2008 Gloucester Cyclocross - Women's Team Report
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Saturday Conditions, Course and Notes
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The weather was stellar on Saturday – bright blue skies with temps a little on the warm side for cross racing. As always, the wind was prominent along the water on the back half of the course.
The course layout was the same as last year’s Gloucester races. Uphill pavement start onto a slightly downhill dirt section with some tight turns, onto the seawall where we picked up speed, up a rocky incline to a grassy section leading into the first small uphill of the course. From there, we continued in the grass into the barrier chicanes, and into a wicked fast downhill grass section, past the pit, and onto the second (and windy) seawall. A hard push sent us into some tight, twisty turns on the grass before dumping racers into the playground sand section, complete with a hairpin turn! Sprinting out of the sand brought everyone to the up/down twists of the final chicanes, before heading back onto the road.
The women’s 3/4 field was told on the start that we would be doing one less lap than the U19 juniors. That meant, when we saw the lap cards at 2 to go, we really only had 1. Unfortunately, I believe they neglected to relay this message to the officials on the finishing line, causing great confusion with the women’s results, which are still incorrect after several protests and attempts to have them fixed while we were on site.
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Sunday Conditions, Course and Notes
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Sunday’s weather was a repeat of Saturday – clear, sunny skies and warm temps.
Kudos to the course staff for the changes they made between Saturday’s races and Sunday. While the start of the race was the same, Sunday brought a huge, loose run-up off of the seawall from a 90 degree right hand turn! That run up hurt every time. From here, we rode past the upper playground, around a very loose (sandy, rocky) right hand turn, back onto the grass and into an off camber approach to the barriers. This new approach was rutted and bumpy, and required some good cornering skills. The seond half of the course, with a few changes to the grass chicane section and a different approach to the sand, remained pretty much the same as Saturday.
After the challenges with the women’s results from Saturday, the officials decided to try a different approach to Sunday’s race. The U19 Juniors would go off and finish a lap before the 3/4 and Cub Juniors started their race. While this seemed confusing on the line (were we waiting for ALL of the U19’s to finish their first lap??), it seemed to end up being a good decision in the long run. I’m not sure that the U19s who were chasing and ended up BEHIND a field of 65 women would agree though ;). The good news is that the results seem to be accurate for the field on Sunday.
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Results – Saturday:
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Women’s 3/4 (62 starters – 12 NEBC!)
- Libby White – 1st
- Susanne Delaney – 5th
- Clara Kelly – 6th
- Cathy Rowell – 16th
- Teri Carilli – 35th
- Shannon Madison – 46th
(Results 49 through 57 are not posted correctly despite several protests and attempts to have fixed at the venue)
- Janet Ramos
- Michele Archambault (not listed in results)
- Kathy Martin
- Lexi Cruse
- Kathy Graves
- Julie Lockhart
Women’s Elite (32 starters)
- Sally Annis – 2nd
- Cris Rothfuss – 11th
- Sam Dery – 29th
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Results – Sunday:
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Women’s 3/4 (65 starters – 15 NEBC!)
- Libby White – 4th
- Susanne Delaney – 8th
- Cathy Rowell – 19th
- Shannon Madison – 25th
- Teri Carilli – 31st
- Janet Ramos – 38th
- Clara Kelly – 42nd
- Katherine Snell – 44th
- Michele Archambault 48th
- Kathy Martin – 49th
- Janet Lorang – 51st
- Kristen Lukach – 53rd
- Caroline Cardiasmenos – 54th
- Kathy Graves – 56th
- Julie Lockhart – 57th
Women’s Elite (26 starters)
- Sally Annis – 7th
- Cris Rothfuss – 11th
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Reports:
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[Libby White]
I started the race in the third row, which I’m not used to since I usually push my way to the front. I weaved in and out of women all the way up the pavement and after going through the first turn I had somehow maneuvered my way into third. I passed the next two girls through the course of the first lap. On the second to last lap Crystal Anthony passed me and I got on her wheel. Half way through our bell lap I realized that staying on her wheel actually used more energy so I passed her and tried to stay ahead to the best of my ability. On the final sprint to the finish I suddenly heard the announcers say “and number 284 is catching on number 267!” Darn! I went harder contrary to what my body wanted to do and managed to finish with the front of my front wheel about six inches in front of hers. I know that chances are that I won’t beat her on the second day.
I started in the third row again and got a fairly good start. As I attempted to pass one girl I said “on your right!” She started to bump me on the way down to the first turn but I was abble to pass her throught the first turn. After that she sprints up beside me and leans into me, pusshing me off the course and completely taking me out. After this I was near the middle of the pack but I kept passing people and when I went throught the pit I heard my dad yell that I was 6th. I passed one girl during the race and I passed another girl on the very end of the last lap, finishing in forth.
The next day I ran in an all womens 10k race with over 5000 women and got 199th finishing in just over 45 minutes.
[Susanne Delaney]
Saturday – Got off to an ok start, top 20, and passed several woman but then fell onto woman in fronto f me who biffed, I hit my right forearm pretty hard on her bike, think it was the top tube. I got back up and worked hard to pass some more women, then I settled in neck and neck with an woman from MRC but on the 3rd lap I managed to pass her and never saw her again. Then after the final time through the sand pit I could feel people coming up on me, it was Karen Holmes and Clara Kelly, who had crashed and caught up to me – way to go Clara! Karen got me in the sprint, and Clara was right behind me.
Sunday – Pretty good start but felt tired from day before. First time up run up was tough, hard to get by everyone. By the time I settled in I was really at a loss to where I was in the rankings, caught a glimpse of Libby on final lap but apparently there were 3 women ahead of her. Once things spaced out on the second lap the run up was much easier to pass people on, but having that extra dismount off the bike (plus barriers and sand pit which I realized was faster by running it), it really tired me out. By the sprint, I didn’t have much left. But having been my first weekend of racing I am pleased and motivated to practice more and get in better cross shape!
[Clara Kelly]
Saturday – I started in the 4th out of 6th rows and did not move up well on the hill. Maybe not aggressive enough to weave around in the group. I’ve been told that I hit the grass near the back of the field so the challenge was to pass 60 or so women. My biggest problem was the barriers. I was never able to dismount well in the S turn. When I didn’t drop the bike, I came to a full stop. However, I was able to pass a lot of riders by pedaling hard on the straight parts or running past people in the sand. While I wasn’t taking the corners with finesse, I wasn’t falling over either. I caught up to a group of 4 including Susanne. Although I didn’t know it, this group was racing for 4th. By that time, there was a large gap ahead. I chilled out behind there in the curvy section before the sand and got around Susanne in the sand. I started looking up ahead and focused on a blue jersey. When I caught the jersey, I discovered it was a dude – kind of confusing as I had forgotten we were in with the juniors. The guy caught back up to me in a curvy section and I wasn’t happy about it. I went into a corner with him too fast and went down. What a shame…Susanne and crew caught back up when I was on the ground. I got back onto the back of the group quickly enough but had lost confidence. I ended finishing with that group at 6th.
Sunday – I had a plan to sprint up the right side on the hill but I again failed to establish a position on the hill and was stuck chasing. Progressed on the run-up was severely impeded by a traffic jams of walkers. When I did get up to the top, I must have tried to throw the bike off my shoulder without bothering to get my right arm out of the frame. BAD idea. My right hand got caught in the wheel and I had to completely stop. A number of women passed me. I must have dropped my bike on the ground after the barrier because when I got back on it, the chain was off. A lot of women got around me when I was messing with that chain, so I was most certainly at the back then. Even though things weren’t going well, I thought I had a chance to catch up to top 15 or so, and once I got the chain on I pedaling as hard as my little legs would go.
Sadly, I failed to close the gap between the woman in front of me. Instead I fell father back. There was a lot of room ahead of me, and it was getting a bit lonely. Janet came up behind me and gave a lot of encouragement before passing. She really got ahead and was soon a full turn ahead of me. Then another woman passed me, and another. I was going hard, but was just moving back farther and farther in the places. On the last run up, my legs felt shot. I couldn’t believe the trouble that I was had getting my bike up the grassy hills in the easiest gear. A few times, I looked down at the gears to see what the heck was going on with the whole pedals not turning over situation. Gearing seemed to be in the right place and I blamed the slowness on fitness. The lead junior passed me coming into the barriers the last time. Then, the chase group of juniors came by. I kept moving like a turtle.
When I got back to the car, Patrick discovered that a spring had popped out of the rear brake so one side of the brake was against the wheel. The race motivated me to practice the cyclecross skills more. I know that Todd told us in the clinic not to not drop the bike on the ground, but I didn’t follow that advice when it came to race time.
[Cathy Rowell]
I’ve been waiting all year for this race. The venue and course are fantastic, and at no other time during the season (ANY of the cycling seasons) will you find Women’s 3/4 fields of over 60! I realized after a weekend of racing that there were women in my races whom I know, but never even saw…
Here are my top 10 learnings from this weekend at Gloucester:
1. NEVER, EVER take it easy on a start. Hole shots count, and everyone wants it. Drafting will come LATER.
2. Hitting the ground at speed HURTS, even if it’s grass.
3. Crashing when you are fighting for a top 10 is VERY disappointing.
4. For one lap of a race that matters, I can ignore the hurt of a crash (this wasn’t so easy the first part of this week though).
5. Finding out you finished a race and won a sprint with a wheel that wouldn’t turn helps take some of the sting out of finishing outside the top 10.
6. Cheering and screaming friends can help and hurt. They helped me win the sprint, but for Michele, it meant she couldn’t sneak by me…
7. Running around the course taking pictures of your husband racing is NOT a good warmup ;)
8. I suck at steep, loose run-ups.
9. Try not to pull your main nemesis around for the final lap – she’ll out sprint you at the end.
10. Wearing lederhosen to a ‘cross race attracts a lot of attention (and may get you free beer)!
[Teri Carilli]
Saturday – Goals for the race: ride smoothly, save enough for the a good last lap and try to finish in the top 50% of riders. Race went pretty much according to plan. Had a third row start and passed quite a few riders up the hill before we hit the dirt. The sand pit was the low point in my race. In retrospect, I should have simply gotten off and ran but it just LOOKED so rideable. And it probably was if I had been TT-ing it out there. Whole different story with others in front of you. On the third lap, as I was running with the bike shouldered, I was passed by one of the juniors whose bike got tangled with mine. Took us a bit to get our bikes untangled. On the fourth (last lap), I was feeling like I had enough left to make a serious effort at passing a group of three riders in front of me. Unfortunately, I biffed it big time in the sand pit and lost enough time that I couldn’t catch them. Geoff Martin even got a great shot of me sitting on my butt in the sand with the bike on top of me. ~sigh Still managed to have a great time.
Sunday – Goals for race: place higher than the day before, deal with the sand pit better, smile on the run-up. :) Not sure if it was the fact that I had to host a dinner party Saturday night, ate too much, drank way too much wine, etc., etc, or the run-up from hell but Sunday’s race felt a WHOLE lot harder. Again, had a third row start and got stuck behind a rider who couldn’t clip in. Grrr….. Next, on the first little uphill grass section, I saw Libby and another rider down. Had to carefully maneuver around them. I tried to just settle in for the next few laps and sit on a wheel on the long, straight grassy sections, the road, etc. On the fourth lap, I decided that I really wanted to be ahead of the woman in front of me and made the whole goal of the lap to finish ahead of her. Went into the run-up together but I beat her to the top which give me a little bit of a spurt. Tried accelerating more coming out of each turn and transition in order to put a little more distance between us. Ended up finishing ahead of her by 15 sec or so.
[Shannon Madison]
Day 1 – Apparently luck can only last so long… A few days before Gloucester I had stopped in at the shop on my ride home to get some new brake pads and a few other things. While I was there, my seatpost broke off. Yes, broke off. Right at the frame. Whoa, that was close… I could not have asked for a better place for this to happen in a million years! As I watched in amazement as it very easily cracked completely off, I could not stop thinking about how lucky I had been that it didn’t happen while I was riding. Honestly, I have no idea how it did NOT happen while I was riding. I had just finished a decently hard off-road ride even. Long story short, I now have an aluminum post for the cross bike. :-) OK, so I felt pretty lucky. Even hoped it would carry me into the weekend. Guess I pushed that luck a bit too far. On the final lap of day 1, I flatted. Go figure. I had been having a fairly decent race, but as soon as I nearly washed out on a corner I knew my luck had changed. It must have been a slow leak because my tire wasn’t completely flat. I decided it would be faster to ride at a slow and careful pace rather than to run. Who knows if this decision was a good one or not. I rode, slowly, to the sand and then ran the rest of the way to the pit for a wheel change. Turns out the Mavic rims are a bid wider than my Easton’s and my brakes weren’t happy. More time in the pit to adjust the tension and I was finally off. Then the chain fell off. Grrrr. Fixed that and finished the race. Disappointed. But, I finished.
Day 2 – Another fantastic day with respect to the weather! Got in a few good practice laps between races, so I knew what to expect in terms of course changes and condition. At the start, Clara and I lined up on the right-hand side (on the suggestion of Cris) to attempt to pass where the pavement widened. Seemed to work, if only my legs would have cooperated a bit more. All in all, I had a pretty good start. And I was happier with the way they started us wrt the U19’s too. About 2/3 of the way into the first lap, my legs reminded me that they were tired. I fought back and pushed harder. That’s pretty much how the rest of the race continued. Each time up the pavement I pushed hard and my legs felt it. Each time up the run-up it took a bit to get the legs pedaling again. And each time through the sand I had to fight again afterwards to get up to speed quickly. It was a very fun course and a very tough race. I was happy that I didn’t get another flat, but had a spare set of MY OWN wheels in the pit, just in case. It was great to have so many people cheering at every point along the course and was so fun to see so many NEBC women at the races this weekend!
[Janet Ramos]
Saturday – Today’s race went okay. I went into it with low expectations since I was dealing with “cross back” for the first time in my several years of racing cross. The start was fast, dusty, and full of mayhem. I ended up towards the back of the field so the cub juniors caught up to me and the other women near me. I do-si-doed with a couple of the cubbies in the bowl and then when we got to the sand pit everyone fell over each other. One kid was down on my left and one kid tried to ride between me and the mesh fence on the u-turn – needless to say he took me out and I then fell on him. My husband Juan was yelling “chica, run the sand” so I did for the next 2 laps. I guess the sand pit was the highlight of my race. Oh, Juan heard a guy giving a race volunteer a hard time by saying “hey, you tilled up the sand pit just before the kids race, that’s evil man, real evil.” Nice eh, they tilled it for us amateurs and not the “professors” (masters). I finished around 44th (it says I was lapped) but the final results are still messed up even though I protested them. Oh well, such is racing in a huge field.
Sunday – A much better day of racing for me – I am a better second day racer anyways. I did a much longer warm-up than the day before which helped me to jump up 6 places higher than on Saturday. I did 4 laps and that was my highlight lap since I passed 4 people which felt good. The run-up was a little brutal and on the 4th lap I was feeling cocky so I tried to ride up the dirt hump at the bottom at speed. Well, I ended up sliding out and thank god for the cheering section! One guy told me to “get up and run it off” and another guy said “think of something you like, like the beach.” My thoughts started at the beach but then went to beer (I am not a huge fan of the beach). :-) So here’s to finishing another Gloucester weekend with the largest women’s fields ever!
[Michele Archambault]
Wow. What a great experience. Gloucester did not disappoint – with the course, the crowd, the positive energy and the weather! (I know people talk about how much fun it is to race in the rain, but I will take two stellar days over rain anytime. ) The only one downfall was the results being incomplete/incorrect for the 3/4 women on Day 1. We had several conversations with the officials who promised they would fix everything, and still my name is not on the results, and others are still in the wrong order. They did, however, change how our race went out on Day 2 to help alleviate confusion.
There were lots of pictures from this race, and while I was amused by some of the faces I was making in them (I must remember to come up with a “game face”), I found looking at the pictures helpful to see the mistakes I had made, and that gave me some good information to use moving forward. As I continue to be in learning mode, here are my big lessons from this weekend: 1)Pedal. I know this seems obvious, but I have a tendency to coast on the flats. 2) Trust my bike and my bike handling skills. I am overly cautious. 3) Continually re-evaluate how you approach the course. For example while the sand was rideable on Day 1, on Day 2 this was not the case, yet I kept trying to ride it. I should’ve tried getting off and running the whole thing to see how this worked.
Next up, Canton….
[Kathy Martin]
Saturday- Was really nervous given the huge field. Was fighting the beginnings of a cold and a strained groin muscle. Got a good warmup and preview of the course. Got a halfway decent start. Was delayed by some crashes going into the woods, had to get off and run the short hill due to volume of racers and crashes. Got spooked by the amount of people and had trouble remounting. Lost many places. Pushed to regain them. Forced dismount in sand due to crashes. Pushed really hard to regain places. Made stupid mistakes by being over my limit (fell in an off-camber, loose dirt corner, got my shoe buckle caught in sand pit barrier meshing, turned too wide and got handlebars stuck in course tape) resulting in lost places. Learnings: I can’t remount properly under stress while over my limit; running the sandpit was faster than riding it (got passed by someone running while riding sand successfully); swoopy grass corners are fun!
Sunday – Resolved not to push too hard, to focus better, and not make dumb mistakes. Sadly failed to warm-up properly. Happily didn’t fall! Unfortunately lack of warm-up meant strained muscle was painful the entire race and legs had no power. All in all, though, I had more fun and was more satisfied with the way that I raced on Sunday versus Saturday. Learnings: Must get proper warm-ups! Lower tire pressure is better (thanks Oscar!); swoopy grass corners are still fun; the run-up wasn’t as bad as it looked; and I can remount really smoothly when I’m calm and collected. Overall: try to find balance between pushing enough and pushing too hard.
[Lexi Cruse]
My first race since Turtle Pond, my first cross race. Objective: Have some fun with no knee pain. Mission accomplished. It was a great day.
[Kathy Graves]
Saturday: Fun race. I was racing and close to Lexi much of the race. On road section stayed on her wheel then passed her just at the top of the hill. She passed me back one of the times I fell once in the sand and second time on steep short hill next to the woods, I lifted my wheel slightly and when it came down it was crooked and I fell hard. When finished I felt really shaky as if I might fall off my bike. I got off quickly and sat on the ground and tried to recover. Probably due to hard effort and my asthma kicking up.
Sunday: I was tired and sore from day before but had better number to start in front more. Crazy run up made for a different challenge. I tried to be a little more conservative so I would ride better line and not lose time making mistakes and falling. I did get tangled in the tape twice in the same place as the course was more beat up around the baseball field. My left cleat wouldn’t unclip like normal. I visited the Mavic guys before the race but they didn’t find anything. It made me concerned about dismounts and I flubbed two up in an effort not to get in bad spot with cleat stuck on pedal.
Overall I need to work on starting stronger and staying upright. I didn’t feel I did my best this weekend but had a great time none the less. Great to be a part of such a big and supportive team. There were so many other women racing and NEBC spectators I was encouraged continuously along the course. I feel fortunate to be part of a great team.
[Julie Lockhart]
Gloucester Goals best starts, stay in the mix
Day one the start was OK, but not stellar. had fun, was confused by results.
Day two start was terrific, kept up going up the hill, need MORE Power! However, in the ensuing mele, had an encounter with a very aggresive rider who tried to shove me over … kept my head, and my wheels on the ground .. she went on to cut off two more people, and knocking one person down, I guess I was lucky. The run up was tough but the crowd made it fun. I caught some more people, but I think my tire pressure was a bit low … Great races as always.
[Katherine Snell]
I was looking forward to Gloucester after an extremely hectic week at work and then school on Friday and Saturday. I got home after school Saturday night around 10 pm and installed a new crank and Time pedals (I was not liking the Candys) on my new ‘cross bike followed by a big rush to get to the race Sunday morning. I had just enough time to pick up my number, get my bike ready and do 10 minutes of warm-up – no time for getting used to the new pedals and getting the seat height right. Anyways I got on the course in time to pre-ride it and hopped into the staging area with about 5 minutes to spare. I lined up in great position – second row, just behind Cathy Rowell. We went off hard and I was unable to get my shoe clipped in !@#$ and watched as everybody blew past me up the start hill. Anyways I got clipped in eventually and started to try and pick up places losing a bunch more after more pedal issues after the run-up. Thus the race went – I made gains only to blow them after getting on and off the bike. On the bright side I didn’t fall in this race and I rode through the sand pit twice which would have been three times if the gal in front of me had not gotten bogged down. It was also great having so many people cheering us on (Thanks!). I’m taking a two week break off the bike and will hopefully get a little practice in before Northampton.
[Caroline Cardiasmenos]
Sunday for me was about enjoying yet another training opportunity and more importantly, my friends. I have to find the key to scheduling my business trips so they accommodate my training plan and races because I’m told sleeping before events is helpful. If you are aching for specifics, some of the positives I took away from the race were that I actually can corner quickly if I embrace the tape, I can dismount quickly for fear of a sand-pit, I can carry my bike (a lot and even if I wasn’t planning on it), I can power up a tough run-up (even if an unruly junior is trying to push me back down it) and riding near the water is a plus.
[Sally Annis]
1) pre-riding the course is very important: I happened to have some extra time so decided to try the sunday dirt run-up at about race pace and proceeded to mis-judge the turn, drop my bike and then step on it in route to a nice face plant. after a few more tries, I had eliminated the face plant and dropping the bike from my routine which was better for the race.
2) sometimes running a bit longer at the top of a run-up can be faster than immediately remounting… i passed a few people each day at the top of runups who were fumbling with remounting and I was able to easily jog past them.
[Cris Rothfuss]
This weekend reminded me of just how many variables go into a successful ‘cross race, and how it’s a rare day to hit them all at the same time. Neither Saturday nor Sunday was that rare day for me! Both days were a mixed bag that resulted in an 11th place finish. On Saturday, I had one speed only in my legs (not a bad one, but no explosive extra gear for closing gaps), good motivation and terrible skills. On Sunday, I still had one speed (but sadly, a slightly lesser one), much less fire in my belly (why on earth?), but much improved skills. On the skills side, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong remounting after the barriers (bad idea to try to corner and remount simultaneously). I cornered exponentially better on Sunday as a result of lowering my tire pressure and simply having more faith in my equipment and myself (meaning, I laid off the brakes more and just let it rip). And I felt great on the flying dismounts into the sand and the big run-up. After bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t have good legs, motivation, skills and the 1007 other necessary variables on just one of the two days in order to finally grab that elusive Gloucester top ten, it dawned on me this morning that everyone has something go awry during a CX race. That’s the nature of the beast (and part of the fun and excitement of it). It was cool to see all my NEBC friends racing and cheering. It was cool to see Sally on the podium! It was cool to get the front-row call-up. Now, if I had only known about the gigantic podium beer, I would have tried harder. ;)
[Sam Dery]
Saturday I lined up in the third row. Got a decent start. Then the full-contact chinese downhill aspect of cross would go into full affect. Apparently I have been taking this cross stuff entirely too lightly. The thought has crossed my mind “maybe a pre-race meal of raw meat would be better than a gu?” In any case, 3/4th of the way through the first lap a certain rider in a plaid kit would go down in front of me. I basically rode over her (unintentionally). That is, until our bikes became tangled. I then watched (perhaps too calmly) as she helter skelter gasping for breath tried to literally rip our bikes apart! As she hastily remounted (at this point, practically hyperventilating) she nearly took us out AGAIN. Concerned with my bike and annoyed with the unnecessary roughness I was of the mindset “you wanna go…by all means, please GO!...just get away from me!” Mentally that pretty much was the end of my race as I eventually chose to DNF. The highlight of my day was riding the sand pit…which I later realized would have been smarter (and faster) to run! Sunday I enjoyed spectating from the beer tent!