Canton Cup Race Report

[SheFly]

Location: Canton, MA
Weather: Sunny but WINDY. Temp approx 50 F
Race: 40 mins (we did 4 laps and it took me 48 mins)

As others in the Northeast have written in various posts, the weather here on Saturday was nothing short of a monsoon! Vicious rain accompanied by damaging winds. The forecast for Sunday was dryer, but the winds were supposed to continue (and definitely did!). We were pleasantly suprised at how DRY the course was given the two-three inches of rain that had fallen on Saturday...

This was a fun race, but really hard. The promoters set the B (3,4) women off 1 minute behind the C (4) men. There were 80 of them, and surprisingly, 31 of us (including 6 of us from my team)! That is a big women's field for these parts, which I was so excited to see!

The start was an uphill pavement sprint that crossed two good-sized speedbumps before a hard 90 degree right hand turn onto dirt double track that was slightly downhill. This led into a grassy section of the course, with tight, twisty turns (and some big ruts for good measure). The first set of barriers were a challenge - uphill approach, and the barriers were placed on the hill, making them seem MUCH taller than regulation! This was one of the places where I was again thankful for being blessed with my height. The remount was also uphill, which made this section my least favorite of the entire course.

Next, we were through a tight, twisty turn through the woods, back out onto the grass and then through a muddy/rooty section and onto pavement. Thankfully, someone wise had been out during warmup to rake the leaves off of the pavement in the corners - this was tricky enough with the wet pavement without having to also worry about the leaves on top. For me, this was a GREAT section on which to make up time, as I was able to cruise along at about 18 mph. The only downside was the wind - it was coming off an adjacent pond, and blew into me sideways on a couple of laps. I started passing some of the C men in this section and was pleasantly surprised as some of them waved me past, and then cheered me on as I went by.

The pavement let to a quick uphill grunt (that was completely rideable), followed immediately by an off camber, muddy down back to the pavement. Around a corner, and a quick, off camber up led to the second set of barriers. Off the bike, over the barriers, and back on behind a horse paddock, and through some tight, twisty, muddy turns. This was another good place to attack, and to keep on eye on who was behind you in the race. I passed quite a few of the men in this section as well, although it was somewhat tricky - with one racer, every time I would try to pass on one side or the other, he would move to that side! I finally got an opening, attacked, and passed him.

This section led to a downhill into a muddy 90 degree right slight uphill, around a 180 degree corner to a VERY STEEP and muddyn run-up. By the end of my race, there were steps in the hill that you could use as leverage to climb up! I'm sure that this section only got worse as the later races took place.

Off the run-up and onto a paved oval track - EXCELLENT! For me, another great place to make up places, since I could go at about 20 mph down the side of the track. Trouble is, at the bottom turn, I got slammed by a cross-wind, and coming back up the track, rode directly into the head wind! Four times on this track and the last time into the head wind was somewhat demoralizing... I did really like this part of the course though.

Off the track, through some tight grassy turns and into the final set of barriers (yes, there were THREE sets of barriers! With the run-up, this meant I had to dismount/remount my bike a total of 16 times during the race, stutter-stepping the remount each and every time ). Once over the barriers, it was back onto the uphill pavement to do it all again.

Because this wasn't a very technical course, the effort was huge. After two laps of the course, I was somewhat demoralized to see I still had two to go! I tend to get faster as a race progresses, however, and felt pretty strong by the finish. I was also able to draft some of the C men for some recovery time during the race. One of the men and I, in particular, would trade off. He ended up beating me though...

Not a great result (finished 16th out of 31 finishers), but not bad either. It was a fun course.

Sadly, despite no crashes during the race, I somehow managed to tweak my back afterwards. Was back at the truck getting changed when I suddenly experienced an intense pain in my back, and was unable to stand up (I was bent over at the time). A racer friend who also happens to be a PT who was there said that I have twisted something in my back, and that it was in complete spasm. I am sitting today in my office with the heating pad on, and trying to stretch. Hopefully this will be better before next weekend's stage race, but right now, I can't even bend over to do the laundry .

Here's a pic of me just after the second set of barriers on the course (loads of spectators here because you could see the racers coming uphill off the pavement, back around to the downhill, and then over the barriers before going behind the horse paddock), and doing the dreaded "stutter-step" on the third set of barriers.

SheFly

[Trekhawk]

Love the pics. Sounds like you did really well and had lots of fun too. Congratulations.

[madisongrrl]

Great race report. Wow, those barriers look pretty tall. So far I've experienced a range of barrier heights from very small to shin busting tall. Depends on the race.

[SheFly]

Great race report. Wow, those barriers look pretty tall. So far I've experienced a range of barrier heights from very small to shin busting tall. Depends on the race.

The barriers had printed directly on them "UCI Approved Height - 40 cms" - I think that was more so that we wouldn't complain. The first set were uphill, so you had the 40 sm barrier, lus the uphill distance to get over! Some of my smaller teammates HATED those barriers...

SheFly

[telegirl]

Wow! I was wondering how Canton would be, considering how bad it was up here in VT on Sat and how windy it was on Sunday- Good job and great pictures! Sounds like a challenging course!

[velogirl]

Congrats, Shefly! Hey, here's a suggestion. You're looking at your foot during your remount. Try looking ahead or dropping your head just a bit (looking at your stem).

UCI barriers suck. I have a scar from knee to ankle from skinning my shin (down to the bone) on on in my very first race ever. One of our local promoters uses them -- none of the other promoters do.

Here's a tip (especially for shorter girls). Instead of trying to jump over the entire barrier. Step onto the barrier with one foot and then over with the other. Of course, make sure they won't tip over (they shouldn't). Lots of the faster racers I know do this.

[SheFly]

Great suggestion, Velogirl! It's amazing how bad one's form is when caught on camera . I am headed out tonight for a practice session (assuming my back will behave). Like you, I have some UCI-height PVC and rope barriers that I can carry in my pack. I will pay distinct attention to this tonight.

SheFly

[SheFly]

Congrats, Shefly! Hey, here's a suggestion. You're looking at your foot during your remount. Try looking ahead or dropping your head just a bit (looking at your stem).

I practiced this last night, but it was harder to do than I thought. I didn't realize how much I look at my pedals getting back on my bike. The one change that did help though was to put my hands on the hoods vs. the tops of the bars. Do you find that makes a difference?

Here's a tip (especially for shorter girls). Instead of trying to jump over the entire barrier. Step onto the barrier with one foot and then over with the other. Of course, make sure they won't tip over (they shouldn't). Lots of the faster racers I know do this.

I passed on this tip to my teammates last night. They had never even thought of stepping ON the barrier. Thanks for the tip!

SheFly

[velogirl]

I can dismount and remount from the hoods, drops, or tops. It's good to be able to do all three because different terrain might dictate one over the other. I'm probably most comfortable with the hoods. I first learned from the drops (it lowers your body and seems easier just to slide onto the saddle). The tops are new to me this year and I've been doing it under the advice of my skills coach (who's also a mtn biker and rides the tops a lot).

Of course, I still have the frigging stutter-step no matter where I am!

You're welcome for the tips. BTW, one of the best ways I've learned technique is to watch elite racers (live or video). You'll learn new ways to approach elements (like stepping on the barrier instead of stepping over). If you have the opportunity to watch the elite men at your races, do it. Pick the parts of the course that were most challenging for you and see what they do.