the 622 REALM

Hanging on to what you've got

2012-01-29T17:44:00.002-06:00

All Belgian podium

So after the Belgian domination of the Elite race today, 7 riders finishing 1st through 7th, and after hearing UCI chief Pat McQuaid try to justify it I took a closer look. Basically what McQuaid said was it's not that Belgium is one up on everyone in cyclocross but that their great riders don't move on to other disciplines of cycling.

We saw this in the Juniors, U-23 and Women's races with Belgium only taking 3 of 9 medals, completely being out-classed by the Dutch who took 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. France took home the one remaining medal.

A quick glance through the archives tells the story. The Belgians have never really shined in the junior category but those that have, have gone on to be some of the worlds best. In contrast, those non-Belgian juniors that have shined have gone on to be some of the top road cyclists in the pro peloton. Talent at the world level is just that raw talent. Belgium has done a great job of hanging onto that cyclocross talent and have created a world beating class of riders. How different would it be if these guys had stayed in cross and raced today?

Those that have moved on...

Peter Sagan (SVK) - Racing road for Liquigas-Cannondale

2008 Junior Silver

Danny Summerhill (USA) - Racing road for Slipstream, part-time CX

2007 Junior Silver behind Joeri Adams (see below)

Roman Kreuziger (CZE) - Racing road for Astana

2004 Junior Silver behind Niels Albert (see below)

Lars Boom (NED) - Racing Road for Rabobank, part-time CX

2003 Junior Gold
2006 U-23 Silver
2007 U-23 Gold
2008 Elite Gold

Walker Ferguson (USA) - Raced MTB for Gary Fisher-Subaru (retired 2007)

2000 Junior Silver behind Bart Aernouts (see below)

Matt Kelly (USA) - Raced MTB but eventually left cycling returning briefly in 2008-09

1999 Junior Gold (ahead of Sven Vanthourenhout)

Those that are moving on...

Zdenek Stybar (CZE) - Racing Road & CX for Omega Pharma-Quick Step

2002 Junior Bronze
2003 Junior Bronze
2005 U-23 Gold
2006 U-23 Gold
2008 Elite Silver
2009 Elite Silver
2010 Elite Gold
2011 Elite Gold

Those that have stayed...

Joeri Adams (BEL) - Racing for Telnet-Fidea

2008 Junior Gold

Tom Meeusen (BEL) - Racing Telnet-Fidea

2006 Junior Bronze
2010 U-23 Silver

Christoph Pfingsten (GER) - Racing for Cycling Team De Rijke

2005 Junior Bronze
2009 U-23 Silver

Niels Albert (BEL) - Racing for BKCP-Powerplus

2004 Junior Gold
2006 U-23 Bronze
2007 U-23 Silver
2008 U-23 Gold
2009 Elite Gold
2012 Elite Gold

Kevin Pauwels (BEL) - Racing for Sunweb-Revor

2002 Junior Gold
2004 U-23 Gold
2011 Elite Bronze
2012 Elite Bronze

Radomir Simunek (CZE) - Racing for BKCP-Powerplus

2001 Junior Silver
2005 U-23 Silver

Bart Aernouts (BEL) - Racing for Rabobank

2000 Junior Gold

Sven Vanthourenhout (BEL) - Racing for Landboukredit

1999 Junior Silver
2001 U-23 Gold

They say to win it like a Belgian you have to do so with no one else in the picture. Niels Albert won it like a true Belgian.

A real Championship, North American style

2012-01-20T08:48:00.000-06:00

I was reading through some comments last night about people questioning the validity of the first Masters World Cyclocross Championships held outside of Europe. Many people are questioning if the winners are really "true" world champions. Sure the results were heavy on North American riders but not any more so than if the championships were held in Europe and being heavy with European riders.

Notice that I've broken it down into North American versus European riders. We are in a slightly different situation here as our single country is virtually as big as Europe. You cannot compare the US to Belgium but rather a US State to a European Nation.

Although there was a very poor showing from non-North Americans at this years championships, the results were really on par with what you could probably expect. When you compare the US finishers that competed in both the 2011 and 2012 championship the results aren't far off. In the Masters 40-44 race, Pete Webber, Brandon Dwight and Brian Hludzinski finished 4th, 6th and 16th in 2011; 1st, 2nd and 11th in 2012. In the Masters 45-49 race, Don Myrah finished 12th in 2011 and won in 2012. Erik Tek from Belgium finished 2nd both years. In the Masters 50-54 race, Steve Tilford and Kevin Hines finished 3rd and 6th in 2011; 1st and 2nd in 2012.

Now it's easy to say that just by removing the Europeans from this years race we saw better results from the North Americans. But is it really that simple? Many of us know the difficulty of international travel. You're in a strange environment which makes training difficult. The cuisine can be significantly different which makes nutrition difficult. And then there's the time difference, which can be a major factor when you spend 50% of your trip just trying to adapt your sleep pattern.

We see these issues time and time again. Bart Wellens and Rob Peeters acknowledged it themselves saying they have much more respect for North American riders that go race in Europe. Logistics for cyclocross can be a nightmare when traveling internationally. Wellens and Peeters didn't dominate when they arrived in North America this season. They came over with limited equipment and even had to borrow one of our (Trek Midwest CX) team indoor trainers for warm-ups. They borrowed race wheels from KCCX too. No super posh campers for them when traveling and racing internationally.

This years Masters World Cyclocross Championships was no less a championship than any other year. When you take away the fact that we are Americans and look at what state we hail from, the results look like any European based championship. The level of cyclocross is making leaps and bounds in North America and I think you'll see further leaps made over the next few years. Word on the street is most of the European masters were saving their money this year and planning for 2013 when they can come over and spectate the Elite race as well as race themselves. I guess we'll have an answer to this debate in 12 months time. I for one am saving my money to travel to Europe in 2014.

Sven had the battle of his life to win his rainbow jersey, one of the best races of the weekend. Do you think he thinks he's not a worthy champion?

Don Myrah walked away from the 45-49 field, which included 2011 Silver medalist Erik Tek. No lack of quality in this field.

UCI Masters World Championship recap

2012-01-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

Two years ago I started chasing this crazy idea of racing the UCI Masters World Championships. At the time I thought this would probably be the only chance I'd ever get to do so. It almost felt surreal as I drove to the course on Tuesday to ride with some USGP Masters buddies.

The course was amazing, but rain, followed by freezing temperatures was going to throw us the curveball. Sure enough, it dumped rain on Tuesday night and pretty much all day on Wednesday.

Thursdays qualifier was a tractor pull. I'm not great in these conditions but I'm better than most. I should have bought a lottery ticket because at number pickup I drew number one call-up, there's no better than that. I got away clean and after swapping position with Mark McCormack for a half lap, I pulled away and rode conservative to a 3rd place finish which would equate to #5 for the final.

As forecasted, the temperature took a big plunge Thursday night and we woke up to temperatures in the teens. The frozen mud ruts would play a huge roll in Saturdays finals. To my surprise the course on Saturday morning was extremely rideable. It would come down to a race of equipment choices and bike handling. Early frozen conditions dictated a dry tire to take advantage of the fast frozen conditions. But the temps were rising and the top layer of mud was beginning to thaw. I made the call to stick with my Challenge Fangos but just in case I sent a pair of Limus' to the pits with Ray.

As we prepared for our call-ups I got worried...it looked like I was the only guy going with a dry tire. At the whistle I got away clean but was swarmed as we entered the first patch of mud. I defended my line with wide elbows and a shove here and there. Through the first chicane a rider fell in front of me. As I got going again I noticed Richard Feldman had busted through the course tape, that would be the last time I would see him all day.

I'm not quite sure where I was at this point but the legs felt great and by the time we got over the first run-up I was within the top five and again battling with Mark McCormack. To my surprise the Fangos were amazing. The low tread profile allowed me to slid through the ruts while everyone else appeared to be getting flicked around as their blocking mud knobbies were grabbing the edges of the ruts. First time through the start finish and we had established a solid front group of about 8 riders.

As we approached Pit 1 both Brandon Dwight and Pete Webber went for bike changes. I immediately punched it to try to establish a gap. I guess the nerves of leading a World Championship got to me as I managed to bobble the next sequence of corners after the sand dune and the pair closed right in on me. On lap three it was my turn to take a bike at Pit 1 and that would be where I lost contact with Pete and Brandon. By the end of the lap I was 10 seconds off, 17 seconds by the end of lap 4.

After losing 7 seconds I thought it was time for a mud tire. Grip was going away in the corners so I called to Ray to switch my pit bike to the Limus wheels. I took the bike at Pit 2 with one and half laps to go. Unfortunately, it was the wrong call. The Fangos were way better and as a result I lost a further 30 seconds in the last lap. I was still well clear of Todd Bowden and McCormack in 4th and 5th. Easy cruising for the bronze medal.

The podium was really something special. There was talk that it wouldn't mean as much without the top belgians-europeans in attendance. I bet if you ask anybody now though if it means less they'll tell you otherwise. I'm mesmerized by that little medal with the rainbow stripes, but even more mesmerized by that blue jersey with rainbow stripes. Anne and I have already talked about the 2014 Worlds wherever they may be. Hopefully Belgium. This is definitely something worth chasing.

It's been an amazing season. I reached all my goals except one. I wanted that USGP cup to really say 1st place. Regardless, I've been chasing that USAC medal since I was 14 and racing the Junior National Championships in Boise, ID. I never even thought I'd have a chance at a UCI medal, yet there it is.

I've got so many people to thank I don't even know where to begin. On the home front Anne has been so supportive and the the encouragement from my family has been wonderful. Without Jay's passion for cyclocross and putting together arguably the best masters cyclocross program in the country this could never have happened. Trek & Bontragers support has been unbelievable and I've thoroughly enjoyed helping them establish a cyclocross presence. SRAM, Avid, Capo, K-Swiss, Challenge, Lazer, Oakley, Sidi, Saris and Mad Alchemy all played a major roll in providing us with the gear to do what we do. And it all performed flawlessly, all season long.

I was thinking about it on the drive home and throughout the entire season I only had one flat tire and only broke one shoe buckle. Those were the only failures all season long. You don't think those above companies make good stuff? Well that track record speaks for itself. Twenty four races and hardly an issue.

The team...Jay and Matt were awesome to travel and race with. We had this thing dialed after the first weekend. I'm so stoked to do it again.

Lastly and definitely not least was our support staff this season. Ray Smith went above and beyond to help me in Louisville (and Madison). He even took time off work on Thursday so he could work the pits for me. I'm so grateful. Then there was Rafal & Megan Doloto, Liz Reinkordt, Chris Brewer, Chris Wolff, Carl Hoffman, Greg Shimonek, Jill Tillinghast, Dave Randleman...god I'm afraid I'm going to forget somebody, all helped out in the pits or the start line at one point or another. Bill Marshall, Tom Price and Logan Von Bokel of KCCX always seemed to be there at the start line to grab warm-up gear. Bottom line it was a huge team effort.

I have to say thank you to the entire cyclocross family across this entire country. The support and encouragement has been overwhelming. It's been so much fun traveling and meeting so many old and new friends. Can't wait to do it again. 2012/13 season is just 8 months away (big smile)

Worth Every Minute of Training

2012-01-15T05:56:00.001-06:00

Championship Week: Qualifying Day

2012-01-12T22:03:00.002-06:00

After a stellar weekend in Wisconsin I hit the road Monday morning and headed south to Louisville, KY for the first ever outside of europe UCI Masters World Championships. It's pretty crazy to think that in the history of cyclocross there's never been a World Championship held outside of europe. Yet here we are on the eve of USA Cycling history.

Tuesday I headed to the course to do a little course recon and help with some lap time runs and course modification. The track was perfect but the forecast was for rain and we got it. Overnight rain and on and off showers turned the perfect track into a perfect muddy track. There's just something about the courses at Eva Bandman park that I just love, wet or dry.

The weekend started off perfect when I drew number 101, first rider called to the line for my qualifying heat. I settled into second wheel after the whistle behind 1997 Elite National Champion Mark McCormack. As we took to the grass Mark broke left I broke right as we each hugged the course tape on opposite sides. My right line was faster and I got to the opening sand pit first.

Shortly after, Richard Feldman took the lead and began pulling away. Strategy for the heat race was unusual. You basically only want to go as hard as you have to. In this case with only two heat races, that "have to" was top 4 to assure and front row start position for the final.

Pete Webber, McCormack, Maurice Gumanho and myself swapped positions multiple times leading into the run section. McCormack gave riding it a try while I stuck to running. I was able to put some time on the other guys and solidified 3rd. Up front Webber and Feldman were riding away from us but like I said, I only wanted to go as hard as I needed. A third place would give me 5th or 6th call up to a row of 8 wide. Perfect.

I rolled across the line 45 seconds behind Webber and Feldman, and 20 seconds in front of McCormack. I still can't believe I'm even racing against these guys. Between Pete and Mark they have a combined 6 Elite National Cyclocross Championship medals between them.

After I got all cleaned up the weather really started to change. Within a couple of hours the temperature dropped 20 degrees and the snow began to fall. Tonights low will be about 19 with highs just around freezing the next 2 days. Mud, freezing water, mud, and cyclocross, and mud...a match made in heaven.

Photo: Kay Ohta

2012-01-12T21:24:00.001-06:00

This was when the course was in "good" shape

USAC Cyclocross National Championships

2012-01-10T08:12:00.095-06:00

What a weekend. I wasn't very optimistic or excited for this years National Championships. Early reports were that the course was too wide open and that along with big questions about my fitness I wasn't expecting much. Jay and I hit the road early Thursday and rolled into town just before sundown and picked up our numbers. Trek hooked us up with a smoking deal on a hotel. It was about 30 minutes from the venue but it was actually nice being away from the hustle and bustle of the host hotel.

Any doubts I had about the course were quickly set aside as it was far better than expected. The greasy freeze thaw conditions would play to my liking which would only leave the fitness question unanswered. On our AM pre-ride the legs felt good and after talking to Bill Elliston and Michael Wissink it seemed like everyone indulged their fair share over the holidays so we were probably all in the same boat.

Saturday morning came quick and the conditions were going to play a huge part. The opening section was a maze of frozen ruts layered with a thin film of partially melted mud. It would favor those who could ride light and transition from rut to rut.

I missed my front row call up as they only called top 7 from the previous year which meant I had to rely on my USAC points. Luckily it meant middle of the 2nd row. I cued up behind Pete Webber, figuring that was the wheel to follow.

At the whistle I missed my pedal and slotted in somewhere around 15. I was really concerned about the opening section so I gave the guys around me plenty of space and let the pin ball game commence. I kept it smooth and straight and came onto the base of the first climb in 8th position. Over the next few laps I would swap positions with Michael Wissink and Brian Hludzinski multiple times. Guys were coming up and falling back. Somehow I managed to not hit the deck once and only had two off course ventures, oddly at the exact same spot on consecutive laps.

Photo: Josh Stamper

Photo: Britany McConnel

With a lap and a half remaining I finally made my passes on Wissink and Hludzinski stick and had about a 15 second cushion. Mike Yozell was pretty much out of reach in 4th with Adam Myerson another minute or so ahead of him. I late charge from Wissink kept me honest on the last lap and I rolled across the line in 5th. I wanted top 5 and to stand on the podium at a National Championship was a great feeling.

Adam and I tried to keep everyone out of jeans but the other guys didn't have their gear. Adam rocked his sponsors Mountain Khakis, I got the memo too late so full clown (PRO) suit for me.
Photo: Greg Keller (Mud and Cowbells)

The fun was far from over though. Spent the afternoon getting the bikes ready for the my first Elite race. The goal was simple, try to get to three laps to go before getting pulled by the 80% rule. I got a decent call up as I was one of the higher ranked guys without UCI points, middle of the 6th row I think. At the start I got myself on big Justin Robinsons wheel, figuring if anyone crashed around us he'd plow the way for me. I had a good start and filed in around 40th. The first time up the climb I was amazed when I saw Zach McDonald next to me. I picked my jaw of the ground and tried to grab his wheel. That lasted about 3 seconds as by the bottom of the next descent he was out of sight.

I was surrounded by a solid group of masters. Micheal Robson, Jon Cariveau, Brad Cole and others so I knew I was in a good place. Brad and I had a good thing going as we worked our way into the top 40, 37th I think at one point. As luck would have it though, I guy got between us, bobbled and I lost Brad's wheel. He was gone and I wasn't bringing him back. The Elite race is pretty crazy. The crowds are so intense with people screaming, heckling, whistling, shouting, you were racing through a corridor of noise and it was awesome.

I started to fade on the fourth lap as the heavy course conditions took their toll on my back. Pulled with 3 laps to go I was satisfied. 44th place was a success...wanted to be top 40. But I held my start position so I'll call it even.

With Jon Cariveau early on
Photo: Emily Hoesly

Finished off the weekend at the after party and had a great time catching up with super announcer Richard Fries and Boulder brotha Greg Keller. Got to reconnect with Nicole Duke too, which was awesome. Back in the day she drove cross country with us (Manitou) and Hayes. It was a fun trip and I'm amazed how wonderfully small the cycling community is.

Final week of the season now. Masters Worlds, this should be interesting

Good weekend in Wisco

2012-01-09T08:35:00.001-06:00

Still Getting it Done

2011-12-20T17:52:00.001-06:00

Earlier today Carp asked me about how I was handling the longer season in regards to the holidays, diet, training, focus, and fatigue. Honestly, the last three weeks have been pretty trying.

Upon our return from Jingle Cross we got about 4 inches of snow. I was really counting on the snow staying away until after the new year. I'd planned on taking a week off after Jingle Cross, especially as travel to Bend was off the calendar. But that one week kinda turned into two and I definitely wasn't at my best at the Iowa State Championships. I just didn't feel like I had any snap in my legs. And the problem with that is you start to question yourself and during these gloomy months it's pretty easy to turn into a head case.

So what have I been doing?

Shortly after the Iowa race, we got a little warm snap and the snow melted in a little more than a day. I was able to get back on the practice course and got down to business. It wasn't pretty at first, legs still felt flat but after about 5 days of consistent pedaling again I really feel like it was coming back around. So much so that I'm now thinking the week and half of easy riding is paying off.

So from a training and fatigue standpoint I feel like I'm still going strong. Diet is probably my biggest struggle. I think I've gained about 5 pounds since the start of the cyclocross season. Most of it's probably due to the fact that I've done virtually no endurance training but I still just want to eat, eat, eat, but I'm not burning the calories. Besides, I've got 3 weeks to knock down a pound or two or five. Luckily the holiday festivities are at a minimum this year so I shouldn't have to stay away from too much pie.

I will say it was kind of weird showing up for my first winter group ride this weekend. Everyone is in base mile mode while I'm still doing hill intervals, but we made it work.

Focused...you bet.

Fatigued...not at all.

Lets go race.

USGP Finals

2011-12-11T23:01:00.000-06:00

BOOM! Second place overall. Teammate Matt ended up 21st, and GB Nate 43rd. Definitely doing the series again next year. Really want to go one step better.

Iowa State CX Championships: Round 2

2011-12-11T20:42:00.000-06:00

With a whole bunch of space in between Jingle Cross and Nationals I was stoked when I heard that the Iowa State CX Championships had been pushed back from it's normal November date to December. And with a awesome prize purse it made it all the more lucrative. And...another chance to go head to head with Kevin McConnel.

I've used Kevin as my Elite gauge when I was thinking about jumping out of the Masters category and into the Elites. He's super consistent and we have pretty similar strengths.

Anyways, I loaded up the Sprinter, this time for a solo trip to greater metropolitan Altoona, Iowa. Steve and the Zealous Racing boys put together a solid track and the freeze thaw conditions were bound to make it interesting.

At the whistle, I immediately jumped on Kevin's wheel and within the first minute we had already established a gap. I was hoping a group would stay together so I wouldn't have to go mano e mano with Kevin. Over the next 2 laps I tried to pick apart any weaknesses he had. Trouble was, our styles and fitness were so evenly matched there really weren't any. Kevin would eventually bobble a corner and I took over the lead. I put in a few digs in sections I thought I might be able to force a gap but he stayed close. With 3 laps to go I'd decided that the long uphill drag would be my spot to attack with one and a half laps to go. I put in my effort, he hung tight. I went again on the next hill, he was still there. It was going to come down to a sprint.

Kevin had my number all day over the ties
Photo: Maharry

Photo: Maharry

Kevin took the lead with one to go and as we came out of the rail road tie ride/run up he pinned it. My legs didn't have the strength to match it but as we inched closer to the finish he began to come back to me. I didn't have enough real estate as he got the better of me for the second time this season. I've been pretty borderline this season in most of my 60 minute races and it showed. I'm missing that last lap punch. But I guess that comes with the territory when racing a ton of 45 minute Masters races. It was a good fight regardless.

On the up side. I locked up 2nd place in the USGP as well. Really wish I could have made the trip in hindsight as I could have really fought for the title. Could have could have could have, didn't. It's still been a dream season.

Frozen tundra
Photo: Maharry

A Question of Climate

2011-12-08T07:09:00.000-06:00

I remember last year when I returned from Bend after Nationals and looking at the weather thinking, wow, I still have to train in these conditions next year? Here we are, December 8th, two to three inches of snow on the ground, temps in the teens and twenties.

One debate that is rolling through my head is which is more important. Acclimating to the conditions? Or being able to maintain a high level of fitness training in warmer temps? I debated earlier in the season about possibly taking a 4 or 5 day weekend trip to a warmer climate for training before Nationals but the expense of that kind of trip quickly fell by the wayside. A couple of the Pro riders that we'll be racing against are taking that approach.

For us working men though, we'll have to stick it out and train in these harsh conditions. I've already done a couple of indoor workouts. Thanks to an early cold snap that left us with a couple days of highs only in the teens. My rule of thumb, if it's below 20, stay inside. The workouts were good. I've recently found the joy of the You Tube playlist and have put together two highlight reels of the 2010/11 and the 2011/12 GVA, Superprestige and World Cup races. Basically I mimic the effort and duration I'm seeing on the screen. And that bloody Fluid2 trainer is way harder than riding outside.

Yesterday however the temps finally climbed above the 20 degree mark. I decided to give a full test run of the equipment and clothing that I'll likely be using in Madison (Verona) on January 7th. I kitted up in my thermal skinsuit with leg warmers and wind block baselayer. I stuck with regular summer weight socks and my full lorica topped Sidi Spiders. Up top I used Lazers Aero Shell and a winter skull cap. I recently bought another pair of gloves, Castelli CW 3.0's. I think I have a pair of gloves for each 5 degree temperature range now, it's a bit ridiculous.

On the bike I didn't change much. I threw on my mud race wheels, the Bontrager Race XXX Lite's with Limus tires. I took a cue from Greg at Mud and Cowbells and dropped the pressure to 24F/26R. That's what he ran in the snow last weekend in Boulder so I figured it'd be a good starting place.

Lastly I lathered some Mad Alchemy Pre-Ride Warming Oil. About 10 pumps per leg, more than I think I've ever applied. Put on my warm-up tights and jacket, threw a spare pair of gloves and hat along with my pump in a backpack and headed out.

The conditions at the park were a chore. The first lap cutting through the snow was much harder than I expected. But by the third time around I started to get the feel back of two wheel drifting through the corners. The gear was working flawlessly. I was plenty warm and the tire pressure was just about perfect. The one thing I forgot though was how poorly rim brakes work in the snow. By lap two I had a good layer of ice build up on my rims and had zero braking. I guess that's one benefit to the disc brakes on cross bikes argument. It was easily solved though with earlier braking.

Hopefully we'll get a bit of a warm-up and some of this snow will melt off. I'd like to spend more time on the cross bike but it's trending the direction of spending more time doing road intervals. I'll get one good hour in this weekend at the Iowa CX Championship race. I'm looking forward to another battle with Kevin McConnel. Should be a good time.

USGP Derby City Cup

2011-12-05T13:20:00.000-06:00

Huge thank you to Liz for catching my DCC win on video.

TMCX Goes to USGP Louisville from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Goals

2011-12-01T17:21:00.001-06:00

This season has been going pretty good to say the least. It's been a ton of fun really getting back into this sport that I've spent so long competing in. Two years ago I asked Anne to give me three years to be a bike racer again. It was at that time they had just announced that the Masters World Championships would be held in the US for both 2012 and 2013.

I figured I'd use the 2010 season to get back into the swing of things and learn about the cyclocross scene that was exploding in the US. 2011 would be my fine tuning season to see if this dream was even a possibility. The early season road races gave me good "sensations" but as the heat of summer hit, the legs were feeling tired and I was generally worried that I may have done too much earlier in the year and jeopardized my 'cross season. I rebounded quite well as I often do when the temperatures begin to head south and have managed to put together my best ever season as a bike racer.

Which brings me to goals. At the end of last season I had a handful of goals I wanted to hit. The first was to again win the Nebraska State Championship. I was lucky enough to accomplish that a few weeks back. The next goal was to win the USGP race series. I currently sit 2nd overall and unfortunately won't be able to contest the final round in Bend, OR. To win would be a long shot and in hindsight I probably should have raced much more aggressively throughout the season.

My next two goals are still on the horizon. A top 5 at the National Championships and a top 10 at the World Championships. The next 4 weeks hold the key to this one.

Lastly, and this one was more for fun than anything else, was to get on the first page of the CrossResults.com points list. Which meant being in the top 250 riders of their rankings. I missed it earlier in the season by a mere 8 places but my good results over the past 6 races finally pushed me up to the first page, 218th place to be exact. I'm pretty stoked about it even though it means virtually nothing. But then, I guess it's the little things in our own head that keep us moving forward.

Jingle Cross Rock

2011-11-30T08:20:00.000-06:00

Mile marker 5780 - The dream season continues. After back to back wins in Lincoln I thought I'd have a pretty good shot at winning in Iowa City as well at the Jingle Cross Rock. I didn't quite know what to expect since the parcours in Iowa City are pretty unique. Mt. Krumpet as it's known is a monster of a hill and with the always damp conditions it's a bit of a crap shoot.

As race day approached I did my now typical scan of who was registered. I'd be up against Scott Mclaughlin and Lou Kuhn on Friday night, then joined by Lou's teammate Kevin Klug and Michigan rider Jay Moncel. Although I'd had the upper hand on these throughout the season Mt. Krumpet has a way of leveling the playing the field. I'd also be started from the 3rd or 4th row so I'd be in chase mode from the get go.

The conditions where so selective it pretty much came down to who could keep it upright and smooth everyday. Friday was dry for the most part but there was one mud bog that chose to be decisive. I kept it clean all night and was able to capitalize on others mistakes. Saturday the rain came out. I told Anne to expect me to pit every lap. She handled the pits like no other. Holding and catching bikes by herself and washing them perfectly throughout the race. Saturday was decided on the descent of Mt. Krumpet. I crashed twice but was able to extend my lead on it every lap. Many others were forced to run it. Sunday's conditions were still damp and this was the only day that fitness played a roll in it for me. I was able to shed Lou on the long uphill soggy drag to the mud bog and then ride the bog which established my gap. The rest was up to just riding smooth and keeping it upright. I'm a mudder and it worked out perfectly.

Matt had two awesome rides on Friday and Saturday joining me on the podium in 3rd place. Liz got two 3rd place podiums too to finish out her Cat 4 season. Rafal got his single speed podium on Sunday behind the uber fast Curtes brothers.

Outside of the post race mud clean-up it was an awesome weekend. I enjoyed hanging out and finally meeting all the guys from The Pony Shop in Chicago. Got to also meet Matt Shriver team liaison for the Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek team from TREK.

From here on out it's all about training. I'll take a bit of time off here to recover and then hit it hard for 4 weeks leading up to Nationals and Worlds. I took the plunge and registered for not only the Masters race at Nationals but also the Elites. It'll be fun to see where I actually slot in.

The Service Course: Vermarc Sport

2011-11-30T05:44:00.001-06:00

How's that jersey made? Stumbled on this last week. Vermarc Sport is the company that makes our full zip warm-up tights. Pretty cool to see how this stuff is made.

Vermarc Sport - english version (with subtitles) from Vermarc Sport on Vimeo.

The Service Course: Embrocation

2011-11-23T06:32:00.001-06:00

Embrocation is an often talked about subject around these parts. It can keep you warm, keep you protected, keep you healthy and keep you looking PRO. Yes, PRO, all caps.

My favorite brand is Mad Alchemy. Pete and Jan have kept me warm and protected for the better part of a year now and I absolutely love their products. But the often asked question is how do you use it?

Mad Alchemy is making two different styles of embro now. Their traditional embrocation and their newer pre-ride oil. Both are available in warming and non-warming blends and both will help protect and nourish your skin.

Traditional Embrocation - I use three different blends, the non-warming ECJ team issue and the Mellow and Medium warming blends. The ECJ non-warming is great for summer rides when there's a chance of rain or I've been using it lately for post ride massage.

When the temperature dips below 60 though I turn to the warming blends. Embro not only provides warmth but it also protects you from the elements, especially wind and rain. This past weekend on Saturday I forgot my leg warmers AND knee warmers. It was only 29 degrees with winds gusting up to 30mph. Fear not. I put on a double layer of Medium heat embro and I was good to go.

Pre-Ride Oils - The pre-ride oils work great when you're applying it under clothing or when there is no threat of rain or heavy wind. I use the non-warming oil pretty much daily before heading out on a ride. More for skin health than anything else. However, when the weather turns nasty I grab the warming oil. The warming oil is great if you're pairing it with leg or knee warmers. The thinner viscosity makes it easier to pull the warmers on than if using a traditional paste. And with the added protection of fabric you don't need the added protection that a paste provides. I used this technique on Sunday when I actually had my leg warmers.

The one question that always arises is how do you clean it off. I've had instances where that warming sensation has hung around for 12+ hours when I haven't been able to shower and am driving home from a race. Mad Alchemy is now making an Unbrocation for post-ride clean-up but I've yet to try it. My technique is to first wipe off any embro with a dry wash cloth. Next wipe your legs down using unscented baby wipes. Then follow it up with a final wipe down with a fresh dry wash cloth. This usually does the trick. I also grab my Seventh Generation dish washing detergent on occasion and scrub it off with that in the shower.

Bottom line, embrocation can make riding in nasty conditions (or nice conditions) much, much better. And it smells awesome!

NE CX Weekend

2011-11-21T21:41:00.003-06:00

Wow. That's about the best way I can describe how this season is going for me. Almost unbelievable. I'm pretty sure I've never been this fast on a bike before. This past weekend was the Flatwater Cyclocross weekend with the Nebraska State Championship race being Sunday.

Photo: John Petersen

Saturdays race was our coldest of the year. Early morning mild temperatures dropped to just below freezing by start time. To make matters worse I forgot both my knee and leg warmers at home. But that's what embro is for, so I lathered up and headed out. The race was, well, don't really know how to describe it. Brian Jensen led the opening laps and as I ran by him on the run up during lap 3 I heard Jay's voice behind yell go, so I did. One lap later I had a 10 second lead and a long lonely race in front of me. I was gaining 3-5 seconds a lap so I decided to get the gap up to 30 seconds then turn it off and save some juice for Sunday. Problem was it took me about 7 laps to get there. Finally I got it in cruise mode and rolled through with another victory.

Photo: John Petersen

Brian came through with a comfortable second while Matt and Jeff Kluck had a day long battle for third which Matt took at the line in what was one of a couple good sprint finishes on the day.

Sunday came and the temps were marginally warmer and the legs were not quite as good as I'd hoped they'd be. This time kitted up with leg warmers I was much more prepared and ready to go. Brian took the holeshot as we all slotted in behind him. Matt flatted on the first lap and I think it caused a little gap as Brian, Jeff Kluck, Jay and myself all got a couple seconds on the chase group. Soon though it was down to just Brian, Jeff and myself. I wasn't in a too much a hurry to extend the advantage as I had both Matt and Jay chasing behind, but neither Brian nor Jeff were too keen on towing me around all day.

The three of us traded spots as I struggled to find the legs to pull out another win. Although I nailed my kit below the waist I had opted for a mesh baselayer instead of my long sleeve wind block baselayer. The decision was killing me as my chest was really cold. Too cold as I was struggling to keep warm.

As the laps ticked down I knew I had enough gas to try an attack with 4 laps to go. Things didn't feel right with 4 to go but with 3 to go I took the lead and noticed that Jeff had gotten between Brian and I. Jeff was overgeared all day and had been forced to run the hill instead of ride it. I used this to my advantage and began lifting the pace and once over the ride/run up I drilled it. My gap immediately exploded to over 20 seconds as I stomped on the pedals hard out of each corner. With the bell ringing and 1 lap to go I'd extended the lead to almost 30 seconds which was good because the two lap effort fried my legs. Somehow I pulled off back to back State Championships.

Winning it Belgian style with "No one else in the picture"

Matt and Jay had good battles all day with Matt flatting and then coming back, then crashing and coming back again to finish 4th. While Jay was locked in a battle with Noah Marcus and Paul Webb with Noah getting the upper hand in the end and Jay finishing 6th.

It was a great day for the club. Leah won the women's State Championship, Jeremy the Cat 3 and Rafal the Singlespeed. Only race we missed out on was the Masters but it was won by Tom Price who works in our Kansas City store so it felt like a win there too.

Interesting technique from Greg

Next up is Jingle Cross in Iowa City. I'm looking forward to more tough racing against the boys from the Pony Shop. Fun, fun, fun.

Amazing video by Keith Walberg

Lincoln Flatwater Cyclocross-2011 from Keith Walberg on Vimeo.

Love this Sport

2011-11-20T07:39:00.000-06:00

I'm a fan of cycling, be it Cyclocross, Mountain or Road. Thanks to the Innert Web I've fallen in love with all the great live feeds and post race highlight videos too. As I was growing up, we'd have to wait months to see photos of events like Paris-Roubaix as we anxiously awaited our subscriptions to Winning magazine and VeloNews.

What I'm really enjoying though, if you haven't noticed is the massive explosion of Cyclocross culture in the US. It is by far and always has been my absolute favorite segment of cycling. Had the culture that exists now been around in the mid 80's I can only imagine how my life (and career) in cycling might have changed.

What I love about cyclocross is it fills that void that always existed from October to March. No longer do we have to sit through the long winter months just thinking about spring road and mountain bike races. Open up the live feeds on your computer each weekend morning and you can catch the best CX racers in the world racing toe to toe through late February and early March. And by that time, I'm just as excited to watch the first big European spring classics which are just getting going. There's awesome bike racing now to watch and partake in 12 months out of year.

Love this sport.

The Service Course: Capo Lombardia and Thermo Roubaix Gloves

2011-11-17T17:51:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year. Time to talk about the latest cold weather gear. I never find myself talking much about summer gear. Jerseys are well, just jerseys. Shorts, well, you get what you pay for. But winter gear is all about technology.

Last year I fell in love with three items that I'll be using vigorously again this winter. I've actually already spent a few cold mornings in them already. The Castelli Radiation 1-2-3 jacket with matching Sorpasso bib tights. And of course my favorite product from last year, my Bontrager RXL thermal booties.

One item I fell short on was gloves. I gave the Castelli Poggia a shot but it didn't quite handle what I needed it to. It was a great glove in the 32-40 degree range but when it dipped below freezing it just didn't cut it. As a buyer for six bike shops I spent a good amount of time searching for a suitable winter glove last spring when I was reviewing all the product for the 2011/12 winter season. Two gloves stood out, both of them using the new OutDry technology. Enter the Capo Lombardia. What OutDry claims to prevent is the exact problem I had with my previous gloves, sweat getting trapped between the outer shell and the membrane which then freezes and turns your hands to ice blocks. With OutDry however, the shell and the membrane become one, eliminating the extra air pocket where your sweat can condense.

My only concern with the Lombardia glove is the insulation in the glove. Alone it's pretty minimal, so I'm planning on pairing it with the Capo Thermo Roubaix LF Glove. The Thermo Roubaix is a slightly heavier fleece than most liners so I'm hoping it will get me down into those 15 degree early mornings before it warms up into those balmy 20 degree temps. All in all this makes a pretty pricey $125 glove option. But if it eliminates getting nerve damage like a suffered with slightly last winter it'll be worth it. After one 15 degree ride I had a few finger tips go numb for about a week and a half.

USGP Derby City Cup

2011-11-16T07:29:00.000-06:00

Mile Marker 5030 - I've been trying to figure out what to say about this weekend but I'm still at a bit of a loss for words. The USGP Derby City Cup was easily the best race so far this season. The course that was set up felt what I imagine a true european course to be. Very much to my liking, fast and technically challenging. Pretty much a perfect balance.

We kicked off each day getting Liz a Carl set-up for the Women's and Cat 2/3 races. Liz rode awesome finishing just outside the top ten each day and Carl had an uphill battle starting from the 17 or 18 row (!) each day. He put up the good fight but the deck was stacked against him. Our other buddy Greg had a couple great rides in the 2/3's finishing top 40 each day. Next up was Troy who had two really solid top 10 rides in the Masters 45+ races.

The Masters 35+ race was going to be interesting. The high winds were bound to play a factor, as was the sand, and some fresh legs who hadn't raced yet at the USGP this year. Most notably last years multiple time race winner Michael Wissink. It's nice being called up, especially now. With the #2 bib I pretty much have my pick of the front row. After chatting start line strategy with Ray Smith I decided on 3rd lane from the left which put my on the inside of the first corner but far enough from the barrier so I didn't get squeezed into it. The day one plan was to follow the wheels and see what played out.

At the gun, I got a great start (finally) and slotted in about 4th or 5th wheel. I believe it was Jay Moncel that took the hole-shot. Richard Feldman took up the chase immediately and I grabbed his wheel. Towards the end of the lap we had a small gap on 3rd and then I stuff my wheel and went down at the base of the short run-up. My bike fell really awkward and it took me a bit to get off it. Brian Conant squeezed by me while the rest got bottled up behind. Brian and I set about chasing down Feldman and were soon joined by the days big threat Michael Wissink. Wissink didn't waste any time and was soon driving the pace. Conant let a gap open and that was that, 1st and 2nd were up the road. The race for third was getting interesting. I got rid of Conant through the technical section and got a good gap but he was quickly joined by CJ Faulkner and Jeff Weinert. Remember that wind I was telling you about? This group of three began to bring me back in the open bits. Not only did they have the strength in numbers but Brian and Jeff were both racing on file treads which were super fast in the sand and straightaways. My only hope was to put as much time as possible in them through the technical sections where my Challenge Fango's gave me a good advantage. I rode the last lap as hard as I could and just held onto 3rd place by a mere 3 seconds.

I was pretty disappointed to have once again missed the front of the race because of a crash. This marked the 4th race where Feldman has finished one place ahead of me. He was now 32 points clear in the series. A gap that seemed to be too big to close. But, I had to check myself, can't be to bummed when you're standing on the podium at a USGP!

The Front Row
#4 Brian Conant (hidden), #6 Andrew Messer, #3 CJ Faulkner (hidden), #1 Richard Feldman, #5 Grant Berry, #2 Mark Savery, #10 Jeff Wienert, #9 Matt Tillinghast (hidden)

Michael Wissink with the win on day 1

The Cronus gets a podium spot too

After the disappointment of Saturdays poor race tactics I figured enough was enough. I could follow wheels all day, let others dictate the pace and keep coming up short. Or, I could go for broke, ride my own race and put it on the line. If I didn't start taking some chances, I'd have no shot at winning on the day or the series for that matter.

The plan for day two was simple, get a good start, maintain my position on the open sections and push the pace in the technical bits. I was going to race it Ricky Bobby style, "If you're not first, you're last".

I got an awesome start, my best of the season, and slotted in second wheel behind Jeff Wienert. The legs felt great and my breathing was well under control. The pace almost felt easy as I sat on Wienert for the entire first lap as a group of 5 formed up behind us including all the major players. Seven guys was too many variables for me to have at the front so I figured it was time to go. I went to the front and upped the tempo. The pace split the group and it was down to myself, Wissink, Feldman and Grant Berry. On lap three, Feldman took over the pace making and the tempo dropped noticable. At this point I knew I had really good legs and I wasn't going to let this one get away from me.

Over the next two laps I sat on Feldman and Wissink's wheel and bided my time. Grant was bouncing off the back of our group no doubt feeling the effects of his effort the previous day. With one to go it was time. I went back to the front and upped the pace. I got a small gap over the flyover which forced the others to work that little bit harder to come back. Feldman came by and surged on each open straightaway but he couldn't maintain his pace and continually looked back to see if I was still there. I knew he was tired. The last time by the pits he absolutely drilled it and I really had to fight hard to stay on his wheel. As we entered the final technical wooded section before the finish I sat on and tried to get my heart-rate down. I only had three chances (corners) to make it happen. As we approached the first corner the gap was too big. On the exit I closed down the gap leaving a bike length of space as we entered the last section of sand. I rolled through cleanly and was right on his wheel. As we approached the second corner I surged towards the apex and got my bars even with his. Feldman turned in, we touched and he had to put a foot down. I accelerated hard, hit the next off camber 180 smooth, accelerated up the embankment and kept driving. I heard somebody yell I had two bike lengths so I kept driving. I knew if I had at least that I could hold him off down the finishing straight. The gap grew and I was clear for my first USGP win. The last lap was fastest lap of the day.

It was a pretty memorable weekend of racing. My good buddy Nate Woodman scored his best USGP result too with a 14th on Day 1 and 17th on Day 2. Teammates Matt and Jay both kept it in the top 25 each day as well. Jay had his best results of the season (21st and 25th) while Matt was just a bit off struggling in the sand (23rd and 19th).

To win at the same venue that will be used for the UCI Master World Championships this January is a huge confidence booster for me. I feel like this course suits my style really well. The hard choice now is whether or not to go to Bend for the USGP finals. To win the series I now have to win both days in Bend and have Richard finish outside the top two on at least one of those days as I'm 22 points behind. And the only way for me to lose 2nd place would be if the 3rd, 4th or 5th place riders win both days so it's pretty solid either way.

But...I've got a couple weeks to figure that out. Next weekend is the Nebraska State Championship followed by the UCI Jingle Cross weekend. I'm really looking forward to both of these as they are two of the funnest race weekends out there.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2011-11-07T12:07:00.017-06:00

Last week was a bit busy as I returned to weekend racing. There were some ups, there was downs, but I came through in pretty decent shape. Wednesday night was the kick off for our Trek Omaha Twilight Cyclocross Series followed by a weekend of racing in Shawnee, KS with the 360 Cup and Boulevard Cup. All three races were brand new cyclocross venues never raced at before. The five days would see a huge swing in the weather as we went from snow and rain racing in thermal skinsuits and leg warmers to beaming sunshine and warmth racing in short sleeves and dripping sweat.

Five days, three races...

Photo: Rich Pearson

Ugly...that's about the best way to sum up the first race of the Trek Omaha Twilight Series. Morning rains turned to heavy snow and falling temps. Luckily for us, it eased up just in time for course setup and racing under the lights. The down side was that there was tons of ice cold standing water all over the course. You wanted a real cross race? Be careful what you ask for!

I was a little worried about how well I'd race after spending 3 hours helping set up the course. But, I kind of got a warm-up in and squeezed my way onto the front row. At the whistle I grabbed the holeshot and never looked back. Nate Woodman and I had a small gap and as we jumped the barriers we extended it even further. Soon after I lost Nate on one of the power straightaways and just kept powering. I was expecting a long day of cat and mouse but on the third lap the chasers, Lucas Marshall and Matt Tillinghast went down in a corner and from that point my lead was pretty stable. I kept the pressure on to take my third win in Omaha this season.

Off to Kansas City...

Things would be a bit a tougher in KC. Joe Schmalz, Shadd Smith, Andrew Coe, and Adam Mills would be the guys I'd have to battle with. Add in Jeff Winkler who was back from his travels and Colton Jarisch and the weekend was shaping up to be a battle.

Baby Barriers
Photo: Bantam700

Saturday couldn't have gone much worse. I got a miserable start and then got held up by Shadd Smith who rolled a tire in the first difficult corner. That little bobble had me working really hard to get back up to Schmalz's wheel. by the top of the climb which ended with a technical dip and steep up I practically folded my front tire off the rim. I didn't think of it much at the time but two laps later something definitely didn't feel right. I rolled into the pits and grabbed my B bike. This move let Andrew Coe get away from me. Problem was I went from having a tire which was too soft to one that was too hard. I was fighting the bike all day, I just couldn't find the flow. Eventually Adam Mills came up to me, we battled for a few laps but he eventually rode away. By the time Winkler came up to me I was done. I was reserved to a 5th place finish, the final pay spot, saving energy for the next day.

Sundays course was a bit more my style. Flatter, more technical but still favored big engine road power. The day couldn't have gone more different than the previous day. I got a great start behind Joe and Colton. Passed Colton through the barriers and tried to hold Joe's wheel. That lasted about a lap until I realized I wasn't going to be able to ride Joe's pace on the extended straightaways. Soon, Colton and I were back together but a four man chase group was hunting us down. Eventually that group split and it was just Winkler chasing. Colton and I started working together and reversed the advantage that Winkler was taking.

Photo: Roger Harrison

Photo: Bantam700

At this point Colton and I had it down, each of us pulled through the sections of the course that favored our style. The only problem was Colton's section included the sand pit. I was nervous that if he made a bobble I'd hit him and go down. Sure enough, with 3 laps remaining, he made a small mistake at the end of the sand, I bounced off his dropout, put a foot down and he attacked on the exit. I brought him back a quarter lap later but by that point he had recovered enough to attack again. Over the next two laps the gap would yo-yo between 5 and 12 seconds. I would roll in for another top three finish.

The Nebraska crew pretty much kicked butt all week. GB Nate rode great on Saturday, Rafal won the SS race and more. Next up, USGP Derby City Cup!

My History of Cross, 22 years in the making

2011-11-03T22:11:00.004-05:00

So today I got to thinking about how cyclocross has progressed over the years. My love for this crazy sport goes back to the days when I first began riding and racing as a junior back in the mid '80's. Back then, racing cross was a dream. The equipment was virtually impossible to get. I remember gazing in awe at Clement CX tubulars and Diadora shoes. Alan made Guerciotti and Pinerello cyclocross frames. It was big deal if you actually got to see one in person.

As a junior we used to ride our road bikes, tubulars and all, through Wilderness Park pretending to be racing cross. My first go at a cross bike was a pieced together old Trek 420 or something like that. It had 27" wheels, enough tire clearance you could squeeze Specialized Tri-Cross hybrid/cross tire into it. I outfitted the back with Moots Mounts for cantilever brakes but had to settle with the stock center-pull Weinmann front brake.

If cross back then was what it is today I don't know if I ever would have done as much road and mountain bike racing as I have. I love cross just that much more.

So here's my pictorial history of cross racing...Nebraska style

1989: Racing on the Cross Country course at Pioneers Park. Nobody had cross bikes in those days so we were all racing mountain bikes (if you had one). Barriers were made out of downed tree limbs

1995: Still on mountain bikes but the racing was moved out to Branched Oak Lake. This was probably the first year we had an actual barrier but we still had a few log barriers too.

2000: My first REAL cross bike cobbed together with old MTB parts. Triple crank, XTR rear derailuer, etc. Racing in California at the SoCal cross series when it was in it's infancy. They had a solid for race series, each at a different venue. It had fewer racers than we have racing today.

2004: Things are really taking off. The KC scene is rocking and John Lefler put together the Midwest Cyclocross Series with races in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri

2005: Nebraska is catching up. Holligan Hill begins to become legend. Beer hand-ups have started. Pretty much everybody has a dedicated cross bike, tubulars, titanium, and carbon.

2006: Jingle Cross

Holligan Hill and beer from the misses

2006: It was all about racing SS for me. Huge scene in KC and growing in leaps and bounds in Nebraska

2007: Still doing it SS style

2008: Still SS only this time with more facial hair

2009: Transitioning from clown singlespeeder to serious cross racer. To quote Dave Chappelle "Shits about to get real"

2010: Real deal cross racing. Race bikes and pit bikes. More carbon than you know what to do with. USGPs. And the legendary Holligan Hill with live music. This one goes to ELEVEN.

Post-Race Cyclocross Clean-Up

2011-11-03T16:21:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago we talked about the key things you should do to prep for a wet and cold cyclocross race. Just as important is what you do after. Mud and grime will not only tear your bike up but it will also tear up your clothing.

Bike Wash: Don't wait to wash your bike. It may seem like a hassle when you're wet and cold to go wash your bike right after the race but you'll be thankful you did the next day. Depending on the soil, I've had dirt that once dried does not want to come off. So get to it while the mud and dirt is still damp.

Cothing: Don't let it dry out. If you've got a longish drive home, stuff your clothes in a plastic bag and keep them damp. Stinky? You bet. But just like your bike, once that dirt dries, you're clothing is stained for life. Once you get home, grab the Oxy-Clean. If you clothes have clumps of mud on them I hose them off in the yard first. Load the washing machine with your detergent and a couple scoops of Oxy-Clean. I like to run it through one cycle, then stop the machine and let it soak for at least an hour. I've been in some really muddy races where I've had to go through 2 or 3 wash cycles to get stuff clean. If you do it right, you'll minimize the staining.

Shoes: Just like clothing, pre-clean them in the driveway to get off any big clumps of dirt. Once you've cleaned them up, stuff the inside with waded up newspaper. The dry paper will pull the water out of your shoes and decrease dry time. I'll let them sit like that overnight, then remove the paper and let them air dry the rest of the way. I don't like to use a heat source as it messes up the leather.

I try to do all these things right when I get home. After that, you can shower up and relax and leave the deep cleaning until the next day.

Begin Phase Two

2011-11-02T06:35:00.000-05:00

The last two weekends off have been great. We opened the season with a bang heading off to St. Louis for the midweek Gateway Cross Cup and then straight to Sun Prairie / Madison and the first USGP. We followed that up with the Omaha weekend, USGP Ft. Collins and Oakley Night Cap Cross. Eight starts in four weekends.

We've kept the knife sharp with mid-week racing in Lincoln and now Omaha starting this week.

So what's phase two? Now is when the season really gets going. This weekend, we ramp it back up with the 360 Cup and Boulevard Cup. Then it's off to Louisville for round 5 & 6 of the USGP. We follow that up with the Nebraska Championship and then Jingle Cross in Iowa City over Thanksgiving weekend. From there it's either Boss Cross or a weekend off before possibly making the final blast out to Bend, OR for the USGP finals. Six weeks of crazy fun. You can see why I skipped Spooky Cross in DSM this last weekend.

Preparing for Cyclocross

2011-10-31T16:40:00.001-05:00

Preparation is everything. It's looks like this Wednesdays twilight cross race will be the first "cross" race of the season, locally anyway. By "cross" I mean wet and cold. But you don't have to be wet and cold while you're doing it.

The Bike:

There are a few things you can do to your bike to prep it for wet racing. Most importantly you'll want an aggressive set of tires. If you're using clinchers as I assume most of you are, I really fell in love with the Clement PDX tire last year. It's widely spaced tall knobs make for an awesome wet weather tire. I've also had really good success with the Michelin Mud 2 and it works really well in dry conditions too so it will do double duty for you. If you're running tubulars it's all about the Challenge Limus, if you're lucky you might be able to find the Limus in a clincher, but they're a rare find.

The other often overlooked item is your brake pads. Don't start the race with worn pads. Wet races wreak havoc on your brake pads. In both mud races I've done this year I've gone through two brand new sets of pads in each 1 hour race. Nothing is worse than grabbing that brake lever and having it pull all the way to the bar.

The Body:

More is more. Don't be shy, overpack, you'll thank yourself after the race.

Towels, towels, towels: Bring a couple towels, some wash clothes and I like to have a thermos of warm water to use for cleaning up. Having the gear to clean up after the race makes racing in it much more enjoyable. The warm water is a welcome comfort when you're wet and cold.

Neoprene gloves are the cross racers best friend in cold, wet conditions. Think wet suit when you hear neoprene. One caution though, you'll want to bring a second set of gloves to warm-up in. Do NOT warm up in these gloves, save them for the race. Your hands sweat pretty a lot in them and your warm toasty warm up will turn into cold freezing hands while you wait for the start. My favorites are the Castelli Diluvio.

Embrocation! When it's cold and wet I go for Mad Alchemy's Medium embrocation. This warming paste will not only keep you bare legs warm but it also sheds water. Think of it as an Tiger Balm Vaseline mix, which I think is what I used before embrocation was readily available in the USA. When it's wet I like my legs to be bare. Leg or knee warmers only hold cold water against your skin making you even colder.

Eyewear: It's a fine line to walk. Sport glasses are great for the first couple laps when you're fighting for position and getting sprayed by the rider in front of you. But once those lenses are dirty you usually have to toss them to your pit crew. One trick of the trade is to treat your lenses with RainEx or Oakley's Hydrophobic lens conditioner. If it's raining heavily, this treatment is a must on the inside and outside of the lenses.

Helmet: Those of you lucky enough to have a Lazer helmet should look into getting one of their aero rain shells. The rain shell is a thin plastic cover that snaps over the outside of the helmet covering all the vents. It not only keeps you warmer but also keeps the cold rain water out.

Flatwater Twilight Series #4

2011-10-27T14:11:00.001-05:00

Men's A Podium with Jared and Nate
Photo: John Peterson

I knew it was going to be a tall order, beating Nate that is. The uber tight and twisty course was tailor made for Nate's skills. The final night of the Flatwater Twilight Cyclocross Series was pretty straight forward. I'd gotten really lucky the week before when both Matt Tillinghast and then Nate Woodman flatted. It basically gifted me the win, I knew I couldn't count on that happening again. Nate was putting time on me in three spots. The barriers, he was hopping them as I ran them. The holeshot, I lost about 5 seconds there which was nearly impossible to make up. The tight corners, with home track advantage I didn't have a pray at cornering as fast as him. I knew I could limit my loses in two of the areas, the barriers and the start. The goal was simple, get there early enough to practice jumping the barriers and hope for a good start. The first would be significantly easier than the later.

The Trek Omaha crew loaded up for week two minus Bryan and Jordan but this time with Miah who was going to do his first 'cross race after missing out on the Omaha CX weekend. We arrived with a good hour plus before the start, numbers pinned on and ready to go. I went straight to the barriers to get my jump on. I don't know what I was thinking the week before, the 10" barriers were pretty easy to clear. A few bobbles at first but I quickly had the technique dialed. The start wouldn't be quite as easy. I arrived late to the call up and what I thought would be a front row start position based on last weeks win turned into a third row position as they based it on overall points standings for the series. I wasn't too happy about that.

At the whistle though I got away clean and slotted in behind Jim Winklepleck, Nate, Jay Thomas, Jared Berger, Tyler Carmichael and Troy Krause. Luckily for us, Nate didn't get the hole shot. I got by Troy in one of the few open sections and then Jim as he was falling back after his quick start. The first time through the barriers I jumped them clean and made it past Tyler as he was remounting. From that point it was a four man train led by Nate with Jay, Jared and myself in tow.

Nate was smooth over the barriers all night
Photo: John Peterson

Nate's pace was pretty hot. For the first four laps, Jay and I were playing the waiting game hoping that Matt would came up to the front after a poor start, but his gap up to us was remaining pretty constant. The day changed when I saw him fall in a corner behind us. The next time through the barriers it was apparent the pace was taking it's toll as Jay waved my through to get on Nate's wheel. From that point on, Nate and I would slowly open up the gap on the two chasers.

Photo: John Peterson

After following Nate for a few more laps I knew I had my work cut out for me. He was way faster than me on 90% of the course. My only hope was to try and wear him down on the 10% where I could really push the pace. I went to front and began drilling it on the start/finish straightaway after the barriers and on the short climb on the backside. I had him on the ropes a couple times as I could hear his labored breathing but the elastic wouldn't break as he had plenty of recovery time in the tight twisty corners that made up his 90% of the course.

Photo: John Peterson

With two laps to go I knew it was going to come down to a sprint, with the winner most likely being the first guy over the barriers. I eased off the pace a bit and with half a lap to go started to ramp it up to defend the lead after the corners and maintain my position. As we came out of the last left hander, Nate jumped me and as we hit the barriers we both bobbled on them as our depth perception was reduced in the near dark conditions. Nate came through the barriers with two bike lengths on me and it was two much of a gap to close down. Nate took a hard fought and deserved win. I can only imagine that this is how the previous week would have probably played out had Nate not flatted, it was an awesome battle. I hope it was as exciting to watch as it was to race.

Next week the racing resumes in Omaha with the Trek Omaha Twilight Series at Seymour Smith park. I really hope we get as good a turnout as they've had in Lincoln. The course is a gem.

A weekend off

2011-10-25T06:01:00.000-05:00

It was so nice to have a weekend off after four weekends in a row of racing. It always feels like once you start racing you're on a constant cycle of struggling to recover yet maintain fitness. Luckily, racing is just about all you need but the trick I guess is how to get stronger while doing it all and not wear yourself down too much.

Saturday I kind of blew it on the timing thing. I ended up doing a bunch of stuff around the house in the morning when it was dry and then by the time I wanted to get out for a ride it started raining. I call that a forced recovery day. It probably did me good.

Sunday was a different occasion. Clear skies and perfect temps. I'd had big plans to really start motor pacing this fall but up until this point I've only made it out once. With all the flooding in the valley its made finding a good (close) road to do it on pretty difficult. I finally settled on the State TT course between Yutan and Ashland. Anne and I loaded up the car and drove to Village Point. From there I can get a nice 10+ mile warm-up out to Yutan and then motor pace for the 17 miles to Ashland.

Motor pacing is the holy grail of bike practice. I never feel like my heart rate is that high but my legs are in overdrive. It's the only way to simulate drafting and riding at crazy high race speeds. The way you use your muscles during this type of riding can only be done in one of two ways, racing or motor pacing. Still wish I had a scooter though, the car works but it's far from ideal.

In case you missed the big announcement yesterday, we're bringing Wednesday night 'cross racing to Omaha starting next week. At the conclusion of the Flatwater Twilight Series John and Sean along with the Trek Midwest stores will be bringing the racing to Omaha at Seymour Smith park. It should be a really fun time and I hope everyone can make it.

Click on image for event details

If you've always wanted to try cyclocross now is the perfect opportunity to get out and give it a go. We've got a super cool, beginner friendly course set-up. If you don't have a cyclocross bike bring your mountain bike and come check it out. If you plan on riding your mountain bike you just need to remove your bar ends to make the USAC officials happy.

Even if you aren't planning on racing, grab your cowbell and come out and watch. If you've never been to a 'cross race before it is by far the most exciting and spectator friendly form of bike racing. You'll love it. We had a all time high of 60+ racers in Lincoln last week, I'd love to see even more as we get deeping into the season and closer to the Nebraska State Championship weekend. Hope to see you all there

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-10-19T22:03:00.001-05:00

Photo: John Peterson

Last night was the third installment of the Flatwater Twilight Series. After hearing Jay talking up how fun it was, myself and a large group from Omaha racers decided we had to give it go. With daylight becoming a greater and greater commodity it was awesome to be able to extend our Wednesday night CX sessions a little later into the season.

John, Sean and the Flatwater crew do an awesome job putting on a super pro mid-week event. This week they added two light stands to keep us racing and next week they'll add a few more. If you've never raced under the lights before you definitely need to come out for next weeks race.

The racing was to be hectic straight away. The tight twisty course at Van Dorn Park really only offers one racing line for about 80% of the course making passing extremely difficult. Throw in the fact that I was starting 2nd row behind last weeks top 8, I could only hope for good start. I knew Nate would take the holeshot and if I didn't get on his wheel quick he'd be gone, and knowing Nate, virtually impossible to bring back.

Sure enough, at the whistle, Nate took the holeshot, Troy, Jim and Jay all got away clean in front of me with Matt on my wheel. John Rokke had slipped a pedal slowing the entire left side of the grid which left Lucas and Paul in a bit of a predicament. Nate immediately opened up a gap on Jim and by the time Jay got around him the gap was even bigger. Pushing the pace to catch Nate, Jay fell in one of the long sweeping, very dry and slippery corners. The hesitation behind let Nate's gap open even bigger. Only 5 or 6 seconds but at Van Dorn Park that gab is an eternity to try and close.

Nate stomping it off the front
Photo: John Peterson

Matt and I chasing vigorously
Photo: John Peterson

Matt and I eventually got by Jim and went about closing the gap down. Any gain we could make in the open sections was immediately reversed in the corners and over the barriers. Nate was hoping the barriers which was worth at least 2 seconds a lap. I felt like Trebon trying to catch Powers, Nate's skill was overcoming my power.

To make matters tougher we were getting into lapped traffic and just as we were about to make contact with Nate, we got held up just a tiny bit and the gap was back to 5 seconds. After 4 laps of chasing hard, Matt pulled through on me and gave his best to pull back Nate. Even Matt started opening gaps on me through the corners, local knowledge I guess. Are you catching the theme here? I was having a really tough day keeping pace.

But, just as soon as Matt took up the chase he had to pull off with a rear flat. I'd heard him hit something behind me the previous lap and his tire was losing air quick. It was left up to me to pull back Nate. I surged even harder and by the end of lap 6 I finally made contact. A 30 minute balls out chase, I was so happy to just sit on Nate's wheel and follow for a while.

Making the catch
Photo: John Peterson

As my luck would have, a few laps later, Nate too would begin suffering from a slow leak in his rear tire. He was still able to ride hard on the straights but the tire was folding pretty badly on him in the corners. I gradually rode away from him and Four laps later I rolled through to take another Nebraska win for a race that I felt had been gifted to me by two really fast guys who suffered flat tires. It's hard to say if things would have played out the same way if it would have been a three up battle.

I felt like last night was a way harder fight than any of the USGPs so far this year. Which is awesome, because it will make Louisville seem easy in a couple weeks time. People are always asking me how I got so fast this season. Well, the level in Nebraska is pretty stinking high. Rarely are you the fastest guy on any given day, you're always chasing somebody who has slightly better legs (or skills), so you're always forced to ride that little bit harder.

I'm looking forward to more next week.

Heading to Lincoln

2011-10-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

The Flatwater Twilight Series has been going off, I think I better join in the fun. And all my friends can join in the fun too. The Trek Midwest short bus is loading up and heading south. Rafal, Lucas, Paul, Bryan and maybe more, who knows. I know one thing, it's going to be fun.

World Cup Plzen

2011-10-18T05:54:00.000-05:00

There must be a crack down this season on video rights for the the big CX races. Nothing to be found on the usual channels. Luckily Sporza has the laatste ronde of the Plzen World Cup. I'm glad to see Styby making the same mistake I did over the weekend. He left just a bit too much room in that last corner.

http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1133709

And the disgrace that was the start that saw Albert, Mourey and Johnson get blocked by a cameraman

ttp://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1133661

Oakley Night Cap Cross

2011-10-16T22:44:00.001-05:00

Mile Marker 2895 - After hearing great things about the Night Cap Cross, actually make that the Oakley Night Cap Cross, last year, I had to add it to the calendar. Even more so because Rob Versteegh, our Oakley rep and one of our sponsors was promoting it. It really has all the ingredients one wants at a 'cross race. It's at night under the lights. It's at a bar with tons of spectators. And it has three live bands playing just inches from the course. What makes it tricky, is the whole thing is contested on a 8/10ths of a mile course. Very tight, very twisty, great for great bike handlers.

I knew I had my work cut out for me as Kevin McConnell and possibly Brian Eppen would be in attendance. I knew virtually nothing about Kevin, only that he was capable of competing with KCCX fast boys Kevin Fish and Brad Cole.

We had a late start to the day as we all arrived at the Trek Store at 4pm to load up the Sprinter Van for our quick trip to Des Moines. It was strange leaving so late but with the 3's race starting at 7:30 and our 1/2/3's race not starting until 10pm we had plenty of time.

Shim was first off having driven up earlier to make the Masters 5pm start time. We missed his race but he took the W.

Next was Jeremy and Larry in the 3's. They both had good battles throughout the entire race and finished up 10th and 9th. Leah followed in the women's taking a 5th place finish.

By this time it was getting late. After a bit of stress I got myself situated on the trainer and got into my warm-up. The legs felt decent after a tough week of recovery after the USGP in Ft. Collins. The plan was simple, get to the start line early so I was front row and follow some wheels and see how the legs felt.

Photo: Des Bike Pedicab

At the whistle I was immediately swarmed and stuffed back in 5th wheel. I've learned to not panic too much as there's always a good handful of guys who's pace in the early laps is way higher than they can maintain. A Mercy rider shot clear and I thought it was Mathias Perret. To my dismay, by half lap I figured it was actually McConnell who was away. Not the way I wanted to start. By the time I realized this he had 5 seconds on us and I was having a hell of time getting to the front to take chase. I finally managed to get into 2nd place with the help of a few elbows after the first lap and a half and went about chasing Kevin down.

It took what must have been 4 or 5 laps to bring him back. After the chase I opted to sit in and try to recover. We were pulling away from the chase group so there wasn't much urgency on my part to drive the pace. Kevin eventually bobbled a corner and went into the tape which handed me the lead. I set the pace for the next 3 laps before Kevin came back by.

By this point I was picking apart his strengths and weaknesses. He was faster than me on the barriers and just as clean through the corners. Usually those are two areas where I typically have an advantage so I had to find another way. I seemed to have good power on the two straightaways so with 6 laps to go I took to the front and started to force the pace. Kevin equalled my accelerations and after 3 laps of punchy riding I let up. It was going to come down to the final lap.

Photo: Amedeo Rossi

With two to go, Kevin took the lead back. I waited and waited until with a half lap to go I jumped him on the final long straightaway going into the technical and tight last half of the course. I thought this would be it as I fought hard to accelerate out of each turn. On the last mini straightaway leading to the final sequence of corners I heard him coming and he squeezed inside me on a turn executing and pretty aggressive block pass as he almost punched me into a white Jeep Cherokee parked on display next to the course. The rest was a formality. The course was too tight for me to attempt any sort of pass and I managed to just keep it close for 2nd place.

Behind Paul Webb was having a similar battle with Perret. Perret got the upper hand as well, just nipping Paul for 3rd place.

All in all it was pretty intense racing. McConnell and I had a good battle and I definitely got my 60 minutes worth of hard racing. The atmosphere was awesome and the payout was great. In addition to the cash purse, yes promoters, did you hear that? They paid out in cash. Nothing sucks more than getting a check for your payout. Anyway, in addition to the cash purse, I also walked away with a cool Oakley backpack and 12 pack of Miller Lite. I know, Miller Lite, hey, it's the thought counts.

A big thank you to Rob and the other promoters, super fun race, will be back next year. Although next time, I think I'll get a room and spend the night. These late night drives home have got to stop.

Thoughts on Call Ups

2011-10-15T06:45:00.000-05:00

Scattered throughout last weeks blog posts, Steve Tilford had a little rant about the call up procedures for the UCI Masters Cyclocross Championships, to be held this coming January in Louisville, KY. Before that he questioned USACs ability to use their new points system in calling up riders at the National Championships.

This whole call up thing has had me a bit nervous too. The big concern this year is the talk of random call ups at Worlds for the "heat" races. In my book, anything random should be immediately thrown off the table. As Adam Mills detailed in a blog post at Source Endurance, last years ITT seeding method at Nationals was mathmatically a success. And I feel like the new points ranking will be just fine as well. When I look at where I am currently ranked in my 5 year age group. The guys around me are the guys that I'm typically vying for positions with at the USGP level. Even more so when you look at the CrossResults.com rankings.

But Steve brought up a good point that people seem to be overlooking. And that is there probably won't be that many riders competing in Louisville. Last year in Bend we had 150 starters, that's 19 rows on the start line for the Masters 40-44. Now we could easily have that many in Louisville but we won't and here's why.

For starters the race will now be held in January. Which means riders looking to be competitive now have to stay on their best behavior through the holiday season and stay on top of their training. This is true for Nationals this year as well, staying focused for four more weeks won't be easy.

Next, Nationals and Worlds are on back to back weekends. That's a lot of time off work and time away from family, not to mention an expensive 10 day trip which comes immediately after the holidays. Two big race weekends probably aren't in most peoples budgets.

Then there's the licensing procedure. Beginning December 1st you have to start the process of acquiring a $150 UCI license. More expense during an already expensive time of year. If people have to choose between racing Nationals or Worlds, they'll probably choose to do Nationals.

My guess is we'll be lucky to have half that number of US riders on the start line in Louisville. Especially since there won't be an Elite race to spectate. There will be probably be more racers attending the 2013 addition when the Elites are here racing.

...but to get back to the original discussion which is how do we line people up in the absence of a global ranking system? I hate to say it but a pre-race time trial is probably the best option. First though you start with the front row consisting of the top 8 riders from the previous years race if they are in attendance, plus any riders who finished top 8 in the younger age group from the previous year who might be moving up to the next age bracket. Then we go to TT results.

Your results from a time trial will most likely put you within a row or two of where you should probably be anyway. It worked for me last year in Bend. And you can easily make up 3 rows within the opening few hundred meters of a cross race if you're a good starter.

I just hope the UCI and Louisville 2013 organizing committee get it sorted out soon.

Worn Down

2011-10-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

3 1/2 Weeks

2600 Miles

7 Races

Seems logical that after a stint like that, I'd want some down time. Especially considering we didn't get home Sunday night until...well...Monday morning. Four AM to be exact. I'm just now feeling like the life blood is flowing again through my veins. But the racing its not done, nope, not this week. I've got one more appointment on the calendar. The Oakley Night Cap Cross at Mullets bar in downtown Des Moines.

I heard awesome things about this race last year. Tight twisty course. Live music. Tons of screaming tifosi. Oh, and did I mention it's under the lights? We don't race until 10pm so it should be pretty interesting. This year they've acquired the use of a bit more land so the course won't be quite as tight, so that'll be nice. The cool thing is we won't have to leave until 4pm and we should be back by 1am. After that, there's some real down time. Two weekends in a row off from racing which will be the perfect time to work on some much needed motor pacing. Then the good old Boulevard Cup and then back to Louisville for rounds 5 & 6 of the USGP. Full throttle all the way!

The Service Course: SRAM Double Tap Overhaul

2011-10-12T22:01:00.029-05:00

I've been a pretty staunch advocate of Shimano drivetrain systems over the past few years. But truth be told I use to be a SRAM guy. And I must admit that when it was announced that we'd be riding SRAM this season I was a little concerned. I've heard about numerous people breaking Double Tap shifters but rarely hear of similar fates regarding STI.

I went into the whole thing with an open mind. SRAM and Trek got us our cyclocross equipment back in July so I had ample time to re-wire my brain to shifting with one lever instead of two. The transition was smoother than I expected. There were some things I liked better about Shimano, but a similar number of things I liked better with SRAM. And to my surprise, my new Force and Red drivetrains both ran significantly smoother than either my Dura-Ace or Ultegra drivetrains ever did out of the box.

Two months on, and two very muddy races later, I'm getting to like my Double Tap shifters more and more. After our first mud day at the USGP in Sun Prairie, I noticed the rear shifter was significantly harder to shift. My first thought was, "great, how long before this thing breaks?". Like I said, I was a SRAM guy for a long time before my days on Shimano, so I sent out a note to long time race circuit friend Alex Wassman (@SRAMontheRoad) to see if there was anything I could do. Within hours I had SRAM guru Ed Nasjeti on the phone walking me through the process of cleaning the shifter mech. What's even more impressive is I think Alex was in Europe when I sent him the note.

And here lies the difference between SRAM and Shimano. Although Shimano just seems to kind of work forever, if you need something repaired it's basically a pain in the ass. If it's one thing I learned in my previous life at Manitou, it's that building products that are user serviceable is key. Downtime just isn't an option.

After 5 minutes on the phone with Ed, I was good to go. With knowledge in hand, I had the shifter apart, cleaned, and back together in no time. And to my surprise, it worked better than it did out of the box, and after 45 minutes of gut wrenching mud racing. It makes me wonder if all the Double Tap issues I've heard about could have been prevented with a little bit of maintenance. So with that thought in mind, here's what you can do to refurbish, clean, whatever you want to call it, to keep your SRAM Double Tap shifters working smooth after muddy, wet weather.

Still a lot of grime under that hood, even after a good bike wash

Before you start, you'll need the following tools.

Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle
Small phillips head screwdriver
Toothbrush
Air gun or use your mouth if you don't mind a little dirt / alcohol mix on your lips
lint free rags
Lubrication (Ed suggested a Phil Wood tenacious oil, but I used DuMonde Tech Lite)

First, spray a little alcohol under the rubber brake hood. This will make it easier to slid off. After the hood is removed, turn it inside out and clean with a rag and rubbing alcohol.

It should look something like this after it's all cleaned up.

After

No matter how well you wash your bike post race, there will be all kinds of nastiness going on underneath the clean exterior of those rubber hoods. Next, take your phillips screwdriver and remove the three small screws that attach the cover plate to the lever body.

Doesn't look too bad at this point

Once the cover is removed and cleaned you can see the full extent as to why your shifter isn't working quite as well as it use to. Now, take your spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and do a mini alcohol power wash on your shifter. DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF DEGREASER OR SOLVENT!!! Most of the bigger chunks of grit will be washed away but you may need to use a toothbrush to really clean the silt out of all the corners. Continue to rinse and blow out the shifter until all the grit is removed.

The big reveal, chunks of muck

Don't forget to shift the Double Tap paddle out of the way as there will be more grit lodged behind it as well.

Grass and mud, can't imagine why it's harder to shift

Once all the grit and grim is removed you can go about re-lubing the mechanism. You'll want to put a drop or two of lube on all pivots and pawls. I also put a drop on each ratchet tooth to smooth the release. I really like the DuMonde Tech lube for this as it adheres to the pores of the metal creating a smooth frictionless surface finish. Test shift your shifter before re-installing everything. It should shift and release much smoother. If not further cleaning may be needing. Install the cover, and spray the inside of the rubber lever hood so it slides back onto the lever easily, and your done. Just like new.

All clean, ready for another trip to the podium

USGP New Belgium Cup

2011-10-11T21:50:00.002-05:00

I always get a kick out of racing 'cross in Colorado. Not because of the events or the competition, but because of the environment. Seeing photos of guys racing with mountains in the background is such a far cry from the muddy fields of the midwest or Flanders for that matter. And then there is the intensity. Racing at altitude in a sport that requires you to go vol gas for 45-60 minutes is never easy.

One thing cannot be contested though when it comes to racing in Colorado. Coloradoans love their cycling, and the USGP stop in Ft. Collins has the biggest crowds, the toughest competition, and the most vendors at the venue. The entire front range comes to the party. After meeting Greg Keller last year at this event, I finally got the chance to hang out with him and meet some of the Boulder Cycle Sport and Boulder area racers I'd been rubbing elbows with over the past two seasons. Greg runs the Mud and Cowbells website and you won't find another guy the more passion for cyclocross. Top notch all the way.

Going into the weekend we were expecting cool temps and clear skies. But as race time approached, the front range was throwing us for a loop. As we pulled into Chris' around 1am Thursday night, the forecast was looming, 60 and clear Friday, 40 and rainy Saturday, and Sunday was touch and go.

Day One

We awoke to cloudy skies but the heavens hadn't begun crying yet. Elisabeth was first off in the Women's 3/4 race, finishing mid-pack in her USGP debut. Next was Chris in the 4s race. He had an awesome day battling from last row to mid-pack of the 80+ rider field. Then there was the men's 2/3 race. Chad Carpenter, Dave Averill and Tyler Carmichael battled out and all squeezed in top 30 efforts. Rafal and Clint took to the SS race and kept the NE scene rolling, followed by TK and TP in the Masters 45+.

By this time, the rain was coming down. Heavy down. We were in for a high plains repeat of Sunday in Sun Prairie. I was giddy like a school girl because I knew this would play to my strengths with slick twisty descents and off cambers.

In the absence of Bill Elliston, I got the number two call up. I slotted in next to series leader Richard Feldman. The front row call up is a blessing and a curse on cold wet days. As the back of the start grid is filled in, you're left up front, cold, wet and shivering. And then the whistle!

Off the line, Feldman slipped a pedal and went sliding onto his top tube. I had my own issues getting clipped in and was engulfed by the charging field. As we entered the quagmire that was the first turn, a rider in front of me began sliding as his front wheel lost traction. Pinned against the barriers on one side and quickly falling riding in front and to the right of me, I had nowhere to go and hit the deck hard. As riders ricocheted off me I got to my bike as quick as possible. I immediately began passing riders taking really aggressive lines through each and every turn. As the course opened up the situation wasn't good, I was well back in the 30's. This was going to be a very long day of fighting.

One of the drier sections on Saturday
Photo: Jill Tillinghast

To make matters worse, as I was charging through the field towards the end of the first lap, a second rider decided to take me as a victim as I hit the deck again, this time however my bike was also run over by a guy. I heard the crunch of carbon fibre as the guy came to a stop atop my bike. I thought the frame was broken for sure. As I jumped on the bike to get going again, something felt different. But as I rode through the finish line to complete lap one things seemed to be okay. The weird feeling was probably muddy hands and lack of grip on the handlebar.

Reeling in Feldman with a half lap remaining

The course really suited my style. The gains I could make on the twisty descents (4-5 riders at a time) far out weighed the inability to climb at altitude. The pit crew, Anne, RD and TK, and all the other NE folks around the course were giving me updates. First into the 20's then the teens, and before I knew it I had Feldman in sight. I couldn't believe my eyes. We were together on lap one after my crash and his pedal slip, but after that he'd checked out and disappeared up the course. With one lap remaining I closed in on him and made my pass over the flyover hoping I could gap him on the slippery descent. It worked but my gains were minimal, 3 seconds at best. As we climbed back up to the final straightaway, I'd given it everything but as he was chasing the advantage was with him and he nipped me at the line as we rolled across in 9th and 10th place.

Day 2

Establishing a gap with CJ Faulkner in tow
Photo: Megan Doloto

Sunday couldn't have been more of a contrast. A cloudy damp morning gave way to sunshine and a drying course. By the time we toed the line the course was drying quickly. I managed a quick pre-ride to test the difference between my Fango dry tires and my Limus wet tires. The decision was easy, Limus' all the way.

My luck off the line wasn't any better on day two as I again missed my pedal and quickly fell back into the teens. The drier, faster course had us all pedaling nose to tail and again I was able to maintain my position on the climbs and use the descents to pass. As the 10+ rider train began to break up, I soon found myself battling in a five man group fighting for 4th with CJ Faulkner, Brian Hludzinski, Steven Stefko and Grant Berry.

I was driving the group hard trying to bring back Richard Feldman and Christopher Case. Pete Webber was again, out of reach as expected. Soon, CJ passed me and mentioned something about working together. A quick glance over my shoulder and I saw we had a gap. CJ drove the pace for the next lap and with two to go I took over. There was no time to waste and Stefko (Colorado boy) was staying close but not close enough to ever make contact. With one to go, I put it in over-drive. Running the stairs and barriers as hard as I had all week. Taking bigger risks on the downhills. Standing up and downshifting on the climbs. And constantly accelerating on the flats. The effort was working as I slowly gained seconds here and there over CJ. I was closing in on Feldman but came up 8 seconds short, gasping for air across the line. Fourth place on the day, first flatlander, and secured a solid hold on second place overall in the USGP series.

Putting the pass on Brian Conant after the barriers
Photo: Megan Doloto

Leading the chase group through the barriers
Photo: Jill Tillinghast

Final lap gasping for air
Photo: Megan Doloto

The Dolla Grab

2011-10-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit disappointed that it's turned into amateur hour when it comes to dolla' dolla' bill y'all hand outs at 'cross races. Can we get it together out there?

Exhibit A: BAD FORM

Exhibit B: The Cheet showing GOOD FORM. Unzipped fly, hot dog, dollar

Exhibit C: More GOOD FORM. This time with bottles and bacon, also acceptable.

Hometown delight

2011-10-03T22:39:00.000-05:00

I had another tough weekend of racing as expected. Matt and Jeff were on their game, I feel lucky to have pulled out the win on both days in Omaha. Neither day felt particularly good as the legs felt sluggish either from the previous weekends mud race in Sun Prairie or the unseasonable heat we were experiencing. Regardless I worked my ass off for these wins.

Sand options...run or ride
Photo: Jill Tillinghast

The plan for day one, the Omaha Opener, was to do as little as possible yet still win. I took the start pretty easy and Jeff Kluck, Nate Woodman, Paul Webb and maybe Matt Tillinghast were all in front of me. I was comfortable sitting back and seeing what happened. Nate was the first to show signs that the pace might be to high as Jeff began putting little gaps between the two of them. It was just before the the sand pit and I opted to ride it. Everyone ran it and although riding wasn't any faster, I didn't have to take the time and remount and I passed everyone slotting in behind Jeff. A quarter lap later he drifted wide in a corner and slid out on a field of walnuts.

Matt and I got by cleanly and proceeded to ride like clowns for the next lap. Bouncing off each other at every opportunity and basically making a joke out of it. Eventually Matt would slid out in 180 degree corner and I was left alone at the front to establish and maintain a gap.

The real action was behind as Jeff had clawed his way back first to Paul, and then to Matt, eventually gaping the two of them off. The entire time I was clear by 15 odd seconds and had a front row seat to the action. In the closing laps Matt reversed the deficit pulling even with Jeff and then took him in the sprint for a fine Trek Midwest CX 1-2 finish.

Day two was going to be interesting. I had a few cramps during the previous days racing and they hung around during the night waking me up occasionally. I knew Jeff was strong and I now had to deal with the fresh legs of one Lucas Marshall.

I'm not sure what got into me but I took the hole shot and forced the tempo for about half the first lap to try and open it up a little bit. Jeff passed me for the lead and really picked up the pace which put everyone including myself in a bit of difficult. It was a pretty interesting day as I felt Jeff was stronger out of the corners and on the straightaways but I could pull him back through the technical bits. With Lucas and Paul just behind us, I played the team tactics card and chose to sit on Jeff in hopes that he'd tire out and Paul and Lucas would come back to the front.

Jeff driving the pace at the front
Photo: Dan Farnham

It wasn't to be as Jeff just kept pushing building a bigger and bigger gap to 3rd and 4th place. I began to wonder just how I was going to out wit Jeff to get the win. Eventually I started to see a few chinks in the armor as he began running slower through the sand and didn't quite have the pop out of the corners he had earlier. I decided that the time to move would be at two to go. I made my pass on the backside downhill and punched it on the two uphills and straightaways leading to the sand pit. As I dismounted through the sand I heard a stumble behind and new Jeff had fallen dismounting into the sand. I punched it out of the next few turns and straights and got a good gap before hitting the finish for win number two of the weekend.

Cruising in for the Omaha Opener win
Photo: Michael Dixon

Considering Jeff is coming back from a broken back (?) earlier this spring he is riding amazingly strong. As was Matt on day one, the racing was awesome. Paul Webb is on the comeback too after a couple fractured elbows set him back this summer as well. Then there's Kevin Wilkins, who put together two super solid rides, best days he's had since injuring his back too. Lucas lost his 'cross virginity this weekend. I expect big things from him as he rides his way into better and better 'cross fitness as the season progresses.

Next up is rounds 3 and 4 of the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross New Belgium Cup in Fort Collins, Colorado. Get to stay and hang out with buddy Chris Wolff as well as see all the Nebraska front range transplants (hopefully). Time to go head to head with the number one amateur cross team in the country, Boulder Cycle Sport. Those boys F-A-S-T, FAST! They will be the real gauge on my fitness. Let's GO!

United States Gran Prix Round 1 & 2

2011-09-29T15:44:00.000-05:00

Let's get right down to it. I was nervous as hell going into the first round of the USGP. So nervous I wanted to race Friday night and get it over with. I felt like the form was there, especially after the Gateway Cross Cup, but you just never know. The one benefit I had going for me this year was an awesome start position. Bib number five but I was the third rider called to line. Oddly enough as I sat on the line the nerves actually diminished.

Saturdays course was dry and fast. Crazy fast. All the corners had tons of grip. At the gun I felt like I got buried. I quickly found myself back in about 8th wheel as guys were just going for it. Bill Elliston shot of the front and a lap later was joined by Richard Feldman. As those two rode away I was stuck in the second group, fighting for position. By the time I got to the front of the chase group the two were gone. With four laps to go I made a move to try and go across. We were battling a pretty nasty wind though through the pit and finish line straightaways and one man wasn't going to close the gap to the leaders, let alone stay away from the second chase group.

After a lap off the front I was caught and decided to sit in and save what energy I could for the final lap. Brian Conant was easily the strongest in the group and he took the initiative to set the pace. As we started the last lap, Jerry Long took over with me sitting second wheel. With a half lap remaining and leading into the technical back half of the course, Conant made his move. I quickly jumped on his wheel and waiting for the final. As we came onto the road for the sprint to the finish I lost contact by a bike length or two and it was just enough that I came up one inch short in the sprint for third place. Elliston took the win with Feldman second.

Day two was going to be a different story. It started raining heavily by mid morning and are start was actually pushed back 20 minutes because of lightning. I knew I'd have a good advantage coming from a mountain bike background and I was smiling in anticipation.

The start was again a crazy affair. I managed to go a little bit better and rode much more aggressively. I still lost a few spots as others were willing to take bigger risks than me in the opening corners. But I knew the real battle was going to be after the first lap. I rode steady trying to pick of at least one guy on every corner. And by three quarters lap Bill Elliston and I were again chasing down Richard Feldman and Andrew Messer. Feldman was gone but after a hard chase we finally got Messer back who was riding crazy strong.

My plan was basically to ride smooth and steady hoping I'd win the war of attrition and come out on top. Soon enough Andrew bobbled a corner and slid out. That was all Bill and I needed to get away. A lap or so later I felt it was time and I passed Bill on the inside of a corner. Two turns later I heard a foot go down behind me so I punched it out of the next three corners to try and establish a gap. I managed a handful of seconds and tried to build on it. With one lap to go I had worked it up to 8 seconds and all I had to do was keep it smooth.

This first USGP podium couldn't have come at a better time as I was pretty bummed from the day before. Feldman rode away with it and Elliston claimed third. My good result on Sunday meant I also leaped frogged Brian Conant and moved into the 3rd overall in the series.

Matt had a great day in the mud finishing 10th to go 4 better than his previous days 14th. Jay went 27th both days after starting way back, but unfortunately out of the points. Good buddy Nate Woodman scored points on Day 1 in 19th and followed Jay home in 28th on day 2. All the NE crew had good rides. Rafal was 5th in the SS race on Saturday. Troy and Kevin rode awesome in the 45+ category. Noah squeezed into 30th in the 35+ race on Sunday. The Skiba's were there as was Rich Pearson, Vaughn Pierce, Matt Newell and a few others who's names I can't recall.

Things look good for Ft. Collins in two weeks, but first it's the Omaha Weekend. Hometown race, always a good time.

Kicking the season off with a bang

2011-09-28T06:55:00.002-05:00

Lighter, stronger, faster, smarter and on better equipment. That was what I kept telling myself going into the first week of 'cross racing. It's such a tough call when you're really not sure where you stand fitness wise. I had changed things up preparation wise quite a bit this year. Gone were the endurance mountain bike and gravel races/rides, replaced with shorter cross country mountain bike races and criteriums. I was pretty confident that the fitness was there. I was riding really close to Cam at the mountain bike races and I knew he was riding well this year. And my one podium and other finishes at Gateway Cup were against really quality guys. So the only real question in my mind was how would this all translate into cyclocross?

Andrew? Where are you?

Pretty well I guess. First up was the Gateway Cross Cup. This would be my first time racing a mid-week race and my first time racing at night. Jay and I initially had registered to race Masters but changed to the USAC Open race at the last minute to give us another couple hours drive time to get down to St. Louis.

This was a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing was that the racing would be much tougher and longer. Bad thing was our late transfer meant we were both starting from the back row, 6th row to be exact.

The start was a bit scetchy, long paved straightaway with a left hand turn onto gravel. The goal, keep it upright and more importantly, don't let anyone else take you down. I managed a decent start and went about weaving through to the front.

Matt, off the front taking the holeshot

Matt took a beautiful holeshot and was a couple seconds clear at the front. Behind, Jay and I were making up good time, passing two to three riders in each corner and dismount section. The course was crazy. It had two staircases, a double barrier and a flyover. Four dismounts a lap. We were together for the first lap or so until I got through a couple riders and Jay got stuck behind them for a few corners.

By the time I got close to the front, Matt was away with Taylor Carrington and I was opting to let Andrew Coe do the work to chase them down. Andrew brought us up to them and continued to drive the tempo putting in surge after surge. I made a few efforts myself but the only place I really had an advantage was over the flyover, and Taylor and Andrew were more than strong enough to pull me back on the wide open sections.

High speed run-up

The pressure finally got too high and a final surge by Andrew just before the bell lap popped me off the back. Taylor answered the move and took the win. I found out after the race that Taylor is a major 'cross talent. When I mentioned his name to Tilford later he knew exactly who I was talking about. Turns out he's finished top 20 at Elite Nationals on multiple occasions and Andrew is no slouch either.

One race, One podium. I can live with that :-) Matt and Jay finished the day off in 7th and 10th. Great start by the team with no issues at all.

USGP Run-Up Day 2

2011-09-26T09:52:00.001-05:00

Richard Feldman @ :12
Andrew Messer @ :32
Bill Elliston and myself @ :35
Shadd Smith @ :52
Matt Tillinghast @ 1:00

The Prize

2011-09-25T21:58:00.003-05:00

The Bike

2011-09-25T21:56:00.001-05:00

3rd row last year, 1st row this year!

2011-09-23T19:24:00.001-05:00

Stybie wins first time out

2011-09-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

In a Quick Step jersey on a Merckx with Campy wearing Sidi's no less. Still has his Avid Shorty Ultimates though.

The mind is a terrible thing to waste

2011-09-18T06:11:00.001-05:00

My bike mind is ruled by the tape. Every millimeter measured out. Every measurement checked, double checked, triple checked. I go through the same thing every year. Is my position correct? Does it feel right? A millimeter here, a millimeter there, something feels...off.

This year was no different. I always get nervous when I switch bikes. I'm a man you doesn't like change. When something works, I stick with it. Last season I loved my Ibis Hakkalugi CX bikes. Balanced and neutral handling with a good successful position. Which made switching to the new Trek Cronus CX even more nerve wrecking.

Back in June I ran all the numbers on paper. Top tube length, head tube length, seat angle, head angle, wheelbase, bottom bracket drop. Everything checked out, a 58 Ibis should be a 58 Trek. To back it up, we happened to have a 58cm Cronus in stock at the shop so I took my numbers and did a mock up. Everything confirmed.

As if changing frames wasn't enough I was switching from Shimano to SRAM. The different brake levers meant my hands would be in a different position. Where should I position the levers? The next wrench in the works was switching from Ritchey to Bontrager saddles. The saddle nose to bar distance will be different. Where does that leave me? And don't even get me started on cleats

I built the bikes and I got out the tape. Everything seemed right. Another wrench in works. My road position is slightly different from my cross position. This road position has been virtually unchanged for decades. I've made slight changes as I've regained some flexibility the last couple years. As I flipped between bikes, the CX position felt weird. A tweak here, a tweak there, and sure enough I was lost, and my head was spinning in confusion and un-easiness. Saddle height too low, too high. Saddle too far forward or not far enough. Handlebars too high, too low. Handlebar rotation, up, down. Where the hell, what the hell am I doing.

Reset...

The Hakkalugi was still in the basement. Unchanged from last season. I moved to the garage. The largest flat floor in the house. With tape measure and spirit level in hand I went to work. Final diagnosis...handlebars 10mm too low.

I rode my cross bike yesterday. It felt like homecoming. My mind can rest.

Hard Goods

2011-09-16T19:16:00.001-05:00

Samesies

It's almost time, t-minus 5 days and counting. Bikes are done. Position varified and synced between A and B bikes to within millimeters of one another. Cables stretched and adjusted. Brake pads burned in. Tires are glued, race pressure baseline is set. Two dry tire wheelsets, two wet tire wheelsets, one set with road tires, one set with training tires.

Bottle boss plugs and K-Edge chain keeper

I'm still in awe of the equipment we're riding on this year. Virtually identical except the A Bike will have SRAM Red instead of Force.

The A Bike get's all the treatments. Little bit of Ti hardware, plastic plugs in the bottle mounts instead of bolts. This season I'm going with the K-Edge chain keeper. I went without one last year without mishap but I won't be taking any additional risks this time around, knock on wood.

The BB90 bottom bracket almost feels like it was specifically designed for cyclocross. The ultra wide spacing allows for ample mud clearance around the rear tire, even more so than what my Ibis had last year, and it was great.

So far I've been really happy with both the Force and Red carbon cranks. I'm not a huge fan when it comes to carbon cranks but SRAM has nailed it. I wasn't expecting them to be as stiff as my Shimano Hollowtech II's but I've been proven wrong.

I am still coming to terms with the Double Tap shifters. After 15 plus years on STI it's difficult to change my brains hard wiring of having two levers to shift with. Still not exactly sure where I want my fingers to be to shift, brake and do all the other stuff with your hands required will riding off-road.

Adjuster barrels on the non-carry side

One thing that is significantly better is the braking. Not that the TRP EuroX brakes are that much less powerful than the Avid Shorty Ultimates, but more that the SRAM brake levers leverage ratio is way better than the Shimano 6700 Ultegra's. The difference is actually amazing. Where as last year I couldn't brake very late for corners, this year I can come in so hot I'm actually worried about locking up the rear wheel. And that goes for carbon rims or aluminum. Honestly, the braking may be a little better with the carbon.

The next most awesome thing is the fork mounted adjustable cable stop. I finally have no brake chatter what so ever. Mud clearance is great on the FCC fork and there's plenty of room for the Challenge rubber too. This year I'm on tubulars though. I really loved the Fango last year and now they accelerate and roll even faster. New for this season too is a true mud tire option, the Limus. Last season I tried to get he Fango to do double duty but eventually had to but on a pair of Clement PDX's for Portland and Bend. No more, the Limus is the real deal.

Bontrager really pimped us out. Triple X Lite wheelsets, seatposts and stems with brand new Aeolus 3's on the way, hopefully in time for the sand of Louisville. carbon, Carbon, CARBON! We did stick with my favorite tried and true aluminum Race Lite VR handlebar though. I still have yet to ride a more perfect bend on a road bar. And of course the re-released, brand newish Team Issue saddle. Love this saddle, so glad it's back in the line-up.

Full...Length...Housing

And still my favorite part is the rear derailleur full length housing. This bike is ready for mud. In addition to that little detail, all but the chainstay has internal cable routing. Makes the bike a dream to clean and there's no chance of snagging a cable with your fingers when you go to grab the top tube or down tube for a bike carry.

So how does it ride? I've got to say I was a little bit nervous because I liked my Hakkalugi's so much. But the Cronus CX is spot on. The bottom bracket is slightly lower but Trek walked the razors edge on this one. I've felt my pedals lightly brush the ground getting on the gas out of corners but I've never made a hard hit that would skip the rear wheel. The balance between front and rear tire is near perfect in the corners and I couldn't wish for a better fit. It's light and stiff and goes where you tell it to go.

These bikes are so solid, they almost leave me speechless. They just go. The best part, they aren't that much different than what you can buy stock off the bike shop floor.

So a big thanks goes out to Jay for rounding up all this pro level gear for us. And to the folks at Trek, Bontrager, SRAM, Avid and Challenge. This season is going to be top notch.

2011-09-15T17:42:00.000-05:00

Steve Chainel looking strong going into CX season. Philippe Gilbert looking better. He's like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going. Awesome finish up to the Citadel in Namur.

Let the games begin

2011-09-15T07:20:00.002-05:00

So cool seeing Telenet-Fidea and Rabo jerseys racing in the States.

Watch more video of CrossVegas 2011 on cyclingdirt.org

21 years and 10 days

2011-09-12T06:33:00.088-05:00

Wow, it was 20+ years since I last glued (for myself) tubular wheels. The same goes for motor pacing. I somehow managed to do both this weekend.

The tubular thing kind of cracks me up. I was one of the last people to stop using them back in the mid 90's and now I've pretty much been the last person to start using them again. In fact I think the last time I even rode a set of tubulars was back in '96 when a did a comparison test for Bicycle Guide magazine during the Cali years. My buddy Gus and I got the call up to work with then editor Patrick Brady, now of Peloton and the Ride Kit Prayer blog. We rode identical wheels (Specialized Tri-Spoke) one set of tubular, one set clincher. Nothing beats the feel of tubulars, nothing.

The prep started about a week ago when I ordered up the tried and true Vittoria Mastik One glue. I've used Vittoria for as long as I can remember. One of the golden rules of tubular gluing is always use the same brand glue, never mix. I also dry mounted the tires on the rims and inflated them to 80 psi. This stretches the tires and makes them easier to mount when the time comes.

Next it was off to the hardware store. A handful of acid brushes and a couple rolls of vinyl tape. I was gluing up three pairs of wheels this first round. We're still waiting for our last wheelset, the new Aeolus 3 from Bontrager. The shopping list went as follows.

(8) Tubes of Vittoria Mastik One
(10) Acid Brushes
(2) Two Rolls of Vinyl Electrical Tape
Latex Gloves

Until this weekend I'd only ever glued road tires, and the conditions between road and cross are a wee bit different. For starters, tire pressure is about 70 psi lower, which means you don't have near as much pressure to help keep the tire on the rim. Second, traction and leverage. With sharp knobbies on grass you've got a lot more leverage that wants to rip the tire from the rim.

So with that in mind, I abandoned my usually 3 layers of glue and upped it to five. It's quite a long drawn out process that goes something like this. You start with one thin layer of glue on the rim bed and tire base tape then let it cure for 24 hours. Then you add another thin layer to each and let cure for another 24 hours. Finally, you add one more thin (working) layer to the rim bed and then mount the tire.

A place to hang freshly glued tires and wheels is critical, I use my workstand with a pvc pipe mounted in it

Of course before you do any of this you've got to prep the rims. I start by covering the braking surface of each rim with vinyl tape. This eliminates any chance of getting glue on the braking surface.

UPDATE: I missed a vital step here when dealing with carbon rims. Can't believe I did this but... When dealing with carbon rims it is very important to rough up the smooth resin surface of the rim bed. If you don't do this, the glue won't adhere to it. I found this out the hard way and spent the better part of last night cleaning the rim, sanding it, and re-gluing. Luckily most of the glue stuck to the tire and not the rim so cleanup was relatively easy.

After realizing my mistake, I ran back to the hardware store and picked up some 60 grit sandpaper, more acid brushes and acetone. After scraping the glue off the smooth resin surface, I cleaned any glue residue off with acetone. Next, I took the sandpaper and sanding the entire rim bed. Carbon dust is pretty nasty stuff so you might want a face mask and some latex gloves. After you're done sanding, clean, clean and clean again the rim surface. You don't want any carbon dust contaminating your glue. Now you can pick up where we left off :-)

Second, on new rims, I clean the rim bed with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils from the manufacturing process or skin oils from handling, just an extra precaution to ensure a solid hold. One technique I tried this time was using an acid brush for application. I loved it. It spreads a nice even layer across the surface. Some folks like using a can of glue. I really liked using the brush and tube technique as I could squeeze just the right amount of glue onto the brush for each application. I imagine it's a bit cleaner too.

I almost enjoyed gluing as much as I enjoy building wheels, it's an art form that is all but lost from most bike shops today. I enjoy the challenge of perfecting my technique.

In between all of this, I got out for another good sprint workout on Saturday and followed it up with some motor pacing on Sunday. I haven't motor paced in 20+ years either. I was meaning to start about 6 weeks ago but with all the flooding in the Missouri Valley there isn't a very easy place for us Midtown folks to do it. So Anne and I loaded up the Honda and drove out to Yutan to ride the 17 miles between Yutan and Ashland.

Motor Pacing is so much fun. Didn't even seem like 17+ miles. Anne did a stellar job keeping the pace between 25-30mph. I definitely need to find a scooter for this. There is no other way to train for the sensation of riding that fast and pushing that big a gear.

And with that, there's just 10 more days before the start of the season. We'll be heading east, back to St. Louis in a week and a half's time for the Gateway Cross Cup, then straight up to Madison (Sun Prairie) for the opening round of the USGP. Don't know if I'm more excited to race or watch Bart Wellens and the euros race. Both will be awesome for sure.

Gateway Cup Recap

2011-09-09T06:29:00.000-05:00

The final (at least for me) road weekend of the season was over labor day in St. Louis at the THF Realty Gateway Cup. Four days of full gas criterium racing. I've somehow managed to avoid the Gateway Cup for my entire career as bike racer. But last fall when we were in town Jay and Matt drove me around the Giro della Montagna course and with my love of all things Italian I had to ink it in on the calendar for the next year.

I was a little bummed to miss the Dakota 5-O but you can't always do the same thing year after year, ya gotta mix it up a little bit. To get into the spirit of racing on The Hill, I had to pull off my belgian tri colore finishing tape on the handlebars and install the Italian tri colore. I needed all the karma and crowd favoritism I could get.

Day one was pretty uneventful. It was up early to make the 7 hour drive to STL for our 5pm start time at Lafayette Square. The masters race was pretty hard. I'd had a massage the day before to work on my ailing neck and shoulders and I could really fell the tightness in my chest. I still managed to throw in a couple attacks and eventually sprinted across the line in 18th. Mercy Cycling/KCCX racer Shadd Smith took an impressive win from the breakaway and pulled on the leaders jersey.

Day two we moved to Francis Park. Course had a few small rollers so it was a little better than the pan flat course at Lafayette. The day ended in minor disappointment when I made the final break but didn't have the legs to stay in it as I got blown clean out the back. 38th place, nothing to write home about.

Day three was going to be the day. I've always been a decent stage racer. I'm never too fast, but I'm never too slow, I can just go, day after day. And finally we had some terrain that would be a little selective on The Hill. Of all 4 days I wanted this one the most, it was Giro della Montagna time. We arrived early and got the Midwest Trek Stores tent set up at the third corner right at the top of the climb. When I say climb it's more of a rise, probably only 3-5% but that kind of climb fits nicely into my power band.

Jay and I have a really good unspoken work relationship in these races and we both knew what to do. One of us was going to get on the podium today. The race started off relatively chill, I could tell guys legs were starting to get tired. The less than full on pace allowed Mike Gibson to get off the front, and he was off for at least a good six laps. Soon enough, Jay made a move and tried to go across the gap. He stayed away for a couple laps, long enough so that I knew if we caught him that I needed to go immediately.

We made the catch just before the line and as I jumped they rang the bell for a prime lap. I thought, perfect timing. I bridged up to Gibson and another rider joined us. My plan was simple, let them battle for the prime while I sat on to got my heart rate down and then jump them after the line when they sit up. The plan worked perfect, the pace dropped after the prime and I charged hard up the climb, stomping on pedals. Gibson stuck it out on my wheel and we were also joined by David Stone. For two laps I drilled it up that climb to stabilize the break with Jay working to slow the field behind.

David and I went about driving the pace as we both felt Gibson was tired. 14...18...21...25...26...the gap was growing. And then....it started to come back down. I had the whole travel squad cheering me on at the top of climb and I wasn't going to let the break fail even if it did mean I'd only get 3rd. With 4 to go I put two more hard efforts up the climb as the gap was again down to 14 seconds. I gave myself one lap of recovery then on the last lap gave it everything up the climb. It hurt the two behind but it wasn't enough to shake them and I was only good for third in the sprint, but on the podium. Gibson had us fooled and took the win. An amazing effort as he spent probably 80% of the race off the front.

Day four was a fiasco. Cars on the course meant we started 2 hours late and the race was reduced to just 7 laps. Again Jay and I played it well with a couple attacks and then with 2 laps to go Jay went for it. He forced the others to chase stringing out the field. The effort set up the final lap for me perfect as the fast past allowed me to hold my position. Came out the final corner in 5th wheel and held it to the finish. A full on 28 minute sprint.

The weekend has upped the confidence level going into CX season. We'll be back in STL in two weeks for the Gateway Cross Cup and then it's off to Madison for the USGP. Then it's really go time!

Sugar Bottom Scramble 2011

2011-08-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

Nineteen years ago I first raced the Sugar Bottom Scramble and each time I go back it's one of the best trails around.

Anne, Shim, Rafal, Noah and I headed east to North Liberty Iowa for one of my favorite races. The trails are sooo fun, you can help but smile the entire lap. I hadn't raced here in two years but not much has changed. Aaron Robnett and I are still battling it out on singlespeeds. I also finally got to meet Adam Blake of gravel fame.

I could almost name this post "Third times a charm" but seeing how I still lost, I'm not sure it would really fit. But by that statement I mean, I finally got my gearing correct on my third off-road race of the year. Although I've raced a 36x20 for three laps before, I opted for the slightly smaller 34x19 for the 4 lap affair. The gear was perfect in the trees but way too small for the middle fire road section we hit twice a lap. Luckily, I'm fine with playing catch up in the singletrack.

GO! The start was just as brutal as I expected. Gearing to small, everyone else too fast, entered the singletrack seventh wheel. Aaron got the hole shot which immediately had me thinking he was in way to big a gear to go the distance. The plan was to just chill for the first two laps, and the pace was just that. After the first singletrack section I leap frogged up to sixth and then up to Shims wheel the section after that.

By lap two, a Mathias Perret was 20 seconds off the front with Shim chasing and me on his wheel. We were still a 5 strong group just flying through the singletrack. As we finished the lap Shim pulled over to grab a bottle and Cam attacked. I struggled to stay in contact on the fire road and entered the singletrack behind Cam and Aaron with Mathias still up front. I got by Aaron and up to Cam and we closed in on the leader pretty quickly. After the catch, the pace dropped and soon Aaron and a couple others were back with us. On the last half of the lap, Mathias accelerated into the singletrack and the three of us finally got away from the other two.

As we started our last lap I knew my only hope was to try and pin it through the singletrack and make up as much time as possible. Mathias had other plans as he jumped Cam and I and took the lead into the singletrack. I managed to get by Cam in the first corner taking a tight inside line. Mathias was riding really slow and I knew I had to get by him but the trail was super tight. I finally got my moment and dove to the inside of a switchback corner. It was a pretty aggressive foot out, two wheel slide but the move stuck and I now had Mathias between Cam and I so I went for it. I opened up a decent gap but Cam slowly brought me back in. I thought we would ride together for a bit but Cam immediately came through on a section of doubletrack and upped the pace. I matched it easily but new the deck was stacked against me as we got closer to the dreaded fire road. As expected Cam dropped the hammer and put a quick 15 seconds on me. I fought hard to bring him back in the last singletrack section but I couldn't do it. eventually finishing 30 seconds down. Another second place.

I felt strong all day and it was the perfect two and half hour cross country race I was looking for. Shim never did get back on after Cam attacked and ended up 6th. Noah and Rafal raced the Comp class and finished 2nd and 7th and Anne finished 6th in Sport. Pretty solid showing. Next up...Gateway Cup, time for some criterium racing

You know a new saddle is a good one...

2011-08-23T07:19:00.000-05:00

When you forget you're riding it on it's maiden voyage. That's pretty much what happened the other day when I took out Bontragers new Team Issue saddle.

But to be honest, it's not really a "new" saddle. It's more like Bontrager brought back a good thing. You see a couple years back Bontrager made a saddle, the Race X Lite, I'm going to say it was probably 2007 or 2008. One way or another, one of them found it's way onto my old Marin CX bike and eventually onto my Ferrous and Superfly SS mountiain bikes. I loved the saddle, not too flat, not curvy, just enough padding and flex in just the right places. It had a nice synthetic top and was just an all around great saddle. But as often happens, good things disappear, and the Race X Lite was replaced by the always "new and improved". That new and improved was the inForm line of saddle, which I liked too but the pointy little tabs made it horrible for any off-road riding.

Well Bontrager played their cards right this time by bringing back a great saddle. The now renamed Team Issue is basically the same saddle but streamlined. Gone are the screw on bumper guards under the nose and along the back edges. The synthetic top has given way to a full leather cover where every detail is perfectly align. What has stayed the same is the rigid outer carbon frame with flexible carbon middle, and the titanium rails. And the best part Bontragers unconditional comfort guarantee. Buy it, don't like, take it back and try something different. So even if it doesn't disappear underneath you on ride one, there's always another option.

First Generation

Carbon Chasis with Titanium Frame

I don't remember

2011-08-18T17:02:00.001-05:00

...it being that hard last year. Last night was CX practice number one. All I can say is ouch. It didn't even feel like we did that much either, but in hindsight we rode a fair number of laps. Five or six warm-up laps followed by a two lap shoot out. Then what was suppose to be a final 4 lapper turned out to be just another two lapper for me as I was pretty baked. Why you ask?

Well, been traveling quit a bit. Last week was Trek World up in Madison. Saw some pretty fine stuff. Managed to keep things pretty chill and didn't gorge myself at the dinner table MT and I got rides in every morning which was a nice change of pace. Bryan and Lance joined a couple times too. Product was pretty refined this year, no super big changes. But good things in wheels, shoes and helmets. Lots of new 29ers and got to see the Frank and Andy Schleck, Fabian and Jens. I don't get fired up to see pros but this was pretty sweet.

My favorite new product at the show, Big Dipper kids helmets, adult size please

Followed closely by the all new Aeolus 3 tubulars, with any luck I'll be rolling a set of these by mid CX season

DT hubs are back, I can once again say that Bontrager wheels are your best bet out their

Goodbye Aeolus ACC, hello Aura 5, nice, solid aero wheel.

Had to demo one of these, too much fun

After Trek World, it was off to KC to look at what Pearl Izumi and Shimano had to offer. Shimano's got some sweet looking new shoes, after that not much has changed. Monday we got out for a smoking fast group ride with Scooter.

I followed that up with some sprint intervals on Tuesday which leads us back to last nights CX practice. Three hard days in a row has me begging for some recovery time today and tomorrow.

Gravel Worlds is this weekend and it's not looking good. Rain is in the forecast and well, I'm not trashing my new CX bikes on 100+ miles of wet gravel. We'll see what happens

MTB Meyhem at Swanson Park

2011-08-14T09:29:00.001-05:00

Photo: Anne Savery

Another mountain bike race, another 2nd place. I just can't seem to seal the deal and win at the Cat 1 Open level on my singlespeed. I've got one more chance this year as we head to the Sugarbottom Scramble in two weeks time. I was excited to hear that the scheduled race at Manawa had been re-located to Swanson, my home track. Better yet, we were racing the loop backwards which made it all the more interesting. I had a couple goals for the day. Mainly, test the body and see how conditioned my upper body and core is going into cross season. It was only my third day on the mountain bike this year and my preparation for the upcoming season doesn't include the 50 mile off-road races I've done in the past. I went with my standby 36x18 gearing that's worked well for me at Swanson in the past.

So off we go.

Photo: Sandra Jones

I had a good start, grabbed Cam Kirkpatrick's wheel and as we entered the trail he let me through into the lead. I'd planned to just follow but being in the front let me set my tempo on the SS. I kept the pace really steady for the first lap and we came through lap one five strong with me still leading the train. The tempo had hurt some guys and it wasn't long before Cam and I were alone at the front. I tested Cam a few times, but each time he came back pretty easily.

Photo: Kyle Hansen

I was beginning to think it was going to be a long day as my choice of gearing was a tad bit on the heavy side. A 19t would have been much better than the 18t I had. Riding Swanson in reverse is a little different. Regardless, I continued at the front through laps two and three until Cam decided it was time for him to check out on lap four. I initially could match his pace but as we hit some of the tighter turns my gear was just too big out of the corners and I started losing ground. After that, I pretty much just put it on cruise control and maintained my second place, conceding almost 4 minutes to Cam. The guy is a machine.

So what of my goal of testing my conditioning? I definitely got beat around a bit. The Swanson trail is super rough. The roots beat the crap out of you and the new entry/exit trail is ridiculously bumping. By the last lap I could feel my kidneys bouncing around inside my torso. I could really feel it in my shoulders too. The prescription, stay on the mountain bike for the next couple weeks, at least one day a week. With that, I should be in good shape, the conditioning comes back quickly.

Photo: Kyle Hansen

Servizio Corse

2011-08-02T12:54:00.001-05:00

Over at the facebook I was asked about peg board tool setup...

I've always used a Craftsman chest and cabinet. But I've procrastinated a peg board for larger tools and power tools.

But, when I set up the Omaha-Midtown Trek Store I basically followed the Barnetts plan. You won't have all the exact same tools so a little improvisation is needed.

Click Image for Full Size

Tools 1-49 are the basics, then you kind of fill in from there.

The Art of the Pro Build

2011-07-27T21:55:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned before, the devil is in the details. Nate and I often talk about the art of the pro build, having honed our skills during our time at Bike Pedalers in Lincoln. Many mechanics out there can build a good bike. But what separates a good build from a pro build? For one, it's lining up the print on the cable housing. It's putting it all out there for everyone to see, these aren't generic cables, their genuine parts.

On top of that, standard clear frame protectors won't cut it either. I like to use handlebar finishing tape trimmed down to look like frame protectors. The extremely thin vinyl wraps around complex tube shapes better than the thicker clear ones, and the branding that matches your bar tape is a nice detail.

That's how we Pro Build.

The Devil is in the Detail

2011-07-26T21:44:00.001-05:00

This two small parts showed up with my 2012 Trek Cronus CX frames. At first I didn't think much about them. "Oh cool, they sent Shimano Di2 parts". Then I got to thinking that these parts would probably work with standard 4mm housing. Which means I could run full length cable housing for the rear derailleur keeping it shifting smooth through even the muddiest races.

It turned out pretty clean whether the engineers intended it to work with standard cable housing or not. Either way I'm digging it.

Super clean internal cable routing

Bottom bracket cable guide has a wide channel, perfect for the 4mm housing. Front derailleur cable still runs through a narrow channel

This cable tie point keeps the housing away from the tire and chainrings

The cable stop plug snaps into place and holds the housing secure in the cable stop next to the rear drop out

New Felt

2011-07-24T04:35:00.000-05:00

Felt has a new carbon CX bike too. Full gallery at Cycling News. Photo by Ryan Trebon.

Parts

2011-07-23T14:27:00.003-05:00

Oldie but goodie

2011-07-21T17:33:00.001-05:00

New Toys

2011-07-20T14:02:00.001-05:00

I think I'm going to like these. Where should I start? That nifty little cable hanger that mounts to the fork should take away pretty much any chance of break chatter. It's got threaded eyelets for fender hardware just like my old Cronus road bike. Probably the coolest thing, and this is me getting really geeked out, is I'll be able to run full length cable housing on the rear derailuer and it will look super clean thanks to Treks little Di2 plug that fills the hole where the cable enters the downtube. Oh, and the paint scheme will match our kits perfectly. So far I like what I see, can't wait for the rest of the parts.

Grilled Pesto Salmon

2011-07-19T17:54:00.035-05:00

This ones easy...

5-6 oz. salmon fillet, dressed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Quarter bunch of asparagus, dressed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Salad greens with half a tomato sliced into 1/4's, dress to your preference.

Serves 1

Turn your grill on high and grill asparagus for 3 minutes turning once. Remove asparagus from grill and set aside.

Apply olive oil to grill grate to keep salmon from sticking. Place salmon fillets skin side down and grill for 3 minutes on each side. Grill for 1 more minute, skin side down with one tablespoon of pesto on top.

Let stand for another couple minutes and serve. Oh so good.

12 months in the making: Trek Midwest CX

2011-07-18T20:43:00.002-05:00

You may have heard chatter here and there. About what may be coming down the pipeline. Phone calls have been made, deals have been done and product has been shipped. We can now fully introduce the Trek Midwest Cyclocross program.

I've gotta say I'm pretty pumped about this opportunity. Jay put a ton of work into it and I'm honored to be a part and am up for the challenge. Trek Midwest has stepped up big time along with all the sponsors to allow us to compete against the best Masters racers in the Nation and World at the USGP series, USA Cycling National Championships and UCI Masters World Championships.

Not only will you see a fully equipped 'cross team out there but also a demo program that will have a trailer filled with a complete size run of Trek/Gary Fisher Collection Cronus CX's for you to test ride at all the events we attend. All three of us, Jay, Matt and myself have been huge fans of 'cross for decades and are excited to roll this out to everyone.

I've got to offer a huge thank you to all our partners. Of course there's the Trek Bicycle Stores of Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis (aka. Trek Midwest), but also...

Trek / Gary Fisher Collection Bicycles - Framesets
SRAM - Drivetrains
Bontrager - Wheels and trim kits
Avid - Brakes
Challenge - Tires
Capo - On bike apparel
K-Swiss - Off bike apparel and run equipment
Lazer - Helmets

We'll be bringing you updates throughout the upcoming season via the Trek Midwest CX blogsite and hopefully race play by play when possible at the @mwc_cx_update Twitter feed. You can also follow us each individually on Twitter and of course my usual rants here.

The Gateway Cross Cup is only a handful of weeks away. We look forward to seeing everyone on the training circuit and at the races.

Papillion Criterium

2011-07-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

Photo: Dan Farnham

Hmmm...what can be said about the Omaha Cycling Weekend. Well, for me, it was the Omaha Cycling Day. I skipped out on the morning TT and saved myself for riding double duty in the Masters 40+ and Cat 1/2 races.

The Masters race went about as expected. Jay attacked on lap 2. Shim attacked on lap 3. Then I and Steve Jarrett attacked on Lap 4 and that was pretty much it. The next 35 minutes were spent in TTT mode as we successfully made it the most boring race of the day. Sorry folks. Shim took the win in his quest for rider of the year.

The next 5 hours were spent trying to re-hydrate myself enough to effectively race the 1/2's. After about 3 hours of non-stop drinking and finally had to start making frequent trips to relieve myself. So that was a good sign.

As the eight o'clock start time got closer we were greeted with a nice south breeze and partly cloudy skis which gave us a bit of relief from the piercing heat. Or so I thought. I struggled again to slide on the lycra and headed out for warm-up number two.

I haven't exactly been having the best luck with wheels. After my Dura-Ace tubeless rims were destroyed a couple weeks back I've been riding on my spare set of Ultegras until the new hoops arrive. While warming up I broke a third spoke. These were the wheels that my deraileur tried to kill two years ago at Jingle Cross. Luckily, Jay had a spare D/A I could use for the race. problem solved.

As the whistle blew I was surprised to find the legs didn't feel all that bad. Sooner than later a group of 5 got of the front and we were left with the attack and recover mode that so many chase groups fall into. As my head began to boil from the external heat I finally gave in. The desire to continue had left me. Or so I thought. Of course after sitting up, and a couple laps of ice baths from the sidelines, I got my second wind. Back in the big ring, back to chasing. As the lead group came around to lap me, I jumped on the tailend hoping I could at least still score the final pay spot. Not to be as I thought the payout went 12 deep when it actaully only went 10. Anyway, I managed to sit on the breakaway group until 2 laps to go when I decided I should just get the hell out of the way and out of the finish line pictures.

I was pretty bummed afterward for having given up when all I really needed was better temperature regulation. Felt like I'd let the team down as I'm sure Lucas and Shim could have used my help in the second group. But...race and learn.

Ditched out on the road race Sunday. Didn't really feel like doing laundry Saturday night and repairing my busted wheel. Plus, I was fighting a headache, no doubt caused by the excessive amount of dehydration we all endured.

All in all it was one hell of a training day. Mark Stursma and the entire crew did an amazing job with the race. The intensity of the Mercy Racing boys was greatly appreciated. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Really, I did. Even the part when I thought my brain was going to melt.

Photo: Jill Tillinghast

Building the Castle: Part 2

2011-07-15T14:47:00.003-05:00

I never really felt the need before now to label my stuff. But with the new CX program getting nearer and nearer, I'm gonna need a way to locate my stuff. Thanks to the folks at Victory Circle I've got wheels and frames taken care of, with both US and NE flags.

So rad

2011-07-14T06:25:00.000-05:00

Begin season two

2011-07-13T07:38:00.001-05:00

I'm back...not sure from what though. It feels like I've hardly ridden for a month but that's not really the case. Anne and I had a great time riding the wine country of Napa and Sonoma. Then we spent a couple weeks back home before deciding to head to KC for a weekend getaway.

My legs were feeling pretty much like crap. And with the "real" race season, 'cross season, fast approaching I made the call to take a complete week off the bike. Now or never timing. It worked. The past two days the legs have felt really good.

This weekend might be a bit interesting with the Omaha road weekend on the calendar. Since I've declared an end to my first season after Norfolk, Omaha will probably be more about training and less about racing. Which means I may double it up on Saturday, Masters 40+ and Cat 1/2. Don't remember doing a double since I was a junior so it should be interesting.

What else is happening? Oh you know the fun stuff that makes racing really enjoyable. Core strength workouts and easing back into riding. Run gear should be arriving soon so I can start slogging around on foot. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve for the upcoming cross season too.

Break Time

2011-07-07T18:08:00.003-05:00

Taking a blog break if you haven't noticed. But I'll be back soon, promise, it's almost CX season after all.

Here we go!

2011-07-01T13:32:00.002-05:00

Amazing Tour build up video of Andy Schleck

Belgian Road Championships - Surprise!

2011-06-29T05:43:00.003-05:00

Building the Castle: Part I

2011-06-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed I haven't been writing much. Partly because I've been playing catch up after vacation, partly because, well, I don't really know. I guess my vacation was a little more extensive on the blog side.

Regardless stuff is really firing. People are getting excited for cross, and plans are coming together. There's lots and lots to talk about but we'll take it all in baby steps.

While I was out in the bay area I got the text from Jay that he needed some clothing info. Turns out, Capo will be backing the grigio squadra this season with skinsuits of various styles. Short sleeve, long sleeve, thermal...pretty much everything we need to race from September through January. We debated a little bit back in the spring about long leg skinsuits as well, but with Mad Alchemy embro and probably only a few races in super cold temps, we'll be opting for thermal leg warmers if needed.

Our CX kits will have a few special tweaks. Most noticeable the lighter weight, thinner, Corsa seat pad. Normally found in the Modena short, it's a short to intermediate distance pad. It's not my favorite for 3+ hour rides, but it will work flawlessly for cross. It's Capo's smallest pad in terms of size and thickness so it will be ideal for running. So with that said if you're looking for a great pair of bib shorts for CX, check out the Modena.

Big thank you to Gary, Robert and crew out in Emeryville. I love this stuff.

Company Overview from Capo Cycling Apparel on Vimeo.

Lower Pope Chili Valley

2011-06-15T18:37:00.001-05:00

Post Ride Pool Side

2011-06-13T19:33:00.002-05:00

Wine Tour - Benziger Family Winery

2011-06-13T07:47:00.001-05:00

Break Time

2011-06-10T21:16:00.000-05:00

I've had this week inked on the calendar since August. It seems like mid-June is becoming Anne and I's official vacation season.

Boccalone, Rapha Cycle Club SF, and Incanto are just of few of the destinations while in the wine country/bay area.

The bulk of the trip will be our time in Sonoma, Yountville and Heraldsburg with Trek Travel. This will be our second trip with the Trek Travel crew. Our first being our honeymoon in Italy five years ago. Yep, fifth anniversary trip. Keeping with the theme of Vino and Velo. Then it's time to buckle down, get focused and get fast.

Thinking more and more about CX

2011-06-09T22:00:00.001-05:00

With CX season closing in faster than I'd care to think, new bits are beginning to pop up for the new season. First up is Challenge's new monster mudder tire, the Limus.

The new Challenge Limus
Photo: Bill Marshall

It's sounding like it will only be available in tubular format this season, which is lucky for me as I've decided to set up two sets of tubular wheels this fall. The plan is to have one tubular and one clincher pair set up for mud and one tubular and one clincher set up for dry.

With the Limus only being available as a tubular, I'll be sticking with the Clement PDX on the clincher set. The side and intermediate knobs are very similar between the two tires but the Limus will have much more bite with it's 3.1mm tread depth and blockier center knobs. Pretty excited to give this a go.

In other news, I've decided that the Shimano C-35 carbon tubulars aren't going to happen this season. Too steep a price tag and honestly I can probably get away without racing on carbon. And should I get tangled in a crash, my pocket book will probably thank me. Instead, I've decided to go hand-built. Starting with Shimano Dura-Ace hubs. I'll probably rebuild them from the get go with ceramic loose ball bearings and use Dumonde Techs liquid grease instead of a thicker paste type. This should create about the least rolling resistance set-up out there. I'll lace them up to Mavic Reflex tubular rims with my trusted and loved Wheelsmith double-butted spokes. My loose calculations will have these 28 spoke gems coming in at around 100 grams lighter than the C-35's and way less expensive too. They'll make a nice match to my Bontrager Race X Lites I picked up this past spring. There's something to be said for the braking power of aluminum rims instead of carbon as well.

What's interesting nowadays is nobody that I found is making a pre-built aluminum rimmed tubular. Guess I didn't check Hed but the big four, Mavic, Bontrager, Shimano and Zipp only make carbon rim options now, crazy.

Putting the pieces back together

2011-06-08T22:52:00.000-05:00

I love riding at the back
Photo: Lois Burnertt

I haven't really felt like blogging much, as you may have noticed. Posts have been few and far between. Probably because, well, I haven't really been mister positive on the bike. I've been having a bit of a rough go of it over the past what's felt like 2 months.

Legs haven't felt fresh, regardless how much rest I've given them. The only underlying bright spot is that even though I haven't been feeling great, I know I'm still stronger than last year at this time.

So what's changed? Well, there's been debate about the benefits of the Wednesday Worlds ride in the past. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it too hard? Honestly, I felt like I had really good form but as the Wednesday ride heated up I felt like my fitness was going backwards. It's pretty easy to conclude that the ride is easily too hard for too long and then too easy for too long.

My answer? Well, over the past two weeks I've limited my time in the red zone, backing off early. I still go hard but it's for a much more finite and focus effort. It seems to be working too as I felt better and more powerful than I've felt in weeks.

So is the Wednesday Worlds ride a good thing? Yes, you just have to know when, where and how long to go hard. No super human efforts here, that's for sure.

Millar

2011-06-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Stumbled upon this last night. Pretty powerful, always liked David.

Championship Weekend

2011-06-06T08:57:00.001-05:00

This weekend was the Nebraska Championship double, road race on Saturday and criterium on Sunday. I was pretty excited to finally get to race up in Norfolk. I missed out last year as we were off in Panama.

The road race on Sunday was an interesting affair. With only 5 of us contesting the Cat 1/2 race and the results and prize list being scored differently for both the 1/2's and the 3's, the race dynamics were all messed up. We made some bad calls as a team and paid the price in the final losing both the Cat 1/2 and Cat 3 overall races with the only consolation being a state road title for myself. We'll have to chalk this one up as a learning experience.

My best impression of the Schleck Bros. skinny guy sprint
Photo: Lois Brunertt

Luckily, we got a chance to redeem ourselves during Sundays criterium championship. The tactics played out perfectly for us. With a decent headwind up the finishing straight we made the call to attack in pairs and see what came of it. As luck would have it, Paul and Lucas got away pretty early and the game was on.

The pair worked there gap up to 30 seconds or so and a bit before mid-race some activity in the bunch starting to bring them back. Shim and I each tested the waters with attempts to bridge across immediately following prime laps but it had no effect. It was obvious we needed to get Lucas and Paul to lap the field. Both Chad McGee and Lee Baumgarner (Flatwater/Bike Pedalers) were sprinting really well, and Joe McWilliams (Team Kaos/Alegent Health) had been sitting in all day waiting for the final. I went to the front and controlled the tempo as the lead pairs advantage grew.

Lucas and Paul drilling it off the front
Photo: Devin Bethune

We were running out of time and Lucas and Paul hadn't come around. The plan was for me to take a flier at the bell lap and for Shim to sit on the chasers. This way, we make the others chase and Shim gets a free tow to the line.

Expecting the unexpected

With three or four laps to go, I took a hard look back to see how close Paul and Lucas were to us. I thought they may catch us on their bell lap. So while everyone in our group thought we would have two laps to go, we really would only have one as rules dictate that we finish on the same lap as the leaders.

Sure enough, as we came through with what should have been two laps to go, the bell rang as Paul and Lucas had just made contact with the tailend of the field. I launched myself into turn one using every inch of the wide flat corners. I had a good gap and kept the pressure on. As I came out of the last corner the field was closing in and I had to sprint full gas to the line to stay ahead of a hard charging Joe McWilliams.

Giving full gas to the line
Photo: Lois Brunnert

...and the look back
Photo: Lois Brunnert

The tactics played out perfect, a 1-2-3 podium sweep and three state criterium championships (Cat 3, Cat 2/19-39, Cat 2/40-49). Plus, Leah won the women's and Mike won the Cat 4. Pretty decent weekend I must say.

Big thanks to Dan Spray and Jon Downey as well as the whole EVCC for a great race weekend, and John Lefler for the pro words on the mic.

Photo: Jeremy Cook

Not writing but riding

2011-06-03T06:44:00.000-05:00

Here's some pics from last Thursdays ride...

2011-06-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

2011-06-01T06:23:00.000-05:00

Spending too much time sitting outside enjoying the weather to type much. But it'll come.

Giro pics from 1998

2011-05-25T16:16:00.000-05:00

Treviso TT finish

The late great Marco Pantani

The Lincoln Weekend

2011-05-24T18:39:00.001-05:00

Here we go, the brutality that is Cat 1/2 criterium racing. I was iffy on the weekend due to the forecasted rain, but as the curtain of rain lifted it was full steam ahead. Full steam ahead into a Tradewind energy storm that is. The mandatory Friday night look into registered riders showed that we'd be racing against (read hanging onto) the Brian Jensen, Steve Tilford, Bill Stolte train. I had my chance at getting the best of these guys last cross season but didn't think I'd be so lucky this time around.

Photo: Mark Stursma

Saturday's Capital City Classic went as expected. Tradewind attacked the bejesus out of us. I called it right for once and buried myself to get across to the Tilford, Jensen and team Kaos rider Joe McWilliams move. If was "the" move, problem was, Steve and Brian weren't waiting around and as quick as I was on, I was off. Later on, Shim and I got to play defense as Kent and Paul were off in a second breakaway. That lasted as long as it took for Steve and Brian to lap us, at which time Brian went straight to the front and rode a constant 26mph tempo and pulled them back.

My day really ended when I jumped a lap early for a crowd prime, day over. I tried to salvage a sprint, but a botched couple of corners in the finale left me in 8th across the line. Two places better than last year with tougher competition so I'll take it as a positive.

Bridging up, bouncing off the rev limiter
Photo: Lucas Marshall

Sunday wasn't much better. My legs were fried, and more horsepower was on hand with the addition of Mercy Cycling's Austin Vinton. The day played out much the same way, constant attacks by Tradewind until one finally sticks, then a second, then you soft pedal for a lap or two, then the pain is over. 10th place. Again, better than last year, so I must be stronger right?

Big thanks to John, Sean and the rest of the Flatwater/Bike Pedalers team for putting on a super smooth event. I could only imagine it being better if we were actually racing around the capital like the good old days. Maybe next year.

Super fun having Paul Webb back
Photo: Lucas Marshall

Big congratulations go out to all my Trek Midwest/Velogear teammates. Saturday saw Brady Murphy take the Cat 3 win with Ryan Feagan in 4th; Leah Kleager took 2nd in the women's open race and Kevin Gilinsky took 4th in the Cat 5. On Sunday, Lucas Marshall and Matt Tillinghast took a 1-2 in the Cat 3 and Leah was again 2nd. Even Greg climbed the top step in the Masters 40+ before jumping in with the 1/2's. Helluva weekend. My good buddy Nate even started his career as a road racer, how times change. Now get me some knobby tires, oh wait, that's still 4 months away.

Blown

2011-05-21T12:08:00.002-05:00

Thinking about the past

2011-05-20T18:56:00.000-05:00

I've told this story many times. The one about how impressed I was that riders like Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and Bobby Julich stuck with racing so long after we were juniors turning cranks in the Black Forest outside Colorado Springs. I thought the dedication that they showed in pursuing their dream to become a professional cyclist was outstanding.

However now, with new information leaking out in regards to the federal investigation into Lance Armstrongs US Postal/Discovery team, I feel slighted. There was no extra dedication, they didn't work harder than the rest of us. They just cheated. And the system let them do it.

Can I point any one finger at who's the bad guy? No. But I wouldn't be bothered one bit if Mr. Pharmstrong spent many years locked away in a federal prison for fraud. I might even crack a smile.

If I was only 20 years younger, oh the times I could have.

Chris Horners Cyclocross Essentials

2011-05-20T07:19:00.000-05:00

We were talking about this the other day. With Chris leading the ToC it seems like a great time to bring it back out.

Shifting Gears

2011-05-19T22:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't talked about food for a while, so how about now? Tamari Almonds, ohhh so good, yet ohhh so expensive. Whole foods use to have two options, regular and organic, with the organic being twice the price at $20/lb. Yep twenty dollars a pound, regular was half that. Well, they quit carrying the regular, and I'm not paying $20/lb. for my favorite snack food. My guess is, people were buying the organic but were only paying for regular, such is the way of the bulk food aisle. So here we go.

Start by marinating 16oz. of almonds (skin on) in a half cup of Tamari for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I prefer gluten free Tamari if you can find it.

Next, pre-heat oven to 170 degrees and spread almonds evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and...

Voila! Perfectly seasoned homemade Tamari Almonds, and much better than store bought I might add. Let cool and store in a air tight container.

Now because this blog is mostly about bikes, I'll leave you with this...

I think this tire is done, 2000+ miles, Bontrager R4 Tubeless. Good thing I checked it out before this weekends Flatwater Cycling Weekend in Lincoln.

Been a while

2011-05-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

So what have you been up to? Well, Blogger was down most of last week, and of course the Giro is on so I've been watching and not writing.

However, things are happening. My GB Rafal stormed to a stellar victory up at the Almanzo 162. That's what you get when you just ride your bike. No fancy programs, just mile after mile. So if you want to know how to get fast, ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike.

I've been talking up my recent return to using EP-NO and my not using of coffee caffeine. Well, a third factor has come into play, that of pollen. I guess it's been pretty bad this year and a longer season too. Pollen counts have dropped considerably over the past few days and I'm feeling better and better. For about the last month I've been pretty down, but Tuesdays and Wednesdays rides were really nice so hopefully I've turned a corner.

This weekend is the good old Capital City Criterium. I won the thing way back in 1993 when it was held in the Haymarket. We had a four man break that lapped the field. It was pretty awesome winning my hometown race in front of friends and family. I've been able to do it twice now including last years cyclocross championship race at Pioneers Park. The Capital City Crit was also my very first every race although back in 1983 it was held in September. Saturday was a road race from Bellevue to Lincoln and then the Criterium was held on Sunday. That first race was around the big loop which included a full lap around the Capitol plus an extra block that included the narrow bit on 15th street. I think that first race was two laps, and at 13 years old it felt like an eternity. Even funnier is to think that I was probably racing in Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts, t-shirt and high top Chuck Taylors. Good memories fore sure. Forecast isn't looking too good for Saturday, hope the rain stays away.

RIP Wouter Weylandts

2011-05-09T11:23:00.001-05:00

We lost a great rider today, how things can change in a year.

Giro d' Italia, Stage 3, 2010

Video Monday

2011-05-08T22:35:00.002-05:00

Ego Check

2011-05-08T21:41:00.003-05:00

Photo: Rob Skiba

Let's just chalk this one up as power training. I've been racing singlespeeds for almost 5 years now. I've made the mistake of choosing to high a gear twice. The first time was 3 years ago at Landahl, being unfamiliar with the course I asked Cam Chambers what he thought. He replied one gear higher than what I'd thought was appropriate and sure enough, I should have listened to myself. I struggled home with a decent result, but one that could have been better.

Which brings us to the 2011 edition of the Battle Royale at Platte River state park. Now let me preface this with the fact that I haven't ridden Platte in over a year, and have only ridden the MTB once in 8 months. I missed out on any pre-ride time and I didn't have past history to go off of as my last race report from 2009 has since been removed from the GF 29er Crew blog. My memory told me I last rode a 36x20. I figured I was lighter and stronger this year so a 36x19 should be okay, right? Wrong.

The funny thing about riding singlespeed, is on terrain like Platte that is constantly undulating, you really need to gear the bike for climbing as you're basically at terminal velocity on all the downhills and constantly freewheeling. All my bigger gear did was make every climb that much more miserable.

It worked great for the first lap. Got the holeshot, dabbed on the first climb and took Shim and Kent's wheel into the singletrack. I was content to follow and see how those two were riding. We had a good gap back to fourth, all was well. As we reached the green gate and the trail pointed down I took the lead back from Shim. I think it was about half way through Roller Coaster when I realized this gear wasn't going to work for 4 laps. I finished the first lap 5 seconds or so ahead of Shim and went about waving them through. All I could do from here on out was try to survive. That first smoking lap was fun though.

About half way through the second lap Cam came through, then Jarrett another half lap later, Clark and Nate (both on SS but one gear lower than mine) another half lap after that. Steve wasn't feeling too well and didn't think his back would hold out to full distance. So by my count if Steve did indeed pull out my seventh place would turn into sixth and I might be able to salvage the day. Sure enough, Steve would actually flat and my pace was just high enough to keep Ryan at a good distance. But man, the gear was agonizingly slow.

Kudos to Psycowpath though for making the last pay position actually worth something. I ended up winning $10 more than my entry fee. I've always felt that the last pay position should always get their entry fee back at a bare minimum. I don't know how some promoters get away with offering less. "Congratulations, you won half your entry fee back!" Huh? No thanks, keep it. So thank you Psycowpath. And thanks to Chris and the rest of the Cycle Works crew for another awesome race at Platte. It's a state championship caliber course but why it's not I'll never know. It always used to be. Now the state championship is just shy of a participation award. Yay!

But that's a whole other post. I'm super bummed Shim didn't pull off the "W", it's been a long time coming but congrats to Cam for putting together another solid, late charge ride. Not sure when I'll toe the line with these fellas again. I'll be gone for Ponca and the other races just don't do it for me. We'll have to see where I land.

Photo: Cycle Works

Lets get this party started!

2011-05-07T07:51:00.002-05:00

60% of the time...

2011-05-07T06:25:00.000-05:00

Time to race mountain bikes.

Now we're talking

2011-05-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

Off the sauce

2011-05-05T06:07:00.000-05:00

It's been a week now with no to little coffee caffeine. What a difference. On last nights Wednesday Worlds ride my heart rate was way more normal, it even seemed like I was recovering faster. Now I'm no nutritionist or dietitian but it seems like it's had a significant effect on my hydration levels too.

I also noticed less cramping. Two weeks ago and at Twin Bing it was really bad. Here's the odd bit. We have a scale at home that not only measures weight but also body fat percentage. The body fat measurement is pretty useless for athletes but it works well enough as a gauge to see if you're losing or gaining. It does this measurement using bio-resistance which is greatly effected by how well you're hydrated. My practical sense tells me that if coffee is a diarrhetic, even though I felt well hydrated I don't think I really was. Reason being, now that I've given up coffee caffeine, my body fat reading has dropped almost 2 points. Makes you go hmm because I now I didn't miraculously lose three and half pounds of just fat last week.

Regardless, the effects of going coffee free have been positive. I still enjoy my mocha now and then, decaf of course, I just love flavor/taste of coffee and chocolate, all mixed together. I'm also back using EP-NO and still take a multi-vitamin. I had an issue years ago that whenever I rode, regardless of how rested I was, I always felt lethargic on the bike. I figured that at the time, age 28ish, my body had changed and I was deficient in something. The multi-vitamin corrected whatever it was. On a whim, I thought I'd try EP-NO to counteract my bruising issues. It's billed as a nature blood builder and whatever it does, when I'm on it, I bruise significantly less. I went without it most of the winter when we were doing low intensity stuff, but now that intensity has increased due to WNW, I felt I needed to get back on it. Placebo or not, these things help me. And just like my Mad Alchemy Pre-Ride Oil that makes my legs all nice and shiny, if you feel fast, you'll ride faster.

Week in Pictures

2011-05-03T19:51:00.077-05:00

Who said Montana is the Big Sky Country?

We started things off on Saturday with the Tour of Dirt Roads (ToDR), well actually, Anne and I started on Friday night by hitting up the Keith Jacobshagen show at the Bemis. The above pic is my little tribute to Keith and his amazing catalog of work.

Rest stop

'Ole Greasy Knuckles flatted, imagine that. He said it was a thorn but I'm pretty sure he cased something.

A Pole and a Gator, both capable of huge feats of strength

My mates from OMA, Rafal and Mike. Both riding exceptionally well. Look out Kanza

SCHMIDTY!!!

This section of Ashland Road was the least passable of the day as it traversed a marsh. Oddly enough at it's end is this really nice concrete bridge. Schmidty did a top notch job mapping out a solid 85 miles. The 30 mph winds made for a long day.

Sunday was play time so I made some tweaks to the commuter. I pretty much dropped of the bike commuter map when I started working at the office in La Vista. My thought was if I'm going to spend and hour to hour and a half commuting each day that I'd rather spend that time actually out riding, so I started driving. Well, recently I started thinking about going by bike Monday, Thursday, and Fridays seeing how those are light to no training days. Revamped the Simple City with massive pedals, flat bar, rear rack and Surly mud flap. Monday was first time, yes first, commuting with panniers. They rock.

Yes, helmet-less, that's how I roll sometimes. But when I wear one, I wear Lazer

Tuesday was gravel recon lunch ride. Found a nice little curvy bit that connects Walnut Creek to Richfield. I'll be working this into the this years Bacon Ride route. Next week I'll venture further south and check out some option along the river.

New lunch time playground

Turnaround

2011-04-28T08:13:00.000-05:00

Last night was the good old Wednesday Worlds ride and my first ride sans coffee after my Tuesday revelation. My heart rate was still pretty jacked but I felt noticeably better. I thought for sure I'd get popped at multiple points but I played it smart and cautious and managed to stay with the front group and still do a solid amount of work. Felt heaps better than the previous two weeks.

Sub 160 on the road

It's been a full year now since Anne and I completed our first go at the Clean Program. Stepping on the scale this morning I've managed to maintain the gains from a year ago and build on it. My weight has fluctuated throughout the year. As low as 165 in the peak of the summer. As high as 178 during the indulgent winter months. Currently I've come back down to 169 with the goal of 160 by cross season. I've been there before and had my best season on the road at that weight. Top 30 in some big time stage races as such. More importantly though, at my current weight of 169 I'm stronger and have more power than last year. So if I play my cards right I should be able to slowly drop that little extra bit heading into the fall.

I've been itching to get on some gravel. Haven't ridden any since the spring thaw. So with that, RD and I will be heading to the ToDR to ride with some LNK boys. Looking forward to some Valpo action.

Lastly, I was chatting to Randy last night on the ride and he moved the date up one week for the Omaha CX weekend. It was scheduled on top of the Ft. Collins USGP. Not anymore. Sweet.

Cause--->Effect

2011-04-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

I've really been struggling the past few weeks. Everytime I get on the bike the heart rate seems high. At first I thought I was fighting a very, very mild cold. Then I thought the cause may have been related to a weekend of travel to KC with some over indulgence. Then the report that some folks were suffering from mild spring allergies. I was also thinking it could have been from stopping a supplement that I've been on consistently for a year.

Then I started thinking about the timing of the effect, and the only thing that was really different was that I started making my morning coffee with a press instead of drip. I ran into Brady and Leah tonight and Brady seems to think the added boost from the coffee press could well be the culprit. High heart rate, high blood pressure, basically not good stuff. So it's goodbye Bodum starting tomorrow. Heck, I think it'll pretty much be goodbye coffee. I've cut way back on it in the past, resorting to green tea instead. No big deal. Oddly I've had some cramping issues too, probably from the more potent coffee brew.

Regardless, I still got out tonight for round two of intervals. Max intensity hill repeats. Starting from the Ponca Hills F.D. up to the Shipley Cemetery. Man I forgot how much these things hurt, considering it's been well over 5 years since I last attempted them. The first week is always the hardest.

Busted out the leg warmers and went Euro PRO CX style with the socks on the outside. Thank you Sven, Neils and Styby.