RACE REPORT: Shedd Park 1/2/3

This year I've only done UCI cross races, and I've missed a few good local ones. Finding myself with a little extra free time, I signed up for Shedd Park, because why the hell would I not do a local cross race 40 minutes from my house?

Preparation time was minimal since none of my bikes are in good shape right now. It was actually quite nice.

I had good legs despite having "trained" a bit the day before. Good as in they were attached to my body, anyway.

My staging order was second row, a first for this season, though I quickly squandered that at the start by missing my pedal.

People went forward and backward, and I eventually settled into a group with Mike, Matt Myette, Sam Morse, Synjen Marracco, Chris Hamlin, Chandler Delinks, and probably Toby Wells. Of course, I decided on lap 2 or 3 that riding in a group was no way to ride, so I attacked the shit out of the group on the running track. This may or may not have been a good decision.


Riding alone is awesome.

The next lap was mostly me coming close to falling off my bike because I now had an empty matchbook and needed to keep it going. Eventually I lost my balance on one turn going WAY too hot and Fred Flintstoned my bike to a stop. I lost a little bit of time. I tried to stay on the group but got super sloppy and burned too many matches. Sam Morse told me to stop riding poorly and I complied. But the group rode away.

With 4 to go I was alone, but looking behind me I would occasionally see Synjen hanging out. I usually pedaled harder when that happened.


He's coming to get ya.

I was continuously offered waffle and beer feeds on the hard ride up, but this is Boston, not LA and the only feeds I take look like currency. Though FourLoko might quickly become a collectors item in no time.


Thissucksthissucksthissucksthissucks

Mike shouted at me from across the course -- something about a pit? Maybe he wanted to barbecue. Turned out he needed my pit bike for the last lap, he had a flat. No problem, I needed to pass one more person anyway!

I saw Synjen coming for me so I sprinted like I almost meant it on the track, for lucky number 13. This is pretty much where I expected to be anyways, though I've yet to best Cary Fridrich this year and it is a bit troublesome. Especially since he parties harder than I do. Oh well.

Shedd Park Media Monday!

Photos by Caitlin. Click for more!

OHNOHO: Cycle-Smart International

What a fine weekend for a bike race (Pictures by caitlin)

This one is going to be brief, as pretty much every member of our team with internet access is likely to post up something about the level of awesomeness that was Northampton. Unfortunately, the races level of awesome was inversely proportional to MY level of awesome; that more or less equals 2 days of Mike sucking kind of hard, but having fun doing it.

Day one, Apocalypse 2010: The Enemy Strikes BRKZ.

Man, did I have a good start. How good? Well, I was on Jerome Townsends wheel when he hit the deck in the woods. There was a surreal "Im in front of THAT guy" moment, followed by a few more minutes of "holy shit, Im STILL in front of that guy" until we got to the open stretch after the second ballfield when "that guy" blew by me so fast he took most of my self-worth with him.

Oh, whos that trying to get around me?

I started lap 2 in the top 20. Seriously. I know because people were screaming it at me on the runup (they were as surprised as I was). In the woods, I was with 3 or 4 riders in a very tight "chase group" (meaning they were trying their damnedest to get around my slow ass). In the corner by the gazebo, all 4 of us tried to take the one line through that sketchy turn at the same time. Ultimate fail.

I got muscled into the tree at the apex of the turn, jamming my already-sad thumb and tearing open the slowly-healing wound on my hand. Weak. I wasnt really aware of any ill effects until a minute or so later, when the guys upped the pace and I just couldnt stand up to hang on. I had apparently mangled the limit screw adjustment on my thumb.

There is still some thumb-junk on my hoods.

So I moved backwards the rest of the race, getting passed by (in all fairness) guys that are usually ahead of me anyway. Im not going to lie and say it didnt sting a little when Ryan Kelly left me for dead. Cause it did. Im not going to fault him for having an amazing race, though.

B2C2, meet BRKZ


Day 2, Aiming High For The Middle:

We stayed with Caitlins parents that night, had very tasty breakfast and went back for round two of Northampton. I felt ok, my hand wasnt in terrible shape and I really, really wanted to redeem my performance from the day before. I pulled a "midpack" start number from the magic jar and heckled the 3s before warming up.

Thing was, my start stunk. The guy who staged in front of me couldnt get clipped in, and in the 3 seconds of fussing with it we both lost 20-odd places. Now starting the race in the bottom 10 riders, I had to focus on moving up. And, to my lasting surprise, I did.

In the WBRKZ (Way Behind Ryan Kelly Zone - also an easy listening station in Boise)

BRKZ me once, shame on you. BRKZ me twice...

I started picking off riders almost immediately, moving past Josh and Adam while towing an entire Pain Train out of the BRKZ. I felt great (as great as you can feel at 190BPM) and kept the pressure on, until I had blown up the group I was in and joined a new party.

That party was a little lamer (less shit-talking, more Serious Bike Racing) but we "worked together" (see description above) for 3 or 4 laps to consolidate what had to be a great position. It had to be, right?

I AM DOING SO WELL!!

Well, I had 2 misconceptions about how the race was unfolding.


1. I didnt realize then just how bad my start was and was therefore not privy to the crash that put a HUGE gap into the middle of our race.

2. I thought I was going to make it through the weekend without a mechanical.


So I was putting in the fight of my life for 30th place, and my freehub was starting to make the most hideous screeching noise. Which was fine - I didnt mind sounding like a Tie fighter at all - until the noise was followed by 2 or 3 pedalstrokes of zero engagement. The sand, though otherwise fun, had made its way into the pawls of my freehub - and the subsequent furious pedaling would occasionally drop my chain.

As they say in the ECCC: Braaaaaaaap!

Sometime around now, I noticed Rooter was a few turns back and desperate to get me some time on his "People I Passed Today" cam. Trying to get some power down, but unsure of exactly how to tap into my reserve of BRUTAL_WATTS without disengaging my drivetrain, I slowly lost contact with my chasers. Colin picked me up about halfway through the last lap and rode away - I rolled in a handful of seconds later, still thinking I had turned out a good finish.

Stop looking around Colin, you know damn well you dropped me 5 minutes ago.

33rd.

Yeah.

So, to sum up:
- One of the best races of the season, in every way.
- I (and my greedy insides) fully support what seems like everyone trying to outbake everyone else.
- More proof that the earth will not crash into the sun without the 80% rule.
- Hopefully this weekends casualties (Luca and Philip) heal up fast.
- We stuck around for awhile and helped break down the course; Jeremy Powers handed out pastries.
- Adams interview on cyclingdirt. Awesome.
- Matt Casserly has inherited my "bike curse".
- Ian is a hound-snuggler.

Ian, snuggling a hound.

See you next weekend.

When You Start Your Race in the Toilet...

your whole race is likely to end up in the toilet.

Day 2 at NoHo was my first 'cross race ever 2 years ago and for some reason I seem to keep having things go wrong at this event that involve having to go to the bathroom. The first time, I didn't drink enough water because I didn't want to have to go to the bathroom on the start line. I knew about the whole "staging by reg order" thing but I guess it didn't really sink in. I looked at 'cross as just a long STXC race, was coming off a collegiate mountain season, and my brain was just going, "HOLE SHOT!" So I drank maybe a half a bottle of water on a lovely warm 70*F day and proceeded to find out what hitting a wall meant. When I think back to the race, the only way I can describe it was that I felt like I was riding through an endless bowl of Jell-O. I hobbled across the finish line after getting lapped and made a beeline for my water bottle, and sat down to drink some water and try to figure out what on earth had just happened to me.

I wasn't able to make it to CSI last year so this year I was excited to be back and hoping to rectify my mistakes of the past. To that end, I was HYDRATED! We got there in just enough time to watch the 4s go off and not pre-ride beforehand, so after I did a bit of an off-course warm up upon arrival (aka take off on a dead sprint across the field for the bathrooms) I set about getting my things in order to be on the course the minute the 4s finished. I heard the first call to staging for the 3/4 women but hey, it's only the first call. I had time and figured I might as well finish riding the upper section of the course since I had no time to get a whole lap in. Seeing everyone milling around the start area as I was heading over, I decided I had time to make one last pit stop at the PortaPotties. And that's about where I gave up on any chance of getting in the top ten.

I came out of the bathroom to see the last rows of my field pull into the start grid. NO!!! I went running towards the grid, dragging my bike and trailing my scarf, sweatshirt, gloves, etc that I had been warming up in. I don't think I even had my jersey back on by the time I got to the starting area. Poop. I started at the back of the 75+ women field and got further held up when someone toppled over before we even hit the first turn. More poop. I avoided putting a foot down then went on the attack. My recent string of bad starting positions has taught me that the womens field usually leaves most of bike width on either side of the course so I went tearing up the side hollering, "COMING UP!" in the hopes of catapulting myself towards the front while I still had a clear-ish path. I hauled ass only to get to...the Meander Up. You couldn't even remotely call it a run up on the first lap. I did my best to make it through traffic in the twisty sections after remounting (and I must say, my field is full of some classy ladies who generously gave way and encouraged me as I came up by them. I like my friends!) and was able to work up to 13th by the end of the race. It was kind of a bummer, I was feeling great and was still gaining on the people in front of me, but holy crap was the course fun! I had such a great time riding that it made everything else okay.

Day 2 I got there earlier and was determined to get all bathroom needs out of the way nice and early. I got a few pre-ride laps in, made use of the facilities, and headed over to staging as soon as I heard the first call. My results from Day 1 at least got me a little closer to the front (yay Verge points!) and I was ready to go! There was another little pile up in the first turn before the pavement that I got stuck in and a group got off the front. I was back in chase mode and set about picking off riders. I could hear over the speakers that Emma White was way off the front with a group of 6 chasers, and I was able to bridge up to and pass all but the chase group, who remained out of sight in front of me the whole race. The last person that I was able to catch was Jen of the Cambridge team, and she has to be one of my absolute favorite people to race with. Not only is she tough as hell to get away from but any time you're near her, whether she's in front or behind you, she's cheering for you. I bobbled a little bit on the run up in the last lap and nearly missed a turn at one point and she was cheering me on, telling me I was doing great, and generally being awesome. She was right on me going down the descent from the top section but I was able to open things up a little in the turns and the sand pit and hold her off to the finish line to get 8th place. I had such a good time racing that I went through the finish and immediately headed back out for another lap just to spend more time on the awesome course.

In other team news, our cat 3 guys did well despite Casserly having mechanicals both days and Ian going covert, disgusing himself in his BU kit to be part of the ECCC competition and therefore rendering him impossible to identify and cheer on mid-race. Ryan happily had his first race in forever where he didn't have a wheel implode or chain fall apart and he was riding around with a big grin the whole time. Mike and Greg had respectable finishes in the Elite races aside from Mike having an altercation between his hand and a tree on Day 1 and Greg riding around half-blind after losing a contact lens on Day 2.

I had a really enjoyable weekend, loved the course both days, ate some tasty post-race oatmeal courtesy of Bob's Red Mill and traded cookies for shifting help with the really nice Mavic mechanic. Also, between Nor'easter and CSI I concluded that I really love the courses Myerson sets up and I definitely love the fact that he gives the womens 3/4 category 40 minute races. Considering the field sizes that we've had this year, doing 30 minute races is just way too short of a time for traffic to get sorted out; getting the extra time on the course makes a huge difference and, in my opinion, makes the race more exciting for everyone. To that end, I will be commencing an email assault on the Sterling Promoter in the hopes of getting them to consider making the races 40 minutes, and I encourage anyone who likes seeing the womens field get to race the time on the course that they paid for to do the same!

Finally, the B2C2 Bike Swap/Gear Sale is coming together nicely and we're also putting together a raffle to add to the festivities. So far on the sponsor list for the event is Cycle-Smart, Chrome, Mad Alchemy, and High & Mighty Beer Co. We're working on a few other fun things and of course, there will be baked goods as well. If you'd like a vendor space for the event ($10 per space), please email backbayc2[at]yahoo.com ASAP. We have a limited number of vendor spots and spaces are filling up!

Canton Cup and Orchard Cross (p/b bag balm)

Canton Cup!

Cyclocross in Canton from M. Watkins on Vimeo.

Question: What is sixty minutes long, has very few turns, feels like riding on velcro and hurts real bad?




I remember Canton pretty fondly. Its one of the only races I have done every year since I started 2 seasons ago, and I have actually done well every time. During my preride, I wondered what all those good memories (and inexplicably good results) were about - it is almost as if they designed a course to highlight all of my weaknesses.

Long, straight power sections? Check.
Wide open turns where line selection isnt terribly important? Check.
Get off your bike a bunch? Also check.
Completely botched laundry day so I had to wear last years skinsuit that hangs on me like I had gastric bypass surgery? Oh yeah.

Luckily, I saw through their nefarious plan and was able to capitalize on my ability to jump over some of the things they intended me to run. However, turning a waist-high bunnyhop on a trials bike into a 40cm leap on a cx machine is a bit tricky - I opted not to hop the barriers near the pit. My fear of intensive dental work overcame my fear of finishing outside the top 10.

Happytime jumpypants (photo: Doublehop)

I got a front row start, thanks to the wild-west style staging. Not that it mattered - as soon as we went off, I got RMM'ed, grabbed a handful of brake, shot backwards and went into the woods in about 40th position. I believe that this was my third RMM-job of the season. Not that I blame him; the boy has a good start.

I moved up as I could, dodging crashed riders and what I think was a wheel (!) flying past my head. I was able to jump on the Rooter-mobile just in time for him to stuff it in a corner. We take turns holding each other up at these things, you know. Luckily he was bruised but otherwise ok. Catching up to Mr. Wilcox, we (meaning Dave) tried to shut down the rapidly opening gap.

He may have been pouring a little too much lighter fluid on the fire, though. On the first set of uphill barriers, he caught a shoe and went down hard. There was literally no one in front of me at this point (not that I was in the lead, just that the lead was that far away). Sigh. We are only three and a half minutes into the race.

The next few laps were hurty. Adam Sullivan joined me, as did another guy I didnt know. Eventually so did Wilcox and (a recently healed) Kevin Sweeny. We rode together for 2 laps or so, until the pace became unacceptably slow for Dave, who proceeded to head-bob his way to (and then off) the front of our group.

Letting the Wilcox go. (photo: Doublehop)

At this point, I think Adam actually said "Come on, Mike!" and leaped ahead in pursuit. I tried to warn him. I said "Do not follow the Wilcox". He did not listen. Neither did the other guy. I did not follow the Wilcox. To follow the Wilcox is to invite disaster. Nevertheless, off they went, unprepared for the soul-destroying agony that awaited them.

Adam Sullivan was not aware that there is no man on this Earth more dangerous than David Wilcox with 2 laps to go.

I can say with certainty that he has now learned that valuable lesson.

I caught him a lap later; he was ashen-faced and in obvious pain. I informed him that he had been Wilcox'd. I was able to pull a few seconds ahead, and that was that. 11th. Not too bad - I was hoping for a top 10, but the field was pretty stacked (Keough, Lindine and Johnny Bold filled up the podium) and my awful start certainly didnt help. A big hi-five to Synjen Marrocco who landed himself a top 10 - he had a great start, held on to the chase group until almost the end and kept himself hanging a few turns up from me the whole last lap.


Orchard Cross!

Hayride indeed. (all pictures by caitlin)

I wasn't going to race Orchard. Not because I had anything against the race (I had in fact never heard of it), but because I needed some hours at work (cross sure can put you in the poor house). Lo and behold my boss, Mr. Dan Houston, said he wanted to learn how to race cross.

Since we are roughly the same size, his initial plan was to ride my bike. He was obviously unaware that my TEAMMATES regularly turn down my offers to put my bike in the pit for them. Not that it isnt a worthy machine, it just has some sort of curse, hex or bike-leprosy that makes parts inexplicably fall off, go flat or fail spectacularly. I really didnt want MY BIKE to be the reason MY BOSS broke his collarbone.

Also, the man is a pretty solid mountain biker, and has a very sweet 29er. And after riding a few laps on that course, I was kind of praying for a little suspension myself.

That course was a real grundle-buster.

Chattery, loose gravel and broken up farm roads were the order of the day. Combined with fatigue from the previous afternoon and a surprising amount of elevation gain on a lap that never seemed to end meant that my spirits were in about the same shape as my undercarriage.

Hurty, meet arty.

It was cold, but clear and dry. The crispness of the fall New England air seems to make you want to breathe harder. This place was great. The food, the band (!) and the staff were all awesome.

Oh, and Ted King was there.

Yes, the King of Style himself was going to do a local cx race. Now I dont know the man (though I spent about an hour in his wake), but I have to say that it was awesome of him to show up. Local races like this are a big part of what has made the burgeoning US cross scene so successful (to the point where folks are actually complaining about "saturation"), and big-name riders like Ted coming out to support a little race at an apple orchard is great for the organizers and fun for pretend bike racers like me to play chase-a-bike with.

Like I said, I wasn't planning on racing, so my day-of registration earned me a "back row" lineup (there were 3 rows, so not a terrible situation there). RMM showed his very mighty start once again, as I demonstrated how to move backwards (is that possible with a back row start?). According to Colins fancy new (and hopefully still legal) chainstay cam, I moved up quickly - joining him, Bradshaw, Johnny Bold and Mr. King in a hurt-filled group of panting awfulness that lasted about half a lap.

Sample Dialogue:
Colin: Im sorry, Ted King, but I have to get you on video. The internet demands it.
Ted: Are you "Colin R?"
Colin: Yes
Ted: *shifts into a harder gear*

Colin, burying himself so that all of you could watch a ProTour rider in a cyclocross race, finally pulled the chute at the top of the climb before the start/finish. A gap opened up, and I then spent the rest of the race vainly searching for a wheel-teat between 3 and 30 seconds behind Ted King (whose barrier hopping style is the stuff of legend).

GET BACK HERE AND TEACH ME HOW TO BE AWESOME!

Oh, did I mention the course was even less suited for me than Canton?

More terrifying than the pounding my undercarriage has thusfar received was the ominous time splits Caitlin would provide after jumping out of the bushes to snap a picture: COLIN AND RYAN ARE 15 SECONDS BEHIND YOU!!! THEY ARE WORKING TOGETHER!!

Awesome.

In retrospect, the thought of Colin and Ryan doing anything except attacking the living hell out of each other is a little farfetched. But in that oxygen-deprived haze of seemingly endless pockmarked climbs and bumpy power sections, it seemed a very legitimate threat. That, combined with what appeared to be a diminishing gap between me and Ted got me out of the saddle and deeper into the hurt box.

Runup... sucks... so... much

I had no major mechanicals this time (I know), though on all the fast downhills my freehub made a most horrific pterodactyl noise.

You know what? Im cutting the rest of this report short so I can talk about donuts.

Sweet, sweet cider donuts. This place had them in piles (literally). You could get them in almost any form you desired (including as an ice cream sundae) but regardless of what glazed incarnation my chubby little fingers got a hold of they were duly stuffed into my eat-hole like grapeshot into the cannons on Mayres Heights. Nothing brings out my inner fat kid like sugary glaze on a fried dough-ring.

Dylan: eventual winner and Him That Walks Behind The Rows.

All in all, a good weekend: Dan acquitted himself honorably in his first cross race, Ian, Matt and Lauren had great races on Saturday (Matt and Ian less so on Sunday; their Halloween costume was "2 guys with mechanicals") and I got to eat a crap-ton of donuts.

And there was much rejoicing.

1st Annual EVENT : B2C2 Bike Swap and Gear Sale p/b the Record Company

B2C2 1st Annual Bike Swap and Gear Sale presented by The Record Company

WHEN: November 18, 2010 - 5-11pm

WHERE: 960 Massachusetts Ave, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02118 (in the Newmarket Industrial District)

WHY: To sell or buy things.

HOW MUCH: $10 for a selling space, $2 to enter. Spaces can be shared.

WHAT ELSE: Parking is available in the adjacent lot.


View B2C2 Bike Swap p/b The Record Company in a larger map

Nearby Bus and Train -- 8 and 10 bus, Boston Medical Center Orange Line.

facebook event page.

Contact backbayc2 AT yahoo.com for more information.