Yannick's first win of the season

Below is soon to be 14-yr old Yannick Eckmann's race report from his first win of the season, last Sunday's Red Rocks CX #1 cat 4 event:

I didn't have a good start, but by the first barrier I was in first place and went through the
sand pit in first also. After the sand pit I knew that I had a little gap because Zack kind of
slowed the chase group down in the sand and helped me stay out front. From that point on I went for two laps as fast as I could.

Once I was about a minute ahead, I slowed down a little bit to recover and make sure I wasn't going to blow up, and to be more careful so I wouldn't get a flat tire on the course. Every lap I seemed to have a bigger gap, probably because I really liked the singletrack trails and the sand section at the bottom of the hill which I was able to ride through pretty easily.

Luckily I had enough of a lead to be careful on the last lap. After the race I was really tired though!

by Yannick Eckmann

Zero Waste @ Boulder CX Series

Hey y'all

Andrew Simms here, I'm one of the new riders on the team. Unfortunately I can't race this year due to an injury, so I get to help out the team in other ways. I am helping out with our project to make the all of the Boulder CX series races Zero Waste events. Pretty Cool! Basically we set up a couple of recycling and composting stations around the venue and the spectators learn how to recycle or compost properly. Who knew that recycling could be fun? To learn more about recycling and composting visit Eco-Cycle's web site. See you all at the races!

Boulder CX #1 and Red Rocks Cross #1

This past weekend was a double header on the front range. Saturday was the classic Boulder Research Park race. Loose, technical course with lots of turns and a good road stretch through the parking lot. Out of the gates, Danny and I opened up a gap, with Alex Coehlo right on our wheels. Coehlo was running way too little pressure and had to swap out is rig for one with more pressure. After a lap Brandon Dwight of Boulder Cycle Sport was with us as well. The 3 of us worked together, trying to put time on the others. After a few laps, Coehlo made contact again and we were back to 4. Brandon threw down a big attack and rode all the young ones off his wheel. I just lost contact with Danny and Alex. In the end I faded and finished 5th. Alex got 2nd and Danny 3rd. Team CLIF BAR helped make the event Zero Waste by with 3 recycling/composting stations around the venue! Thanks to BoulderRacing for stepping up and leading the way for the local 'cross scene to become more sustainable! The CLIF BAR Development Team is proud to work with Eco-Cycle in helping the BoulderRacing Cyclo-Cross Series move towards Zero Waste.

Sunday was a new venue in Bear Creek State Park. Cool course, again, loose and technical. Not very many parts to throw down the hammer and gap anyone. Out of the start, Danny and I rocketed up the start hill and bunny hopped the barrier right before the sand pit. The crowd was digging it. After a few laps, the group dwindled down to 4. Two CLIF BAR riders vs. two Boulder Cycle Sport riders. I knew we had the technical advantage on the other 2, as we could hop the barriers and make up a quick few seconds, and we were railing the corners. Brandon had his teammate Chris put down a few attacks but Danny and I were able to keep it together. We were playing a little bit too much cat and mouse and another rider bridged up to us. All of a sudden it was a front group of 5. With a 4 to go, Brandon nailed a rock and flatted his $10,000 bike (you would think for that price it would have auto inflating tires or something). With one final lap remaining, the rider who bridged up (beard man) attacked through the finish. Danny and I tried to cover. Brandon's teammate Chris couldn't hang on and dropped back. At the bottom of the descent, beard man came in a little to hot and lost his chain. I told Danny to drill it. We cruised up the run-up and have a 5 second gap. Going through the barriers I passed Danny and told him "I'm feeling good and am gonna take it," and he said "go for it." I drilled the last lap, hopped the last barrier, and cruised in for the win. Danny took second. 1-2 finish for CLIF BAR. No better way to finish the race!


Check out these photo galleries for pictures of the races:
Red Rocks
Boulder

Up next is the ACA Junior Cyclo-cross Camp in Winter Park, CO. The camps are a lot of fun and get a bunch of new kids into the sport...there are over 100 kids coming to camp! I can't wait.

Brady

Photo courtesy of http://crossniacs.com/

Fundraiser for ACA Junior cross programs this Thursday!

Head over to cyclofile.com for the scoop (and previews) of Sam's 'cross films. Highlights of the 2007 season will be posted each week on the site too!

Aspen

This past weekend was the first weekend of the western slope series for cyclocross in Aspen. The courses were technical and a lot of fun. The turn out was not so great but it still was a good race. On Saturday there was a big run up section that burned every lap. I finished up first and Conor finished up 6th because he got a flat on the last lap and had to run the last lap. Then on Sunday it had some technical turns, I ended up 2nd and Conor third. His rear skewer came open going down the downhill part of the course but got it fixed and ended up third. Then on the way back from the races going back to Grand Junction we noticed this sign that said Premium Biodiesel available here. We just thought that it was very cool to see that, I have never seen a gas station that carried biodiesel so I decided to take a picture of it.

Pedro's hands out CFL bulbs at Interbike

Las Vegas, NEV (September 25, 2007) – Pedro’s, an industry leader in sustainable cycling products, continues to work on behalf of the planet at this year’s Interbike trade show, with a unique “twist” on reducing their carbon footprint coming to Las Vegas. On Wednesday September 26, Pedro’s will give a free compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) to the first 200 visitors to the Pedro’s booth. Compact fluorescent bulbs require 70% less energy and last ten times longer than the incandescent bulbs they replace. The Pedro’s offset will save 160 tons of CO2 at the show, or nearly one ton for each bulb distributed at Interbike.

“Last year we bought wind credits to mitigate our CO2 emissions for coming to Vegas, but this year we wanted to do something more practical, more real world. We also wanted to involve others and help demonstrate one of the easiest ways to lighten the green house gas burden on the planet. This is an easy effort in which all of the participants are winners.” Christopher Zigmont, Pedro’s GM illuminated.

CFL facts: If every one of 110 million American households bought just one compact fluorescent bulb, and replaced an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, saves enough electricity to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road.

Pedro’s was named one of cycling’s “Green Giants” by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News in the spring of 2007.



For more information about this release or any Pedro’s topic, contact Jason Elhardt at 978.494.3600 or jason@pedros.com.

About Pedro's: Pedro’s makes top quality tools, lubricants and bicycle care products for cyclists and their mechanics, with a focus on sustainability. Based in Wilmington, Mass., Pedro’s distributes to 34 countries. Pedro's is a division of Swix Sport USA. Visit www.pedros.com for more information.

Team announcement, finally

New Look, Same Development and Sustainable Cycling Mission for CLIF BAR Team

Boulder, CO - October 1, 2007 - CLIF BAR is pleased to announce its title sponsorship of the American Cycling Association's development cyclo-cross team for ages 13-22. Now in its fourth season, the CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team builds on the solid foundation built by the former TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR team, and meshes nicely with the large ACA Mudskippers team of 8-12 year olds.

The team will be featuring a new green look to correspond to the team's pioneering sustainable cycling mission, with plenty of green on the uniforms and green Salsa Chili con Crosso bikes (also available at cyclocrossworld.com!).

Thanks to inspiration and support from CLIF BAR, Pedro's, and many other sponsors, the team is stepping up it's commitment to sustainable team operations and also increasing it's ability to educate and inspire the cycling community about sustainable cycling.

Now seventeen riders strong, the CLIF BAR Development team will be led by team captains Brady Kappius (2-time Worlds team member) and Daniel Summerhill (2007 Junior Worlds silver medalist). Joining Kappius and Summerhill - who have both been lighting up the early Colorado races - will be three 13-15 year olds, many rookie crossers, and returning veterans Taylor Lane, Andrew Barker, Jim Lennon, and Taylor Phinney.

The team will be competing in a full schedule of Colorado races, as well as the US Gran Prix Series and Nationals. Daniel Summerhill will be focusing on a more extensive schedule that saw him warm up for the season at Cross Vegas before heading east for the classic Gran Prix of Gloucester and Granogue races.

The team's mission is to not only help these young cross racers become successful athletes, competing at the highest level in the US and Europe - but to help them develop into well-rounded, exceptional leaders ready to make a difference in the cycling community and their own communities.

Please visit the team website, www.sustainablecycling.com, for complete information about the team, it's sponsors, and the sustainable cycling mission. Stay tuned for exciting news about upcoming sustainable cycling projects being developed by the CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team.

Week 2 results

Cross Season Week 2 results for the CLIF BAR Development Cross Team, with two races on the Front Range and the Western Slope Series kicking off in Aspen:

Saturday was the race #1 in the BoulderRacing Boulder CX Series (thanks to BoulderRacing, the CLIF BAR team and Eco-Cycle for making this series Zero Waste!)

- Danny Summerhill finished 3rd in the Senior Men's Open race!
- Brady Kappius was 5th in the Open race!
- Yannick Eckmann took 2nd in the Cat 4 race!
- Danny Hiller was 2nd in the Junior 15-16 race!
- Zack Gould was 3rd in the Junior 10-12 race!
- Cody Cox was 8th in the Cat 3 race

Saturday was also race #1 in the Western Slope CX Series, in Aspen:

- Kevin Mullervy won the Cat 3 race!
- Twin bro Conor finished 6th in the Cat 3 race

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Sunday was the first round of the Red Rocks Velo CX Series, in Morrison:

- Brady Kappius won the Senior Men Open race!
- Danny Summerhill took 2nd in the Open race!
- Yannick Eckmann won the Cat 4 race!!!
- Zack Gould was 43rd in the Cat 4 race

Also Sunday, in race #2 of the Western Slope CX Series, in Aspen:

- Kevin Mullervy was 2nd in the Cat 3 race!
- Conor Mullervy was 3rd in the Cat 3 race!

Kevin and I had a chance to go and see the 11th Hour by Leonardo DiCaprio last weekend down in Grand Junctions Theater. Let’s just say it was a big eye opener, in the way that we are treating our Earth. The images that they showed of the Earth and how much it is being destroyed, was terrifying. All the solutions that he went over seemed so easy to do to change some of these environmental problem but not enough of us are doing anything about it. The things that he went over in this documentary were our challenges: Peak oil, Global Warming, clean water constraints, how far food travels to the dinner table and much more. One interesting fact that was brought up was about renewable energy. It said if we used all the technology that we have now, we could up our renewable energy by 95%. This is with simple solutions such as solar panels, wind farms, housing ect. This is just a little of what the movie was really about. It was truly a powerful movie and I suggest that if you have the chance to see it, do so.
Conor.