Brockton - City of Champions Cross Race

[SheFly]

Finally some true 'cross weather - kind of. Rainy and wet, but a little on the humid side (temps ended up hitting into the 70s during the day). We were ready, but where was everyone? Apparently the 'cross weather, and two competing races (one in CT and one in VT) made for small starting fields in all of the races.

We'd heard reports about the Brockton course from last year, so were planning for two things - mud, and lots of technical sections. DH built up a new "beater bike" for me to use to race, and he was going to break out the KHS single speed he won at the Witches' Cup in August, both outfitted with mud tires. Imagine our surprise then, when we arrived in Brockton to a newly redesigned course that included lots of - PAVEMENT!

A preview lap showed a course that was 50% pavement, flat and FAST. This was going to be a crit, with one run-up and one bridge and some fast grassy corners thrown in. I was glad that I wasn't on a single speed (although DH still finished in 6th place with the SS and a slowly leaking/flat rear tire) ;-).

I lined up with a whopping big Women's Open field of 9 racers. We had a pretty casual atmosphere on the starting line - so casual, that I was busy starting my HRM when the whistle blew! That caused me to go into the run-up second to last. Note to self - PAY ATTENTION! Starts are key, and I blew it. I was angry for missing that, so put the hammer down to try and get around some of the other women, and found myself in 4th position after about a half of a lap. After a dropped chain by one of the racers, I ended up in 3rd, battling back and forth with a racer I later found out was a sophomore in college! On the second to last lap, my teammate past me, and I mentally quit as she dragged two racers with her, putting me in 6th place, where ultimately, I finished.

My HR was PEGGED for this race - average of 178 bpm with a max of 185! Guess taking some days off this week wasn't necessarily a good thing...

Lessons for me - I need to pay more attention to the starts, and listen to the advice I give others on the team - NEVER quit racing...

SheFly

[wavedancer]

I admit, I wimped out. I was planning on doing this race right up until I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning. I was leary about the weather report of rain, still feeling a little tentative regarding my race skills. I decided to not go, and spent most of the day beating myself up about being a woos!

After your description of the course, though, it probably was just as well. A fast race on pavement in the rain is still a little more than I am willing to tackle.

I remain a fair weather 'crosser...Maybe Plymouth?

BTW, how was Canton? Fair weather, but I had planned on doing a Women's mtb skills clinic, so headed up to Harold Parker SF instead.

[Triskeliongirl]

Its so cool to read about this, I was born in Brockton, but moved away many many years ago. Where was the race? Fields park by any chance? That place has fond memories of growing up for me.

[SheFly]

Wavedancer - don't beat yourself up. Given the weather, the course and the competition, you made the right call! Definitely would have been a tough race for you.

Yup - this race was is DW Fields park. Nice venue - pretty park for sure, including the swans in the pond. Too bad it was rainy - lots of foliage.

SheFly

[blueskies]

Shefly - I love reading your race reports. Thanks for posting them...

[Voodoo Sally]

I did this race. It was really hard for me, and I got DFL! Well, a lady (way in front of me) got a flat and quit, so technically she got last. I got 8th place out of 9. But, it wasn't bad experience by any means. This is the 3rd year of this race, and the 3rd time I've done it. The last 2 years there were only 2 women in the field, so 9 is a big improvement.

I actually had a great start for a change. Yay. And I got up & over that 1st barrier in a flash. But then, it was like a road race, and I got utterly hosed. I have never road raced, or trained for that. I'm guessing the other gals in the race were road racers to some extent. Within the first half lap, I was in last place. There was one lady, however, who was just maybe 10 seconds ahead of me the whole time, so I wasn't lonely, or too dejected. I just focused on trying to get her and tried my best.

[trigirlpink]

Good for you for sticking it out and in the rain no less. We can only get better by racing more I'm hoping!! I have a family obligation this entire weekend so can't do North Hampton like I wanted to. I have yet to get back to one of the courses I did last year to compare at least how I feel on the course this season. Amsbury,Bedford Gloucester, Biddeford and Canton were all new courses for me this year.
Has anyone done either of the Plymouth MA races that are going on next weekend? I'd love to hear what they are like before signing up for one or both.

[SheFly]

Nice job, Sally! You are right - most of the lead women are also pretty strong road racers. There were a couple of good sections where I'm sure that you did really well, and they faltered (like the tight turns and that TREE!). Nice job.

Trigirlpink - Plymouth last year was a BLAST! The second day this year is brand new, so I can't comment on it. Here is my description of the Saturday course from last year:

I really liked the course - lots of tight, twisty turns, some boggy grass sections (that were pretty fast), an awesome downhill singletrack (with off-camber, slippery root directly before hard left turn...), a section of sidewalk and then back into grassy ups and downs. There were two big run-ups and two barriers (no, not sets, two barriers - cross single barrier on grass, make some turns and come back across single barrier going in opposite direction (in the other lane)). The hardest part for me was not being able to clip into my pedals after the fun up - cleats were packed with mud (ok, there was some mud - but NOTHING like last week...).

It is a little bit technical, but if you come over and practice on Thursday, you should be fine!

SheFly

[Voodoo Sally]

Thanks trigirlpink and SheFly. Yeah, the rain certainly wasn't my favorite part, but otherwise it was good.

I can't do any races this weekend either - family stuff too.

Plymouth? That's one of my favorites. It's pretty grassy, and somewhat technical, and kind of hilly. And there is that little bit of downhill singletrack in the woods, like mt. biking. I'm talking about what they're calling "North" (Saturday) Plymouth. And don't forget to try to get some air off of that board going up the curb . Like SheFly said, the "South" version is new, so nobody knows.