Providence Cyclocross Festival, Day 1 and 2, October 10 and 11

The big news on Saturday was that Tim Johnson did it again.  In addition to winning, he again took out another rider for the second straight race.  But this time it wasn't a former world's silver medalist (i.e. Jon Page),  it was a 6 year old kid riding his BMX bike around the infield after the race. 

I barely saw it happen out of the corner of my eye - Tim was starting to ride down hill from the finish area past the bike expo and toward the podium after winning the race.  The young guy, whose name was Ryder, was riding right into Tim's path and Tim had little choice but to t-bone Ryder, knocking him off the bike.  I doubt Tim even saw the kid until it was too late. 

Too many kids are conditioned to think that they should cry when they fall down even if they aren't hurt.  To his credit, Ryder got up like a true cyclocrosser and didn't shed a single tear.  I just missed having the camera out, and apparently Cyclingdirt.com was nowhere near the scene this time, but I did get a shot of Ryder soon after he got up:

Always wear your helmet, kids.  You never know when TJ might be near.

Tim really is a nice guy.  He went out of his way to make sure that Ryder was ok and chatted for a couple minutes with Ryder and his parents.  Once the kid was back on his bike and everything was alright, Tim said "Come on kid, you and me are going to the podium."  He later gave Ryder his first place medal.

TJ and Ryder heading for the podium

TJ doing the post-race interview

That was actually the end of the day.  A lot happened leading up to it.  I got to Providence in time for the Elite Women's and Men's races but missed everything before that, including the race that I had preregistered for.  When I went to bed Friday evening, I was planning on racing Saturday morning despite a sore throat and stuffy nose.  But it got much worse overnight and at about 2 AM I woke up and turned the alarm off so I could try to sleep it off.  $30 down the drain, but I would have been completely miserable if I had tried to race.  I slept around the clock and felt good enough to spectate Saturday afternoon.

Readers of this blog (Dave Foley, my mom, my parole officer) might recall that I ruined my camera in the rain at Gloucester last week.  That's actually a good thing, I hated that camera.  It missed more shots than it got and it would kill a pair of AAs every 20 minutes.  I got a new Fujifilm S1500 on Friday and with no practice at all, started taking much better photos than I ever have before.  Wait until I learn how to use this thing!  It was kind of an impulsive purchase because it was the only real camera the store had, the rest of them looked even cheaper than the one I had ruined.  But it got the Paul Weiss seal of approval Saturday so it must be alright.  Hey Paul, what does appurture mean?  I have a lot to learn, but here are some of the photos I took of the women's race:

Those yellow Mavic shoes are getting popular.

Mo Bruno (blue tape) didn't look comfortable in the race or on the line.

Amy Dombroski had a very strong ride in 3rd place.

Rebecca Wellons heading to the finish

The women's podium with Richard Fries (l to r): Katerina Nash (1st),

Amy Dombroski (3rd) and Mary McConneloug (2nd)

Ms. Nash had the race in the bag early on and not much seemed to change after the first lap.  Mary McConneloug was sort of a surprise finishing second in her first cross race of the year.  Amy Dombroski is riding very strong and finished third.  The podium was exactly the same on Day 2.  The Verge points series leader heading into the weekend, Natasha Elliot wasn't present this weekend, probably so she could attend the Canadian National cross championships, so the leaders jersey was in jeopordy.  Mo Bruno, who has scored points in all six races so far took the lead by 16 points.  Rebecca Wellons has stayed close by being competitive in every race and is currently third in the series.

In the men's race, Dan Timmerman needed to finish well against some strong competion to retain his series lead and he managed to do that with an eighth place finish Saturday and 5th on Sunday.  He finished the weekend tied with Tim Johnson for the series lead.

Series leader Dan Timmerman at the start line.

My new camera has a "panorama" feature that stitches together 3 pictures. 

Well, sort of.  It needs work.

Adam Myerson and Tim Johnson at the start line.

Sexual Camel?  Must be a mountain bike thing.

Chris Jones, a roadie (not Rhodey) thing.

Frattini, Weighall, and Timmerman

A beer thief  dabs in the woods.

Does Adam squeeze the brake levers with fingers

or push them with the palms of his hands?

Tim Johnson is telling me to "go left, go left".  After he went by I understood why.  He planned to stretch the tape out on this corner while he carried maximum speed.  Pro tip: The course tape is fair game.  If it doesn't break, you are still on the course.

Results Boy takes the same line just a moment later. 

Exactly how long is a "moment" anyway?

Here is Butch Balzano from SRAM digging through the car looking for some chain rings for Adam Myerson after the race.  Van Dessel gave Adam cranks and chain rings with 53 tooth outer rings.  Adam was flattered, but decided to build his 2009 cross rigs with something a bit smaller.  Butch is the man.

Sunday mornng I awoke feeling much better and decided to do the day of registration for the Cat 4 masters race.  Being a day of registrant, I got to start DFL in the last row.  I was number 769 and two guys registered after me bringing the total to 71 in the race (counting any preregistered riders who might have been sick and stayed in bed).  I was still kind of clogged up from the cold, but I went ok.  I passed a bunch on the paved start and kept the pressure on when we reached the grass.  The first turns were a pinball game but I managed to get a couple of good bounces and didn't have to get off the bike where others did.  I must have gotten near the top 25 on the first lap, but then I started to slide.  I lost about 4 or 5 places per lap for the rest of the race and didn't stop sliding until the last half lap.  37th out of 71 is practically top half if you assume that all everyone was there and that DNFs are last (there are only 58 or so i nthe results).  So, I almost made my goal of being in the top half and I am getting better each race.  Considering my starting position, I'll call it a pass.  I wonder what I could have done if I was healthy Saturday and got my prereg starting spot.  I think I would have been in the third row, maybe fourth.

My coach, Negacoach, was heckling me during the race and yelled something completely useless about riding too slow to deserve to have a beard.  WTF?  Try telling me something useful like "get the water bottle out of your back pocket, it's only a half hour long race!"  That might have been helpful since I had forgotten to ditch it at the line and rode the entire race looking like a Fred with that bottle back there.  I am surprised I never felt it when the bike was on my shoulder on a run up.  At least I had a nice sip of Hs, twos, and Os handy at the finish.  

So I had the Fred water bottle thing going against me, but I felt totally pro using embrocation for the first time ever, unless Bag Balm counts as embrocation.  We used to use Bag Balm in the spring time, especially if it was raining, because tights or warmers would get soaking wet and heavy.  But you had to have your legs shaved or it made an awful mess.  I haven't shaved them since my Cat 3 days a long time ago, but I found that the Mad Alchemy stuff isn't too bad with hairy legs, it just doesn't look as pro.  Even the mildest heat level was pleasant in the morning chill.  The only down side was that it lasted well into the night and felt quite hot under the covers when I didn't really want it to.  I probably could have wiped it off more thoroughly and avoided the bedwarmer effect.

After my race was over it was time to head back to Plymouth for a gig with my band at noon.  I was cutting it close, but made it just in time.  When we started playing, my head just wasn't into it.  I usually remember the lyrics to songs that I sing pretty easily, but something wasn't right in my head all afternoon and I kept forgetting the lyrics to songs that I wrote and covers that I have sung hundreds of times.  It was weird.  And that sweet precious nectar, beer, didn't seem to help.  I probably won't try to race and play music professionally in the same day again.  But despite the mental block, it was a fun afternoon.  Stop by T Bones Road House in Plymouth November 1 at noon if you aren't heading to Vermont for the cross race.

Bay State Cyclocross - Sterling, Mass

Like a fine wine or beer, a fine cyclocross course has some basic elements that must be there, and some subtle tastes that set it apart from the rest. The essential elements in ‘cross include grass, mud, tricky corners, barriers that require dismounting (being a traditionalist and lacking the skills myself, I view the bunny hop as an impurity in the sport), and hills that are too steep to ride. To the basic elements course designer and sponsor Tom "the Steamboat" Stevens added some off-camber on the corners, drop offs that led to barely ridable climbs (depending on the traffic conditions and the ambient temperature), a natural barrier that looks like it belongs in the Grand National (the famous steeplechase horse race near Liverpool, England), and a dirt track hole shot that changed character completely throughout the day. Then, Mother Nature added a few ice patches overnight to make sure things stayed interesting.

The day started with 99% frozen conditions for the Cat 4 race at 8:30 AM. With the sun up for less than two hours at that point, the ruts on the dirt running track that is used for the starting holeshot, and incorporated in every lap, were frozen solid and could grab a tire and suddenly redirect a bicycle either left or right from its intended path. That can be an uncomfortable thing when vieing for position elbow to elbow with almost 70 entry level 'cross racers. All of the day's races were intended to do 2 laps on this track before hitting the grass for the first time but, as it turned out, the Cat 4s were the only ones that did. Bikes and riders were weaving i nthe ruts in every direction as the Cat 4s got up to speed and the more experienced road racers (like myself) had their elbows out to protect the bars in the bumper pool of the opening laps. There seemed to be a couple of small mishaps but what felt like a cautiously slow initial pace made these laps a great opportunity for those with confidence to ride from open space to open space and gain important places before the grass.

I loved the 2 lap promenade/hole shot and used my long dormant criterium boxing skills to maximum advantage to gain quite a few places after starting in the second to last row (and I pre-registered for this one!). Then came the first grass sections with a big crowd still together. Everyone cleared the first turn, but the next two turns around the backboard were tighter and one of the few places with some slick mud at this early hour. After one guy close to the front blew it, traffic backed up and it became faster to shoulder the bike and run unless you were extremely lucky. Then came the big run up and another opportunity for carnage. It wasn’t too bad once the crowd got sorted, but on the first lap when your line is pretty much dictated by the traffic around you, you’re likely to end up finding some ice that you didn’t know was there (especially if you didn’t get to the race in time to pre-ride the whole course, d’oh). Local bike shops (like race sponsor Gear Works Cyclery) might want to stock up for an increase in demand for shoes with toe spikes after this one because they sure would have helped. After the big run up, the course drops into a sweeping right hand turn that was fast but stable on the frozen white grass. Later races, including the elites, would see most riders unclip the right foot for extra stability on this high speed corner on softened ground but in the morning that wasn’t necessary. Then the steeple chase dismount was followed by a series of switchback turns with just enough change in elevation to penalize those that were in too big of a gear. Then it was onto the power sections of the course where a short paved section led to the pit. More kudos to Tom Stevens for locating the pit Euro style. In other words, one pit that could be accessed twice each lap at approximately equal intervals. There must be a UCI rule for that but it doesn't happen often in the local races.

Bill Kenney (Bike Barn Racing) led the race almost from the start to the finish and won it with a comfortable lead. Gladly, I can no longer call Bill the "Raymond Poulidor of Cat 4 ‘cross" (i.e. the perpetual 2nd place finisher) now that he has won one. He might have one or two more in him this season before the rest of the field starts muttering “sandbagger” when they see him on the start lines. If you are interested, I almost made my goal of finishing in the top half of the field, and likely would have if not for a couple of crashes on ice that I should have identified during the pre-ride. It was another positive step on my road back from retirement, but I am still a better announcer than a racer. If three paragraphs about a Cat 4 race isn't enough for you, check out this website that I stumbled across toaday for another perspective: http://www.cyclingobsessions.com/.

The Masters 55 were set off on their promenade laps/hole shot, but before they got more than a few yards past the start line there had been a serious accident. When the officials realized that those that went down weren’t going to be out of the way before the field came around to complete the first lap of the promenade, they neutralized the race. The ambulance was brought in for the one rider unable to get up. I did not see what happened but I heard later that a rider who crashed had broken a vertebrae and would be spending the night (at least) at the UMass Medical Center. After the ambulance was clear, the race was re-staged and there must have been some anxious thoughts on the line after seeing one of their own seriously injured. The promenade/hole shot was shortened to one partial lap from this race on. Dusty Adams (Mosaic) rode away from the rest of the field for the win by almost a minute.


The Cat 3/4 Masters 35 and 45 were sent out just a couple of minutes behind the 55s. By this time the sun had turned much of the frozen-solid mud into liquid mud, especially on the dirt track. After 40 minutes of racing their faces were covered in grey mud from the track like they had been made up to play Death in The Seventh Seal. When it was over, Micheal McKittrick (Cambridge Bicycle) won by ten seconds. You can get all the details that I missed from Mr. McKittrick himself at http://cbracing.bostonbiker.org/?cat=4.


The next race featured guys of the same age, only faster, in the Masters Cat 1,2,3 race. With Mark McCormack (Fuji) (a former National Champion), Johnny Bold (Corner Cycle) (Verge points series leader, 35 plus), Kevin Hines (Corner Cycle) (current Verge points series leader, 45 plus) and the rest of the cream of the crop for guys over 35, this was going to be a barn burner. At about this time, I ran into Mr. Dick Ring (the “Voice of New England Bike Racing”) and unfortunately paid little attention to the rest of the race (hey, it’s only a blog, if you want journalism (and the proper use of commas) check Velonews!). I can tell you that Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo) beat Johnny Bold in a tight finish. Three of Bold's Corner Cycle teammates followed: Mark Stotz, Kevin Hines, and John Mosher. Hines' place gave him the victory for the 45plus and furthered his points lead in the season long Verge series.


Next up were the Juniors under 19, Juniors under 15, and the Cat 3 / 4 Women in separate fields. Luke Keough and Gavin Mannion had a repeat of last year’s match up which, if memory serves correctly, was won by Gavin. This year would be Luke’s year as his form developed while racing in Europe in October and November paid off big time. These two young guys have big plans for the near future: After next week's Verge series wrap up in Rhode Island, they will both be heading off to Kansas City where Gavin will try to take the national championship jersey that Luke will be trying to defend. Then, Gavin heads off to Belgium for Euro cross camp during the holidays followed by a month of racing before the World Championships in Holland on January 31st. Luke, having already done a couple of months in Europe this season, will stay home and get his butt kicked by his brothers to stay in shape, then head over to Europe in mid-January to get a couple of World Cup races in before Worlds. Either of these guys could realistically win the World Junior Cyclocross Championship (Luke is on the left, Gavin the right):

Curtis White (Capital Bicycle) and Nate Morse (CLNoonan) entered the U15 race dead even for the Verge point series lead. By the time their half hour race was complete, it was Curtis who would take the new jersey home by just a few seconds. With Nate picking up the points for second, it is still just a 10 point difference with two races left next weekend.


The Women’s 3/4 race was won by Anna Barensfeld (Minuteman Road Club) as she continues her roll through the Women B races this season. Anna was very generous two weeks ago at Brockton to offer me space to set up a trainer under her pop up tent so I could warm up out of the rain. I have never gotten to a race in time to warm up properly so I never bother to bring the trainer, but thanks for offering, Anna. She is as nice as she is fast. And her teammates at the MRC are pretty good too. They got 4 of the top 6 places in this race.

From here on, I was spectating on borrowed time. My plan was to watch the start of the Killer Bs then head home in time to take care of some domestic duties before dark. But, as usual, I got carried away and stayed the whole day. And there wasn’t even a beer tent!! Fortunately, my Significant Sweetie was happy to have me out of the house for the whole day so I stayed for the rest of the races and called it research for future announcing duties.


The Men 2/3 (aka the Killer Bs) took off with a field of more than 75 including Jim Tosca (Corner Cycle) who was out to pad his lead in the Verge Series. However, Dylan McNicholas(Noreast) (in second place in the series) had other ideas. By this time most of the mud on the track had either dried out or gotten stuck to bikes and riders in the previous races and the course was getting faster. When this one was over, Dylan had about a minute on Tosca for first and second places respectively. Of note, the web guru behind the amazing http://www.crossresults.com/, Colin Reuter (International Bike Center), finished a strong 4th. His web programming skills are almost equaled by his ‘cross skills. Thanks Colin for the great website. You can go directly to the race results on crossresults.com by clicking on the title of this post.

Here is the last half of the swarm the first time up the run up:

Elite Women – The Women’s race became, within the first few minutes, the Mo Bruno Show. She led the field of about 16 around the track from the start with Rebecca Wellons (Ridley) on her wheel and the rest in tow. By the top of the first run up, it was clear that Mo Bruno (MM Racing/Seven Cycles) was probably going to win with only Rebecca within striking distance. An interesting battle for third developed with Amy Wallace (RGM/Sachs), Sally Annis (NEBC), and Cris Rothfuss (NEBC).

With Verge series leader Amy Dombrowski not in attendance and Wellons and Bruno only a few points behind in second and third places, a new Verge Series leader was going to be crowned. Wellons started the day 33 points ahead of Bruno, so a second place finish would secure her the series lead even if Bruno won, at least until next week.

Mo combined smooth skills and strength to power away and built on her lead very lap. Rebecca had no problem holding on to second place while her two road racing teammates from NEBC tried to figure out how to stay ahead of Amy Wallace. Wallace seemed to have a bit of an advantage on the technical pieces. With about a half lap to go, Amy managed to ride the short but steep and slippery climb coming out of the barriers while the NEBC duo had to stop and run losing 30 yards in the blink of an eye. But in the end Wallace could only stay ahead of Cris Rothfuss while Sally Annis passed Wallace in the last half lap and got away for third place.
Here is Mo Bruno alone on the run up a few laps into the race, I think she is smiling:

Here is second place finisher and Verge point series leader Rebecca Wellons, not smiling:

Elite Men – Nick Keough (Jittery Joes/Sonic) came into the race leading the Verge series for the U23 with Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld) leading the series for the open age group. Those two were called up to the front row followed by Adam Myserson (Cycle-Smart), Matt White (Bikereg/Joes Garage) and most of the cream of the crop in New England cyclocross. I don’t know if he has always done this or if it is something he learned while racing in Europe earlier this season, but Adam Myerson was intently watching the UCI Commisaire to his right until she blew the whistle for the start. Maybe he was even watching for her to inhale to get a split advantage. Adam was making sure he wasn't going to be caught off guard while everyone else was passively waiting to hear the whistle. That’s PRO!! Sorry, Jazzy, if I just gave away your secret weapon.

Once the whistle blew, Nick Keough, Matt O’Keefe (CCB/Volkswagen) and Adam Myerson led the pack into the first turns on the grass. Jamey Driscoll hovered a few places behind after getting a slow start and did not show his jersey on the lead during the first couple of laps. Maybe all the Cannondale guys have this, but Driscoll is the first bike racer I have seen with his name across the shoulders of his skinsuit. It's part of the design, not just sewn on.

Race announcer Richard Fries, who never seems to run out of ways to describe the action, pointed out that Driscoll is typically not a fast starter. But however long it takes him, he usually finds his way to the front as evidenced by his 4 wins in 6 Verge series races so far this year. In fact, the only races he hasn’t won were two days in Gloucester when Ryan Trebon and Tim Johnson were in town. Only those two riders and Jesse Anthony have placed higher than Jamey Driscoll in any Verge series race this year.

Within two laps Driscoll had made his way to the front and the only one that could stay with him was Nick Keough who had been leading the race so far. Keough even put a gap on Driscoll for a breif time. O’Keefe, Myerson, White, Justin Spinelli (RGM/Sachs), and Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta) remained in contention through the first half of the race while Will Dugan (RGM/Sachs) was a bit further back in second place for the U23s after Keough. At about the half way point, Keough, who is just 19 years old, suddenly lost the mojo that had helped him hang with the fastest cross racer in the Verge series. It was clear that either he had over extended himself riding with Driscoll or something was wrong. As the race announcers would soon say, it looked like he had withdrawn too much from the bank and was now paying the price with interest. But a lap or so later it was clear that Nick was not just “doing the slide" after a hot start.

As Nick drifted further back from Driscoll and continued to lose speed, Spinelli powered himself and White into 2nd and 3rd places. Dugan was closing the gap to Keough very quickly with eyes on grabbing the U23 victory. It was excruciating to watch Keough soldier on not knowing what was wrong. Not even Diabolito (aka little Didi) could make a deal that would bring Nick Keough back:

With Keough gone and no one in sight, Driscoll even had enough confidence to start going for extra air off the big drop off at the top of the course the final two laps. Spinelli and White moved past Keough into second and third, then Dillon and Myerson went past for fourth and fifth. Soon after, Dugan and two other U23s from collegiate teams also went past Keough to take him out of the podium spots for the U23 race. It stayed about like that until the end except that Matt White outsprinted Spinelli to take second place at the line.

A visit to the Keough’s family compound on wheels after the race revealed that Nick had aggravated an injury from a crash that happened the previous weekend and was basically pedaling with one leg during the last half of the race. Let’s hope he is feeling good in time for nationals in two weeks. It's a good thing 19 year olds bounce back fast.

Here is Jamey Driscoll and his porn star mustache in a post race interview with Richard Fries where he said “I had to ride himself cross eyed to drop” Nick Keough:

Next week is the finale of the Verge series in Warwick, Rhode Island. It isn't quite confirmed yet, but it looks like I'll be doing the announcing subbing for Richard Fries who will be busy at the races out in Portland, Oregon next weekend. Stop by and say hello if you have read this blog.

Marciano/Kerouac Cyclocross Weekend

I had no race announcing duties scheduled this weekend, so I had time to do a little racing myself. I decided I was only going to one race so I had to choose between Brockton on Saturday or Lowell on Sunday. How to choose?

As you may know, both cities are a little bit past their respective industrial primes (not pronounced preems in this context) and both cities apparently have not seen a new home town hero come along in some time. My apologies if I am forgetting something more recent, but Brockton was the hometown of world champion boxer Rocky Marciano, and Lowell was the home of "beat generation" writer Jack Kerouac. A little wikipedia research revealed that they both lived from 1922 to 1969. Both were in their primes in the 50's, long before cyclocross came to town. But which man would have been the better bike racer? Sentimentally, I want to say Kerouac and he had the build for it. But he smoked and drank like a bike messenger. Rocky Marciano was an athlete, but had too much upper body to be a great bike racer. Based on the quotes below, the smart money would be on Marciano.

I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. - Kerouac

I have always adhered to two principles. The first one is to train hard and get in the best possible physical condition. The second is to forget all about the other fellow until you face him in the ring and the bell sounds for the fight. - Marciano

In the end, I chose Brockton because it is closer to home by about a half tank of gas and I stayed home Sunday to get some chores done.

This was the fourth year that Travis Cycles has put on the Brockton race but I hadn't been before. Word on the street was that it was a small time race and the course wasn't that good and riders would be wise not to use their expensive tires. But no longer. This year Travis Cycles asked local guru Mark McCormack to design a new course for then. and everyone this year had rave reviews for Markie's new route around the lake.

It started on the paved road and, after a quick grass section with a muddy run up, went onto a paved but bumpy bike trail. After a couple of dirt trail sections and a grass switchback or two, the remainder of the course alternated between sections of the paved road and soft but non-technical trails. If not for the recent wet weather, this would have been a very fast course. Even I used the big ring the whole time. The total elevation change on the course was probably not more than 20 feet. A lap took the good guys a little less than 8 minutes.

The first race of the day was the Cat 4 men. About 26 riders took the line and those that started fast stayed fast and won the race. Bill Kenney and Jacob Morrison led the field into the first grass section after a few hundred yards of sprinting off the line, and they stayed together at the front throughout the race. 3 laps later, Morrison led out of the last single track along the lake and onto the final 40 yards of pavement to the finish line. The finish was close, but Morrison held onto a half bike length lead to take the win. Here is a photo of Morrison about half way through the race:

Here's second place finisher Bill and his teammate Andy recovering after the race (Bill is on the right with severe helmet head):

This guy (whose name I didn't catch) came in sixth place on this beast of a bike:

Apparently, the Surly Pugsley is made for some kind of survivalist post-apocalyptic psycho bike racing done on snow and deep sand. Note the single cog on the front wheel. The owner told me he can put the front wheel on the back and run the bike as a single speed in case the rear axle breaks, which he says has happened to him a couple of times. Maybe that wouldn't happen if the bike didn't weigh about 40 pounds (before adding all the mud). He beat about 19 others in the race with this machine, but I wouldn't want to have to carry it up a run up. The flat muddy course today must have worked in his favor.

The women and juniors lined up next. Unfortunately, there were only three of each so there wasn't much competition. Anna Barensfeld won the women's race while Emily Curley was the fastest young women and Julie Lockhart was the fastest of the masters. I didn't catch names of the junior riders and without access to the start lists or results, I can't even make up a good story, sorry.

The Masters 45-plus were next. Paul Curley won it, but I didn't see much of the race as I had to get ready for the 35-plus race. And when I got to the start line I regretted not doing the Cat 4 race earlier because I found myself behind Markie, Kevin Hines, and 6 others who all looked fast. Alan Atwood blew the start whistle and Markie and Kevin were out of site in no time. It's hard to hide when there are only nine guys in the race, so I took my position of shame at the tail end of the train and tried to stay on the wheel in front of me as long as possible. It lasted about a lap before the two guys from Minuteman Road Club slipped away. From then on, it was either keep riding hard and hope someone would crack and let me catch up, or just try to keep from getting lapped. My lower back made the decision for me within the next lap as everything tightened up and I couldn't ride hard. I was doing ok with the not getting lapped part of the plan for a couple more laps, but Hines shot past me on the fourth lap and was out of site again in no time. Holy crap, doesn't that mean he is doing the laps about 2 minutes faster than me? Next up was Markie a few minutes later. He says "Having fun yet?" as he goes by. I wasn't sure so I just said yeah. Besides, a longer answer would have taken more than one breath and Markie was gone too quick for that. The good news is now I have not 2, but just 1 lap left. I finished it uneventfully and made sure that I did have some fun while I was out there. That's when I realized that it's a fun course if you aren't suffering too badly.

Almost immediately after the 35-plus race ended, the skies opened and everyone except for the poor souls who had dished out their $30 to race the Cat 1,2,3 headed for shelter. Sorry, but I wasn't sticking around in the cold rain to watch all 5 or 6 of them come around every 8 minutes or so.

I'll be back for this race next year, but I'm doing the Cat 4 race. The new course is a lot of fun but I would suggest dropping the entry fee a little bit and putting a few signs out on the road leading to the race.

If anyone has anything to add, please leave a comment.

Transition time

As of this weekend, it is officially cyclocross season now. Not that it hasn't been for a few weeks, but the Jamestown road race marks the end of the 2008 road season and that was Columbus day. There's nothing left now but the sweet pain of mud, rain, snow, and hour long rides flirting with the anaerobic threshold.

And since it's now full on cross season, here once again are the top 5 reasons why 'cross is bigger than ever. It's a repeat from last year, but since no one is likely to look that far back on the blog, I thought it was worth repeating:

#5. What else are you going to do in November and December?

#4. No matter how slow you are, it never lasts longer than an hour.

#3. Mud is better than road rash so crashing is no big deal (usually). Added benefit: shaving is not necessary because the legs are usually covered with either lycra or mud, maybe both.

#2. Cyclocross may be the excuse you need to indulge your bike buying addiction because you're going to need to get a bike specifically made for 'cross. That old mountain bike in the shed weighs a ton and you wouldn't want to ruin your nice road bike in the mud. If you are romantically involved, you might need to get permission but don't say "I just need this one more bike". See #1 below.

#1. What could be better than a sport that justifies the purchase of not just one but two new bikes? You're going to need a B bike for the pits too because what's the point of even trying to race 'cross with only one bike? Stuff breaks and gets clogged with mud. If you have no back up bike in the pits, you DNF and lose your entry fee. DNF 20 times in your career and that's enough wasted entry fees to buy a decent pit bike for free. Don't wait any longer. Hopefully you didn't use the "just this one more bike" thing to get your first 'cross bike approved by your significant other.

By the way, I have a perfect B bike for sale if anyone is in the market. It's a 56 cm Faggin 'cross bike, circa 1988. Columbus SL tubing with a mishmash of components. It's a bit heavy by today's standards at 24 or 25 pounds, but as a pit bike, it could be perfect. It would also be decent for someone getting into the sport that wants to try it on the cheap. Send me an email if interested.

woooohoooo top ten!!

Congratulations Luke Keough, 10th place at the CYCLOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. When I informed my girlfriend of Luke's success she asked me "10th out of how many?" And in any other race that would have been a fair question. But this is WORLDS!! I had seen that there were about 60 in the race, but that isn't the point. He was tenth out of all the kids in the entire world less than 19 years of age. That's a hell of a lot of kids. Sure, there are a few kids in deep sub-Saharan Africa that haven't even heard of cyclocross, but I am pretty sure he would have beaten all of them too. Tenth anything in the world is something to be proud of the rest of your life. According to Velonews, Luke said "That was my goal, I came here hoping to finish in the top 10 and there's no way I can be disappointed with that. This is only the second European race I've ever done." He has another year in the junior ranks to improve on his top ten finish today.

Gavin Mannion didn't do too bad either, finishing better than all but 31 kids in the entire world. I am pretty sure Gavin also has another year in the junior ranks to improve upon today's result.

Tomorrow Jonathan Page, Tim Johnson, and Katy Compton will be vying for podium finishes in the elite races, among others.

Let me count the ways

The top five reasons why cyclocross is the fastest growing sport in America (says me, that's who):

5. What else are you going to do in November and December?

4. It never lasts more than an hour no matter how slow you go.

3. Mud is better than road rash. Added benefit: shaving is not necessary because legs are usually covered with either lycra or mud.

2. You're going to need to get a bike specifically made for 'cross. That old mountain bike in the shed weighs a ton and you wouldn't want to ruin your nice road bike in the mud. If romantically involved, cyclocross may be the excuse you need to indulge your bike addiction: "I know I can't get to the lawnmower with all the bikes, but honey, I just need this one more bike for 'cross."

1. You're going to need a B bike too because what's the point of even trying to race with only one bike. Stuff breaks and gets clogged with mud. If you have a mechanical and no back up bike in the pits, you DNF and lose your entry fee. DNF 20 times in your career and that's enough wasted entry fees to buy a decent pit bike for free. Don't wait any longer. Hopefully you didn't need the "just this one more bike" thing above to get your first 'cross bike approved by your significant other.

First post - Raison d'etre

Hey Bike Race Fans,
Welcome to the new StartFinishBikeNews blog. It's still the offseason and will be for a while yet, but this will be the place to go for the latest in New England bicycle racing news and other bike related stuff.

I am usually behind the microphone at the start/finish line at races throughout New England, hence the name of the blog and website (expected to be www.startfinish.com when I get it set up). I announce about 15 races per year. My goal is to write a summary of every race that I announce for and a few more. I'll focus on the feature men's and woman's races but I'll also try to cover as many of the categories and age groups as possible. I'll do some interviews at the races and get behind the scenes with the racers, promoters, officials, and others who have something to say about the sport. I hope to get some video clips as well. But I can't be everywhere so your contributions will be a big part of the fun.

The race reports will hopefully be entertaining and help promote the sport. There will also be some periodic features on other aspects of bike racing sport and culture. I hope that the race reports will be used by local newspapers to supplement their reporting on our sport. We will see how that part works out, my education and experience is in engineering, not journalism.

When I am not announcing, I also plan to do a few training races then wage a limited cyclocross campaign later in the season. After getting back on the cross bike this past year after about 12 years off, there is no where to go but up.

And speaking off cross, check out www.crossresults.com/ for rankings of everyone who raced cross this season. I can't believe someone went to all that work for every single racer entered in every category at every race. They even ranked me (damn near the bottom of the Cat 4s). Can they do it for road races as well?

Spring training races start in March but I'll try to find a few things to post about in the meantime.

Stay warm on those long winter rides and keep the circulation flowing to all parts while on the rollers,