Gopher Wheelmen Cycling Club

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Oct 15, 2007 8:54 AM

I agree with Bill regarding the weather….. It was so refreshing to
race in normal weather this weekend.

Saturday a gaggle of Gophers rolled up to Duluth for the Spirit Mtn Cx
race. Lynne represented well in the Cs, with Dan, Rich, & Myself in
the Bs. Three girls toed the line on a pavement-free course which
frankly was just superfun to ride. Rolling gravel road through the
start, rode hard corners around a shed to a barrier followed by
twisty-turny flowy single track…back to gravel & back to more flowy
singletrack. Uphill through finish to grassy section with barrier,
traversed the ski hill followed by an uphill double barrier,
re-traversing the ski sope back into a muddy double barrier before
returning to the start (gravel road). Kept Emily Moelke (sp) in sight
for the first few laps. Most notable incident (other than able to do
sort of do some blocking for Rich in the single track section) was the
last lap splat in the muddy double barrier section (which was
wittnessed by Velo Bella). Sloppy over the barriers.&! nbsp; Payout
to 3 women, and there were 3 of us, so I picked up $40 in post-race
food money. Very fun course. Would definitely go again! Post race
Fitgers meal (+ pint of ESB). Of note also is that I didn’t drink
Wheeler’s prime growler on the way home..really.

Day 2. Boom was a good time, particularly with the great Gopher
turnout in the C race (SUUUUUUUUUUUE, Lynne, Chris, Lee, Gains Bros,
and Bill), where it appeared there were some epic battles in the
womens race. Nice ride by Lee with her win!

In the womens B race we had a handfull of riders (2 ridley, 1 h-wood,
MTBer Kyia, and BWARC). Started with the men. Chose to try to
advance position by running around the crash in the first corner, but
I was already at the back of the pack & stayed there throughout the
race. Need to work a bit on those starts! Not as sloppy as I was
with the bike in Duluth, but still sufficiently sloppy to lose
additional positions through the first tent barrier as I attempted a
pirouette (sp) on my knees! Next lap I think I almost lost the front
end on the twisty-turny section, but not due to tire choice…operator
error. Focused on picking off guys in front of me…. Fun course,
good effort, physically felt better than in Duluth, but need to stop
the mistakes!! Seemed, however, to have ridden a better race at boom
this year compared to last year. At one point JeffI came by having a
good race! Post race b! rews were tasty (Farmhouse Ale at Rock
Bottom Brewery highly recommended!) while we watched Rodent Wheeler
mix it up in the As! Fun end to the racing Weekend!

Sara

10th for C1, 11/73(?) overall in the C race

Finally, a race with some real cyclocross weather after two races in
the terrible heat. 50=B0F and drizzling rain sounds awful except when
you’re racing all-out for 30 minutes (or more), then it’s great. If
anything, i could have skipped the longsleeve wool shirt and just worn
arm warmers with the jersey. I was glad when the rain stopped though,
because it’s hard to see with water on my glasses.

I got a decent start, probably somewhere in the 20s after the first
off-camber bottleneck turn (where the B race had a major pile-up, hope
Charlie’s ok!). This is my 3rd year at this race, plus I’d had the
luxury of 3 pre-race laps around the course, so i had worked out a
pretty good idea of lines and gearing and felt like i was pretty well
on top of the course from the start. I dropped the chain somehow on
the first runup, but managed to get it back on reasonably well on the
run and lost maybe 3 places because of it, but gained them back by the
end of the lap.

After the first lap, i’ve usually burned through the initial burst of
energy and need a lap to just hold my own and recover. Same thing this
time, though i didn’t feel so drained through the second lap today,
and managed to hang on to the end of the lead group all the way
around. I started moving up through the pack with the 3rd lap, picking
up a good 6-7 places on that lap (or was it the 4th? i think it was a
5-lap race) and feeling pretty good. I got another few places on the
last lap, but couldn’t quite out-sprint the Freewheel guy after
pulling even with him at the last barrier.

This is the 3rd race of the season for me, and by far the best. I felt
strong and on top of my race and was better over the barriers though i
still need to work on my form there. I feel ready for the extra laps
of a B race after this one, and i’m still thinking of trying one or
two races singlespeed.

–=20
Bill Connell
St. Paul, MN

From: Lee Penn
Date: Oct 8, 2007 11:28 AM

this was my very first cx race, and i had a blast! i loved this race!

it all started off saturday, when my friend kerry asked me if i was
racing. i said – nope. she asked why. i had to work on saturday, and
it’s not fair to the other parent for me to be absent both days of the
weekend for work and racing… i said. she said – oh, well carl (her
husband – also my friend) is going to race, so why don’t i take kira
(her daughter) and tre (my son) swimming and marathon watching while
you guys race…. uhhhhh…. duhh.hhh…reallY??? yeah – you betcha
i said YES!

so, suddenly, i was racing. sunday morning, i attached tre’s bike to
my cx bike – rode to their place, dropped off tag-a-long bike and
child – switched to racing saddle – loaded bike into van… it took
us awhile to get out of the cities because of the marathon… i had
time for just one lap warmup after registerring….

things learned.
everyone says the start is super important, and they are right. i
started further back than i should have (this was based on my boom
island experience), and i allowed some of the more aggressive riders
to pass me (they made me a bit nervous, you see) during that first
hundred meters or so (i spent a lot of time working to pass them back
later in the race). two start-mistakes i hope to avoid in the future.

after that, i made only one more significant mistake – that is, one
time after hopping the barrier leading to the grassy hill, i had
trouble getting on to my bike and into my pedals due to the tight
packing of people and so on around me. i just didn’t manage it. so,
i ran up the grassy hill – ended up able to pass several people – and
then hopped on the bike. actually, maybe this was a fortuitous
mistake becuase i was able to get around people more easily with bike
shouldered instead of attempting to ride.

first lap – i was passing people – this takes a lot of work and was
the consequence of not starting as i should have. it was crowded and
difficult for me to work my way past people – partly because i was
nervous about other people’s bike handling skills as well as my own.

subsequent laps – i was gaining major position each time running up
the dirt hill. that was fun…. i need more practice on single track
and riding aggressively in crowded conditions. i need more practice
on remounts – i’m reasonably fast, but i need to get faster yet.
overall, i just had loads fun through out the entire race.

right – and i have not seen the results (sherry – would you happen to
know if they have been posted), but my friend karl thinks i finished
third for the women in the c race. so, i might have won a prize or
something – that’d be kinda cool!

so, there you have it. my first cx race. a total blast – no crashing
- hard racing – fun!

totally-addicted-and-thanks-for-reading — lee

ps – does anyone know the condition of the spectators hit at the end
of the b race?

From: Bill Connell
Date: Oct 7, 2007 9:45 PM

The lesson learned at Lake Rebecca for me this year was ‘don’t take
the small stuff for granted’. In particular, that *#&#(* log barrier.
It was easily rideable, but ruled at the start line that the C racers
must dismount for it. I understand that *some* C racers maybe
shouldn’t have ridden it, but i think we should have had the option.

Anyway, so it was a tiny barrier, not even a big step over it,
shouldn’t have been a big deal. On the first lap, i spun my cranks
back and dropped the chain. I recovered practically on the fly, losing
2-3 spots and gaining a “nice recovery” from someone as they went by.
Great! On the second lap, my left cleat didn’t come loose, and i
somehow got myself tangled up and ran for about 20 feet that way
before going bum over teakettle, scraping up both legs, cutting my
knee and hitting my ankle on something really really hard. After that,
i was much more careful over that damn log.

Other than that, it was way too hot, but a friend helped with
invaluable water handups. I have no idea how i placed, but was pretty
happy with how i moved up through the pack after a start near the back
(late warm-up lap). No other crashes, though it was a near thing at
the end. I was beat and eased off on the long straight until 2 (two!)
guys passed me with 100′ to go. I stood up and hammered and caught
them both, though the second guy and i leaned on each other a bit
(more like me muscling my way past, from his perspective) and i got a
little out of shape right before the line but held it up ok. I think i
got him by about 1/2 a wheel, but i didn’t get his name or race number
to confirm. A gratifying finish to an otherwise tough race.

From: Martha Gilligan
Date: Oct 8, 2007 9:35 AM

Michael’s Race report:

We got to Lake Rebecca 5 minutes before the start of the C race. Right
after we registered, Sherry announced, “No more C race registrations!”
We had to b-line it to the start and we didn’t know where it was and
we asked a few people on the way. Once the race started it was slow at
the beginning because there were so many people in the C race. I fell
behind, but caught Jordan at the first corner, but then lost him
again. I felt crummy on the first lap. But then I remembered there was
another C4 kid in front of me, so I sped up to try to catch him. After
the second barrier, before going up the grassy hill, the boy was
trying to clip in and ride up the hill. So I went over the barrier and
tried to ride up the hill too, but ended up walking up it. He wasn’t
far ahead of me and we were on a flat surface and so I got close to
him and drafted a bit. Once we got to the big down hill near the tent
at the start/finish, I passed him and was able to hold him off for our
final lap.

Brian’s Race report:

I am tired from the race. I fell on the turn right before you go into
the woods. I slid on the gravel, the bike fell on me and I was still
clipped in. I couldn’t get my shoe unclipped and so I ended up sliding
my foot out of the shoe and getting up. I was trying to smack my shoe
out of the pedal and a bunch of people passed me. It was my first time
doing CX in my new mountain bike shoes and being clipped in. Up to now
I’ve just ridden in my tennis shoes and I didn’t have to worry about
clipping out for the barriers and stuff. It was a hard race.
There is some confusion for the age groups for CX this year in our
category. There is a boy who is 14, at Hudson they put him as a C3,
but at this race he was put as a C4. So when we race, we don’t really
know how we place or finish because we don’t know what category he is
in. I wish they’d figure out.

Here are some pictures from yesterdays race:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gilliganma/GWCyclocross?authkey=KVi9vQvtCbE

This year’s flyer is now posted.

Time to get your bike and your costume ready for action.

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Oct 1, 2007 9:25 AM

Rodents represented in the C race with Lynne, Sue, Gaines Bros, and
Ted Free (sporting an old-school skinsuit). Rodents in the B race
with myself, Dan, Rich….I think that was it. Rodents represented in
the cheering Section with CherylB and KathyO. IN all, a superb course
(probably most fun I’ve had on a course) with a mix of somewhat
technical single-track-esque sections through some muddy areas and
wide open grassy areas. The two sections of the course were separated
by an uphill sandy run followed by about 25 m of pavement and another
uphill sandy run. The C race escaped w/o rain, but rain fell during
the second half of the B race, making the “race” really fun (and
challenging)! From my own personal perspective, I notice improvement
on remounts & ! finding the pedals, felt supersmooth over the
barriers, and found I could run as fast through the mud as folks who
were still riding it. Room for improvement in the technical
sections…wished I’d had smaller tires of an mtb to get through those
turns.

Good to see so many rodents out there enjoying true cyclocross conditions!

From: Jeff Ingham
Date: Oct 1, 2007 9:10 AM

Well here’s a recap since other than the Gaines brothers I was the
only Gopher crazy enough to show up.

Not liking the weather Saturday I figured I could just race Sunday, it
couldn’t be any worse right. Well I got to Orono and it was POURING.
I figured I’m here I may as well race. I spent about 30 minutes just
circling the football field warming up it was water-logged but at
least it wasn’t muddy. One thing was definitely needed yesterday were
specific mud tires…..I didn’t have those. Started off on with a
loop around the track which was under a good inch of water then off
into the mud. My legs felt great but I had almost no traction. The
start was fast and I had to be really careful in all the turns. I
because of this I quickly fell to the back of the lead group. The
first lap I rode up all but the biggest run up hill but the conditions
quickly deteriorated. Laps 2 and 3 I was basically figuring out a
strategy. I was really moving on all the sections that weren’t gloppy
mud but once in the glop I had no traction, just spinning my rear
wheel, turns were sketchy at best. I really had to slow down in all
the turns.

By lap 3 I had it figured out. Run all the hills, trying to ride them
was much slower. The cattle shoot with the two sharp 180’s were much
faster to run than ride. You had to almost come to a complete stop to
make the turn then accelerating was useless in that gooey mud. I
ended up running quite a bit but it was faster. My strategy was
working. I counted at least 5 people I passed on the last two laps
and I was actually getting stronger/faster as the race went on. Last
lap I just missed catching someone at the line, I took back about half
a lap on riding on the track. If the race went one more lap I’m
positive I would have kept moving up. I was smooth over all the
barriers.

I though it was a fun course, with out the rain I would have really liked it.

The rain really wasn’t all that bad since it wasn’t cold but the mud
sucked, I’ll have to change all my cables/housings since they’re now
filled with mud.

Lessons learned:

Mud specific tires were essential
Toe spikes for my shoes would have helped
Need to start faster (It always takes me a few races to figure this out)

I encourage everyone to check out the pics on skinniski they’re hysterical.

Reminded me of chequemegon circa 91-93

Good Times!

P.S. the newest Gopher will be arriving this Thursday (if not sooner)
so I probably wont be around next weekend.