Starcrossed CX & Rapha Focus GP

Roland · Post by **Roland** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:39 am

This weekend we had a large crew from the island head down to Starcrossed CX & Rapha Focus GP in Seattle. Lots of solid results in almost every category.

Photos from Starcrossed:
http://photos.rabien.com/Cyclocross/201 ... 31_WNTQcSX

Photos from Rapha Focus:
http://photos.rabien.com/Cyclocross/201 ... 73_nwxTtvC

Results from Starcrossed:
http://www.starcrossedcx.com/history/2011-results/

Results from Rapha:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... n_US#gid=0

I raced well, but had late callups boths days making it tough to get a good start. I finished 24th and 21st in the Cat 3 races. In the Single Speed eliminator challenge I was eliminated in the first round.

Here is a good demo on how not to do the barriers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEGAIYKTZ9w

I'm famous for sleeping:
http://www.mfgcyclocross.com/photos/detail/6162055124/

I'll let everybody else do their own race reports, but I try and list everybody who raced:

From Tripleshot: Lister, Liam, Evan, Duncan, David, Jim, Brenna, Alex, Farisha, Brad, Gavin, Jen, Katie & I

From other island clubs: Aaron Dusseault, Peter Wellsman, Jamie Emery, Drew MacKenzie, Joele Guynup, Craig Richey, Mical Dyck, Regan Pringle, Sean Cruicksahnk, Carter Hovey, Amanda Wakeling

Great weekend of racing, party atmosphere, see you there next year.

farensen · Post by **farensen** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:31 am

Great job by everyone that raced. Awesome race, very fun... and dirty. Definitely going to do this next year if possible! Met some Italians... yesyesyes!

Lister Farrar · Post by **Lister Farrar** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:55 pm

Race report to come, but big thanks to Roland who told me "you have to get the juniors to go to Starcrossed".

You were right. Absolute blast all round. The juniors were planning the next weekend away as soon as they got together on the ferry home.

Hard to put it in a nutshell. The course was challenging for the pros, but just right for the newest riders. Rubbing shoulders with world champions to masters fatties on single speed bikes with 4 " wide tires (only guy who rode the sand, beside a few pros I think.)

I'd have to say one of the biggest highlights for me was Evan asking two-time world champion Bart Wellens and race winner (man can that guy fly; think slalom skiier edging ability, world class pursuiter speed crossed with Edwin Moses) what advice he had for a new rider. (And this after 20 minutes of post race interviews, still in his race kit.)

(paraphrased: Evan can correct.) "First, always enjoy riding your bike. You can't fight it or be angry and win. If you have fun, you will do well.

"Two, steer with your eyes, not your hands. If you look through the corner, you will take the right line. If you look at the guy in front, you will hit him if he falls."

Makes me want to believe there are elite cyclists who really are role models.

Other highlights:

The Pauly's VW van with the awning as TS junior team world headquarters. Just need stickers and papparazzi.
The food, courtesy Catherine, Duncan's mum. Awesome meals, healthy, and grocery store prices. Menu: Lasagna, courtesy her and Nancy Grant, BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, salads and veggies every meal.
David keeping Duncan in sight for the boys 15-16 race. They finished 6th and 7th I think.
Me getting more flats than David on the weekend. (His 5 flat record in one weekend is still safe though.)
Watching the shy Alex darting into holes, making up places, in the furious first 300 m sprint that starts each cross race. (Cross races are backwards: the sprint is first. )
Brenna getting off after the second race saying that was her favourite race ever. And saying 'when's the next one'?
Evan holding the second place junior 17-18 to 20 seconds for many laps, then making a huge effort to pull him back to 10 seconds, then blowing, losing another 10 seconds, and then not giving up and starting to pull him back again. (First place was a near pro: matching bike in the pits, 3 man crew, the works.)
Duncan getting the running remount down. Gently teasing his mother as only 16 years old boys can do with their mums.
Liam ahead of Roland in Cat 3 for two laps, and comfortable, before he crashed and broke his right shifter. What might have been?
Farisha catching up fast to the rest, despite not having done many skills sessions. And chatting up pro 6th place Fabio Ursi of Italy by asking what's the best mountain pass in Italy to ride on a road bike when she's there with her dad next year. Answer: "Motirolo".
Ursi's other advice: "For juniors, progress slowly. Poco, poco, each year. Eat Mediterranean, not American. And ride your tires softer (demonstrating his tires nearly bottoming out as he leaned on his bars.
Jonathon Page's pre-race clinic. Silver medallist in the worlds, but took time to teach a large group how to dismount, remount, deal with clogged shoes and pedals, tire pressure, etc. (Tip: after a remount, pedal first to keep your momentum, clip in later. Tip 2 For dismounts, unclip left, weight the instep (glue on a piece of tire if you need more grip there), unclip right, leg over and step through, rt. hand on top tube, (all looking ahead not down), 2 steps to clear hurdle (not one and half like the dude above ), place bike back down (don't drop it and risk derailing the chain), and remount by jumping up just high enough to reach the saddle "but with no plan to come back down to the ground."

Quentin · Post by **Quentin** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:52 am

Tip 2 For dismounts, unclip left, weight the instep (glue on a piece of tire if you need more grip there),

Can you elaborate a bit on this? I don't understand what "weight the instep" means, and also where would you glue the piece of tire?

Lister Farrar · Post by **Lister Farrar** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:22 pm

Quentin wrote:
Tip 2 For dismounts, unclip left, weight the instep (glue on a piece of tire if you need more grip there),
Can you elaborate a bit on this? I don't understand what "weight the instep" means, and also where would you glue the piece of tire?

Sure. It means clip out of the left foot, then put that foot back on the pedal, but on the middle of the shoe under the instep, then unclip right, swing leg over and through, etc. It's because mud or sand can make it harder to clip out, and if you do the step-through technique (which most, but not all, find faster), you could find yourself stepping onto your right foot but unable to clip out of the left pedal, likely leading to less than Wellens performance on the hurdle...

The piece of tire (tubular, or something a shoemaker would have) would be on the sole, in the middle of the foot. When we checked the junior's shoes after, several already had special rubber patches there (which we had been unaware of), but others had very slippery carbon surfaces, which would need the patch added.

Lister Farrar · Post by **Lister Farrar** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:25 pm

Roland wrote:
Here is a good demo on how not to do the barriers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEGAIYKTZ9w

Love this comment on the youtube posting:

Red Bull Gives you wings. Briefly.

EricS · Post by **EricS** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:59 pm

I liked the comment on another site that said "I'll give you a dollar of you can watch this less than 10 times."

Interesting that Joey works for Cyclocross magazine. He said he got confused cuz there was only one barrier instead of two. Huh?

I want to know if Roland got air like this in the single speed eliminator:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathowie/6159550150/

Eric

Lister Farrar · Post by **Lister Farrar** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:12 pm

EricS wrote:I liked the comment on another site that said "I'll give you a dollar of you can watch this less than 10 times."

Interesting that Joey works for Cyclocross magazine. He said he got confused cuz there was only one barrier instead of two. Huh?

I want to know if Roland got air like this in the single speed eliminator:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathowie/6159550150/

Eric

"Eliminator" does seem extra appropriate.

arfenarf · Post by **arfenarf** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:49 am

EricS wrote:I liked the comment on another site that said "I'll give you a dollar of you can watch this less than 10 times."

I need to find Joey's email and figure out a civilized way to tell him he got me through a dismal day in the office yesterday. I doled it out:

Business Case
JOEEEEEEEY!
Business Case
JOEEEEEYYYY!
Capital financing calculations
JOEEEEEY!

Like that.

--Kate

Lister Farrar · Post by **Lister Farrar** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:33 am

Anyone else notice that he got off on the right instead of left side, and does a step-behind instead of step through dismount?

Roland · Post by **Roland** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:41 am

More photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reganpring ... 601000455/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reganpring ... 725317350/

Tripleshot Cycling