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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA
    Posts
    414

    Which bike for my first race?

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    First of all, I can't believe that I'm doing this. It is pretty last-minute, I'm totally unprepared. My total introduction to CX consists of watching SheFly in a great race last year and watching four video clips of technique on Velo News!

    On the plus side, I have been doing a fair amount of road and mountain bike riding this year and feel pretty confident on my bikes now.

    So, I am doing the Beginner Women's race at the Eco Cross Challenge in Falmouth, MA on Sept 22. Entry fee is cheap, 20-minute race, great organic food at Coonamessett Farm and a beer tent after!

    I plan to do a few attempted dismounts, mounts, and carries over the next 10 days, but I really just want to give it a try and have some fun in something new!

    My choices of bikes to ride are: My lovely full-suspension Titus Racer-X with 2.0 Serac tubeless tires, weighing in at about 25 lbs. Or...my Gary Fisher Big Sur hardtail with 2.0 Mythos tires or some 1.35 Schwalbe CX tires that I just ordered. She is about 27lbs with her current tires, probably a little lighter if I use the CX tires.

    Any thoughts on which bike to use for this first-time race? Do I have to use the skinnier tires? Would it be best to use them?

    Thanks to all of you...I have been lurking on this forum for awhile vicariously enjoying your race reports and learning a bit too!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    293
    I'm new to cross, too, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help on the bikes. BUT, I did want to say GOOD LUCK! It's great that you're getting out there and trying it. Please make sure to let us all know how your first race goes!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Suburban MA and Western ME
    Posts
    1,815
    Linda - for this race, your hard tail will be the best choice. The course is not very technical, and it will be easier for you to carry over the barriers. Get to the venue early, so that you can pre-ride the course to get a feel for it.

    Here is my race report from this venue last year:

    This race was HARD, but a lot of fun. After the pre-ride, I was kind of wishing I had brought my single speed mountain bike...

    The race started with a mass start of Beginner Men, Women and cub juniors. Not sure how many men raced, but it was a large field. The first sound you DON'T want to hear in this type of start is a large crash, but we did have that happen off to the right hand side of the field - luckily, I had lined up on the left.

    I guess the entire TWO previous 'cross races I had under my belt actually taught me something, as I had a great start off the line. We sprinted up a gravel road, took a right turn into a field, and then a VERY quick 90 degree left into the woods - on singletrack. I got passed simultaneously on both sides headed into the singletrack, but was about the 10th person in, and the first woman - woohoo!

    The first part of the course was a little challenging - tight singletrack into a couple of VERY tight 180 degree turns where the consequences of missing included some large trees. Back onto soft singletrack and around a VERY soft uphill rooty corner. My back tire slid out here and I was forced to dab which did NOT impress the racer next to me, nor the ones immediately behind... The guys were trying really hard to get around, but the course was so tight that it was difficult. I found this at times infuriating, as well as frustrating.

    After the dab, we came into a field and around a boat (yes, I said boat), before hitting a sandy run-up. Quick dismount, shoulder the bike, run to top and run a little further since the remount is on a slight uphill. Up a bit of gravel road, and back into the woods. A couple more tight corners (including a sandy uphill left that got softer and softer each lap), then out through an orchard, downhill to a gravel pit, hop a wooden curb (on a diagonal and it was wet!), cross the finish, quick left jog into another orchard, round a tight corner and into the barriers.

    The barriers were a little tricky, and there was a big crowd gathered here (it was, after all, the site of the beer tent). The barriers were in a long section of loose gravel vs. the sand I had been accustomed to. This made the remount pretty tough - if you ran a little further, you could use some momentum and a downhill to get you down through all of the gravel, back up over another wooden curb and into another orchard. In this orchard they had you racing down one row and up a next, with some tight corners. This brought you out to a fast downhill (not too fast though, since you had a hard right at the bottom), through a field and then to the second run-up - a big sand pit followed immediately by a steep, sandy hill. Once you cleared this, you were back on the singletrack.

    I led for the first lap and a half (we ended up doing 4 laps in our 30 min race). I got caught in one of the run-ups by a woman on a mountain bike on lap 2. I tried to stay right with her, but she was fast, and headed off. I also knew that two others were right behind me, so I put in a fairly big effort to stay ahead of them for the remainder of the second and third laps. By the end of the third lap, I was getting tired, and Carrie was right on my heels. I managed to block her from passing me once, but couldn't counter her move right before the barriers. I actually caught her again running through the barriers, but completely missed the remount, and she, too, was off. At that point, I had NO GAS left in the tank, and struggled to maintain 3rd place.

    I had a few baubles in this race including my dab, a close encounter with a cement wall on the downhill following the barriers, and a tip over coming through the gravel pit to the finish line. None the worse for wear, but with the racing picking up, my bruises and bumps are multiplying ;-). I did feel really good about my start on this race, my dismount and remount at the barriers for a couple of laps, and have finally managed to keep my bike in a forward momentum while remounting. It's not pretty, but at least it's better!

    This was a TOUGH course, but it was also really FUN!


    You will have a BLAST! I saw that you are registered - I will try to get there early to see your race (but might not make it in time). My race isn't until later, but as you know, hanging out a 'cross races is 1/2 the fun!

    See you there!

    Cathy
    "Well behaved women rarely make history." including me!
    http://twoadventures.blogspot.com

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Maynard, MA
    Posts
    145
    Hey Wavedancer, good for you! I'm gonna do this race, too. I'll look forward to seeing you there.

    I'll probably be wearing a pink jersey.

    Sally

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Suburban MA and Western ME
    Posts
    1,815
    Quote Originally Posted by Voodoo Sally View Post
    Hey Wavedancer, good for you! I'm gonna do this race, too. I'll look forward to seeing you there.

    I'll probably be wearing a pink jersey.

    Sally
    Hey Sally - this is an AWESOME course for a SS MTB....

    SheFly
    "Well behaved women rarely make history." including me!
    http://twoadventures.blogspot.com

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Maynard, MA
    Posts
    145
    Quote Originally Posted by SheFly View Post
    Hey Sally - this is an AWESOME course for a SS MTB....

    SheFly

    Hi Cathy! Is it really? Hmm. I'll have to think about that!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA
    Posts
    414
    Quote Originally Posted by SheFly View Post
    Linda - for this race, your hard tail will be the best choice. You will have a BLAST! I saw that you are registered - I will try to get there early to see your race (but might not make it in time). My race isn't until later, but as you know, hanging out a 'cross races is 1/2 the fun!

    See you there!

    Cathy
    Cathy,
    Thanks for the great description of last year's ride. Yikes! What am I getting myself into

    Would you recommend leaving my wide knobby tires on the hard tail? Is that allowed? I do have some 26-inch cross tires coming that I can put on the bike, but they won't get here until next Tuesday, so I won't be able to ride with them much before the race.

    I went out before work this morning to practice some mounts and dismounts on a flat grassy ball field. The carries are going to be awkward, and the rest not too pretty, but I'll give it a go!

    Sally: Are you doing the beginners or open women's race? I'll be looking for you! I will be pretty hard to miss, I'm sure. I'll be the one bumbling along with a ****-eating grin in the back of the pack, most likely

    Linda

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Maynard, MA
    Posts
    145
    I usually do the Beginner race, but 20 minutes seems a little on the short side for me , so I'm leaning toward the Open. Either way, if you stick around after the race (think beer ) I'll probably see you!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Suburban MA and Western ME
    Posts
    1,815
    Quote Originally Posted by wavedancer View Post
    Yikes! What am I getting myself into
    FUN! And excitement! Don't worry, Linda, you will have a great time!

    Quote Originally Posted by wavedancer View Post
    Would you recommend leaving my wide knobby tires on the hard tail? Is that allowed? I do have some 26-inch cross tires coming that I can put on the bike, but they won't get here until next Tuesday, so I won't be able to ride with them much before the race.
    I would leave your tires for this race. The MTB tires will be fine (or better) on this particular course. Plus, racers have an addage that you shouldn't change ANYTHING on your bike right before a race. What you cannot have on your bike though is bar ends - those have to come off.

    Can't wait to see you next weekend!

    SheFly
    "Well behaved women rarely make history." including me!
    http://twoadventures.blogspot.com

 

 

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