Gloucester

**wavedancer** · 10-15-2007, 06:42 PM

Great racing Shefly!

I made it to Gloucester too for my 3rd race on Sunday. We finished my Frankenbike on Saturday and I planned on going to Gloucester to watch on Sunday, but Frank was already in the car...sooo...

The course was fast and longer than the other courses I have ridden. I was off the back the entire race and I think I got lapped twice by the 2 leaders! No matter, it still was a blast and hopefully I will get better as time and races go on. Yes, I'm hooked! And Frank loved it!

**Eden** · 10-15-2007, 06:44 PM

holy sand pits Batman!

**SheFly** · 10-16-2007, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by Eden

holy sand pits Batman!

Yup - but completely rideable!

Wavedancer - that's a great shot! Congrats on a tough race, and Frank looks like a great ride for the upcoming races! Canton in a couple of weeks? It's close....

SheFly

**trigirlpink** · 10-16-2007, 11:16 AM

[QUOTE=SheFly;254159]Yup - but completely rideable!

Errr.. not for Trigirlpink
as you can see. I was too chicken to even try it!

**Voodoo Sally** · 10-16-2007, 01:16 PM

I raced Gloucester, too, both days. You had great results, SheFly, even if not quite what you wanted. And Trigirlpink, great to finally say hi to you. And Wavedancer, nice Frank bike!

The action in the back of the 3/4 Women's race was as heated as at the front, I guess. This course was very fast and not too technical, and favored road racers. I tried my hardest. Saturday I got jammed at the start, in spite of my trying to have a good start. I went too fast and aggressively in a couple of spots, and crashed twice. Oops! Sat. I got 36 out of 52. Sun. I tried to relax more, and I did better. No screw-ups at the start, no dumb moves, and no crashes. And I got 2 min. faster time. 26th out of 42 for Sunday. I have a woman who I regularly go head to head with for most of these races, and it was nice for me to try to beat her, which I did. AND I had my first-ever road sprint to the finish line against another woman, which was really intense, hurt pretty bad, and which worked out well for me! I felt like such the road racer then.

**7rider** · 10-16-2007, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by wavedancer

I was off the back the entire race and I think I got lapped twice by the 2 leaders!

All right!!!! Now you are talkin' MY language!!

Seriously...great pix. It looked like a blast!
Congrats to each of you for an awesome day!

**trigirlpink** · 10-16-2007, 05:20 PM

Voodoo Sally, nice to meet you as well. It would have been nice to try and stay with you for at least a couple of laps but that just wasn't gonna happen! I wish I could have raced both days too. I think it was a plus to know the course well before racing it. It was fun though!
Here's another nice pix of you VS in your pink Jersey! This is at the barriers where I was completely CLUELESS on the first lap on how to approach that funky twisty run up crazy barrier section!

**SheFly** · 10-17-2007, 05:15 AM

Originally Posted by trigirlpink

This is at the barriers where I was completely CLUELESS on the first lap on how to approach that funky twisty run up crazy barrier section!

That run-up was the toughest spot on the course, Trigirlpink! I found that I could ride all the way through the bottom corner and almost up to the barrier without dismounting. I did see others though, like in your pic, dismounting at the top of the first turn and running the entire section. As a non-runner, this would have been way too slow for me - I need to be on the bike as much as possible.

Remember that these skills all take time to learn! I think you did a GREAT job out there. The most important thing is to have fun - if you did that, the race was a success!

SheFly

p.s.
The secret to riding the sand is to do it SLOWLY. Wrap down to a really easy gear, and take your time following the packed down path. I was in my easiest gear and on the brakes through that whole section.

**cycling_sarah** · 10-17-2007, 05:59 AM

Congrats everyone on the awesome racing! It's so fun to read your race reports and the pics are great!!

**trigirlpink** · 10-17-2007, 06:28 AM

The secret to riding the sand is to do it SLOWLY. Wrap down to a really easy gear, and take your time following the packed down path. I was in my easiest gear and on the brakes through that whole section.
__________________

What I should have done was dragged you down to that sand pit after our race before the next one started to demo your skills for me. NEXT TIME?

**SheFly** · 10-17-2007, 06:43 AM

Originally Posted by trigirlpink

What I should have done was dragged you down to that sand pit after our race before the next one started to demo your skills for me. NEXT TIME?

YES!

**Juligirli** · 10-17-2007, 03:47 PM

I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon and put a picture up

**7rider** · 10-18-2007, 03:00 AM

Trigirlpink: I just noticed your bike has disc brakes. I thought there was something (rule?) about not using disc brakes at a 'cross race. I'm just curious b/c I think about a 'cross bike as my next commuter, but would want disc brakes and thought that would keep me out of any race (like I could race! Ha!).

My friend in town did race (55+ master's class - gads! the years have gone by since I've been up there!), but mostly worked behind the scenes, which wore him out too much to race as well as he would have liked.

He did point out results and pix here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php.../gloucester072
And said if you go to http://video.google.com/ and search on "Gloucester cyclocross 2007" you can get links to a bunch of videos.

**SheFly** · 10-18-2007, 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by Regina

Trigirlpink: I just noticed your bike has disc brakes. I thought there was something (rule?) about not using disc brakes at a 'cross race. I'm just curious b/c I think about a 'cross bike as my next commuter, but would want disc brakes and thought that would keep me out of any race (like I could race! Ha!).

This rule is only in effect for UCI-level races. What that means is, for the Elite men, Elite women, U23 and Junior men (15-19) - no disk brakes. The women's 3/4 field is not a UCI-level race, so the brakes are ok. Of course, the disadvantage is that they are heavier

.

Regina - I noticed it too, and had to go ask DH about it before posting.

Oh - and you can too race!

SheFly

**trigirlpink** · 10-18-2007, 05:04 AM

So there ya go. Shefly's got the scoop. I had no clue about the whole disc brake thing when I got the bike. Since I will only be an Elite level cross racer in my R.E.M. sleep, I won't need to worry.

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