The Allen Clark event is named in honor of long-time Mad River Valley resident, Allen Clark. The race starts at the intersections of Route 100 and Route 17 in Waitsfield, VT and heads up the Appalachian gap, past Mad River Glen ski area, finishing in a scenic overlook at the top of the gap. Held in early October fall, foliage is starting to cover the Green Mountains making this one of the prettiest races of the year.

The Climb

The App gap is a 6.2 mile climb gaining 1600ft of elevation for an average gradient of 5%. Don’t be fooled by the numbers, this is very much like the Kanc, and has a false flat lead in before heading up. The steepest part is the end, as is tradition with most climbs in New England!

Rough estimates using Best Bike Split with this segment and including bike weight into the w/kg calculation.

w/kg	Time
4.5	25m 39s
4.0	27m 46s
3.5	30m 26s
3.0	34m 24s
2.5	39m 39s
2.0	48m 49s

Bike Setup

Setup is similar to Greylock. You want to be fast on the flat lead-in as the first 3.4 miles are 2%, and then be able handle a quarter mile at 12.6% at the end on tired legs. Similarly, you can apply some marginal gains to balancing aerodynamics and weight!

Pacing Plan

The false flat start will give you an opportunity to settle in and determine how the legs are going in a relatively safe way. Generally speaking you should go easier on the flatter sections and then give everything on the climb.

Why? Because air resistance increases exponentially as the speed of an object increases, which means to go faster you have to put out exponentially more power. At lower speeds, and going uphill, gravity is the main force to overcome. And since gravity is a constant force, you can lessen it’s impact by being lighter.

To pace off power or RPE, for the first 3.4 miles, you want to be on the 90% or a 7 RPE. Increase a little (5% / .5 RPE) when the gradient goes up at mile 1.25 and mile 2, and then ratchet it up to 100% or 8+ RPE for the final 2.8 miles. Remember, the flat section is about a third of the total race time. For optimal pacing, Best Bike Split is your best friend (#NotSponsored)!

Pre Race

Parking is a small dirt lot behind the Information Center (also where registration is), or up a couple hundred feet on Route 100. The roads are pretty quiet, and decent for a warmup, but a trainer warmup will give you a better experience, as there aren’t any sections of road where doing a recon will be overly beneficial.

There’s no summit car, so be prepared for a short but fast descent if weather is poor.

The start is a TT start, meaning riders will go out every 30 seconds, giving you a nice carrot to chase, but remember not to chase too hard. Like many other races, the road isn’t closed to traffic, so keep an eye out for cars, especially if foliage is good, drivers are likely distracted! Luckily, this is a pretty quiet part of the state, and you’ve got nothing but your thoughts for company.

Post Race

Congratulations! The Bumps season is over, and you’re in a fantastic area for riding, eating, and drinking. Enjoy the views at the top before heading back to the car, or continue west for bonus miles, and enjoying all that the Green Mountains have to offer. Since this is the final race of the Bumps series, the organizers try and do the final points tally to announce the winners at Mad River Glen in the base lodge.

Before heading home, enjoy (responsibly) some of the best beer that the world has to offer at Lawson’s Finest Liquids and start thinking about next season.