Apparently racing in National Championships in two different countries in the same year really pisses off the gods of cyclocross.

Everything except the race went fantastically well: 

I found cheapo tickets out to Portland; some awesome people to put me up in Portland; hooked in with Arley and Sally of HUB for lodging and travel; steel cut oats race morning; the right number of pre-race poops; some joker in an orange jumpsuit to hang out in the pits for me; enough recon laps to know the course would be slippery, to look out for sharp rocks and that conditions would probably change during the race.

I did a bit of a warm-up, went to the bathroom one FINAL time and tried to zip up my skinsuit. Kinda stuck. Huh. It’s given me some trouble before… maybe someone else can get a better grip on it. Headed to the Schlamm tent but no-go. Broke out my pliers and yanked on it until there was a ripping noise. Bugger. Calls for staging are being made on the P.A. Started to get a bit panicky. Just-going-to-have-fun-with-this was going out the window. I didn’t have any extra pins on me, so took a couple off my shoulder numbers and safety-pinned my skinsuit closed. So not-pro. I’d already missed my call-up and ended up staged 6^th row instead of 3^rd.

I don’t have much to say about the start except there were a lot of people charging up the start straight (I’m a mtn biker, ok?). I could see Arley’s wheel just ahead and tried to focus on getting her wheel – threw some elbows in corners; swore at myself for taking the inside line and getting boxed in; tried to settle in and race.

Just after the stairs it was starting to stretch out a bit – up the off-camber, around the corner, then another hair-pin heading toward the barriers, beer tent and marching band.

I was just coming out of the hairpin and BAM – hit the deck. Back up on my feet trying to not get hit by other riders and went to remount. Rear wheel wouldn’t turn. Back off the bike – looking at the dropouts to see if the skewer had come loose. Nope. Rolled a tubular. Crapcrapcrap. Picked up the bike and started to run.

For a seven-minute lap it’s a long way to the pits. I went down again while running on a frozen grassy off-camber and by the time I hit pavement the back of the pack was long gone. I was too upset with everything that had transpired to take a bike from Gewilli and get back on course. Now of course, I’m wishing I had. It’s much easier in retrospect.   

Huge thanks to Dave and Colleen, zipper-guy from Schlamm, Arley, Sally and Carol; Gewilli, Curtis and Jerry and everyone else I bummed equipment/favours off of.

I will definitely be back next year – the folks in Bend know how to put on a great event and I’ve got a score to settle.

Elite Women Nat'l Champs Bar Cam from colin reuter on Vimeo.

Linnea reports on racing in Toronto:

Kate, Sara and Linnea: ROAD TRIP! Photo by Gord Harris.We loaded up the team sprinter (aka The Fit) and headed west on I-90. Destination: Toronto, Ontario, Canadia.

Turns out the reason Kate travels so much is because she can't find her way home. 20 minutes of driving in concentric circles somewhere near Guelph, Ontario - after nine hours on the road already - and we finally stumbled upon the Harris Hilton, aka the Harris Family Zoo.

During Friday night's dinner, Kate's grandfather made a comment about the small ski hill at Centennial Park, built out of Toronto's trash. "You'll probably be racing up that." Oh no, we reassured him, 'cross doesn’t have sustained climbs…. How wrong we were…

Day one's course featured many hairpin corners and repeats up the ski hill. It was a truly brutal course - the turns were too tight to carry momentum through and to add insult to injury I ate it on the S-turns coming back down the hill on lap 3 and gave up 2 places. Argh! Frustrating… but at least the weather was beautiful.

Sunday’s course was almost the polar opposite – swoopy off-cambers, some punchy climbs and short technical sections.

I got a great start sitting comfortably on 5^th wheel through the hole shot, came ‘round the corner and discovered the barriers had been moved between the time we did warm-up laps and the start of our race. Kate, Linnea and Sara racing in Toronto. Photo by Kim Rutherford.Next time you’re going to pull that trick, Toronto, please inform us on the start line?

Over the barriers, onto the dirt road and toward the first of the punchy climbs whose entrance had to be taken one-by-one, and Pepper Harlton endo’d straight into the embankment. This resulted in a mass of people flying off their bikes, swearing, fighting for places. I managed to muscle my way back to 5^th position for a couple of laps, but then my mental toughness faded a bit and the 2 who had been dangling behind me caught on, pulled through, and a couple of bobbles later, I’d lost contact.

All in all it was a good weekend – great food and hosting with a top notch cheering squad and fantastic weather!

Check out October on Cyclingnews.com:
Linnea leads a group.
Kate battling on the big climb.
Kate in the lead group (before crashing and burning.)

We have a few items for sale...please contact info@rideoctober.com if you are interested.  Prices are blow-outs...ie as low as I can go...

$1650 - Edge Composites 1.68 Tubular wheels.  DT 240 Shim/SRAM hubs.  Tufo Elite 32 cyclcross tires (rear needs to be re-glued)  Very lightly used.

$850 - Cane Creek Endurance 85 Track Wheels w/ unglued Tufo S3 Lites...brand new wheels, never used/glued

$400 - 2007 17.5" Trek Fuel EX8 w/ FD, H/S, Seatpost, Fox RPL Shock.  $650 w/ Fox Float 32 130mm fork.  Used, great shape...few scrapes and scratches.

Also visible on our October Hand Made Bikes Fan Page on Facebook

Lyne Bessette, not mucking around. Photo by Natalya B.Linnea ploughing through furrowed mud. Photo by Kris Dobie.

Kate clambering over the barriers, wondering why she left her crampons at home. Photo by Natalya B.Linnea's recovery drink. Now that's pro. Photo by Kate.

 
When the going gets tough, the tough get going - fast. At least when "the tough" refers to October Factory Racer Lyne Bessette, who landed on the podium after swimming through the swampy muck that was the Gloucester Gran Prix Day 1 cyclocross course. What makes Lyne's 3rd place finish in her first 'cross race this season even more impressive is the fact that she hasn't been training for 'cross. She has been training for a marathon. Like, a running marathon. Like, in a week. Since Lyne is a personal cycling hero of mine, I decided to try a similar 'cross-training approach by trekking afoot in the mountains all of August. Alas, for some reason, this slow steady endurance work hasn't translated into pedaling power for me (disclaimer: impromptu trekking training plan not endorsed by coach SBZ). Meanwhile Linnea "New Zealand: It's Not Australia" Koons flutter kicked to a mid-pack finish, and I sank somewhat less gracefully toward the back, solely (I swear!) for the sake of executing our pre-planned "October Sandwich" team race strategy. TASTY! The second day saw us racing in near-sunshine on near-solidified terrain, a total transformation from the previous days' epic slog. With Andrew cheering from the October tent on the sidelines, we had a blast scooting around a dizzyingly fast and fun maze of a course. More of that, please! Big props to the Gloucester race organizers for salvaging a wicked rideable course on Sunday out of the muddy mess we made of the grounds on Saturday.

Then post-race, Colt of Cycling Dirt filmed Linnea, SBZ and I in a totally hot, sweaty, and scandalous three-way........interview.

Now the October fam (East Coast contingent, at least) is heading to Interbike Outdoor Demo East. Visit us at the October tent, where you can test ride our sweet handbuilt titanium and ti-carbon cyclocross, mountain, and road bikes, and buy some stylin' softgoods. Then cheer on Kate and Linnea on Saturday and Sunday in the UCI Elite Women's races at the Providence Cyclocross Fest at Interbike. Rain or shine, we'll be riding October. More of that, please!

Come check out October Hand Made Bikes, October Factory Racing, and October softgoods at this weekend's Great Brewers Grand Prix of Cyclocross. Race is at Stage Fort Park in beautiful Gloucester, MA. We'll for sure be missing the Rocky Mountain Division of the October Family, but we know they'll be here in spirit. So come cheer on Lyne, Kate, and Linnea as they have at it against other Elite women. Check out the event on Facebook, the interwebs, and also check out the entire Verge New England schedule from the good folks at Cycle-Smart.

Linnea Koons. Photo from Kris Dobie Photography.Beautiful day; great course; equal payout. Definitely worth the trip. Did the sweet wheels and pimpin' frame justice with my first win on US soil this year.

Kate Harris

My glorious re-entry to XC MTB racing at the Root 66 Landmine classic.

Linnea KoonsColin ReuterOctober Jet-Setter, dual citizen, and overall cross phenom Linnea Koons threw it down at New Zealand's second ever Championships of Cyclocross! Linnea won the women's title - making her the New Zealand Woman's Champion of Cyclocross, I'd imagine. Also, October Homeboy Colin Reuter, who just so happens to be Linnea's un-better half, also had his way with the New Zealand-ish mud. No doubt Colin will share his perspective in that oh-so-Colin way on his blog.

CX Magazine has a nice story about the event here.

The October Family is hoping you both had an amazing trip - but we can't wait to have you back!!!

Much Love,
October Cross