Sucker Brook 2010

[taudep]

I rode the Matsers 35+ 3/4 race today. I couldn't believe people were lining up 30 minutes before the race. I decided with Scott it's best to keep warm and continued riding our bikes while people raced to get a decent starting positions. About 12 minutes before the race started, I got in a nice row with Paul, John, Scott, and myself near the back of the field. I didn't feel bad about starting far back because that's where I'm positioned next week in Gloucester and I wanted the practice the clip-in-under-pressure-and-pass-like-a-mad-man on the outside during the starting sprint. The only notable person behind me was Rob Bauer, where he should have stayed. But in classic Rob fashion, he rubbed his hands and cast a spell on me. He said, "I have two goals for today: 1) that Bungie does well in his race and had fun so I can continue to race CX this year....and #2) to beat Prekaski."

"Rob, you should make more realistic goals...like work on not getting lapped," I replied.

And then the whistle blew.

I met my first challenge of getting a decent clip in and having a solid start. Passed a bunch of people up the side and continued moving up until we hit the fisrt turns on the grass. I made my marks and slowly moved up the field. Scott Sweeny, John, Paul and I were all together in pretty decent position taking pulls, though I noticed that they had me lead into the head-wind starting stretch.

The race progressed and I was feeling strong for the first time in a couple of weeks. Scott and I kept swapping positions and taking spots working on up...

Then, after the sand pit pit, it happened. I jumped back on my bike on the off-camber remount and my tubular rolled off. "$@%%@$%^%#^^@^@$^!"

I picked up the bike and started running. Someone shouted that I should try rolling the tubular back on. I stopped running, and began fiddling with the tubular. Couldn't get it back on, so I let some air out. Then the tubular rolled back on but was now flat. I could here the bell-lap ringing in the distance. Dang, so close. I guess I'll get a wheel in the pit. So I rode slowly putting most my weight on the front wheel and while riding to the pit, Bauer passed me, spouting some unintelligble grunts. I got a wheel and finished the race as a small personal victory as I almost packed it in, calling it a day.

Still had a good time. Would of, could of, should of. At least it was a mechanical that took me out of this race...and Rob's voodoo.

[Bruce]

That's so cool to be able to ride together like that/ Too bad about the tire...I feel your pain. I guess aka Paul's advice we should be a little more dainty about getting back on

[onegeardoug]

I had arguably the best race of my life today, so forgive me if my report is a bit over the top...

Like Todd, I missed the sprint to the start line. I planned to be there at T minus 20, and thought I'd be safe; but it was already 3 rows deep. C'est la vie. So I road around for a few more minutes, pee'd again, and then it was 5 rows deep. Rich Person had a good 3rd row spot for me, though. Thanks dude! Pee'd in the bushes...then had a great start. I got clipped in right away and sprinted like hell to the gravel. I was sitting about 10th onto the rocks. I passed 2-3 guys in one clump, then another 2-3 in another clump; putting me in 3rd or 4th by the stairs. By the time we headed out into the woods for the first time, I was in the lead group of 3 with Chandler Delinks (cyclocrossworld.com) and Nate Campbell (seaside cycles). Nate won yesterday at Loon, and last Sunday at Catamount, so I knew I was in good company...and I'd have my hands full.

First time through the sand, Chandler stopped short and I ran right into the back of him. My front right brake pad was pushed underneath my rim, but it popped back out immediately. Whew. Shortly thereafter, it was me and Nate in the lead and Chandler dangling at 20-30 meters. We made an agreement to work together for a few laps, then fight it out at the end. It worked great. We worked well together, and I felt exceptional. Unlike other races where I was on the rivit and lighting every match I had to hold my place, I was actually resting in the draft and even when I was pulling...I was comfortable. I actually thought I should have been going faster. But we had a big gap...and there was no need.

Nate and I turned lap after lap together....and it was beautiful. Then, with 2 to go, just past the stairs, I rode through some course tape that was blowing in the wind. BAD! It wrapped around my cassette and derailleur, and immediately my drivetrain started skipping and popping between gears. Nate was behind me at the time, and said "Sorry Dude" when I stopped to try to pull it out and he had no choice but to race on. I spent about 2 seconds trying to pull it out, but saw that it would be fruitless. I was only a few hundred meters from the pit, and I had a spare wheel, so I decided to push on. I could see 3rd place coming, and I didnt' want to blow what was a perfect race...until now.

I remounted, shifted and instantly discovered that I was in a gear that didn't skip. Since I am ONEGEARDOUG...I figured I could do the rest of the race with 2 gears; this one and the harder one using the big ring. Nate was only 20 meters ahead of me when I went over the barriers, and unlike Alberto...he was waiting for me. With a bit of a dig in the woods, we were together again. We did another lap and half together, then it was ON. He pulled away coming out of the woods, into the sand. He had about 10 feet on me coming out of the sand, and I couldn't get his wheel onto the pavement. I sprinted for the show of it, but it was lost long before that.

Pre-podium, Dick Ring comes up with his microphone and starts interviewing me. My head swells as I try to sound intelligent, gracious and non-arrogant. Podium girls come up to deliver the envelopes of cash, and they kiss the 3rd place guy on the cheeks. I'm totally stoked that I brought my 'Droid and gave it to Rich Person to get a pic of me on the podium. It went instantly to facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 1077721839

It was a perfect race for me, despite the 2nd place. I felt good, I raced hard, I was carving the course like Thanksgiving Turkey, I won money AND I got kissed by girls. It doesn't get any better.

[RPerson]

I was frankly just happy to be riding my bike today. I fixed the flat I got 3 weeks ago at Monson last night so that gives you an indication of how much I've ridden. I also had a panic moment when I went to leave and was sure I should just turn home. I had to coach a 9 a.m. game and I figured if I bolted right after I could get there with just enough time to get ready. Well I counted wrong or something because when I got in the car the GPS was telling me I'd arrive 15 minutes before race time. Thanks to the cat 4's of New England though who came out in droves for this one, they added a morning field and pushed everything a wee bit late. That and a few bent traffic regulations and I was there with adequate time to reg and get ready.

I wish the race had as much excitement as the attempt to get there for me. I got a good start spot, but then spent two laps remembering how to ride my bike, apparently quite slowly. I kept fighting the whole 45 minutes, didn't get lapped by Doug and the other fast guys, didn't crash, and didn't fall victim to any of the million pointy rocks on turn 1 or in the woods. If finish times are to be believed I was THAT far back all things considered so it's one to build on. 4 more races in the next 2 weeks so I at least know I'll ride my bike that many times

[atomkin]

What a fun race! I chose to lose the "line up race" and got in another full warmup lap, before lining up in about the 6th row with Nate, 2 back from Matt, PJ, and Stefan. I figured that I may as well get in some practice trying to get by folks for Gloucester. I rode a lot smarter today, with my goal of not blowing myself up and riding backwards. I was able to handle my bike pretty well today, and picked off people as they made sloppy turns in the back field. I ran the stairs and barriers really well, consistently picking up spots in the first two laps while things were crowded. There was a "backlog" to ride over the natural barrier in the woods, so I just dismounted and sprinted past a large clump of folks. I was able to ride to the turn in the sand pit each time without incident, but chose to run the rest each lap. I was able to find a wheel each time coming back onto the pavement, which was a big help, and I had enough gas left in the tank to close a gap with my last mark and outsprint him in the finishing stretch.

I have some pictures from the Cat 4 race that Sarah took, as well as some I took of the 3/4 35+ and a few of the Cat 3, including a series showing the 2nd place guy stopping short on Doug. Check them out here http://cid-171be48b97689e18.skydrive.li ... LVcoI3o%24

What a bunch of dusty 4's.

[Bruce]

Check out picture #28! Not sure who that is with the Landry's shorts, but he was flying.

Nice job Two Gear!

[swawersik]

Thanks to Google Maps, which told me I needed an hour and a half to get to the race, I got there friggin' early (it took only an hour), so I had plenty of time to pre-ride the course with Matt and Mark, spending particular time working out how to do the sandpit. After a number of tries, I managed to ride the whole thing. I probably would have been better off not figuring it out.

Thanks to some mild pushiness and John McGrath (NEBC), who pointed out to me that guys were already lining up, I managed to get a front row slot - 25 minutes before the race was to roll off. After a few minutes, one of the USAC officials walked up and told us that they'd be staging us. It should have been a warning that he didn't know exactly how they'd be determining staging order, but I had to pee, so I gave up my front row spot. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. When I came back and there had been no effort to back guys off the line, I thought maybe I'd been duped, so I pulled an A-hole move and hopped through the side tape to line up next to Matt and PJ. They never did stage us. I'm bitter about this, as I felt really great today. As others have said, at least its good practice for Gloucester.

When the race went off, there was a large amount of elbowing and shouldering. After leaning on Matt for a few pedal strokes, some gaps opened up and I was able to accelerate into a gap on the left side, made the left turn, and picked up a bunch of spots on the gravel to be in the top 30 or so. The first set of turns was a clusterf***, as some people appeared to be acquainting themselves with the fact that their bike can turn. After riding over someone's wheel and having a guy behind me poking me in the ass as he tried to run around me, I found a wheel I knew was good. Literally - it was Mike Good (NEBC), who I knew to be a strong rider and a very good handler. We used the power sections to pick up spots and gathered into a group of 4 or 5 that was within sight of the front group going into the sand pit. I'd planned to run the pit the first time through, as did everyone else, and stayed with the group to end the first lap.

We stayed smooth and together in somewhere around 20th (give or take) for the grass section of the second lap, until the guy in front of me screwed up the second steep uphill just before the barriers. I slammed into the back of him, and my right brake lever may have examined his prostate. Someone else got their front wheel tangled in my rear quick release and I lost a bunch of spots getting unhooked. I lost more spots on the same lap trying to ride the sandpit - what I could do on my own in warmup was not going to happen in traffic with my heart rate at zone 5.

Somewhere near the start of lap 3, PJ came around me and I latched onto his wheel. Just before the turns we caught up to a Seaside Cycles rider who was clearly starting to fade. PJ made it around him, but I got caught behind him, so PJ started to pull away. I came around the Seaside guy on the upper section of the logging road. I guess he figured he couldn't hold me off by riding well, because he tried to put me into the trees as I came around him - classy move. I planned to run the second half of the sandpit, but took the wrong entry and ended up wider on the turn than I wanted to be. I don't think I lost places there, but I sure didn't gain any time.

Going into the last lap, I concentrated on catching a Newbury Comics rider who was up ahead. Over the course of the lap, I gradually closed on him, and I passed him on the pavement going into the final turn, as he looked spent. That pass apparently woke him up, as we finished with a two-up sprint for 32nd place that he won by a bike throw.

The good: Rode strong and confidently. Made good smooth turns and stayed efficient. When challenged, I didn't cede position to other riders like I've tended to do in the past.

The bad: In pre-ride, didn't think about how to work the sandpit in traffic, so was figuring it out during the race. Got snookered by the official into giving up prime position on the front row.

[Smudger]

Doug, super race and result.

[Rob]

race report:
I beat Prekaski!

images from race:
http://doublehop.blogspot.com/2010/09/sbc-2010.html

[taudep]

@Bruce, that's newer club member Mark Van Liere. Great action shot.

[scott_sweeney]

I had the pleasure of watching OGD absolutely race his ass off, and I think I'm speaking for the majority here: you rock, dude. It's a lot of fun seeing a team-mate in an uber competitive race putting the hurt on the rest of the field. You'll be on the top step soon enough!!!

[PJ McQuade]

Doug, great racing and write-up. Jens-esque with the mechanical issue and all. You're a force to be reckoned with in the 3s for sure.

I didn't have high expectations going into this since I had about 1 hr of cross practice going in and zero racing. Only thing I was clinging onto was some left over fitness from the road and some solid mtb hours as of late. Lined up 4-deep alongside Stefan and Matt. At the gun I moved up a few spots on the pavement and a few more on the gravel, but I couldn't make it near the front. Then we hit the grass section which, as Stefan noted, was something like rush hour on 128. On some of the turns I was pretty much completely stopped. In the meantime, I saw the front group already 30 seconds ahead approaching the stairs. OK, well this will be a good training race! My lack of cx training certainly showed during lap 1. Let's see, I fell going up the stairs, did a Fred Flintstone up the short grassy hill, and dismounted on the wrong side of the bike in the sand pit. Total amateur hour. I should of just kept the bottle cages and reflectors on my bike. After surviving lap 1 the race thinned out, mostly because half the field was head of me. At this point I just started gassing it. I was catching small groups here and there and my handling skills started coming back. Not fully though. I was cornering slower than paint drying. Basically I would gain ground on the straight sections and pavement then slow down on the grass. At least I know what to work on now. I did feel strong right up to the end but ran out of time. 1 more lap would have been nice.

I liked... racing cross again, racing with teammates for a change, the turkey wrap after the race, and hanging out by the sand pit watching the 35+
I disliked...my lackluster bike handling skills.

Can't wait to start racing more - like at Gloucester - nope! Denied. Family event. Good luck. See ya at Providence y'all.