We Open The Door To The Pain Cave...And Step Inside

Doing double cross races seems like a good idea when you're sitting in front of your computer, looking at Bikereg and feeling tough. But doubles hurt. They leave you feeling wasted, which of course is why they really are a good idea. You pay today for good results tomorrow.

Cliff Kenyon, Paul Novotasky and myself made the trip to Bedford Mass. for Quad Cross. We all decided to do double races, but the only combination that worked, was for us to do back to back 40 minute races. Paul and Cliff lined up for the Masters 35+ with my 45+ group going 30 seconds afer. Paul got a good start and ended up in 12th with Clif apparently taking it a little easy in 21. My race went pretty well and I finished in 12th also. I probably could have made top 10, but the little voice in my head was saying "don't forget, you have another race to do".

So, we finish the first race and quickly get ready for the second. We all had our second race numbers pinned under our first, so a quick tear off and we were ready. As we head to the line I notice Paul lined up on the front row and I'm thinking are you crazy? but that's how he rolls, as you kids say. Cliff lined up behind him with me behind Cliff, and off we went. Paul and Cliff nailed their starts and were gone, my first lap was brutal and I wondered, "what am I doing", but by the third lap it's all one big blur and you just pedal. Paul ended up in 9th, Cliff 19th and me in 24th out of about 50.

The course was good, just the right amount of slipperyness with lots of corners and not too many crazy obstacles. There was a lot of moaning and groaning on the way home, but a good time was had by all. Don't forget, Crossin' 4 Canines this Saturday in Rocky Hill. I hope to see a good number of my new team mates there.

Final TT results

Hey everybody! Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated this year. We had a great time putting the event on and based on the amount of participation, even when the weather didn't cooperate, you people enjoyed it as well. As of now, we plan on doing it all over again next year. Any feed back you have that can make the series better will be appreciated. The final picnic was a success. I hope nobody got a raw burger. Thanks to everyone for coming and especially those who brought food. See you next year. Keep in touch. Here are the results from the last two races. email me if you want the overall series results.

Jon Tarbox

Results from Week 9, 8/27

Place Name Category Time Speed

1 Ben Carbonetti MR2 14:00.7 26.54

2 David Hildebrand MR3 14:26.0 25.77

3 David Marti MR5 14:47.8 25.14

4 Joseph Nucera MR4 14:56.1 24.91

5 Paul Novotasky MR3 14:58.3 24.86

6 David Head MR4 15:00.4 24.80

7 Steve Abbot MR5 15:10.1 24.53

8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:15.4 24.39

9 Sebastian Dunn MR4 15:22.8 24.18

10 Paul Armstrong MR4 15:27.0 24.08

11 Jonathon Reid MR5 15:34.7 23.87

12 Jon Tarbox MR4 15:55.1 23.37

13 Sven Malten MR3 15:56.1 23.35

14 Bill Hurley MR4 16:24.8 22.66

15 Jim Dunphy MR6 16:42.4 22.28

16 Steve Dauphinais MR4 16:44.4 22.23

17 Dean Montgomery MR4 16:56.1 21.97

18 Stacy Head FR3 17:06.0 21.75

19 Bob Ludecke MR6 17:06.0 21.75

20 Robert Winter MR5 17:10.2 21.67

21 Al Tisko MR4 17:29.1 21.28

22 Dan Massucci MR4 17:48.3 20.90

23 Steven Yau MR3 17:55.4 20.76

24 Donna Davis FR4 18:12.2 20.44

25 Kelsea Mullaly FR1 18:12.5 20.44

26 Frank Davis MR5 18:13.6 20.40

27 Katie Mullaly FR1 18:16.9 20.35

28 Laura Mullally FR4 18:22.4 20.25

Results from Sunday August 30:

Place Name Category Time Speed
1 David Hildebrand MR3 14:22.3 25.89
2 Aiden Charles MR2 14:42.6 25.28
3 Bob Hannon MR4 14:58.4 24.86
4 David Marti MR5 15:02.8 24.72
5 Stan Lezon MR3 15:09.5 24.53
6 Dave Hoyle MR2 15:42.4 23.69
7 Paul Novotasky MR3 15:43.8 23.64
8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:53.9 23.40
9 Dave Dubos MR3 15:56.2 23.35
10 Lance Jones MR4 16:08.8 23.03
11 Barry O'Grady MR4 16:15.6 22.87
12 Juan DeJesus MR4 16:20.2 22.78
13 Trent Sullivan MR3 16:22.5 22.71
14 Robert Winter MR5 17:00.4 21.88
15 Bruce Taylor MR4 17:13.7 21.59
16 Rob Recalde MR2 17:18.6 21.48
17 Donna Davis FR4 18:04.3 20.59
18 Michael Martin MR1 18:11.9 20.44
19 Bill Hurley MR4 18:19.6 20.29
20 Laura Mullally FR4 18:36.0 20.00
21 Katie Mullaly FR1 19:01.4 19.56
22 Taylor Hildebrand MR1 20:37.7 18.03

Blunt Park Cross Race 8-23-09

Let the fun begin. Blunt Park was the first race of the season and the turn out was good (even though everyone says it's too early for cross). Paul came up to race along with Frank Navone and the Brazilians. Frank, the Boys and I raced the cat 4 race. Before the race I said I was just going to ride around and not go too hard since my shoulder and elbow are still on the mend. What do I do at race time? Line up on the front row. I guess I am racing. Anyway, long story short, I felt good and got 6th out of 52. Frank looked like he was having a little trouble, but finished strong and said he felt pretty good. Ed (not his real name) Got third on his mountain bike and Jesse got 12th, even riding with one foot clipped in (he brought one road shoe and one mountain).
So I had registered to do the cat 3/4 race as well and was feeling OK when start time came around. I decided to start farther back and let the fresh guys have at it. Paul was up there. This race was a little faster and I stayed fairly close to the front for about the first 30 minutes. I kept Paul in sight. But then, my mind decided my body was tired and I slowed way down. For some reason I was thinking there was about 5 laps to go. I got passed by about 5 guys just as I heard the bell ring for the last lap. Paul did pretty well and finished 12th of 63. He was pissed because some kid who had no skills totally clogged the course right in front of him. I'm sure he could have got top 10, but that's cross, the start is everything. I ended up 28th.
The course was greatly improved over last year and was a lot more like a typical cross course. Now if they can get rid of the log crossings, it'll be a really good course.