For our featured photos this week, Joe Sales, perhaps our most valued contributor, has a gallery of his photos from US Cyclocross Nationals that just went live. If you read Cyclocross Magazine or visit the website regularly, you’ve seen his photos, including on several covers of the magazine.
Last year at Interbike, Gates Carbon Drive Systems announced its new CenterTrack carbon belt drive drivetrain, and Cyclocross Magazine is the first publication to test the system on a cyclocross bike. We’ve recently received a Raleigh carbon singlespeed outfitted with the new CenterTrack system and have enjoyed a few rides on the stunning 15 pound machine.
Lazer Sport wants to take a moment to remember our friends in Japan and help them in their effort to recover. So, as we launch our new Armor helmet model for 2012, we are offering a special limited edition “Support Japan” graphic with a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this special edition helmet going towards the Internal Red Cross disaster relief effort (www.ifrc.org/en/donation-japan).
Even in the “off-season,” Georgia Gould is a force to be reckoned with. When we last checked in with her in our first Women’s Wednesday column, we learned that she’s been chasing a win in the Mountain Bike World Cup series, as well as the PROxct series. Recently, she finished in the top 15 at the Dalby Forest mountain bike race, and there’s still a lot of mountain bike racing to be done before the season is over and cyclocross begins. Lucky for us, Georgia had a few minutes to spare to talk to us about this season, her upcoming cyclocross season, and what it’s like to be a pro woman in cycling.
June 21st, 2011 (Louisville, KY) Rick Bald has joined forces with Promoters Bruce Fina and Joan Hanscom to execute the UCI World Cyclocross Championships in Louisville, KY Jan 2013. Bald will be responsible for managing sponsorships sales for the United States’ first ever Cyclocross World Championships.
As May turned to June and as June is quickly disappearing, it’s occurred to me that the start of cyclocross season is actually not as far away as I thought. At first, this notion made me want to start jumping for joy. But then, it hit me just how unprepared I am for cyclocross season and just how big my “to do” list is. Like Mike Birner suggested in his piece on Building a Base in the Off-Season, I had made a list of what I needed to work on over the summer. And yeah, it’s a long list.
It takes about a week to get Santiago Lorenzo on the phone, and when I do he doesn’t want to extrapolate about heat training. Lorenzo is a research scientist who, until recently, studied at the University of Oregon before picking up his PhD and moving to sunnier climes. He’s also an NCAA champion and 2004 Olympian in the decathlon, which means he’s a serious athlete (do you know the 10 events in the decathlon? I didn’t and went to look them up — anyone who can excel at all of them, and over two days, knows a thing or two about getting the most out of one’s body). He’s also published a study about heat training that may change the way we prepare for hot and cold events.
We’ve been sitting on this info since March 1st when we originally posted about Shimano’s new cyclocross components, but now that Shimano has finally lifted the embargo date on it, we can give you the real scoop on the new Di2 electronic shifting for Ultegra.
Want to know what to look for on Cyclocross Magazine this week? Worried you might have missed something last week? Fear not, because we’ve got it all mapped out for you. Every Monday, we have a preview of what’s in store for the week, and we’ll let you know about some of the great articles that you might have missed last week. If there’s any story you’d like us to cover, any burning question you want answered, or any cool racer you’d like to hear from, let us know! Leave messages in the comments, find me on the Cowbell Forums or email molly [at] cxmagazine.com.
For Father’s Day, we wanted to take a second to give a shout-out to all the cyclocross and cycling fathers (mothers too!) out there who have taken the time to help their child (or grown adult) experience the joys of riding or racing a bike. After all, without Cyclocross Magazine’s Chief Cowbell Ringer Andrew Yee’s still-cycling father madly searching for affordable used kid’s bikes for him, converting his little 22″ wheel road bike to a track bike on a weekly basis, and literally pushing him up hills on family rides, there’s no way Cyclocross Magazine would exist today (read more about the background story via CXhairs’ interview). CXM’s Online gal Molly also credits her father with her early and recent cycling addiction. And so as further tribute to Father’s Day, we take a look at a cyclocross racing father and son, Nick and Donald Catlin. This father and son duo travels together for road and cyclocross season, even sleeping in a tent on top of their SUV together! Clearly, these two are close, and we wanted to hear from this dynamic duo about how they really feel about their close-knit relationship.
First week of June and what we laughingly call Spring here on the Colorado Front Range has instantly transformed into summer. A week ago we were thrilled to see temperatures in the high 60s, now we’re into the 90s. Two weeks ago I was planning my training rides so that they would fall in between the inevitable 2:30 rainstorm that showed itself just as I was ending my teaching day. That’s a distant memory already. Now I’m frantically searching for sleeveless jerseys and sunscreen. 14 days ago I had to dig deep to find the motivation to roll out the door, today I’m chomping at the bit. Yeah, I hate to admit it since it seems so inconsistent with cyclocross racing, but I’m not a foul weather trainer. Racing in the mud, snow, rain … no problem. Looking out my window on flooded streets and thinking about spending the next two hours in the elements … not my fave.
Every Friday, we’ll be highlighting a great new video, photo or forum topic related to cyclocross. Have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments or by emailing molly [at] cxmagazine.com
Luke Keough is remarkably mature for his age, and rightly so: though he’s only 19 years old, he’s been racing for 15 of them and is extremely serious about what he does. That’s not to say that he doesn’t love horsing around with his teammates, weaving around on the road during recovery rides so he can hop into ditches on his road bike, eating ice cream as recovery food or spending an evening at the mall goofing off, but when he’s on the bike, he’s all business. And as he should be: even at 19, his list of palmares surpasses some seasoned pros: he’s the two-time National Champion for the 17-18 field, placed tenth in the 17-18 field at worlds in Italy, won the Elite race both days at Northhampton at Cycle-Smart International in 2010 and the list goes on.
byMolly Hurford If you see me at a cyclocross race, road race or triathlon, the odds are good that you’ve noticed the big burly guy …
Last week in Collegiate Chronicles, you met Rutgers University Cycling Team’s Director Mark Vareschi, and read about some of his fond memories of the team and its evolution over the years. Today, Vareschi offers some wisdom for other collegiate teams about building a cyclocross team in your collegiate conference.
by Molly Hurford Want to know what to look for on Cyclocross Magazine this week? Worried you might have missed something last week? Fear not, …
Like most riders who come to ’cross from the road, I sometimes struggle with technical skills.
I’ve learned a lot in the past five years. Yet I still grab too much brake, don’t trust my tires enough, and slow down too much before barriers and corners.
The remedy this season? Lots of practice in a park nearby and lots of mountain bike riding.
We already reported on Belgian cyclocross superstar Bart Wellen’s plans to start his season in the US. Now, it appears that in addition to StarCrossed and the Rad Racing GP, Wellens and teammate Rob Peeters will be adding even more US cyclocross racing to their itineraries.
Cyclocross rider Katie Compton (Rabobank Giant Offroad Team) goes up against World MTB Champion, Maja Wloszczowska (CCC) in the Jelenia Gora Maja Wloszczowska Trophy Sprint Eliminator in downtown Jelenia Gora. Says Mark, Compton’s husband, the sprint eliminator is “a really great racing format they need to adopt in the US.”
The idea of going to a cyclocross clinic can be daunting for some. It’s nerve-wracking to be confronted with trying new techniques, learning completely new skills or even just practicing old ones in front of a crowd. And for me, lining up and taking an off-camber taped-off turn with everyone else watching sounds sort of like the fourth or fifth circle of hell. However, it’s not that bad. Really. In fact, it can be pretty darn fun, not to mention extremely helpful.
Since she started racing in 2006, Amy Dombroski has had a remarkable rise to fame. She’s also been a great contributor to Cyclocross Magazine. Lately, she’s been prepping for the fall season, mixing it up at various road and mountain bike events, most recently the back to back World Cup races in Dalby Forest and Offenburg. Lucky for us at Cyclocross Magazine, she had a few hours in a car this weekend, giving her time to answer our questions between races.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
This week, I’m not entirely cyclocross-specific, per se, but getting an insider view of the pro life is definitely something that may be of interest for those who are interested in pursuing a full-time career as a cyclocross racer. Getting to be a “peripheral pro” for a week, as I would put it, was a whole new experience for someone used to working a solid 80 hour week with minimal time for training. As it turns out, these guys take rest just as hard as they take training and racing, and they certainly excel at it. So, this week has had me thinking a lot about what it means to be a pro cyclist in the US today, and if it’s something I could ever imagine doing, having witnessed it firsthand, from prerace meetings to the trip to the mall in search of gold chains.
Creatine is one of those supplements that you hear about with relative frequency, but what exactly is it supposed to be doing? Studies about the supplement have been cropping up for the last couple of years, and they all seem to have slightly differing opinions on the usefulness of creatine. It’s been suggested that creatine supplements help to reduce fatigue on muscles, improve recovery, and increase muscle strength. That’s a tall order for a nitrogenous organic acid. Today, we’re looking at a round-up of studies done on the topic to see what the experts have to say.
Want to know what to look for on Cyclocross Magazine this week? Worried you might have missed something last week? Fear not, because we’ve got it all mapped out for you. Every Monday, I’ll be giving you a little preview of what’s in store for the week, and letting you know about some of the great articles that you might have missed last week. If there’s any story you’d like us to cover, any burning question you want answered, or any cool racer you’d like to hear from, let us know!
Tim Johnson has been a seriously busy guy lately, and we don’t just mean racing. He’s been popping up everywhere, from Rapha’s video previews of the Amgen Tour of California to RedBull’s Crossroads videos to … a Frazz comic strip? Cyclocross Magazine caught up with Johnson on Sunday, while he took a break from playing with his new four-month-old puppies, though not without a break mid-interview while Johnson had to chase them down after they took off rabbit-hunting in his backyard. I did learn that he is an extremely good whistler, after listening to several attempts to call the lab pups back without stopping our interview!
It was just last year when I wrote that short-track mountain bike racing was the key to preparing for the upcoming ’cross season. Not racing the road, I still wanted to keep that edge that only real racing can give you. So, I turned to the C.U. Cycling Short Track Series. The fit seemed perfect -short, intense races that mimicked the effort and style of cyclocross racing. Because they were short, they allowed for more training on race days. I’ve added something else. Something even more intense and painful in it’s own way. Endurance racing.
Got dreams of winning the blue-and-rainbow-striped jersey at the 2012 Cyclocross Masters World Championships in Louisville? Although we presented much of this criteria earlier in our reports from the USA Cycling Promoter’s Summit, the official criteria is out and it’s time to study up to make sure you qualify and meet the rules. This season, it’ll be interesting to watch the masters-age men and women at UCI races as some will have to keep track of their position to avoid earning points.
It’s still four months before my first cyclocross race and season preparation is already in full swing. It was kicked off by our BABOCO Cycling Team training camp in Benidorm, Spain. We were treated to eleven days of road riding in the mountains under warm sunny skies. It was especially welcome after a long, bitterly cold winter spent in a paper-thin skinsuit.
Cyclocross is just around the corner and it’s time to start thinking about all of the details of the season. Challenge Tires is once again …