Who’s going to madison and who needs to figure out driving and I wonder if I can even get in still….

FPA

From www.usacycling.org

Following the recommendation of the Cyclo-cross Commission, the UCI Management Committee has approved modifications to its cyclo-cross rules which will take effect at the beginning of the 2010-2011 cyclo-cross season. A summary of the changes is as follows:

1) Disc brakes will now be allowed in cyclo-cross competition.
2) The legal tire width in competition has also been changed. Width shall not exceed 33 mm, whereas before the maximum width was 35 mm.
3) Continental Cyclocross Championships have been established.
4) The “6 obstacle limit” has been changed to a “6 man-made obstacle limit.”
5) The height of barriers is now a maximum of 40 cm instead of a defined height of 40 cm.
6) Man-made sand pits are now allowed and the dimensions for them have been established.
7) The distance between planks has been changed to a range of 4 to 6 meters between.
Commissaires may now authorize feeding if the temperature is above 20 degrees C. This feeding takes place in the pit lane, but not during the first two or the last two laps.
9) The commissaires may now invoke the “80% rule” and remove a rider who is behind the leader by 80% of the leader’s lap time. Thus, riders can be pulled before they are lapped.

Guess I need new tires.
MC

It is that time of year again.  Cross is around the corner and most of you have been racing for months now.  Fitness is going up, power numbers look good, that new kit is in the mail.  But wait.  Why has that extra Masters lbs still seem to not want to let go?

Well, the Whole 30 Version 2.010 is in effect.  Some of you might remember HEF posting this last year at this time.  As skeptical as we all are with this sort of thing, this is the same protocol that many ProTour teams use when trying to get their racers to lean-out before major times of the year.

Take it with a grain of salt, but think about it none the less.  Everytime I do the full 30, I drop 5 kilos, performance goes up, and I look a lot better naked.

Check out: http://hefnutrition.blogspot.com/ and http://whole9life.com/2010/05/whole-30-v2/ for more info.

just saying…

-fpa

Well that silly little thing in France has started, so that means that the real cycling season (cyclocross) is almost getting close.  I decided it was time to start training.  I’ve had the past four weeks off the bike thanks to a strained Achilles tendon and several tournaments coaching my daughter’s fastpitch softball team.  The spring and summer are our busiest times. I also had a wonderful week in Colorado thanks to my wife’s extra work and income.  She promised the kids she would make up for working more hours by a special family vacation.  And it was.  We were in Beaver Creek which is about 10 minutes West of Vail.  It was awesome.  Ready to move to Colorado if only we could both find jobs that would allow it.  Anyone need a Public Defender and a Social Worker? Anyway.  I decided to work out a  little while I was there and swim a few laps in the pool.  That was much easier on my strained tendon.  But I quickly found out how out of shape I was thanks to the altitude.  So, one week later we are back at home and I have to hit the bike.  A week ago Sunday I went for a little 2 1/2 hour ride.  It killed me after 4 weeks off.  But I recovered ok and Wednesday I did an hour.  Then Friday I did a 45 minute spin to loosen things up.  Then I was back at it on Sunday for another 2 hour ride.  I was tired and sore by this time.  Then while we were on our way to dinner and a fireworks show Sunday night a buddy called wanting to do a group ride on Monday.  I told him I was fat and out of shape, but he said not to worry.  “We won’t hammer, just have some fun.”  So, out of bed Monday morning and go meet the group for an easy ride….5 minutes after the start, 25+ mph, in the drops, trying to find the back of the last wheel in the line, heartrate through the roof, blurred vision and I knew I was in trouble.  Luckily, they slowed down and waited for everyone to regroup after the climbs.  But still, an hour and half later I was dragging.  BUT I did get some preseason drafting  practice and a little pre-season suffering.  So, this is the real pre-season as we prepare to suffer with the first hint of cooler weather still over 2 months away.

Can’t wait to build my real bike back up again. Can’t wait for the first bits of mud in my teeth.  Can’t wait for the first flawless (or maybe not) dismount and remount.  Is it cross season yet? Bring it on. All hail the Cowbell.  More Cowbell. All the time.

Talk to ya’ll later.

DS

So take that, world. Oregon is getting all up in your CX grill with a high-school development league:

http://bikeportland.org/2010/06/21/obra-to-debut-high-school-cyclocross-program-this-fall/

Sugahara says the High School Training and Racing Program will be organized like a “club sport” with volunteer coaches and trainers. He envisions each participating school would field teams of 4-8 students and training clinics would be held on school grounds.

“Our main goal is to make this a game-changer for cycling throughout the state by legitimizing it as a major high school sport like football or basketball.”
— Kenji Sugahara, Executive Director of OBRA

OBRA plans a three-race series in 2010 that will happen in September, with the inaugural championships occurring over Thanksgiving weekend. Also working on the project are Rick Potestio, John Myers, and Brad Ross — all of whom have been instrumental in developing the popular Cross Crusade into the largest cyclocross series (in terms of participation) in the world. Potestio, Myers, and Ross are working on a video and workbook that will serve as a coaches handbook.

As cool as this is, I worry that attendance at each round of the Cross Crusade will soon grow to the point that the races will take over the entire weekend, instead of just Sundays. Is that a bad thing? For the cyclocross dogs among us, not so much. But the families? Won’t someone think of the families??

…to start riding cross bikes, which is exactly what I did with the Freewheel crew & friends yesterday morning. I’m in the black kit on the far right in case you were wondering, which you probably weren’t.

Freewheel & friends summer CX ride (pic via dfl brad)

The ride, besides “getting the band back together,” also shook the cobwebs off the race bikes (mine had been hibernating since mid-December) and reminded everyone of the various things, both physical and mechanical, that could use a little work leading up to the season. Three hours, three flats, one exploding chainring and a high-speed endo later it seemed like there was more than enough to get sorted out before those first races this fall. That goes for the rest of you, too - do that tune-up you’ve been putting off and finish all those intervals or face the consequences! 

Big thanks to Jason & co. at De La Paz Coffee for letting us meet up at their HQ and providing the pre-ride caffeine.

On a sadder note, the Livermore CX series is dead until further notice.

- Nick in SF

I’m pretty sure this was made in Oregon

(click on pic for vid)

-buddhabelly

Oregon Syndicate

Over Memorial Weekend, Allen Goldbeck and I made the 6.5 hr drive from the Portland Metro to Spokane, WA for the 24hrs of Round and Round race. We met up with 3 other guys (all friends of Allen) who made a similar 6+ hr drive from the Seattle/Tacoma area of western Washington.

Friday Night (5/28):

Set up the tents and as a group pre-rode the course with no lights. We made it back by 9pm and could still see which one might think portends of beautiful weather…not so.

The course:

• distance: 14.7 miles
• technically: moderate…pretty rocky at times as evidenced by the number of flats seen
• climbing: 7-8 of them but none longer than 0.25 miles
• aerobically: strenuous
• time to complete: our 5-person team was as fast as 1hr 8min up to 1hr 26min
• average speeds: our 5-person team ranged from 9mph up to 13mph
• attendance: 700+ racers (one unicyclist)

Crossniacs

Saturday/Race Day (5/29):

Race started at Noon with a Le Mans started that I got volunteered for. Why not? I can start my ‘cross training early!

racked before the Le Mans start

cx training

Riding up the hill I just ran up :(

Allen HTFU!

Sunday (5/30):

After some calculations, we figured we could try to get all 5 guys 4 laps each, so 20 total for the team. Come Noon on Sunday, we were only able to get 19 so our anchor Doug didn’t get a chance but he was cool just sleeping and drinking

Nite Rider on hand

Where we handed off

My lap times:

1. 1:12:07.143 at Noon on Saturday (this included the Le Mans start…so not bad)
2. 1:09:35.629 at about 5:30pm Saturday evening
3. 1:19:25.089 at 12:45am-ish on Sunday (this was my only night lap and one I’ll never forget…so beautiful…and only the 2nd time ever I’ve mtn biked at night)
4. 1:15:27.249 at 7am-ish on Sunday (I was really happy with this lap time as I was fighting cramps in both quads, my back and my left arm)

Over the course of the race, we each could not have gotten more than 4 hrs of sleep. I know my figure was more like 2.5hrs

-will

Pac NW AllStarz

Crossniacs Oregon Syndicate

Crossniacs Professional Syndicate, Oudenaarde, Belgium
Press Release: May 26th, 2010

Crossniacs seek riders for the new Professional Syndicate.

The US multi-regional syndicate based cyclocross team, Crossniacs, is seeking riders to join their new Professional Syndicate. The Professional Syndicate will be based in Oudenaarde, Belgium and compete in UCI races throughout Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

The Professional Syndicate seeks 2 Elite Men and 2 U23 riders to complete their roster. Riders will need to be available from September 15th, 2010 till February 15th, 2011 and will be based in Belgium throughout the racing season. The team’s racing schedule includes the Super Prestige, Gazette Van Antwerpen and UCI World Cups (pending selection), along with Cross Vegas to kick off the season and a trip back to the US for the national championships.

Interested riders can contact the Professional Syndicate Manager, Gregg Germer, at gregg.germer@yahoo.com, with their CV and for details of what team members will be provided. All resumes must be submitted by June 5th, 2010 to be considered.

For more information on the Crossniacs please visit http://www.crossniacs.com

Gregg Germer,
Professional Syndicate Manager