Race Reports•
on January 16th, 2012•
Photo Credit: ©Brian Nelson (from the cxmagazine.com article)
Story and photos here:
http://www.cxmagazine.com/
Masters World Championship – race report by Karen:
When I first heard that Masters CX Worlds was going to be held in the US for the first time in history, I decided to make that the goal for my 2011-12 CX season. I also figured how bad can the weather be in Kentucky?? It had to be better than nationals in Madison, right? Well I was wrong about the weather, but still a good goal.
The course in Louisville (which will be used for Elite Worlds in 2013) was not hard in itself: mostly flat grass with a couple of straight power sections as well as some tight turns and 3 trips up the side of a berm along the river. 2 of the berm climbs were forced run-ups: one with barriers, one with giant stone steps set into the side of the hill. Turned out they didn’t really need the barriers… The 3rd berm climb was made unrideable by the conditions and even the downhill after it was run by almost everyone. There was also a flyover with really big, steep steps to run up.
The weather conditions changed everything. Wed and thurs saw warm temps and a lot of rain. Pre-rides and qualifying heats turned the course into sticky mud with deep ruts. Then temps plummeted into the teens thurs night and all that mud and ruts froze solid on Friday. I think most people would agree that frozen ruts are one of the most challenging conditions to ride in. I tried to ride on Friday and did about 1 1/2 laps in 45 minutes, riding maybe 10% of the time and kind of using my bike as a scooter with one foot on the ground most of the time! Imagine trying to race in parallel railroad tracks! The race organizers were busy moving the course tape over in spots, so that there was about a 6″ rideable line on one side or the other that was new, un-rutted turf. Then the trick was riding that line, crossing the course perpendicular to the ruts when needed to try to get to the other side when the rideable line moved over there. Basically “paper boying” the course. I did not want to spend too much time trying to ride in those conditions and scaring myself (or crashing) since I knew the conditions could easily change before my race.
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Race Reports•
on January 16th, 2012•
Only Edwin and Katrina represented Team Rambuski Law at the National Championships. On arrival on Tuesday 6 December we found a hilly, icy, long parcours. As most of the track was covered in ice, practice consisted of riding carefully next to the course tape on a sliver of grass, and very carefully throught the corners. The promoters applied plenty of salt and sand to the track and the first day of practice was salty-cross. But things were going to change as Madison was headed for a heat wave, predicted to be 50 degrees by Thursday when the championship races started. One more day on the ice, and we had to ride the road as the course was not open for training. Katrina found out how hard it was to ride on ice and broke her helmet on a bike path slide out, scary.
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Race Reports•
on December 16th, 2011•
Quick race report by Devon:
We had a fun weekend of racing in Bend. The conditions were quite different from years past. Dry and dusty and only Sunday was cold. The women had the biggest representation of any other team at the USGP — that is pretty awesome! We also had great support from Edwin… who not only races while we sleep in, but also sets up camp, gets the women rolling, and provides awesome pit crewing!
Saturday was not our day… I spent too much time hanging out with Edwin in the pit, Courtney couldn’t find her legs in the thin air after a day in the car, and Trina decided to play in the dirt and perfect her unibrow. Sunday was a better day — we all stayed upright, C found her legs, and the pit crew only had to cheer!
Sunday was a better day for Chris too — who finished way up in the men’s field!!!! Even despite a small crash due to over enthusiastic cheering from Courtney and me (sorry Chris!). Edwin was the only consistent one for the weekend — finishing in the top half both days!
Overall a super fun weekend in Bend!
Photo credit: Brad Goodson
BASP#4, Coyote Point – race report by Karen:
Final race of the 4 race BASP (which is actually not a series this year) was at Coyote Point. I have always liked this course – it is quite challenging technically, with lots of turns, burms, and the “beach run”, as well as physically with a significant climb up the Eucalyptus forest and some hard pedaling sections on the paved bike path. This year had an added challenge of the “Bridge of Sighs” flyover and a deep gravel pit with a tricky turn in it to break up the bike path along the beach. Gravel was rideable if you had a clear line (I rode it every lap) but you needed momentum, some power and a good line. I have raced this course the past 3 years and never been able to ride the beach section – the hard part is the 180 degree turn you have to negotiate through the sand in the beginning. This year I rode it on my first try in warmup, which was kind of cool 
. I rode it a couple more times in practice but also botched it a few times. Sand section seemed longer than usual and they kept us off the short concrete patch in the middle that you could sometimes remount on. The 2nd half of the sand was firm enough that you could actually power through it to make riding a clear advantage over running, but the trick was getting through the 2 turns and soft spot to the firmness. The down side of trying to ride was that you had to take a wide line to make the turn, which meant a runner on your wheel could pass on the inside.
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Race Reports•
on December 5th, 2011•
Another fantastic weekend of racing for Team Rambuski Law. TRL headed south to Los Angeles Historic State Park, the Chinatown District of downtown LA for CXLA. And Karen Brems is our NorCal District Champ!!! Sweet. Congrats Karen!!!
NorCal Districts – race report by Karen:
It was a fun course at Toro Park (completely different from the other one they used earlier). Well, the long, 29 percent run-up was not that fun, actually! There was a sand pit at the base to suck up all momentum you might have going into it. The only person all day who rode it (and he didn’t ride it every time) was Jr. Tobin Ortenblad! The women’s field was small due to the conflicting UCI race in LA, but Gina Hall was there, so I knew it would not be an easy race. Start was on a grass field leading into a straight, flat fire road for maybe 500m. I got the hole shot (I have been working a lot on my starts and it seems to finally be paying off).
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Race Reports•
on December 1st, 2011•
Racing in Golden Gate Park is always one of the top goals for any NorCal CX racer. This is one of the best races of the season and Karen continued to show top form to take 1st place at GGP, with Devon right behind her in 2nd place. Sweet.
Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:
BASP#3 – Golden Gate Park
- Karen: 1st
- Devon: 1st
- Courtney: 6th
- Karl: 30th
SoCalCross #13
Race Reports•
on November 21st, 2011•
Photo credit: Sheldon Smith
Another big weekend of racing for the team. TRL has been on a terror recently and the trend continued with a series of stellar results. This weekend we had the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships at Golden Gate Park in SF and SoCalCross #11 at Cambria High School!
Photo credit: Volker Neumann
Race report from Devon:
I raced in the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships this past weekend.
The course was super fun! It included lots of mud, huge tree trunk barriers, a midget ride through, and a water trough. It was kind of a tough course with no gears! I got the hole shot and was leading much of the first lap. Then I got a bit distracted with dollar bills hanging on trees, floating in water, and dangling off to the side of the course… i was raking in the dough! I also got a free snack mid-race that was pretty delicious. Unfortunately there were no ice cream hand-ups 
In the process of becoming rich and full, I fell to second and then 3rd caught up to me. I turned up the gas on the last half lap and was able to get away from third and was in sight of the leader but wasn’t able to catch up to first. I was pretty happy with second though
Super fun race and a great crowd!
Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:
SSCXWC
SoCalCross#11
- Trina: 1st
- Edwin: 4th
- Chris: 5th
Race Reports•
on November 17th, 2011•
Photo Credit: Olivia Dillon
BASP#2 race report from Karen:
Name of the game at Sierra Point was turning! I think they added even
more than in prior years to lengthen the course. Not a lot of straight
pedaling other than the 2 longish pavement sections. It rained the day
before, so course was mostly tacky and fast, but could be slick if you
hit a surprise soft spot. Most treacherous part was a painted plywood
board over a pavement lip in the middle of a turn going onto the
pavement. It was super slick and you really could not turn at all
while on it. Lots of crashes there. Only 2 dismounts: double barriers
into a very short and bumpy remount into a short climb where pedal
engagement was critical and the “Bridge of Sighs”.
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Race Reports•
on October 30th, 2011•
The Surf City Series is a staple of the NorCal cross scene. The Halloween Cyclocross event is a hoot and TRL was there to represent!
Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:
Surf City Cyclo-X
- Karen: 1st
- Devon: 2nd
- Courtney: 5th
- Edwin: 13th
- Karl: 20th
- Trina: Sick!
Race Reports•
on October 24th, 2011•
This is the time of year that you really start to see what you are made of, as the cream always rises to the top as we approach November. This was another massively successful weekend of racing for the team. Everyone rode well but a big shout out to Chris, who took his first elite win of the season! Also, Courtney is clearly showing some good form as the season progresses.
Click read more for a few more photos and results!
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Race Reports•
on October 20th, 2011•
Photo Credit: Tim Westmore (from the cxmagazine.com article)
Here is the official story:
http://www.cxmagazine.com/brems-jacquesmaynes-ride-victories-cccx
And my version:
Karl and I headed down to Manzanita Park for the 2nd weekend in a row
for CCCX #4. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the upper 70s.
Gotta love CA CX! The big question of the day was how would Keith come
up with a new course in the same venue as last week. Turned out we
rode most of last week’s course in the opposite direction, which did
indeed make it a different experience. For once we did not finish on
the uphill pavement, but rather down on the grass field with a double
barrier section about 50m before the finish line (a favorite of
Keth’s!).
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