Lee – Boom Island CX
From: Lee Penn
Date: Oct 15, 2007 8:39 AM
ha ha ha – very funny lynne!
seriously, though. i did enjoy that red lager quite a lot. i was
also a very very happy drinker!
right right – the race. wow – sara says it well when she describes cx
as absurd. it is absurd and ridiculous fun! i am soooo loving cx!
it was a great day for the rodents – i saw a bunch of us race and race
well! i look forward to other reports – both from sunday’s boom
island race and saturday’s duluth race! i’m jealous – i’d love to be
able to do a double!
anyway, this was my second cx race, and i was expecting mud and rain.
instead, we had intermittent drizzle and no mud at all. my bike,
which i love (thanks ron!), got dirty but not at all muddy.
something i did right – i got there in time to ride the course three
times before the race started. this is a good good thing cuz i’m kind
of a chicken, and i go really slow the first time around. things i
didn’t do right – i should have brought more post-race clothes and a
bigger beer cup! i need to improve my starts!
lined up with the 72 other c-racers. there was a guy on the line
finishing off a smoke… some discussion of a international champ over
on the left…. mention of the rocky trail along the river – and the
whistle!
most of other 72 started better than me – a major weakness for me -
this starting business. huge mass of bikers fighting for the front -
i’m a little bit of a chicken – well, there you go. i think i needed
to be in a smaller cog as well. then on the run-up, which was
ridiculous, i just maintained my position. at the run-up, which, as i
said before, was ridiculous, there was this mass of people and bikes
scrabbling up loose gravel and dirt. i chuckled my whole way up. at
the top, i passed a couple having trouble getting back into pedals /
onto bikes.
next major bit of the course was the iud – called the pyramid of pain
by most others. i USED to have big trouble with right turns – i’m
much better at them now thanks to dan and other gophers last monday.
i practiced that a few times before the race – a good move. after
sunday’s race, i’ve improved some more. anyway, i really pushed in
this section – not to move up but rather to see how hard i could take
the turns. swung out my back wheel a couple of times…. on the
slight downhill gravel section, i pushed the pace to pass a few.
after that first barrier, the pink mtn rider in pink almost dead
stopped right in front of me because he was having trouble clipping
in, so i put my hand on his a$$ and shoved hard, saying no no – don’t
stop!!! that meant i didn’t have to dead stop too.
i loved the piece where you’re on the asphalt and then up and then
down that little hill – turn – that was super fun. after this piece,
i learned i was in fifth position for the women. hmph. barb harrick
was in fourth position…
after that first lap, things were better spaced out, and i started
moving up more effectively. i pushed it quite a bit harder than i did
at lake rebecca. i managed to pass barb, june, and another woman
(can’t remember her name – two braides)… on the second to last lap,
i could see blue up ahead – she was the leader. i can’t remember
exactly where i passed her – i think it was in the start-finish area -
that’s just a blurr. i was focused simply on passing here and keeping
control of my bike. in the iud, i could see that she was two turns
behind me… brian was awesome in letting me by right before the iud
- i chopped – oh, i can’t remember his name, but he’s been known to
wear a california fat bastard wine jersey – in the first turn of the
iud. that was kind of hard because it meant i hd to take the steepest
line up that turn, but it was totally worth it.
then, i just kept my pace steady and hard for the last lap – what fun!
i did almost crash on that back barrier -smacked my foot pretty hard
on the barrier…. managed to stick the landing, though! had a
pretty good remount, despite this annoying stutter step i’ve
developed.
so, in the end, i don’t know where i finished out of 73, but i
finished first for the c2 race! i loved the crowd, the beer, the
course, the other riders, and watching the later races.
and, yes, i made it home just fine.
i’m really looking forward to powderhorn. i may race the c and the b
races…. i am definitely a beginner, and i think that my technical
skills need some serious work. i need to learn better bike handling
on rocky/bumpy/twisting track, and i need to lose this stutter step
and improve my starts.
there are some great photos on skinnyski – really good ones of lynne,
bill, and the gaines brothers from the c race….. check them out!
thanks for reading
lee
PS – FIRST ALL FEMALE ALLEYCAT – FRIDAY THE 19TH. 5 BUX GETS YOU AN
AWESOME RACE!
Babes in Bikeland =96 10/19/07
That’s right, the all girl alleycat is finally becoming a reality.
Save the date.
Register at 6
Race at 7
Launch from Behind Bars
$5 to ride
Afterparty at 9:30