Post of Race Report Posts: !Snapped!

This is my first post to the CB Cyclocross Blog. Not my first post ever to any blog, but nevertheless my first post here. Now, usually I have to put on the right music...not too intense, not too mild....pour myself a little whiskey (writing is always better with a little whiskey). Then, only when the conditions are just right can I devote some sweet-sweet keystrokes to the musings of cyclocross...

Not this time.
Why? You might be asking yourself. Well, self, because I've been mulling this one over for a little over a week now, and I think I'm ready.

Here it is:
Pete Smith is the Hammer of Thor personified, sent down to wreak havoc on the cyclocross world, and he has lessons for us all. *Hint* It's down near the bottom of the post.


Now I know that is a pretty bold statement, but look what results I have to consider here. Sure he did pretty well at the Granouge Race. I mean 4th is ok. If you're into that whole "podium" thing. What I want everyone to consider here is his performance the next day at the Wissihickon (or however you spell that fricken name) Race.

People ask me..."Pete did so good the day before, what happened?" Well, I'm here to tell you what happened.

This guy had no call up to the front row. Being new to the MAC peleton he had no points and had to start back. Way back, like sixth row back. So what did he do? Did he cry about it to the officials? No. Did he complain about it to the other racers? No. Or, at least I don't think so. What he did do was scratch and claw his way up to the chase group in about two laps.

That's when our little friend calamity reared her ugly head.

Snapped chain.

What does Pete-Smith-Hammer-of-Thor do at this point? Does he call it a day? Pack it in? Throw in the towel? Cry to mommy? Punch an official? Kick a puppy?

No.

He picks up his bike and runs like hell. In fact, since he had just passed the pit he runs like hell for half a lap. Then, and we have this on video if you don't believe me, he takes a pit bike and proceeds to slay fellow crossers with it. Pete Rubi and Tall Erik meanwhile are moving like agile little monkeys readying Pete Rubi's bike for Mr. Smith to leap on at the next opportunity.

Now, I know what you are thinking here. "Well, at this point, he was probably just soft pedaling...giving up." Must I reiterate? The Hammer of Thor does not soft pedal. Once again, I can, and will refer you to the video. He is passing people, and not just passing people, but closing the door on them. Slamming the door of opportunity in their faces to finish in 23rd place.

It is not the placing that matters though, its the god damned PROFESSIONALISM here people!

Lets Review in a linear fashion:
-Started 6th Row -Moved into top ten -!SNAPPED CHAIN! -Ran half a lap -Took a pit bike
-Swapped onto someone else's bike -Finished the race

So, what in fact is the lesson here? I think, in my humble opinion the lesson is this. *If you totally eliminate the idea of dropping out, well, then that option doesn't exhist does it?*

CB Success at Five Races in Four States!

The Cambridge Bicycle/Igleheart Frames Cyclocross Team showed a presence this weekend at six races in four different states.

One squad went north to the Catamount Cyclocross Weekend, presented by Catamount Family Center in Williston, VT. Jordan Winkler scored top-ten finished on both days which netted him a 10th place in the Beginner Men's Omnium Overall. Nice job Jordan!

Another squad hit two races in Connecticut: Saturday's Southington Cyclocross - Connecticut State Championships in Southington, CT and Sunday's Mansfield Hollow 'Cross Race in Mansfield Center, CT. Alex Whitmore placed 15th in Saturday's Men's Elite race, while Perri Mertens podiumed on both days with a 3rd place on Saturday and a 2nd place on Sunday! Michael Savona went just outside the top 20 in Saturday's Men's B race, and beginner women racers Tasha Boltukhova and Kathleen Fulton were mixing it up with the big girls in the Open Women's race. Way to represent, Team Cambridge!

And yet another squad made the 5 hour trip south to the first two Verge Mid-Atlantic Series races at Granogue and Wissahickon. "Tall Erik" Peterson took 20th in Saturday's C Men's race and then bettered that on Sunday, placing 16th. Cambridge/Igleheart was all over the Men's 2/3 race on both days. Pete Smith podiumed with 4th and Jeremy Dunn 8th at Granogue, and then Jeremy got on the podium at Wissakickon with a 3rd place finish while Pete Smith fought back from a broken chain mid-race to finish 23rd. Lastly, Elite Men's racer Peter Rubijono had a breakout weekend with superb races both days. At Granogue, Rubi finished 24th out of 50 starters and 33rd out of 50 at Wissahickon. For those of you who were not there to see it with your own eyes, I'm convinced Rubi was consistently doing the barrier/run-up section faster than the top pros. Everybody was noticing and talking about him, and soon I will post some video as evidence. Keep it up, Pete! You're moving up!

This weekend's focus will be the local Canton Cup race. It's close, so everyone bring at least two friends along as spectators! Cyclocross Rules!!!

Results and Race Reports:
Mansfield Hollow 'Cross Race
Southington Cyclocross - Connecticut State Championships
Granogue Cross UCI C1- 2007 VERGE MAC Series Race #1
Wissahickon Cross UCI C2- 2007 MAC Series Race #2

Gloucester photo-post (click pics for full size)

More at http://www.flickr.com/photos/13182577@N05/

Peter Bradshaw chased the leader's jersey in sunday's 2/3...

...and ended up on the podium!

Pete R. in the mix in the Sun elites

team tactics.

Driving it up the hill in an aerodynamic tuck.

Jeremy earns his recovery drink.

Roz know how to drive it in like a pro.

The Other World Champ

Speaking of World Champions, our's was not the only one ripping up the course at Whitmore's Super Cross Cup last weekend. Erwin Verveken (above, repping the new Cambridge Bicycle T-Shirt), the current World Champion of Cyclocross made the rare trip across the Atlantic to mop up some valuable UCI points. He looked strong and in control during both days of racing. Day one saw him take Wicks at the line, while a rock sent his derailleur into his rear wheel on the last lap of Sunday's race. The WC was a nice guy and a class act, posing for photos with spectators who were all swooning over the rainbow jersey. Check him out in this Cyclofile video riding the run-up in front of Trebon, Johnson, Powers, and Wicks: http://www.cyclofile.com/2007/10/whitmores-landscaping-super-cr.html.

P.Bradshaw puts CBCross on the podium at Whitmore's Super Cup

Peter Bradshaw, 2007 Cycle Messenger World Champion, took the top place in Sundays's 2/3 race at Whitmore's Super Cross Cup. Also, Nick Mashburn took 4th in Sunday's 3/4 race, Jeremy Dunn was 7th in Saturday's 2/3, and Perri Mertens placed 11th in the Elite Women's race. It was an awesome weekend all around.

Don't Forget: Gloucester this weekend! 1287 racers registered!!!

Casco Bay Cyclocross

By: Pete Smith

As most of the Cambridge Bike ‘Cross Team headed south to try their legs against current cyclocross world champion, Erwin Vervecken, I made the short trip to Biddeford, ME to race what proved to be a very fun and challenging course. Who needs Vervecken anyway? We’ve got our very own world champion in Peter Bradshaw (current messenger world champ). After a slow start I was able to settle into a steady pace, gradually moving forward throughout the duration of the race. Although the results aren’t quite there yet, I feel my cross legs starting to evolve, as the hour doesn’t feel quite so long anymore. Again, Jan was snapping some pics…

Mark McCormack Shares Secrets with CBCross!

Mark McCormack gave an exclusive Cross Clinic for Cambridge Bicycle/Igleheart riders this week and we all own him a lot of cheering and cowbell action this season in return! All who participated showed great improvements in dismounting/remounting and keeping speed through the barriers. Mark has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience and we were lucky to have the opportunity to learn from him.

Thank You, Mark McCormack!

For those who don't know about Mark, here's some history:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2004/interviews/?id=mark_mccormack04

Amesbury 'Cross

9.30.2007

The dust was flying @ Amesbury 'cross today. Peter Bradshaw, Alex Whitmore, Jeremy Dunn and Pete Smith rocked the men's elite race. Pete's wife, Jan, was armed with the camera and taking the pics.

Alex... Needs a cb kit.

Friend Stan.

Pete S. over the barriers

The finishing straight

JD Huppin' it up

...and Alex

of course it hurts... It's 'cross

JDThanks for a great day guys!

Hub-On -Wheels report

Rather than race this weekend, Craig and I spent sunday morning volunteering at the Hub-on-Wheels ride. At the risk of sounding like a cheerleaders yearbook, It was the best EVER!

Seriously though, early estimates were 3,000 riders, up over a thousand from last year. the weather was beautiful for a long road ride and the crowd was very positive. Many people seemed to come in from the burbs with bikes on cars and its seemed like a great way to make urban biking less intimidating for that crowd.

Volunteers all met at City Hall plaza at 6am, everyone from total roadies in team kit to bikes not bombs volunteers to bike path cyclist was represented, and of course Team CB/Igleheart. Craig had been volunteering the day before, marking the route and also helped manage volunteer check in before headed off to be a stationary marshall at the Stonybrook reservation. I was a lead ride marshall, myself and 3 other volunteers were to stay at the front of the groups for the two routes. It was hard to tell just how "fast" that group was going to be though, while we were massing up on cambridge street.

Just before the ride left Mayor Menino, warning us at the front "If I catch you your in trouble!" and Senator Kerry, with personal squadron of roadies, appeared at the front of the line. As the ride started, Jeff, the other marshal lead marshal for the 45 mile ride, debated whether it was bad form to pass the mayor in the first half mile. But "Hiz'onah" swung his trek lime and all his grandkids, who were also riding, off the route before we got onto storrow. Riding on storrow was nice. Lots of space at the front and a police escort. The fast people started pushing the pace and I was surprised that Senator Kerry was still with us. The front group kept the pace up and by the arboretum we had established a pretty big gap on the next group. I saw Craig again when we came out of the Stonybrook reservation. I have to say it was pretty nerve wracking following a tandem at speed through the paved wooded path we took. Lots of blind turns and elevation changes made it a bit of a roller coaster. I caught up to the very front group at a red light on blue hill ave and stayed close to them into the rest area at Forrest Hills. Most of the fast crew didnt stop, but I was running low on water and we had re joined the shorter ride so there was no shortage of marshalls ahead of them. I took a couple minutes refilling bottles and when i left the rest area, who should be coming up behind me? The senator from massachusetts!

I rode with his posse for most of the second half. We made small talk and i chickened out on a bet with Dorothy to bust his balls for riding a Serotta rather than a quality MA product like an IF, Seven, ANT or Igleheart. He was treating me like a normal person sharing a bike ride so i didnt want to gush all over him like he owed me something. I will say, Senator Kerry is a VERY conscientious rider. He signaled every intersection, stop sign, pothole and oncoming whatever as well as all the turns. Hes also not just a fairweather rider, judging by the pace he held. I was keeping up with his group fine. But when i had to stop briefly to check on a rider who slid out in a turn, i didnt see him again until the finish.

Everyone at the finish was pretty excited. It turned out that the fastest riders on the 45 miler had finished in less than 2.5 hours, including Kerry! I came in right at 2:30 and was pretty happy with the whole ride. Id been chasing people most of the ride and the pace definately pushed me without killing me way out in Mattapan. And of course i feel pretty good about representing the sponsors at an event like Hub-on-wheels.

Next year im beating Senator Kerry to the finish though!

There's a new sheriff in town - - - - - - - - - - - - Molly Stark Race Report -

As I sit to write this race report I need to keep reminding myself PMA, PMA, PMA… I had a general lack of energy and power during the race, which didn’t lead to a great race experience. I suffered more than you typically should during a cross race. I hope I’m just sick or had an off day and that the legs feel better tomorrow.

No, I’m not the new sheriff because I won the race or even placed very well, but due to my lucky discovery of a sweet pair of cop style sunglasses (see pic above). While on my warm-up, I ventured down a dirt road next to the Hillsborough County House of Corrections. I stopped to do a peep (urinate for you non-dads ) and to my amazement found myself voiding on or about a moderately worn pair of official New Hampshire state issue sheriff’s sun glasses. These must have been VERY expensive (don’t let the “china” stamped into the ear piece make you think anything different). After I straightened out the nose piece and cleaned off the peep, I envisioned an escaped convict (probably a murderer or rapist) being pursued by one of New Hampshire’s finest. “During the struggle he probably lost them” I thought (more realistically, someone just tossed them from their car window in pure disgust). I returned to the race venue and “raced”. Justin Spinelli, (www.richardsachs.com/articles/meetjustin.html) formed Saeco euro-pro and Giro de Italia participant, ran away with the race. Close behind, the King brothers (Priority Health Pro Cycling Team) rounded out the podium. By the time I finished, Spinelli had returned to his car and changed back to his sleek street clothes (those Richard Sachs riders always look so good). He was sporting a pair of $200-looking jeans, a slim fitting black Richard Sachs t-shirt and a “real” pair of expensive sheriff’s glasses. I then changed, cleaned up my new sunnys, put them on and started the ford focus. A pimp, black BMW rolled by with Spinelli behind the wheel. He looked over at me, smiled, nodded and mouthed “nice race”. I think he just liked my glasses…

When I got home (still wearing the glasses) Jan started laughing out loud. Yea, they look pretty ridiculous, but they make my happy…

Sucker Brook Report

After arriving at 8am, I was quick to register, set up my bike, and scout out what other racers were wearing to combat the chilly morning air. My warm up laps could not have been more pleasant. I was falling in love with a great course, enjoying the brisk air, and catching up with my friend Dan that I haven’t seen in 2 years (who, coincidentally, turns out to be friends with pretty much everyone on the team). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Good people.

The course itself consisted of four distinct portions: The start was a short road stretch, followed by a grassy-switchback-spaghetti-bowl portion, followed by a wooded single track section, ending in a double sandbox. The grassy portion of the race was beautifully architected with off kilter turns over deep-rooted grass. A stair set and a couple barriers were thrown in for good measure. The wooded section was fast and straight, but was the fairy of the many flat tires that were sprinkled around (I received one in the C race and one in the B race). The sandbox grabbed a few front wheels, including Dan’s, but almost everyone choose to battle through the deep ruts over dismounting. Craig generously loaned me his Igleheart— I couldn’t have been more comfortable in the ruts, which were 8 inches deep for the B race, and even deeper for the elites.

After my final race I grabbed a cold beverage while I shared stories of catastrophes (and near catastrophes), cheered on the racers in the next race, and soaked up the conclusion of another memorable day of cycling.

Check out the CB boys getting it done in the 1/2/3! Good riding from everyone this weekend.

Cambridge Bicycle/Igleheart at Sucker Brook

Perri Mertens leads the chase through the barriers at Sucker Brook Cross.

The Cambridge Bicycle/Igleheart Frames Cyclocross Team brought the black and white Psy-Ops kit up to Auburn, New Hampshire for the third edition of Sucker Brook Cross. Props to the organizers for stepping it up with a killer website (www.suckerbrookcross.com), awesome flyers and t-shirts, and another beautiful day of racing on a super fun course.

Full race reports and photos to come... In the meantime, enjoy this video posted by Gwen: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6732198074908694862