Race reports:

08.30.2009:
OK, cyclocross season has begun!
I've gone to two races these past two weekends, Blunt Park and Palmer. Both were down in Mass. At each of these races i did both the Masters 35+ Cat 1-3 and the Cat 3-4 races, 45 minutes each. Here goes...

First off, i have a new cross machine this year. I'd had my black, steel IF for 11 years and treated myself to a scandium alloyed aluminum Salsa Chili con Cross. I built it up with a Rival/Force mix and am running a 1x10 drivetrain.

Blunt Park:
Held in a city park, the race features a 180 degree turn after the fast starting road start and several logs/roots across the course. The course is a little 'rougher' than a typical cross course (ie, it is not a crit on grass) and this year we didn't have to jump over the low wooden fence nor the 3-ft diameter log. Woo Hoo!

These races are for training for me. In the 1st race, I was 3rd to the 180 turn and the guy in front of me locked up his rear wheel and almost went down in front of me. I held on to the lead group of 4 into the 2nd lap. Then a diagonal root caught my rear wheel and took me down pretty hard. After that, my legs weren't too interested in forcing the pace and i was a little tenuous over the roots/logs. I held on to something like 8th place.

In the 3-4 race, i started in the back row of about 60 racers. It felt like i walked half the first lap as there was always a big cluster of guys trying to get through a turn or over an obstacle. I used this race as practice in passing and navigating a pack, especially as there was hardly anywhere to pass. I ended up around 20th, so i passed lots of guys.

A successful, first training weekend!

Palmer:
The tropical storm over the Atlantic started dumping rain on Fri night, and it rained the entire drive down on Sat. This course made Blunt Park look like a grass crit!!! There were lots and lots of tricky, tall roots in most of the single- or doubletrack/woods sections. I would have been happy on my full-suspension MTB there. Really. Oh, and there was the 40-ft long mud swamp crossing. Yeah, it was also KNEE deep. This is where the most fans/hecklers were cheering us on. They were offering free beers for anybody able to ride through it.

OK, well, this was a race to stay upright. The rooty sections were MTB tough. I had a knobby tubular up front and a semi-knob tubeless in the rear. Each corner was muddy and slick. In the 1st race, there were two, back-to-back run ups. By my second race, the course was soooooo slick & muddy that there at least 6 places that became run-ups. And the corners were even slicker, muddier, and more rutted. I realized that not only was i using a lot of energy pedaling and running, but the concentration to stay upright was intense!

Again, these races were training. I think that the mud took its toll on bikes and racers. I saw several guys+bikes flying through the air or into the mud. Rear derailleurs were ripped off. I made it almost to the end of the 2nd race before i slipped out in a turn and slid into the mud. Again, i think i finished about 9th in the Masters race and probably midpack in the 3-4 race.

BTW my warm up for the second race was this:
Boiling hot shower (i brought a complete 2nd kit for the 2nd race)
Sitting in car with heater on (yes, it was raining!)
Drinking a Red Bull

Thanks for reading!
tim (Young)

Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes (SABR) invites you to participate in a group discussion on rider safety next Thursday, August 6th at the Portsmouth Public Library. The purpose of this meeting is start a dialogue among cyclists, bike shop employees and group ride leaders/organizations to come up with some rules we can all follow when out on the road.

As many of you know, Cary Girod was killed earlier this month while riding her bike out in Seattle WA. Cary spent a lot of time here on the Seacoast and was a member of our cyclist community. This was a result of driver "inattentiveness" - and as Donald Girod mentioned in a story on his daughter, "we all at one time have drifted into the rumble strip...Cary was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." This was a very noble comment in light of having lost his daughter in such a tragic accident. We need to address this before someone here on the Seacoast is seriously injured. There have already been multiple cyclist/car related incidents this spring/summer.

SABR would like to see discussion among cyclists and come up with these "rules" and post them in the local bike shops, and have group riders read them at the start of very ride. WE NEED to show our respect to motorists if we expect them to respect us - we all can SHARE THE ROAD but only if there is mutual respect. All of us who have bikes most likely drive cars - so we wear both hats.

After this meeting/discussion, SABR plans to move forward and hold a public forum and invite City officials - including the Portsmouth Police Department - as well as the local press to open discussion between cyclists and motorists and develop a SHARE THE ROAD PROCLAMATION to be endorsed by the City of Portsmouth. Details to follow.

EVENT INFORMATION:

Share the Road Cyclist Forum
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Portsmouth Public Library
Hilton Garden Room
6:30 - 8:00 pm

Please RSVP if you will be attending - but if you don't PLEASE STILL SHOW UP!!!!!! And please, please, please, pass this along to anyone who you think would be interested. I want to invite the European Auto Group Ride that meets in Rye on Wednesday night, so if someone can please forward it to someone on that ride, it would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you for your support!!!!!

Susanne Delaney & SABR Board Members