Gopher Wheelmen Cycling Club

From: Lee Penn
Date: Oct 22, 2007 10:46 AM

well, my weekend began at behind bars for an all female alleycat race.
ron - i wore my jersey, so do i get to count 1/2 the whopping $5
registration fee????

anyway, around 70 women showed up for this race. yup - you read it
right - SEVENTY women! all sorts of bikes and bike babes - all sorts
of gear and attitude.

6:45p - manifests are distributed. total of 10 stops, one of which is
to be specified on the sculpture bridge by the walker. plan plan
plan. my pen sucked, so i had trouble writing my plan down (this
caused me a big problem later in the race).

7:00p - we’re off! i was third bike to the first stop - man, some of
these bike messengers really are gutsy when it comes to stoplights!
first stop on my plan was getting a sticker at boom island - this was
everyone’s plan, so i was really glad to be third bike - no wait for
my sticker. next stop was a singing stop - had to sing lyrics handed
while being videotaped. next stop was sculpture bridge, where i
picked up a package for delivery at the triple rock (turned out to be
a quarter, which had to be used to play a song in the juke box - song
determined by the bar tender). on and on in the race - totally having
a blast. i had a great route and was riding well on my fab cx bike.
highlights were the beer stop, at which the beer had to be sampled and
identified (if you were able to drink alcohol, of course), the slam a
beverage and a bag full of crackers stop, the find an empty can in the
park in the location where loads of kids pee (i.e., the kiddie pool),
the triple rock stop, midtown global market stop (at which i had to
blow up a balloon and later deliver it to the the witches hat stop)
etc…. overall, this race was loads and loads of fun! BUT - yup -
there’s a but. i screwed up. i was at what i thought was my very
last stop…checked over my manifest…HAD MISSED ONE STOP THAT WAS
FIVE-SIX MILES AWAY!!!!! argh! had to go do that stop. rolled in
20th out of around 70 riders for what SHOULD have been an 18 mile
course but was actually around a 28 mile course for me. still, i got
some cool swag (a 0.00 and nine tenths sticker, a bikelove spoke card,
and i won blinkies (good thing, cuz i lost one during the race)).
this was my first alleycat as a single rider (i did tax man cometh
last spring with my son in his trailer), and it was up there in terms
of loads and loads and loads of fun.

saturday was just a nice day - could really feel the alleycat race -
no hard riding - just commuting etc… - in prep for powderhorn.

sunday was super duper fun - i love this cx business. it’s simply
absurd and ridiculous fun, and i feel like a big kid!

something like 90+ starters for the c race - i’m not sure how many
women, but it was in the teens, i am sure. my goal for this race - a
decent start! mission accomplished! i was pleased. i wasn’t as
aggressive as i should have been, but i get a little chicken during
this giant mass starts. i’m getting better. considering that this
was my THIRD cx race ever, i think i had a good start. right, off we
go. we were the first race after the mfd dowsed the triple barrier
section, which meant we had standing water on top of mud. i got off
my bike before the turn and ran that section with bike shouldered cuz
sara told me to shoulder my bike. i think that was good advice,
actually. there was one woman ahead of me…. i felt like i was
riding strongly, and i focused on simply not screwing up. i really
loved this course - the hills, the turns, everything. at the long
run-up, i had just passed june. we had been given the option of using
either side of the stairs (staying out of the prairie grass, which
people respected) or the stairs themselves. i saw that both sides
were full of people but the stairs were empty. june came up right on
my butt and ran into me, so i waited for her to head up the right and
then sprinted up the stairs, passing at least five people on my way
up. thought to myself - good decision lee! i’m a pretty good
runner, so i find these sections are places where i can make a move.
so, then, as far as i knew, i was leading the c2. so, i focussed on
passing a few guys (and got passed by a few others) and just pushing
myself hard. on the last lap, i ran the barriers by the plywood
section (which was fun, but i really didn’t want to screw that up by
crashing) and crashed when i set my bike down - i think my front wheel
jerked over and i kind of ran into it. i’ve got quite the nice set of
bruises and a nice scab comin’ in on my knee. well, i pick up my bike
and my handlebars are totally off center. i try to quickly straighten
then, but i can’t. so, i get onto my bike and just go - i slow down a
little cuz it feels wierd, but i do alright with it. pretty fast, i
seem almost used to it…. i get to the runnup, and i hear someone
scream - go sascha - i think, oh crap - am i gonna get passed. i
sprint up the runnup as fast as i possibly can - full on asthma-wheeze
at the top - have a good remount and finish the race for first place
in the c2 category. oh - that hurt - but it hurt so good! turns out,
i think that someone that ***I*** was sascha! oh the cruelty of it
all! almost decided to ride the b race, but beer was calling to me
(thanks for satisfying that call bill - i appreciated that beer a
great deal!).

i got a sweeet new commuter helmet and a pair of surly sox…. and
about a half dozen new and colorful bruises. totally awesome course -
totally fun day - loved watching other races…. loved seeing benita
on her bmx single speed - woman - you’re awesome!

so, now… i’m thinking of racing b at red barn… sara tells me i
should do one or two more c races… i am torn. on the one hand, i am
totally a rookie - i crashed cuz i made a rookie mistake. on the
other hand, i’ve finished second, first, and first in my three cx
races. so…. i’m torn! longer race versus riding with other
beginners… harder pace… but in the c race, i’m still racing
against a bunch of guys that are faster than me…. i’m torn! input
invited.

thanks for reading!

lee

ps - did anyone get any good photos? skinnyski doesn’t have the c race up.

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Oct 22, 2007 9:00 AM

This years course was a bit less taxing compared to last year, which
was appreciated as last year I remember different levels of pain on
each lap! During my warmup, I think I was the first person to sample
the MFD-induced mud pit prior to the triple barrier section. Somehow
I landed on my bike (derailleur-side down) when trying to dismount.
Good thing it was relatively warm still since my backside was soaked
(and muddy)! Good news also that the XT derailleur still shifted
appropriately!

Looked like we again had good turnout in the C race with Lee, Lynne,
Chris & Mary, Bill, Gains Bros, & county cycles guys Joe & Aaron.
Rich, Jeff I & myself lined up in the Bs wondering where in the world
was MarkA, but it appears he was doing very important Red Barn course
work!

Lined up having a better start position compared to at boom (goal of
race), but waited around forever for officials to finish tabulating
the C race results (they really have a tough job). After the start I
maintained a decent position. In the first real turn, my rear end
slid 2+ft to the right (thanks no doubt to the Ritchey Speedmax
stellar stickiness in grass…, running sticky twister up front), but
stay up losing no positions. Despite a good start, I was not able to
capitalize on a good start because I lost loads of momentum through
the triple bouncing log obstacle as I decided to run this since the
logs were already sort of diagonal. I lost sight of all contendors
but one B-wood whom I kept in sight & focused on staying close to her
the rest of the race.

On the last lap, I was able to trade places with b-wood south of the
lake. She passed me back in the rhythm section (I rode, she ran), but
I kept her close & was even with her at the top of the hill. Sort of
fun having a 2-up sprint at the end of 45 min. Forced her to lead out
& jumped after the last turn, holding her off at the line!

Other notes….first time I ran the rhythm section, but decided to
ride the remaining times since the running wasn’t feeling good. Ran
the big hill each time to keep momentum. Faster to shoulder & run the
triple barrier section than suitcase the bike. Stupid mistakes of
weeks past seemed to have worked themselves out, so very satisfying
race in that respect…Shared part of my 10 block ride home with Gains
bros, at which point I noticed my legs really hurt! Yet another
superfun course/race!

Thanks for reading!

Sara

From: Jeff Ingham
Date: Oct 15, 2007 11:19 AM

Here what happened in the B1 race.

The most important part of the Boom race is getting a good start. I
wanted to hit the first off camber turn in the front and be on the
inside of the turn. The second most important part is hitting the
run-up on lap one at the front before the chaos of the field gets
there. So I stood and sprinted as hard as I could and dove for the
inside of the turn. As I got thru the turn in the first 4 or 5 there
was the crunch of metal on the outside of the turn and at least 3
people went down. Now the sprint down the gravel road, which has
definitely deteriorated over the last two years and I hear someone
else go down on one of the big rocks.

Now a group of us maybe 10 to 15 strong has a gap on the field, I’m
running around 9th. We sprint down the single track and I manage to
hit every giant tree root Rich has warned me about. Thru the taped
section and with some new tires I was pretty strong here, though I
wish I would have used a mud tire on my rear wheel. Thru the fast
section leaders all strung out single file, the pace is really hard.

Lap 2 is also really hard, I’m drooling and my tounge is probably
hanging out. I manage to hit all the tree roots again on lap two, my
single track skills pretty much suck. At the end of lap2 I see they
post 5 laps to go, ouch I don’t think I can hold the lead pace so I
try to go as hard as I can without exploding thinking if I can pace
myself a little bit the guys in front will blow up and I can start
picking them off, which is a bad strategy becuase not too many blew
up. When in doubt attack.

The next 5 laps are a blur of pain and drool, I’m smooth thru the
switch backs but suck on the single track, no problem with the
barriers. the giant tree root is a problem every lap. Finally the
last lap and I use Sara as an effective block diving to the inside
just before the last barrier. I put in a decent sprint I think I
finish 17th. A pretty good race but I shouldn’t have tried to
conserve anything, better to explode trying to win than save something
for nothing.

Good Beer

Looking forward to Powderhorn

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

From: Dan Wheeler
Date: 15 Oct 2007 09:30:21 -0500

Really great weekend of racing with so many rodent sightings!

Spirit Mt - Drove up with Rich and Sara and arrived plenty early. Pre-rode
the course, waited for the sun to come out, and cheered for Lynne. B-race
had 26(?) starters. After 1st barrier I was riding in first through the
start finish. At this time, the officials announce a 4-place prime - sweet!
3 guys come through and I stick with them to hold onto 4th in the prime lap
(64 oz of Fitger’s beer). Rode next lap with Rich, where we almost had to
dismount to rumble with a rowdy smack-talking spectator. Finished 4th
overall. Fun times, beautiful scenery, friendly bike service and food worth
waiting for…

Boom - Decided to make my debut in the A-race here. Turns out this was wise
due to B-race chaos. I was able to have much fun cheering and watching the
C’s and B’s race. Lined up with 40-ish A’s. Had no expectations, just get a
good workout. Felt really good through the 1st two laps and decided to
start moving up. Passing a few guys each lap, motivated by rowdy rodents
strewn about the course. Met my demise due to Lee’s request to “see some
air.” I obliged, but upon landing flatted with 2 laps to go and no wheels
in the pit. Got to watch the A finish with the rowdy rodents. Excited to
see how the team placed in the team competition…

Dan W.

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