So in typical fashion I’ve been thinking a lot about the racing this past weekend in Gloucester. I’ve looked at the results. I’ve even looked on crossresults.com to see my rating and percentages… I’ve been thinking about both days of racing – trying to figure it all out.

It would be easy to make excuses. To sugar coat my two days of racing by emphasizing the lessons I’ve learned and telling myself that it is early in the season. But now is not the time for this. Nope – I have to step up and “own these rides”. To put it bluntly – I had two sub-par days of racing. There are no excuses. No reasons. No anything. I just simply didn’t ride to my potential.

This is a hard thing to admit. But it is the truth. I should have been better and I wasn’t. I can list all the things that I did wrong and not to my best – but the list is long and really, I’ve rehashed these races so many times that I know what worked and didn’t. But really, it was the same things that get me every time – only difference being the two courses at Gloucester left me no room to hide and recover from these mistakes.

So what do I do now? Well, I’m not down in the dumps about this. Nope – I’m just darn frustrated with myself. I let myself down. I let Marc down. I could have done better and I didn’t. Saturday was not a good day but I did make a lot of mistakes from my race preparation right down to how and when I dismounted my bike at the barriers – so I resolved on Saturday evening that this would not happen again on Sunday. Well, my race preparation was spot on but the rest of it was a repeat from Sunday.

Now I just need to get down to business and fix what I can fix. My strength, power and fitness are really good right now. In fact some of my numbers are better than they were the year I qualified for and raced at the World Championships. It is the small things that are getting me: poor starts, not accelerating up and over things fast enough, using the front brake, looking down instead of forward, taking some corners too wide and others too tight, not being aggressive enough, not committing to the running to really give it my all, and just generally letting small details get the better of me.

Frustrating yes. Fixable yes. I can improve my technique. I can nail the starts. I can really commit myself to running as hard as I can. I can focus on what I can fix and get down to business. I needed Gloucester. It reminded me that there is a really big ocean out there and I’m but a small fish. It is nice to be a big fish in a small pond but this is not what I’m all about.

(For those of you wanting some interesting analysis and perspective on the upcoming season of European cyclocross, check out this post on Podium Cafe. I found the viewpoint on Zolder rather interesting – I wonder if the author has had to descend the “big steep descent” when the sand is frozen solid and is a series of wheel-grabbing ruts?)

After another day of racing and cheering in Gloucester, Mass., we finally crawled in our front door at 1:00 am this morning. Yes, it was a very long day. A good day. But a long one. While I learned a lot this weekend, I learned a very crucial and important lesson on the drive home: there is a limit to how much caffeine a post-race belly can tolerate. One can of Illy espresso and a grande soy misto can be too much for an empty stomach – particularly one that has already consumed a double shot cherry chocolate gel and an earlier can of Illy espresso. Yes, this is too much for a stomach that doesn’t normal receive coffee… Any attempts at drinking fizzy water to settle this stomach should be avoided – this only adds fuel to the fire.

Okay now that this public service message is out of the way – on to the good stuff. Sunday was another good day of racing and learning on the bike. After a great night with our hosts (thanks Mike and Cathy!) we were up early and off to the New England Worlds Site for another day of racing and cheering. After some pre-riding, cheering and catching up with folks, Marc was on the line and ready to race. Sunday was a much better day for Marc – he was having a fantastic race until he crashed… This caused him to lose a lot of time but he still continued to put in a big effort. I was very happy to see him riding so well and right in there in the mix with the top of the race field. Many thanks to Alex and Heidi for the pit work.

My race was up next. I got into my usual pre-race routine and everything came together really well. And then when I rolled down to the start at 2:15 for the scheduled 2:30 start time, I wondered why no one was around. Hmm, strange. I quickly learned that our race had been pushed back to 3:00 due to some necessary course changes. Initially rather frazzled, this push back worked in my favour because my bike needed some last minute tweaking. I got out on the course for a lap to see the new changes and to settle myself down a bit. Big goal for today was a good start. Well, I had a better start – I didn’t lose as much ground as I typically do. I know I still have more in me with the start. After a good start, things seemed to go backwards rather quickly – I struggled to hold my ground in the twisty bits at the top – giving up many spots and watching the group I wanted ride away.

Head down and keep digging. My power and strength were spot on and I could make up serious ground and space on the straight aways but struggled on Sunday with the twisty bits at the top and bottom and with the runs. My sand riding was top-notch (practice does pay off). I need to really give it my all in the runs (I tend to hold back a bit for fear of not being able to recover… but this is not right). The last time up the sea wall run-up I ran like I had never run before – and it made a big difference. I’ve written a race report over on the race reports page – you can click over to read all the nitty gritty details.

Biggest lesson from Sunday: technical skills are greatly improved but still need more work. Fitness really is coming on but is not where I want it yet. Managed to keep my head on during the race but it fell off promptly upon crossing the finish line. Things take time and I’ve still got time.

We took off pretty quickly after the race in hopes of getting home at a decent time. It was a long drive with Marc doing all of it – I was useless driving in the rain and the dark….

This weekend lived up to everything Gloucester is rumoured and billed to be. If you’re thinking of traveling to one race weekend – make it this one. You won’t be disappointed. The courses are top-notch. It is well organized. The competition is some of the best in North America. The fans are intense and raucous. The location is spectacular. Just do it – go to Gloucester.

Huge thanks to a massive cast of folks: Marc, Alex, Heidi, Mike, Cathy, Peter, Conor, Evan, Fergie, Mel, Nick (aka Nate), Laura, Gabby, Helen, Stefan (aka Steven), Steve, Josee, Petar, David, Tom and so many other people who cheered and encouraged. Great to hear “Go Canada” “Come on Ottawa” “Good Job Vicki” – this makes it all so worth it.

Huge thanks to Richard Sachs for the sweet hat. I’ll wear it with pride! ATMO

Thanks Gloucester – I missed you and it was great to be back.

There is nothing quite like racing in Gloucester. This is where I was well and truely bitten by the cyclocross bug years ago and it was a real treat to be part of the action again. Saturday was my first time racing here in Gloucester in three years.

So the day and the race… Marc was up first at noon so we got to the venue with plenty of time for him to pre-ride and catch up with long-time cyclocross friends. When we pre-rode the course was rather soggy and greasy. I had the course sorted out and felt good about things. Marc’s race went off and I found a good spot to watch and cheer (even took some photos!). Marc has some rotten luck with being ridden into a stake and then being crashed – not the way you want to start your first lap. But he kept on digging and did his thing – I’m very proud of him for this.

My race went off at 2:30 so onto the trainer at at 1:30 and time to get warmed up and ready to go. Solid warm-up and off to the staging area to gt penned in and called up. I was called up 17th so the third row – not bad considering the stacked field we had today. In total 46 women lined up to race – pretty darn good. I won’t rehash the entire race but give you some fo the wouldas, couldas, shouldas, and dids:
– did have a good start
– should of kept being aggressive and ended up going backwards once we hit the hill
– did lose many spots
– could of been more aggressive in the corners and stuck my elbows out
– did make some smart decision like getting off early in the twisty bits to run
– should have been more agressive on my run
– did accelerate well out of corners
– should have and could have pushed it harder that first lap
– should have done another pre-race lap – conditions had changed with the ground firming and drying up and I couldn’t remember the course
– did get stronger and smarter as the race went on
– did listen to Marc when he yelled at me to sprint, shift down and to take different lines
– did make a series of small mistakes that cost me: getting off a step too early on the stairs, going wide when I should have gone tight, looking down instead of ahead
– would have been nice if I hadn’t crashed on the run-up – don’t knwo what happened but as I was dismounting I suddenly found myself crashed landing with both my knees on a massive rock
– did stay positive
– did not loose focuse or check-out
– did keep focusing on the fixing the small things
– did continue to accelerate and sprint out of corners

So, the outcome was not great. (In fact I don’t know where I finished.) But the riding was okay. I got smarter and better as the race went on. I got faster as the race went on. I made a series of small mistakes that accumulated into bigger mistakes. My number one error that cost me was not pre-riding after Marc’s race so I could see how the course had changed – my first lap was a real disaster.

At no point in this race did the negative self-talk show up. I just kept on digging and focusing on the next section. This is a big win for me. Even though I really wasn’t wanted to be I kept on plugging away. It is hard to be racing in a spot you don’t want to be in – but for everyone but the leader this is the case…

All in all, it was a good day at Gloucester. I rode techically better than I would have a year ago. I kept my head on. In fact I would have liked another lap! I was cooked at the end and really put myself in the red zone.

Many thanks to Marc for all his help – cleaning the bikes, tuning them up, cheering me on, giving me pointers through-out the race, and for being so positive afterwards. Big shout out to Alex and Heidi for the pit work for both my race and Marc’s. Many many thanks to Mike and Cathy Rowell for opening their home to us this weekend – so awesome to stay with friends and to not be in a hotel. Thanks to Mike, Cathy, Steve, Josee, Conor, Evan and all the others who cheered me on – this helps so much during a race. Awesome to talk to Tom and David today – haven’t seen them in forever.

Yes, so you can guess that this has been a really good weekend. The racing was fun and challenging, we get to hang out with cool people, and best of all – it’s Gloucester.

Stoked to do it all over again today. I really want to have a smarter and more skilled ride than I did on Saturday. Often I’m not excited for the second day but today I’m ready to go. See you out there.

Oh, and last but not least – Happy Birthday to my dad! Have a great day dad – thanks for the amazing support and cheering from afar.