Race Report: Sucker Brook Cross (09/16/07)

(picture by alex)

Man, I have been looking foward to this race for TWO years. I had to sit out last year due to my crash. So I have been itchin for awhile now :)

My race started saturday morning around 6:30am when I was at the site setting up the field section. I barely slept the previous night. my mind wouldnt shut off, and before i knew it the night was half gone. ugh. I got there and was tired, but excited about the course layout that I had in my head. It was raining pretty good, but the forcast looked good for Sunday. Me, Jack & the gang were all pretty stoked about how the course looked. really stoked. We took a break early afternoon while the Auburn Duck Race was going on, but came back around 4pm to finish up the sand pit.

Sunday morning, I got there around 6:30am & hung up the Caribou banner on the stairs, check the flagging, and then met up with Jack to find out what else needed to be done. People were pouring in, and we were getting super excited. I helped Barb (Jack's wife) for a bit, but my teamate John L. really helped us out by offering to sit at the registration table all day. I cant thank this guy enough.

After my duties were done, I pulled out the trainer and started my warmup. It was about 11am & I am a little stressed, as its a tad later than what I would like.. but its all cool. My mom, dad, aunt, uncle, allie & angelica all showed up & wished me good luck. My legs felt good on the trainer. nice sign. After a bit, i went for a spin with teamate Tal, and quickly came back to find 3 dozen guys already lined up.. oops. I went all sneaky & got a front row position. (thanks yash). Another couple of dozen guys roll up for a total of about 60 racers.

Whistle blows & I hit the gravel in about 10th place. The start wasnt nearly as fast as i thought it would be, so i hung on, and tried to pace myself a bit, not wanting to blow on the first lap. A few people pass me, but I am in contact, and can see a blue streak of HUPsters: pierre, rosey, and supah star mike zank about 10 secs up.

A few more laps & im hurting... I also dont quite know where I am. Lucky for me, I had alot of people there cheering me on... finally my mom yells out "THIRTEEN". nice. ok. lets move up a bit. I catch up to Coley & we ride together for a bit. I step it up a bit in the field & in true Coley fashion he bids me a polite fairwell on my journey.

I know im closing in on top10, but im hurting. someone yells out 'NINTH'. wow. even better. but we got a few guys on our tail. then there is some passing, some being passed, and some just keeping position. somewhere around 2 laps to go, i hook up with matt myette. we got a gap & we are sitting 10th & 11th. We can see the 2 guys next... soo close. trying to close that gap, but man it just wasnt happening... we hit the woods & i drill it.... thinking i can drop him. i do. but he promptly catches back on. ugh. we go thru the sandbox together for the last time & he drills it, putting in a small gap.. along the fence i give it all i got & catch him just going into the final stretch... we are both sprinting, but i just couldnt come around him. he is one strong dude. i congratulate him on a great race & just about puke up one of my lungs.

so, i almost reached my top10 goal. sooo close. missed it by a 1/2 a bike length. but hey, i feel like my form is finally coming around. and given that i was on a rest week, i was busy with the setup, and i had barely slept the last 2 days, i gotta be happy with my finish. :) While I'm not quite where I want to be, its much better than the last couple races, and I know I will be there soon.

on the positive side, i felt good in all the power sections and corners. However, its abundantly clear that i need some work on my barrier skills. I gotta start adding some skills work to my program. once i can nail that down, and I get a few more weeks or training, and a few more races, i think i can make that front group.

I did a quick cooldown, changed & went back to my race duties. We had a good chunk of people who helped us with teardown, so it went pretty quick. Thanks Alex!!
About this time, my lungs start really hurting. The same hurt I have delt with for the past 2 seasons. The same hurt that has landed me in the ER. The same hurt that crippled my 2005 road season. ugh. I got home, showered, took some meds & drank some hot tea. Things started to calm down a little around 2am, and i finally fell asleep at 2:30am. Back up at 5am to go to work. damn, i need a good night's sleep.

The lungs are feeling better this afternoon. Much better than last night, but not good enough to get on the bike. I am hoping for a light spin tomorrow & be back to normal for Wednesday.

Sucker Brook was a huge success on all acounts. Thanks so much for everyone who came out, watched, cheered, sponsored, volunteered, and raced. 2007 numberes were TWICE as much as 2005. Our B (3/4) field was BIGGER than last years field at Canton. wow.

ok... im off to go eat some of my mom's homemade vegan banana bread :)

see ya next weekend.