Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

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taudep
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Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by taudep »

Great race. Nice to finally be able to be in the race with 8 other MRC'rs. Didn't have to take a shower afterward, just hung out in mother-nature.

I had a front row start. Then watched 40 riders pass me going up the hill. Yet, I slowly improve: last year finsihing 86th on day one; this year -- thanks to a big push from Jeff on the finish straight away -- I managed a 57th. Next year, maybe I'll get a 35th.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring better weather so I can get some photos and have the desire to hang.
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ddeitch
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by ddeitch »

I raced Cat 4 men this morning. Started front row, with a legion of hupsters and a veggie sandbagger to my left. On the whistle, I nailed the start and considered my options for half a second:
1. Tuck in behind first wheel and ride within my limits
2. Hit the nitrous and show off for my fanclub
I chose 2.

Up and over the hill at full bore I opened a nice gap on the field, which I held until the run-up. Halfway up, I slipped and got tangled with a rider behind me, losing places. Since I decided to burn through my matchbook all at once, I settled in just shy of redline for the rest of the race and gradually slipped backward, ending at 48th. Not great, but still 30 places better than last year. Grabbing a big handful of glory off of the line was well worth it.
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taudep
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by taudep »

It's true, David took the hole shot, showing off for us. And I happened to actually take a photo of it as evidence. That's him with his head down talking to his legs while he contemplates his options.
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Steve Wright
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by Steve Wright »

HAHA! WHAT A LEAD! That's awesome! Congrats to you both! can't wait for tomorrow!
You don't need to see the entire staircase.
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Jeff Lippincott
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by Jeff Lippincott »

Yup that was a fun one! Oh wait that actually really blew. :D Glad my push to Todd provided a needed boost. It turns out that my training regime this fall....consisting of the weekly Wrentham training race followed by ridiculous amounts of pizza & beer isn't providing me with Podium results....hmmm perhaps I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what's wrong.
When the beer bubbles the masses forget their troubles. --The People's Daily of China
Bruce
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by Bruce »

So wht was the course and conditions like today? Usual runup after the path along the beach, barrier's after the downhill U turn, sand pit with U turn?

Jeff, you'll be a monster after you string a few 40 minute efforts together.

I'll see you guys tomorrow and will be looking forward to hanging out.

Bruce
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irusk
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by irusk »

Damn. Sounds like I picked the wrong day to race. I signed up for Sat's Cat 4 35+ race (only to buy myself an extra hour of sleep vs. the open Cat 4). I lined up in the next to last row next to Art. I made up some places in the first lap (usually passing people while carrying my bike vs. riding it), but I found the conditions challenging for my cornering skills. Still, I did manage to stay upright the whole race. I did laps 2-4 side by side with one of the race directors, which meant I had to listen to "Go Zach, you've got him right where you want him" at virtually every corner. After a while I decided to make that my little race within the race, and managed to stay in front of him. Finished 70th, covered in mud, shivering cold.

Tried to hang out a bit to watch the others, but when the rain turned horizontal and the tents started blowing away, I decided to split. Hope everyone did well.
"There is no charge for awesomeness" - Po
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Smudger
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester, Day 1 - 10/3/2009

Post by Smudger »

This was my 1st Gloucester (Cat 4 35+) and although the conditions were absolutely mental I really enjoyed it. Lined up on the 4th row but got a good start and moved up into the top 20 as we left the road and moved onto the grass. Continued to pick off a couple of riders at each of the corners heading down to the walkway and moved into 10th or so as I made the 1st attempt at the run up. It was hard for us. Can't imagine what it must have been like for the later races. The remainder of the 1st lap was uneventful although I was finding that I was breaking later into the corners than the guys around me and able to keep my speed up out of the corners a little better. I intentionally saved some gas for the road section at the start of the 2nd lap cause I thought it would be an easy place to make up some ground and that was a wise decision. Probably passed 4 riders as I accelerated up the hill. Started to pay attention to where I was in the race at this point and realised I was pretty near the front. Managed to get past another couple of riders on the 2nd lap and went through the in 3rd place at the end of the lap but they stuck pretty close to my wheel. I had resorted to running pretty much all of the off cambers and also extending my runs to get some momentum for the remount and that seemed to be paying off but then I started to fatigue a little and managed to drop the bike on one of the easy turns down by the sandpit. I just managed to pick it up in time to stay in front of the guys behind me but then on the straight heading towards the off camber mud pits one of them (NEBC rider ) pushed really hard and got passed. I chased and just managed to stay on his wheel. I was cooked going through this section and the other guy got passed me also. I again managed to push up the hill though and was close on there wheels in 5th going into the last lap. NEBC rider seemed to have slowed a little with the effort he had made to pass me and the other guy passed him. Looked a little like they knew each other and may be working together so I didn't want to get slowed down and let the guy in 3rd escape. I jumped up as close as I could to there wheels as we approached the barrier section and got passed NEBC guy. My cornering was getting a lot looser by this point. Thought it was just fatigue (which it was) but there was also another contributing factor. My rear tubular was loosing air fast. Again in the relatively easy section over by the sandpit I managed to drop the bike twice and let the NEBC guy pass again. Any chance of 3rd was gone but I thought if i could get close through the off cambers I might have a chance up the hill of 4th. When I turned onto the road I could tell things were very soft on the rear and was glad I hadn't tried to push the turn too hard. I tried to sprint but was a bit over geared for what I had left in my legs. I closed in a bit on 4th but he was watching and as soon as I got near he opened it up for an easy win over me. Turns out I had ripped the sidewall in my tub and was lucky it hadn't cost me the total race. With full pressure things might have been a little better but all in all I was very happy with my result.
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