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.

Saturday temps were in the mid 20s, and by noon when I rode during the open course time, the top layer started to thaw a bit, making for mud on top of the frozen ruts, which I found to be much more rideable. I knew that with my race at 9:30 am the next day though, it could easily freeze up again.

Then Saturday afternoon and night, we got about 2″ of snow for yet another change. The advantage of racing early was that I could warm up on the course and at least know more or less what I was in for. When I got out of the car to get on my bike at 8am (sunrise is at 7:55 am there!) it was 22 degrees. The ground was frozen again, but not quite as hard as before, and the snow filled in the ruts a little and provided at least minimal traction. After a lap or so, I realized it was actually pretty rideable and tried to pick up some speed. I still really don’t know exactly how the course went or when each section came up – you have to just focus 100% on that 6″ rideable line and plan out where you want to cross from one side to the other in and out of the turns.

My field had 21 riders and I knew that my biggest competition would probably be Kris Walker and Catherine Kohlberg, who has just finished 1st and 2nd at nationals last week, and who have both beaten me at nationals. Catherine and I were new to the 50-54 age group and Kris won that age group at nationals the past 2 years (and won the 45-49 the 2 years before that). I also knew I would pretty much be racing the course, and have to let the other riders do whatever they did. Being in front was a huge advantage though, as everyone would be making mistakes.

Start grid was by random draw and I was lucky enough to get number 7, which put me on the far side of the front row (8 per row). I did not have a great start and fumbled with my pedal a bit, but it was a long pavement start and I managed to move up to 3rd in the first turn onto the dirt. In talking to other racers and from my own pre-rides, I was sure that the best line on the first dirt section was on the left and that is where I headed. Catherine and the other rider in front of me went to the right for some reason. I accelerated up the left and took the lead and went as fast as I dared. There was a little chicane, a dirt bump and then a wide, rutted turn, which my teammate who had raced the same course at the USGP in October, told me after the race was actually a sand pit, but it just looked like the same muddy, snowy ruts to me!

It was quiet behind me, so I knew I had a slight gap and then we hit one of the very few straight power sections of maybe 200m and I went as hard as I could. Then it was back to riding the line again. When I went by the pit after half a lap, I heard Karl say I had 15 sec. Next time around it was 30 sec and then 40 sec and then 1 minute with a lap to go. Since I knew I was continually gaining time, I knew I just needed to ride a sustainable pace and stay upright. I still went as hard as I could in the few straightaways, and took the turns with caution. By the finish (4 laps) I had almost 1:40 on Kris who was 2nd. Bronze went to another American, Ruth Sherman. Actually the only non American in our field was an Italian who finished 6th.

Course was literally changing by the hour and it got slightly muddy by my last lap, but epically muddy for the later races! The pit crews were very busy!

Overall I was happy to win another rainbow jersey and it was probably more meaningful to win on a course that was not at all suited to my strengths! I think I had the lowest average heart rate I have ever had in a CX race, but there were just not that many power sections, and you had to slow down so much for all the technical sections.

Big thanks to Edwin and Trina from Team Rambuski Law, who found a great rental house for us in Louisville, got us into the team parking area, and generally made everything but the actual racing really easy. Thanks to Karl who made sure my bikes worked perfectly and were clean and ready after all those muddy pre-rides! We also had a good contingent of NorCal racers to cheer each other on, which made the trip more fun.

Karen

Masters World Championship – race report by Edwin:

Three riders (Karen, Katrina, Edwin) one gold medal, one knarly race ending crash and some of the worst frozen ruts ever. The parcours was long and appeared to be not too technical on Tuesday when it was bone dry. But  then the rain came, and the qualifying heats laid down some deep ruts on almost all of the track, course tape to course tape.  Then came 2 days of night time lows below 20F. Frozen ruts that could take the bars out of your hands and break an ankle.

     
The Louisville promoters have a long way to go if they expect to hold professional world championships in 2013. They were ill prepared and undermanned. No power washers at a cross race in January in Kentucky, are you kidding me? Well they had power washers they just did not work. Who would guess water would freeze here, after all the average low this time of year is only 20F. The ruts were not rolled before they froze, although they apparently had a roller available. By Saturday morning when the championship races started the Belgians deemed the track too dangerous to take the start. The promoters mad a feeble attempt to move course tape onto virgin grass, but I think the Belgian handlers probably moved more tape on their own. The course was shortened, some sand was laid down, and the rut racing started. 
 
  
Edwin started number 18 ( third row) after a 9th place finish in the qualifying heat but was never able to get a handle on the frozen ruts, finished 32. So many crashes. The promoters continued to work on the track and it did continue to improve, so most of the ruts were gone by Sunday. Karen did the very first race Sunday morning on a frozen track, no mud and most of the kille ruts removed. Both Karen and Katrina started front row. Karen just annihilated her field and time trialed to a 1+ minute win over second.
     

This was a day of the highest high and lowest low. We had a gold medal before 11 am, and some Champagne after a very late night with 5 Belgians. Needed some help from Karl on the Champagne, even Karen had a sip!
     

Katrina was the last race of the entire event and by now it was way above freezing and super muddy. Had the bikes tuned and coated in lemon pledge, all ready for bike changes every 1/2 lap, pit crew was psyched and ready to go. Katrina crashed into the steel barricade within the first 300 meters, and her race was over. Another bump to the head and a cut to the face, and a trip to medical. So there we were all standing ready to race and nothing we could do. The race was won by a woman Katrina beat the week before at Nationals, the track was muddy, technical and we had great expectations for a second medal. As it turned out many women were running because the bikes were so muddy the wheels would not turn. We are all still recovering from this one, but Katrina will be back stronger than ever and we have one gold medal.


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.


     
The weatherman was right and by Thursday when Katrina raced the surfaced thawed, the ice was long gone. The track was now a layer of slippery mud over frozen earth. Even the uphills which were easy to ride earlier were getting so slippy that it was necessary to run. Katrina had a super race, with a full race battle in a group of 3 for the 5th and last podium spot. Katrina did a super job and took the final podium spot for 5th.
     

Friday was even warmer, muddier and more slippery. Edwin started 5th row and finished 20th, mostly due to the awesome pit crew doing bike changes every half lap. So many supporters from Cali cheering for us helped emensley. So slippery by Friday that Tilford was running the big hill.

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.

I made the most of my front row call-up and got the hole shot and led up the climb at the start. At the top, I had only Ellen Sherrill (Bike Station) on my wheel and a gap to everyone else. I led Ellen down through all the twisty turny descent back to the beach. Then I botched the first turn onto the sand (before the 180). I didn’t go down, but got sideways and had to do a really awkward dismount to the right of my bike (guess I should practice that!). Ellen ran by me and the rest of the field was close behind. Ellen got a slight gap on the run, but I closed it as soon as we got back on the bike path. I then decided to let Ellen lead for a while. I was feeling pretty awkward on the course – I made everything, but took some bad lines that required too much braking. The course is always so much different at race speed! Somewhere early in lap 2, Gina Hall (Cal-Giant) caught up to Ellen and I (she must have had a bad start) so then we were 3. Ellen overshot a turn going into the descent, and I went by inside and was now back in the lead. On the beach, as I rode wide, Ellen ran inside and passed me so I had to dismount and run as well. Back on the bike path, Gina attacked from behind and into the next dirt section. I don’t mind 2nd position early in the race, but I didn’t like now being in 3rd, so I attacked before the gravel pit and took back the lead. Gina then came around somewhere in the turns and berms, but I kept her wheel with Ellen now in 3rd. I was riding a lot more comfortably on the course now. We stayed in that order all the way through the 3rd time on the beach. Gina rode and I rode it behind her and Ellen ran again. She tried to pass me in the soft section, but as soon as we the hit firmer sand, Gina and I were able to power away on our bikes, and Ellen never caught back up to us, so now we were 2.

Photo credit: Brad Goodson

At the start of the last lap (they were long laps – over 10 min!), I tried to attack on the pavement before hitting dirt again but Gina would have none of it and sprinted me to the corner and held her lead. My next opportunity came after the flyover on the hill where I attacked as hard as I could. I got a good gap and held it to the beach, but then I botched the 180 turn and had to run again. Gina rode it and cut my gap down to only a few seconds, but it was still a gap…I knew from following her that we were fairly even in the turns and berms section, but I had to ride completely clean through that and the gravel pit, and if I could hold any kind of gap until we got back to the last curvy pavement bike path, I could likely win. I was able to hold her off and took the win by 8 sec. Gina is always a good competitor and really good technically, and it was fun to have a close race. Ellen was 3rd another 30 sec or so back. Kathleen Hannon was 4th. 5th was Elle Anderson (Ladies First Racing) who came all the way from New Hampshire and unfortunately had a flat somewhere early in the race (and she was 3 years old when I started racing! Sigh.).

- Karen

Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:

USGP of Cyclocross Deschutes Brewery Cup #2

• Edwin: 25th
• Chris: 42nd
• Devon: 4th
• Courtney: 32nd
• Trina: 34th

CXLA Sunday

• Edwin: 29th
• Chris: 23rd
• Devon: 15th
• Courtney: 26th
• Trina: 29th

BASP#4, Coyote Point

• Karen: 1st
• Karl: 20th

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).

The first obstacle was a kind of tricky uphill, slightly off camber turn into a twisty tree section. I
could hear riders on my wheel going into the turn, but coming out, it got quiet…time to step on the gas! I think there may have been some bobbles behind me, but I somehow eeked out a couple of seconds gap coming out of the tree section. CCCX races are relatively longer for the women (50 min) than the short BASP races (30-40 min) so I really had not planned on going so hard so early, but in CX if you get a gap, you kind of have to go with it…There were quite a few double back sections, so I could see Gina not far behind me. I probably had maybe 15-20 sec. by the end of the first lap, but she has closed gaps like that before, so I knew I had to keep going hard. I think our gap stayed relatively even for the next 2 laps or so, and then finally I started gaining more time. At that point I knew I just had to focus on riding clean for another 3 laps, but still pedal the straight sections just in case. Last 3 laps seemed pretty long, but it was a good course with a lot of variety to keep it fun. Gina took 2nd and Stella Carey was 3rd.

- Karen

Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:

NCNCA/USA Cycling California State Championships

• Karen: 1st
• Karl: 21st

CXLA Saturday

• Trina: 1st
• Edwin: 9th
• Devon: 4th
• Courtney: 9th
• Chris: 25th

CXLA Sunday

• Trina: 1st
• Edwin: 8th
• Devon: 5th
• Courtney: 13th
• Chris: 12th

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

• Chris: 10th

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

• Devon: 2nd

SoCalCross#11

• Trina: 1st
• Edwin: 4th
• Chris: 5th

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”.

By the end of the first lap, the lead group was myself, Ellen Sherrill
(Bike Station) and Sarah Bamberger (DFL). Kathleen Hannon (Hunter
Freewheel) was with us for a while but eventually dropped off. The 3
of us were pretty evenly matched on the technical parts and drafting
on the pavement, so I knew it would be a tactical race. I felt pretty
good, so I decided to bide my time for later in the race.

With 3 laps to go, Sarah opened of a few sec. gap on the dirt, but I
closed it down on the start/finish stretch with 2 to go. I took the
lead going back onto the dirt on the 2nd to last lap with Ellen behind
me and then Sarah. After the barriers, Ellen had a bobble behind me
and I noticed a small gap and went with it. I had about 8-10 sec going
through the start/finish with 1 lap to go. I knew if I could make it
through the next pavement section without them catching my wheel and
ride cleanly I could win. I rode gingerly over the plywood and
zig-zagged onto the pavement and started sprinting and then I heard
the sound of a crash behind me. I looked over and saw Sarah and Ellen
down. They were back up by the time I zig-zagged back up the pavement,
but at that point I knew I just had to focus on riding cleanly. I took
the win by maybe 15-20 sec. Sarah took the sprint for 2nd and Ellen
was 3rd, Kathleen 4th and Gina 5th.

Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:

USGP Saturday

• Devon: 20th
• Courtney: DNF
• Edwin: 31st
• Trina: 43rd

USGP Sunday

• Devon: 19th
• Courtney: 36th
• Edwin: 26th
• Trina: 42nd

BASP#2

• Karen: 1st
• Karl: 26th

SoCalCross#11

• Chris: 9th

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!

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!

Photo Credit: Sheldon Smith

Here are the results for our athletes in their respective races:

Dirt Club Cross

• Chris: 6th

CCCX#5

• Courtney: 1st
• Devon: 2nd

SLOCross

• Chris: 1st
• Trina: 2nd

BASP#1

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!).

There was another barrier about 2/3 of the way up the short,
steep bumpy hill off the main grass field, making that a partial
run-up. Other than that, there was a good mix of flat power sections,
lots of turns – some very loose, a couple of off-camber sections and a
decent climb up the sandy hill we normally descend. With a UCI race in
LA this weekend, most of the Elite women’s normal heavy hitters were
absent. Kathleen Hannon (Hunter Freewheel) was there, and she has been
quite strong in the past (won the 2009 BASP and this years’ Lion of
Fairfax) and I had not raced her yet this year, so I did not know
where her current fitness was, but I figured she would be my main
competition. I felt good the past couple days in training, and I
wanted a good hard race effort leading up to the first BASP race next
weekend, so my goal was to ride hard, no matter what the competition
was.

We gathered in the staging area for what seemed like forever waiting
to start. CX starts are not my strength and my goal was to practice
getting the hole shot even though with the smaller field it was not
that important. I fumbled a bit clipping in the first couple of pedal
strokes (definitely a weakness of mine!), but did manage to take the
front going into the first hill run-up. Kathleen passed me over the
barrier, but I knew there were plenty of opportunities to pass her
back later. I was feeling the effects of standing on the start line
for something like 30 min. and Kathleen was setting a good pace and is
pretty good technically, so I decided to let her lead for the first
lap and get myself re-warmed up and then try to attack. We quickly
separated from the rest of the field except for Ann Fitzsimmons
(Family Cycling Center) who held on in 3rd position. On the 2nd lap,
when we got to the main climb, which was maybe a 45 sec effort and
steepest at the top, I up-shifted and attacked hard all the way to the
top. I immediately got a sizable gap on Kathleen and Ann and basically
rode as had as I could for the next 3 laps, increasing my gap each
lap.

On the 2nd to last lap, I caught up to a lapped rider right at what
was the most difficult turn for me – a slightly downhill right u-turn
in very loose sand and gravel. I tried various lines in warm-up and
none were good. Other riders agreed. I finally opted for a tight
inside line with one foot out, which seemed to work as well as
anything the first 4 laps. This time, my mind was contemplating
whether to pass the lapped rider inside or outside and before, during
or after the turn and suddenly I was on the ground going into the
turn, still behind the lapped rider. I lost my front wheel and even
though I was unclipped (or maybe just unclipping!), I somehow could
not stop the slide. It took me maybe 15-20 seconds to get untangled
from my bike and back on and then a bit more time to find a usable
gear I could pedal in. I had enough of a lead though, that nobody
caught me. I fell on the right side and bent my derailleur hanger
(again!) slightly. The remainder of the lap was mostly flat or
downhill, and my shifting seemed to be reasonable in the smaller cogs,
so I continued past the pit for my final lap. It was only when I got
to the steepest hill and downshifted that I realized the derailleur
was hitting the spokes in the largest cogs and only about half my
cogset was usable. I got a bit bogged down, but it ended as a run-up
hill anyway. The remaining climbs were not steep, and it was the final
lap, so I was able to finish without any more drama, shifting gingerly
and as little as possible .

Ann, whose fitness it greatly improved from the first races (she is
coming back from a broken hand) dropped Kathleen for 2nd about 1:50
behind me, and Kathleen was 3rd another min back. Overall a nice day
and a fun race, but I still need to work on keeping the rubber side
down for a whole race!

Karen