CX GvA-Troffee Baal, Saturday 1.1.11

GvA-Trofee
BAAL


GvA-Troffee Baal (GP Sven Nys)
8:30am EST, Saturday, January 1, 2011

Channel 3 Live Stream (with Flemish commentary and forum dialogue box)
Channel 7 Live Stream
Channel 8 Live Stream
Channel 9 Live Stream

NOTE: Live Stream is fickle. Channel 3 is best if you can get it, but there are times when the screen is blank, while it comes in fine on other channels. If one doesn't work, switch to another until you get a channel that shows the stream.

GvA Trofee Standings
1. Kevin Pauwels 106
2. Sven Nys 102
3. Zdenek Stybar (Tsj) 89
4. Bart Wellens 81
5. Niels Albert 80
6. Klaas Vantornout 76
7. Bart Aernouts 71
8. Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 49
9. Tom Meeusen 48
10. Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 47

Let's see if Nys can break his run of bad luck as he draws close to the finish line. Broken pedals, broken chains, bikes pulled out from under him--it's all very dramatic, but it would be nice to see a sprint finish rather than these mechanically driven or error prone outcomes.

Let's also cheer on Jonathan Page. He finally clawed his way into the top ten today at Azencross Loenhout.

It's great to have Stybar back in the running. Two third place finishes after a stint away has him beaming with joy up on the podium.

CX GvA-Troffee Loenhout, Wednesday 12.29.10

GvA-Troffee Loenhout
8:45am EST, Wednesday, December 29th
Channel 3 Live Stream

Standings
1. Kevin Pauwels 87
2. Sven Nys 77
3. Zdenek Stybar 70
4. Bart Wellens 65
5. Klaas Vantornout 62
6. Bart Aernouts 60
7. Niels Albert 55
8. Gerben de Knegt 49
9. Rob Peters 44
10. Enrico Franzoi 44

Superprestige Diegem CX Monday, Dec 27

Tune in Monday, December 27 at 10:55am EST for the 6th Superprestige race of the season in Diegem, Belgium.

Race Live Stream Channel 3
or
Race Live Stream Vt4

Unlike the World Cup, a race organized by national teams, the Superprestige is a trade team series.

Interesting Trivia

• This series, begun in 1983, was won three times by Radomir Simunek, Sr., in 1991, 1992, and 1995. Sadly, Radomir Simunek, Jr. broke his collarbone yesterday in WC Zolder.
  

• Sven Nys has, so far, 51 victories in the Superprestige series, far more than any other racer. The next closest was Roland Liboton, with 21 wins.
  

• Nys won the series 9 times, beginning in 1999. The next closest was Hennie Stamsnijder, who won the series 4 times, the last time in 1989.
  

• It was in the last Superprestige race in Gieten, Netherlands that Nys's pedal came off in his sprint with Meeusen.

• In the 2006-2007 season, Niels Albert came in 1st overall and Zdenek Stybar 2nd -- in the Under 23 series. Nys won 1st overall in the Elite series.
  

• In the 2009-2010 season, Zdenek Stybar came in 1st overall, Niels Albert 2nd and Sven Nys 3rd -- in the Elite series.

• Niels Albert won the Under 23 series three times in a row in '05, '06, and '07. He also won the Junior series in '04.

• Lars Boom won the Junior series in '03.
  

Zolder CX: Why Cyclocross is Great

The snowy conditions were similar to Kalmthout, though the race shook out in an entirely different way. These were a couple of the best CX races I've seen so far this season, with the utmost in technical challenge, and with heart pumping excitement right down to the final moments. These races are what make CX such an amazing sport.

It was touted as a race tailor-made for the likes of Sven Nys, and noted as a poor venue for Niels Albert. Albert wasn't listening and Nys had a bad day, but most of all the wildcard of Lars Boom turned it into a major duel of strength, stamina, savvy, and technical skill.

Boom isn't even doing that many CX races this year and could be excused for not having that little extra that's needed to race at the very top of the standings as he once did. Add to that, early in the race, the chain on his bike was happier off the sprockets than on. Three times it dropped off and gave Albert all he needed to pull away and solo for the rest of the race toward victory. Worse, for some reason, Boom didn't change bikes when the chain problem initially arose and he stumbled around the course as if that bike was a lucky charm that he was unwilling to part with. This was nearly his undoing, but fortunately he finally dipped into the pits and swapped it out for a chain happy mount.

Somehow, Boom was able to reconnect with Albert each time he got dropped. But pulling away was another thing. The two slipped and slid around the course together until the penultimate lap, when Boom's power was just too much for Albert. Boom once again built a sizable lead as Albert began to fatigue and make one small mistake after another.

Meanwhile, the race for the last step on the podium was shaking out in strange and unusual ways. For a while it looked like a race of pairs. Boom-Albert, Nys-Simunek, and Wellens-De Knegt, as Pauwels drifted from the front of the pack into the ether and Klaas Vantornout continued developing his skills at unintentional dismounting and stumbling in the first turn of the race removing him from contention right away.

De Knegt connected with Nys-Simunek as Wellens dangled not far behind in what appeared to be his usual position somewhere fifth or beyond. Then Simunek slid and went down in a horrible crash that appeared to sideline him with major bodily damage (collarbone, perhaps?) as De Knegt slipped past Nys who was fending off the Czech's tumbling bike. It was hard to understand what followed as the cameras went back to the front of the race, then returned to this battle to reveal a De Knegt-Wellens rivalry with Nys in the atypical position of lone dangler. Either Simunek's bike did some physical damage to Nys or the crash he'd just observed took the fighting spirit out of him.

Wellens' rare position as a podium contender in recent times gave him the impetus to dig deep and pull away from De Knegt. He turned the final corner with a comfortable buffer for third place.

It looked like the race was decided with Boom's lead going into the teens and climbing, but in the last lap Albert found the rail on an uneven course that seemed to favor the skills of a surfer on choppy seas as Boom began to either ease up or begin to poop out. The difference narrowed to three seconds with half a lap to go and all of a sudden the race was back on and it looked like it would be decided in a sprint.

Boom still had one last reserve of acceleration and sensing the danger, stretched the three seconds back into the teens by the time he hit the finishing straight. It was the only time during the whole race when he was able to relax and savor his efforts.

Think about it, without Boom, Albert would have taken off solo and the race wouldn't have had nearly the excitement or story that this race had. What this shows more than anything is Lars Boom's power, skills and talent. It certainly indicates his ability as a major contender in the Spring Classics, either this year or in years to come.

Zolder Cyclocross Dec 26, 2010

Zolder CX World Cup #6
Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Tune in at 8:50am EST, Sunday, December 26th
http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-3.php

Last year was a crash ridden hard packed sand and mud race with a win by Kevin Pauwels. Jonathan Page was in contention for a top 5 finish, but crashed near the end and crossed the line in 14th. Top 3 placings went to Pauwels, Albert and Nys in a hard fought battle throughout.

With all the snow hitting northern Europe this week it may be a repeat of last week's snowy skirmish at Kalmthout. Included in this year's race is Lars Boom, and Stybar is back on the start list (will he start, and if so, will he ride the whole race?) after his recent knee issues. It should be another entertaining event with the best of the best scrapping away.

Start List (a few selected riders)
USA
Ryan Trebon
Jonathan Page
Brian Matter
Ryan Knapp
Mark Lalonde
Sean Babcock
Ryan Iddings
Mitchell Hoke

Netherlands
Lars Boom
Gerben de Knegt

Czech Republic
Zdnek Stybar
Radomir Simunek

Belgium
Sven Nys
Niels Albert
Bart Wellens
Bart Aernouts
Tom Meeusen
Kevin Pauwels
Klaas Vantornout

Current World Cup Standings
1. Niels Albert 350
2. Kevin Pauwels 301
3. Sven Nys 299
4. Francis Mourey 290
5. Bart Aernouts 243
6. Zdenek Stybar 230
7. Bart Wellens 229
8. Klaas Vantornout 229
9. Gerben de Knegt 210
10. Philipp Walsleben 207

Women
Though the women's race is not live streamed anywhere that I can find, Katie Compton is back from a decisive win in last week's Kalmthout race.

The full roster for USA women is:
Katie Compton
Susan Butler
Meredith Miller
Maureen Bruno Roy
Christine Vardaros

Happy Holidays everyone.

Kalmthout UCI Cyclocross 2010

Tune in on Sunday morning at 8:45am EST for UCI race #5 of the World Cup in Kalmthout, Belgium.





http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-3.php

Standings

1. Niels Albert 295 points

2. Kevin Pauwels 236 points

3. Zdenek Stybar 230 points

4. Francis Mourey 230 points

5. Sven Nys 229 points

6. Klaas Vantornout 197 points

7. Bart Aernouts 193 points

8. Bart Wellens 181 points

9. Gerben De Knegt 174 points

10. Philipp Walsleben 167 points

For a little background, go to Cyclocross Magazine's article on Kalmthout.

Cyclocross Igorre Live!

http://live.sporza.be/cm/lmc/wielrennen/veldrijden/wereldbeker

Live feed of the World Cup Igorre CX race at 9:30 EST.

If that feed isn't working, try here:
http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-3.php

Cyclocross Channel - YouTube | (and Versus!?)

European CX on EweToob
There are some excellent, recent, European CX videos posted on the Cyclocross Channel. The most you're going to see is the last lap or two, but with recent mudbath weather in Belgium it's worth the 8 to 15 minutes of watching the best in the world slipping and sliding.

Nys & Albert, Jaarmarktcross
(photo courtesy Sporza)

With Sven Nys now coming into form, the younger Neils Albert fighting to understand how this older Nys guy keeps fighting back year after year, Zdenek Stybar's domination of the early rounds now curtailed by a back problem, the ever-present Vantornout/Vanthourenout confusion of bodies, the steady drumbeat of Kevin Pauwels, and Bart Wellens always clawing his way into contention just when you think he's had enough--it's quite the drama.

Nys, Jaarmarktcross
(photo courtesy Sporza)

And we can never forget the Americans: Jonathan Page mixing it up with the best and often slotting into the top twenty or better, and occasional incursions by Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson (see Aigle).

Pauwels, Jaarmarktcross
(photo courtesy Sporza)

The women's races are just as energized with the steady tussling among the top riders. Katie Compton, when the muscles are working and the injuries are at bay, is a domineering powerhouse, as are Daphny Van Den Brand, Katerina Nash, Hanka Kupfernagle, and--one of my favorites--Helen Wyman, to name a few. Videos of the women's races are harder to come by, unfortunately, but that's certainly not due to their lack of excitement. These are races well worth showing to those of us who look for great racing and a strong fighting spirit.

Nys (hauling through the mud), Jaarmarktcross
(photo courtesy Sporza)

The production value of these Sporza broadcasts is excellent and one of these days it would be nice to get the whole race from beginning to end without a lot of hassle. It's the drama of seeing every lap unfold, the attacks and the tactics, the effects of weather on the course and on the racers (and the joy of deteriorating conditions--my own evil thrill), that makes these races so entertaining and engaging.

Until then:
Cyclocross Channel on YouTube

Albert, Jaarmarktcross
(photo courtesy Sporza)

For some recent mucky fun:
Superprestige Hamme-Zogge
SuperTrophy Ronse
Don't miss the tumble by Neils Albert after the 11:00 minute mark and enjoy the steady thrum-thrum-thrum of Nys's amazing form, pedal stroke after pedal stroke.
Jaarmarktcross Niel
The ultimate mudbath.

Flemish Language Quiz (as heard through English language ears)
Define:
Clambake (or Clambitch) _________________
Montreal Post ___________________

One of these days, we may get race coverage and production quality in the States and Canada that matches that of European coverage. The CX racers here deserve that high quality. Until then, these videos show how well it can be done.

And, finally, go here: Cyclocross on Versus, find the ballot for supporting CX on Versus, and VOTE! We might just get our wish.

Cyclomudbath Niel, Belgium

Laatste ronde van de veldrit in Niel

For anyone who whines about weather or race conditions here in SE Michigan, check out this series of short videos of the CX race in Niel, Belgium on November 11th.

This will keep things in perspective for you. You have to figure that there were a lot of bodies face down in the mud. Repeatedly.

Cyclocross Stony Creek 2010

It took me a while. I'm a little slow. In all kinds of ways.

My riding life is great. I do all kinds of things: mountain bike, road ride, dirt road ride, race mtb's, and race cyclocross, race dirt roads, do leisurely rides. This year I didn't race road, though I trained a bit at Runway, the AAVC Tuesday evening leg tester. Road races just didn't fit into the schedule, though they will off and on in the future.

Todd and Andy
(I like both kits. The colors are so well done. Plus, the sponsors are ice cream and coffee. No wonder they're racing together.)

I've occasionally found that some road racers cast aspersions on mountain bikers (though they'll do something like race Iceman or Ore-to-Shore), some mountain bikers do the same to road racers, and cyclocross racers are such a mix and their brains are so oxygen depleted that they don't do much more than stare into space with goofy looks on their faces. I love all kinds of racing, though I'm sure lack of air to the brain cells is partially responsible for my take on things. There's no reason to rank one type of riding over or under another. They're all interesting and fun.

Rodger, flying...as usual.

In the past I raced hard all year. These days I'm mellowing out a bit. A race here, a race there and just a lot of riding in between. It feels good, I have a smile on my face as long as the rides happen, and I make sure that smile returns on a near daily basis.

I did find, however, that humility comes with a lifestyle that involves a lessened emphasis on intensity. I've been dropped at DirtHammer! rides that I once stormed over. I don't place in the top five in races anymore, or even top ten. I'm lucky sometimes to hit top twenty. Humility is a painful lesson, though intense training is painful as well, so I guess we just choose our pain.

In this post-podium driven lifestyle, however, I've found something else. I've found that riding as a mid-packer has its advantages. I've been able to race without those endless hours of worrying about my VO2 max, lactic buildup, or whether I should be hammering on a day (or many days) when I know that to be truly competitive I need to do just that. I can "train" in my own unorthodox way. I can have fun without guilt.

Lillian

This past Sunday at the Stony Creek CX race I found that fun in the B race. I've never raced as a B, a Killer B as they're known. I started CX after I turned 45 and always rode in the Masters category. With my yearlong training and racing schedule I did well. I rode like a maniac from April right into the fall and it paid off. I think the quality of the Masters racers has improved since I started, though some, like Joe and Keith and Ken, have always been there and always been good. Those who strive to be the best, who train with high achievement in mind, keep racing at a high level.

That means that these days I'm left behind after the first hundred yards and there's no way my less race-worthy legs will ever catch up. And the Masters category tends to have, on the whole, either fast guys or guys like me who get left riding the course in our own solo race, without much in between. And there aren't that many of us to begin with. With 8 or 12 racers total, it gets awfully quiet out there awfully fast.

This is the B race. Packing them in at the barriers.
(photo: Andrea Tucker)

I don't race to circle the course alone. It's the competition that keeps me driving harder, that puts the spark back into racing. It took me a while, but after looking at the times from previous races I realized that my times on a 45 minute course fit snugly in the upper middle of the B race standings. And the B's regularly have over 30 entries per race. It's a big, diverse group. Eureka! That meant that there would be people around me to race with.

I tested my theory at Stony Creek and had a blast! (Do people have blasts anymore? I guess I do. Pitiful.) I was somewhere in the upper third of the pack, not as fast as the speedy group, but still respectable. And there were all kinds of hard charging guys all around me, pushing my limits, challenging my accelerations. I was racing again. How cool.

These guys were all ages as well. One of the cheeks-of-tan Rhinos was in my gray haired state of mind and he responded to every one of my attacks. We went back and forth lap after lap. And he wasn't the only one. I was mixing it up with about five or six guys for most of the race. They were all racing their butts off. It was an honor to be out there with them, not letting things get stale, trading places, trading back.

Marney - Yes, there was a slight breeze. It wasn't balmy.

Can a CX race be nirvana? Is that a contradiction? If you look at a photo of me mid-race you'd wonder how that pained looking grimace could have any relationship to a joyful state of mind. Whatever. I like the way cyclocross hones my bike handling skills. I like its intensity. I don't have to win, place or show, but I certainly want to be out there, grimace and all.

I'm finding a path. It's between yellow ribboned guideposts.

Except for one shot by Andrea Tucker, the photos in this post are, by necessity, not of the B race. I don't take photos while racing. Silly, I know, but it's a rule of mine. These are shots of the Masters and Elite womens race that immediately followed the Killer B's.

Logan on the Job

Logan mans (dogs?) the register at Two Wheel Tango on Packard. Not sure what the labor laws are for dogs these days. (Do they judge age by dog years or people years?)

I think Jess is training him as a master bike fitter. At any rate, it's good to know we're keeping the dogs employed, especially in this economy.

Logan's response to a request for a scheduled fitting? "Woof!" ("Tuesday afternoon at 2:30. It'll take about two hours.") I got it.

Iceman 2010 Lives Up To Its Name

The Start at 10º Below Freezing
Yes, the 2010 edition of Iceman could have been a sled race. Snow filled the woods between Kalkaska and Timber Ridge in Traverse. Bitter temps at 8am, an hour before the start, made "warming up" an impossible dream.

Nick and Angela of Mighty Good Coffee warming the racers pre-start.

I spent more time in the breakfast building than I did on the bike. Wind chill, even pedaling at 10 or 15mph, was numb inducing. Far better to sip a warm cup of Mighty Good coffee and/or eat the hearty breakfast provided by the local Kiwanis Club.

The Reflections. Not sure how you pulled off moving those fingers, but thanks.

There was a jazz combo setting up in this finger locking catatonia and though I never did hear them play, (rude as it was, I had to race), I can only imagine it was challenging enough just to get the instruments out of their cases in this cold air, much less move the fingers to play them.

The skydiver. He probably agreed to do this on a warm July day.

To think that the bikers were the only idiots out there was dead wrong. As the racers lined up, the festivities included a skydiver dropping from a hundred feet or so in the crystalline blue sky. I noticed that he opened the 'chute immediately upon exiting the plane. Otherwise his yanking arm would have frozen in place and the cord would have sat listless in his hand.

Brain numb racers gave him little opportunity for error as they pedaled around the open parking lot he was to land in. He overshot the designated mark by a few degrees and nearly became one with an unsuspecting tandem.

Minutes later the first wave of racers were off. Finally getting out on the snow lined course was a welcome gift of warming momentum. My wave was hauling hard from the start and didn't let up anywhere along the course that I could see.

The course itself was one large layer of white base with a dense relief of stark leafless trees reaching into the blue sky. It was possibly the clearest route I've ever followed in a race. Except for some interesting icy two-track roads, the trail was one long brown line nearly the entire way.

Snow a few inches deep was everywhere the racers weren't. I'd gotten lost the night before warming up in the Timber Ridge area, but getting lost was the least of my worries during the race.

The trail itself was, even in the bitter cold, oddly damp in many places. Mud, though only really prominent in the latter part of the course, was still present throughout.

Bombing down the ice covered hills was great for those of us with fewer brain cells and probably sheer panic for those with their cells still numbering in the higher percentiles. I nearly joined forces with a BikeWorks rider as we both almost shared the same track side-by-side down one of those crusty hills halfway through the race. My bellowing "on your right" scream kept his wheel on the other track. Mighty exhilarating moment for sure.

Notice the direction of the arrow and the direction the riders are going. This was actually the night before where most of us were hopelessly lost on the last part of the course as the sun slowly set.

Once past Williamsburg Road my legs finally felt like they were warming up and at the 8 mile to go marker I felt the finish line within reach. It's in reassuring moments like these that we need to heed the signal from the gods of catastrophe. My signal appeared a short time later on single-track after a long downhill and an arching left hand sweep. In an instant I went from hard charger to pedal spinner with no connection to the rear wheel.

I knew immediately that the chain that kept me driving forward was not cooperating. I looked down to see a slack line trolling listlessly off the back of my derailleur. No panic. (I was freaking out!) I pulled over and laid the bike down in a pristine white snowbank. Out of the saddle bag came a spare link and my multi-tool with the chain breaker.

I'm not the most skilled at breaking links and replacing them. I first stared at the broken part of the chain and made sure that I was correct in thinking I had to break off one link to get my connector to work. A geometry problem in the middle of a race. Not my forte, but I broke the link off and fumbled around with the connector, realizing that I'd thankfully guessed right. That little link is not easy to handle with rapidly chilling fingers losing facility with each passing second.

Then something plopped off a link I was connecting to. It was one of the spacers. Oh, great! No way could I find it in a few inches of snow. I proceeded to connect things up without it and hoped for the best. (I figured I was toast, actually, at this point.)
Notice the missing spacer. Gulp! It still worked fine.

With chain in place, I put things away as dozens, tens of dozens, hundreds, of riders swept past me. The numbers on their plates were rising considerably. My friendly pack of 400s were far closer to the finish than I now was.

If you look closely, you'll see two connecting links on this chain. The first is directly below the one used in the race.

I took a breath, put my glove back on, and made sure everything was zipped up and I had everything. I did--except for my sunglasses. I'd apparently ripped them off to see better at the beginning of the repair job and had no idea where they now were. I looked all about on the ground, but I'd made a mess of kicking the snow and leaves all about. I furiously padded over my pockets. Nothing. Another scan of the ground. Nothing. I ripped off the gloves and felt in every pocket. Yes! There they were. On they went and I joined the ever increasing line of racers.

From there it was on to some of the tougher uphill climbs of the race. I kept waiting for my chain to snap once more as I labored up and over each one. I even figured it would skip without that crucial spacer. But no, it worked great.

My legs were struggling for a while. The long repair time and the squatting position had nearly locked them up, but after a mile or so they came back to form and the rest of the race was back to that joyful realization that I'd made it. The finish line was closing in and nothing could hold me back now.

The humpy little rise at the finish was sheer joy to bash over and I even did a small skipping dance over the timing pads. Another Iceman in the bag.

What a great race. With nearly 4000 racers, the stories are endless and the weather made this one live pleasantly up to its name. Years back, back in the real ice age, I rode my trail bike (motorized--we didn't have mountain bikes back then, unfortunately) on many of these same trails. It was beautiful then and it's beautiful now. I think I stopped panting hard to notice the beauty every now and then during the race.

Thanks Steve Brown and everyone else who puts this together. It really is an amazing experience.

Photos by Connie (except for the chain shots--they're all mine and I'm proud of them).

Bike Fall 2010

European Cyclocross Videos
The closest I can get so far to free European cyclocross race videos is this:

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/

Wielrennen apparently means cycle racing. There's a great interview with Nys on the link above, but it's in Flemish. I figure if I watch enough of these I'll be speaking like a native in about twenty years or so. The race videos only show the last lap, but so far it's better than nothing.

The entire races do get streamed live. If you can adjust your schedule to European time that's another option.

Still can't find much of anything that shows women's CX racing.

There are some short postings of American CX race videos on Velonews.com.

If you find anything else, please let us know. (Mark, are you out there?)

David V. Herlihy
Herlihy, author most recently of The Lost Cyclist and also of the excellent Bicycle, a History, will be signing his book at Nicola's Books at 7pm on Friday evening, Nov. 5th.

I look forward to reading The Lost Cyclist, a true story about an avid cyclist adventurer, Frank Lenz, who toured the world in the early 1890s on a prototype of the kind of bikes we ride now. It has a tragic outcome, but Lenz must have been quite the intrepid explorer to even attempt this journey.

Bike Fall
And yes, the title of this post is deliberate. I'm still perfecting my falling skills. I've added it (unintentionally) to my regular practice regimen.

Cyclocross Practice

Javier over the Barriers, Tongue First

This is about more than Javier's tongue. It includes commentary on his bell, and veers into observations about other riders at the practice sessions. But that tongue was captured in photos by other photographers during a recent cx race. It deserves attention and special notice.

Javier does not do barriers. (He does, but not without protest, though it is a requirement during races.) The photo here is rare, kind of like the sighting of a Horton Plains slender loris.

Horton Plains Slender Loris

Javier's really pretty good over barriers. He unclips in time, ably lifts the bike, runs and hurdles with relative ease, doesn't try to ring the bell mid-leap. And maybe it's the tongue thing that ties it all together. I'm not one to judge unique individual athletic qualities.

The bell itself is quite ingenious. It's not a cow bell, that ubiquitous clanker at any given cx race, but it is a bell and it's attached to his handlebars. It's a twofer. You get the racer and the bell in one.

Justin, Tongue Restrained

Back to barrier style. Notice Justin. No tongue. He makes it over the barriers just fine without it, proof that the dangling tongue is not necessary, but who knows, maybe he'd be even more adept with the tongue out. This is a college town. It might be worth a good scientific evaluation for any of you grad students reading this. Think about it. Remember to cite this article in your references.

Alan

Notice Alan. This is a rare shot as well. Normally, especially during the DirtHammer!, he's the dot out front, either:
1. Making us crank extra hard to keep up, thus improving our fitness, or
2. Making us cranky because we have to work extra hard just trying to hold on, or
3. Both.

Notice there's mud on Alan's helmet. It was a very dry day when this photo was taken. Where have you been, Alan?

Marty, followed by Justin and Javier. Where the heck is John going? He wasn't supposed to go that way.

Jim and his son Marty show that there is the chance of genetic predisposition toward masochistic behavior. Two generations of one family are foolish enough to do cyclocross together.

Jim, Genetically Connected to Marty

During other times of year they run full force into walls or walk through car washes (sans car) in order to sustain the same self-destructive qualities of cyclocross. They call it "training." Their neighbors tend to walk on the other side of the street.

Rachel. Her husband Dave would be in a photo, too, but he never gets out of the parking lot.

Rachel has gotten some good practice in at these sessions. Her husband Dave, however, has not. He's had bike issues (she's on his), or he shows up with only one bike shoe. Dave tends to wander aimlessly through the parking lot or sit one-shoed on the tailgate of his car. Rachel's really improving, though.

Richard. The bike isn't in the picture, but believe me it is cool.

Richard rides on really nice stuff. I thought you were supposed to be nearing retirement before you were able to ride on nice stuff. I think I rode a Schwinn Collegiate 5-speed when I was his age. It was purple. It had a chain guard.


Bob, Javier, Ken, Alan, and Rodger.

Poto Maitake

Culinary Shredding
There are few who can combine the skills of riding the Poto and mushrooming simultaneously. I tried it, only momentarily, during Sunday's ride and nearly t-boned a tree. I have a hard enough time staying upright with the sole focus of attempting to stay upright, so I find the multi-skills approach admirable but out of reach.

(Speaking of T-Bone, he was with us as well. He, though an excellent mtb'er, is a single-focused rider as well, whose aim is wisely keeping the bike treadside down.)

Rodger, on the other hand, rides with his chef helmet on. He is a foodie. As a recently implicated partner in the Deli of a nationally renowned local food establishment beginning with the letter Z, his thoughts seldom stray from comestible delicacies. Somehow he has a third culinary eye that can, at nearly shredding mtb pace, still spot a Grifola Frondosa, also known as Maitake or Hen of the Woods, tucked into the gnarled base of a large oak tree. This is not a bright orange or phosphorescent yellow neon mushroom that screams out from the humus of the forest floor differentiating itself from all around it. This fungus basically camouflages itself, phantom-like, into the grayish root system.

A special and rare Poto moment. That elusive rodgerus walkus slowus. I found I could keep up.

I found that most mushrooms have to poke their capped fannies into the trail's margin in order for me to see their fleeting forms as I zip past. Yet this particular polypore was on the opposite side of the tree from the direction in which we were flying (Rodger only flies, there is no moderation in his trail riding approach).

All I saw was the spray of dirt from locked tires ahead on the new Tomac he was inaugurating. I looked for some grizzly in the trail, or a moose. This was a seriously clenched brake stop, sashaying bike and all. As is often the case when riding with Rodger, any relief is a gift from the heavens. I was willing, if it was a grizzly, to hug the fuzzy beast myself for the moment's respite from pain.

Rodger pointed back up the trail to a tree. A sizable oak. There are a lot of oaks on the Poto. I'd use the number zillion, give or take. This one was big, but of that zillion, many are big. He dismounted and ran up to the oak. I worried that perhaps he'd been bewitched and would soon declare his love for this particular barked wonder. T-bone and I glanced at each other and raised our eyebrows in unison in that "it's a Rodger thing," look. Rodger knelt down. A Druidic moment of worship in the offing, I feared.

There it is, polypore of the gourmet table.

Then, up came a fungus cupped in his hands. "Hen of the Woods," he joyously declared. "These taste great!" After showing it off, he hid it farther behind the tree as if fearing a flock of biker pirates descending on this very spot to steal his treasure. "We'll come back and pick it up after the ride."

This was the first loop of a Double Poto day. It meant that after the quad ripping ride was over we'd drive to a location as close as possible to this spot and hike a few miles into the forest. By the look on Rodger's face it was apparent that this little white hen was worth the effort, so I agreed.

Rodger and T-Bone reveling post-ride.

After the ride was over, we sang joyous songs of conquest in the Silver Lake parking lot, sustained ourselves with energy replenishing fluids and snacks, and finally drove to an undisclosed location where we hoofed it (limped it, really) back into the Poto and claimed our prize.

Grifola Frondosa. It's what's for dinner.

DirtHammer! 9.21-10

PostHammer
The accompanying photos are deceptive. People are smiling. Only a short time before this, they were grimacing.

Ken. Looks relaxed, doesn't he?

Kevin and Rich. So casual.

There was carnage early on. The first two hills tend to shred the group into small flailing bands, like ants after a five-year-old has sprayed them with water.

Rich was kind enough to somehow rein the front warriors in to allow most of the pack to reform as a unit by the time we hit Northfield Church. Ants in a line.

Rich & Justin.

It means that most riders get to share in the joy of the DirtHammer. It also means they get to share in the pain. It is relentless, let there be no mistake. But it is also voluntary. You choose to suffer and you suffer to improve.

Tom.

If you race cyclocross or if you're preparing for Iceman, there are few rides that will build the muscles and up the anaerobic capacity better than this.

Ants get sprayed next week, same time.

Javier's Bike. Javier rode the DirtHammer on this mountain bike. He held on. That's amazing. Mtb's are rare on this ride. If you want this experience, tack a wagon on the back of a cross bike and try to keep up. I've seen only a few others do it. Blair Dudley, Jason Lummis and I think Jim James.