Who Won What?!? a season of surprises

Bike races are like a box a chocolates, you never know when its going to get crunchy, or gooey, or crashes you out from a sudden drop in blood sugar. You just hope to grab the best one before anyone else takes it. (Not what you were expecting?) This year, the big spring classics have been full of surprises. The crashes, the mechanicals, the individual injuries, even the team tactics have been somewhat surprising. The biggest surprise of all has been the winners. None of the monuments were won by a guy named as a favorite before the race. Sure Goss and Nuyens were on the "outside chance" lists of some writers. But they were both longshots. Van Summeren wasn't even the #3 option for Garmin. He had the last number in the team start order signifying "domestique". No one can deny that each of these racers is talented and deserving. Yet, they were the darkest of dark horses. Every bike race has a fair measure of good luck for the winner. You can not win on good luck alone, but you certainly can not win with out it. Crashes dashed the chances of many team leaders in la Prima Vera, and as usual in Paris-Roubaix. A couple of dropped bottles likely cost Cancellara his margin on the Muur. Boonen's jammed chain in Arenberg was the beginning of his end. The lack of good luck cost all the big favorites their shot at glory. Goss, Nuyens, and Van Summeren had more than luck on their side. They each had directors & teams that supported them in the race. (something Chavanel might have liked at the Ronde) They all had the strength and smarts to be in the right position. They each believed in themselves enough to finish first. None of their wins were by chance alone. Perhaps the leason of this year's classics is that the conventional wisdom isn't always so wise. The odds on favorite can always have a bad day, leaving the flowers for someone else. A good racer is ready for opportunities, and a good team director supports that guy when the race plays out for a "non-favorite". These races have been very exciting for all the upsets. We can hope the Ardenes and the Grand Tours will be just as dramatic.

Taking New Media for Granted

Media has changed enormously in the last 10 years. For a longtime cycling fan like me, this is a wonderful thing. Do not get me wrong. Hundreds of websites, thousands of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Vs., livestreams, YouTube clips, and now Universal Sports replays means we can consume all day everyday consuming cycling; we sometimes do this rather than actually riding bikes (or any other useful activity).



Realize this also means that we can spend hour upon hour indulging in our favorite sport, cycling. Back in the day (even 1o years ago) none of this existed. We got one hour of Tour de France coverage once a week when I first followed the tour in 1987. All other information on bike racing came in monthly magazines. I waited weeks to find out who won any event. I also devoured each issue of those magazines. No page was wasted.



I make this point anticipating that some fans will feel frustrated that Universal Sports is charging $5 for their live stream of the Cyclocross World Championships. My reaction is whopee! I'm thrilled to be able to pay such a small fee for a high quality stream. Bonus that I can plug into a big screen TV and follow commentary on atleast 4 different english language sites.



I would also encourage everyone who wants World Cup cyclocross live on a regular basis to do the same. The reason is simple; Universal apparently owns the U.S. broadcast rights to UCI World Cup events. The more viewership they have for Worlds, the more likely they will stream World Cups live in the future. Now Universal Sports shows replays of the WC races on cable, weeks after the event, at 4 a.m. Better than nothing, but barely. So if you want to see cyclocross get more broadcast attention, pay up and watch on Universal Sports rather than poaching Sporza's feed. I'll miss the commentary in dutch too, but its the right thing to do for the future of US cyclocross.

'Crossed Out: its too early to feel this beat.

photo by Zoo

The greatest part of New England cyclocross is there are so many good races. The toughest part of New England cyclocross is that there are so many good races & racers.

Last weekend was the biggest event of them all, Gloucester. The course is not the toughest, but the competition is, and so I am always at my limit racing Gloucester. But more on that later.

The season has started fast and furious this year. Quad CX was intense. Then I raced three doubles in a row; Catamount 1&2, Loon/SBX, and Gloucester. Loon was hard both for the course, and that I ran around helping out all day. Sucker Brook is just a shoulder to shoulder speed fest, seemingly more so every year.

And this year we add to the mix a mid-week night race, Nacht von Weasel. This race is scheduled in between Gloucester and Providence to make NECX Superweek. I wanted to rock the Weasel. But I couldn't rock the Weasel. Family commitments take precedence during the week. I had a commitment on Columbus Day weekend before the season started, so no Providence Cup either.

I'm o.k. with this, really. I felt like I had been dropped from the top of the rock the day after Gloucester. My poor old aching left knee needs some rest. Especially since there are 9 weeks left in the cyclocross season AFTER Columbus Day. I expect that some guys are going to be burnt to a crisp next Monday. I don't want to be one of them.

Back to Gloucester. I had a startlingly similar weekend as last year, only this year it was dry and fast. I started much better on day 1, up in the top 30 where I hoped to stay. But my knee blew up after 2 laps. After going backward about 20 places, I decided it was better to live for another day. So I stepped off the course and went to find an ice pack for the knee.

photo by Zoo

Day 2 also started very well. I moved up 20+ spots coming off the pavement to the top 40. Then the whole bunch compacted on the run-up off the sea wall. At the top the guy ahead of me tripped and I ran into him. I knocked myself off course and my chain off the bike. I got back on at the very back of the bunch. So I lost about 30 spots in 30 seconds. I chased hard up the group for the next lap getting back 20 of those spots. I was closing in on the top half of the field, but could not push my knee any harder. I pedaled as easy as I could without slowing down too much for a lap. In that lap, the 4 guys chasing me bridged up, including my arch nemesis G-Ride. As we drafted along the far straight away he flatted, so it was just me and the other two guys. I attacked hard with 2 to go into the hillside chicane. I opened up a quick 10 second gap. I kept pressing on the bell lap. I could now see two of the guys ahead of me that I let go on lap 4. But I could not get to them before the finish. I did manage to keep my spot. 50th. Not what I had hoped for, but a wee bit better than last year, and a minute closer to the leaders.

photo by Todd Prekaski

The best part of Gloucester this year was that the party afterward was bigger & better than ever. G-Ride is correct, club tent row made for a better party. Chip Baker throws one premier 'cross party (Hup Hup Hup) Plus they had more good beers at the sponsor tent. To top it off, I got to meet the man behind THE blog, monsieur metro critique himself, BSNYC.

So I had a good Gloucester, and 5 days afterward I feel almost recovered. Plenty of more racing left in this season. I'd rather enjoy it all, than be 'crossed out.

Merry CX-Mas & Happy 'Cross Chanukah

Bike racing is a gear intensive sport. Once I started racing I also started wanting multiple wheelsets, tubular tires, cassettes, saddles, and new kit every year. I end up getting a whole lot of stuff all at once before the season begins, so that everything is ready when needed. Once when I was at my sponsoring LBS picking up the pre-season big box of parts and tires, a customer looked over at my haul and said it looked like Christmas morning. Getting spiffy new gear is a bit like being a kid on Christmas. But when I get my road or mtb parts, I usually have to wait a few months to enjoy them; I don't get to play with all the new toys right away. So its just not as exciting as Christmas

Cyclocross season is different. I get parts and clothes specifically for cyclocross in September. Its a second round of new gear excitement for the year. Plus, the cyclocross season is right on top of us, so close I can almost smell it. Its like getting gifts on Christmas Eve!

I know I am not alone;

I read the excited FB and twitter posts from my 'cross racing buddies about their new gear.

Whether it's just stocking stuffers like new pedals, brakepads, or hoods.



or if you've been pretty good, fancy tires and new team kit




or if you've been really good St. Niklaas brings you zippy new wheels or a whole new bike!




even the best masters and pro racers get excited for their pre-season presents;

http://jonnybold.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-in.html

http://plixi.com/p/47806597

http://twitpic.com/2qxcof

So I'm calling this season of new toys and childlike excitement CX-Mas

or as Maestro Myerson suggested, 'Cross Chanukah

regardless of which you prefer, I hope you get all you wished for. See you at the big race.

You need the Skills

photo by Janice Checchio

The variety of skills needed to race cyclocross is under-appreciated. Cyclocross is not always a criterium on grass, it is not usually a mtb cross country race on narrow tires. The skills are more than just hopping off the bike and over a set of planks. Going fast in cyclocross takes a long list of techniques for the various challenges.

photo by Janice Checchio

Nor'Easter Cyclocross at Loon has to be the most challenging course I've raced in New England. In Europe near impossible descents on cyclocross courses are more common than in the U.S. In the early days of cyclocross, courses would include "death drops" that today seem like mtb gravity stunts. I've watched Belgian races on the inter tubes where some downhills are better to run than to ride. Loon was challenging because the descents were HARD, white knuckle full brake grip hard. Anyone who could carve down the loose steep twisty descents got plenty of free speed to help them win. I was pushed to my limit in transitioning from tough climb, to tougher descent. But I made it down everything without touching the dirt, at least in the race. I would have liked to go down it faster, but I made it clean. Of course you still had to run, sprint, and dismount, but it was descending that made the race.

photo by Rob Bauer

Sucker Brook CX required other skills than just hopping barriers. SBX is a flat course with few features that experienced cyclocross racers would find challenging. The only places you can get into trouble is cornering too fast on the grass or in the loose section on the fire road. So I went back on word to myself, and signed up for the Killer B race. The only time I've left a bike race in an ambulance was the last Killer B (cat 3) race I did 6 years ago. I needed to be at the front early to avoid the carnage. I figured that top 15 coming off the start would be good enough. I was wrong.

I got to the start a little late and was on the 3rd row. I popped the start hard and moved up to 10th coming through the grassy turns, so I figured I was golden. But as we came over a set of dusty little whoop-de-dos, the guys in front of me stacked it. Anyone who pre-road the course would expect to just roll over these. It was hard to see in the dust, but no need to STOP. From going 20 mph to complete stop shot me off course. I jumped back on the course from behind the pile-up, only to be blocked and forced off the bike again 100 meters further up. And I drop my chain too. To add actual insult to injury G-Ride heckles me as he comes past. (like Nelson going Ha-haw, "kryptonite") So from 10th to DFL in under a minute, just because kids these days don't know how to ride their bikes in the dust! I jumped back on full of fury, racing in anger. I managed to ride everything clean the rest of race, hopping the log feature every lap, chasing back up to the front half of the group. I even cut under G-Ride in a loose corner as revenge, but without taking anyone out. I could make all the turns, but I could not keep my head together enough to move up to the top 20. I was mentally exhausted from my rage over the first 3 laps. The skills are not just bike handling. I needed to keep a grip on my anger.

A completely clean race and a top 10 result would have been nice. I should apologize now to all the cat. 3 racers I yelled at as I tore past in laps 1&2. I was loud, I was angry, I wasn't nice. And everyone has to learn their skills somehow. The cat. 3 race is the place for guys who have more speed than experience. I realize that I did not get the nick-name "CCR" by accident, but by lots of accidents, and slips, spills, splash downs, generally poor bike driving. Yet, each incident taught me something to improve my CX skills. Everyone falls down sometimes, good racers develop the skills to go faster and fall less. To race cyclocross, you need the Skills.

Deep End of the Pool: swimming with New England CX sharks

photo by Janice Checchio

New England does not have the highest turnout for cyclocross races, I think that goes to Chicago area 'cross or to Seattle. Nor does it always have the nastiest weather, that definitely goes to Portland. But it does have a very deep field in most every field.

Last weekend was the New England Championship Series #1-2. And it was the second week of the season. About 400 total racers each day lined up in northern Vermont, half the draw that will come to Gloucester or NoHo. The turnout was light partially because there is still road racing going on, partially because the course at the Catamount Center is hard; really really hard. Day 1 had 486 feet of climbing each lap. The masters 35+ did 5 laps in 42 minutes to the leaders for almost 2500 feet of climb. Day 2 was not much easier since there is no coasting on this course, it was all grass power sections, turns, and short steep climbing.

But the biggest factor in making the races tough, is the competition. I counted 5 current national champions, 9 former national champions (in juniors or masters or collegiate), and 1 former and 1 current worlds masters champion, including the current pro/elite U.S. champion, the guy pictured above. Every field had deep talent. Everyone was racing for their best result.

And that is the lesson that I learned last week; in New England cyclocross, victories are rare for most. Even podiums or top 10's are hard to come by. If you're going to be a cyclocross racer, you have to race for the love of it. There are much less demanding ways to win trophies and medals. Bike racing in these parts is about the love of going as fast as you can, and trying to do a bit better each time. It helps to keep your sense of humor and humility packed with your race kit. Those things help salvage a badly bruised ego after a tough race.

It also helps that we are friendly, if often sarcastic, bunch. I love the camaraderie of the NE cyclocross regulars almost as much as the racing, almost. Because I do love to race cyclocross first and most of all.

I think everything you need to understand about the depth of cyclocross around here, is summed up in 1:40 sec of video shot by the uber cyclocross nut, Henry Jurenka. Note the first shot, 2 current, and one former master's national champion. Everybody, though, giving it their all. Enjoy.

http://www.cyclocrossvideos.com/cx/2010_cx_UCI/2010_VERGE_2_Masters_35plus_1-2-3_Start_and_Lap_1.html

Not Dead Yet....

Yes, dear blog, I've been away for a long time. But I have not forgotten you. Its just, well, I've been distracted for a few months, by training, and racing, and being injured, and getting over a chronic injury, and starting to train/race/recover again.

A few things I've re-learned along the way:

Training is not racing. No matter how hard the group ride or the intervals, they are not like a race. There is not the same level of effort, fear, or thrill as in a hard race.

Racing is not training. Maybe for the pro's it can be, but there are too few chances to race, and too many guys trying to smack me down to treat any race as just a training event. If I am going to suit up for a race, than I better come prepared to give it a wee bit more than group ride.

The most important race to win, is the one between your ears. The old maxim "I am my own worst enemy" is true for racing bikes as well. We all can underperform when we think "I can't", whether it is closing a gap, positioning for a sprint, or climbing a hill. We also wreck our chances at peak performance by failing to sleep enough, eat the right food, stay hydrated, or get to the race fully equiped. Daily focus and good habits help race day performance. The most stunning fact I've learned this week is that mental stress can lower hematocrit levels! So just by being an anxious stressed out mess, I am reducing my blood values and thereby ability to perform.

Great!

The converse is true too, the more mentally & emotionally together I can become, the better I will train, the better I will race. It takes more than just having your head in the game, its keeping it together as much as you can, every day. Racing is not like life, it is life. It is not all of my life, but it is an intregal day in day out part of my life, like it is for all racers.

Fortunately, we all have been taught how to win the race between our ears since kindergarten:

Just keep turning over the wheels, you'll get to the top faster than you imagine.

Riding is Not Racing; cycling for honor or keeps.

I love riding my bicycle, I love a good group ride, but that is not racing. Let me begin by stating that everyone starts out riding a bicycle. You have to walk before you can run, ride before you can race.

A fast group ride can seem like a race. The group rolls out, there may be a neutral section for a few miles, or the group may sprint out of the parking lot. Regardless the pace, the last few town lines may be sprints. A new rider maybe clinging onto to the back of the bunch by the end, just like racing. Veteran riders may be worn out from the pace and the sprints. The beauty of the fast group ride is that the training ride can include the dynamics of a road race.

But it is not a race. No one has a bib number, there is no pace car or officials, there is no finish line, there are no prizes. Everyone rides for honor, not for keeps. That fact makes the dynamic different. Sprints may go 4 wide, but not 10 deep. Attacks are as likely to be met with indifference as with counter moves. The pace may be high, but the intensity is not the same.

Racing is a different game. This weekend I failed horribly at my first race of the year. The race was a short time trial that I came to over geared, under rested, and not mentally prepared. I have plenty of legitimate reasons for my poor performance; among them an injured hip from hitting the deck last week, a cold that preoccupied my sinuses, & early season under training. But it is never fun to produce a mediocre performance. At some level I planned it this way. I had low expectations for the first race of the season. If anything it was a chance to practice my pre-race routine. I did manage to get all my gear together and arrive on time to the event. But that was my only very small accomplishment of this event.

I had been doing well in the early group rides, until a slipped pedal vaulted me to the tarmac. But even before that incident, I knew that I was lacking in race fitness. The ability to dig deep into your reserves and then hit the pace hard again & again is what seperates riding from racing.

This week, I will recover, and hit the intervals harder, so that when we are racing, i.e. riding for keeps, I can perserve my honor.

The successful solo break; winning with grand panache

There are many ways to win bike races; from a high octane lead out train, with a well timed sprint out of group, grinding it out when the weather forces most everyone else into the car, even the dumb luck of the chase group going off route. But the most satisfying and most difficult way to win, is the solo break away. Rarely do these moves work. You are setting yourself up for a spartan like battle. It is you against the rest of the pack, or atleast against a motivated chase group, and they all want to steal your glory. It is a fight of one against a dozen.

But every so often, a racer has the talent, the tenacity, and the luck to pull it off. Some guys just seem to have the legs and the guts for this kind of win. A week ago, Fabian Cancellara reminded me of how beautiful that sort of victory is, twice. Joe Parkin described winning this way as the most beautiful victory. When a racer has so much gap coming to the line that he can sit up and enjoy the moment from 100 meters out, he calls it "no one else in the picture".

Another racer a generation ago had the same knack for hard solo victories at Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, Francesco Moser. Cancellara may be his sucessor in race style. Moser was also a tremendously powerful time trialist and attacking racer. He was fluid on the pedals and a mentally tough racer like Cancellara. I hope Spartacus goes on to win many more classics and breaks the hour record too.

I have never won a race this way, perhaps someday I'll find the courage and the opportunity to pull it off.

P.S. Congratulations SoloBreak on a long awaited solo victory.

The Ronde van Vlaaderen: flahute pain and glory

The cobbled classics start this week with the E3 Prijs and conclude with the Paris-Roubaix on April 11th. These are all great races. It takes the utmost endurance, strength, skill, and confidence to win any of the hardman races. The brute force of each route combined with the weather make it daunting to ride much less race.

All bike racers are sado-masochists. The only way to win a long hard race, especially if you are going to win solo, is to wear out your competition. You have to attack when the other guys are suffering so much, that they can not even conceive of matching the effort. Cyclists have to be masochists because the only way to develop that strength is torture yourself in training so that you relish that pain. Sometimes in races, the one who can suffer the most wins. Longtime fans of bike racing recognize and appreciate this fact.

It is the level of suffering that makes the Ronde the greatest one day race. Sure, la Primavera is a beautiful race, Liege is the Queen of the Classics, and Roubaix is greatest of the cobbled races. But the intensity, the relentless & steep bergs, the narrow broken roads all make the Ronde the most brutal one day race. It is the only road race where riders frequently have to walk up climbs. It is the only race with its own museum.

Every boy who wants to be tough racer dreams of racing the Ronde.

I can't wait for Sunday!