Victor Spooky Cross 2014

 

Thanks to Dave B and all the guys in Victor for putting on another great series. I think there was a fairly general consensus that last night’s Spooky Cross was a lot of fun, but hard with a course that was generally more compact and difficult than Moose Cross.   Hopefully we will be able to link to some of Heather’s photos. I feel like we are living in a golden age of cyclocross in Southeastern Idaho with the Victor Series and well organized races in Rexburg, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello. I am confident that all of these events and the cross scene can continue to grow in the coming years.

Blue Goose One Week from Saturday

 

2nd ANNUAL IDAHO FALLS

BLUE GOOSE CYCLOCROSS BIKE RACE

Coming Together to ‘Connect our Community’

November 8, 2014

 Cyclocross is a fun twist on an old fashioned bike race.  Climb over obstacles and try your biking skills on sand, grass, dirt, and pavement to see if you have what it takes to finish the 2nd Annual Idaho Falls Blue Goose Cyclocross.  We will have races for 9 to 13 year olds, 14 to 18 year olds, beginners, experienced, and masters riders.  The youngest class will compete for the best time on our 1.6 mile course while the older kids and adults will complete as many laps as possible in a set amount of time. 

 

Who:                         Adult of all abilities and kids ages 9 and up

Start Times:              Kids (13 & under): 12:00pm, Beginners: 12:45pm,

                                 Experienced: 1:45pm, Masters: 3:15pm

Why:                         Fundraiser for ‘Connecting our Community’ 

Cost:                        $20.00 / Rider

Contact:                   Tyson 522-3341 or Gray (801) 574-5916

Additional Info:         Register at the City of Idaho Falls Rec Center, or online HERE

Don't Forget Victor Spooky Cross

THURSDAY 10/30 6:30 PM UNDER THE LIGHTS!

Kids and costume race 6pm.  You don't need lights on your bike, but you're welcome to use some if you'd like.  We'll have the park lit up.  Fun!

If you are interesting in a ride or carpooling, please contact me or Kellen.

 

The Last Waltz

 

I am always a little sad when we have to call it a year for the TNR. In recent years, we have stretched the season longer than ever before due largely to the expansion of daylight savings time. The 2014 TNR ran from March 11 to October 28^th for a total of about 31 rides. I choose the word “about” since some of us spent a night trail building plus we had to abandon early a time or two for bad weather. The only night we cancelled completely was July 15^th, the night of the Great Rexburg Flood, and a few people even went out later that night.

On behalf of all the participants of the TNR, I would like to thank everyone who came out this year and supported the ride. I feel pretty good about the level of participation and cooperation this year and I look forward to getting the TNR rolling again in about four and a half months.

Rusch to Glory a Brief Review

I am kind of a sucker for inspirational athlete biographies and I really regret not picking up a signed copy of Rusch To Glory at Rebecca’s Private Idaho. Recently, I purchased and read the Kindle copy. Here are the things that make this bio better than most. As the author herself says, it is full of great stories. Rebecca Rusch has been around for a long time and has done everything. Seriously everything. From the Leadvilles and Dirty Kanzas to the Kokopelli Trail Record, 24 Hour MTB world championships, adventure racing world championships, cyclocross, Nordic skiing, whitewater, orienteering, big wall climbing, firefighting, car restoration, event organizing and advocacy, and a few others that I am probably forgetting. She is candid in sharing her doubts, fears, and insecurities as well as her triumphs.

Cube Results, Letter from Tom

Congratulations to all Cube racers. The results are now up on our website located at the following link http://thecube.rexburg.org/ . Pictures will be posted shortly, so keep checking the site. 
     I did want to let you know we have a few lost and found items. The first is a Vincero Design water bottle, complete with 4 oz. left of pink energy drink. Also, we found one Free Massage coupon for Rexburg College Massage Therapy on the grass. There were only two of these given away at the raffle so it's got to be one of two racers.
     Thanks for making this weekend such a great success.

Tom Anderson
Events/Program Coordinator
City of Rexburg
208-359-3020

More CUBE photos

You can see many more pictures here:

CUBE photos

Thanks Heather!

BengalCross Race - Pocatello

Best Cube Ever

Congratulations to Kris Walker and Dave Bergart on winning the A Race today as well as a big thanks to participants, organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and spectators. This was the day that all of our stars lined up. The success of the race today was a result of work and cooperation between the local cycling community, the city of Rexburg, local businesses, friends, fans, and family members. Perfect fall weather did not hurt.

We are already looking forward to 2015 and hope to slot into about the same date. There are a few things we can probably do better. Some portions of the singletrack need structural work. I may be shopping for some upgraded cowbells. I am posting a few images that Sam took with his phone. In the coming days we will plan to post or link to additional images from the two photography professionals Heather and Brandon who were shooting today as well.

As I said at the start, we are grateful to everyone who participated today and welcome your feedback and suggestions. 

                                                                       

 

Support Keeps Pouring in for the Cube

 

Scott Hurst just dropped off a dozen Camelbak Podium Big Chill Bottles from the BYU-I Outdoor Resource Center. This is the Rolex of water bottles. Not everyone who does the Cube will get one of these, but twelve lucky people will. I am excited for the race and also for the raffle.

I just got a message from Tom Anderson. Preregistration numbers are running pretty hot.

Victor Spooky Cross!

 

Spooky Cross Come out to the Victor Cross Coarse Thursday October 30th to test ride your Halloween Costume! Kids races and fun costume race at 6 pm. All categories race at 6:30 pm through the haunted course.  Visit Athelete360 to preregister or register the day of.  Copyright © 2014 Victor Velo, All rights reserved.

 

Cube Preview

 

Tony, Chris, Stephanie, and I met with Tom Anderson today to finalize plans for the Cube. Tonight about nine of us went over to ride through the course a couple of times after the TNR. The level of interest in the Cube this year has been unprecedented and preregistration is well ahead of previous years. I am not promising a million people, but I think we are on track for a very good turnout. However, I know from working on the Cube in previous years that a local event lives or dies based on positive word of mouth so I am asking for your help to get the message out.

The Cube received a much needed infusion of cash from Dr.Jeff Hancock and his partners at Teton Cancer Institute.  Among other things we have used the money to upgrade the course marking with new step-in plastic poles and purchase some souvenir prices (engraved cowbells) for the top three male and female finishers in both the A race and the B race. In addition, we have received very generous support from Kelson, Sticks and Stones, Bill’s Bike Shop, Dave’s Bike Shop, Chris Huskinson’s Flying H Corporation, Taylor Chevrolet, Rexburg Massage Therapy, Great Harvest, Paul Mitchell, Hemming Village, and others. You can count on a great raffle which will include new crop potatoes.

The shirt is totally killer, indigo blue in color. We have a few left, but they are going fast. I have received quite a few inquiries about the kid’s race. We have asked Scott Adamson to take primary responsibility for the organization of the kids’ race. Depending on the number and ages of the kids who show up, we will probably separate them into about three groups with age appropriate courses. Kids’ registration is only $10.

The transition from the single track to the pavement was getting pretty eroded with lots of exposed roots.  Tom Anderson and the guys from the city brought in some dirt and the transition is now silky smooth. Our goal with the Cube is to put on an event with a decent level of competition but at the same time to provide something fun and memorable to participants of all abilities. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

http://thecube.rexburg.org/

http://sarahsis88.wix.com/cube

 

Cube Preview Tomorrow Night

With the Cube only a few days away, tomorrow afternoon will be our final prerace meeting with the city officials. I will plan to send a short message out tomorrow night with some last minute information. Here is the plan for the Tuesday ride tomorrow:  If you are interested in taking a look at the Cube course, bring your cross bike.  Steve Wasden has agreed to be responsible for the route of tomorrow night’s road ride.  The cross guys will start with Steve’s group and split off early to preview the Cube when a good opportunity presents itself.

As you know if you have been keeping track, we only have two TNR’s remaining for 2014 due to the end of daylight savings time the first Sunday of November. In spite of cooler temperatures and dwindling daylight, support for the TNR has remained strong throughout the month of October.

From Weston: Moose Cross Cat 4 + Bonus Video

Not sure if you know Chris Haskell or not, he lives is Boise and rides a CLX (CycleLogix) bike like I do for road. He is a professor at Boise State and knows Lana as well. He makes videos of all his races and just posted a video of the mens cat 4 race that everyone should check out.

 

Chris does a great job with his videos. He had a goPro mounted on his helmet, chest, handle bars, and seatpost.There is footage of Jeff's rebar encounter, and I think I saw you in there a couple times, Nate Starnes, and a few others. I recommend subscribing to his YouTube channel also. All his videos are fun to watch and it's nice to see commentary from a guy who's a weekend warrior like the rest of us. 

Here's another race of Chris's from 2013 featuring yours truly. This is the 'Biggest Show in Idaho' circuit race where I met Chris and we became friends.
 

From Kellen: How to Wear a Cycling Cap

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2012/04/how-to-wear-a-cycling-cap/

 

Moose Cross - Don't Try this at Home

Dave B. was kind enough to send along a screen shot from video of the Moose Cross race. Kids, this is what happens when you catch your handlebar around a length of rebar at speed.  Lucky for me the rebar was capped, and my trusty Garmin HR monitor took the brunt of the fall.  Seeing it in replay make me count my blessings...

Red Bull Rampage 2014 Highlights

VeloNews Reviews the Clement X'Plor USH

photo copyright Brad Kaminski/Velonews.com

This is the tire I have been using all summer on my cross bike for the Crusher, Rebecca's, and lots of mixed gravel-pavement riding. Like Spencer Powlison, the VN reviewer, I plan to use them for cross until it starts to get muddy. The 35 mm 120 tpi X'Plor is the best, most versatile gravel tire I have ever ridden.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/10/news/cyclocross/reviewed-clement-xplor-ush-conditions-tire_349577

What Tate Did Saturday

 

While the rest us were goofing off on the cross bikes, Tate had some real work to do. He narrowly missed the podium (5^th place) in the men’s pro/1/2 field at the Mt. Charleston Hill Climb near Las Vegas. The numbers for this road race are truly staggering: 17.5 miles, 5045 feet of vertical gain, average gradient of 6-8%, Tate’s time 1:27

Rebecca Rusch New Book

 

 

The Art of the CycloCross Warm-Up

Cyclocross is a short high intensity endurance event that starts with an all out effort and includes explosive movements such as mounting the bike, jumping over barriers, and difficult run-ups. Throw in extreme weather and cold temperatures and it becomes imperative that athletes allow for enough time to warm-up and pay close attention to how they do it (Boynton, 2011). 

After some digging I found some excellent articles that might be helpful as you develop your own cyclocross warm-up routine. Frank Overton of FasCat Coaching in Boulder CO suggests the model below (read the entire article here):

1. Course Inspection: 10 – 30 minutes
2. Stationary Trainer: 30 minutes with a Tempo effort, then a Sub-Threshold effort, then 2 x 30 secs ON HARD 1 minute OFF 
3. End Warm-Up: 10 – 15 minutes prior to the start (Overton, 2010)

Image: Frank Overton - http://303cycling.com/CycloCross-Warm-Up-Protocol-fascat-coaching

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Dynamic Stretching: Before heading off to the cyclocross course or upon arrival, consider doing some dynamic stretching (not to be confused with static stretching, which is best left to be done after your race), before starting your cardio warm-up. Dynamic stretching takes joints through the ranges of motion that will be experienced during the coming race and provides a great foundation for the muscle activation that occurs during cardio warm-ups, like the one mentioned above. 

Check out these great articles for more info:

Cyclocross Warm Up Protocol (303Cycling.com)

http://303cycling.com/CycloCross-Warm-Up-Protocol-fascat-coaching

Racing Cyclocross in the Cold: The Warm-Up (boyntoncoaching.com)

http://www.boyntoncoaching.com/2011/12/28/racing-cyclocross-in-the-cold-the-warm-up/

Sources

Boynton, J. (2011, December 28). Boynton Coaching. Retrieved October 15, 2014, 
from http://www.boyntoncoaching.com/2011/12/28/racing-cyclocross-in-the-cold-the-warm-up/

Overton, Frank. (2010, September 20). Retrieved October 15, 2014, 
from http://303cycling.com/CycloCross-Warm-Up-Protocol-fascat-coaching

Great Pumpkin Cyclocross is Coming Up This Saturday

Update:  Kellen spoke to the organizers of the Great Pumpkin earlier today. Their event is cancelled. They are still planning to put on the Blue Goose.

You can follow the link below for more information about both of the Idaho Falls races, Great Pumpkin and Blue Goose. I will not be able to be there this weekend. I would be grateful if someone could take down a few posters to advertize the Cube. Please let me know if you can help out with this.

http://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/city/city-departments/parks-recreation/blue-goose-race.html

 

 

 

Cube Course 2014 Unveiled

It’s only a week and a half away. You can see details of the course here: http://sarahsis88.wix.com/cube#!about

 

Heather's Moose Cross Day 2 Pics

 

 

 

Moose Cross Day 2

 

Congratulations to Kelton on a third place finish in day two of the Men’s cat 4. Both Brian and Kellen report that today’s course was tighter and more technical than yesterday. According to Kellen, it was also pretty greasy and he did some crashing. Kellen was in third place throughout the first lap. In the second lap, another rider collided into him pretty hard in the sand pit. He started to fade a little bit after that still had a great time.

Moose Cross Day One

It was a pretty good day for Rexburg cyclists at Moose Cross with big numbers of participants (including first time cross racers Kellen, Dan, Shea, and Jordan). A couple of bad crashes cast a shadow over the day, but for the most part, it was pretty fun and successful. The only real surprise on the course was a sand pit that was put in place after our pre-ride on Thursday.

I think we had ten cyclists from Rexburg participate today, eleven if you count the very talented Jerry Long, a Rexburg native who won the men’s masters race. Thanks to Bob Yeatman for coming over today to support the race and for the work that he, Tom, and Whitney have invested in the Cube (two weeks from today). We managed to get almost everyone together for a picture.  Apologies to Zac Petterson who was being called up for his race start as the picture was being taken. Congratulations to Shea on a second place finish in the women’s cat 4 and to Kelton for 4^th place in the men’s cat 4.

Left to right: Brian, Kelton, Kellen, Jordan, Weston, Shea, Dan, Bob, Dave, Jeff

Cyclocross Is the Most Beautiful Thing in the World

This video was featured today on VeloNews. I am not unbiased, but I think it is beautiful. I will leave it to you to decide if it is the most beautiful thing in the world.

Cyclocross Is The Most Beautiful Thing In The World from ted on Vimeo.

GCN's Bike Culture: Cyclocross

When I talk to the uninitiated about cyclocross, their response is almost invariably a very blank stare. You have probably had the same experience. I remember years ago when Chris Huskinson tried to explain cross to me and Tony for the first time. I probably stared just like everyone else. Maybe this video will help.

This is one of several videos that Lana has added to the video section of her updated Cube web site. http://sarahsis88.wix.com/cube#!

 

Moose Cross

 

Earlier today, Dan, Shea, and I went over to Victor for a little Moose Cross preview. The course is hard packed and very fast. I can’t help but compare this picture at the end of a wet summer and fall with one that I have hanging up at work of the same spot on the course which shows riders passing through choking clouds of dust. Based on the set up that is in place, it looks like the course should be very similar to recent years. Here is the complete schedule for the weekend:

Sat

12:00-12:25 Fun class & Juniors (Male & Female – scored separately) - 25 min.

12:40-1:25 Men’s Masters 40+/50+/60+

1:40-2:25 Women’s 1/2/3, Women’s 4 & single speed

2:40-3:25 Mens 4

3:40-4:40 Mens 1/2/3 & single speed

4:55 U12 (1 lap)

4:56 U6 (small lap)

Sun

10:00- 10:45 Men’s Masters 40+/50+/60+

11:00-11:45 - Women’s 1/2/3, Women’s & and single speed

12:00-12:45 - Men’s 4

1:00-2:00 - Men’s 1/2/3 & single speed

http://www.moosecross.com/race-info/schedule

 

 

Cycling West: 37 Riders Complete Inaugural Montana Hell Ride

 

(Photo copyright Kevin Radley/cyclingwest.com)

The images from the mixed road and gravel event are stunning. The 125 mile route was actually shortened from 145 miles due to a portion of the road being washed out by spring run-off. http://www.cyclingwest.com/montana-hell-ride/

Lana's Cube Website

If you are not excited yet for the Cube, this should do the trick. Lana’s Cube website is live for 2014 as of today. This outstanding website might be the classiest thing about our little race. You will want to watch the excellent GCN videos on cross culture and technique.

http://sarahsis88.wix.com/cube#

UTCX #2 Video

Oliver took some video during the B race at Weber County Fairgrounds this past week.  It's not very exciting, but if you want to see a couple of middle-aged guys hopping on and off their bikes; here you go... please accept my apologies in advance, you won't be able to have your time back having wasted it watching this.

From Dave Bergart: Photos from Sandpoint CrosstoberFest, Lots of Misc Cross News

At dinner in Ogden Friday Night, Stephen and I were a little nostalgic remembering the golden age of amateur mountain bike racing in the nineties and early 2000's. That era is now ten years in the past, but the golden age of cyclocross just may be right now. Thanks to Dave for these pictures. As most of you know, the Sandpoint race is part of the new series partnership with Victor, Sandpoint, and Missoula. In addition to these regional races, we have a total of four additional races scheduled for Idaho Falls, Rexburg (just over 2 weeks until the Cube), and Pocatello as well as races in Bozeman, Boise, Sun Valley, and the excellent UTCX series. I don't know if the Twin Falls series has gotten back on its feet again or not. With all the other races, I have not even had time to check.

Here is the big news:  Moose Cross is only five days away. It is the premier cyclocross event in Southeastern Idaho with categories for all participants from kids and beginners to experts. Please support this event if you can. www.moosecross.com

On Wednesday evening beginning at 5 p.m., Brian will be hosting another cross night at this home. There is no better way to get ready for Moose Cross and the Cube. Contact me if you need more information.

Yesterday, Dawn and I were at the Nature Park, and I was happy to see that quite a few people have been doing some reconnaissance of the Cube. Here is the thing I am not happy about: there are bicycle tracks well onto the golf course right up to the edge of green. Here is the deal we have with the city. They will let us ride along the edge of the golf course, but they will not tolerate bikes farther out on the grass and one set of tire tracks across a golf green would shut down the Cube. When you come onto the golf course at the northwest corner, please make a hard left and ride along the edge of the grass. You can help by communicating that message especially to students who are unfamiliar with the city's policy for the golf course.