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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Matt Hersey
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Saturday, 07 October 2006 |
Gran Prix of Gloucester
Gloucester, MA
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2 great days of cross racing. The first 2 races of the national series. Big and fast, and rowdy, with lots of spectators - a new England cross tradition. Bikeman had lots of racers there - Mary, Callie, Herb, Jerry, Rumsey, Steve, Chuck, Me, and Big Al, Matt, Zach, the other Zack, John. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone. Mary had a very impressive race, getting 4th place on Saturday in the B women’s race. Not bad for her first season of cross. Big Al had some very impressive finishes in the A master’s race - 20th on Saturday and 15th on Sunday - earning some USGP points. And that was in a stacked field (125 racers) with past national champs, etc…, etc…
Ryan Rumsey wins the carnage award for the weekend. Someone put their foot in his front wheel, which broke a spoke and sent him over the handlebars. He went to the pit and switched out wheels only to stack it at high speed on the next lap. When I saw him back at the tent, his sweaty face was covered with dust and his lip was fat and bloody. We should have gotten a photo. Damn dude! Bad luck day!
I had pretty mediocre races both days. I was tired this weekend. And starting in the 6th row of 125 guys, staged wheel to wheel and bars to bars, hopped up on adrenalin and who knows what else, put a little fright into me. I rolled my first tubular on Saturday. When it first happened, I pulled off the course and thought my day was done. Then I decided that I would push the tire back on and ride slow and finish it up. It worked ok. I got 70th place on Saturday, and fifty something on Sunday. Oh well.
The course was good. Very dusty and maybe too easy. Sunday’s course was basically the same as Saturday, with the exception of a couple of turns. And overall similar to past years. It was kind of a roadie course with lots of long wide straights - favoring riders with big power. There were some tight hairpins, but they were all ridable - I would have liked to see more technical turns that make riders make tougher decisions on the course - I’m sure that next weekend’s race in Maine will fix all that.
As always, it was fun to watch the pros race. Trebon threw it down both days with incredible power.
Matt
Photo by: Zach Magoon
Check out all of Zach's pictures from the weekend of racing.
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