The Nationals Report

OK, so 2006 cyclo-cross nationals have come and gone, here's how it (mostly) went:

Most everyone got in reasonably well Thursday night. Ben and Daimo were already there with a truck and a van, so we all got picked up and headed down to Providence with a dinner stop at the Whole Foods (Hingham, MA) food bar en route.

The Bear missed his flight in Durango so he had to take the red eye, and then the bus to Providence. Stu got in super late, but our East Coast Mechanic Alex was able to swing by Logan to bring him down. Thanks Alex! Next time you'll get electricity in your room! Peter came late Friday and Ben went to get him.

We stayed at a sweet B&B that Ben rented out for us. We had the whole place to ourselves, so Jason was able to use the kitchen and cook all our meals, once again saving us from the food, waiting, and expense of going out to eat every night.

Friday was pretty relaxing I raced the 40-44, but everyone else just spent the day looking at the course and mostly relaxing, except for Tejay Van Wristbroken who took his last opportunity with us to crash me in warmup. Extended team member Brandon stayed with us for most of the weekend, and took a nice 4th in the 35-39 race as well. Rob had a good ride going in the 35-39, although he wasn't quiteable to finish it off as he would have liked.

Despite being short our usual equipment, the machanics Nick, Daimo and Alex kept everyone's gear working, and no one was ever short a bike. No mechanicals for the weekend, you can't ask for better than that. Special thanks to Alex and Pedros for hooking us up with tents, workstands, tables...everything we needed. Also, IBC took care of us with 6 nice CycleOps trainers for warmup.

Saturday was the big day, with everyone doign a championship race. Bowl-Cut was the first to go, racing the 15-16 juniors he had a solid ride to take 4th. Very consistent with what he's been doing all year, and really good for someone who basically ran cross country until November!

Next race up for us was the junior 17-18 race. No surprises there, as Danny rode his normal dominant race to take the repeat win, with a sweet one handed wheelie accross the line. Taylor showed he's figured out how this 'cross stuff works, taking a very calm, well-ridden 3rd place! Great ride by Ethan Gilmour picking up second, and doing all he could to really race Danny in the first part of the race. Jim took lucky 13th, but he's got a few weeksof racing left to do in Europe...and then hopefully worlds (along with Danny, for whom that's the real goal).

A short break for lunch (for everyone except Danny, who had a USADA appointment), and our 4 U23's took the line. Clif Bar's Jesse Anthony scored a nice win, with strong rides from the real Joey T, Bjorn, and Jamey Driscoll. Our guys rolled in places 11th - 14th, but for a bunch of guys all 18, all in college, they rode well.

Finally, the elite race. Troy had recovered from his calc final and late flight, but unfortunately just missed the lead group after the start. Then he got stepped on halfway through the race, resulting in a badly bruised heel...eventually taking 27th. Troy's also going to Europe, so his season isn't over yet. Stu had the 'cross race of his life, and likely his last bike race as a professional, taking an incredible 18th place. Thanks for all the help this year Stu! Assistant Manager Smith rounded out the group at 59th place.

Saturday night was smooth. Danny's parents joined us for dinner, while the Barkers stayed with us at the Inn for the full weekend. Jason did a great job feeding us again, and the U23 crew did as good a job on dishes as the juniors did Friday night.

Sunday was a lower key day for everyone. Alex V and Daimo raced the U35 B race in the AM, Rob raced the 35+ B right afterwards. Brady, Troy, and Peter raced Collegiate at 11:30. Troy made the lead group and rode really strongly for his FLC Skyhawk teammate Joey T, eventually finishing 3rd. Reed was able to tape Troy's heel up well enough for him to race. FLC lost the overall in a tie breaker to Lee McRae's college, on account of Snyder. Peter picked up a nice top 10, and our man from the Mines BK was happy to end his season.

Finally, the "Strawberry Cup" race pitted all the national champions from the weekend (except women) against everyone who wanted to enter. New Boulder resident Tim J took the V, after Danny got the hole shot, eventually finishing 35th. Tejay and Bryan also took the start, both of them are heading for new teams in '07, so it was nice to see them out there one last time with us.

Another Whole Foods dinner Sunday night, and I managed not to kill anyone with the van. A great final 2006 race weekend for the team, and don't forget Danny, Jim and Troy are off to Belgium for the next two weeks on Geoff Proctor's Euro Camp 4 (is it 4 already?), and then at least Danny riding worlds in Belgium in late January. You can help them out here if you're interested.

Big thanks to all the sponsors, parents, supporters, fans (Nate & Curtis especially!), staff and riders for a great 2006 season!

Summerhill: Bronze medal at CO State Champs.

On a sunny, mild winter day in Longmont, CO, the Xilinx campus hosted the American Cycling Association Colorado State Championship race.

In the Category 3 men's race, Juniors Andrew Barker, Taylor Phinney, and Jim Lennon all looked to be riding strong heading into next weekend's National Championships. Andrew got a flat tire on the first lap and dropped back, but got a bike change and clawed his way all the back into 9th place. Taylor had one of his best starts ever, and was looking comfortable in 5th place for several laps, until a double-flat put him out of the race. Jim rode a conservative race as he is recovering from a sprained ankle.

**Also in the Cat. 3 race, occasional TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cyclo-Cross Team mechanics Nicholas Saucier and Matt Opperman posted excellent 2nd and 4th places, respectively...just ahead of our Luna Chix homegirl Georgia Gould - getting in a great workout as she prepares for Nationals.

The most impressive storylines of the day were saved for the Elite race, where Junior sensation Daniel Summerhill showed his impressive form and bike handling skills - soloing off the front of the impressive Elite field, and managing the course's slippery and technical turns and bumps. Daniel was soon joined by Colorado's top Elite racer, Jonathan Baker, and the two built a huge lead. Unfortunately Daniel suffered one of the team's many flat tires on the day (7 total!), and dropped way back in the field as he navigated the sketchy course on his flat tire.

After a bike change, Daniel turned on the gas again and powered through his competitors - working his way up to 3rd place by the finish. While it would have been exciting to see a Summerhill/Baker battle all race long, 3rd place is a mighty impressive finish for a Junior in the Elite race.

U23 rider Brady Kappius had a solid race - starting hard from the gun and holding on to 4th place early, a flat tire set him back as well, but he recovered and motored up to an 11th place finish.

Former 5th place finisher in the Juniors at Cyclo-Cross Worlds, Will Frischkorn shook off the cobwebs from his recent honeymoon, and cranked out 5th place!

TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar/ACA European Cyclo-Cross Fundraiser

TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar/ACA European Cyclo-Cross Fundraiser
Presented by:
TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cyclo-Cross Team (part of the American Cycling Association's development program)




photo of Daniel Summerhill courtesy of Nicholas Saucier


The success of American cyclo-cross at the international level depends on
our riders gaining valuable experience racing in Europe, especially early in
their career. The TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cross Team was founded on this premise,
and with another successful US race season wrapping up, the team will be
sending several Junior and elite riders to compete in Europe.

3 Riders from the TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cross Team have been selected to participate in US National Cyclo-Cross coach Geoff Proctor's Euro Camp IV. The Euro Camp helps develop American riders by giving them the support they need to experience and succeed at European racing at its highest level. Based in Belgium from Dec. 22-Jan. 5 (the busy holiday cross season), each rider will be able to race 5-7 times at World Cup, Superprestige, and GVA Series events. Team members attending are: Juniors Jim Lennon and Danny Summerhill, and elite Troy Wells.

In addition, these team members are planning to represent the US at the 2007 Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Hooglede, Belgium. The US Worlds Team will travel over to Europe again mid-Jan., to race a World Cup in preparation for Worlds on Jan. 27-28.

This fundraiser is a necessary source of financial assistance for the 3 TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cross Team members who are racing in Europe this winter. Riders participating in the Euro Camp pay their own way for travel and the support they receive in Belgium. US Worlds Team members (except for the National Champion) must pay for their entire trip package as well.

BikeReg.com has set up a donation page for Jim, Danny and Troy, and will cover all service fee charges for each pledge. 100% of your donation will go directly to the riders. We're hoping you can help out, too. You can make any donation dollar amount you can afford.

The TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar team, Jim, Danny and Troy thank you for your help!

Choose the rider to support or donate to the general fund to support all 3 riders equally.

The American Cycling Association which operates the team is a non profit 501c3 organization recognized by the IRS. Donations are tax deductible.

We'd like to thank all the TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar sponsors for their support in making this such a great season:

Clif Bar and Clif Shot

Patagonia, Javelin, Crank Bros, Cyclocrossworld.com

fi'zi:k, Swix, Hincapie Sportswear, Hutchinson

Curve, Challenge, Giro, Pedro's, Cycle-Smart

Re:cycle Hardwear, Sheila Moon, Boulder Cycle Sport

Mavic, Alpha Q, JBV Coaching, 5280 Magazine

Fundraiser for ACA development 'cross programs

Wed. Dec. 6 at the Boulder Theater...come check out the premiere of Sam Smith's new 'cross film, Transitions 2: 'Cross the Pond

The event is a fundraiser for the American Cycling Association's development 'cross programs, the ACA Mudskippers (juniors 8-12) and the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR team (juniors 16-18, and Under-23).

Tickets are $10, purchased through the Boulder Theater website, at Boulder Cycle Sport, or at the door.

The film is a unique and funny, in-depth look at the American racers taking on the world's best cyclo-crossers in Belgium during the Christmas racing season in 2005. TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR team members Brady Kappius, Alex Howes, Troy Wells and Daniel Summerhill are featured, as is 2005 team manager Brandon Dwight.

The proceeds of this event will go to the 2007 Mudskippers team and the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR team members traveling to Europe this winter for the European Cyclo-Cross Camp and the World Championships.

Hope to see you there!

Brandon Dwight's latest VeloNews.com Diary

Just up today, the latest installment of Chocolate, Waffles, and Cross, the cross-season diary written by Boulder's Brandon Dwight.

Brandon helped me found the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team in 2004...back then it was just him and me organizing the team and we only had 4 riders!

Brandon is racing this season for the bike shop he owns, Boulder Cycle Sport - they've been a great sponsor for the cross team, helping us get a lot of the parts and supplies we've needed for the season.

Last weekend for the final USGP races, Brandon traveled and stayed with the much bigger version of our old small-time development cross team, and wrote about the trip for his diary.

Looking back on Thanksgiving food sources

Author Corby Kummer (The Pleasures of Slow Food) muses on the effects of global warming on our food sources - particularly interesting to think about after consuming some Thanksgiving staples that used to come from one part of the country and now are better grown in other parts of the country or Canada.

From Thursday's NY Times.

Making renewable energy a reality in Colorado

Good opinion article by Craig Cox (Executive Director, Interwest Energy Alliance) in today's Denver Post Perspectives section, titled Making renewable energy a reality.

Thanksgiving dinner and BND

Since my wife and I don't eat turkey, for Thanksgiving dinner we had a couple friends over and prepared some broccoli risotto, among other things. We got the recipe from a cookbook we've had for several years, the White Dog Cafe cookbook.

Back when we lived in central NJ, we enjoyed going to the White Dog Cafe in downtown Philadelphia, just across the river from us. I hadn't thought of the White Dog since we moved out to NM, since Santa Fe has one or two decent restaurants of it's own, but I started to recall the White Dog's commitment to social activism, community building, local farmers and products, and sustainable food in general.

Great food, and it reminded me how thankful I am to be a part of a team that combines the sport I love with some of the issues that are important to me.

Happy buy nothing day!

-JBV

Tacoma/Portland, NREL, and...Granola?

So as most of you know the team traveled to Tacoma/Portland this last weekend for the final USGP races. The whole experience was quite spontaneous for me because Friday basically involved skipping a little bit of school so I could get in a ride before flying out, doing some Spanish homework on the plane, arriving in Tacoma, eating some organic spaghetti and b-day cake for Brandon Dwight(happy b-day), and sleeping.

In the morning we all ate some nutritious granola, milk, toast, bananas, and of course COFFEE to power us though our races. The course in Tacoma was dry, fast, and flat with the exception of the 80 meter run-up and a screaming downhill decent. I, being a terrible starter, had trouble with entering my pedal and spent my first two laps catching the leader. Once that was done we (Jacob Rathe and I) both threw in attacks out of corners, on the flat road section, and up the run-up to try and crack one another, but we both hung tuff and suffered together. Coming into the finish strait I was leading and attentive as to when Jacob was starting his sprint, but once he did and I started, I realized my shifter was jammed and ended up out geared and finishing in 2nd. After, I had a little podium presentation and a couple minutes to say high to my aunt, uncle, and three baby cousins who came out to watch. In the car with the other juniors driving to Portland, we had an excellent time listening to Reed, our soigneur, tell us of his young adult experiences. At the hotel we showered, hung out, and got some massages in time for a fajita dinner made by Brian Smith. I even got to cook up some carrots and kale.

Just like TP mentioned Jim, who I roomed with, is truly addicted to showers and we were delayed a bit that morning. Luckily, at registration I found out that my race was set back in time so I could have sufficient time to warm up. Taylor led us on his million dollar warm up routine and we were all psyched to race in the cold, muddy conditions after some hot oil cream was applied to our legs. I had a much better start this time sitting in 3rd, but it took about a lap to get my rhythm going in the mud as several riders passed me. Once in my zone, I picked off the riders ahead of me and found myself finishing in 2nd. Mr. Rathe ended up proving his superior mud-riding skills today and won again with a substantial lead. All juniors then took a ride back with Brian in our sweet rental minivan. We showered ate, ate some Chipotle, and watched TV until it was time to leave for the airport and fly back home. In the airport waiting for our plane we even had some fast walking races along the straight terminal. Jim clearly had the advantage by being a champion fast walker at his school. I got the rest of my math homework done on the plane, and my dad and I took Brady back home to our house to save some gas and reduce carbon emissions. Finally at 1:30 AM or so I printed out my term paper rough draft and went to bed.

In addition to bike racing, I visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden to learn something about what they do. It was pretty cool and they explained how their building is 41% more energy efficient than other federal buildings. They also showed us their many labs and office space, and areas where they rent out bays with state of the art equipment to companies to develop better solar panel technology.

Also as organic foods go, I whipped up a batch of some great apple cinnamon granola. Here is the recipe:
– 1cup rolled oats
– 1cup rolled wheat
– 1cup wheat germ
– 1/3cup flax seeds
– 1cup dried apple slices
– 1/3cup raisins
– 3tbs ground cinnamon

– 3/4cup honey, molasses, and maple syrup (it was like 3packets of Honey Stingers, 2tbs molasses, and the rest was maple syrup)
– 2tbs vegetable oil
– 1tbs vanilla extract

– mix the above oats and dry stuff; then heat up the honey, oil, and vanilla mix and pour it into the oats mix
– bake it for 15min at 350 degrees and let it cool

Happy Thanksgiving,
Andrew

Tacoma and Portland in the eyes of a virgin cyclocrosser.

Hey there,

Taylor Phinney has finally found time in his extremely busy schedule to write his share of the blog.

The jaunt to the great northwest was my first cyclocross oriented trip with the team and I have to say that i definitely had a blast. Not only being able to race these extremely well organized races but being with the team (by team i mean riders but most of all staff) was so awesome.

After the long plane ride to seattle we finally were able to look out of the window and see the glistening city below. Seattle is a super cool looking place from above (at least at night). We arrived, got our bags no problem, and jumped in the team vans to head to where we were staying in tacoma.

We safely arrived at the hotel where Bryan Smith (practically my best friend) had made the team a splendiferous dinner. Bryan Smith was a cook for the norwegian alpine army for about ten years before he got transfered to TIAA CREF (hes actually a quite successful bicycle rider)...the team replenished, shared some war stories, and soon went to bed. I, luckily was rooming with Danny Summerhill, who unfortunately for me doesn't sleep. However we got by and all was good. Danny has become a really good friend of mine, I try to be his wing man at least during cross season but we'll see about that during road season...

Anywho, we woke up, ate, and went to the race. Unfortunately i believe i may have left my pants at the hotel...how one does that i do not know. So we got to the race and checked the course out. In all honesty, it was a B*tch, solely because of this 80 meter run up that was extremely steep, but besides that i liked it. Our warm up wasnt so great but we got to the line on time and we started no worries. Toast (danny) took the lead right off the bat and i lied in third. I was able to stay in third for the whole first lap, BUT being not so experianced at cross I started dying, mainly due to these back problems i've been having.

I finished 8th or so and Toast killed everybody gaining the white leaders jersey. After cool down, awards, and recovery we (all the Juniors) peaced out and along with Bryan Smith and Reed McCalvin headed towards Portland. NORMALLY that drive is supposed to be extremely mind numbing, but due to the fact that we had Reed in the car teaching us new ways to express profanity, in combination with Bryan's excellent driving, it went by pretty fast. There was only one moment of tension when we thought we had gone the wrong way and crossed the Canadian border, but we soon realized that there was a Vancouver in Oregon.

Bryan rallied our minivan into the parking lot and we were there. It took Reed about an hour and a half to get things sorted out with the lovely receptionist, and Toast and i set off in search of new friends. We never found any.

All the juniors recieved rub downs from Reed which were much appreciated. Bryan cooked some fabulous organic fajitas and the night went by pretty fast. The others arrived later and Toast and i watched almost four episodes of "Dexter" (there was a marathon on Showtime).

We awoke to the percussions of Mr John Verheul's knuckles on our door and hurried to breakfast. Outside it was raining and we got dressed and ready but were delayed by Jim who has a particular addiction to taking showers. To bad all those showers dont rid him of his natural stench.

We got to the course, it was wet, muddy and just overall gnarly. This race was to be cross race number eight.

Toast and i rode the course once, washed off our bikes and got in a great warm up. After a slight delay we were off. Toast took off from the gun, never to be seen again, and i hung in second for about a lap. I faded as usual and just had fun with the mud. Again i finished in 8th (i think), good enough to finish tenth in the series. Toast won the race and the series, and Jim got third therefore putting him in third in the series. I finished muddy as all hell and went to wash off. After about 15 minutes the juniors were in the minivan and off to the hotel. It was somewhat hectic getting out of dodge but we made it and even made some friends on the way home.

All things considered it was awesome trip, I can't relay my feelings of thanks more towards all the staff and riders who were all there. THANKS!!!!!!!!!

until next time

-tp

Barenaked Ladies

Anna's favorite band is BNL, and they were playing Magness Arena at DU last night.

We had seen them in December at a taping for the radio program Etown, which was cool - although not a full show. Since it wasn't the usual concert format for Etown, the band did a lot of talking with the hosts. It was very cool to learn about what BNL are doing as a band to lesson the environmental impact of their CD production (minimal packaging and sustainable paper) and their tour (off-setting tour's CO2 emissions with wind energy credits; tour bus running B20 BioDiesel; recycling and composting waste backstage).

At the show last night, there was a lot of information available to concert-goers about the band's sustainability mission. Fans could buy a Barenaked Planet tag through Native Energy (just like CLIF BAR's Cool Tag program), find out about biodiesel, and even sample CLIF BARS.

To see what the band is doing in conjunction with an organization called Reverb (founded by
go to the Barenaked Planet part of their website. Here's what Reverb is all about:

"Founded in 2004 by Lauren Sullivan and her husband, Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner, Reverb is a non-profit organization that seeks to raise awareness and support for the environment through building upon the powerful connection between musicians and their fans.

Our approach is dual-pronged: educating, inspiring and activating music fans while “greening” artists’ tours and the music industry at large."

CLIF BAR has a similar program called GreenNotes that works with bands to help them make their tours greener.

So, what our team is trying to do to reduce our impact on the enviroment, educate people, and make an impact on the cycling industry, is really similar to what is going on in the music industry with some great bands, and organizations/programs like Reverb and CLIF GreenNotes.

pictures from pioneer organics--cool business--pun intended.

Vancouver, BC...NOT the same as Vancouver, WA. While driving from Tacoma to Portland on saturday, Reed and I had Phinney, Andrew, Toast, and Jim "lenny" Lennon pretty convinced that I had accidentally gone NORTH on I-5, instead of south. Lenny even started to worry about trying to cross the border without a passport!
When I arrived at pioneer organics, I was greeted to this really cool sight. I didn't ask, but put 2 and 2 together and assume that these pallets are headed to be recycled or even composted as all of their boxes for delivery were--very cool.
This is a shot from the inside. Its amazing how these places end up delivering really good, fresh, local, organic produce to households throughout the northwest.

Quick report from the Northwest

Just catching up after our whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest for the final round of the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series.

Friday evening we flew into SeaTac airport, and drove down to Tacoma. We raced the Rad Racing Cup in Tacoma on Saturday, and then after the race drove down to Portland for the night. Sunday we raced at the Stumptown GP in Hillsboro, west of Portland - then flew out Sunday night.

Weekend highlights:



--> Two more wins and the Series overall title for Daniel Summerhill (Jr)
--> A 5th and 3rd place, resulting in 3rd overall in the Series, for Jim Lennon (Jr)
--> Two top-10 placings for Taylor Phinney (Jr)
--> Solid 18th and 15th place finishes for Troy Wells in the Elite races
--> Two top-10 placings for Brady Kappius (U23)

Photo: AbbiOrca.com

Thanks to Pioneer Organics in Seattle for getting together a great supply of local Northwest produce, granola, bread, etc for a lot of our meals. New Seasons Market in Portland was another good source, and we also had some of the best pizza out there from the really cool sustainability-oriented Hot Lips Pizza.

Petition for permanent cyclo-cross course in Boulder

This past Monday, Taylor and I went to a City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Board meeting, at which they were reviewing and approving their new Master Plan.

Thanks to the recent success (in terms of community support, number of racers, and event sustainability) of the USGP race at a City of Boulder park facility, and also due to the growing numbers of 'crossers heading out on the weekly training ride, the City was receptive to the proposed creation of a dedicated cyclo-cross course on City park property.

To sign the petition requesting action on this issue, click the linked title of this entry.

Besides Taylor and I, many key figures in the Boulder cycling community made appearances to speak to the Board and voice their support for not only a cyclo-cross course, but also for the inclusion of cycling programs and facilities in the Parks and Rec Master Plan.

For a famous cycling mecca like Boulder, it is a true shame that we do not yet have any dedicated cycling facilities in our city, and don't have any programs for kids or adults included in the menu of offerings through the Parks and Rec dept.

Following the lead that the City of Boulder has taken on so many other environmental and social issues, it would be cool to see us become known nationally for our support and development of cycling as a means for health and recreation and racing. Programs through the Parks and Rec department for kids and adults to learn about all aspects of cycling, and a dedicated park facility including a BMX course, short track MTB course, cyclo-cross course, and closed criterium circuit, would truly put Boulder on the map as a forward-thinking, cycling-friendly city.

-Ben

Why Roots Matter More

Good article by Kim Severson in yesterday's NY Times, focusing on the important role of small businesses oriented around the increasing demand for local, organic, and sustainable food sources.

Click the blog title for link to the article.

Ben

Epiphany

I hate my major.

When all this growing up stuff is, said and done, and I am to beat up and broken to race my bike, I want to grow organic kiwi.

Growing kiwi is the life for me.

At least it would be warm. Unlike this Colorado winter riding.

stetty's stance

A'ight. It's been a while. but now I got a few moments to imprint my thoughts on a page for the world to hear. Hope it sounds ok...
I've been busy with school and bikin' and life in general.
School is almost out for the fall break and I will have no time to rest. I fly friday night out to portland for the USGP's, then straight up to Beaver Creek for 3 days with the family and then I'll fly out to Boston Thanksgiving morning to see some friends who moved away. I worked the system real good and got a free flight for 1st class that costs the same miles as if I were in economy, so I'll travel in style! These are all good things to be busy with though, so I'm not complaining.
I've started training again and I'm not digging the cold. I was sick all through the Boulder races and miserable but now I'm done choking on my bodily fluids and can ride. I'm pulling two-a-days with a major weightlifting program this winter(all legs though). Cyclists typically walk around with their arms in a sling during the winter to take advantage of glorious atrophy, and go up hills faster, but I'm even doing an arm exercise or two(all the juiced up bodybuilders at school laugh because I can barely hold a bike high enough to put it on the car-let alone lift weights).
For my projects with the team I am going to do a middle school visit with Tejay about cycling as an alternate mode of transportation, I am also working with RamWheels here ate CSU. RamWheels is basically a rent-a-bike for free program where students can check out a bike for a few days to get to class if they don't have their own. We currently own 12 Bright yellow cruisers and all need maintenance.
So that's what sup in my life. Over an out.

More Bear

This just in from Durango: now I don't have to wonder what Mapel is doing right now. He was just taking photos at the USCF Durango Cross Championships - thanks Frank!, he sent me over a whole Zip folder of the Bear's suffer face.

The Bear was going for it!

Beanpole and The Bear

Now that it has snowed again in CO, let's remember those warm 'cross days...here's some Beth Seliga specials (3CatsPhoto) from the Xilinx Cup last weekend.

Here we've got Brady "Beanpole" Kappius cresting a bridge, and Troy "Bear" Wells giving us his classic suffer-face.

What are you - "38 pounds of oil, 7 pounds of gas, and 7 pounds of minerals, as well as 123 pounds of sterilized water"

Confirming the fact that I am a true geek, I have found a new, very interesting chemical process. Thermal Depolymerization Process. TDP for short. What does it do? First gather as much carbon based waste as you can find (almost everything is carbon based, but you couldn't put nuclear waste in there for example). Put it into the TDP machine. Heat the waste up super hot and compress the heck out of it. Out comes water, oil, gas and carbon solids. If you were to put a 175 lb human in it, out would come 38 pounds of oil, 7 pounds of gas, and 7 pounds of minerals, as well as 123 pounds of sterilized water. As you can imagine, this has some very interesting prospects in the renewable energy department. Almost everything you throw in the trash undergo the process. The technology is still working out the kinks, but it is still very cool to think about.

Here are some Discover.com articles regarding it.

#1

#2


Brady

"I'll trade you a yummy organic pear for a kiss." "Deal"

Let’s start with life-
I have never been busier in my entire life. This is my week: 18 hours on the bike, 15+ hours in the office, 13 hours in the class room,? Hours sitting at my desk doing homework. I guess I do not mind it, builds character and keeps me honest. Plus, you run into more girls when you run around all the time. They get a question mark too when calculating the amount of time spent on them. Damn girls.

The bike-
This year 'cross Is kind of taking a back seat in light of my contract for next year. I hate to admit it but I am a bit freaked out by the level of racing I will be expected to race against next year. Good thing for me and my fitness, when I freak out I tend to train hard and race fast.

'Cross is still a blast and I love it as much as ever. Last weekend we had the GPs come to town in a big way. The spectators were great (special thanks to my personal fan club. I love the sign as much as you apparently love my hair.) And the courses were top notch. HUGE THANKS to Rus Kappius, Chris Grealish, the GP crew, all the volunteers, and everyone else who helped make those races such special and well run events. I am already loosing sleep in anticipation of the next time 'cross hits Colorado hard again (at least I think that is why I am loosing sleep). I personally, was pretty happy with my own performance (9th and 7th in the u23s) and feel that I can improve in the next round.

The environment-
I am behind the ball with my volunteering and information gathering. If it helps I no loner own a car and my bike and the bus are my two best friends. Lame, I know. I will get my eggs in some sort of a basket one of these days.

This last week-
Three mid-terms and a nasty concussion made for one hell of a crappy combination. Praise science for Giro helmets and ice.

Random #1-
My roommate, although very cool and easy to get along with, has a new, quite despicable "sport." I won't go into detail (I will inform you that there are three pages of rules) but basically who ever can poop the fastest wins ice cream.

Random #2-
I just acquired a 36 pack of Mountain Dew. I hate Mountain Dew.

Random #3-
There is a Facebook group (social networking organization for college students) dedicated to organic apples. I am a member. Man I love those little hunks of organic goodness.

Random #4-
Apparently I have a girl friend. Oh boy, another rock on my back. At least this one is sweet.

Peace, love, and pudding,
Alex

Squawker Cross

Just got back from the Colorado State Championships hosted by Fort Lewis Cycling. The race went well you never know how it will all come together. Over the last week and half we have had to change to course outline 3 times due to the regional soccer game that was taking place today on campus. Yesterday I helped set up the course for about two hours. We had a group of 20 so it came together pretty fast. This was the 1st real cross race we have had in d-town. We have training race every weekend in the fall but this was the real deal. After setting up the course I got roped into picking up towle @ the airport. Today the race went well I think we had around 150 competitors. In the elite men we had 25 on the start. The most exciting part of the race was the beer tent. I think every cross race should have a beer tent just b/c it get the crowd into it. The crowd makes the race it doesn't matter how excellent the course is without a good crowd the race just isn't the same. I had my 1st hole shot of the year today. I was on the front for the 1st 3 laps just trying to keep the pace high. Coming through the start/finish to begin lap for there where about 4 attacks coming from Todd, Shriver, Joey T, and I. Todd and Shriver ended up getting off and left me chasing with a small gap over Joey. Later on in the race todd broke his chain guard and that left me in 2nd chasing shriver until i proceeded two lay it down twice on the following lap. Joey caught back onto me after my fall and we rode together until Todd came through and I did all i could to hang on. Going into the last lap I took one pull to try to help todd catch shriver but it was to late shriver took the win with todd 10 sec back and I was maybe 5 sec off shriver. After the race I helped with course take down and headed home it is sure nice when u just have to ride down a hill to get home instead of driving 5 hours or having to get on a plane the following morning. Pics coming soon....

T WELLS

Eating organic and bike racing

The last few weeks for me have been all about school, training/racing, and trying to consume all the organic fruit and veggies me and my family have been getting. Last weekend, the USGP races brought out the best competition for all categories including the SM 3 for me. On Saturday it was a packed start with probably the most people I have raced in a 'cross race before. Thanks to Brady, I had a front row start and ended up in a solid position until I had a minor crash on the 2nd lap. It took about a lap to get my rhythm back, but I still ended up with a decent 6th place. That night I drove 1hr south to my school to attend our cross country team's end of the season banquet.

Sunday morning it was back to bike racing up in Boulder. The SM3 field was huge, and again with the help of Brady, I got a fair 3rd row start. In the chaos of the starting sprint, I lost my pedal and almost crashed. I was able to recover, but I lost my spot and had to struggle most of the race to work my way up. I still managed to secure 13th (I think) place though. If you saw the little 9news coverage of the race, you might have seen me for about 1 second. Yah thats right, I made the news!

Also I must add that all the Door to Door Organics supplied fruits and veggies have been great, and I have also been doing a little cooking myself! I made some pretty awesome sweet potatoes with the help of a little brown sugar, marshmallows, and nuts. At the USGP races I handed out their flyers and spread "the good news" about organic food. Hopefully that will have an impact, being that it is Boulder after all!

Thanks for tuning in,
Andrew

Stu "Zero Waste" Gillespie

Have you ever dreamed about trash? Probably not. That is party of the beauty of our society. Trash is invisible. It commands neither our attention nor our dreams. That is, until you get hooked on the concept of Zero Waste.

As a professional cyclist, I have always been surprised by the amount of trash generated at cycling races. Usually though, I am on the road and fully focused on racing. And so, I don’t normally have the time for trash talk. However, this past weekend, by helping Team TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar turn two big Boulder cycling races into Zero Waste events, I became fully immersed in trash, to the point where I dreamed about it.

As its name implies, Zero Waste strives to minimize the waste produced at an event. Ideally, through composting and recycling, over 95% of the trash generated at an event can be diverted from the landfill. Achieving this level of success requires planning, dumpster diving, and, most importantly, education.

For the two races, I tried to identify all of the trash generators. For example, I contacted the food vendors to make sure they would not be handing out Styrofoam cups or plastic forks. Instead, I asked all of the vendors to bring compostable dishware. For example, vendors can buy corn-based forks that can be composted. They can also bring paper plates rather than Styrofoam plates. And so, just a few phone calls cut down significantly on the trash generated. That was the easy part.

After setting up all of the Zero Waste Stations on event day, I thought my labor would be over for the day. However, I quickly realized that people were having difficulty putting their trash in the right bin (each Zero Waste Station clearly shows which bin to put your trash in). I think this is because people aren’t yet used to composting and recycling. And so, they get confused, which meant that then I needed to start dumpster diving to sort out the trash.

Maybe I am a trash man at heart. For some reason, it felt good to be correctly recycling and composting everyone’s trash. I particularly enjoyed making sure all of the corn stalks made it into the composting bin. To my surprise, my teammates were just as enthusiastic about trash. During the day, team members who weren’t racing checked on all the stations to make sure the respective compost and recycle containers were not being contaminated with incorrect materials. At the end of both events, Ben Turner, Bryan Smith, and myself would sort through the trash like kids at a candy store. People probably thought we were crazy!

But, the need for us to dumpster dive meant that we were doing a poor job of educating the spectators and our fellow racers. This is the hardest part of Zero Waste: education. More than anything, dealing with your trash is an ethic. First, it requires awareness. Once you start thinking about your trash, you will automatically cut down on it. Then, Zero Waste requires the additional effort of recycling/composting. I agree that it is easier to just throw everything into one trashcan. But, then, you don’t have the joy of choosing where your trash goes. With Zero Waste, you can choose where your trash goes and you can cut down on your footprint. By diverting 75% of the trash over the weekend, we helped conserve a considerable amount of resources. In fact, once all the trash had been counted up, we helped save 700 gallons of water, 930 kilowatt hours of energy, 7 pounds of air pollutants, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, and 2 trees. That is the magic of Zero Waste. It makes something out of trash!

Recycle Santa Fe represents

At home this week, between USGP weekends, the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival is going on. Not only is the entire theme of the festival recycling and reusing the materials in the artwork, but they're also aiming for a Zero Waste event.

"All of the vendors create arts and crafts from at least 75% recycled/reused materials. Collages, picture frames, clocks, furniture, rugs and jewelry are just some of the items that are available"

Nice! Sounds like some of the belts we saw up in CO at the USGP weekend.

-JBV

Towle off the mic, and on the blog

Well, not our blog, but the CLIF BAR Blog. Check it out!

Dave talks about CLIF BAR and the team's sustainability efforts at the Colorado USGP races.

Tejay's CO USGP Report

I had finally started feeling good again on my cross bike. I was turning out some top tens in local races, as well as a 13th place in a UCI race in Boulder last weekend. I was super-stoked to show my new found fitness in front of a home town crowd at the Boulder Grand Prix of cyclo-cross. Despite my poor starting position in the race, I was confident I could get my engine turning and pick off a number of riders, typical of my racing style. As soon as the gun fired I started picking my way through the field; however my season debut of racing the USGP was short lived. Going into the first corner there was a massive pileup, and I was caught in the mayhem. The crash sent me toppling over the handlebars and left me with a fracture on the tip of my radius.

Luckily it’s not too severe; I should be 100% in about three weeks. My hope is that I will be back in time for nationals in Providence. My doctors were able to hook me up with a bitchin’ pink cast that is molded to the shape of my handlebars, so I will still be able to train on my road bike.

Although I was benched from racing this weekend, I was still glad to have been there. I was able to see my junior teammate, Toast (Daniel Summerhill), clean up in both races. On Sundays race I saw him completely break the style of racing he is usually known for, which is stay tucked in and wait for the sprint. Instead he came out guns blazing, and completely annihilated the field. He put a good minute into Alex Coehlo, and anyone who knows Alex knows that’s not an easy task.

Aside from racing I had a great time meeting the sponsors, hanging out in the pit, and helping contribute to the zero waste effort. I really hope the USGP comes back to Boulder again next year, and I will try to keep the rubber side down.

The Big Weekend - Team Coach

For those of you who don't follow cyclo-cross so closely, or who don't live in the Boulder area, this weekend (Nov 4,5) is a big one for the team. We've got the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross rounds 3 & 4 going on locally in Longmont and Boulder. Even though this is a "home" race for all the kids, we've got so much else going on that it's really going to be a busy weekend for the whole team.

Friday we're going out to help event staff and sponsors set up the expo area for Saturday's race in Longmont. Then on both days, riders will be helping some of our sponsors (Clif Bar, Crank Bros, and Door To Door Organics) staff their expo booths. For our athletes, it's a great chance to spend some time interacting with the sponsors who help make the team possible, as well as with the cyclo-cross fans who come out for the races and come through the expo area. We expect a lot out of the riders besides just riding their bikes fast (that's the fun part!), and as you can tell by reading the blog entries and when you talk to them at the events, they never let us down.

On a sporting level this weekend, we get to see the USGP debut of Taylor Phinney, who has taken to 'cross very quickly. Jim Lennon will be proudly sporting the USGP leaders' jersey thanks to his win round 2, and since our new clothes are in Danny gets to rock the stars & stripes in front of his home crowd.

The U23 crew is looking strong, Brady is getting healthy again and we've got Tejay back in action after missing Gloucester. No airport security at the races in CO, so Alex and Peter should be there as well.

Andrew will mix it up with the local cat 3's instead of the 15/16 juniors, so don't be surprised to see him there.

Troy/T-Dub/T-Biz/Rudy is coming into form, and a big race at altitude should suit him well. Besides helping set up these events as zero waste, Stu will be in action in the elite race as well.

Speaking of sponsors, I've got the Start Global Cooling logo up on the 1% section of my own website. Ironically, my inspiration for that part of my business was this book, while I came to find out this morning that Yvon Choinard's work with the environment and values-driven business was also an inspiration to Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson.

That's it! See you all this weekend in CO!
JBV

More burgers, more gasoline

I distinctly remember a conversation with Ben about cycling and its ties to sustainability and healthy lifestyles, we were somewhat dumb-founded about how our industry was missing the boat on both fronts.

You can make loose connections to the impact that professional bike racers have to the community of cyclists, we do encourage and give the 9 to 5 'ers something to dream about when banging out 2 hours of "office frustration".

It seems to me that the cycling industry, and US "professional" teams, are missing the boat entirely. Energy dependance and healthier lifestyles are (or will be) two of the major issues in coming decades--how much does GM spend on employee health insurance per car? Last I saw it was in the range of $1800...per car.

Our obesity epidemic will present cycling a new angle in coming years. It is an angle that has less to do with winning races, and more to do with big corporate money (read: hello living wages for bike riders!) and advocacy. Cycling would be foolish to avoid these relationships, not only with healthy lifestyles but also sustainability.

Check out this article, some great facts about weight and gasoline consumption...and what got me thinking...

http://www.planetizen.com/node/21701

'til next time, Bryan.

Volunteer Report: Tejay

For a while now I have been involved in a program called “The Exotic Species Elimination Project.” This was a project through my Biology class at Front range Community College, put on by my teacher, James Choun. He introduced this project to the class, and I saw it as a perfect opportunity to help the environment.

About 50 years ago, Russian Olive Trees were brought over to Colorado. The reason they were brought over was to shield crops from the wind, due to the thick, bushy nature of the tree. However, when these trees were brought over none of the trees' predators or things that helped keep the population of the tree in check (natural enemies) were brought with it, giving the tree a competitive advantage over the native Colorado species. Russian olive trees have an extremely deep root system, which makes it hard for any nearby trees to get the water that they need. The trees also consume lots of water, which has caused the water levels of the nearby rivers to lower dramatically. This costs the state millions of dollars, as well as incurring severe damage to the environment and local wildlife.

In this project we strive to get rid of as many of these trees as we can. Cutting down trees isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when taking on an environmental project, but I’ve learned that these issues can be more complex then they first appear. So far most of the work being done is in the Loveland area. What we do is cut down the tree, and with the remaining branches we make brush piles, which provides shelter and a habitat for the local wildlife. Once the tree is cut down, we then apply chemical treatment to the stump which kills it completely.

Next on the agenda for me is a school visit to Preston Middle School with Peter Stetina to talk to the youngsters about the importance of environmental sustainability.

Thanks for reading,
Tejay van Garderen

Volunteer Report: Ben

As part of the team's environmental sustainability mission, we have a pretty cool educational aspect to the program. Each team member is taking an active role in their own sustainability education and the sustainability of their community.

We have three components to this:
1) checking out something new to learn about...lecture, film, book, magazine article, etc.
2) volunteering for an organization in the community to help out and learn about something new.
3) school visits to local elementary and middle school students.

Anyways, I volunteer for a Boulder organization called Growing Gardens, since I like to garden and I think it is a great way to foster a sense of community and emphasize sustainability.

Growing Gardens oversees all the Community Garden projects in Boulder (I have a plot in the Holiday Community Garden, just a hundred yards from my house). They also run some really cool programs for kids. One of these, the Chidren's Peace Garden program, educates school groups and other community kids groups:

"Children learn about the source of the food that they eat, nutritional value of vegetables and the fundamentals of organic gardening practices. They experience activities and games designed to encourage peace, respect, environmental stewardship, and friendship." (www.growinggardens.com)

Last Friday I helped run a program for 60 second graders from Whittier Elementary in Boulder. The 2nd grade is doing a learning unit on the value of community, taking field trips to places in the community to see how all different types of people and places cooperate and help each other.

These classes came to the Hawthorn Greenhouse, and I got to lead one of the three educational stations. The kids got to tour the Hawthorn Community Garden, talk to gardeners and play some games to learn about gardening; they got to harvest arugula, cucumbers and tomatoes in the greenhouse and make a salad together and share a meal together; in my group, I tought the kids about the importance of community and cooperation, for people (making the garden and greenhouse happen) and also the plant/animal relationships in the garden. The kids also made some pretty cool seed mosaics for a craft project.

These kids were really pysched to learn about all the stuff in the garden and greenhouse, and many got to try arugula for the first time!

that's it for now...

Ben

Rad Racing Shout-out

This one's for our Seattle Homeboy Benny, aka Benny Swedberg from Rad Racing (the other best development cross team in the country), and actually he's from Olympia. We know, because Benny (well, his parents) let our whole team crash at their house in 2004 when we were out for the USGP race in Tacoma. Great people, and Benny is one great bike racer.

The kid with the curly black 'fro is gettin' super fast...a few National Championships under his belt, and now he's rocking the Cat 3 men in Seattle.

I just got this info from Rad Racing director Jim Brown:

"Benny soloed off the front of a 60 rider SR Cat-3 field yesterday for the win.
After 5 races he is the Seattle CCX overall leader in the C-3 men(14 years old!!!!!!!)"

We've got 15 and 16 yr olds beating up on the Cat 3s here in Colorado, but Benny is only 14. Pretty dope.

looking forward to seeing you in Boulder next weekend Benny!

Jonathan Vaughters Caught 'Cross' Dressing!

Former professional cyclist and current manager of the TIAA-Cref Professional Cycling Team Jonathan Vaughters was spotted at the Boulder UCI Cyclocross race this previous Sunday. The one time US ranked #1 Denver native dusted off his chamois to compete in his first ever cyclocross race, lining up in the men's 3 division - a hotly contested field consisting of mostly 'Boulder Cat 3 Pros'. "Err, uhhh, it was hard, uhhh... so there you go..." said Vaughters, commonly referred to by the simple moniker JV.

Known as a stellar time trialist and climbing specialist, the usally svelte Vaughters appeared to have packed on some body mass to prepare for his first foray into the competitive world of Cat 3 cyclocross racing. "I've, err, uhh... been mixing, um.. (text, text, text, text) ... mixing whey protein shake with a fine '87 Chateau Neuf de Pape... um, err.. so there you go..." explained the now finely sculpted cyclist.

Some spectators were at first hesitant to believe that Jonathan would deign to lower himself to a Cat 3 race, but these doubts were quickly crushed at the startline where his trademark sideburns were clearly visible. Dr. Allen Lim, a colleauge of Vaughters and by all acounts an intelligent man, responded to these allegations. "Huh. Interesting. He has the sideburns and scientifically speaking those can't be faked. Huh. Interesting. Crazy."

"Contrary to, uh... umm... (text, text, text, text)... popular opinion, I've always been interested in Cyclocross," said Vuaghters. "Chris Boardman and I used to stay up late at night in our bunk beds and discuss the wind-drag coefficient of a 52 kilo cyclocross rider using a 102 in. gear while riding at 78.32% of his or her maximum lactate threshold while the sunlight strikes at a 58 degree angle if the wind was pushing him or her only on the frontal parietal lobe of the lower ibial protuberance instead of the occipital lobe. We were, umm... crazy kids, so... umm, err... there you go...".

Despite an impressive start, Vaughters faded in the third half of the race to finish a respectable 46th. Spectators claim to have spotted JV texting on his Blackberry during the course of the competition.

Strong showing in Boulder Racing UCI event

The TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team made a strong statement at Sunday's Boulder Racing UCI event: that they are ready for next weekend's USGP races.

In the Category 3 race, Taylor Phinney and Andrew Barker quickly joined the 2nd group, not far off the leaders' pace. Taylor, in his 3rd cross race ever, and first in the Cat 3 field, showed tremendous power and surprising technical skill. Andrew rode his usual agressive race, but ended up fading out of the group in the last few laps. Taylor finished strong, capitalizing on a late-race crash in the front group to grab 2nd place!

Recovering from poor starts, Troy Wells and Tejay van Garderen turned in the team's best performances in the Open race.
Troy surged all the way up to the 3rd group, and the race stayed a contest between three groups of 3 for most of the day. As his older brother Todd jumped off the front late in the race to seal the win, Troy battled to stay with veteran Boulder racer Pete Webber (IMBA special projects guy and author, heard on NPR's Weekend Morning Edition, Saturday). Troy ended up finishing 8th, as the cagey Webber laid down a ferocious attack in the long beach running section.
Tejay took a little while to get his Biodiesel engine fired up - early in the race was sitting 3 spots from the tail end of the race - but once he kicked into gear, his ride was nothing short of amazing. Tejay used his raw power and ever-improving technique to pass a lot of riders, and ended up finishing with a fine 13th place.

Part-time Cross team mechanic Nicholas Saucier (and Pro Peloton wrench) was out at the race shooting some photos of the team, with one posted here for your enjoyment. For more photos from the race, check out cyclingnews.

Hopefully the beautiful sunny, warm weather we were treated to at the Boulder Reservoir will be in store for next weekend, as it would really allow us to show off Boulder's blue skies and amazing scenery. And make it an easier weekend on the mechanics!

Environmentally-relevant CAR articles from NY Times

Yesterday the NY Times put out a special Auto section - so here's a selection of the environmentally-relevant articles (as well as some older articles gleaned from the Auto section of their website).

- Road test: author takes director of Sierra Club's global warming program on a test drive of the new Hummer H3...around his own neighborhood!

- Inner conflict: love of muscle cars with big engines Vs. green feelings and techie admiration for the hybrid

- Update on plug-in hybrid technology: increasing fuel-efficiency by running engine on battery power alone for first 40 miles.

- Biodiesel industry taking off; supported by Barack Obama; Renewable Energy Group receives largest to date equity investment in biofuels, at $100 million.

- New high-efficiency/low-emissions diesel engines (already available in Europe) set for US debut in 07/08 (Mercedes...several SUVs) and within the next 3 yrs (Honda).

- Want to fuel up with E-85, the corn-based fuel blend used in FlexFuel vehicles? Better live in the Midwest!

- What's a PZEV? Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle. Your parked car, engine not running, emits more pollution than driving around in a PZEV, thanks to the improved pollution control system. These specially-equipped models from Chevy, Ford, Honda and Volvo are already for sale in CA, soon in the Northeast (though hardly marketed, suprise).

Business world is catching on to sustainability

Team sponsors CLIF BAR, Patagonia, and Equal Exchange have long been associated with thoughtful, sustainable corporate philosophies. Most companies in the natural living industry adhere to these principles as well, in both product development and production, and day to day business operations.

A more recent development has been the attention paid to sustainability by major corporations, like Vail Resorts (offsetting 100% of their energy usage with wind energy credits) and Wal-Mart pledging $500 million towards sustainability initiatives.

Interesting article commenting on this trend in the business world, from Denver Post columnist Gail Shoettler.

BK Gettin' It Done!

Congrats to TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team veteran Brady Kappius!!! At the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in Angel Fire, NM, Brady followed his awesome 2nd place in the Division II Short Track with an excellent 3rd place in the Cross Country.

Brady will be recovering this week from Collegiate MTB Nats, catching up on his homework, and getting back into cross with this Sunday's Boulder Racing UCI event...then it is on to the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross weekend in Colorado.

Saturday Nov. 4 is the 3rd race in the USGP Series, called the Xilinx Cup thanks to cycling-friendly software company Xilinx. The race is put on by none other than Brady's dad, Rus, and is at the Xilinx campus in Longmont.

See you there to watch some fast, technical cross racing!

Tejay Time

Hey there cyclo-cross fans,

So I have been kind of easing into the cross season this year due to a long road season and my first semester of college. I took a much needed break after Junior Road Worlds, I've been riding now for about three weeks. As soon as I got back on the bike I got sick and had to skip Gloucester.

Now everything is fine, and hopefully it stays that way. Im starting to feel good on the bike again, the legs seem to be comming back slowly but surely. I just raced a Boulder cyclo-cross series race last weekend and got 7th (not too bad for a roadie). This was a vast improvement to my first race of the season where I was almost lapped. Hopefully I can continue to progress and bring some good form into the Boulder USGP races, perhaps I can be in the mix with the rest of the U-23 folks.

Aside from racing, Petrov the Panther (aka Peter Stetina) and I are going to try and set up a visit to Preston Junior High in Fort Collins. We are hoping to talk about global cooling, Clif Bar, and cycling as an alternate mode of transportation. Stay tuned for an update on how that goes.

Until next time,

Tejay

Let's bring it to the US: slow cities

Most of us are familiar with the idea of slow food, if not check out: www.slowfood.com for more info.

Philosophy: "Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work. We consider ourselves co-producers, not consumers, because by being informed about how our food is produced and actively supporting those who produce it, we become a part of and a partner in the production process."
Source: http://www.slowfood.com/about_us/eng/philosophy.lasso

Many of us however, may NOT be familiar with a similar idea, that of "slow cities".

The slow city movement strives to maintain local culture, keep a "relaxed" pace of life, insure good "hospitality", and promote "local distinctivenes and sense of place".

Check out: http://www.mi.vt.edu/uploads/Slow%20City%20Presentation_Vancouver.pdf

The presentation by Mayer and Knox was given at the World planners congress, Vancouver June '06.

Within the presentation criteria are given with which communities can move toward becoming slow cities, including: environmental protection, urban design and form, urban quality, local products, hospitality, and awareness.

Take the time to look through their presentation, I think you will find it very interesting, and perhaps we can start to build our own communities around these principles. Of course the responsibility is with us, so we might as well start somewhere!

--bryan

Colorado School of Mines Environmental Club

I took part in the CSM Environmental Club meeting last week. The club is doing some really great stuff for the environment. To start off, all year the club organizes on campus recycling. All types of materials can be recycled including Aluminum, Automotive Fluids, Compost, Newsprint, Office Paper, Plastic, and Steel. One of the coolest things they are doing is collecting used printer cartridges and donating them to a local museum who recycles them as a part of their fund raising processes. Other activities the club organizes are a plant sale in the spring as well as an Earth Day celebration. Once a year the club also organizes a highway cleanup project. I am excited to be a part of the club and to help out the environment.

Brady

Since I'm one of the few guys that doesn't live in CO, I have to drive up from NM for the USGP weekend in a couple weeks. Nothing I can really do about it, so I went and bought some Cool Tags (10 of them) to try and offset the emissions from my car.

Blatant plug here: It could not have been easier to buy the Cool Tags. I started at the Clif website, clicked the Start Global Cooling logo, probably took less than a minute. Also was able to sign up for email updates on how the wind farms are progressing.

You don't have to just buy Cool Tags, there are a number of options at the Native Energy site. I think I'm going to offset my wife's driving CO2 emissions for her birthday as well, using this. Don't worry, I got her other stuff too...

-JBV

Sunday 10/22 Results

The team's finest performances of the season in Elite/Open men's races were turned in yesterday by Troy Wells and Tejay van Garderen.

At the Boulder Racing event in Colorado, Tejay van Garderen showed he is quickly progressing his form upwards from his early-fall time off and sickness...faring well against a top Colorado Pro/1/2 cross field:

1 Alan Obye - Unattached
2 Jonathan Baker - Harshman Wealth/Primus Mootry
3 Colby Pearce - TIAA-CREF/5280 Magazine
4 Peter Webber - Unattached
5 Taylor Carrington - Unattached
6 Chris Case - Mystic Velo
7 Tejay van Garderen - TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR

Troy notched his best result of this young season, with a solid 9th place finish amidst a stacked field in the UCI-ranked Wissahickon Cross in Pennsylvania:

Elite Men

1 Ryan Trebon (USA) KONA                                     
2 Tim Johnson (USA) Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com              
3 Barry Wicks (USA) KONA                                        
4 Todd Wells (USA) Team GT                                         
5 Jeremy Powers (USA) Jelly Belly                               
6 Matt White (USA) FiordiFrutta                                 
7 Davide Frattini (Ita) Colavita Oil/Sutter Home                
8 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) cyclocrossworld.com/SRAM             
9 Troy Wells (USA) TIAA-CREF                                    

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First look at 2006 team kit

A little lighter blue, more CLIF BAR red, and 5280 Magazine back on the shoulders in full effect.

Check out these pics from yesterday's Boulder Racing cross at Interlocken - rookie Taylor Phinney and team staff member Cody Oates mixing it up in the Cat. 4 race.

Nice work Cody on another podium finish...time for an upgrade man!!!

West to be major hotspot with climate change

Read an article in today's Denver Post summarizing a recent NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research - based in Boulder) study. This study looked at the predictions of 9 different climate change models through the year 2099.

Well, it doesn't look good, unless you think a "wild ride," as the lead author called it, sounds fun.

The Western US was earmarked as a hotspot that will get the worst of weather extremes: more extended droughts, heavier rainfalls, and longer heat waves.

For more specifics about these alarming extremes, see the predicted data from some other models and studies presented at the Conference to Look at Climate Change in Durango earlier this month, as reported in this Denver Post article.

Another article notes that according to a Pew Center on Global Climate Change study, Colorado is a trigger state - having emerged as a leader in renewable energy development, and introducing ballot initiatives to support renewable energy - meaning other states will follow our lead.

Start with your own small community, bike racing here in Colorado...do your part, START LOCAL COOLING. Making up a significant portion of Colorado voters, cyclists can make a difference in supporting renewable energy ballot initiatives...START COLORADO COOLING! this will help Colorado remain a leader in renewable energy development, and influence other states to fight climate change as well...START AMERICA COOLING...once the White House finally realizes that the entire country cares about global warming, we can catch up to the rest of the world and pitch in to START GLOBAL COOLING!

Granogue

Tdub update @ www.Troywells.blogspot.com

At Your Door

Look what you could have waiting on your doorstep every Monday - saving you a trip to the grocery store and providing a great variety of organic (and local when possible) fruits and veggies:



Bananas
Haas Avocado
Valencia Oranges
Local Acorn Squash
Broccoli
Carrots
Jewel Yams
Local Red Kale
Local Red Leaf Lettuce
Red Onions
Zucchini
Parsley, Italian
Local Bartlet Pears
Local Apples
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Sound good? Check out team sponsor Door to Door Organics.

This service is incredible. You can get fruits and veggies, and additional items like frozen Alaskan Salmon, local honey, local quinoa, peanut butter, coffee, and more. Best part about it is they are totally flexible. Want to change a few items on your menu for the coming week? Want to switch box sizes? Want to put your delivery on hold for a vacation? NO PROB!

The Cross Team's Start Global Cooling effort

A lot of you may have first seen these slick top tube stickers at round one of the USGP Series in Gloucester, MA October 7-8, as the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team rolled out it's START GLOBAL COOLING campaign - thanks to the dedicated efforts of CLIF BAR and Native Energy.
Or you might have seen this photo on Brandon Dwight's VeloNews.com weekly cross diary, "Chocolate, Waffles, and Cross."

The point of the program is to let everyone know how simple it is to make small steps in our everyday lives to combat global warming - by reducing the carbon footprint we leave on the planet.

For the scoop on the START GLOBAL COOLING campaign, visit Native Energy's website. CLIF BAR started the Cool Tag program with Native Energy to encourage people to purchase a $2 wind energy credit from Native Energy that offsets the CO2 emissions produced by ~ 300 miles of driving. So, if you drive to and from a race, buy a Cool Tag and support wind energy development, and feel better about driving to the race!

Racers participating in the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series can buy a Cool Tag when they register online for the races at BikeReg.com.

If you're driving a long ways to get to the race, or flying to the race, buy a couple!

For the 2006 cross season, the fine folks at Native Energy have helped our team calculate the carbon footprint associated with all of our driving and flying miles, hotel stays and other sources. As part of their sponsorship of the team, CLIF BAR is purchasing wind energy credits from Native Energy to off set the team's carbon footprint for the season...so we can be climate neutral and race our bikes all fall and winter knowing we're doing a small thing to fight global warming.

***The point of this post, actually - if you've read this far - was to see if anyone out there is interested in purchasing a set of START GLOBAL COOLING top tube stickers for their race bike, commuter bike, whatever...we don't want our team stickers to be something exclusive and hard to find...we want everyone to have one and spread the message. Start posting your comments, and we'll work on getting the stickers up for sale. Proceeds to Native Energy to support the development of more Native American-operated wind farms.

cyclingnews.com cross round-up

Check out the latest cross news on www.cyclingnews.com:

The bad:

- another doping scandal for cycling, this time in cross...involving the German team, Stevens Racing. We'll send that one over to be filed on Dopers Suck.

- Jonathan Page might miss the entire 06/07 cross season after tearing his rotater cuff in the first round of the World Cup in Aigle, Switzerland. That race goes down in my books as one of my least favorite, ever...now it probably does for JP too. Heal up quick and be back for Worlds!

The good:

- Sven, Tim and Lyne are racking up the wins so far this season!

- Cross Crusade continues to set attendance records...if anyone doubts cross is the fastest growing cycling discipline, all they need to do is see the maxed out fields lining up in Portland and Gloucester.

- Tom McD's great race at the Granogue Estate in Wilmington, DE went off today with it's best ever Elite Men's and Women's fields...

And, last but not least, our gang finally got the old press release up on the site...

Cross Team members represent at Collegiate MTB Nationals

Peter Stetina (Colorado State University) and Brady Kappius (Colorado School of Mines) took the weekend off from cross to represent their schools at Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in Angel Fire, NM this weekend.

Both are three-year veterans of the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cyclo-Cross program, and both are in their freshman year of college...Peter is majoring in Exercise Science, and Brady is majoring in Materials Engineering.

Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals is divided up into two racing categories, based on school size. Colorado State University competes as a Division I school, and Colorado School of Mines as Division II - so unfortunately these two teammates and long-time friends don't get to square up against each other in the same collegiate races!

In Friday’s Short Track event, both riders showed their cross form to be ready in this all-out 30-minute, short course mountain bike event - both landing on the podium:

Results
Division I

Men

1 Alex Hagman (Fort Lewis College)
2 Eric Ransom (Fort Lewis College)
3 Noah Singer (Fort Lewis College)
4 Andy Schultz (Montana State University)
5 Peter Stetina (Colorado State University)

Division II

Men

1 Garrett Brady (Western State College)
2 Braden Kappius (Colorado School of Mines)
3 Douglas Shryock (University of Montana)
4 Patrick Hurley (Warren Wilson College)
5 Phil Grove (University of Montana)

Update from Andrew Barker

A little while back the team and I traveled to Massachusetts for the first two races of the national US Gran Prix cyclocross series in Gloucester. We were able to crash at Ben's aunt's house which turned out to be a very relaxing and cool place to stay (Thanks again Aunt Ricky!). The next two days for me consisted of breakfast, getting a few laps of the course in the morning, warming up on the trainer, racing, cooling down, lunch, watching the Clif Bar tent and informing people of how Clif Bars ROCK, cheering on the rest of my teammates in the U23 and Elite races, and finally disassembling our little camp. The trip became a great learning experience for me in how the team operates and how the local east coast 15-16 boys are pretty
competitive.

Last night I read a little article about carbon dioxide emissions in a Scientific American magazine to educate myself a little more on exactly what environmental problems we as a team are trying to take steps to solve. The article was really startling in that we, the people of the world, need to start acting now in order to lower our carbon dioxide output in order to prevent radical and permanent climate changes in the nearing future. It also explained how the task of lowering carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere is entirely possible even with growing population and developing economies. The whole thing just made me think of how we live on such a delicate planet, but do not treat it like one. So…just by thinking about what we are doing to our world first, we can take care of this problem.

Lastly, I want to thank everybody for their support on making this trip happen, and please stay tuned for our adventures to come!

Andrew

Team in the news

So far the TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team has been getting a positive response within the cycling media, already having their initial press release posted on Bicycling.com, VeloNews.com and cyclocrossworld.com.
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Stay tuned as the team continues to make headlines for its environmental sustainability mission and for our its strong race results!

Gloucester - Coach's Report

We’re through the first big travel weekend of the season for the TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar cyclo-cross team. Gloucester, MA is always a great race with great atmosphere and people, and this year was no exception. I think we mostly had a great time, except for Reed who was on one leg most of the weekend, and Nick who got sick.

I have two roles with the team from which to view the trip. First (since it takes most of my time), I’m the assistant team manager. That means being Ben’s assistant for whatever he needs, working out the logistics of every big trip from the time we get on the airplane (or don’t, if you’re named Howes or Stetina) to the time we come back. We’ve got to make sure pickups at the airport go smoothly, we get to housing at a decent time, all the riders are set up to get on the course for their warmup/course inspection at the appropriate times, everyone is set to race…and all the while of course we’ve got to ensure the riders get enough sleep and eat well. When we’ve got anywhere from 6-10 riders plus staff, it can get complicated.

For this trip I think things went pretty well. Thanks to Ben, Brady and the mechanics, really no one is traveling with a bike anymore. That makes airport stuff way easier all around. We also had a much smoother time with the Boston Port Authority police this year, even without Brandon to help us. Everyone’s flight got in on time, we even had the extra space to give Shriver a ride to Gloucester. Ben says it all the time, but in cyclo-cross, while we’re all competitors on the course, helping each other out the rest of the time is kind of the norm.

We had beautiful weather in Gloucester, making it a lot easier to keep our team space in order. We also got to partner with the folks from Clif Bar who had a display in the expo area. We just set up the team space next to them, and act as a second team space for our fellow Clif teams - Clif riders Mark and Jesse, and of course the fabulous Luna Chix Georgia and Katerina. It also gave our riders a chance to staff the Clif booth for periods, and meet lots of the great New England fans who came out to watch the racing at Stage Fort Park.

Thanks to Stu, who drove up from NY to help Ben shop and prepare food, we had good meals for the riders for the whole trip. Stu even made apple crisp on Saturday, which was his birthday! Congratulations on being able to vote now Stu.

My other job with the team is as team coach. This one is a bit more ethereal, I basically view it as trying to always have the riders in position to put forth their best ride on any given day. The results are pretty cool when the team has talented riders like Toast and T-Biz, but as long as everyone is ready, puts out a 100% effort, and gets better in the long run – we’re happy. We’re a development team, and it’s important not to forget that. All that being said, we actually had pretty good results for the first trip of the year – highlighted by Jim’s win Sunday.

While Troy is off racing in the mid-atlantic this weekend, we’re looking forward to the next big team race, USGP rounds 3 & 4 in Longmont & Boulder. It’s actually a “home” race for the whole team being in CO. We’re excited to have all the riders’ families there for the races (Brady’s dad is promoting one of the races!). I’m taking the opportunity to run a power clinic that week up in Brandon’s shop, Boulder Cycle Sport.

Gloucester, MA - USGP 1 & 2

Video of Junior National Champion - Danny Summerhill

2005 Junior National Cyclocross Champion Danny Summerhill is displayed in the video montage made by Evan Schmitt, check out his site - http://www.seattlecyclocross.com/ .

Clif Bar Cool Tags Program

Make the world a cooler place. Start Global Cooling today.

Start Global Cooling! Every time we use fossil fuels to drive our cars, heat or cool our homes, even grow and cook food, we create greenhouse gases. Excess greenhouse gases accumulate in the Earth’s atmosphere and cause an unnatural build-up of heat.

But there’s hope — with your help we can make the world a cooler place. By helping to build new sources of clean energy and by using energy more efficiently — we can slow global warming. And it’s easier than you might think.

Purchase a Cool Tag™ at CLIF BAR events and you will keep 300 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the main contributor to global warming — out of the air. That’s roughly the same as neutralizing the global warming emissions generated from traveling 300 miles in the average car.

How does it work? For each $2 Cool Tag sold, CLIF BAR invests $2 in NativeEnergy’s WindBuilderssm program, helping the Rosebud Sioux Tribe build the Rosebud St. Francis Wind Farm in South Dakota. Wind farms deliver clean, renewable energy to the grid without releasing CO2 into the air — thereby displacing energy that comes from polluting facilities.