stir up for the morning after for something Hill Junkie worthy.

Whiteface has seen 300 registrants in years past. Pre-reg numbers look pretty low this year, but they don't include the mail-ins on Bikereg. Many people use this option to avoid the "convenience fee."

After Whiteface comes Okemo the following weekend. Then Ascutney, Equinox, Washington and Burke, all in the BUMPS challange. I also plan to do the MTB only Mt Mansfield hillclimb at the end of August. It is not part of the BUMPS challenge. In between these events or even the day after, I plan to work in three more road races and a couple MTB races. It will be a busy couple of months. Oh, and I'm going to Colorado the third week in August. Already have my rides picked out.