docTRP-Sept Free 2015v2
download 
Report Transcription
TRP-Sept Free 2015v2
T H E R AC I NG PO S T September 2015 for Cycling Enthusiasts Cat Moore’s 2:29.161 Seconds A New World Record Junior Spotlight Aubrey and Ryan Drummond LIKE US ON FACEBOOK Plan Your Road Trip Calendar Page 2 Tr a c k R a c e s R o a d R a c e s , C r i t s , T T ’s C X September 6-7 Chase the Ace p/b Bad Kitty 6 University Oaks Criterium 8-9 San Antonio Bike Bash 9 Castroville Time Trials 10,14 Toutant Time Trial 13 Chappell Hill Road Race 13 Castroville Time Trials 15 Nick’s Mission Time Trials 19 Battle of San Jacinto Criterium 27 Cyclocross Scuffle 20 University Oaks Criterium 26-27 State Championship Road Races Fort Hood Challenge 26 It's a Bexar, San Antonio 26 HTXCX #1 October 3-4 Six Shooter 10-11 QUEST Cyclocross 10 HTXCX 17 HTXCX 17 Violet Crown CX 18 Copperas Cove CX 18 River City Market CX 24-25 CX7 31 Spooky Cross November 1 Spooky Cross 7 BCRCX 8 Give Me Some Sugar Cross 14-15 Georgetown Cyclocross Festival 21 HTXCX 21-22 Capital City Racing Cross 27 Black Friday Cross 28 Saturday Cross Dallas, TX SanAntonio, TX San Antonio, TX Castroville, TX San Antonio, TX Chappell Hill, TX Castroville, TX New Boston, TX LaPorte, TX Elgin, TX SanAntonio, TX Copperas Cove,TX San Antonio, TX Houston, TX Manor, TX Austin, TX Houston, TX Houston, TX Webberville, TX Copperas Cove, TX Austin, TX Austin, TX Dallas, TX Dallas, TX Houston, TX Houston, TX Georgetown, TX Houston, TX Austin, TX Fort Worth, TX Fort Worth, TX M i d - We e k R a c i n g September 1,8 Sun & Ski Tuesday Night Crit 3,10 KingRacingGroup Thursday Crit 3,10,17,24 PURE Driveway Series 8,15 Tree of Life Criterium Richardson, TX Dallas, TX Austin, TX New Braunfels, TX October 1,8,15 PURE Driveway Series Austin, TX September 4,11,18,25 ATRA Friday Night Omnium 5-6 The Omnium 19 Atomic Time Trial 19 Dollar Night at the $uperdrome 20 Track on Speed October 3 The Madison Houston, TX Houston, TX Houston, TX Frisco, TX Frisco, TX Houston, TX November No Events Scheduled Mountain Bike Races September 5-6 Camp Eagle Mountain Bike Festival Rocksprings, TX 5-6 Signal Peak Fat Tire Festival Silver City, NM October 3 Road Apple Rally 4 Slaughter Pen Jam 4 Wheeler Dealer MTB Race 10 White Mesa XC 10-11 The Grizzly Grind 11 Down with LPP 25 Baton Rouge Battle Farmington, NM Bentonville, AR Watonga, OK San Ysidro, NM Angel Fire, NM Ruston, LA Baton Rouge, LA November 7 Big Cedar Marathon 14 Palo Duro Marathon Dallas, TX Canyon, TX M u l t i - S p o r t & A d v. R a c e s September 5 Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race 5 Guts & Glory Adventure Race 6 Old College Tri 6 Towne Lake Youth Triathlon 7 Pathway Prep Kids Tri 12-13 Denison Red River Rampage Tri 13 Onalaska Triathlon 13 Colin’s Hope Kids Tri 15 Austin Splash ‘n Dash 19 Be Brave 24 19 Triathlon Grand Prix 20 North Texas Kids Triathlon 20 Island Girl Tri 26 Buffalo Battle 27 Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon 27 Aquarena Springs - Springs Lake Tri 27 Katy Triathlon Austin, TX Glorieta, TX Denton, TX Cypress, TX Keene, TX Denison, TX Onalaska, TX Austin, TX Austin, TX Dallas, TX Angleton, TX Arlington, TX Galveston, TX Odessa, TX McKinney, TX San Marcos, TX Katy, TX October 3 BattleFrog Austin Burnet, TX 3 Mammoth Lake Triathlon Lake Jackson, TX 4 Take on the Heat The Colony, TX 4 Meet Your Maker Off-Road Challenge Marble Falls, TX November 1 Oil Man Texas Triathlon 8 The Bull Du 14 MuckFest MS Houston 14 USAT National Championships 21 MOJO Challenge Montgomery, TX Seguin, TX Houston, TX Fort Worth, TX Winnie, TX To u r s & R o a d R i d e s *Bicycles Inc ARLINGTON Century of the Month Ride distances for everyone.... 12, 23, 42, 61, 81 & 102 miles. September 12-13 Enchanted Circle Century 12 Century of the Month 12 LaVernia Wild West Hammerfest 12 Freescale CTX Tour de Cure 12 CF Cycle for Life 19 Fort Davis Cyclefest 19 Conquer the Coast 20 Tour de Pink 26 TX Mamma Jamma 26 Texas Tumbleweed 100 26 Wish 100 Bicycle Rally Red River, NM Arlington, TX LaVernia, TX Austin, TX Dallas, TX Fort Davis, TX Corpus Christi, TX Prairie View, TX Martindale, TX Dumas, TX McKinney, TX October 3 Century of the Month Arlington, TX 3 Bike For Kids’ Sake Abilene, TX 3 Pineywoods Purgatory Tour Lufkin, TX 3 Camino205 Bike Ride Palestine, TX 10 College Station Rotary Ride College Station, TX 10 Waco Wild West 100 Bicycle Tour Waco,TX 17 24th Annual Missions Tour de Goliad Goliad, TX 17 Mineral Wells Crazy Kicker Ride Mineral Wells, TX 17-18 Bike Around the Bay Galveston, TX 18 Livestrong Austin Challenge Austin, TX November 1 Urban Assault Ride 7 Century of the Month 7 Wallis Independence Ride 7 Tour de Gruene 7 Bike Out Hunger 7 Aim for the Coast Bike Tour 21 Bicycle Spirit Ride 21 Turkey Roll Bicycle Rally Austin, TX Arlington, TX Wallis, TX Gruene, TX Waco, TX Rockport, TX Livingston, TX Denton, TX See our ads on pages 6 & 12 DISC-BRAKE CLINCHER 25mm External 26mm Depth 21mm Internal 77/177D HUBSET 24 REAR SPOKE COUNT 24 FRONT SPOKE COUNT THRU-AXLE COMPATIBLE TUBELESS-READY Photo: ©Nils Nilsen WEIGHT: 1655g YOU’RE SET FOR A NEW COURSE OF ACTION. Road. Cyclocross. Throw in some gravel and adventure riding. The Zipp 30 Course Disc-brake wheelset is a category-creating kind of aluminum wheelset ready for it all. A Speed Weapon engineered for speed, durability, and the precision and power of disc braking. Available in tubular, clincher and tubeless-ready with a wide rim profile for best-in-class performance and handling. Learn more at zipp.com T HE R ACING P OST PO Box 210066, Bedford, TX 76095 817.282.2994 Andy Hollinger - Editor-in-Chief Editor ............................................................. Jeff Garner W/F Roadie ...………....................….... Richard Carter Turn Left? ............................................ Want the job? Tri Editor..........................................................Steen Editor..........................................................Steen Rose Product Editor ......................... ......................... ............ Adam Spears Rally Maven................................................ Lisa Tillley Photographers……….................. Jim Hicks ~ Lee McDaniel ~ Lauren Hollinger ~ Corvin Alstot ~ Robert Sprangle ~ Biff Stephens Contributors………............................. Susan Farago, Andrew Armstrong ~ Daniel Carruthers ~ Art Exum ~ Russell, Livingston ~ Ken Maclean ~ Richard McLamore ~ Steen Rose ~ Stefan Rothe ~ Mark Schnur ~ Lisa Tilley ~ Matt Davis ~ Corey Meeks Cartoonist....................................................Sadie Cartoonist....................................................Sadie Pudge Lick, Stamp, Lift…….............….....Baggins Lift…….............….....Baggins & Tucker Publisher…………….....................….......Lauren Publisher…………….....................….......Lauren Hollinger T HE R ACING P OST is published monthly and is available free-ofcharge at participating bike shops and cycling events. Bike shops or events who would like to have complimentary copies of T HE R ACING P OST are encouraged to contact us. Individual subscriptions are available for $30.00/year. For subscriptions or address changes, contact:us via email or call 817.282-2994 to use credit card. If you use snail mail make all checks payable to: T HE R ACING P OST . We also have a subcription service on BikeReg for your convenience. Contents Vol. 15, No. 9 Features 5 6 7 11 13 14 16 22 26 28 Limited back issues may be available for $5/each. Please contact the Publisher for availability. Magnetic copies of specific copies or covers are available free of charge - Call T HE R ACING P OST is a copyrighted publication. If you are interested in reprinting material which originates with T HE R ACING P OST , please contact us for expressed written permission. We’re serious about this. THERACINGPOST Available FREE at participating Bike Shops PDF download at www.theracingpost.us Free EXPANDED Digital editions with 15 to 20% more content Hosted: $.99 / mo or $10 / yr through http://digital.turn-page.com Letters and/or guest articles appearing in T HE R ACING P OST are the sole opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of T HE R ACING P OST staff. Our world revolves around on-time issues. Therefore everything (stories and advertising) should be in T HE R ACING P OST ’ S office no later than the 15th of the month. Call as early as possible with problems or issues ~ if we know about it, we can usually work with you. CONTACT INFORMATION Advertising Sales………[email protected] Race / Ride [email protected] Subscriptions……………[email protected] Letters…………………[email protected] Editor……………………[email protected] Publisher………………[email protected] 4 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 S e p t e m b e r 2015 30 37 This Stuff Works ~ Canari Ft. Hood Kit Team Focus: Team Velocity Bike Shop Catherine “Cat” Moore ~ Elite Masters Racer’s World Record Experience North Star Grand Prix Bucket Ride #8 - Stonewall Century Gravel Travails Leadville 100: Race Across The Sky Product Review: The Moots at 5,000 The Gravel Bicycling World Product Review: Zipp SL70 Aero Handlebars and SLSprint Stem Mountain Biking in Chile MSU Fall 2015 Freshman Class Regulars 2 8 10 12 24 25 32 34 Plan Your Road Trip RBM Rally Report Coach Speak The View from Back Here West Texas Wind Chasing Miles RBM What’s New At The Shop Junior Spotlight On The Cover: Catherine Moore of Waco, Texas sets a new world record in the Masters Women 2K Pursuit at Vic Williams Memorial tournament at the OTC Velodrome in Colorado Springs, CO. Photo by John Cline (Story on page 7) WWW.THERACINGPOST.US This Stuff Works ~ Canari Fort Hood Kit By TRP Staff Members of The Racing Post staff have been wearing Canari for quite some time now, which has allowed me to obtain a level of perception that is sometimes difficult to achieve with reviews. Often, the time available for gear review is restricted by all manner of practicalities. Bikes may need to be returned to the manufacturer after an allotted time, or a set of wheels might need to be passed on to another reviewer. Of course, publication dates are always looming. Generally, these issues have no bearing on the review. For example, outside of anomalies, a frameset that’s good enough to be considered in The Racing Post is not likely to selfdestruct in 12 months if it did not in the two months of abuse we subject it to. Where time does become a very real concern is apparel. Articles such as shoes, bibs and jerseys frequently have very high price tags that only escalate alongside perceived quality. However, within cycling, ‘quality’ may not always be representative of longevity. A top tier 11-speed chain may be an engineering work of art, representative of the highest quality of manufacturing, but with those hollow pins, side plate cut-outs, and lighter weight materials comes the understanding of reduced longevity. These are considerations of balance, and in some areas, cyclists are willing to give up a degree of longevity or durability for more immediate performance gains through weight savings or increased efficiency. Personally, I prefer to limit my areas of sacrifice to the dessert table. When it comes to equipment, I’d rather not sacrifice any aspect of quality in favor of another. This is a primary reason why The Racing Post staff are such fans of Moots, Zipp, and Canari. Frames, components and clothing are not disposable items within our income brackets and I expect a high quality piece of equipment last long enough to justify my financial investment. I suspect you do, too. Often, it seems that clothing manufacturers have discarded these aspirations. While kits have become incredibly lightweight, breathable and may fit like second skin, I cannot justify the all too often high expense of a kit that won’t even last a full race season. I get it - a silky pair of second skin bibs may not withstand a 30mph slide on concrete when that weekday warrior takes out my front wheel at the local niter, but shouldn’t that $200 pair of bibs last a couple of dozen times through the washing machine in garment bags before their transparency allows the rider on my wheel to become all too intimate with my posterior? In the past, I have been wooed by other clothing manufacturers, and I like their gear still. Well, I like it up to the point I realize that wonderful pair of bibs has developed quarter size windows at the top of each ass cheek that render them unusable within a dozen wearings. So this is one way that Canari has fully won me over. As mentioned, I’ve been wearing their gear for a year and a half now, and I’ve previously reviewed their summer and winter wear. I liked Canari’s offerings from the start and had no criticisms at all. But still, their great pricing has always been the final point of justification for me, as I might otherwise have slightly preferred the feel of another jersey’s material or the flat rubberized grippers of another bib. Time has changed that. With more time, I now have the level of perspective from which I can better consider what I am willing to spend my closely guarded bike funds on. Canari has won the day on all fronts – pricing, fit, comfort and appearance. My most current is the Canari 2015 Texas State Championships kit. It consists of the Gravity bib shorts and the short sleeve Euro jersey. These are updated versions of the models I first WWW.THERACINGPOST.US tested 18 months ago (and which I continue to wear). I continue to like Canari’s Edge Pro leg bands, but actually now prefer them to the rubberized bands I’d liked so much from another manufacture. After a season and a half, Canari’s bands still hold my legs firmly and without movement, ensuring both comfort and crisp tan lines. The competitor’s rubberized leg bands I liked so much? Well, they don’t exactly breathe and the material really serves to irritate my skin during a sweltering hot summer ride. Checkmark Canari. The chamois pad simply fits better, too. It is a proprietary Canari pad, designed to provide a very precise anatomical fit. Let’s just say that after 18 months of comparing the Canari bibs to others, I can confidently say that my ‘anatomy’ simply feels better after 4 hours in the saddle with the Canari bibs. Another checkmark for Canari. In fact, while I recognize this is a subjective mark, that’s what I have come to appreciate most about the Canari gear as compared to my other clothing. It just feels better. The jerseys fit nicely and lay flatly. The waist and sleeve grippers hold position nicely, but no so tightly that they prevent the fabric from moving with my body. These are small points, but they all contribute to a more comfortable experience and professional look. When I wear another brand jersey and fight the sleeves bunching, twisting, or tugging my skin uncomfortably when I raise my arms, the Canari difference is more apparent and appreciated. This is particularly true of the flatlock model. Lastly, and it still must be said, Canari’s pricing and delivery times remain a high selling point. My team is also wearing Canari now, and it has cut our kit prices by nearly half. Also, because their clothing is produced at their headquarters in Vista, California, we receive faster turnaround and shipping times, and no longer have to deal with orders held up in customs. You can check out the Canari custom line at http://www.canari.com/custom/, and find their standard products at most local bike stores. Also, to commemorate the 2015 Texas State Road Championships, The Racing Post and Canari have once again produced an official race jersey. You can pick one up at https://www.bikereg.com/28760 for just $50. VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 5 Team Focus: Team Velocity Bike Shop By TRP Staff Team Name: Team Velocity Bike Shop Main Sponsors: Velocity Bike Shop, Specialized, Living 360 Organics, Llano Construction, Land Whisperer Natural Pond Care, mysurgicalcost.com, West Texas Oral Facial Surgery, Southwest Bank, Mountain Hideaway Website: www.velocitybikeshop.net We were able to get some people to races last year. Anywhere we travel to race it is guaranteed 6 hours on the road. We had some people race Leadville and qualify again for Leadville 2015. One team member raced all over the mid-west during CX season. We had several off and on in the TMBRA XC and marathon series. Geographic area: The 806; Lubbock, Texas Open training rides –When we are in town there is a shop ride on Saturday. Usually we are hitting up the local WTCA rides during the week. History: We started around 2009 and have slowly grown the team over the years Races promoted: Vuelta del Llano Goals or Purpose: Purpose: Enjoy the Ride! Goal: To help promote cycling within the surrounding areas and support the local NICA program. Proudest achievement of past year: Racing! Membership and contact information: There is an intense interview process for membership. Once the interview process is done, initiation could come at any time during the rush process. All inquiries should be directed towards Velocity Bike Shop. We are a small team out of Lubbock, TX. The team was formed by two individuals who raced for Solar Eclipse for many years. When Solar disbanded Team Velocity Bike Shop was formed. A majority of us on the team have known each other for years or have raced together on other teams. Racing is at the forefront of Team , /HY^VVK /\YZ[ ;? .YHUI\Y` 9K -VY[ >VY[O ;? Velocity, but is not mandatory that you hit so many races a year. Many on the team are married and have families so it is difficult to drive 6 hours to races every weekend. Since it is hard for us to make many races, we wanted to host our own event and show off our terrain. We partnered with Lubbock Monterey AMBUCS to create the Vuelta de Llano and it has been a great success. We appreciate all who came up for it this year and look forward to a great race next year. :> .YLLU 6HRZ )S]K (YSPUN[VU ;? > :V\[OSHRL )S]K :V\[OSHRL ;? 1LYZL` 6MÄJPHS )PRL -VY[ >VY[O 1LYZL` 6 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 ;L_HZ 1LYZL` WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Catherine “Cat” Moore Elite Masters Racer’s World Record Experience By Ian Moore Photo by John Cline www.leisureproductions.com As the husband of an Elite Masters Racer, I have many moments that make me proud. Of course, there are the daily scheduling struggles, trying to balance kids, work, life, training and racing, and the constant ebb and flow of travel, racing and life can wear on the "support staff"—aka family—causing stress and disillusionment with racing. Still, every so often an event comes along that makes all of the stress, money and time worth it. Coming off of what was a very hard but successful 2014 season, Cat was semi lost in the world of racing. Not sure if she wanted to jump full steam back into road racing and crits, her season sort of bumbled along in semi confusion. The only events scheduled were ITT Pro championships, pursuit at the Matrix Track Cup and Elite Track Nationals. After racing Pro Road Championships in Chattanooga, it was clear that she could jump back into mass start events and do well (a bad track crash had kept her out of most of the 2014 season). At the Matrix Track Cup a win in the pursuit and the Men's 1/2 Points Race gave her the confidence to plan a quick trip to Colorado Springs to attend the National Track Calendar Independence Day Grand Prix. During the pursuit there she set the U.S. National record for Masters 2k pursuit and unofficially set a world record. Because the time was pulled out of a 3k the UCI would not recognize it. The following weekend there was another event where she would be able to attempt the record, but with no team financial support for Track events, it was asking a lot of the family finances to make another trip to Colorado. Well, Wednesday rolled around and, knowing she was on good form, I convinced her it was an opportunity not to be missed; the decision was made to cram the kids in the car and roll out. After an uneventful drive and arriving at our gracious host housing in Colorado Springs, we made dinner and settled in for an early evening. Early the next morning we drove over to the 7-11 Velodrome and set up camp. Cat’s attempt would be at the very end of the morning session. A warm up of standing start three-lap efforts with times she needed to hit each lap did not go so well, so morale was low. If you have not been to a track race they run on a rolling schedule. So if you are trying to warm up for a specific event, timing is difficult. So the long and tedious process of attempting to warm up for what could be the most important two and a half minutes of her career began. On the bike, off the bike, food in, water in, run to the bathroom, on the bike, wait. It became a long morning, filled with pep talks, bottle filling and ice fetching. As time rolled on, listening to the announcements became key as it would give us a hint as to timing. Well apparently we did not listen close enough because soon enough a call for "Catherine Moore to the ready area" came over the speaker. Quickly we made our way over, with a detour for lip gloss, to the ready area where she would wait for the track to be made ready for pursuit. I made my way up to corner one where I would yell the splits out every lap. Track, especially pursuit, is a very disciplined event, where planning your splits and sticking to them is key to success. Going into the attempt, we knew from the lap times the previous week what her laps needed to be. The start went well, she got off the line clean without any extra wiggling around on the track, and the first lap was good. The second lap was too good, she went way too fast. Luckily, Cat has a pretty WWW.THERACINGPOST.US good internal metronome and was able to self-correct for the next four laps. As I was yelling out splits I was watching the cumulative time. I knew the second lap had eaten into her physical reserves, and she started to slow down a bit but was still on target. Crossing the line, the time was called out and it was announced that she had done it—a World Record. The relief, honor and pure joy were written on her face as she rolled around the track. Both of our kids were jumping up and down yelling with excitement. I have seen Cat win National Championships, State Championships and numerous races, but setting a World Record was quite special, made even more so since the whole family was able to witness it. The quick trip was worth it. A World Record was set and we accomplished a mini vacation with the family. All was right with this trip. Thanks to Fearless Femme P/b Haute Wheels Racing, C4 Coaching, USAC, and the endless support of our children, Daria and Sophie, in this crazy world. VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 7 RBM Rally Report The Tour de Fort Worth We who live in the metroplex are proud to have a Fort Worth mayor who loves our sport as much or more than we do. I do not think I have ever lived in a town where the leadership was so accessible, transparent and enthusiastic about our city, not to mention willing to discuss its past, present and future while cycling together. Mayor Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native and our 44th mayor, holds walking town hall meetings, caffeinated town hall meetings and rolling town hall meetings to stay in touch with residents and hear their concerns. She’s wonderful. Our city loves her. And if that all weren’t enough, she’s implemented Tour de Fort Worth with the help of Fit Worth and Bicycle’s Inc. Together they have created a widely varied scheduled list of daily rides that occur the same days as the Tour de France. This year, the Fort Worth event spanned July 5th to July 26th. The first event rolled out after breakfast at Fort Worth’s Joe T. Garcia’s. The daily events spanned the city’s landmarks and points of interest, and wrapped up with a celebration on the last day at Hulen’s Central Market. The list included rides with Night Riders, Bicycle Betties, MBBC, a movie night, Museum of Science, Carswell, Fort Woof, the Panther Pavilion, and more! If you’d like a recap, check out Tour de Fort Worth at www.fitworth.org. The Carswell Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base is a fascinating and unusual place to ride with the mayor; it also included a windy sprint on the tarmac with Captain Gil Miller. It is rare to be able to pedal on the tarmac; there is a lot of work, effort and initiative behind closing the military airfield for a bike ride. This is another affirmation of appreciation for our Mayor. Story by Lisa Tilley MBBC, officially the “Manly Bulge Bike Club” AND affectionately known as “Mayor Betsy’s Bike Club” hosted two of the rides this year. Bulge members escorted ride guests pedaling from The Woodshed through the historic and beautiful Fort Worth neighborhoods out to Benbrook YMCA and back. An option for spirited riders looking for a challenge was available as well, making use of the hilly neighborhood streets for the so inclined stronger riders. Rides are scheduled morning and evening, and at different levels, so that cyclists of all abilities can choose to be a part—even families. This flexibility allows people to ride as their schedule allows. With work and school, very few can make every single ride, but there is one gentleman who has done just that. He has not missed a single Tour de Fort Worth event for the last three years. Largest Selection In The Southwest 8 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Harry Crouse is a retired fellow with time to pedal. I am certain he can be found at nearly any city cycling event I have attended. He says he first met Betsy and Tom Price when they were pedaling from the White Settlement Trailhead years ago. They shared the details of the The Tour and as a fan of Fort Worth and the Tour de France, he was inspired to ride. For three years he has never missed a day, making only one alternation, by choosing the cycling only option on the day of the Mayor’s Triathlon. He is rightfully proud of being “at every ride start and finish on time.” Though he’s never missed, he has questioned himself on occasion. He’s asked himself why he’d submit himself to things like a 100 degree heat wave at his age, but like every stubborn cyclist I know, he has a fighter’s answer: “So I can get this hydration thing down to a fine art.” Harry has many fond memories of each of the three years riding Tour de Fort Worth, but the best part is inspiring new riders and those who are new to the event. Harry confirms he has made new friends at nearly every ride. Harry gushes about Mayor Price. She knows him and many of the other riders by name. “She frequently changes pace to meet new riders and to talk to long time participants as well,” states Harry. Specifically, he talks with Mayor Price about rider safety or particulars about a ride or new rider. Every now and then, he says, “I compliment the Mayor on the fantastic job she is doing for the city, especially on complex budget issues.” Harry is equally devoted to the Tour de France. He has watched religiously for the past 20 years. He says he watched the Armstrong wins with lingering doubt, which proved to be a correct emotion to have. This year, he picked Chris Froome with Team Sky to win; a prediction he says his friend Chris Baab can vouch that he made early on.” Many of us can relate to Harry’s closing thoughts about Tour de Fort Worth: “The day after the Tour de Fort Worth ends, I always have a Blue Monday. But by Tuesday, I am thinking, hey, time to rebuild another classic. I look at the sign my daughter painted that hangs over my bikes and reads, ‘Born to ride,’ and know it’s time to move on.” The Tour de Fort Worth is for everyone. Every detail from schedule to ability has been given attention, allowing you to choose what fits you best, from dusting off the bike from storage or setting your next challenging goal. You are invited to come out and pedal with your Mayor Betsy Price and maybe even meet citizens like Harry Crouse on the route. Get to know your beautiful city and a few of the bike clubs that embrace and encourage new riders. Chat with Bicycles Inc. reps and ask them what N+1 means! This is a city that embraces cycling of every style and form. Come be a part! Upcoming Bike Events Cowtown Classic Bicycle Ride Fort Worth, TX Cotton Patch Challenge TOUR 2015 Greenville, TX Texas State Road Championship Weekend ~ The Fort Hood Challenge Copperas Cove, TX Sat., Sep. 12, 2015 Your race starts here. The leading resource for Texas rides and races. Sat., Sep. 19, 2015 d get rregistered egiste red all on o n one website. we b site. C Check heck o out ut upc upcoming o m i n g events an and w w w. B i keRe g .c o m/events/ TE X A S www.BikeReg.com/events/TEXAS Sat., Sep. 26 - Sun. Sep. 27, 2015 Part of the athleteReg family of brands. ww www.BikeReg.com w.B i k eReg . com | 888 888.956.9560 . 956 . 9560 | in [email protected] f o@ B i k eReg .c o m WWW.THERACINGPOST.US VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 9 Coach Speak ~ Biathlon Short By Steen Rose Last year I noticed a race on the calendar that piqued my curiosity. It was a “gears and guns” mountain bike biathlon at Camp Eagle. I’ve always thought biathlon was a cool sport, and thought that if I ever found myself living in Scandinavia I’d give it a try. Having one in Texas, with mountain bikes instead of skis, sounded like not only fun, but also something I’d be good at. I was intrigued, but the dates didn’t really fit my calendar, and Camp Eagle is a long drive from Dallas, so I said “oh well,” and put in in the “maybe next year” file. Well next year rolled around, and the event moved to Flat Rock Ranch. I like the course at Flat Rock, it’s a lot closer, and I could work it into a visit with the parents, so I signed up. There were two events, a run and gun, and a gears and guns. Each is it’s own race with it’s own awards, but there is also a combined overall. First on the agenda was the summer biathlon, which involves running instead of cross-country skiing. Schedule is run 2k, shoot, run 2k, shoot, run 3k. The first shooting station is prone, or lying down, and the second is offhand, or standing. 5 shots at each, with each miss leading to a 30” penalty lap. The target was a 6” metal gong at 40 meters. I was the third runner off, and quickly picked off my 30” man. Shortly thereafter I realized how hot and humid it was, and tried to back off a bit. I was close to my minute man as we came back to the shooting area, and I thought I might pass him. Unfortunately, he shot better than I did, and headed out into the canyon while I was still doing penalty laps. My second shooting stage didn’t go any better, and his did. I really pushed the last run but was definitely feeling the heat and the 6 extra penalty laps. I started the lap wanting to catch him, but by the end just wanted to be done! I finished right at two minutes behind him, putting me a minute back. The good news is that I was 2nd in my AG, 2nd Overall, and 2nd in the combined going into the mtb’ing. (As it’s a small event, they just ran 2 age groups for both men and women, 0-39 and 40 and over.) However, it’s hard not to be happy with a good result, and I was really looking forward to the bike, which is very much my forte’. I found myself thinking the same thought I often have in a triathlon or duathlon – “just get me to my bike!” The bike was about an hour later, and used the same format. Doing both races was both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, I was familiar with much of the course and knew what to expect. I was also smoother and faster in transition and with my weapon manipulation. On the flip side, I was already hot and tired and there were a lot of guys that showed up just for the mtb race who were feeling fresh. I started about 10th and passed maybe half of the earlier riders before the first shooting station. Unfortunately I didn’t shoot any better, again going 2/5. At this point I was really wishing for my own gun (the gun I’d brought was illegal, and I had to borrow one), and already vowing to come back and get revenge the following year. The second lap involved a decent amount of climbing, and my calves started talking to me. I knew I had a good chance to beat the guy ahead of me in the standings – he was on a rigid 26’er with cantilever brakes and flat pedals - but I was riding scared with Adam Salladin only a few minutes behind me. He’s a helluva rider, had home course advantage, and was the defending champion. I tried hard to keep the pace high while babying my twinging calves, and rolled into the second shooting stage feeling pretty good. Proving I’m consistent, if nothing else, I again went 2/5. The rifle I’d borrowed was shooting way high, even with the owner’s admonition of a 6’oclock hold. Even with a proper “dot on post” hold, I was consistently missing high with the Henry. On the last lap my calves went from twinging to full-on cramping. At one point I had to get off and stretch, then walk backwards up a short, steep hill. My goal had gone from winning outright, to winning the combined, to just finishing. I was the first bike in, and then it became a waiting game to see if anyone behind had gone faster. The nerves relaxed a little when I heard Adam had suffered a flat, and I was able to finally relax when he DNFd after the 2nd flat. I don’t wish bad luck on anyone, but I’ve been on the other end enough in my career to not feel bad when Lady Luck occasionally smiles on me.* I was 1st in my AG, and 2nd overall in the Gears and Guns, and that gave me the win in the combined overall. One rider in the 40+ category went faster, but of course my ego says that’s just because he was fresh after skipping the earlier race! I had a great time. The atmosphere was super laid back. There were super fit racers, little kids, old guys, women, and everything in between. The post-race festivities were outstanding and the awards were one-of-a-kind and artistic – something I was actually excited to come home and stick on a shelf. I can’t wait to go back next year. Flat Rock was an awesome host and Lisa, as always, is the consummate promoter. If you’re looking for something a little different, or like to shoot and either ride or run, then you should really check it out. *(Hat tip to the “Double A the Answer Man” school of mtb equipment selection – in order to finish first, you must first finish!) 10 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US North Star Grand Prix By Stefan Rothe Photo by by Steve Kotvis The first time I did the North Star Grand Prix (then called Nature Valley) I was a 24 old 'kid' and new to NRC stage racing here in the US. Back then, while racing for Mercy Cycling, I attacked often, raced aggressive and did my best to help my teammates in their GC ambitions. Now, almost 10 years after my first trip up to green and bike-friendly Minnesota, coming back with my Elbowz team this summer, not much had really changed. Except that I'm a little older, and maybe learned a few things on how to race a NRC race successfully. On the first stage, a short prologue time trial, my teammate Michael Sheehan had gotten on the podium. We had two more guys (Kevin & Colin) in the Top 10, and had two classification jerseys in the team. It was a great start for us and definitely gave me some motivation for the evening Stage 2 Criterium in downtown St. Paul. The crits during NRC stage races usually follow the same script: The defending team (yellow jersey) rides the front and let's an early break go for a bit. The GC riders just want to get through it, spending as little as energy as possible, and a few amateurs are shooting for glory and go broke in a most likely unsuccessful break-away. With that in mind, and the fact that I wasn’t likely to be standing on the GC podium at the end of the race come Sunday, I had a bit of a "free role" for this crit. I liked that idea, since even at age 33, I still like to "race" and be part of the race and make things happen for our "Elbros". With a short 1km technical course through downtown St. Paul and only 40 laps on the board, I knew this was going to be a hard race. [Continued on page 19] Houston’s B Best est since 19833 bikebarn.com ebarn.com PR ROUDLY OUDL LY SERVING CY YCLISTS CLISTS FOR 31 YEARS ATASCOCITA A TA ASCOCIT TA 7506 FM 1960 East 281-812-8423 CHAMPIONS 6935 Cypresswood Dr. Dr. 281-320-0399 CUSTOM CUSTOM FIT STUDIO 5339 Weslayan Weslayan 713-432-7720 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US CLEAR LAKE 2422 Bay Bay Area Blvd. Blvd. 281-480-9100 KATY KA AT TY 629 S. Mason Rd. 281-492-7433 CYPRESS 25807 NW Fwy 281-213-3791 UNIVERSITY 5339 Weslayan Weslayan 713-529-9002 COLLEGE GE ST STATION TATION T Texas exas Ave Ave 2307 T 979-383-2308 WEST WESTCHASE CHASE Westheimer 11105 W estheimer 281-558-2234 Ⓡ VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 11 The View From Back Here By Russell Livingston As one ages or matures, there is a list of things that ought to be. There is a sense of propriety that gives us the centering force to continue our orderly sojourn through life. For some, that may be a scientific approach to things, while others may lean towards a mathematic view. Others lean towards the use of their chosen language and correct choice of words. Others, like The View From Back Here don’t follow a specific pattern. There are just some rules that should be in place in order for the earth to revolve in harmony. One of those rules might be, dressing your dog! Owning Dachshunds, why would anyone desecrate such a noble critter by dressing that wonderful canine in a frilly dress or silly sweater? These are proud and loving animals that do not deserve the humiliation of being dressed up like a clown or ghost or spider. But, I digress, this is a cycling publication. Another pet peeve is driving down the street and someone who obviously wants to be in the artsy crafty group uses an old bicycle as yard art. A swell of grief rises over me as I see the demise of a once useful piece of equipment left in the elements to rust in public. Realizing that these ornaments are beyond their usefulness, there are still issues. How did they get in that condition? What level of use or abuse rendered them beyond useful as their intended purpose? What can we deduct concerning the individual that would display a bicycle in that state of disrepair and dilapidated condition? Oftentimes the forlorn yard art is bent and broken with key elements missing. Perhaps, useful parts are removed maybe allowing another bicycle to survive using those cannibalized parts. Who would display the depleted carcass in their front yard? Robbed of all dignity, the bicycle is turned into a permanent weed eater obstacle. The result is a combination of heartlessness and junkyard chic. I recall another instance of a misused bicycle. The campus at Hardin Simmons University in Abilene became the repository for the “semester bike.” As an undergrad, our daughter became custodian of the bicycle, left by generations of former students. A graduating senior would bequeath the bike to an underclassman who would then be responsible for moving the bike from bike rack to bike rack, avoiding the inevitable final journey to the dumpster. The bike, as I recall was blue and was absolutely inoperable. Probably beginning life as campus transportation for a pampered coed, it never made it around the campus. It was beyond repair and simply served as a rather cerebral exercise in tradition and comedy. I recently returned to the campus to visit the campus bookstore. I made a cursory inspection of the bike racks and after nearly ten years, the bike and tradition appear to have faded or died. Several do appear to have replaced that forlorn piece of engineering. How do we resemble these rather disjointed pieces of memory and pet peeves? Is there a life lesson to be gleaned? Probably nothing that will improve our standing in racing circles or reduce of transition times, but there are some truths to be found. MY love of the Dachshund breed is deep. A compact little critter, this is a tenacious and loyal breed of dog. They are fearless and will endure great hardship in order to accomplish their task. Oftentimes, society attempts to strip our determination to realize our dreams and desires by marginalizing them through ridicule or misplaced attempts at humor. The lesson to be learned from the Dachshund is that we too are able to overcome that marginalization. Nothing is more significant than seeing a Weenie Dog in a pink tutu chasing and catching a squirrel in the back yard! Dignity is a strange animal. We all exercise an element of dignity in our lives, work and activities. As we age, our abilities may diminish. We are faced with the realization that we are no longer able to do what we used to do. In no way are we less of a person, we have just been forced to shift our efforts and abilities to a different more appropriate level. Preservation of dignity dictates that this may be a private encounter 12 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 and perhaps should be outside of the public view and scrutiny. Much like the rusting bicycle placed on public display, stripped of useful parts we tend to watch and follow others actions based on exploits enjoyed during their prime. Rather, while remembering those successes, can we not observe and admire those in the context of their progression into another phase of life, activity and interests. It is sad to see legendary athletes being propped up and displayed in the context of their prime past, rather than their current more relevant activities. Finally, we know of many examples of unrealized potential. Just like the passed around blue bicycle they never got off campus. They ranged from one custodian to another and perhaps were never seen for what they were meant to be. Finally, they are tolerated simply because of the humor extracted from their existence rather than their potential or design. Eventually, time and conditions catch up to them and they are relegated to the dumpsters of life. As life continues perhaps, we can learn from these examples. No matter the distractions, we can remember our purpose and maintain our position. When life events cause our focus to change, we can be determined to accept a changed role with dignity and without focus on our inabilities base on past experiences. The expectations of life are both external and internal. Unrealized potential is sad to see and life dictates a rather harsh conclusion. We will be passed around and finally discarded. As summer begins to wind down and triple digit weather begins to subside, The View From Back Here hopes everyone has a pleasant cycling season. Everyone, have fun and ride safe. WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Bucket Ride #8 Stonewall Century Presented by: The conversation with my wife started like this… “I’m going to Colorado to ride tomorrow. Want to go? It will be fun and you can ride too.” “What’s the ride like?” “Stonewall Century in La Veta, CO. Beautiful rolling valley route surrounded by the Sangre de Cristo mountains. You do the 30 miler while I do the century. We’ll enjoy a nice relaxing drive up, ride, lunch in the park then head home. Make it date. Plus you can visit the art shops in town while I finish.” We’ve used this model many times before. It works well. Pick a unique bucket list ride and venue for us both to enjoy. Keeps marital bliss. Much better than the old racing model where she sat in some dusty field for hours while I played faux bike racer. She thinks about it and says “Sounds fun. Is it uphill?” “Just a bit. Nothing you can’t handle.” “OK. Let’s do it.” ‘What? It’s still dark. Can’t see anything.” “I’ll use the driving lights. Almost as good as sunlight. Plus I need you for EDP.” “EDP??” “Elk Deer Patrol. You know…look out for animals trying to become a hood ornament.” “What?? That’s why we should stay in bed until the sun comes up! It’s safer.” “Great. It’s a date.” 4:30am the next morning the alarm goes off. My wife grumbles “What’s that for?????” “Time to hit the road. We gotta go.” “Common. We’re burning daylight – actually moonlight. Let’s roll. I’ll make the coffee.” “I’m not sure I want to go. It’s 4:30 and dark outside!! Plus you said a nice relaxing drive and a date.” “Honey, once you get some coffee it’ll all be good. Coffee cures all.” “I guess so.” So I packed the car and made coffee – we’ll almost. Mr Coffee coughed, sputtered and gave one last gasp then died. No coffee. Not a drop. My wife came downstairs for coffee. She was not amused. No problem I got this. Just get in the car honey. We’ll stop at the minimart. Damn. It’s not open till 6am. In the car she gives me the Where-The-Hell-Is-MyCoffee look. This date isn’t going well. After an hour of the silent treatment I found coffee and sunlight on the two hour drive to La Veta. Plus we saw a wild horse herd on the Colorado/New Mexico border which she enjoyed. Things were looking up as we arrive in La Veta at 7:16am. I said “I’ll unpack the bikes while you register.” “OK” When she returns I’m already to roll since the century ride started an hour ago. “I’ll see you. You have a map for the 30 miler?” “Uhhh…Yea. Profile looks kinda jagged. Like it goes up - a lot. Shows [Continued on page 18] WWW.THERACINGPOST.US VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 13 Gravel Travails By: Linda Margraf This year, I decided to change things up and seek out new and different cycling adventures. Although there have been some “adventures” so far, I was way off the mark in predicting how I would be challenged and ways I might grow. Instead of my usual program of training for time trials, occasional road races and most importantly, maintaining an ability to “hang with the fast guys” on my favorite group rides, the focus this year has been on riding epic gravel grinders…. long-distance rides on unpaved back country roads far from support vehicles, convenience stores and cell-phone coverage. While the biggest gravel events are getting larger and ever more popular, most organized gravel rides are still very low-key and small, compared to local bike rallies or MS 150 rides. Although my husband shook his head and I think, shuddered a bit, he begrudgingly agreed to accompany me as we undertook the Land Run 100 in Stillwater, Oklahoma in March; the Dirty Kanza Half Pint 100 in Emporia, Kansas in May; Gravel Worlds coming up soon in Lincoln, Nebraska; and Rebecca’s Private Idaho gravel ride in Ketchum, Idaho in September. From my past forays into gravel grinders (and several years of serious mountain bike racing quite a while back) I felt pretty good about riding on the various types of gravel roads found around Texas. Sure, some roads look like old jeep tracks that haven’t seen use for decades, but even with rocky descents, they were quite manageable. What I hadn’t anticipated was mud…lots and lots of mud. As record levels of rain pummeled the routes, usually rideable red clay and hard-packed soil turned into to semi-liquid quagmires. My first memorable encounter with unrideable mud was in Stillwater. I should have known better when some of the most experienced gravel racers I know declined to start the ride, even after paying for hotel and registration and driving several hours to the event. With my ever optimistic attitude and the rain clouds moving off into the distance, I joined a greatly reduced starting pack on the scenic rolling red dirt hills. It only took 10 miles to encounter a mud bog several miles in length that was barely passable, even in some 4wheel drive vehicles. No one could ride, not the mountain bikes, not the fat tire bikes and certainly not me on the carbon cyclocross bike I call my gravel bike. I learned very quickly that wet red dirt clay sticks to everything, making even pushing a bike impossible. It is amazing how heavy a bike becomes when it is covered in mud. It is also very hard on equipment; many 14 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 derailleurs snapped off and some wheels and frames were damaged beyond repair. Although I hated to call it quits, my husband and I beat a hasty retreat after a few miles of bike portage, and drove back home to spend many hours ridding our equipment of the red dirt muck. I was very thankful that my bike was mostly still intact and that I got a great upper body workout from carrying my bike all that way. Turns out the red mud had worn a few spots on the paint of my chain stays. Luckily they were only superficial cosmetic issues, and my ever-resourceful husband found ISC Helicopter-OG Surface Guard tape, a tough polyurethane tape originally marketed for helicopter blades, and ran strips along my chain stays near the wheels. Little did I know, this product was soon about to be tested. The near constant rain in May and extensive flooding in our area made me question our decision to head to Kansas for the Dirty Kanza but, well, you never know, maybe the rain had missed that area. The entire town of Emporia embraces this gravel event, considered by many the largest and most famous of gravel grinders in the US. Most of the talk at the pre-race festivities however was about dealing with muddy conditions … what chain lube to use, what tires to run etc. …making it clear my hopes of a mud-free event were sheer fantasy. We took off at sunrise in driz- WWW.THERACINGPOST.US zling rain and for several miles it was mucky but rideable. When I had to swerve to avoid a large dead fish in the middle of the gravel road, at the edge of a hayfield far from any creeks, it was not a good omen. Indeed, several more miles into the event, which is a 200 mile endeavor for the majority of the participants, we hit the first muddy stretch. Three miles in length, the section of mud was many inches deep and interrupted occasionally by overrun creeks and pools of standing water. So we hiked through the mud, hundreds of us, in a slow-moving, strung-out, but congenial pack. There were snakes, especially at the grassy edges of the road, and people would call them out, much like a pot-hole or an approaching car on a more typical group ride. From my recent red dirt experience, I had learned something about carrying my bike and while the three mile section seemed interminable, I actually got to the end of it ready to ride and motored on steadily for quite a while after that. I’d like to report I finished in record time, or even that I finished at all, but a constellation of circumstances once again, led to me head home early with a remarkably muddy bike. I am happy to report the Helicopter tape did its job though; the bike is in good shape and the tape still looks pristine. Many didn’t fare so well however, and among the 1500 riders, nearly 100 derailleurs were sacrificed within the first 30 miles. Since the Dirty Kanza, I have been training for Gravel Worlds, an event of 150 miles with 11,000 feet of climbing, almost exclusively offpavement. In addition to putting in the extra miles, I have been working on essentials such as riding in the heat of the day, optimizing on-bike nutrition, navigating with a Garmin, and importantly, selecting just the right bike shorts, gloves and shoes. What might be slightly bothersome on a 3-4 hour ride can really become torture on an 11-12 hour ride. For example, I had never had much trouble with “hot foot” before, which is the burning sensation in the ball of your foot that typically happens on long rides on hot days. I now have a good working knowledge of the cause and hopefully, cure of this rather painful condition. Equipped with new pedals, repositioned cleats and thanks to the services of a great shoe repair shop, my feet no longer scream after six hours in the saddle. Because I must do Gravel Worlds without support, and unfortunately without my usual riding partner and main mechanic husband, I will have to deal with any bike mishaps myself. I have a few essential bike repair training sessions coming up, after which I hope I can confidently say, “Flat tire, broken chain, no problem”. Perhaps most critical of all, I am working on an “I got this no matter what” attitude. Even if the rain clouds open up in Nebraska and I have some hiking or bike repairs to do, I am hoping I hold up at least as well as my Helicopter tape. VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 15 Leadville 100: Race Across The Sky By Sheree Benavides Over the past two years as I have stepped into the world of bike riding and racing, one thing has become incredibly clear: I love pedaling my bike. On August 15, I woke up at 4:45am to line up with 1649 other cyclists to pedal my bike across 104 miles and 11,000 feet elevation gain in a chance to finish the Leadville 100 and earn a belt buckle. I could finally put all of the planning, strategizing, calculating and obsessing aside and just ride. The dream of completing the Leadville 100 started for me when I was 12 years old and heard my dad’s friends talk about this incredibly challenging 100-mile long mountain bike race. I made a commitment to myself back then that someday I would finish the Leadville 100. Fast forward to 2013 when I hopped back on my bike after it sat in the garage for over 10 years and brought it out to a local DORBA mountain bike race. It wasn’t long after that that my Leadville dream was resurrected. Sometimes I struggle to stay mentally focused and positive during a race but today was different. I was on a Leadville high and not just because of oxygen deprivation. The thought that kept running through my head and causing me to break into a huge smile was, “I’m doing it. I’m actually doing the Leadville 100.” I committed to staying focused and steady for every single second of the race. When I hit the climbs I found my pace, no matter how slow. When I came to the downhills and flats, I refused to allow myself to coast and rest. These were the sections I used to gain time and momentum. My crew of five guys did an amazing job of rushing me through the aid stations. As soon as I came through, they grabbed my empty bottles and trash and refilled my cages and pockets with bottles and food. Thanks to my crew I had everything I needed during the race and spent less than seven minutes not moving. Yes, I was the one that had to pedal the bike, but I couldn’t have done it without this amazing group supporting me throughout the entire day. So many things can go wrong when you are racing a bike, especially when you are racing a bike at 10,000 feet elevation over 100 miles. In 16 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 the weeks leading up to the race, I planned for all kinds of possibilities, packing over a dozen zip lock bags to keep at the aid stations with Honey Stingers, Skratch Hydration Mix, extra clothes, rain jackets, extra shoes, socks, spare tires, tubes, a chain, derailleur hanger, the list ran on and on. I had spent so much time and energy getting myself to this race, I didn’t want anything to stop me from finishing. Fortunately for me, the day could not have gone more perfectly. It was warm and sunny, I didn’t have a single mechanical or wreck, and I felt great. Rolling across the red carpet on the finish line was one of the best feelings of my life. I was thrilled to see the clock showing that I was coming in under 10 hours. The first people I saw were my friends from Specialized and they grabbed my bike and gave me a chair in their tent. As soon as I sat down, for the first time that day I allowed myself to feel the exhaustion and pain covering my entire body. Somehow, some way, in 9 hours, 44 minutes and 6 seconds, I had done it. My finishing time put me in 29th place out of 134 women and 5th in my age group. When I arrived in Leadville, Colorado I only knew a handful of other riders from Texas but during the race it was amazing how many cheers and shouts of “Go, Sheree!” “Richardson Bike Mart!” and “Hey, Texas!” I got along the way. I had met so many people over the last few weeks in Colorado and they were out here riding with me and cheering me on. I was also blown away by the encouragement I got after the race from friends and family. Many of them are not involved in the cycling community, but they recognized this was a big feat for me. In addition to my family and friends, I am extremely thankful to my amazing shop, Richardson Bike Mart, for supporting me, and my incredible coach, Christina GokeySmith, who prepared me for this race. Looking forward to the next adventure! WWW.THERACINGPOST.US LIFETIME DURABILITY your cycling soul mate TUNED RIDE our equation for the perfect ride HANDCRAFTED IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO ROGUE YBB legendary YBB softtail - mid-wheel size - cross-country arrow pivotless suspension for precise handling • Find your ride at Moots.com • [Continued from page 13] Bucket Ride #8 - Stonewall Century A few hours later she woke me up … 1st rest stop on top of a pass.” ‘I don’t feel good. Stomach hurts.” as she headed to the bathroom. As I roll away I say “No worries honey. Love you. You got this. Enjoy.” “Hmmm. Maybe something you ate?” So I begin the 105mile ride including two 10K passes and 8,000 feet of climbing. As I roll up Cuchara Valley the climbs get steeper. And steeper. I’m in my lowest gear(39x25). Pushing. Hmmm. Not quite “rolling”. Hope my wife does ok. Glad she runs a compact. Anyhow, nothing I can do about it now so I keep turning it over, catching folks, briefly chatting then rolling on. The route is beautiful. 13K mountains. Clear blue alpine lakes. Miles of magnificent natural stonewalls resembling The Great Wall of China. The ride is a real treat. Definitely bucket list worthy. A few hours she was up again. “Think I have food poisoning.” as she runs to the bathroom. “I hate you!” “I love you too honey.” “I said I HATE YOU! Get me up before sunrise. No coffee. Made me ride UP a damn mountain. AND gave me food poisoning. Boy you sure know how to show a girl a good time on a date…” “Only the best for you honey!” An hour later I’m up. She laughs as I’m moving thousands and thousands of calories out of my system. This process continues and continues and continues every few hours for the next day. FFA BBQ - the only thing we ate in common. A quick emails and and we discovered other riders experienced the same BBQ food poisoning. FFA Grandmothers, “Damn you all to hell!” to quote Charlton Heston. Took three days to recover. Even then on the bike I struggled to generate enough power to light one of those new 13w CFL bulbs. So later in the week the conversation with my wife started like this… “I’m going to Colorado to ride Pikes Peak. Want to come along? It will be fun and you can ride too.” She just stared at me “You’ve got to be kidding.” 5hrs later I get back to La Veta. “How was you’re ride honey?” “Up” is all she utters. “Wasn’t it beautiful? “It was up. I need lower gears. It kept going up. I needed more gears. Did I mention it went UP?” “It was hard for me, too.” “Yea but you do this ALL the time. You said it wasn’t too hard. “Rolling” is what you said. Took me TWO PLUS hours to get to the rest stop at the top. They told me it was 3000 feet of climbing! UP. UP. UP. That’s not a rolling climb...” Sensing things were going in the wrong direction I offered “Great job honey. That’s a Grand Tour climb you conquered.” “I’m not a Grand Tour rider and don’t want to ride like one. That sucked.” “But you had fun coming back down…?” ‘Yea. Only took 30 minutes. IT was fun.” “Congratulations on a great ride. Ready for some homemade lunch? I smell BBQ.” So while we listened to local musicians playing in the shaded La Veta park we got a plate full of homemade BBQ, coleslaw, watermelon and cookies prepared by the La Veta Grandmothers of Future Farmers of America. I was starved burning 3500+ calories on the ride alone. We enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch, socialized with riders and recovered. On the way home I was still hungry so we even made a Sonic stop for milkshakes. Got home. Ate. Took a shower. Ate more and headed off to bed. 18 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Riding in the front would make it so much easier, from the start, I moved up and rode alongside Michael who had the KOM jersey and was going to be our man for the finish. Our guest rider Carmen Small (!) was at the front of the race, too, and I felt pretty comfortable with the course and noticed we weren't really going all that fast. After the first time bonus sprint, I sensed a lull moment where the GC team (Optum) was getting ready to "settle down," so I attacked off the front with another rider from ChampSys-NoTubes and my fellow Texas friend Andrew Dahlheim. Before we knew it, the three of us were off the front by just a couple of seconds. I told them now or never and we kicked it hard for a couple of laps before settling in for smooth rotations and fast riding, but that was within my limits. Too often, too many times have I blown up in the last five laps of a "what-looked-to-be-a-successfulbreakaway," so I kept that in mind while listening to our team boss Ben Spies who stood past the finish line with our crew and gave me splits: 15seconds...20sec, 25sec, 35sec, almost 45sec at one point. It looked promising: I was able to get two time bonus sprints while the ChampSys rider took the Sprint points with me still getting 2nd both times. We didn't fight for it really; I just knew that I couldn’t have everything and needed to keep the focus on the time and the finish. The finish came up really soon since we only did 1:15min laps on the 1K course. Along with me, the ChampSys rider had done a good share of the work. He could corner very well and it sure looked like he had a good sprint in him. Same for Andrew; Nine out of ten times, he'd smoke me in a sprint. So, what to do? The time gaps got smaller and smaller and the words of my boss Ben louder and louder: "15 SECONDS". Optum was chasing now full on; besides Zirbel (their guy in yellow), they had two fast sprinters here, and their sponsor is based in Minneapolis / St. Paul. So the gap was coming down and I noticed we needed to go faster in order to make it. It's a cat and mouse play: you try to save your matches for the last few laps so you can put out the high watts at the end when it counts, but you also have to "fool" the chase a little bit. Both Andrew and the ChampSys rider didn't seem to be able to go much faster and once I heard the [Continued from page 11] North Star Grand Prix screams of "8 SECONDS," I knew I needed to make a decision: do I risk the increasing chances of getting caught to keep riding with them and stay away and get an NRC podium (my first), or do I try to get away and do a lap or two at full throttle and have the chance at winning... again, with the possibility of getting caught. Well, I chose the latter. Two laps to go and we looked back and saw the Orange Train of Optum chasing hard. Out of instinct, with a lap and a quarter to go I went for it and sprinted as hard as I could to the other side of the road, then dove into the slight uphill Start/Finish straight and went for it. To my surprise, neither of my two break away companions were on my wheel. I don't remember much, my legs were going well and any kind of pain was suppressed by the adrenaline rush I felt riding off the front. I was just hoping I wouldn't clip a pedal on some of that bumpy downtown tarmac going full speed through the turns. Before the final right turn to the finish, I checked to see if I was going to make it and saw I still had a lead of 50 meters or so. As I sprinted out of the last turn I had enough time to look back and make sure I could actually raise my hands and not "pull a Zabel". Crossing the line, just one or two bike length ahead of the two cagy Optum sprinters was exciting to say the least. My teammate Michael was first to come up behind me (after a great 7th place for himself). Riding that cool-down lap together with my teammates and sharing this win with them meant so much to me. Yes, I've won a few races in the past and been on the podium several times, but this one sure was special since I've been trying for a while and finally it all came together. These days, I find myself often racing for my teammates simply because they're often in a better position to win - they won't even let me win a Driveway anymore ;-) The one person who I thank most is Ben Spies, owner and founder of our team. Not only is he giving me the opportunity to race bikes at this level and support me 100% but having a former MotoGP winner on the sidelines of a bicycle race encouraging you is an incredible motivation when trying to succeed. His competitive spirit is definitely transferring to us riders and makes us work even harder as a team. Elbowz Out, Stefan Ⓡ Experience the Bikee Barn Custom Fit Studio. A state of the art studio providing viding WKHXOWLPDWHĆWH[SHULHQFH Wattage Maximize W attage Improve Impro ve Pedaling Pedaling (IĆFLHQF\ (IĆFLHQF\ 3UHYHQW,QMXU\ 3 UHYHQW,QMXU\ pointment today! p a n a k o Bo ustom Fit Studio,, 5 ouston, 713-432-7720 Bike Barn C Custom 5339 339 Weslayan,, H Houston, uston,, TX 77005 713-432-7720 www .bikebarnstudio.com www.bikebarnstudio.com VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 19 Product Review: The Moots at 5,000 By TRP Staff After getting dropped today, I got to go to work. Over the decade I’ve owned The Racing Post, I have had to review and owned some pretty nice bikes. The magazine has provided me a Colnago C50; a Specialized S-Works Roubaix, a BH G5, two or three Cinellis, and the Moots – my Moots – "Rhapsody in Blue." All of them wear, or have worn, Campy Super Record, are shod with Zipp wheels and topped off with an SMP saddle. This is not exactly slumming. Where does “work” come in? Even though Oscar hung back to keep me company, I needed to consider what I’d say in the upcoming review of my Moots since it is approaching its 3 year and 5,000 mile birthday. Now, I realize many of you get that much in 10 months, but I switch on and off bikes and I really don’t get to ride much with work, and the races and all. So this morning, pouring sweat and working hard, way off the back but still pushing, what went through my head was, “This bike is amazing.” In an alliteration frenzy, I would say this bike is stiff, silent and steady. It really does everything you ask of it, when it should as it should. Another “S” that comes to mind is Subtle. Yes, it’s not as flashy as some of the newer carbon candy, and it’s not supposed to be. It has round grey tubes that scream Titanium, and it’s stem and seat tube look as if they could have been designed in 1940 or 1960 (well, the stem has to be at least 1990 since it is not a quill stem), but both are retro-cool. Don’t even think of buying a Moots without its Moots fork, Moots stem and Moots seat post. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all three are expensive, but a Moots is not for you if you have to really worry about those prices. You HAVE to have that stuff since the Moots’ next “S” would be Sexy. The Moots is sexy. Even the Cinelli with all of its Electro-Campy glory does not get as many comments and looks as the Moots. As the sweat flew off me on the ride and the temperature got closer to 100° I was glad the Canari kit dealt with the heat so well. If I had been upright and not trying to both stay with Oscar and catch the group before they got past us on their return leg, I would have enjoyed the Texas countryside. Our Saturday ride is about 52 – 55 miles depending on which short-cuts I need to take to catch the group on the way in. To most of my peer group that’s nothing. To my doctor, my students, and my peers at work, that’s “What, are you out of your mind?” level mileage. I’m used to it, or, better stated, I used to be used to it. It’s work nowadays, but it is work I will not let myself not do. If I continue to do this and lose 30 or 50 pounds, I will be competitive again. Whether or not I am competitive, I will continue to do Saturday morning rides – because these miles mean something. It is a hard, painful, testing your limits and how well you recover sort of experience. Where else can you do that? Give or take short-cuts or minor alterations, I have been doing the same ride for almost 30 years now. I know the hills that win and they know me. Rejoining the group at the “Store” (doesn’t every ride have a “store” that figures heavily in the culture of the ride?) almost everyone remarked how well I was doing. One of the guys was a refugee from another team in another location. It seems his mother in law needed something so the family was on this side of the Metroplex and he knew about our rides – and all of a sudden he says, “Wait a minute – you’re THE Andy Hollinger?” Wow – the ego boost was helpful after being dropped in the first 15 miles. He related that he enjoyed the magazine and the essays on 22 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 Facebook. In his eyes I could see that he thought I’d be faster, but the ego boost he provided helped me stay with the boys most of the way home. I should say that the key, if not most important, “S” for the Moots is Smooth. The biggest reason I keep coming back to the Moots is that the riding experience is smooth. Comfortable might evoke something like “soft”, which is an “S” that the Moots is not. It is most definitely smooth. Accelerating into a standing sprint or climb; descending down some fun turns at 40+ mph; negotiating turns in a tight group; or just experiencing 50+ miles of Texas roads on Saturday Morning is just that: smooth. Riding the Moots is like Carlos Santana’s first solo on the Caravanserai album. It is the saxophone jump in Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train. All of sudden you’re doing hills like Benny Goodman’s Sing, Sing, Sing, with Gene Krupa’s tom-tom intro being played by that incredibly stiff fork. It is Yes’ Fragile the way you heard it for the first time in 1972 and you can’t tell whether the bike is Chris Squire’s bass or Rick Wakeman’s synthesizer or maybe Steve Howe’s guitar. With all this music swirling through my head, I noticed we’d gained a tailwind and we were cookin’. After the break at the store, fresh with renewed sugar, the group does a short climb but is then rewarded with a 2 or 3 mile slight downhill and then a 3 mile false flat to the light in Saginaw. The whole road is fresh pavement. We were flying in a peloton above 30 and smiles were all around. It is on this portion that I knew – not thought, mind you, but KNEW – I’d named the bike correctly. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue performed by himself—or maybe, on this hot, sunny day in Texas—Emur Deodato. All of this because the Moots is also Sophisticated. It is the soul of Rock, the smoothness of Jazz, the depth and texture of a big band or classical orchestra and you know when listening to it, the movement of the music, of the point of the piece of your bike beneath you is ahead, it is always, Synthesized Smoothly, ahead. What’s scary is that I felt this way when I first tested a Moots (before I owned one), on Rhapsody in Blue’s first ride, and now. Hundreds of rides into its life, it is still exactly the same bike today: Stiff, Silent, Steady, Subtle, Sexy, Sophisticated and Smooth. velowurks.com facebook.com/velowurks PRIME FLOOR PUMP CLASSIC, TIMELESS AND BUILT TO LAST Velowürks products are available through your local Independent Bicycle Dealer. W e s t Te x a s W i nBydRichard McLamore Every month the deadline for this column rolls around. Unlike the lucky old sun, it isn’t just rolling around Heaven, doing tempo loops, or threshold intervals, or whatever it is the sun does to maintain fitness. The deadline rolls up on this nasty, beat-to-heck looking 1957 Worksman 3-wheeler, partly to remind me that I’ve got work to do, and partly because it likes riding the equivalent of a Checker Automobile: utterly functional, almost unheard of, and practically indestructible. And when it rolls up, practically silent, because despite appearances, it keeps that machine rolling right, I’ve gotta hand over what I’ve got. Sometimes the ideas don’t grow just right, y’know? Or, maybe there’s this idea that takes a couple of different types of tube-stock to fit together, and you file the end off just a little wrong for the miter. You hope you can hide it with the weld—maybe try to sneak a lug in the middle of a tig-welded frame, but wouldn’t you know it, the phone rings while you’ve got the torch hotting up, you misjudge the temperature and screw the flux up. If it were a real frame, you’d have to scrap it and start over, but sometimes in this here writing about cycling game, you send out such a monstrosity. And in the cycling marketing game, it’s even worse. Cuz, y’know, cycling marketers don’t reliably get the pick of the Columbus or Toray or Haynes level pro-cyclists to work with. Instead, they have to go to market with . . . well, a wide range of personalities. And one thing you learn pretty quickly as a pseudo-cycling journalist (and you should learn it even faster as a cycling fan) is that you never expect an honest answer from a sponsored rider about a sponsored product. Oh sure, it’s possible you might get one (and any sort of hesitation or gesture that sets off your bs alarm is likely a good indicator that said sponsored rider hasn’t learned this part of the marketing circus-act yet), but don’t expect it. Rider C tells you, or is quoted (in a manufacturer’s press release/interview or pre-packaged ‘news’ piece on one of the usual sources of cycling information) about how wonderful their brand new aero-climbing-crit bike is? But, amazingly, that same rider won’t actually race the bike at something like Nevada City. Such duplicity is still more honest than the good old days of cycling, because the odds are that the rider is actually riding a frame produced by the sponsoring manufacturer, and, for the most part, riding sponsored components. One of the distinguishing features of the cognoscenti of the old days, of course, is being able to keep straight who actually built the frames the Golden Age pros rode. (Except for Sean Kelly. Hard to fake a glued-and-screwed auto-shifting Vitus). And one of the marketing axioms is that they need the pro teams and pros to develop new products and market those products. The cycling celebrity machine works, according to this logic, based upon how many new people are “brought into the sport.” Which is really another way of saying “how much did sales increase.” And, honestly, 24 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 it’s how much did sales of bikes increase. Whether those bikes get ridden and whether more people continue riding is not something, I’d argue, that really has much to do with cycling celebrity. At least, not the Pro Tour cycling celebrity whose market penetration and recognition is the product of algorithms, youtube hits, and click-bait. As I battle my years-long sense of disillusionment and discouragement with Pro Cycling (and, yes, that disillusionment and discouragement has spread to virtually all pro sports, including Division 1 NCAA), I’m turning away, in large part, from that circus. There’s always been, however, people who’ve actually kept me riding. And not just me. Rob D’Entremont could drop all of us who rode with him at will. If he wanted to humiliate us into thinking that cycling was all about teen-age macho self-assertion, he could have done that pretty easily. But he spent the better part of two summers towing a bunch of us around and teaching us what it meant to ride. All over the state there are still people like Rob. Some of them, like Ginny King, Christina Gokey-Smith, and Chris Carlson are officially coaches. But the way you can tell the real ones is that they make you feel better about your own riding—even if like Dave Thornton they’re kicking your rear all over the road, there’s something about that local celebrity that just inspires others. Joe Young and Marty Muehlegger could have (and on occasion probably did, at least to this gullible kid) spewed all sorts of technogobble about this, that, or the other new wonder product. Instead, both of them took the time to explain why they valued one manufacturer over another, and what sorts of products were worth drooling over. That same love is unmistakable—if you’ve experienced it once or twice—from marketing hype. If you peel back the layers of the accounting software in most shops, there’s probably a few accounts driving the accountant or business manager to take another sip of coffee and consider just how they’re going to remind the owner about extending those zero-interest loans. Now, reader, don’t you dare go asking the owner or manager of your local shop for such a thing—if you earn it, you earn it. But be aware that “keeping people riding” can and has involved replacing wheels, frames, and groupsets at short notice and with an extremely extended repayment window—in more than a few local shops. So, when I get discouraged about the various peculiar ways in which some of the major manufacturers keep inventing new ways to make us feel dissatisfied with perfectly effective bikes and equipment, I choose to consider the local heroes, or, at least, the men and women who show over and over again their commitment not only to moving product, but to keeping people loving to move on bikes. Chasing Miles By Joe Racer The dreaded bonk. In many ways, the bonk is a cycling rite of passage. The bonk can sink its teeth in you for any number of reasons. Not enough pre-ride calories or riding too long without taking in enough calories during the ride are the two most common sources. There’s also the dreaded overtraining bonk. This is a bit different, but the end result is still the same – there’s no gas in the tank and your engine can’t go. Food bonks generally can’t be corrected mid-ride unless you catch them very early, and even then, it’s often too late to turn that train around within the time frame of a normal ride. Overtraining bonks – well, that’s something so entirely different that I’m stretching by talking about it in the same context. These are usually evidenced by a lack of power and a heartrate that’s not responsive to your efforts, or in the worst cases, a heartrate that simply won’t drop no matter how much you reduce your effort. If you get the runaway heartrate, that’s generally indication of chronic overtraining, and it may be a sign that you need some serious rest. Both very different, but still the same in that it’s your body’s way of letting you know that you’ve depleted your reserves; you’ve done too much and it want’s food, rest or both. Neither are fun, but If you ride long enough, it’s something you’re going to experience at some point in your time on the bike. Thankfully, as your experience grows, so does your understanding of your body. Most people become much better at avoiding either type of issue. Don’t get too confident, though. The food bonk, especially, is always happy to attack if you get cocky! climbed into the red and stayed there, all the while my speed got slower and slower. Warning lights flashing, I was shuffled out the back and started doing systems checks. I’d never felt like this. My buddy came along, but I couldn’t hold his wheel either. It took miles and miles of soft pedaling before I could get my heartrate back down, and even then, I was barely good to put pressure on the pedals without suffering a repeat. If I’d have been smart, I would have turned around, but not being smart was what had gotten me into that situation to begin with. Suffering a full meltdown three miles into the ride made for the worst 60 miles in the history of the bike, only to be topped by my buddy’s experience, which was surely worse as he graciously towed me around for the hours it took to complete the ride. My lure that day was his promise of a Butterfinger Blizzard from the Dairy Queen across the street from the finish line. Again—smarter people would have stopped, but the promise of that blizzard at least keep me from crawling into the ditch and awaiting the buzzards that were trailing us. So, it’s now September and we’re coming up on the end of road season. Now is a good time to take a systems check before the final push towards the State Road Race at Fort Hood. The hills there are merciless, but it’s not the time for dieting. Train smart, eat plenty, and get enough rest so you can push hard these last few weeks. There will be time enough to rest before cross season. Well…ideally there would be, but we can figure that out after Fort Hood! I’ve had some pretty epic experiences with both. Far back in my riding days, I recall riding the Waco Wild West century with a buddy. This usually takes place a month or so after the Hotter the Hell, and that particular year had been a really hot sufferfest that had driven me to basically put the bike away after leaving Wichita Falls. Deciding to ride Waco at the last minute, I was undertrained and underplanned—not to mention that 100 miles in the hills around Waco bear no comparison to the flat roads of the HHH. My nail in the coffin was a stomach issue that kept me from eating on the bike. Eventually, I bonked so hard that I probably would have registered a state of legitimate hypoglycemia. By the time we made it back to the parking lot, I was delirious. So delirious, I was convinced that the buffet at CiCi’s Pizza sounded positively delicious. In fact, it was probably the only lure strong enough to convince me to get up from the sidewalk where I’d collapsed and laid for 30 minutes after crossing the finish line. Pizza in mind, I drove us the few blocks over, where I promptly backed my new truck into a brick pillar. I didn’t even have any business driving. I learned about overtraining a few years later at the Stephenville Firecracker 100. There are very few rallies that draw the racers out like this one. It’s marketed as a non-sanctioned race and includes cash prizes, free return entries and even motel reservations for the top three men and women. More importantly, the winners also receive the coveted Bronze Boot Award. Now, I had no delusions of landing on the podium, but by this time, I’d done a little racing and was feeling pretty salty about my ability to hang with the leaders. Working against these allusions was the fact that I’d done a huge block of training, including riding from Fort Worth to San Antonio over three days the previous weekend. The race started out smoothly with the first attacks coming about three miles in. This was years ago, but I clearly remember the sensation of spinning up to follow the attack, only to immediately redline and find myself being left behind. It was like driving a Lamborghini stuck in first. The engine revved up and things started moving, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. The speedometer and odometer needles were moving, but at a certain point, they quit tracking together. I watched as my heartrate WWW.THERACINGPOST.US VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 25 The Gravel Bicycling World By: David Morrow The second water crossing was the one that got me. It's often that way. The ancient Greeks defined Hubris as an arrogance or excessive pride that angers the Gods. Hubris may indicate a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities. The Gods punish those with Hubris, and mine was both swift and conclusive. I was down and sliding sideways across a slick concrete water crossing that had a fine crop of algae growing. It was punishment for thinking I alone could ride across what should not be ridden. Our first water crossing, at about mile 50, was accomplished en-masse – we flew in and let the wheel spray blast our friends next to us. I was loving it and leading the way. But I felt that I had missed a good photo-op on that crossing, so requested to be the first one across the next creek to set up the camera for a few good shots of the gang. I was riding my 'cross bike with 35mm tires – a set up where I can ride easy mountain bike trails - no water crossing was going to spoil my day. At the next crossing, I knew not to brake once in the water and entered at about 15 mph. As I reached the midpoint of the 100' crossing, I slid out so fast it shocked me. Boom! I was sideways in the water and hanging on to the bike. The creek was moving pretty quickly, about 5 inches deep, and was rapidly taking me and bike toward deeper water – probably overhead deep. Swimming to shore, fully clothed, while trying to drag a bike was not appealing. The pavement was so slick with algae I wound up scooting on my butt, dragging the bike, onto an area about 50 feet away where the traction was OK to stand up. The lads, waiting to have their photos taken at the crossing, saw me spank the ground and heard my swearing as I floundered in the algae. Next across pedaling was Ian, one of the most amazing bike handlers around, and the guy who had designed our day's adventure. Want to guess how far he made it? That's right, just about where I slid out. He reported he enjoyed the water as the air temperature was about 90, and there is nothing wrong with washing your kit, shoes and all, en route. So the rest of the posse walked or butt scooted across after sliding out – the best strategy was walking in socks which have more friction and purchase on algae. Everyone got to wash their feet one way or another. This whole adventure started with my pals from Squadra Servitori, a 26 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 racing club here in Waco, who wanted to ride 400km for the 4th of July weekend. Sounds good eh? '400 for the 4th.' I had damaged a meniscus in my knee about a month earlier (running – bad idea) so was tapped for driving the lunch wagon. The Servitori posse is pretty low key, but they are fast, and know how to ride in all conditions. The route for our first day was about 225 km (140 miles) on a big loop west of Waco that included many small rural roads, lots of gravel, and had some tough climbing to boot. The route also included nine water crossings. It had rained all May and the rural creeks were still up. The goal of 400km on the three-day weekend was to keep everyone fit through the summer. Some of the lads had raced tough events like the Rouge Roubaix this spring, and they wanted to be ready for fall events like the Camino205, an amazing gravel route in the Piney Woods near Palestine, TX. (Full disclosure I am the ride director for el Camino205). A couple of our Squadra group would be at the National Road Championships too, so there was the proper amount of focus and friendly competition. Fit, fun and fast on gravel roads – a good recipe as long as you don't anger the Gods. I was lucky, in that my job was to drive the American Classic Sprinter van out to the midway lunch point and then ride backward on the course until I met the group. I had a good comrade with me, Brother Joseph, and we found the rendezvous church/graveyard about ten miles out of Clifton with time to spare. This allowed us, the lunch bunch, to get in a good warm-up before we joined the hammer fest of the Squadra. The next two hours were some of the best fun I have had in a good while. We enjoyed sweet roads surrounded by green pastures, some forested bits, and lots of wild flowers. Although there was the obligatory Texas wind, it was not too bad, and we saw maybe one or two cars per hour. As a recent transplant from the west coast, I am amazed at the myriad of great small roads—both paved and gravel—that abound in the center of our nation. This spring I went up to the Landrun 100 in Stillwater, OK and the Dirty Kanza 200 in Emporia, KS. Both rides are relatively new, and they have a vibrant energy and passionate participants. Although this year there was an unprecedented amount of mud at both events, most everyone I spoke with was jonesing to come back next year. Gravel riding is here to stay. You might call it a positive addiction. What makes a great day on the bike is a challenging course, natural scenery, friendly locals (but few cars) and the chance to ride someWWW.THERACINGPOST.US Welcome to Bike Friendly Central Texas Copperas Cove, Texas is located in the middle of miles of scenic, maintained paved roads in the foothills of the Texas Hill Country- with several routes ranging in distance from 10 miles up 100 miles. where you may have never found otherwise. Texans are finding the good routes. The Spinistry is putting on all kinds of fresh events. In cool weather, they ride in day-time, and in the heat of August, rides start at dark and may go as long as 12-hours. Midnight beer hand-ups anyone? There is a late-summer Race across Texas that harkens back to the early days of the Tour de France. Teams cars – heck no, this is self-supported racing and please HTFU. To me, the bicycle has always been a vehicle for exploration, self-discovery, fitness, and adventure. If you want a predictable ride, go to spin class. If you want to go big, sign up for a gravel grinder and see what it’s all about. Any bike will do – an old mtb, fat tires on a steel road bike, or a used 'cross bike that you can score cheap right now. Technology should not be an impediment to fun! But whatever you do, don't anger the Gods – it ain't worth the punishment! Contact the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau at 254-547-7571 or www.copperascove.com For cycling maps, local accommodations and restaurants VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 27 Product Review: by TRP Staff Zipp SL70 Aero Handlebars and SL Sprint Stem Aerodynamic drag effects cycling speed more than weight in all situations except sustained climbs over 5% grade. Peter Doval, in a 2012 Master’s Thesis on Computational Fluid Dynamics principles for aerodynamic testing of time-trial bikes, notes that a rider’s body accounts for around 70% of the drag in a rider-bicycle system. Explaining that the complexity of the shapes in this system drives most researchers straight to CFD and wind-tunnel testing instead of mathematical modeling, Doval writes “the general shape of a rider aboard a bicycle is not streamlined and there are many pockets where air can be trapped and increase drag.” By far the biggest of those ‘pockets’ occurs in the scoop formed by your arms, head, and chest. And by changing the size and shape of that scoop, a thoughtfully-designed aero-front-end makes a big difference in ride performance. There are certainly handlebars cheaper than the Zipp SL70 Aero handlebars, but their real competition is with the fully-integrated bars and stems appearing on a host of super-expensive aero frames. The brand new offerings with completely internal brake and shift-cables look impressive. They’re a maintenance nightmare, though, and pose all sorts of problems (lack of adjustability and questionable braking being the big ones) for a benefit that demands a huge expenditure in cost and loss of adjustability to maybe save 2 watts at 30mph. Moreover, you won’t find a lighter, stiffer stem than the SL Sprint stem, which was originally designed for and by Mark Cavendish. It’s ridiculously stiff and light (less than 160 grams for the 90). For the first couple of days it was quite an aesthetic adjustment: subtle titanium it’s not. Its looks have grown on me--but more so its performance. If I ever cranked out 1200watts my Quarq would wonder who else was riding, but you can notice stiffness in a host of other ways, most of which revolve around transmitting necessary road feeling and staying absolutely straight while being about half as heavy as the stem it replaced. The clamping mechanism spreads the load around the entire steerer and uses nuts and bolts instead of simply threading the bolt into the other side of the clamp. All bolts are Torx 25s. With all of the hoo-haw about compliance and plush, most of which can be taken care of by riding higher volume tires at lower psi, the benefits of stiffness can be overlooked. A ridiculously stiff stem means that you can relax your hands on the bars and ride more from the hips: strange, but true. Sure, the lack of flex is nice when you’re sprinting and climbing, but it’s even more useful in cornering because it gives you precise road-feel. 713.835.9599 ROAD CROSS 28 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 M O U N TA I N TRI F AT B I K E WWW.THERACINGPOST.US The supplied top-cap requires trimming the steerer-tube to almost level with the stem, and the graphics strongly suggest that this isn’t a stem to be ridden upside down, so it requires a commitment to an aero-front end (and for some of us, renewing our core-strength programs). It elegantly includes a 5mm spacer, thus providing a subtle aero profile. There’s a little fin at the back to guide orientation and prevent over-tightening. And it sorta looks like a tiny surf-board. Also, there’s one acceptable computer-mounting option, as slapping a Garmin in the middle of the stem would look hideous and defeat the purpose of the top-cap. Or, you could only ride with your Sport Director shouting your training data at you from the follow-car. The 70mm reach combines with a carefully thought-out ramp in the curve of the bars to make it easy to find a good spot for your brake/shifters. The 128mm drop, combined with a very slightly ‘ergo’ angle and a bit of an outward sweep, provides just enough room to stretch out in the drops and get comfortable. Go ahead and call me old-fashioned, but “hand-to-drops” is still my first and most critical fit measurement. If you’re comfortable and aero in the drops, you’ll be solid and happy everywhere else. Slamming your stem down to the point that the drops are an after-thought is sacrificing function for appearance. Bad. bad. Back to the handlebars: the brake and shifter housings route easily through the bars (I wouldn’t recommend pulling the housings back through the bars without a cable in place. Fishing that rattling loose housing-end out before anyone notices what you’ve done can be a little time-consuming. Or so I’ve heard, and heard, and heard. Luckily my first outside ride was solo). Almost invariably, people freak out at the wing-shape of the tops of aero-bars: “is it comfortable? is it slippery without bar-tape?” At first I thought I wanted a matte finish on the tops, or maybe a little rougher section for riders tempted to drape their wrists ala time-trial riding. Several hours on the rollers and outside, though, have changed my mind: (a) that the shape is comfortable and secure (helped along greatly by that nifty little thumbcurve by the stem) and (b) in a Texas summer it doesn’t matter what you do, your wrists are gonna slide if you try to rest them on the tops. It’s better to drape your hands over the hoods and drop in. After all, that’s where the missing 4cm from the ‘normal’ 42cm bars make a significant aero-difference that streamlines the rider and maintains control. [Don’t even try to install clip-ons.] Choosing 38s was honestly something I probably wouldn’t have done unless this test came along. Every ‘fit’ I’ve done, we’ve always assumed, mostly since I once had much broader shoulders (thanks football) than I do now, that I needed 42s. Reading a steady trickle of articles about pros using narrower bars for aerodynamics and positioning, combined with a couple of years happily commuting on a Klein Quantum with 38 Nittos primed me to pipe up for a set of aero 38s for this test. And, narrower is aero-er. The difference was immediately apparent, and for me, it was better: a better triangle of forces for steering and less of a ‘scoop’ for air to collect in between my elbows. Everyone thinks about this in headwinds: higher and wider always reminds me of a DC-7s engine intakes. But I suspect there’s a sneaky benefit to narrow in crosswinds, too. Doval’s Master’s Thesis set about proving that riders should adjust riding position for wind direction, and he hypothesized that an “asymmetric” position would provide the best benefit. Alas, he couldn’t prove that for all of the riders he tested. What I think I felt, however, was that in cross-winds, narrower bars provide less space for the wind to eddy against the trailing hand and arm. At any rate, I was concerned that narrower bars would feel less stable in cross-winds, and was very pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong ride after ride. Generally, don’t go spending major dollars on aero-equipment before you start working on ways to minimize how much your body’s contributing to drag. Specifically, $600 or so sounds like a lot of money. But Zipp’s designers and their production facilities have provided a front-end for your bike that will make it and you more aero, a little lighter, and improve your steering without the headaches, expense and compromises inherent in the aero-bike competitors. So, from where I’m riding, $600 to turn you and your bike into an aero-enough bike is pretty cheap compared to $9 to $10k. And they look really, really cool. VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 29 Mountain Biking in Chile By Robert Werner W hen the summer temperatures in Texas are reaching 100 degrees, where can you go to escape the heat for a cool ride? My choice: I travel south about 4000 miles to Santiago, Chile where it is winter time right now and not a bad time to ride. I work for an airline and fly to Chile every week. On my 36-hour layover, I don’t like sitting around a hotel or going to the mall. I go cycling and usually get in a couple rides up to the foothills of the Andes during my time there. A few years ago, I got the idea to bring one of my extra mountain bikes down here and now I leave it stored in the garage of our layover hotel. That was one of the best cycling decisions I have ever made! The city of Santiago sits in the Mapocho River valley at the base of the Andes Mountains and is the perfect place to ride. The descent into the Santiago airport is spectacular with the coastal hills along the foggy Pacific Ocean to the west and the imposing snowpacked Andes mountains to the east. This place has some hills! The terrain is very similar to Southern California and the semiarid climate is the same with warm summers, cool autumns, slightly chilly winters, and spectacular springs. The rocky hills are dry and dusty with lots of low scrub brush and trees similar to our mesquite (watch out for the thorns!). The off 30 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 road senderos (trails) are numerous and will give you a good workout climbing up the cerros (hills) to get to the cumbres (summits) where the miradors (look out views) are amazing. Some trails are jeep trails but many are incredible singletrack. The downhill riding is a blast and at times downright scary as hell! Chile has been host to many world mountain-biking competitions and the trails and riders here are world-class. I’ve found many awesome trails within riding range of my hotel. For a short easy 1-2 hour ride, I’ll go up to the Parque Metropolitan on Cerro San Cristobal. This amazing, huge park actually encompasses several hills and has a paved road leading up to the western side where a large Virgin Mary statue overlooks the city. This is a great place to watch the sunset while drinking a mote con huesillo (a wheat and peach drink), which is a traditional Chilean favorite. Afterward, it’s all downhill to the bottom of the park. There are lots of off-road senderos (trails) to explore all over this park. Some are easy, some moderate, and some are just plain scary, extreme downhills for those fearless or crazy enough to ride them. No thanks amigo! For some serious cross county mountain biking, I go up to El Huinganal (also known as La Durazno or “The Peach”. This wonderful hill in the Lo Barnechea neighborhood is on the property of a horse ranch and has some incredible trails with sculpted banks, jumps, and screaming downhills. It is definitely one of my favorites. Another awesome trail is Hacienda Las Varas in the Las Condes neighborhood. This trail is quite a haul getting up to, but a scream to come down. Get out your knee and elbow pads because you will need them if you fall on the rocks! Cancha Carrera is just the next hill over and has some challenging trails to explore. But my new favorite trail to ride is up on Cerro Manquehuito, which overlooks the Vitacura neighborhood. There are amazing fast flowing trails everywhere all around this hill with incredible views in every direction. I will be going back there again. I know there are many other trails to ride and I’ve only scratched the surface of places to go in Chile by offering those trails within the Santiago area. Someday I will go exploring more trails outside of the city. Santiago also has lots of great bike shops throughout the city offering all the major bike brands, components, and qualified mechanics. If you need to rent a bike, my favorite place (before I brought my own bike here) was La Bicicleta WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Verde in the Providencia neighborhood. They specialize in group bike tours throughout the city and to the wineries outside the city but they will rent you a nice bike individually. After your ride, you will definitely want to enjoy one of Chile’s greatest treasures, which is its wine. Try the Carmenere. This wonderful fruity grape is grown only in Chile and makes a great red wine to accompany your lomo steak or corvina sea bass dinner. I hope this has given you an idea of what awesome riding is waiting for you in the southern hemisphere if you ever find yourself in this part of the world. Chile has become my second home and I hope you get to explore it on a bike someday. Friendly people and great riding. You won’t be disappointed! VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 31 What’s New At The Shop Trek World 2016 By Adam Spears So as the RBM crew loaded up and headed off to DFW on an early hot and humid August morning, I was thinking to myself the best thing about going to Trek World is escaping the heat – and that statement is pretty much spot on. Don’t get me wrong, it is always great to see familiar faces of the other dealers and the folks who work at Trek as well as check out the latest gear and ride the latest bikes, but let’s be honest, Madison WI in August, sign me up. As you may already know, Trek made some big news last month at Trek World, let’s save that for another time and focus on bikes and products instead. This review will have a theme of being in the woods on dirt, but pavement will not be overlooked. My take is that when you have a trail system known as “The Farm” right across the street from Trek’s headquarters in Waterloo you may as well ride as many mountain bikes as you can, while the roads are beautiful there, we just don’t get the chance to ride those kinds of trails very often. Fast forward to about 8:00 AM on the second day of the dealer event. Temps in the low 70s as we made our way through the selection of bikes in the parking lot, may as well start near the top, I took out the Fuel EX 9.9 29 while Alver from Frisco grabbed a Top Fuel 9.8 SL. Off to “The Farm” we went. The trails start with a short double track climb that leads to a real cool flow section if taken right, does not require one pedal stroke, a great way to find the rhythm and get an early feel for the bike. There are many new features in the Fuel CYCLOCROSS SEASON IS COMING! ARE YOU READY? Best Selection In The Southwest 32 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US EX 9.9 and one of the first ones I made note of was the Fox Factory Float EVOL with the RE:aktiv 3-position damper. This shock is tuned by the Trek Suspension Lab and you have the ability to run it wide open or really dial it back and run it fairly firm. RE:akitiv is not new to Trek but this year and I am not even going to try and explain the science behind it other than the partnership with Penske Racing to generate this Formula 1 inspired shock. In non-scientific terms, it rocks. Moving to other specifics about the bike, Trek is now using Boost 148 and Boost 110 in the rear and front of the bike. This allows for a 29” wheel to have lateral stiffness seen in 27.5” wheels by creating wider bracing angles to build the wheel off of. Translation, a stiff and powerful wheelbase that gives you back what you put into the pedals. Trek employees it’s tried and true OCLV Mountain Carbon on the frame and stays, a new Control Freak internal cable routing system is in play to give the bike an ultra-clean look. As for other components, the drive train is a Shimano XTR 1x drive train with a Showdow plus rear derailleur. Shimano XTR Trail hydraulic brakes for superior stopping power (yes that was a slight endo the very first time I grabbed the front brake, damn roadie on a MTB). Front suspension is beefed up with a Fox Factory 34 Float 3 position 120mm travel fork. Lastly, DT Swiss XMC1200 Carbon wheels give this bike some serious lightweight wheels to round out the package. So clearly, this bike is loaded with top end equipment, so how does it ride? Freaking amazing, that’s how. “The Farm” consists of a little bit of everything, tight single track, short (but longer than Texas climbs and descents) a few rock gardens, berms to carve out and even some hand built wooden structures. This bike can handle them all. With both shocks having three different run positions, taking this bike up and down is quite enjoyable. With the lightweight OCLV Mountain Carbon and the Boost technology seen in the both the front and rear wheels this bike is actually fun to climb with. Stiff, responsive, and quick is the best way to sum it up, and of course fun. One other mountain bike to keep an eye out for is the all new Procaliber. I am a huge fan of a full suspension bike, while most people in this area love hard tails. The Procaliber is a bit of a bridge in the middle. Taking the Iso Zone technology from the Domane on the road side and bringing it to the mountain side. This allows for vertical compliance in the seat tube. By no means does this make the bike a true full suspension, but it also keeps the overall weight low, with a 19.5” Procaliber 9.9 SL coming in at sub 20lbs,a true race machine. WWW.THERACINGPOST.US And shoes, can we ever have too many pairs of shoes? On the Bontrager side of things an all new XXX Mountain shoe. I am not sure how they will perform, but they look very cool. A bright, almost neon blue with a honeycomb pattern for the uppers and the bright red/salmon color on the lugs. If these shoes are anything like the current version of the XXX shoes I am wearing, stiffness and performance will not be a problem. Well, there is so much more from Trek World to share, but that will have to do for now. Trek really does a great job presenting the new product, bringing in superstars like Jens Voigt and Katie Compton to hang out and talk about the products and just the general love of the sport. Trek World is always a highlight of the year and I am looking forward to heading back next year for Treks 40th anniversary. Until then swing on by the shop, check some of the new product out and see you on the road. VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 33 Junior Spotlight: Aubrey and Ryan Drummond By TRP Staff Photo by Danny Ammann TRP: In 10 years of Jr Spotlights, I’m not sure we’ve done a double interview more than once … so bear with us. Vanessa Drummond, as Ryan and Aubrey’s Mom …. Tell us a bit about each. Vanessa Drummond: Ryan Drummond was born in October of 2006. He has lived in Oklahoma City his whole life. He attends the 3rd grade in Moore, Oklahoma. Ryan loves going to school and socializing with friends. He loves playing soccer, but loves cycling so much more that he only plays on his free time. Ryan has been on a bike since the age of 3, trying to mimic and do exactly what his dad does on a daily training and racing basis. He is very active, loves going on family rides, and traveling with the family to races throughout the year. Aubrey was born in Oklahoma in October of 2002. She attends Junior High in Moore, Oklahoma where is loves to play and hang out with her friends on a daily basis. Aubrey loves playing and watching Basketball games. She also loves the Oklahoma Sooners, and keeps up with football during the fall. Aubrey spends most of her time traveling with her Dad, Mom, and younger brother to races. No matter what season it is, she is normally racing some kind of bike. She loves riding her Mountain Bike and camping in the fall, loves racing Crits in the summer heat, but her favorite is in the chilly days of winter when she is racing her CX bike. TRP: Aubrey and Ryan – Tell us about the other racers in your family. Ryan: My dad races as a Cat ½ on MTB, Road, and Cross. My sister races as a Junior 9-14 on the road, and races Women Cat 3 in MTB and Cross. My mom races MTB Cat 3. 34 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 Presented by: Aubrey: And you, Ryan, race Jr 10 – 14! TRP: That is one bike racing family! How about each of you telling me the team you race with and your last three placings? Aubrey: Bike Lab Junior Development Team. I have ridden for them for 1 year. OKC Pro Am Sunday Junior 9-14-5th place Tulsa Tough Saturday Junior 9-14-11th place Tulsa Tough Sunday Junior 9-14-10th place Ryan: Bike Lab Junior Development Team. I have also been with them for the last year. OKC Pro Am Junior 9-14-1st place Saturday and Sunday Tulsa Tough Junior 9-14 Saturday-3rd place Tulsa Tough Junior 9-14 Sunday-4th place TRP: When did you start riding? Can you tell the story? Ryan: I started riding my bike when I was 3 years old. My dad would ride with me at Draper. Aubrey: I started riding mountain bikes when i was 6 years old. My dad would always ride his bike and i just wanted to try what he did! TRP: When did you start racing? Why? Aubrey: I started racing mountain bikes as soon as I learned to ride a bike. My dad would do all the Oklahoma mountain bike races, and I would race at all the races where there was a Kid's Kup event. Ryan: I started racing my mountain bike when I was 4 years old. I wanted to start racing because my dad did, and it looked like a lot of fun. TRP: What kind of bike do you ride? Ryan: Specialized Crux for road and CX. Aubrey: Specialized Amira for road, and Specialized Crux for CX TRP: Have you tried other two-wheeled sports? Aubrey: My dad put me on a Yamaha pit bike when I was really little....that only lasted for 1 day! Ryan: I raced BMX for a summer in 2013. TRP: Do you participate in other sports? Ryan: I like to play soccer. Aubrey: I love to play and watch basketball, but I love cycling so much more that I only get to play in my spare time. TRP: What grade are you in and what’s your favorite subject? Aubrey: I am in the 7th grade. If i had to pick Ii would say Math would come in 2nd right behind Lunch! WWW.THERACINGPOST.US Ryan: I am in the 3rd grade. My favorite subject is Math. Aubrey: Yes, I work with Coach Mark TeRuki He is the best! TRP: What do you think of school? TRP: As a Junior Racer, what do you think could be done to increase the sport’s popularity among young people? Ryan: School is fun, but I would much rather be riding my bike. Aubrey: I love school, I love hanging out with all my friends anywhere i can. TRP: What do you see as your future … what would you like to do after graduating from school? Aubrey: I would love to get a college scholarship for cycling, hopefully I can ride my bike as an adult and other young girls can look up to me. Ryan: I want to be a bicycle mechanic or own my own bike shop, and race a lot when I grow up. TRP: How many days a week do you ride and how many hours do you put in? Ryan & Aubrey: We usually ride 4-6 days a week. It is about 6-8 hours a week. TRP: Do you have a formal coach? Ryan: Not a formal coach, but I get a lot of support and coaching from my dad and Paul Watkins. Aubrey: I would like to see cycling offered in school in Oklahoma. Ryan: Kids that already ride and race should spread the word about how fun it is, and bring their friends to the rides and races. TRP: Tell us about your favorite Race? Aubrey: My favorite race was 2014 Rock The Mohawk, it was the state championship for the cat 4 women and I won, but I loved the course so much! It was very fun! Ryan: That would be Ruts N Guts in Tulsa for Cross this past year. The course was so much fun! TRP: Favorite food? Ryan: Cheese Pizza with Ranch TRP : Each of you, tell us about your first Race and your worst race? Ryan: My first race was a Mountain Bike race. I was on my Huffy Rocket Single Speed. I dont remember much about that race, but i don’t think I won that one! My worst race was Uno Mas Junior race 2014, It was 26 degrees as the high that day, sleeting during the race, and my helmet strap started to choke me because of my beanie to keep warm. I had to DNF. Aubrey: I don't remember my first Kids Kup race but, OC Criss Cross was my first CX race and, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! I was all over the place and, and I thought I was going to die! Worst Race? Easy - My worst race was 2013 Spooky Cross because mud kept getting stuck in my brakes! I couldn't move my wheels and it was my birthday! Aubrey: My favorite food would have to be spaghetti! TRP: Training food? Aubrey & Ryan: Skratch Fruit Drops TRP: Other than that? Ryan: Cliff Bars Aubrey: Skratch cookies! TRP: Campy, SRAM or Shimano? Ryan & Aubrey: SRAM TRP: Favorite pro bike racer? Aubrey: My favorite pro biker racer is Jeremy Powers! Ryan: Mark Cavendish TRP: Anybody you’d like to thank or mention? Ryan: I would like to thank my mom and dad, Paul Watkins for helping all the Juniors train, Charley’s Bicycle Lab, and Cateye Computers for all their help on getting us going as a Junior Team. Aubrey: I would like to thank both of my parents for helping support me, my coach Mark Teruki for helping me with all my progress, and my team, Charley's Bike Lab for always supporting me at my races. Also, Cateye Computers for helping me keep track of all my riding and training. I would also like to mention Paul Watkins, for always taking the time to do practices with us and giving us many smart tips that have helped me with bike racing I understand the daily difficulties encountered by cyclists because I’m out there riding every day, just like you. If you’ve been injured while riding your bike, it can be very difficult to navigate the claims process because there are many aspects and angles to consider and negotiate. I am an experienced, board-certified personal injury attorney and can help guide you through the process. If you’ve been injured while riding your bike and have questions or need assistance with your claim, contact me: Bill Shirer | 972 392 1225 | [email protected] I am Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I have been practicing law since 1986. I have been board certified since 1993. As for cycling, I am a “Cat III” and race regularly in the 50+ category. Prior to bike racing, I did over 120 triathlons. I have been riding since 1987. I sponsor local teams and races. WWW.THERACINGPOST.US VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 35 MSU Fall 2015 Freshman Class By Richard Carter The incoming international crop of freshman cyclists entering Midwestern State University this fall covers Central America, Africa and New Zealand. A talented group of riders, they include South African riders Craig Abrahams and Josh Buchel, New Zealander Maxyna Cottam and Honduran Pablo Cruz. They all have international licenses, according to MSU cycling coach Charlie Zamastil, and will be Category A cyclists and likely Cat 1’s. Their first race for MSU will be the Friday and Sunday crits at HHH as well as the Saturday road race. South African sprinter Buchel said he was looking for a place to study and considered America. “I looked at the weather, saw MSU was a cycling university and applied. “I can train longer here during the year, and I heard there’s not a lot of snow,” he laughed. He’s began cycling four years on the track and expanded his focus to road racing six months ago. Road races, Buchel said, such as the upcoming HHH 100 mile Saturday race, “is probably the best way to learn your new teammates, so I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together, learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses. “I’ve heard the wind is really bad here, but I enjoy the wind,” he laughed. The humidity in Wichita Falls is worse than the dry heat of South Africa. “The temperatures seem to be very similar. I’m struggling with the humidity but should get past that.” When Buchel graduates, he hopes to move into a pro team, wherever he can get a spot. “You don’t get a lot of opportunities in cycling, so you have to grab what you can get.” While he has only known his new teammates for two days, he is enjoying riding with them. “I can tell that within two to three weeks they’re going to be family for me.” His countryman, Craig Abrahams, has already been in Wichita Falls for about a week longer. “In about four or five more days, I will be completely acclimated to the weather,” he laughed. Abrahams grew up cycling, as his father enjoyed the sport. Growing up around farms near Cape Town, he began as a climber, started playing rugby in high school, and developed into a track rider. He switched to mountain biking after a fall on the track and developed into a strong flat, road cyclist. “I am kind of looking forward to the wind in the Saturday HHH road race. If I am with my teammates, I will look out for my team leader and look to provide a slipstream. “We haven’t talked about tactics yet. I think I can be effective that way.” Abrahams’ sister came to America 10 years ago to study engineering and is still here. The cyclist wants the same thing for himself hoping to turn pro but is also studying to be a teacher as a fallback. New Zealander Cottam wants to study design and marketing and has cycled for 11 years, raced in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. She wanted to continue to travel, her mother researched schools and she decided to go to school, cycle and get a degree. “I do track cycling the most. I’ve been here two days and am already to go to Frisco and train. My goal is top the podium at Nationals in September.” She visited America last year to see what it was like and came to Wichita Falls and met some of her current teammates on a ride to Mount Scott. “I am more of a hill climber than a flat rider. The next day I was here, it snowed,” she laughed. She is transitioning to the Texas heat after spending the summer in Scotland cycling. She would like to end up a pro team and stay in America or return to New Zealand. Cruz is from Honduras and met the MSU cycling team on their spring break earlier this year while doing altitude training in Albuquerque. A racer for seven years, cycling in Honduras is much less common than soccer, he explained. “My middle school classmates invited me one day to go out and cycle—a long climb. It was not for me, but the next day I wanted to go again. “I focus on road and steep climbs,” he said. He was a full-time racer for the past two years racing in Europe. When Cruz met Zamastil earlier this year, he suggested Cruz apply for MSU and the young cyclist took advantage of the opportunity. “I want to take a degree and learn from the team. Everyone’s goal is to turn pro,” he laughed. The Texas weather is not as much a transition for Cruz as it is the other imports. “I am not so good with wind, but I will try and help my teammates and have a great race at HHH,” he said. Zamastil is excited about his new recruits. “We have a very young team--12 guys, 10 of whom are freshman or sophomores. Our team may be young and inexperienced, but they are all talented and we will win some races.” VOL.15, NO. 9 THE RACING POST 37 M a r k e t p l a c e September Hill Country Bicycle Works 141 West Water St. Kerrville, TX 830-896-6864 3rd The Omnium 702 East Main Fredericksburg, TX 830-990-2609 19th Atomic Time Trial Contact [email protected] TXBRA.org TeXas Bicycle Racing Association 38 THE RACING POST VOL.15, NO. 9 WWW.THERACINGPOST.US D i g i t a l B o n u s Portrait of the Month: Andy Chasteen & “Maverick” at the Wheeler Crit “Pincus Attacks at Fort Hood By Lee McDaniel “First, 1st Place” by Scott Ellison The digital version of The Racing Post will serialize the novel Changing Gears by our very own Editor in Chief, Andrew Hollinger. A suspense novel set against the backdrop of Texas bicycle racing. The complete novel can be purchased through Amazon.com or iUniverse.com in a variety of formats. The reader is reminded that this is a novel and, as such, is wholly fiction. While the places, events and institutions are certainly real and much of the content was drawn from first person perception, the events and characters are entirely fictional. Any connection between the people and events described in this novel and actual people or events, no matter how plausible, are purely coincidental. This book is at least two years old at publication. There have been at least three distinct versions. There are several manuscripts in circulation or in the possession of several people who have been kind enough to read it and provide me their thoughts. This last edition is the best and draws upon their suggestions and especially the editing of several professionals, but, alas, has retained some of the errors, problems and clumsiness infused by me—for these, I apologize. The following is last chapter or the novel. Next Month “Hangin’ On” ... … is my 30 One by one, the deputies gravitated to the cab of Chris’ truck, wife.” Hannah finally spoke up. “Zach did you ever call Sgt about 10 meters from where the Sherriff, Hannah, the EMTs and Brumfield?” Zach looked over at her and his eyes when dead Zach had clustered. They seemed quite engrossed in searching the again. Both the Sherriff and Hannah caught him and dragged him vehicle. Finally, the Sherriff noticed the smirks and snickers and to the open door of Hannah’s truck. Hannah explained to the after swaggering over, pushed the younger men aside to inspect the Sherriff about the connection between Sgt. Brumfield and Zach, cab, himself. He was dumfounded. Quietly, he walked over to Zach while the Sherriff both pretended to understand and made a mental who was being bandaged by the EMT and supported by Hannah. note to make the call as soon as he returned to the office. When “Excuse me … er … us … ma’am.” He walked Zach, who was not Zach revived, the Sherriff sig¬naled to all, it was time to leave and easily disengaged from the EMT, toward the Truck. “There’s somereturn to Palo Pinto. He picked up the bro¬ken remains of the thing in here I need to understand and wonder if you could help me Colnago and asked if he should put them in Hannah’s truck. out.” Zach was confused more than ever. Again, the Sherriff parted Hannah said “Please” … but Zach added “Be careful … she’s had the deputies so Zach could stick his head into the cab. After a a bad day.” Hannah smiled. Her boy and his bike were still who moment, he realized these were movies of Chris and his wife. they were. Another bizarre twist to the day made Zach cringe and the The team was waiting at the courthouse. After a few words pain return, inten¬sified to his knees, shoulders and head. “Yeah … with between Travis and Hannah, Travis dispersed the team. They I know them.” The Sherriff smirked and stepped closer as if he didtook the cue from their leader that Zach had an accident, would be n’t want to offend Hannah who, by now had returned, loosely, to okay and that all was well with the world. Chris was taken to the Zach’s side. Zach obliged by almost whispering “It’s that woman jail where Hannah and Zach both gave their state¬ments. One of and my wife.” the guys drove Zach’s van to the shop where he could pick it up, The Sherriff seemed to put on his “I’ve seen it all and don’t later. Finally, Zach loaded himself in the truck and they took off. be embarrassed” expression to sooth the bleeding Zach, but it didSomewhere just outside of Weatherford, Zach’s phone went n’t do any good. Hannah was confused by the entire exchange and off. Hannah had found it on the side of the road and put it in her looked inside herself. “What the hell?” She blurted out and almost pocket. She looked at the screen and at Zach dosing in the corner laughed. The Deputies howled until silenced by a nasty glare from of the cab. “Zach England’s phone.” the Sherriff as he walked up to the spot, another 10 meters up the “This is Baylor Grapevine and we wanted to inform Zach hill, where two deputies were questioning Chris. England that he should come immediately to our Emergency For her part, Chris was almost incoherently sobbing with two Room.” Hannah was understand¬ably alarmed. deputies trying to ask her questions and write down answers. Over “What’s wrong?” The voice on the other side simply and over she was both decry¬ing Jesse’s involvement and the fact informed her that Zach’s presence was needed immediately and that everything was being done for her and Jesse. The Sherriff would say nothing more. She looked over at the sleeping Zach and talked to her for several moments and after two or three decided to shield him from one more of the day’s trau¬mas by not inter¬changes turned back toward Zach and Hannah, shaking his awakening him. More than likely there was little they could do head. from this distance, anyway. Hannah hung up and pushed the speed The Sherriff was rubbing his forehead. He looked at the a bit. ground and offered but one question to Zach; “Jesse?” She woke Zach at the Emergency entrance to the hospital. At Hannah was confused, but stayed silent. The Sherriff looked first he thought it was for him and only after repeated explanations at Zach again and Zach, finally, volunteered. “Jessica … her Jesse and finally Hannah swearing at him to get his butt into the Emergency Room, did he finally dismount from the truck and go in. The guard, too, saw the torn riding clothes, blood seeping through bandages and thought he was an admission case until he heard Zach give his name a second time. Hannah had caught up with him at this point and both viewed the guard go pale at the realization of who Zach was. He told them to sit while he fetched the doctor. Only a minute later, a young doctor approached Zach and Hannah seated in the waiting room. He asked Zach for his ID and then looked at Hannah. “She’s okay … she’s with me … as you can see, I needed someone to drive. What’s this about? It has been a very confusing day.” Zach was tottering to the point of almost falling. The Doctor looked at Hannah and they both helped Zach sit down. “Mr. England … I don’t know how to tell you this … but your wife is dead … she died as a result of a traffic accident. The accident happened about an hour and a half ago … she died about 30 minutes before you came.” He stood there awaiting Zach’s reaction. Zach, still groggy from whatever the EMT’s had given him, the day’s activities and now this shock didn’t move or react. Hannah grabbed him thinking he was passing out again. Two approaching nurses, seeing the bandages, blood and the pale man rushed to help her. Zach, taking a deep breath, looked up at the surrounding faces. “What?” “Mr England … we worked as hard as we could … frankly, we thought we’d saved her … but she just slipped away.” He put his hand on Zach’s shoulder in an effort to communicate empathy. “She just died.” Zach didn’t really know what to do or say. The doctor’s hand tightened. “But your son … jeez … your son … well, he’s doing as well as can be expected. He’s a fighter … all the odds were against him … but we got to him in time and he’s in our PED Extensive Care unit.” The doctor smiled and made sure Zach was focusing on him. “Would you like to see your son, Mr. England?” Suddenly there was no pain in Zach’s life. There was no fogginess, nor fatigue or even discomfort. He stood up, Hannah’s arm still around him. Hannah and he followed the doctor down a long hall and through some automatic doors. Atop a stainless steel table, there was a Plexiglas box, with all sorts of wires and tubes connected. Two nurses doing things around the box. There were machines that chirped and some that buzzed; even one that went ping about every thirty sec¬onds. As Zach approached he could see there was a tiny purple mass of baby in the middle of these wires and tubes. The doctor, still trying to keep Zach from focusing on the loss of his wife said; “Your son Mr. England.” Zach stood there and said nothing. Hannah started sobbing a bit, but was still silent and supporting Zach. The doctor asked “Do you have a name picked out. Our staff would like him to hear his real name, you know.” Zach looked at the tiny, too tiny purple person. He was a naked, writhing, crying, squinting little person. It was like some special effect in a movie. He looked over to Hannah who had tears in her eyes. He looked again at the little baby and saw his father and his Grandfather, the sainted Texas Ranger. He saw this being, not hours old, struggling to live, to win, to achieve. He thought of Carlton as a final gesture to Jessica and all she had done to make this new being possible. He shook his head and cleared his eyes with his bandaged fingers. “Eddy” … Zach smiled for the first time all day. “His name is Eddy … my grandfather’s name was Edward.” The nurse wrote Edward’s name on the chart at the head of the box. The doctor again spoke. “A lot has happened. It looks like you had a bad time of it yourself.” He smiled, Zach continued to look at the impossibly tiny baby, now his son, Eddy. “Why don’t you clean up and come back. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Zach slowly turned and walked out of the room. He was already making lists of things he had to do. None of them started at the right place nor ended any¬where that made sense. He stopped and turned to Hannah whose arm was still around him as if to keep him standing. He looked at her. Jessica was gone; he knew that and knew that he could handle it. But, what about Eddy? Hannah could see the question in Zach’s eyes. She dropped her arm from around him and faced him only inches from his bloody face. “Edward may have been your grandfather’s name … but I’ll bet it was Eddy Merckx you were think¬ing about.” Zach looked at her and smiled a second time for the day. His smile quickly vanished. “Hannah … what am I gonna do?” Hannah looked at him and smiled; trying to coax his back. “I’m not sure … but I am sure we’ll figure something out.” Zach reached out and took her hand. The pain had returned to every part of his injured body. He needed to get cleaned up, call Gretchen to take care of the necessary stuff regarding Jessica and come back here to be with his son. As they approached Hannah’s truck he looked at his Colnago lying broken and battered in the back. It could be repaired. Everything could. Racers heal—racers get stronger. He looked at it lying there in pieces—and smiled.
