Make your voice heard to USA Cycling

Just got this sent to me. It is an online petition about the treatment of the Master's 50+ and older racers from cross nationals.

It appears that to speed things up since it was cold out and it was the last race of the day, USA Cycling and KLM combined all classes of 50+ and up racers to one race. The gun goes off, you are at the back, you might get lapped and the official makes a "decision" to pull you, even though you were never lapped....kinda sounds like the treatment you were given up at the Boulder Cup from the officials, huh????

The worse part of it is, after many complaints, they re-ran the races the next day...but did not announce it to anyone. Classy move USA Cycling!!!! You just screwed 200 old guys that help make the sport what it is today.

At some given point, you too will be racing in the 50+ age class and would expect the same treatment as any other athlete who has paid thier money and pinned on a number.

Please click on the link below and sign the petition. Thanks

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/cross07/petition.html

Cross Videos

If you are looking for a way to pass the time while riding the trainer or just finishing up on the holiday buffett tour, I have been able to download a bunch of cross races from this year.

I have the majority of the World Cups, SuperPrestige and GVA races. These races are in a Quick Time version, mpeg4, so you can watch them on your computer or ipod. There are lot's of freeware programs to convert to full DVD but I have not had time to do this yet.

Also, Nathan Spears has updated his website with a couple new races to download. Check the link on the right hand side.

Drop me a comment with your email address if you are interested. I also have the majority of the 2007 World Rally Car Championship from Eurosport also.

New team kit to Tommeke and friends

So old Pat Lefevere has decieded that there was too much blue in the peleton last year. He has come up with these dandies....at this point, he should also sign up a soap sponsor.

"You know that these will never come clean back in Belgium, right"

What's up with the board? And is that Tricky Dick in the back left of the pic?

"Does this make me look fat?"

First hand account of Nationals

This was an email that was sent to me via the Green Mountain Sports team. It is Eric Sheagley's experience at Nats and his phenomenal ride

Race report from Kansas City

My father (my pit man) and I arrived in Kansas City on Friday just in time to preride the course. As I was getting my cycling gear on, I was quite surprised to see riders coming from the course covered in mud. I soon found out where the mud came from; 90% of the course was covered in 3-4 inch deep muck. I was prepared for snow, ice, warm, cold or dry conditions but I was not prepared for anything that I saw while preriding. I did one and a half laps and I decided that my time would be better used preparing myself mentally for the next day (I HATE mud!).

Last night my father and I were eating in a very depressing pizza joint in Bonner Springs (right near the race sight) and they had a TV tuned to the local news. I was amazed that the weather for today, that on Wednesday, forecast the temp to be sunny and in the high 30s, was now supposed to below 20s and snowy (4-8 inches). I immediately went from the "what the hell am I doing here" attitude to the "oh yeah, this is going to be a good race" mentality. I figured as long as the ground froze before the snow fell everything would be good for me.

Last night I kept an eye on the clouds and temp. by the time I finally fell asleep, I figured that the temp was low enough low enough to really freeze the ground and the snow had not yet started to fall.

Today, we made it to the race site just in time to get numbered up and do 3laps for a warm up. The course was nearly rock solid and quite rutted as the mud had frozen in the position it was in at the end of the day yesterday. Some of the ruts were getting polished to a glass like finish.I let a bit more air out of the Tufo Flexis tires mounted to the Rol wheels so generously lent to me by John Shearer (they are in one piece and worked better than I could imagine, thanks). During the warmup, I went OTB right in front of the pit and landed on my right arm leaving me with a seriously sore and swelling forearm.

The line up was quicker than I imagined. (very good as it was pretty darn cold). I was in the 6th row back looking ahead to Jeff H (Excel), Tim Faia and WAY in front was Mark McCormack. The start was extremely fast and very chaotic on the salted road(only part of the course that was not froze solid). I quickly made my way to 2nd position on McCormack's Wheel and sat there for at least 1/2 lap. on the second lap, I made a few mistakes that had me running through an icy puddle near the pits, while I was running he easily rode away. That was soon followed by another bobble that put me in third. Brandon Dwight (Boulder) rode by me at the beginning of the third lap and very quickly bridged the 15 second gap to Mark (he ended up beating Mark). I rode the rest of the race conservatively and kept a huge gap on5th.

By the last lap I had caught up to 3rd and was riding comfortably. He and I had several bouts of physical contact while jockeying for position. I stupidly went down again, right where I hit the deck on my preride and he got away with only a half of a lap to go. I got up and rode as hard as I could, knowing that 3rd was within reach. I bridged back up but was unable to pass. He forced (knowingly or not) me into a very slow line as we transitioned to the pavement sprint finish where I easily lost 2-3 seconds. Unfortunately, the work done to rejoin him after my fall put me in enough deficit that I did not have what it took to over take him so I ended up 4th.

Not bad! I was shooting for a top ten and I came home with a medal and 4th place in the nation.

Mark and Brandon, watch out next year!

Day Four at Cross Nationals

Everyone has already hashed this to death so there will be no men's update.

You can view the crash video, here...It is good and like most have stated, "there will be hell to pay if the course is the same next year"

The womens elite race was less spectacular, for the simple fact that nobody crashed into the leaders, fell into the pond there...just everyone falling down at some given point. I dont think anyone stayed upright for all races.

Katie has now won 4 US titles, punched her card for the automatic bid for worlds and should be heading back to Europe in the next week or so.

I talked to Sean over at ROL Wheels and he is building up maybe 3 new set's of wheels for Katie to take back with her. They are the new Edge 265 gram 38mm carbon tubulars. They will have ROL hubs, ceramic Enduro bearings with the DT Aerolite spokes and Prolock nipples. They should be under 1300 grams for the set. That is uber uber light...but when you are only like 125lbs soaking wet with a towel on...you can ride these all day long.

Not even cross related

So scanning through the papers online today and this story pops up on AFP. Seems that the homeland has a bigger issues than Bart Wellens building his own bikes, Klaus Vantournot moving to SunWeb or how much the winner of the BK's are going to get.

Poor Alizee Poulicek. The new Miss Belgium speaks French, Czech and English, but she doesn't understand Dutch. And that shortcoming has upset some of her countrymen.

AFP says the 20-year-old language student was booed Saturday when she failed to answer a question that was posed in Dutch during the beauty pageant finals in Antwerp. She was then roundly criticized in the Flemish press, with one paper saying her linguistic shortcoming shows that the country's "community crisis ... has insinuated itself into even the lightest sector."

Poulicek, who hails from the French-speaking part of the country, pledges to learn the language spoken by a majority of Belgians.

"I have to try, learn more," she tells VRT television in halting Dutch, according to the Associated Press. "I spoke almost no Dutch when I started this adventure," she continued in French.

Germany's DPA news agency had the best headline: "Blonde, Belgian and beautiful - but not bilingual."

Day Three at Cross Nationals

Day 3 of Cross Nats are in the books but the big races are still to come on Sunday.

On Saturday, Boulder's own Brandon Dwight won the B's 35-39 race. (My bad, this should have been the Master's 35-39 race) It sounded like an epic battle all around. It was cold, muddy, wet and just plain great cross weather. I have gotten a couple of emails from guys that went out and it was great to read the blow by blow from each race. I will try to post those shortly. Also in the B's race, Eric Sheagley from Green Mtn Sports was 4th, Travis Brown was 6th, Troy Gilgore was 12th and Clay Harris was 18th. Great job guys.....

In the 50-54 race, Ned Overend won....Ned is only in that range? The guy has been racing bikes forever it seems. I watched Ned win worlds in 1990 in Durango. Brook Watts was 9th and Karl Keister was 10th.

Day Two is in the books

There were a whole lot of junior and "cougar" races yesterday at Nats. In the big race of the day, the Eckmann brothers lined up in the 15-16 junior race. After racing in tough conditions again, Robin was 4th and Yannick was 6th. Keeping the CO flag flying high.

Just scanning the results, it appears that there are plenty of DNS's this year. People cant get there becuase of the ice storms, snow, no power or plain ole burnout. You signed up and sent your check and that money is lost, no refunds. OUCH!!! That hurts the budget a bit.....

Up for Saturday is U23 men/women and all the beer drinkin dad's races.....

Day One is in the books

So the first day of Cross Nats is in the books....and the home town boys and girls have gone to KC and showed everyone who is the king/queen of cross is...Move over Portland, we are taking back our title!!!!

Up first were the Women's B race. After 45 minutes of racing, it was Broomfields own Kristal Boni taking the W from the Twin Peaks Racing team. She finished 5th in the Womens open in BCR this year. In second place was Morrison's own Shawnee Brenner racing for Red Rocks Cyclery. Finishing up the top 10 was Boulder's own Susan Prieto of Blue Sky Velo. Congrats Ladies on laying the wood to the rest of the US.

Photo coutesy of http://www.kccrossnationals.blogspot.com/

Up next was the Mens Under 29 race. Durango's own Robin Guillaume was 4th. From the Springs was Daniel Matheny representing Einsteins Bagels finsihing 10th. And in 21st place was Steve Hageman from HART. Steve moved up to the 3's this year after taking some quick top 5's in the SM4's. Congrats to all of you, you young wipper-snappers.

Third race of the day was the uber competitive Killer B's 30-39. In third place was Evergreen's own Simon Alexander of Echelon Elite. In 4th place was Longmonts own, the mechanic of the stars, Matt Opperman from Pro Peloton. Rounding out the top 20 was Jamie Kilcoyne in 7th, Brett Batchelder in 10th, Leo Patnode in 11th, Rob Batey in 14th (Rob started in the last row of a huge field and moved all the way up...Great ride Rob) and Kris Thompson in 18th. What a showing gentlemen!!!

In the last race of the day, the Killer B's 40+ it was Darron Cheek from Breckenridge in 3rd place and in 10th place representing Red Rocks Velo was Jared Shuttleworth.

Tomorrow there is another full slate of racing...check back sports fans, because we are just warming up

Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

well, not really....I used to live in KC and it is going to be damn cold. I did the damn cold race last weekend up in Lyons.

I was supposed to go with the Squires brothers back in 2001, but an injury kept me home...good thing too. It was so cold that I dont think they even raced the second day. They drove home in a ice/snow storm.

I guess in my old age, I have no desire to line up with 171 of my fellow cross brothers and know that USAC is going to be pulling people within the first 2 laps because they will be overwhelmed with scoring the race. Plus here is a list of the guys in the 35-39 age race:

Clark Sheehan, Travis Brown, Bandon Dwight, Glen Light, Tim Faia, Clay Harris, Jared Roy, Matt Opperman and Rob Batey

These are the same guys that I can race against right here in my back yard. Why drive over 600 miles to get my ass handed to me again, when that happened most of this year. Good luck to all of the CO racers that have headed over to KC for nationals.

This is the same course that last year, Steve Tilford crashed into the lake becasue the course was icy almost drowned....but in true cross spirit, he got some new gloves and kept on racing and ended up winning the race.

Check back for daily updates and our take on who won and how they won as the days go by.

It cant be over...I just started to find some fitness

Put a fork in me.

I have been mentally done racing for the past month. I have been going through the motions over last couple of races. It finally cumulated at States up in Lyons. Thank god that Brian and Vegas drove and they brought coffee to the house. Brian had mapquest directions, a full tank of gas and beer for after the humiliation that was about to be bestowed upon me.

Today’s weather was better suited for a polar bear rummaging around for some food in a garbage dump in Canada than racing cross. In a flat field with 5 inches of snow and temps in the teens or lower, I paid my money, pinned on a number and took my usual position, at least for this year, at the back of the group. Tom Hall kept me company back there. He races harder than anyone else in our group and should get an award for it, instead of the sandbaggers that have emerged this year.

The gun went off, the first crash happens in front of me and we are racing for the next 45 minutes. 20 minutes in, I start to feel good and start picking people off from my last row callup. With 2 laps to go, I tell myself,

“Self, there are only two laps left in the season. Time to start working hard and reel in some guys in front of you”

Hit the NOS bottle and it sputs and does not fire….what a surprise. As I am coming through the playground area, I go to put the bike down and slip on a piece of wood that marks the edge of the playground. I go down but the bike is still racing…at least it knows what to do. It did a 20 yard ghost ride still following the course. I get up, grab it in full motion and hop back on and take off. The next 90 degree corner and I am down again….man, this is starting to suck.

Get back on and I can hear people behind me breathing hard…not the good kind of breathing from a 900 number, but the breathing of someone who races cyclocross all year and has a hack that sounds disgusting. I open the smallest of gaps through the next barrier section and cruise to the finish. Cruise is an oxymoron, since I am sprinting for someplace in the mid 40’s.

Photo courtesy of mudandcowbells.blogspot.com and Longman

The season is over for this kid. It has been a blast as always. The season has been hard, fun, hot, cold, wet and everything in between.

Coming up next: What Belgium beer pairing goes best with the off season training program.

States this weekend

I can see it!! I can see it!!!

The finish line for this year's cross season is upon us. There has been much drama and gossip on where States would be held. Everyone loves the Xillinx course. Nobody wants to race at the Boulder Res at this point. ICCC course was a new fun place to race at. Where it wont be will be Gunny or Frisco with all the snow flying up there. So on Sunday the hot rumor was Lyons and then confirmed with the ACA.

Lyons, where the hell is Lyons? This sounds like a long drive from me. Will I need to take a snack with me? A full tank of gas? Use GPS? Mapquest? Maybe I should Google it up? This is what was found:

Bohn Park is just south of the confluence of the North and South St. Vrain Rivers. This beautiful park was recognized by the Colorado Lottery for creative use of funds. Bohn Park has lighted ball fields, a playground, fishing ponds, a shelter house and restrooms, picnic area and a fishing ramp for the handicapped

The forcast has been heading to the deep freeze for the last couple of days. It started with highs in the 40's, then mid 30's and now they are calling for a high of 19 degree's at race time, but it will feel like 9 degrees. This alone should keep most fair weathered of racers away...but not die hard cross racers.

When the weather get's cold, the real hard men of the season keep showing up. They are there when it is in the mid 70's in September and there when the snow is flying in December. After they are done racing, they change clothes, grab a beer and hang out to rehash the race and support thier fellow racers.

Hope to see everyone's smiling face on Sunday...because it is the last race of the season!!!!

Hey, I Got a Couple Questions For Ya.......

I chose to skip Saturdays monthly gathering for yet another round of Thornfest 2007 at the Boulder Res. Crap people, just exactly how many races are we going to run at that place? Instead, a couple of us went and pre-rode Sunday’s course at Bear Creek Lake State park. The Red Rocks Velo guys had put together another good one. It had all the bases covered. There was pavement and gravel road sections to keep the power guys happy and yet enough single track to keep up the pucker factor on all the roadies and put a smile on the face of all the baggie pants types. The RRV boys were even so damn kind as to run the course over a tree covered section of single track along a creek bed that was sure to remain blanketed with snow and ice throughout the day. That then lead into another section of single track that had sun on it and was sure to start melting about race time on Sunday. Add in a couple of trips though a sand pit and a nice double barrier at the bottom of a long hill forcing a run-up…. And you got yourself a cross course.

The plan for Sunday called for meeting Rich at KBC around 8am. At 8:20, I am on my second cup of pre-race coffee when the phone cell goes off. It is Rich calling to tell me that he has bruised his pussy hurt his back. Evidently, some 7 year old in their group decided that Rich needed a good crack-back block at the Parade of Lights on Saturday night. The Summary is, Rich is out and I am on my own. So I enjoy a 3^rd cup and then head out for the hour plus ride over to the course.

I show up in time to join the rest of the “beer drinking dads” for the launch of the 35+ Cat 4s. My start is mediocre at best. I can sure tell that I spent the week on company travel down to Phoenix, AZ sitting in meetings for 3 days. About the halfway point in the race, I start feeling better and am able to move up some spots so that I am at least in a position to earn come points. ........ And then, the triple whammy hit.....


Note to the reader. You will enjoy and understand this next section best if you are familiar with the terms used to describe my cyclocross racing. Those terms are defined in my first blog post back in Sept. Feel free to give that a read and then come back. How’s that for a shameless plug?

Question #1 – I know that everyone says that bad things come in 3’s… and that is just a saying… but why the hell does it have to be so damn true?

1) We are coming out of the creek bottom single-track, over the double barrier and on the run-up. In an effort to gap a couple guys, I go hard on the run to the top. On the re-mount I get a visit from my old friend, The Flying Bike Punt..... and I pull a spectacular one. No such thing as a soft landing on this bad boy. This is a full-on heap with my steed landing sideways on the gravel road and me right on top of it. I try to untangle and hop right back up in order to maintain my position, but the damage is done. I have to stop, straighten the handlebars, and the spring on the front left brake has popped out. 6 to 8 spots go by as I channel Gny Sgt Hartman and “encourage” myself while I am trying to re-set a brake spring with gloved fingers.

Off and going again, I start up the mantra of “stay calm, keep aggressive, and go get those places back." A lap later, the rear tire starts to bottom out on a much too consistent basis. Perhaps cutting corners thru the weeds on this course is not the smartest thing to be doing. But, knowing that I am running some Stan’s in that tube, I figured I can get it to last the couple more laps till the end of the race.

2) Coming back thru the frozen tundra single track late in the race, I come up on a rider that has dumped it and is just getting back on course. Judging from the fact that he has snow all over him, it must of have been a good one. He is still shaking out the cobwebs when I catch him and takes it easy thru the rest of the snow/ice. I figure that since we gotta be racing for something like 35th place, there is no reason to be an ass and force a pass on the single track. As long as I don’t try and castrate myself again on the re-mount, I should be able to get around him on the run-up. We start to ramp it back up on the 2^nd half of the single track. I notice this time thru that the course is indeed starting to melt in this section like I thought it would when I pre-rode it on Saturday. Heading through a gentle left hander….BAM!!! The front wheel washes and I am down quicker than Larry Craig’s pants in the Minneapolis airport. Damn, I never saw that one coming. The front brake spring is off again and I lose several more spots getting it back on.

Off and rolling again, I got through the finish and thankfully the course ref shows me one to go. The rear is bottoming out still but has stabilized so I figure that I will just take it easy and finish this nightmare off without a DNF. I am getting sensations in my left knee that we are in for the 4th round of cleaning. This time I did not grind mud and/or dirt into it so it will be an easy job.

We are descending down a gravel road and into a sharp right-hander when the front washes again and I hit the deck for the third time. You know that medium high pitched crunching sound you get in your head when you helmet hits gravel? Yeah… I got that. I let out a stream of cussing that makes Chesty Puller blush… and he is dead. My wife is watching from several hundred feet away and can tell even at that distance that I have lost my patience with my inability to ride a bike today. Ya see folks, here is the deal. I am a expert left side crasher. Hell, I am a such a fricken expert at crashing to the left side that I can and do in any situation and repeatedly take the exact same chunk of meat out of my left knee each time I do it. I DO NOT CRASH TO THE RIGHT SIDE! PERIOD! Thus, I am a bit disenchanted with this latest event. Anyways…. It must have been a good one because the rider behind me almost comes to a complete stop and asks if I am OK. One look and he knows that I will live. Oh… and just in case you are wondering…. Yes, the left front brake spring has popped out again. Several more of my racing buddies pass as I am getting it back in place. I was out there long enought that I half expected someone to ride by and ask "Ya got everything you need?"

Up and going again I roll easily along and shortly, I feel the front tire bottoming out. The good news is that suddenly my dim light starts to shine about the front wheel washouts. The bad news is that I got half a lap to go and I am nursing a low rear and a near flat front. The front tube has True Goo in it and for those with any questions on Rich’s post, my field test confirms that the goo is not doing it's best. It is however, working just enough to keep me from running on the rim so in a effort to ward off a DNF, I start nursing things along.

The final trip thru the glacial paradise of the creek bottom single track is a true comedy. I can hear a rider come up behind me so I let them know that I am nursing two near flats and that he can come by at any time that he so desires. He declines…..he is in no rush. This is a guy after my heart. The best seat in the house for true comedy has gotta be right behind my lard-ass while I am trying to ride ultra-low pressure through a ice/snow/mud covered single track. I do several severe bobbles in 30 yards of JRA and he quickly figures out that as fun as this is, I am sure to take him down with me. At the first opportunity, he is around and gone. Several other guys follow suit before I can get to the end of the race.

Post race, I get confirmation of my crashing excellence. Earlier I got a rider to nearly stop mid race in order to inquire as to my condition. Now, I get no less that three gentlemen to come up to me after the race and exclaim “Holy shit dude, are you OK? You really hit the deck hard out there!!!" My reply…..”Ah.....Which time?"

Off to home to scrub out the left knee, hit it with Bactine, and perform the Bactine dance again. For those not in the know, the Bactine dance is where you spay an open wound with Bactine (or any other wound cleanser….. trust me, I have tried them all) and wait for the stinging to start. Then you spend the next 30 seconds dancing around waving your arms chanting “Ooowwweee, ooowwweee, ooowwweee” over and over.

This brings me to –

Question #2) If nerves fire nearly instantaneously, why is there a 7 second delay between the spraying of Bactine into an open wound and the onset of mind-numbing stinging that follows? Try it some time yourself. There is a dead-nuts-on 7 second delay. By the way.....I just love the claim on their website….. Plus, unlike hydrogen peroxide, it does not sting. A more misleading claim has never been posted.

Next week is the state championships and the last race of the season. Perhaps some dismount and re-mount drills are in order. Or, perhaps I should just visualize not crashing. I put together a string of three races this season where I stayed upright so I know I can do it.

Assuming I live through next week's race, I will have completed my first season and met my main goal which was to live to talk/blog about it. So, for next season, I need to set some new goals. They say you should always focus on your strengths and well…. we all know mine.

So….maybe I should just visualize cooler crashes. I never do the cool stuff like the good guys do. I never “roll a tublar” just because I am going so damn fast. Probably because I race clinchers but lets not kill the buzz here. I also seem to come up short on the whole “I was flying along putting the power down when I tore the rear dérailleur off my bike” thing. These will definitely be some things to ponder while I am out on the fixie next spring.

b.