Posts in category Featured

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!

Summer heat is rolling through the country as both the everyday ’cross racer and the pro line up on the weekends and weeknights to build a little bit of extra fitness. September is just around the corner and will be here before you know it. So as we get closer, what are the pro crossers up to?

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.

It’s a popular belief that if you can upgrade only one part on your bike, it should be your wheels. There are a lot of good reasons behind this, as wheels have a profound impact on predictable handling, braking, acceleration and even coasting. In cyclocross use, we’d argue that most of these variables are exaggerated when compared to road cycling and that upgrading to a new set of wheels for cyclocross is even more justified.

Back in February, Cyclocross Magazine sat down with Albert in his mobile home before the final race of the Superprestige series in Middelkerke to put your questions to the new king of Belgian cross.

This week, we introduced a new feature of the site called Newbie News, which is designed to help new racers learn some of the ins and outs of the greatest sport on earth, confront their fears of race areas like barriers, bunny hopping or dismounts, and to give riders a chance to ask questions that they might have been afraid to ask otherwise. (You know the saying ‘there are no stupid questions’? Yeah, that’s extremely true in cyclocross.) The Newbie feature is hugely important to me, because we’ve all been there. At some point, even Katie Compton was a newbie. And not too long ago, I was seriously new to the sport. I’m still new enough that I’m learning a lot as I post these articles, and it’s my hope that you’ll be learning along with me.

Welcome to the Collegiate Chronicles, the new column that features all things collegiate (sans the keg parties, of course). Collegiate cyclocross is a fast-growing sector of the sport with little written about it, and we plan to change that. We’ll be taking a look at collegiate riders from all levels and from all over the country, race organizers, conference directors and some of the great characters that make up collegiate-level cyclocross.

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! Leave messages in the comments, find me on the Cowbell Forums or email molly [at] cxmagazine.com.

“Each one is better than the last.” We here at Cyclocross Magazine are excited to be bringing you our annual Nationals reflections and winner profiles in …

A Telenet-Fidea jersey tucked in behind Tom Boonen’s Quickstep jersey in a sprint. Or a BKCP-Powerplus jersey wedged between Philippe Gilbert and André Greipel’s Omega Pharma-Lotto jerseys while shooting through a tight turn at over 30mph. These rarities can only be found in one professional cycling event – the Tour of Belgium, a five day stage race that weaves its way through Belgium’s countryside. [More…]

Since 2006, cyclocross racers have been taking the start of this event. Back then, it was only a handful of cross riders such as Sven Nys, Richard Groenendaal, Lars Boom and Sven Vanthourenhout. The cross racer count has since grown to about twenty coming from four teams – BKCP-Powerplus, Sunweb-Revor, Landbouwkrediet, and Telenet-Fidea.

As the Giro d’Italia wraps up this weekend and the Tour of California wrapped up on Sunday you would think that the Pro Cyclocross news would be slowing down, but think again. Lars Boom has re-upped with Rabobank. The Tour of Belgium, a cross racer’s off-season paradise? Kevin Eeckhout of Sunweb-Revor retires at the ripe old age of 21. Amy Dombroski and Katie Compton head overseas for a little pre-season European dirt. Georgia Gould, Ms. Consistency? Todd Wells, best American on the dirt. In this week’s Working Man’s Edition we look back to Spencer Paxson, Jake Wells and head to a master’s working man Peter Webber.

Bart Wellens, Telenet-Fidea’s cyclocross star, has officially signed to race the Rad Racing GP, promoter Jim Brown told Cyclocross Magazine on Saturday in Seattle. The Belgian cyclocross veteran has also been confirmed to be contesting StarCrossed, the second race of the Cross After Dark series, the night before.

The two-time Elite Cyclocross World Champion and three-time U23 Cyclocross World Champion will be making his first trip to American soil to race cyclocross this September, and is expected to have teammate Rob Peters in tow as the two follow Frenchman Francis Mourey’s successful season-opening schedule of 2010 by contesting CrossVegas, StarCrossed, Rad Racing GP and the first weekend of the USGP in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Cyclocross Magazine’s print subscribers have long enjoyed our comprehensive product reviews, especially our in-depth, objective bike reviews and tests. Issue 12, mailing now, features reviews of the Cannondale Super X, the All City Nature Boy and the Fuji Altamira with two full pages dedicated to each bike, with real-world riding and racing and as always, no advertorial.

The Ibis Hakkalugi disappeared, went on a crash diet, got a new wardrobe, but is still waiting for your next cyclocross adventure. The two standout features of the bike have got to be the handjob rear cable hanger and “Phlegmish” paintjob. Ibis shows its mountain bike heritage in the frame’s geometry, with a slightly sloping top tube, bottom bracket a bit on the higher side (6.2cm drop) and slacker angles (71.5 head angle, 72 degree seat angle on our 55cm test bike).

Today marks the start of our new bi-weekly column, Women’s Wednesdays, where the focus shifts to matters specific to women in the sport. This column will be dedicated to all aspects of women’s racing, from coverage of pro women to women-specific bikes to talking frankly about how to get more women involved in cyclocross. We begin this week by hearing from a few of our favorite ladies of ‘cross, finding out what they’ve been up to in the off-season and seeing what they’re looking forward to in the Fall.

Meet Molly Hurford, Cyclocross Magazine’s new Online Editor. Every Tuesday, you can read about her cyclocross and editing exploits in her new column, The Girl with the Cowbell Tattoo. She’ll be looking at the content offered every week and mirroring her training and racing to reflect the advice from the experts … and then sharing how that advice turned out for her!

June is here in just a week, and September and racing season are not too far behind. If you haven’t started coming up with a plan for the season, now is the time to start. We have a great article here by USAC Level 2 coach Mike Birner about how to start the season strong by building a good base over the summer. Birner believes that, “Base period should be about building the ‘engine,'” and following his advice will get you one high-horsepower motor!

The Amgen Tour of California is at an end, and so is our cyclocross-style competition within the competition. The actual winner of the Amgen Tour …

In coming weeks, we’ll be debuting a whole lot of great new features on the website, including quite a few new regular columns. 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.

“I was going good…until I blew my seat off!” We here at Cyclocross Magazine are excited to be bringing you our annual Nationals reflections and winner …

by Kat Statman It’s time to really start thinking about ’cross season, maybe even starting to glue up some tires if you haven’t already. Now …

This marks the start of the new online “In the Saddle” feature for Cyclocross Magazine. Bi-weekly, we’ll be chasing down a new pro racer to …

Rapha-Focus recently announced that this Fall, Jeremy Powers would be joining their team for cyclocross, adding to the powerful duo of Chris Jones and U23 …

“This year was way harder.” We here at Cyclocross Magazine are excited to be bringing you our annual Nationals reflections and winner profiles in our upcoming …

This past Thursday, Rapha Focus cyclocross teammates and Tour of California racers Jeremy Powers and Chris Jones led a “Gentlemen’s Ride” to celebrate the new …

Todd Wells is competing to preserve and create mountain bike trails, and he needs your votes to win.

Characters of ’Cross: An ongoing series wherein Cyclocross Magazine contributor Kenton Berg badgers, begs and coerces answers and information about the life and times of …

“I just tried to stay calm.” We here at Cyclocross Magazine are excited to be bringing you our annual Nationals reflections and winner profiles in our …

by Kat Statman As the weather slowly turns warmer, putting on more miles becomes less of a chore. Preparing for the hard months of cold …