Bethel Spring Series - Scouting Report

Thursday I drove down to Bethel to check out the course. With the record snowfall in the last couple months (and piles of snow still around up here near Hartford), I expected piles and piles of sand everywhere. In addition there's a new building that's been built on the deserted lot which we use for our start/finish area. If the tenants don't like us using a few feet of their driveway for scoring and finish line set up.

As you might imagine, I drove into the area a bit nervous about what I'd find. Ultimately, things looked pretty nice.

The first straight:

Note the virtually clean shoulders. Starting at the end of the first straight every grate is covered with wood, enabling racers to stick close to the curb without having to risk bike and limb going over uncovered sewer grates.

What we call "Turn Two":

It's a little messier but nothing major.

The Back Stretch:

Another nice looking straight. There are a few grates on this straight - and in the later races, the more aggressive ones, you'll hear racers banging over the grates regularly.

Bottom of the hill:

The sprint lane looks pretty messy. The grate pictured is covered by the wood that gets hit almost the most - as you get closer to the line, the grate covers get hit more frequently. Appropriately I assign the nicest grate covers to the "later" sewer grates. Incredibly they are the grate covers from the very first Bethel, about 15 years ago.

Halfway up the hill:

The bit of sand on the right curb actually marks the second most frequently hit grate. With the whole road closed, this bit can be curb to curb in a sprint.

And finally, the top of the hill:

A welcome sight for a racer who has about 20 meters left on their legs. For those blowing up this last bit takes an eternity to cover. The most frequently hit grate cover would sit just to the left of the curb where it disappears from the picture.

So things look absolutely awesome. This is good, right?

Well, there's only one problem. Two, possibly.

First, it's supposed to snow 4-8 inches. Like right now.

And second, the 10 day forecast shows snow for March 1.

That, for those that don't know, is currently our scheduled Sweep Day.

Arg.