Canton Cup Cross - Women's Report
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Conditions:
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Unlike the previous day in Maine, the weather at Canton was cold. And windy! Spectators were decked in winter gear, and racers weren’t far behind (with the exception of a brave few who raced in short sleeves and shorts!). The course was dry though, unlike some of the previous years.
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The Course:
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The course starts with a slight uphill paved road followed by a sharp right turn onto double-track dirt, with a nasty big rock smack dab in the middle. Then you pop out onto snaky turns on grassy fields, leap over the tallest regulation barriers ever (they may say 40 cm, but when you put them on an uphill with a gully in the middle, they become sky scrapers), ride a tiny bit of single-track, and come out on a high-speed curvy asphalt path through the woods. This takes you up a short grunt of a hill, back down and up and over a short set of barriers (many of the men rode these), then onto more grass with a few 180 degree turns, a steep run-up followed by 3/4 of a lap around a running track (with a nice rubber surface, but where you definitely wanted to be drafting). More grass turns and a final set of regulation barriers brought you back to do it all again.
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Results:
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Results – 3/4 Women (35 starters)
- Clara Kelly – 3rd
- Shannon Madison – 10th
- Teri Carilli – 14th (incorrectly listed as DNF in the results)
- Jean Cunningham – 23rd
- Kathy Martin – 25th
- Janet Lorang – 26th
- Michele Archambault – 27th
- Lexi Cruse – 29th
- Linda Hood – 30th
- Karen Turer – 32nd
- Julie Lockhart – 33rd
Results – 1/2/3 Women (21 starters)
- Sally Annis – 2nd
- Clara Kelly – 10th
- Cathy Rowell – 15th
- Libby White – flat
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Reports:
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[Clara Kelly]
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/TripleP/CantonCup
I can’t wait to race on this course again. I really enjoyed the grassy sections.
3/4 – I think I lost this one because I didn’t get out fast enough and was behind too many girls when we got into the turns. I am not very aggressive passing in the turny sections.. which is a problem.. made worse by starting behind over 100 Cat 4 guys. I had a fun time passing as many folks as possible in the straights and track. I pulled a repeat of my Sunday in Gloucester – dropping the chain after hitting the rear wheel on the barrier. Bummer.
1/2/3 – More fun times on the grass. This time I had a borrowed bike which was lighter and a lot easier to get over the barrier and run-up. Downside was that I didn’t have the handling down and ran off the course a few times on some particular corners.
[Teri Carilli]
Canton is the first place I ever raced cx and perhaps because of that is one of my favorite courses, despite all the grass. Since the start is similar to Gloucester, I went with Cris’ suggestion of starting in the big ring and that worked well. Had a decent start (after watching the mens cat 4 carnage 10 sec into their start) and headed into the first twisty, grass turns pretty fast. So fast that I had to brake pretty hard to avoid a slower rider negotiating a turn which caused someone to buzz my tire and go down. Sorry about that. I fell off the leaders around the first barriers and as we hit the curvy asphalt path, Michele from ECV prodded me to pick it up and go catch them. Picked up the pace and pulled Michele with me. Almost had them until we hit that little uphill dirt off the path where the rider in front of us jumped off and forced us off our bike. Michele then made a move near the second set of barriers and was gone. Could’t catch her the rest of the race. Focused on trying to catch Giulia (IBC) and a Cambridge Bicycle rider for the remaining three laps. By the third lap, I was starting to pass some of the cat 4 men. On the last lap, I finally caught Giulia by the first barriers. The three of us kept changing position. By the time we hit the asphalt path, I was behind the Cambridge rider and letting her do the work. By the turn before the last set of barriers, I was behind both Giulia and the Cambridge rider, they slowed for the turn around the tree, I punched it to get in front. Was over the barriers first but lost them after the barriers. On the uphill sprint to the finish, I managed to catch and beat the Cambridge rider but couldn’t catch Giulia. Totally fun race. Nice to be racing instead of merely surviving. :)
[Jean Cunningham]
I liked this course! Any time I don’t have to get on and off my bike too often I’m happy, and Canton was a relatively non-technical circuit where my normal chicken factor wasn’t an issue. I wasn’t last off the start line (hooray) and decided to try to catch the small group ahead of me; generally I need to gain a bit of time on the riding sections because I know I’ll lose it on any remounts. I found the tight windy section just after the track unusually challenging, and for some reason couldn’t negotiate the left turn very well. Other observations: better to leave the long-fingered gloves on this time of year (warm easier to deal with than cold). And if you’re recognizing people in the pictures on the barriers (hello, Harry Wolfson), you’re probably not getting over the barriers fast enough. Hope to see everyone in Wrentham!
[Kathy Martin]
I got a pretty decent start and maintained a fairly good position for the first lap. I lost a several places on the uphill at the start/finish, but was able to retake them on the running track after using my roadie skills to draft and shelter from the wind. Unfortunately I lost the most of the places again at some other point in the race. I think I need to work on my stamina because I got slower each lap. On the other hand, I’ve been working a lot on cornering, and I was able to take many of the grass corners at speed by leaning my bike – that was so much fun! I was very happy that I didn’t fall (although there were a couple of times where I had to put my foot out in an apex, so still need improvement). My dismounts and remounts have become much, much smoother, although I still need to work on my approaches to barriers. I either dismount too soon or too late and could really use some consistency. Overall I really liked this course. It was a lot of fun and I felt like I had a pretty good race.
[Lexi Cruse]
I felt I was a in a little over my head before the race on Sunday… but with some fresh perspective and a little humor I persevered. Objective: smoother mounts, dismounts, and hurdles. Dismounts went much better.. remounts need work. At one point I just hurled myself completely over the bike and on the ground.. a good laugh. I was happy to finish the course upright and with a smile.
[Linda Hood]
I did my “annual” cross race on Sunday and I had a great time. My race was mainly uneventful. I did trip and fall over the uphill barriers once which was quite painful. I was back and forth with other people for the whole race which made it fun. Lexi Cruse passed me on the last set of barriers and beat me up the hill. And best of all it was nice and dry so I did not soil my new silver Sidi shoes!
[Karen Turer]
I hate to say it, but it was refreshing after Amesbury and Bedford to have a day on a dry course! I had a fun time at Canton again – I love this course. And there were lots of fellow racers to play cat and mouse with, which I really enjoyed. Also in comparison to last year, my big ring was (usually) working, so I could use it on the paved bits. My brakes were pretty weak though, which led to my one drama of the day – on the downhill/turn right/uphill before the run-up, I missed the right turn, and went barreling into the high grass and bizarre ruts off course. I was amazed I didn’t fall off, but sad that I got passed there and couldn’t get that place back – still, it was fun in a bizarre way.
I love a course with so many barriers – I definitely went ahead of people at almost every barrier in the early going. My technique’s good, it’s the engine that’s slow! :) It was great having such a big showing in our category – maybe next year they’ll split us away from the Cat 4 men!
[Julie Lockhart]
I just could not get the uphill bariers right (they seemed much taller than 40cm – in fact, there was daylight under most of the width) ... I almost fell one time when my bike did not clear the barrier. The cat 4 men falling on the start freaked me out (more than I thought it should) ... So, I was playing catch up (passed a few women and two men) then I fell (over steering) before the run up to the track, so one of then caught me I need to work on the sprinting out of the turns thing more!
[Cathy Rowell]
After standing most of the day in the cold cheering and specatating, I really didn’t feel much like racing. I had, however, paid my registration and packed my gear, so the game was on. I made my way to the line as late as possible, but still managed a front row start, and had a much better start than in the previous day’s race! Yay!
In the second lap, I was really pushing the hairy edge of the eyeball. I could see both Sue M and Marci T-H just ahead, and went slight past where I should have. How do I know? Ended up taking the skyscraper barriers in my shin! Man that hurt! But, determined, and still able to see them just ahead, I kept on going, trying to catch (I never did). I ended up racing against Hannah K who beat me by a few seconds on the final lap going over the barriers. I was happy to be finished, and knew I pushed hard when my leg hurt so badly I couldn’t put weight on it, and my stomach stayed upset for over a day ;).
[Libby White]
I decided to race in the A women’s race this weekend because I’m not allowed to race it in UCI races until my cross age is 17 (2 more years). I started the race near the front, probably top five, but I quickly fell back a few places. I was riding steadily somewhere near the middle of the pack when I got a front flat somewhere right after the right hand turn off the pavement after the finish line. Since it was my last lap I really wanted to finish, but in a way that wasn’t going to damage me or the bike. I moved in a combination of riding, running, and walking. When my dad saw me he decided to tell me to just stop right after the insane run-up.