2008 Suckerbrook - Women's 1/2/3 Team Report
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Conditions:
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The day was bright and sunny, with temps quickly warming as the day progressed. A little warmer than desired for cross, but the dry conditions were welcome after last weekend’s wet course in Amesbury. By the time the Elite Women’s race went off at 2:00 p.m., temps were in the high 70s, and it was H-O-T!
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The Course:
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The course was a nice mix of open fields, double-track fire roads, a challenging sand feature, some off-camber grass and a slight grade paved section at Start/Finish. There was one set of traditional barriers after two short power uphills (the high-speed barriers were removed this year), and a short stair run-up. There was a new lollipop section in the woods to bypass some of the normal roots, and many of the rocks in that section were also removed (or painted bright orange ;)). Lots of high-speed grass and power sections, and very little elevation change made the course very fast.
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Results:
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NEBC also had the largest contingent of racers at the start of this race, with 4 of 14 starters! Several of the regular crew were supporting Susanne at the Portsmouth Crit (in fact, Clara Kelly went from the 3/4 ‘cross race in the morning to Portsmouth!). We’ll look forward to having Sam, Susanne, Sally and others out for future races.
Results
- Cris Rothfuss – 2nd
- Libby White – 3rd
- Cathy Rowell – 9th
- Teri Carilli – 14th
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Reports:
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[Cris Rothfuss]
It sure felt good to get the season started. At the whistle, after I finally managed to clip in, I hustled up behind Amy Wallace, who took the hole shot as she is so good at doing. We headed through the opening corners toward the first dismount at a comfortable pace. I had wanted to really bust open the beginning of this race, but got caught up following Amy’s wheel (which by no means is a slow wheel). Upon remounting after the stairs, it was clear that I had riders who were hot to trot on my heels. I punched it a little to keep from being passed and when the grass straightened out, I passed Amy to take the lead. I still couldn’t quite shake the lead out of my legs, however, and both Amy and Kate Northcott passed me by taking the 90 degree left corner in the woods to my inside. Both of them are better in the sand than I am and I lost a few bike lengths in the pit, but quickly reattached so that the three of us finished the first lap together. It was fun swooping through the grassy corners, up the stairs and over the barriers in tight unison with the two of them on the next lap. Amy hit the pit, however, calling out for different tire pressure from her crew. This allowed Kate and I to put a bit of distance on her. The rest of the race devolved into me losing time on Kate, trying to figure how and when it was happening, trying at first to reel her back in, eventually coming to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t, thus trying to fend off Libby and Amy, and unsuccessfully willing my stale legs to wake the hell up. Amy crashed on the 90 degree left gravel corner just after the start/finish straight, which left only Libby breathing down my neck. Go Libby! How excellent to see our young teammate making the transition into a full-fledged elite race “playah.”
[Libby White]
I started out in first place for the brief pavement sprint. A couple of the faster A women passed me short after that but I was still in the top five. I soon passed one of the women and a couple laps later I was on the wheel of Amy Wallace. At three laps to go Amy crashed and I made a significant gap on her. She made a gain on me for the next lap but I made time on her on the last lap, beating her in the end. I got third place! Podium! I believe I felt great during the whole race because of a honey stinger (like a GU made of honey) I had 15 minutes before the race.
[Cathy Rowell]
This is my third year at Suckerbrook, and I like the course a lot, since it suits me well (I don’t have to get off the bike too often, which at this point in the season is a good thing ;)). Last week, Mike took me out to practice riding in the sand, and I was ECSTATIC to be able to nail the sand section every time through during the race, making up time on the racers ahead. Unfortunately, I seemed to lose that time shortly thereafter trying to make the hard 180 degree right turn onto the embankment…
The positives for me at this race included a great start up the pavement, nailing the corners and the sand section, and being able to quickly take the turn from the singletrack, through the loose sand in the woods without washing out. I still need to work on my barrier technique – I kind of look like a duck trying to get over them. That means one night of nothing but barrier work for me!
My good start put me onto the gravel and grass in a good position, but I was soon passed by Alex J (IBC – one of my major cross nemisis’) and Michele K (Joe’s Garage – she had beat me the previous day as well). Going into the stair run-up, I had to pass Anna M. who couldn’t get unclipped from her pedal. She passed me back on the grass, and then yard sailed in the downhill left turn – I never saw her after that. I kept Alex, Michele and Callie M. in my sights for a couple of laps, and tried to hop on Meg B’s wheel as she went by, but she had the jet fuel packs going, and there wasn’t a chance. Each lap, I would inch closer to the 3 ahead, especially in the sand section. In the 5th lap, I finally caught and passed Callie, and then in the final lap, saw Alex just ahead as she had trouble getting over the barriers. “You can catch her,” I thought, but there just wasn’t enough room, and Alex is terrific in the sand as well. I was happy with my result, although finished just one place out of the money…
[Teri Carilli]
Given that I’ve been mostly racing the B race, I had one simple goal for Sucker Brook – don’t get lapped. Got to the race venue early and got a few good pre-race laps in to check out the course. I brought two sets of wheels with me – one with Michelin muds on them and the other Michelin Jets. Given that the course was super dry and the grass pretty short and fast, I opted to go with the Jets. I’m still debating the wisdom of that decision but on the pre-rides, they felt great.
Rolled up to the line – 13 starters which the official told me was unlucky. Actually, 13 is my lucky number so I was happy about it. I started in the second row hoping to stay as close to the pack as possible during the race. As we hit the first turn off the pavement onto the gravel I was actually about 4th or 5th from last and pretty pleased with my position. As we got off the gravel and passed the pit, my bike started feeling weird, I looked down and the back tire had flatted. :( At this point, I started kicking myself for not putting my extra set of wheels in the pit (Mistake #1: if you have spare equipment at the race, at least put it in the pit) and while I was berating myself for neglecting to do that, I slowly walked back to the start to tell the official I was a DNF. He reminded me that there was neutral support in the pit (DUH! Mistake #2: keep head in the game, be informed not only of the course but also amneties offered by the race venue) and said I could still stay in the race if I wanted. I figured I could use the workout so threw the bike on my shoulder and started sprinting for pit. The pit crew incredulously looked at me and yelled, “Did you flat at the start?!?!?!” I told them what happened as they swapped out my wheel and the leaders started coming through (so much for my goal of not getting lapped). Soon, the entire field passed as he fiddled with me bike trying to get the brake cable back on (my brakes are swapped so he was actually loosening the cable for the front wheel instead of the back) as I didn’t pay attention and was cheering for the NEBC girls going passed the pit. (Mistake #3: pay attention in the pit or do it yourself). We finally got the bike ready, I jumped on and sprinted to catch the last woman. I caught her on the grass and was going to sit behind her for a while but she was so tentative on the corners that I decided to pass her. She passed me back a little while later but as we hit the woods, I passed her again (it was pretty clear she was tentative not only on corners but even more so on dirt and sand). With that observation, I accelerated each time through the sand pit, the woods and each turn in order to put more distance between us. My goal became to make sure I finished “ahead” of her (I couldn’t really beat her since I was a lap down). Anyway, it gave me something to focus on in a race that was pretty much over in the first 60 sec for me and I loved it. She never did pass me again. Unfortunately, I never was able to catch anyone else, though. Regardless, I did feel strong for a 45 min race and despite being DFL felt like I actually accomplished something.