Northeast Bicycle Club

Bicycle Racing and Development for Boston and Beyond!

Conditions:

The conditions could not have been any different than those for this race last season. Bright blue skies with dry 80 degree temps and a nearly dry course made for an excellent course.

The Course:

The course was about 4.5 miles of mostly fresh cut, twisty, winding, old-school single-track with lots of technical features like rock gardens and stone bridge crossings. There was also about a mile of dirt road connector sections all together. Climbing surfaces were primarily were primarily hard pack with some looser loamy sections of fresh cut trail thrown into the mix. This was one of the best courses ever for people who like to ride a mountain bike.

Cat3 did two laps, Cat2 did three laps, Cat1 and Pro did four laps.

Results:

Excellent work everyone on a very, very challenging and taxing race course. I’d have to say that this was definitely one of the more physically demanding courses that I‘ve raced given all of the tight twisting trails, short steep climbs with little run in and the technical features likes rocks, logs and stone walls.

* Teri Carilli – (Cat2 Women 35+ – 4th)
* Janet Lorang  - (Cat2 Women 19-34 – 4th)
* Kristen Lukach – (Cat2 Women 19-34 – 2nd)
* Cathy Rowell  - (Cat1 Women 35+ – DNF)
* Libby White – (Cat1 Women 12-34 – 1st)
* Michael Rowell – (Cat1 Men 40-49 – 1st)

http://www.root66raceseries.com/page/9-race-results

Teri Carilli

I didn’t do the race the previous year, hadn’t pre-ridden the course and so had no idea what it was going to be like out there. Reading the Root66 forums, the course didn’t sound as technical as I found it to be. I knew at the start that I wasn’t feeling like I was going to be able to put in a huge effort but on the first downhill (about 7-10min into the race) it was clear I had nothing. Nada. Zip. Felt like crap and thought this is going to be a  hell of a long day. The entire field rode away from me (minus one woman who was far behind me) so I just settled into the best pace I thought I could maintain for a TT in the woods.

I never felt like I could get into a nice flow on the trail. There were too many rock walls to count (I could easily ride half of them but the other half scared me), the uphill was deceiving, the fire roads rocky and loose and even the narrow downhill was either off camber or so narrow I was bouncing off of trees like a pinball. Never found a place to recover or relax a bit.  On the second lap I was passed by a few of the men. One guy did a spectacular endo as he tried to pass me on the fire road right before the small water crossing. Not sure what happened as he had tons of room to pass on the left but after I heard “On your left!” the next thing I saw was was his face going into the dirt right off my left shoulder. Then heard lots of swearing. Weird.

Finally, on the third lap I decided I was so friggin’ tired of getting off the bike for some of the obstacles, that I would just go ahead a ride everything and screw it if I fell. Turns out I could ride A LOT more of those stone walls than I thought. Finished way behind everyone else (thankfully, the timers/scorers were still there). 4th place.

Janet Lorang

I had never done this race before and had no idea who much fun (and how hard!) it was going to be. The first couple miles I ended up right behind Kristen, and in front of another woman in our age group who kept saying “rider back” but then not making any attempt to pass. Sorry, but if you are in my race and want to pass you will need to work a little harder than that – I took my time and let Kristen get up the road a bit. She did eventually pass me when I had to get a stick out of my derailleur maybe 10 minutes in, and that was the last I saw of any women the entire race.

So after that, it was not so much a race as a game of survivor. Awesome, awesome tough course – I had so much fun practicing my new log-hopping skill (thanks, Cathy!) going over the stone walls, and with the swoopy decents. The climbing was less fun. How was there so much of it in such a flat area? I had a great time for the first and second laps, lots of obstacles to keep in interesting. The third lap I ran out of gas – and water. I stopped at the neutral feed zone and drank 2 cups but I was still soooo thirsty, and my third lap was a good 6 minutes slower than the second. I guess it’s time to start putting a bottle out for myself.

I finished 4th, but whatever – I’m happy with how I rode and for finishing. I wish that place was open so we could just go ride there on a non-race day – so much fun stuff!

Kristen Lukach

Cathy gave me some super secret, start-line pro tips at the mountain bike clinic last week so instead of grabbing another reverse hole-shot this weekend, I skidded through the first gravel turn in 4th place (thanks Cathy!).  Janet was in line behind me, and I heard a little voice yell, “go, Kristen, go!” and was later told that she did a helluva job blocking the rest of the field for me.  Thanks Janet!  Team tactics FTW!

I laid down some rubber trying to get a bit of a gap.  Things were looking good.  But then things started looking real bad in a jiffy.  After the first few hills, I was already on the verge of a bonk.  I fumbled the pocket to mouth GU transition and ended up dropping the thing on the trail.  I looked back at it lying there in the dirt as I continued to ride, weighing the cost/benefit ratio of not going back for it.  I was light on food/gels to begin with and decided to go back for it, wasting time and momentum but probably saving myself from future, bonk-related suffering.

I squeeze the gel down my gullet, shove the empty packet up my left pant leg for safe keeping and cross-mounted back onto the bike to save some time, in the process, ejecting my bottle from its cage.  I stop, look at it dumbfounded, get back off the bike and go back AGAIN to pick it up.  Meanwhile, I am passed by not one but two!! women who may or may not be in my age division.

Back on the bike, my legs finally wake up and I make quick work of passing one rider back on a loose switchback, and solo for the rest of the lap, wavering between being a big, fat chicken on some of the ample stone wall crossings and, closing my eyes and just throwing myself at them.  There was no rhyme or reason to my choices. I hadn’t pre-ridden the course so I was just making it up as I went along.

On the way through the feed zone for lap number two, I picked up a new bottle, ate my GU on the fireroad to avoid further GU related heartache, and continued on my lonesome solo journey, though with more confidence in the technical sections now that I had seen everything at least once.  I was cruising along when I came upon a struggling Cat2 dude and got stuck behind him in the section along the pond that was whoopy, and narrow and not designed for passing.  I wasn’t very assertive in making known my intent to pass and instead, waited until we got to the Gooney Bridge, a 15-yard long stretch of sticks laid horizontal to the trail (in an attempt at negating water damage?), at which point he was off the bike, and I was muscling my way over this lumpy mess and around him all while trying not to take a digger.  Not ideal, but I got a little blast of adrenaline when I finally made it across unscathed.

I passed one more Cat2 guy who was looking pretty sad and dejected on a hill, but then didn’t see anyone until the water feed half way up the first gravel road climb. Here, I caught up to someone in my age category, we exchanged verbal high-fives as we girls occasionally do, and then I dropped her post-haste.  I mean, common!  This IS a race after all.

In the end, I left it all out there.  I couldn’t have ridden any harder.  I was COOKED by the time I crossed the line and was more than surprised to see that I finished only a little over a minute down from first place.  My bonk/GU/bottle debacle probably accounted for that minute and then some.  Seriously?  Butterfingers lost me a race? That’s almost funny.

Cathy Rowell

Mike and I weren’t planning on racing the Norcross Scurry this year. But, on Friday, he said he wanted to head down. The good news was that we could at least ride in dry, sunny conditions this year, versus the hurricane we endured last year!

Despite feeling under the weather on Friday, I felt pretty good as we went out for the pre-ride of the course on Saturday. There were some good course changes, and I actually liked the first half of the course. As we came to one difficult rock crossing (on an uphill), Mike coached me on how best to approach and clear. Unfortunately, I got the front wheel in the narrow opening and stalled. Down I went onto the rock – excellent! Now it was a good ride – there was blood.

The second half of the course is much more technical, with lots of rocks, stone wall crossings, and challenges for the best of technical riders. While I didn’t care for this as much, I still managed to get through in not bad shape. I ws, however, cutting my timing close – I got behind a beginner who was racing, and didn’t want to interfere, so stayed behind. At one point, I encouraged her to get over a fairly rocky section,, yelling “Pedal, pedal, pedal”. She promptly fell over, and I felt TERRIBLE! She was ok, though, and a good sport about it.

I lined up with pretty much the same women as at the Hodges Dam race the previous week. I knew I needed to “lead” through the start so that I could dictate the pace through the first technical sections of the course. I took off after Libby and her only competitor, and managed to be in front, pushing the pace. Unfortunately, in doing so, I went WAY TOO HARD. When Sue Lynch (my nemesis) finally was able to pass me (after almost a full lap), she commented on what a good ride I was having. I maintained sight of Sue for awhile heading into lap 2, but the wheels soon started to come off. Partway through the lap, Marjorie passed me as well. I sat on her wheel as long as I could, but it was short-lived. My body shut down. I literally had to pull over to the side of the trail, where the contents of breakfast made a reappearance. That has never happened to me before.

I continued on, and was passed by the remainder of the women in my field. I felt miserable, and just couldn’t imagine suffering through another two laps. Mike passed me heading into his FINAL lap as I was finishing up lap 2, and asked if I was ok. I could only get out “Sick” as he rode by. that was it – I was done. My first ever racing career DNF. I was disappointed in not finishing, but clearly my body was telling me what my mind didn’t want to admit.

Mike Rowell

Having done this race last year, I was aware of the potential for this course. The trails were well laid out and the terrain was certain to be fun and challenging with the proper conditions. We were treated with just those conditions for this year’s edition. Cathy and I pre-rode a lap and confirmed that the course was in wonderful shape and was just as much fun as I’d hoped.

My plan was to have fun at this race and take it less seriously. As such, I chose to ride my new single-speed 29er in my normal age based (non-single-speed) category. I’ve got to say that I am really impressed with the big wheels. On the starting line I lined up in the back and was chatting with some of other racers. “It’s all about fun today”, I exclaimed. Of course when the whistle blew, that instantly changed.

I settled into about 5th wheel. This was problematic as climbing on a single-speed is very different than a geared bike. You need to keep the momentum as you can not gear down. This made for some really uncomfortable climbs and took a sizable toll on my legs and upper-body. A few miles in I made it by the final person in the group but Mike W. from NERAC had made it well up the trail and thus the chase was on. The catch initially came a couple miles later but I then dropped my chain in a rocky section and had to once again bridge back up. Another frantic chase ensued and once caught, I simply followed Mike as he was moving well. Shortly into the second lap I went to the front and put in a dig but he held tough. It took a few more attacks to gap him but I was finally able to get some room and ran with it. About half way through the third lap I caught the single-speed category leader, who had started a few waves ahead of us, and rode with him chatting about less gears and more beers and the like. This actually went on for some time and felt nice and comfortable. Alas, I felt the need to push forward and moved away up the trail on my own. The single-speed turned out to be a way harder choice for this course than I expected. It meant intense work on the short steep climbs and lots effort on the technical sections. I was suffering and had some trouble really staying on the gas. This became evident on the last lap about a mile from the finish when I saw and heard Mike making a desperate bid to claw his way back to me. With that I put my head down and pushed with all I had through the final sections of course. As it turned out Mike flatted just after I saw him and ran the final stretch.

In hindsight I’m glad that I raced the single-speed and I now have a much greater appreciation for those who do this on a weekly basis. Riding a single-speed and racing a single-speed are two very different things. Each race this year has been a battle with at least one other person. This is good, that is racing, that is why we do it.