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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Ethan Magoon
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Monday, 17 September 2007 |
Sucker Brook Cross 2007
Auburn, NH
September 16th, 2007
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My first 'cross race this year! I was stoked to be there. It was the first race on my Salsa Las Cruces. I've been hammering on it as a road bike all summer . Finally, I was going to run it through some dirt. So I wiggled into my kit, and headed off to the course. I ran into Big Al and Ryan, they were at the Ghetto Sled (Al's MiniVan). I asked them how the course was. "It's gonna be a drag race!" said Ryan, and Big Al told me it was going to be "Faaaaasssst!" They were both, as always, totally spot on.
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Here's my course observations: The flats were a tinder-dry athletic field, a slippery-mud stair climb, and a big-ring, put-the-hammer-down woods section. Even the volleyball sand pit seemed parched. My set-up of Panaracer Cinder Cross tires (on both front and rear wheels) were probably overkill for this course, but I was thankful for those killer side knobs on some of tight, high-speed corners. Those big meats kept me upright and movin' forward!
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After taking a couple pre-ride laps, it was time for Big Al's race. My wife Janine, my brother Zach, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Phoebe (She's the little one in Zach's Las Cruses frame. They tell me she got in there herself!), were waiting at the top of the start hill. Deep down, we may have all wanted to see a crash but were stoked to see Bikeman colors out front. Big Al had SMOKED the pack up the hill - taking the hole-shot into the upper gravel section. That seriously rocked! It got me stoked for my race! Big Al looked really strong out there. I heard he took a digger on the stairs run up - I was wondering if anyone had gone down there - I was flyin' into those stairs every lap. Hitting those mud covered wooden stairs (off-camber no less) with bike shoes is a recipe for disaster. It's no wonder they had some of the local EMTs stationed at the top.
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I was riding around the course trying to cheer on Big Al. Some days, I think I have more fun cheering than riding... I don't get injured nearly as much. I BEEFED IT - HARD! In the woods section there was a sharp 90 degree left hander at the end of a bombin' Jeep trail. Yeah - I went AWOL, Superman style, into the woods on the second lap. I just carried too much speed into the turn - my front wheel dug into the sand... you get the picture. Got some nice leg scrapes and the wind knocked out of me. Had a hell of a time tryin' to breathe after that. Every breath tasted oddly, like blood... I was really just worried about my SRAM Rival levers. I thought for sure they'd be smashed to smithereens. I love SRAM products - these things took a beating and didn't have a scratch!
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Not sure what lap I was on when I decided to bail out. 3 maybe 4? At any rate, it was time to call it quits. After all, this was my?first?race of the season. I wanted to take it easy. Both Zach and Ryan were crankin' when I saw them out on the switchbacks. They were about 2 to 4 minutes ahead I reckon. I'll work on narrowing that gap at the next race!
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Sucker Brook was a great first race of my '07 season. If I'm not at the starting line with ya'll (yeah, that's me with my arms up), I'll be the one cheering for you on the course! UP, UP , UP!
BuZz
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