BRC/Shedd Park Cross - Women's Report
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Conditions:
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After a full day and night of heavy rain, everyone expected a course with mud, and that’s what we got. Lots and lots of mud! The day started with overcast skies and temps in the mid 50s, but the winds picked up and by the time the Elite races went off in the afternoon, temps were down into the low 40s under sunny skies. It was colder and windier than a lot of people were expecting.
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The Course:
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For the past two years, this course has been relatively unchanged. We arrived and were surprised to see racers pre-riding out near the road into the park – clearly, the course was different this year.
First, the staging and start were on the infield of the track. This set racers off on the grass before hitting about 3/4 of a loop of the track. The tight 180 uphill corner was still a factor (and a mess in some of the bigger fields), before coming down and heading up to the side hill, which was slick with mud. For some added adventure, the organizers ran us up “the hill” twice on the course this year, with the requisite off-camber corners in between the two sections.
After that came the mud-slicked downhill chicanes. Typically, these are frozen and rutted for the early races, and dry by the later races. This year – MUD and lots of it! This was a tricky section where many riders ended up going down.
Back through the main part of the park, and the course sent you into the woods and through the mud bog. Imagine about 80 yards of thick, gooey, shoe-sucking mud. What fun! Originally, there was a set of barriers in the middle of this mud-bog, but they were removed early since most people ended up running the entire length. This actually became less rideable as the day went on, but made a good spectator section. Out of the mud, back into some twists and turns in the woods, and out onto the track to come past the start/finish.
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Results:
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Women 3/4
- Janet Ramos – 16th
- Janet Lorang – 17th
- Jean Cunningham – 18th
- Katherine Snell – 20th
- Kathy Martin – 22nd
- Karin Turer – 23rd
- Julie Lockhart – 25th
- Shannon Madison – crash
Women’s 1/2/3
- Clara Kelly – 3rd
- Cathy Rowell – 11th
- Susanne Delaney – 13th
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Reports:
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[Janet Ramos]
I have always really liked the Lowell cross race and it was nice to see a different layout of the course this year, it certainly kept things interesting. My start was not so good as I got caught in the typical first lap bottlekneck at the first corner. For some reason I got seriously distracted and I could not remount my bike (probably since I lost my momentum trying to stay upright near the downed rider at the first corner). Bummer. The toughest part of the course for me was the long mud bog/puddle thing—I ran it every time since riding it 1/3 of the way just did not cut it. My favorite parts of the course were the back section after the runup (flat), the new other back section after the mud pit, and the first swoopy u-turn (the first corner on the course). During the race I did manage to pass about 5 people so if I can get a waaaay better start this weekend, maybe I will place in the top 15 (or top 10). So here’s to better times racing in the cold and the mud. ;)
[Jean Cunningham]
Boy, what a difference a day can make. Saturday = shorts and shortsleeved jersey. Sunday = shorts, knee warmers, base layer, longsleeved jersey, and long-fingered gloves. I actually preferred the cooler weather but it was a shock to the system after the previous day’s balmy temperatures. Lowell was an interesting situation where the course seemed to get wetter rather than drier as the day went on,despite the sun and wind. So the nasty mud section that was mostly rideable before the men’s beginner race was—to me, at least—a soupy slog that I needed to run/muddle through by the time the women went off. But the course was a fun one, with enough flat power sections (love that cinder track!) that I could compensate for no remounts and needing to run two hills that others were riding.
Reflections:
- Breathe through your nose rather than your mouth when riding throughbig mud puddles. And remember that before you hit the puddle, not after.
- Don’t pay attention to the folks on the side of the mud bog yelling “ride it!” when you think running would be faster—their motivations and your objectives probably aren’t the same.
- Hooray for Dick Ring, who probably 40 minutes into the race—as I was, tiredly, running up one of the aforementioned hills—leaned over and stage whispered to me, “the gals ahead look even more tired than you do—if you push hard, you’ll catch them.” And I did. So never give up on a race before it’s over, even if your head and legs are telling you otherwise.Thanks to all who yelled encouragement—it really helps.
[Kathy Martin]
Lowell was my last race of the year. I went into the race hoping to perform similarly to the previous week at Plymouth South, where my legs felt good and I enjoyed the technical stuff. Unfortunately, I miscalculated about the weather. I only had arm warmers and a wind vest in addition to my team kit. The wind was so strong and cold that I didn’t ever really get properly warm. I was shivering when I lined up at the start and wasn’t feeling too well.
The main highlight of my race was the long mud section. Coming into the mud, I decided to try to ride it, since I have been practicing riding in mud recently. I am proud to say that I rode the mud successfully! Of my 4 lap race, I only put a foot down one time in the muddy section. Needless to say, it was great that there were so many people there cheering. They seemed to give extra cheers and motivation to those of us who attempted to stay on our bikes. Personally, riding the mud was much faster compared to the folks that were running it, plus it was a lot more fun than trudging through mud up to your ankles. ;-)
For most of the race I found myself in no man’s land. Couldn’t see anyone ahead or behind, and I suppose that made me lose some motivation. Also, my legs just wouldn’t go. Every time I finished a technical section and knew that I had to sprint out of a corner, or push as hard as I could on the track, I just couldn’t do it. Nothing there. On the plus side, I didn’t get lapped and so was able to finish out my season with a little dignity still intact. :-) I’m looking forward to a nice rest now….
[Karin Turer]
I had one of my worst performances, but it was the most fun I’ve had at a race regardless.
The cold that had kept me out of work on Thursday was still alive and kicking. This was made especially clear during the “soul-sucking mud” hill near the start – none of us could even remember it from the pre-loop, but I guess the previous race had softened it up nicely for us. By then, I was more or less alone, trading places with a few. But I was having a blast – the highlight being the mudpits! During the warmups, the mud had barriers in the middle, but now it was just a long, solid stretch of deep mud with slippery roots thrown in for good measure. I was so psyched that I pedaled straight through each lap, and on the first lap I passed another competitor for good, as I rode and she walked. Who knew I could love mud so much, especially when it’s muddy but not raining! The whole course was really fun, and I was pleased to ride it with no falls and with less brake-usage than last week. Obviously some of the not-falling comes from being slower – but still, it’s nice!
As a lapped rider, I finished on the earlier side, and had the pleasure of cheering people in. Everyone from our race ended up congregating in a small enclosure, and it was just the best scene – people congratulating each other, making introductions, comparing socks (there were four excellent pairs at Lowell – we will soon take over the world!), and just general good feelings amongst the whole field. It is pretty awesome to be in a group of happy, fun women – yes, there’s a race, but you couldn’t look at the crowd there on Sunday and not notice all the smiles and laughter. Vive le (la?) cross!
[Julie Lockhart]
Replay of Saturday, except not lost, just fogged head. Missed the start. Was allowed anyway, so spent the race catching up, and not taxing my immune system (doc’s orders) – focused on technique and different lines through difficult corners. The ‘mile long’ mud was a challenge, I rode the whole thing once and half way three times (Geoff got great pix of my fall, I think). Unfortunately, I did not ride either ‘run up’ I tried once, and only made it half way … goal for next year. Great fun, wonderful race.
[Clara Kelly]
No barriers!!! Now I could get used to this. Instead of hitting my bike on the barrier like most weekends, I got to run through a long stretch of thick mud with the bike on my back. I did a lot of running, in the muddy stretch and also on the 2nd run-up. A number of ladies were able to ride the 2nd hill, but I didn’t have success with it on the warm up so I pushed my bike up.
We started out with a lap around the track which allowed me to pass a number of ladies early. I was in maybe 5th or 6th, which is a good start for me. Unfortunately I fell on the first steep hill when I tried to ride around a girl that dismounted suddenly in front of me. A lot of people passed when I was on the ground, so it was back to normal chase mode. The chase was going slow because I was braking too hard in the corners. Cathy Rowell got stuck behind me and gave me some advice to get moving.
The next lap I came around to the same 1st hill and yelled at the girls around me not to touch my bike because I was afraid that one of them was going to take me down by weaving too close. If that didn’t scare them off, the next run through the mud did. I wacked a poor girl from NorEast with my bike when I ran by her. That was an accident, but not the first time I hit someone with my bike in a running section. I need to give the other girls some room.
With two laps to go, I was racing against a skilled rider for 2nd. She was taking the corners much faster and also rode both hills very strong. I was determined to catch her and used the track to close the gap with one lap to go. I powered up the muddy rise after the track and hit the 1st hill ahead. I didn’t know if I had the legs to ride the hill one last time…but I had to give it a shot. Didn’t make it and she totally pulled ahead once we got into the turns. Well, it was fun anyway.
I found out the next day that Jenny Ives who came in next behind me got a bad cut from a crash. I think there may have been a pile up behind me somewhere in the 2 to 3 lap to go time frame..but don’t the details.
[Cathy Rowell]
I stood in the second row on the line, and had a TERRIBLE start. I don’t even really know what happened. Before I knew it, I was DFL on the track, and going through the 180 uphill/downill turn. I tried in vain to get around a racer before the first off-camber hill, but every time I zigged, it seemed that she zagged ;). I finally got around her, and onto Sue M’s wheel. Sue is great at moving through traffic, so I stuck with her, and we moved up pretty well in the field. At one point, I ended up on Clara’s wheel going into the second hill climb, and told her that I was going left and was going to ride. She moved, but I didn’t make the hill. We went into the downhill chicanes together, and I coached her through some of the corners and back down to the main part of the park.
Going into the mud bog in the first lap was utter mayhem. I went into the mud behind Clara, and when she got bogged down and stopped, I literally ran into her – sorry Clara! We all ran through the rest of the bog, and were off.
I was still in a decent position going into the third lap. With all of the beach practice we’ve been doing, I KNEW that I could ride the mud if I tried, and on this lap, I had a clear shot at it. In I went to the cheers of the many spectators lining both sides of the bog. I kept the power on and tried not to steer the bike, but it was tough going. A short way into the bog, on the most rideable line, was a hole, followed closely by a big clump of roots. Hitting these at speed scrubbed the momentum you may have had… But, I kept on it and with a lot of cheering, managed to get all the way across and to the other side. THAT was the best part of my race.
Riding the mud gave me a gap on the racers behind me, and I tried to keep that gap. I managed to catch the two riders in front of me, but crashed at the bottom of a downhill, with both going ahead of me. After apologizing for the crash, I managed to get by both of them again in the downhill chicanes, but in attempting to ride the mud a second time, got passed by both of them again, and wasn’t able to catch them for the remainder of the race.
I ended up finishing 11th of 16. While the results don’t sound impressive, to me, I feel that I had a terrific race. Why? How can 11th place be looked at as a success? I later found out that on my third lap, I was the ONLY woman to have ridden the mud to that point – success (although Susanne later did the same)! I managed to beat someone I have not beaten in a cross race this season, and finished ahead of two of my nemeses as well – success.
You see, success in racing doesn’t ALWAYS come from winning or placing in the top 5 or 10 (although those are, of course, desired outcomes!). Success comes sometimes from races within the race, requiring us to change perspectives. Sure, I could cry in my soup about not keeping up to Sue, crashing when I did, or not finishing in the top 10, but instead, I choose to look at my wins, however small they may be.