Cyclocross Race Report: Beban Park

[Roland]

A warm dry summer day. 106 people showed up at Beban Park in Naniamo, ready for another year of Cyclocross.

Only two Tripleshotters were racing, Gavin and I, both in the Intermediate race, along with 28 others. I lucked out and got a first row callup, Gavin was in the 2nd row with Ian Ross & Dave Shishkoff. I got a good start and was top 7 or so going into the first few corners, a few people got past me and I passed a few people, but generally I was holding my position. On lap 2 or 3 I shifted over the top of my cassette and jammed my chain in my spokes, I think Gavin and a few others passed me. My legs weren't happy about the 150km from the day before, but I forced them to respond and I picked up the pace. I shifted over the top again, losing more time. I got that fixed and settled into a rhythm and slowly started picking people off. Gavin kicked his rear brake into his wheel and bent it. He fixed it as best he could, but it was rubbing for the rest of the race, costing him a decent amount of time.

I finished 4th @ 1:50 back, 3 seconds behind 3rd, by far my best result yet. Gavin was 11th (just behind DaveS) @ 4:15 back. Ian did great in his first cross race (on a touring bike) finishing 15th @ 5:58 back.

Rita raced in the beginners race on her mountain bike and won. Katie and Jen raced in the women's race. Katie had dead legs from N2V and suffered through the race, just wishing it would end.

The masters race and expert race were also well attended. It was a great day of cyclocross.

Photos of Masters, Women & Expert. Hopefully photos of intermediate will show up soon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/davenoisy1/ ... Rock1Beban#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

[Rolf]

Way to go, guys! Coming 4th despite chucking your chain in your spokes twice sort of sums up cyclocross. Sounds like one needs a trailer full of bikes to last a season.

Rita *wins*? After Saturday? I could barely walk up stairs yesterday. I'm in awe of Katie for just showing up.

Hats off.

[Roland]

A few photos that Katie took:

[Katie]

Despite having dead legs from N2V, the race was a lot of fun. That course gets better every year - and this year they even removed the dreaded run-up!

The first 2.5 laps felt pretty solid, though sluggish, but then it started to get much much slower and there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it. I looked forward to the BMX track on each lap because I could do the track mostly with my arms and rest my legs

If anyone is considering trying a Cross on the Rock race, you really should do it. Just don't do 150km the day before.

[Lister Farrar]

Cool how well pumping the bumps works eh? In my one cx-bmx experience I found I could catch guys in the whoop-de-doo section too, without pedalling. All we need now is a way to drink coffee while do it...

[Rita]

Rolf, you had sore legs on Sunday? Mine were fine, just a bit tired. You should try my banana-spinach smoothies some time, they help with that

Lister - the BMX track was really the funnest bit of the course and some people didn't know what to do on it, so it was easy to catch up with them!

[Rita]

If you'd like to get a taster for how much fun cyclocross is, you could have a look at my videos on youtube. I've only uploaded the first few videos - it's a bit slow.

Search for mangowania on youtube and you'll find the videos. It's best to turn the volume down, I kept shouting silly things at people.

[Roland]

This one is great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq_1_wc4tbk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Such insanity!

[Roland]

A good quote I just read about cross:

...you will get addicted to cross - 4 out of 5 cross newbies do, and the other ones don't count as they all have died a righteous death in their first race. Look up at the clouds or (down in the mud) and you can see them still smiling from heaven (or hell) every time it rains, cause it was really worth the trip.