night weasels

[pace21]

The bear ate me last night. Stupid bear.

Cross racing continues to be an evolutionary process for me. Last night I learned a little about prerace nutrition, in addition to repeating some lessons I already new about adequate (or inadequate, as it were…) warmup. The 5:30 start time was peculiar, in that at around 4pm I was starving, so I ate a bunch thinking that an hour and a half would be plenty of digestion time and that I didn’t want to be hungry for the start of the race. This was mistake number one. Mistake number two was showing up a little late due to work commitments, and rushing through my normal warmup procedure. (If you need to fit your warmup into a smaller window, just up the intensity, right?). I showed up on the line and all was not well. You’ve heard some Europeans speak in broken English about a “fire in my belly” – they’re usually describing a strong motivator to do well in a race – I certainly had a fire in my belly but it was more of a “5:00am after a long night of drinking” fire.

Start whistle blows, first 3 turns are great, I’m right on Peter Goguen’s wheel, and I hear Doug yelling “go get that preme!” So I hammered the rest of the climb. Interestingly, although I “hammered” the climb Peter was still pulling away, hmm. By the start of lap two I was ready to send out the Mayday call. Second time up the climb I get passed by my new nemesis Dan Baker putting me in third, so I hold his wheel till the top (perhaps that was mistake number three?). When I get to the top of the climb, all hell breaks loose. First I threw up a little in my mouth, then realized it was just the tip of the iceberg so I ducked under the tape and did my best Exorcist imitation. Unfortunately Russ was nowhere around – great photo op. After that I just settled into a groove (figuring I didn’t come out to just race a lap and a half) but after a few minutes I felt surprisingly good so I just started riding a time trial and picking off people here and there.

The worst part of my gastrointestinal infortitude was that dinner and beverages were not very enjoyable, but hanging out with everyone and watching the other races definitely was.

[Rob]

The way Peter lapped, let me be the first say it!
Can someone check that bike, there has to be motor in there!

Night Weasels Cometh was a good night of racing and chilling out with good peeps.

as for my racing, I lost to Todd P.
somebody, anybody, please talk me off this bridge!

Rob

[rusto]

Rob, the pix I got of you last night showed my why you use the handle "Pain Face"... editing now, hope to have up soon!

[taudep]

Once I heard the Richard Fries announce Peter was lapping the field. I was psyched. I didn't want to climb up that hill again. Who's sick idea was it to send the Cat 4's up that 7 times?

I was the bear's appetizer before he moved on to Chris.

[ddeitch]

I happily gave up my line to Peter over on the back 9 by the ski jump. Started cheering and didn't stop until he was out of sight over the climb. ROCKET!

My race report: It was really hard. Spent half of the first lap heckling Todd's seat cam, then got passed by Abel. Tried to keep myself entertained by playing crash in the corners bingo and catching air over the rubber mat. See the rest of my report on Craigslist under "missed connections."

[rusto]

See the rest of my report on Craigslist under "missed connections."

LMAO!

[onegeardoug]

Almost a great race for me. Front row start, second to the hole, and for the first few laps. Got caught by the eventual winner on lap 3, but then caught Nate Morse on lap 4. I'm pulling away from him as he bobbles a turn, but then notice that my front tire is getting soft. And I just passed the pit. I rode it until it was flat, then started running as fast as I could. Over the barriers, up the hill...and for a while I'm running as fast as Nate was riding. That wasn't true down the hill and on the finishing stretch though, as I run across with 2 to go. Got a wheel change, and start chasing. I caught a few racers, and charged hard. Paid for that, though, cuz on the bell lap I had 3 riders within reach and I couldn't get them. No more matches left in the book. Finished 9th, 1:30 out of first. First was definitely stronger, but 2nd was a possibility. One of those "what could have been" races...

Tires, tubes, tubulars...all causing me problems right now. Gluing new tire today, hoping for the best at Providence.

Like the Ice Weasels, the Night Weasels is an instant classic. IMO. There was lots of completely dark parts on the course, and of course lots of mud.

[rusto]

Faces of the NIght Weasels. My apologies to those I didn't get a face shot of.

(click here for larger version)

[scott_sweeney]

Russ I love your photos!

Despite a crap performance I also love all things Weasel. Dougie's right, instant classic.

Another great Goguen fam performance! Manny that finishing sprint was spectacular!

[RPerson]

Race summary: I'm just not very good right now
Upside: I'm not taking it too seriously

Had a blast both riding and watching. I simply need more time on the bike so that my race isn't a constant internal dialog about what I'm supposed to do next (No don't brake, pedal. No not now... stop pedaling and brake. Ok now weight back... now forward... now back again. Lean, turn... no not that much, unclip, hop, step, step, jump... no not that hight dummy... you get the picture). I'd love to see this race back again next year.

[taudep]

Sweet headshot photos, Russ.

[pierso]

I just forwarded the link of Russ' face shots to my parents. My mom replied "Cute. Boys like playing in mud." I think that about describes it.

It was a solid race for me. I managed to stay rubber-side down, which is always a plus. Had a real hard time with that hill in the beginning of every lap. Fortunately, I only had to do 6. Thanks to Peter for saving me from 1/7 of the suffering. I love trading places with Abel, Deitch, Mark and everybody every time we race. It's nice to have some friendly competition out there, as well as the attempted, breathless words of encouragement as we pass/get passed by one another.

Like everyone has said, the event as a whole was incredibly well done. Good times were had by all!

[rusto]

Matt Pierson is busily (and quickly) tagging away my Facebook galleries here:

• Cat 4
  
  Cat 3
  
  Women
  
  Elite

I'll have a separate, non-FB gallery up a little later today. I'll compile pics of team members and notify you of D/L location after that.

[ddeitch]

Joel and I chatted with the owner for a bit after the race. He was excited about the race, the racers, and the crowds. Mentioned the idea of an MRC STXC in the summer and he's invited us to come check out the singletrack and MX trails back in the woods.

[rusto]

Phew. Many more photos of the Cat 4 heat viewable here: click for mud. Sorry about the watermark, hoping to sell a few files to pay for a better ankle brace.

[carlshimer]

Night weasels was awesome. The only bad part was the chill that set in my bones after standing around after the race. I wanted to watch the pros - instead I went home and stood in the shower for 20 minutes

I thought the course was hard (although I don't have anything to compare it to except Wrentham). It's clear that I need to work on the basics like remounts. The off camber turns through the mud were tricky. I guess practicing on some tight turns might help. I almost bit it a couple of times on the flat section after the finish line when going through the mud. The flat section was also where I saw the most crashes when watching the threes - they would hit that little turn after then line at full speed and crumple into the inside turn right before the pits.

[taudep]

A little interview with Peter G. ON cycling Dirt.: http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/237 ... -Post-Race

[michaelcole]

A little interview with Peter G. ON cycling Dirt.

PG says that racing against the guys his own age is tougher than racing against you guys. Snap!

[rusto]

Helmet-cam video of Cat 4 first lap by the big bearded guy on the mountain bike... lots of MRC guys appear and disappear from view... who is that going down at 4'37"?

[ddeitch]

That's Abel's new special move, the "stacheplant."

[pace21]

No offense taken Ron. In motocross I'm the equivalent of cat 3 and there I can get beat by 10 year olds. The difference there is those kids are usually punks, but Peter is a great kid!

[michaelcole]

Ron (and Peter)

I wasn't trying to imply that he was bragging.
Like the man says: "It ain't braggin if it's the truth"

It's a FACT that the typical Verge series junior field is full of rocketships.

It's just funny to hear Peter (wasn't he a 10 year old just yesterday?) say that his regular junior competition is tougher than the old guys.

Just add his name to the list of Goguens who are now faster than I am.

[PJ McQuade]

Fun, hard race. Another instant classic. Racing in the mud is just plain awesome. Very impressive performance by Peter. He was out of sight fast, never to be seen again. I was happy to stay upright for a change. A mechanical issue cost me a few spots (rode the last 1.5 laps without a right cleat). I should probably go fix that now since PVD is in the morning!

[rusto]

Here's a photo of PJ's pedal, with cleat embedded:

101006-0286.jpg (68.38 KiB) Viewed 17250 times

[atomkin]

I had so much fun on this course, and I hope it comes back next year. I had a really short warmup, and a really mediocre start, which left me fighting from the back for the rest of the race. I was able to stay upright in all but one spectacular instance, the now infamous "stacheplant" that David was referring to. I think it woke me up though, and despite spending half a lap trying to hammer fist my right shifter back into place, I started moving even faster. I took full advantage of being about 15 pounds lighter than I was at Palmer, and made people cry on the hills, and runups. Traded some good natured insults/words of encouragement with David, Matt, Mark, and others. Had a good laugh, at seeing everyone, myself included wilt a little, when they annouced 5 to go 2 laps in. Had another good laugh when one of the Cambridge bike guys near the stairs yelled, "Damn, is your whole team here tonight? Aren't you all supposed to be in Wrentham?" I managed to be one of the "lucky" few that didn't get lapped by Peter, and got in my full 7 laps of suffering, finishing 26/74.