MRC 'cross

[pace21]

Not much for race report since I'm sitting on plan waiting for takeoff. Got my first race of masters CX -- some super strong riders but the best part of cross is it's just as much fun battling the rider just ahead and just behind. Today I mostly battled the "rider behind"

Want to send a huge shout out to everyone who was there today-- great day, great fun!

[BTurner]

Chris have a great and safe trip. Awsome time today. I don't remember much about my race because my eyeballs were rolled back into my brain during much of it, but as the event went , MRC'ers put their harts out there today and it was appreciated by all.

[Smudger]

Also my first outing in the Masters 35+ 1,2,3 and got my beat down as expected. 3rd row start was great (thanks Art). Managed to slot I nicely behind Chris sitting just outside the top 10. Gave up a couple of places in the loose corners in the barn that I struggled with all day. Managed to hold my own with a group chasing . Guy from Wheelworks made a move on the 3rd lap just before the flyover. I managed to stay on his wheel and was able to stick with him when he attacked and passed a Cycle Loft rider on the steep part of the hill on the 4th lap. Was feeling good and thought I could stick with him and ride his wheel to the finish until I got to the barriers. Managed to kick the bike and dropped my chain. Stopped to pull it back on. Then rushed the remount as a couple of guys were catching fast, managed to miss my seat and landed on the back wheel. Total nut cruncher #$%=&* thought I would be able to catch these 2 guys in the last lap but couldn't get close enough.

Still got a top 20 in my 1st Masters 123 race so pretty happy.

The venue, course, and overall quality of what the club put on today was outstanding and on par with the best in New England. We should all be very proud.

[gcdavid]

Here's what I've submitted to various media outlets (minus the pictures)

Smith notches fourth victory of year and Wong first at the Cyclcrossracing.com / Minuteman Road Club Cross Race
Lancaster, MA
October 17, 2010
Gary David

The area known as Metrowest, just outside of Boston, is home to apple orchards, pumpkin patches, horse farms, and fall foliage that draw persons out from the Route 128 corridor every autumn weekend. Sunday, October 17th added another reason to come out, as the Cyclocrossracing.com / Minuteman Road Club Cross Race took place at the Fairgrounds in Lancaster. Beautiful fall conditions greeted 334 competitors to a site more traditionally known for the annual Bolton Fair (boltonfair.org) than a cross race. The new course combined power flats with technical off-camber twists and New England’s only fly-over. The pole barn that is typically home to farm animals became the location of high speed barriers (55 plus barriers.jpg – Steven Abbot (Blue Steel Cyclery) and Tery Cowman (CyclocrossWorld/Pinnacle Bike Works) battle over the barriers. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com), and the farm equipment display area became the site of the Milton Caterpillar (sponsor of LadiesFirst Racing Team) “Litter Box” sand pit.

Although many of the local elites made the trip to Delaware for the Granogue UCI races (or taking the weekend off after Gloucester and Providence), there was no shortage of competition in the top fields. Participants toed the line to challenge the fast rhythm course that many competitors said was among their favorites of the year. Beginning with a long paved straight that veered into a series of swooping switchbacks, the field quickly reached a long climb to the summit of the course. Racing up and down through tight turns and a sweeping off-camber section (course picture.jpg – A men’s field winds its way through the open features of the course. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com), the racers slalomed back down toward the pole barn section, with the Minuteman Road Club high speed barriers and woodchip turns. A twisty tree section led to an arcing speedway past the double pit and onto the asphalt again. Moving toward a grassy field of flowing turns which led to the 75 foot long sand pit. Ultimately the field reached the main attraction of the “Green Monster” fly over (sponsored by the Fruitlands Museum). While many paused during pre-ride to contemplate dropping back in on what some described as straight out of a skateboard park, there was little hesitation in the race as the natural movement of those coming up the stairs pushed those at the top back down. (gm.jpg – Men’s Elite field on the Green Monster. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com). The course design was similar to an autumn tour of local communities, with each section of the course having its own unique New England flavor and character.

Women’s 1/2/3
A familiar team dominated an abbreviated women’s field, as LadiesFirst Racing p/b Milton Cat took over the front and never let up. Andrea Smith, who has had top ten results all season at race like USGP Planet Bike, GP of Gloucester, and Providence (along with numerous wins), quickly established herself as the class of the field, powering away to a dominant win (andrea smith.jpg – Andrea Smith (LadiesFirst Racing p/b/ Milton Cat) soloing to her fourth win of the year. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com). Following behind were teammates Christina Tamilio and Anna Barensfeld (lff.jpg – Christina Tamilio and Anna Barensfeld chasing over the Green Monster. Photo: Todd Prekaski), who battled for the next two podium positions. Allison Snooks rounded out the top four dominance.

Men’s 1/2/3 Race
Forty-four competitors lined up for the premier event of the day. Many local notables were absent, with the trio of Johnson, Powers and Driscoll travelling to the World Cup race in Aigle, Switzerland and other local pros going to Granogue, Delaware. This allowed for some close competition for the top spots in the men’s field. Philip Wong (Seaside Cycle-Antero Resources), following the example set by Andrea Smith, distanced himself from the field and won in a dominant fashion by over one minute, notching his first win of the season. (pw win.jpg – Philip Wong (Seaside Cycle-Antero Resources) in his first win of the year. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com)).

The race for second place was an exciting match between Master’s competitor Curtis “Skinny” Boivin (Cyclocrossracing.com) and a young challenger Colin “Results Boy” Reuter (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles). As Boivin was a day-of registration, he started at the back of the start grid and had to move his way through the field. The two matched each other as the laps wound down, each looking to the other to pull through on the windy finishing straight. With one lap to go, Boivin made a decisive move passing Reuter to be first to the Green Monster. This proved to be the race, as Boivin was able to hold of Reuter through the quick switch back power climb that immediate preceded the downhill run to the finish straight. Reuter tried to come around but was carefully watched by Boivin, who maintained his edge to finish on the second step of the podium. (b-r battle.jpg – Curtis Boivin (cyclocrossracing.com) and Colin Reuter (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) fight for position. Photo: Russ Campbell (russcam.com)).

Men’s 35+ 1/2/3
The other marquee event of the day involved the 35+ and 45+ fields. This was a closely matched affair, as the trio of Mike Rowell (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental), Ryan Laroque (Gear Works / Spinarts) and Peter Sullivan (Svelte Cycles) distanced themselves from the rest of the field. The race was ultimately decided in a sprint between Rowell and Laroque. No stranger to the top spot of the podium, Rowell edged Laroque to take the win, with Sullivan coming in six seconds behind for third. Rowell was ultimately able to use his bike handling skills, which he hones all summer in the local mountain bike series, to carve corners and pick up speed where he needed. Eric Carlson (Blue Steel Cyclery) took top honors in the 45+ field.

Many described the course and venue as one of their favorites of the year. Considering the competition in New England cyclocross, this is high praise and provides a great foundation to build the event further. Coupled with the venue’s natural features, convenient location, and race organization are a series of flood lights that pervade the course. Typically used for the annual fair, this creates the potential for another New England night race to follow on the success of Night Weasels. The race committee is already talking with the venue proprietors to secure the site for next year’s race, with the potential for an addition event under the lights. The race also served as a fund-raising opportunity for the Nashoba Regional High School Best Buddies chapter, with cupcakes and coffee serving as pre- and post-race fuel for spectators and participants alike.

[jraguin]

Here is my perspective on the Cat 4 35+ race, which had about 90 riders in it. A bunch of other MRC guys were in it. Todd, Scott, Russ, Jeff, Doran, John Plump, etc.

I was in the 5th/6th row so I lined up so I would be on the outside of the first turn. I got a decent start in the race and avoiding some bumping/slowing down in the first turn. I passed a few people in the first section and came around to the barriers. Went through the barriers fine, but that section turned out to be my unraveling on each lap. I lost a few places on that section with a number of wide turns where I lost momentum as I almost went off the course or slide outs in the chips or dirt. By the time I got to the power straight section, I lost the wheel in front of me so I had to hammer through it pulling others behind me. Did OK in the rest of the course, of course with still trouble taking corners smoothly, but enough power to hold people off from passing me on the straights. The only bad part of the power sections was that I coasted a bit going across the finish after the first lap and Todd and a few other guys passed me. I tried to hang on to Todd after that, but frankly his turns were much too good for me to hang on. Kudos to Todd. (Note: Todd, did you have a camera on your seat post? I would love to see that video!). For the first time of my 3 races, I actually felt like I was really in the race with visibility to the leaders.

However, above repeated for the next 3 laps. Catching up & passing only 1-2 people on the power sections, losing 2-3 places on the barn/chip section. I also had a rough time navigating that left turn with the roots on it just before the flyover, including one wipeout on lap 3 there.

Last lap I was doing better on my turns and was catching a group of guys in front of me but made a horrificly bad turn late in the course, came to a virtual stop, lost a ton of time, got caught by a guy behind me but was able to hold him off and pulled away in the final sprint. Got 20th.

The MRC fan base was great… thanks especially to Chris who I could hear yelling at me every lap to get on someone’s wheel on the power sections. Thanks go out to Bruce (the chain catcher: no dropped chains!), Smudger (the advice about practicing starts in practice and doing a few starts right before the start of the race), and Bruce & Smudger for barrel racing practice which definitely helped my turns, albeit still a TON of room for improvement.

Incredible event put on by MRC. A couple of guys after the race told me “Great showing by MRC!” At first I thought they meant how we did in the race, but they were talking about the event. I was happy to do my little part at reg in the morning, but kudos to the guys who took the lions’ share of the work of organization.

[taudep]

@John, I'll be looking at that video in the next day or two.

[rusto]

With not much of a warmup (sigh), I lined up 6th row, which was surprisingly towards the front. Did my best on the first lap to just maintain position, passing some people on that first big climb then being passed later on in the turny bits of the course.

Somewhere in lap 2, Mark Van Lier passed by me (from starting in row 8) and I gave chase. Tried keeping him in sight the rest of the race. Played cat-and-mouse with Sweeney for a while too.

Lap 3, as I exited the last barn turn and approached the copse of trees by the bleachers, I snagged my left brake handle in the tape, stretching out 6 ft or so diagonally across the track - dang stuff broke so easy in the wind but wouldn't when I got caught in it. It slowed some BikeBarn guy down a half-second while I cursed a blue streak and finally freed myself.

Had to do a half dozen foot-plants on turns but was glad I had the instinct to do so, woulda definitely bit it in a few cases if I didn't.

I can hardly remember going up and over the flyover, I guess it wasn't an issue for me.

Last lap, I tried to stick with Scott but couldn't, Van Liere was out of sight but I had some guy on my tail so he would have to do for me to have any last acts of heroism. As we left the corner field before the finishing straight, he was actually breathing louder than I was, so I began to hit the gas. He matched my, likely tucked in behind me tight to stay out of the wind.

I kept shifting up and going faster and still I could hear his huffing and puffing behind me and as I hit the line, I practiced throwing my bars "just in case" but I don't think he was coming around.

I'm very pleased with how I did. My ankle/foot did not pose a problem (but did need a bag of ice when I got home) and each lap was faster than the one before (9:19, 9:09, 9:08 and 9:06). My only self-criticism was that even though my remounts went without a hitch, I did flop my ass down on the seat really hard every time - I'm lucky that the barriers were in the forgiving wood chips.

Later, when the results were up, I was not up there so I pestered JD between races and he reviewed the tape, found me and even complemented me on the throw.

And now, some pix (what a beautiful setting for photography!):

BOOF! I bet he felt THAT this morning:


Rush hour on the hill:


Nate taking an air sample:


Carl, doing his best Jim Jarmusch impression:


Jen, ripping her way down the ramp:


Anna B bounding up the flyover:


John and Chris through the tunnel:


Replenishment:


Hey Coley, I thought your back was out!


Gary David rounds a turn:


Geez, watch it with that bike, Colin!


Embro dood one-handing it on the way up:


Cat 1/2/3 winner, Philip Wong:


Here's the full gallery I've posted from the race. Putting some up on FB for your tagging pleasure as well. As before, I'm compiling collections of MRC member photos, look for a PM or FB message when they're ready.

[Smudger]

Russ,

Love the pic of Jen. The colours are so vivid you'd think it was a studio shot. Also like the black and white of Anna climbing the stairs.

[PJ McQuade]

Russ, outstanding work there. Someone needs to turn the lens on you in the races!

[atomkin]

Lined up in the 6th row, for the Cat 4 race. I set myself up on the right side, to try and take the outside line on the first turn, which worked out well for me. I punched it up the climb on the first lap, passing a number of people, but got bogged down behind some folks rounding the tree at the top. I could still see the leaders on the descent, but I was sitting somewhere in the 20's as we hit the barriers. I ran clean through the rest of the course on laps 2 and 3, picking a few off on the pavement, and at the hill climb each time. On the last lap I had moved up into 13th, but I started getting sloppy. I came into the barriers too hot, and clipped my foot as I came sprinting through, almost taking myself out. In the few seconds it took to recover, and remount, Dan from Threshold, and one of the Bikebarn guys caught on to me, and passed me as I was fumbling to get back into my rhythm. I couldn't seem to catch back onto them, and was just trying to stay ahead of the group behind me. I was about 3 seconds ahead of a Cambridge bikes rider coming into the flyover, and was working hard to keep him off me, going into the back field near the parking lot. I got too sloppy, and made a bad cut on the 180 around the fence, and got my right hood caught on it. This brought me to a complete stop, and downshifted me 3 cogs without me realizing it. As the guy behind me came around, I tried to stand up to get back on him, only to find my chain getting jammed up. By the time I was able to get moving again, my chances of catching him were pretty slim. I sprinted it out anyway, but was barely able to make contact with him at the line. In the end I finished 16th overall, which I'm pretty happy with. I'm just a little frustrated that I lost my concentration, and a few places with it. I think I was just having too much fun to keep my head in it

[rusto]

Gotta love Paul Curley's victory snot-wipe as he won the 55+ race:

[Bruce]

Nice comments from the folks like ROb Hult, Tom Stevens, Ryan Laroque and Bill Sawyer at cross practice tonight. They loved the course and the bridge. Great job Art, Gary, Ron et al. I was seriously morose that I couldn;t be there.

Bruce

[Smudger]

Great racers eye view of the course courtesy of Threshold

http://www.thresholdcycling.com/index.p ... -1-5-laps/

Who wants to own up to taking the woodchip corner in the barn almost as badly as me?

[atomkin]

Smudger, that was me in the video, softpedaling it through the woodchips after I nearly took myself out at the barriers.

[jraguin]

@John, I'll be looking at that video in the next day or two.

@Todd, any word on the video?

John

[rusto]

Good vid here at Squat Lobster's blog with many views of MRC butts as well as a great clip at the end where you see at least 2 MRC guys fly OVER the camera.

[rusto]

Hehe, I count 4 MRC guys passing by the dropped video camera:

1) Van LIere


2) Sweeney


3) Me


4) and one more... is that you Todd Savage?

[taudep]

I finally posted my seatcam of the Cat 4, 35+ race over at Double Hop.