FLCC> Panella 'Cross Race, back of the pack

[Shan Mohiuddin]

Okay, here's my race report:

I got a bad start and realized on the first hill that
my legs decided to stay warm and dry at home. 
Nevertheless, I made it into the powerline section in
the front half of the group, so I thought that maybe
if I just hold on, my legs would warm up after a lap
or two.

In the meantime, I'd concentrate on good bike handling
in the slick turns.  First turn, fine.  Second turn,
slide out and clipped out but recovered.  Third turn,
nearly in the woods.  Not good.  So, after
approximately 90 seconds of racing, it was looking
pretty bad for me.  Only about an hour left.

Next up on the course was the triple barrier, which I
bunny hopped.  I picked up a couple of bike lengths
got a little boost to my moral.

Then came some long grassy sections that reminded me
that my legs weren't awake yet.  I lost some ground,
but recovered it in the spiral.  I held on down the
hill, but then lost big on the muddy section in the
trees.  Then I lost a little bit more on the uphill
section to the start/finish line.

First lap assessment:  I'd lost time on the hilly
sections, the turny sections, the grassy sections, and
the muddy sections.  I'd gained time on the triple
barrier and the spiral.  So, I was competitive on
about 100 meters of the 2 to 3 kilometer course.

But before I could get down on myself, I got some nice
encouragement from FLCC members who were watching. 
For one turn I heard, "That's it, that's the way to do
it (entering the turn)...oh no, that's NOT the way to
do it (exiting the turn after nearly loosing it)." 
Near the end I heard, "Shan, if you slow down you
won't have to do another lap," and "You better hurry
up, they're taking the course down."

Well, let's just say I finished the race and had some
good chili as a reward.

I can't wait until next season.

Shan

--- Swancycles at aol.com wrote:

> Karl Faruzel has long been an inspiration for 
> 'cross. His creativity and his 
> dedication have made the Greene race an  annual part
> of even my limited 
> 'cross schedule. If I only do one race all  season,
> it is Karl's race. Now there's 
> a problem. My 'cross calendar  just became twice as
> long ! Karl and his 
> growing crew of race promoting  aficionados squeezed
> every ounce of challenge and 
> enjoyment out of the driving  range of the Ely Park
> Golf Course with an 
> amusement park ride of a course  that threw
> everything at the racers. 
>     Chilly, and with a mist in the air is not
> weather  that makes most of us 
> want to go out and race. 'Cross riders though, know
> that  they will be putting 
> forth a lot of effort, and thus produce plenty of 
> warmth.  An important 
> question before every race is "what to wear". An 
> important piece of advice for 
> cold weather is "I never dropped out of a race 
> because I was too warm..."Just 
> get out the door and do it.
>     We blasted off at the start and Karl got the 
> hole-shot while I was back 
> in 4th or 5th through the zig-zag start/finish area.
>  It was just as well, 
> since nobody ever would have thought to go as fast
> down the  power line section 
> and around the greasy hairpin turns as Karl did.
> Only  when we started to do 
> some uphills did I move up and close the gap to him.
> We  opened a small gap on a 
> group that included Greg Drum and Ernie Bayles and
> Nick  Suozzo. On the 
> second lap I looked back (or across on the death
> spiral section)  and saw that 
> Ernie had separated himself from the others and was
> surely coming  up to us. Lap 3 
> I didn't see Ernie. Hmmmmm....I expect his race
> report will  elucidate, but 
> from what I heard, his worn tires may have lacked
> proper grip in  the difficult 
> corners, leading him to explore places the rest of
> us never went. 
>     Karl and I rode a steady effort at the front. He
>  roasted me in certain 
> sections, showing that he is a master of technique,
> has  good bike handling 
> skills, and that he has much longer legs than I. He
> bunny  hopped a triple 
> barrier section. He outran me up a double barrier
> run-up, and he  almost always got 
> a bike length or two on the sharpest hairpins in the
> death  spirals. But I 
> could always close it back up on the rideable
> uphills. We were in  it to the 
> finish as long as neither of us made any big
> mistakes and crashed or  broke bike 
> parts. Alas, the finish was a series of sharp
> hairpins and Karl was  not to be 
> passed. Home course advantage ? Maybe. Worthy winner
> ? Definitely. 
>     There were numerous Ithacans in all categories.
> I  hope they write 
> reports. They all have stories. Let's hear.
>     And by the way, Thanks to Matt Howey and Steve 
> Edgar for making the 
> 'Cross Series happen. We're pretty lucky to have had
> races  close to home every 
> weekend. Thanks to Louis Garneau for helping to
> support  a grass roots series.
>  
> Glenn
> > _______________________________________________
> FLCC mailing list
> FLCC at icycle.org
> http://icycle.org/mailman/listinfo/flcc_icycle.org
> 



 
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