Clif Bar Development Cyclo-Cross Team

Euro Cross Camp Update

2011-12-25T07:55:00.001-07:00

Hello World,

Its been awhile since we updated this thing but I will try to give you a quick rundown of whats been happening. After Louisville, the next team race was the Bend USGP everybody except Curtis made the trip, and we had a pretty good showing. The following week (December 15) Spencer, Curtis, Jordan, Zane and me (Kolben) all went to Belgium for the ninth edition of Geoff Proctors Euro Cross Camp. That brings us to the present...
We all have been here for about a week and a half now, and we have a little under one week to go. Its been a good trip so far with fairly nice weather, lots of mud, and we are getting tons of great experience, plus a few good results.
One of our jobs here at the camp is to write a Cyclingnews.com diary on one day of the camp. So far Curtis, Spencer, and Kolben have all written one, and they can be found:

Here-Spencer

Here-Kolben

Here-Curtis

We encourage you to read them, as they are meant to shed light onto what it is like to train, race, and live in Belgium.

Louisville USGP

2011-11-15T06:29:00.001-07:00

The USGP always brings the top racers for all categories, and they are all competing for UCI points in the UCI races and not to mention the Exergy USGP leader’s jersey. Also in 2013 the World Championships will be in the same Louisville venue as this past weekend.

This was the second big race weekend for the Clif Bar juniors, because this was the second weekend in a row with UCI points. All of the racers showed up to race, there were 29 starters on Saturday and 30 starters on Sunday. This is one of the deepest fields that the juniors have seen all season.

On Saturday’s race there were all the key players at the front of the field: Drew Dillman, Curtis White, Zane Godby, and Tobin Ortenblad. They made the race very fast, but after the first couple of corners there was a crash about half way through the field. Both Jordan and Spencer were caught in it, which makes for tough chasing.

On Sunday it was pretty much the same players, and thankfully there wasn’t a crash so everyone got through the start cleanly. The front group was the same: Dillman, White, Godby, and Ortenblad. With 3 laps to go Dillman attacked and dropped the other three riders, and they worked to bring him back. But Godby bobbled in the sand pit, White and Ortenblad rode away from him. Then Ortenblad got White in the sprint.

In addition to Zane and Curtis gaining UCI points, Zane ended the weekend taking over the Exergy USGP leader’s jersey.

Saturday:

1. Andrew Dillman (Bob’s RedMill)

2.Zane Godby (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

3. Curtis White (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

4. Tobin Ortenblad (Cal Giant)

5. Yohan Patry (Ride with Rendall)

10. Jordan (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

14. Spencer(Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

22^. Zack (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

Sunday:

1. Andrew Dillman (Bob’s RedMill)

2. Tobin Ortenblad (Cal Giant)

3. Curtis (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

4. Zane (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

5. Logan Owen (Team Redline)

11. Jordan (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

16. Zack (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

19. Spencer (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

Cincinnati CX Festival

2011-11-07T10:11:00.001-07:00

This weekend's CIncinnati UCI 3, a 3 -day midwest cyclocrossclassic, attracted top racers with 3 days of racing and Sunday's C1 status.This year the promoters snagged UCI status for the juniors for saturday andsunday, which brought America's top riders to CIncinnati for a three-dayweekend of muddy action

The weekend served up two separate venues for the juniorsand two very different courses. Saturday was flat and fast with many sweepinggrass corners and one set of barriers. Sunday offered up a more hilly coursethat was significantly muddier, one muddy corner actually had most of thejunior and pro fields running it. There was a long uphill drag to the finish ofeach lap which then sent riders straight into a long slightly up hill sand pit.This was hands down voted the hardest section of the course by the Clif Team.

Saturday saw Zane Godby and Curtis White immediately at thefront with friend and rival Andrew Dillman of the Bob’s RedMill team. The threeof them got a significant gap off the rest of the field. Unfortunately for TeamClif Bar neither of our dynamic duo could stick with Dillman’s pace and he wenton to win. Jordan Cullen suffered some bad luck on the first lap getting caughtbehind a rider with the dropped chain at the beginning of the first lap, butthe level headed Cullen never got down on himself and rode back up to 4^thplace almost giving Curtis a run for his money for the last podium spot.Spencer jammed a chain pretty good and had to run a majority of a half lap tothe pit to get his spare bike, but then put his head down and got to workriding out the rest of the race. Zack Gould got a lot of homework done on whatit takes to race at this high level after being out for most of the fall with abroken collar bone, hurting a little bit now often means fresh legs in Decemberand January.

Sunday started much the same way with Drew, Curtis and Zaneout to an early lead. Jordan took an easier start and moved up during thewhole race. Curtis and Zane were sitting very strong until Curtis rolled a tireand had to ride slowly to the pits. Zane wasted no time and gave it everythinghe had to catch Drew on the last lap, coming with 15 seconds of him. CypressGorry of Whole Athlete Specialized team was able slip past Curtis. Jordan had anothergreat ride rounding out the top 5.

All and all it was a great weekend for the Clif BarDevelopmental Cross Team, once again asserting itself as the US's premier junior team.

Saturday

Andrew Dillman (Bob’s RedMill)
Zane Godby (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
Curtis White (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
Jordan Cullen (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
Cypress Gorry (Whole Athlete Specialized)

Sunday

Andrew Dillman (Bob’s RedMill)
Zane Godby (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
Cypress Gorry (Whole Athlete Specialized)
Curtis White (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
Jordan Cullen (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

Zane and Drew Post Race

Podium Day Two

Zane Gets Work Done in the Sand Pit

Team Before the Start on Day Two

Thanks and Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @ClifBarDevo

Boulder Cups

2011-10-31T21:27:00.004-06:00

This weekend Zane, Zack and I raced the Colorado Cross Classic on Saturday at the infamously goat-head riddled Boulder Reservoir, and the Boulder Cup on Sunday at the newly built Valmont Bike Park. On Saturday all three of us raced the very short junior race, this was Zack's first race of the year after his broken collarbone earlier this season. The course was fast and fun with a couple corners becoming very muddy as the day went on. By the way the mud is not typically Colorado cross weather, the races seem to only be muddy when the big races come to town. Normally the courses here are dry, dusty and fast. On Saturday, Zane finished 1st, I finished 2nd, and Zack in 4th... After a mere 15 minutes of racing, kind of ridiculous.

Sunday was a different story all together, this was the first year the Boulder Cup was held at the Valmont Bike Park, and the crowd turned out in numbers. The tunnel of noise on the 5280 run up was awesome. The amount of people at the race was almost rivaled the Superprestige in Zonhoven, at least as far as American cross goes. We raced for a full 60 minutes, another ridiculous amount of time to be racing for. The Boulder Cup was even more muddy than the Cross Classic, mostly due to the nature of the course. Pit changes were basically mandatory or your wheels pretty much stopped spinning all together. Zane and I went 1,2 again after passing over 100 CAT 3 racers during the course of the Day. The weekend in Boulder was amazing, the size of the events shows how much this town loves their cycling.

Zane and I on the Podium

Zane Zack and I at the Boulder Res

-Spencer Downing

@spencerdowning on twitter

Granogue Cross,

2011-10-19T11:06:00.000-06:00

The Clif Bar Development Cross Team had a great weekend at the first US Junior UCI race of the 2011/2012 season. Granogue is the first of 4 race weekends that have world ranking UCI points for juniors. These points are very important for qualifying for Euro Cross Camp and the World Championships.

On Saturday, Curtis White out foxed Bobs Redmill rider Drew Dillman to take the win. Zane Godby chased hard by himself all day and finished third. Spencer Downing overcame a poor start and held on for 12th.

Sunday presented another difficult course. Curtis and Drew road hard on the front for the whole race until the last lap when Drew got an advantage and took the win. Going 1 and 2 on both doth days, Drew and Curtis are now tied in points for being the Worlds top ranked junior rider. Zane, or Mr Consistency road in for another strong 3rd place. Spencer improved on Saturday with a 11th place finish.

The team was very well supported by Tom McDaniel and Mike Gavagan. Tom does an amazing job of supporting development in cyclo cross and promoting an amazing race. If you have the chance, attend this race next year.

Check out some of the interviews and video from the race from our friends at CyclingDirt.

Watch more video of Granogue Cross 2011 on cyclingdirt.org

Watch more video of Granogue Cross 2011 on cyclingdirt.org

Watch more video of Granogue Cross 2011 on cyclingdirt.org

Watch more video of Granogue Cross 2011 on cyclingdirt.org

Gloucester 10.1-2

2011-10-05T18:27:00.007-06:00

This past weekend was the opening to my season, in "Glah-stah" MA. On day one, a nice front had dropped a bit of rain on the course, so things were going to get pretty sloppy. With it being my first race, I had a poor starting position, 7th row. As soon as the whistle blew, I tried to get to the front as quickly as possible. Within the first half lap, I had found myself off the front with former teammate, Nate Morse. Unfortunately, as soon as I got up to the front, I flatted. When I got a new bike, I had dropped down into 8th position. Over the next few laps, I tried to get back up to the front, but was held up by several more crashes and mechanicals. In the last lap, I was fighting for 2nd place in a group of three. Leading into the sandpit, I opened up a small gap and held it to the line, taking 2nd.

Going into day two, a strong wind was coming off the ocean, so the course dried out a bit, making things a bit faster than day one. Shortly after the start, I had a small gap, but got a little too excited and slid out going around a corner. I was able to get back into the flow with no issues. Soon after, a lead group of 7 formed. The group widdled down, bit by bit up until 2 laps to go. Nate Morse put in an attack, and instantly got a gap. Almost right after Nate went, I bridged up to him. Going into the last lap, it was mano a mano. I started to put the hurt on him, and almost gained a gap a few times, but Nate was able to shut it down. Going into the barriers, with 300 meters to go, we were together. Coming around the last turn, I opened up my sprint and held it to the line, with Nate close behind. All in all, it was a great weekend of racing.

That's all for now.

-Curtis

Up the run-up on lap one of day 2. Photo credit to Marty Allen.

Trying to shake Nate on the last lap of day 2. Photo credit to Wil Matthews.

Standing on the top step, day 2. Photo credit to Emma White

CLIF BAR Team Camp

2011-09-12T22:53:00.000-06:00

During the last week of August all the team members came to Boulder Colorado for a team training camp. It was a chance for us all to get our beautiful new bikes all dialed and get some good miles in on them before 'cross season gets in full swing. Also it gave us opportunity to spend some time with each other, some team bonding if you will... Below are some photos to give you a peak into how it all went down.

Getting the new bikes all built up for the guys.

Next we all went to RETUL to get our bikes fitted. They have a really cool system for fitting. Lots of cameras, infra red lights, and 3D imaging. Here we see Curtis getting strung with infra red lights

Todd Carver from RETUL Working his magic

Practicing 'cross out at Valmont bike park

The "Sand Pit"

No 'cross camp would be complete without some run-ups!

Team photo shoot at Valmont

More photo shooting...

In between everything you saw in the pictures above we were out logging some miles on the new bikes and we were all having to much fun on the new mounts to take any pictures.

Well that's it for now. Be sure to check back soon as the race season gets underway!

Thanks for reading,

Kolben Preble

A New Season

2011-09-08T11:32:00.004-06:00

Back for 2011 the Clif Bar Development Cross Team will be coming to a race near you.

Look for us at

Fort Colins USGP, October 8th and 9th
Granouge Cross, October 15th and 16th
Boulder Cups, October 30th and 31st
Cincinnati UCI 3, November 4th, 5th and 6th
Louisville USGP, November 12th and 13th
Jingle Cross, November 25th, 26th and 27th
Bend USGP, December 10th and 11th
Euro Cross Camp December 16th through January 1
US National Championships January 4th to the 8th

The team is retaining its squad from last year except for Mitch Hoke who has moved to the Clif Bar Pro Team.

Kolben Preble and Bjorn Fox will be moving out of the U19 category into the Elite/U23 Ranks. Zane Godby, Spencer Downing, Jordan Cullen, Curtis White and Zack Gould will be looking to dominate the U19 fields in the US and Europe.

The team started the season of right with a Team Camp in Boulder Colorado. Todd Carver of Retul got all the kids bike fits dialed on their new Ridley X-Fires. Retul will be joining the team as a sponsor for 2011-2012 season.

Team Ride with Brady Kappius and Colby Pierce

More updates to come. Also look for us on Facebook and Twitter as ClifBarDevo and Keep an eye out for Team Clif Bar at Cross Vegas, Start Crossed and Madison USGP

Greetings

2010-12-25T10:41:00.001-07:00

We have a spent a little bit over a week at the EurocrossCamp in Belgium. It has been very cold, around freezing the whole time. On the rides the roads are either slushy, getting really wet, or super icy, making it hard to stay upright. We have spent time preparing for racing either at the house or out riding.

The first two races I did in Belgium were last Saturday and Sunday. The first race was a local race on an icy farm field and the second race was the Kalmthout World Cup race near Antwerp. On Saturday’s race most of us from the Eurocross Camp had enough UCI points to be called up to the front row. I had a great start and lead the race in the beginning; then I had a mechanical and dropping back a little to finish in third place. At the World Cup, I was called up in the 3rd row, didn’t have a great start but I had a blast in the race. I finished in 44th place, the first American. It was really fun racing with people from all different countries, an orange Dutch guy there, a small blue, red, white French guy there. Fighting against the best of all the different countries. The course was fast, icy, muddy and hilly.

Today is Christmas Eve, we woke up at 8:30am and went for a ride. I did a prep ride along the canal in town. The canal has a pretty cool bike path, but it’s icy and slippery which, is actually great cyclo-cross training combining handling and power. This afternoon there was a trip to the Tour of Flanders Museum. Today we had a special Christmas Eve dinner with the table set very nicely. Some family of the people who are in charge of the house joined us for food and it was a good time. We had a toast (only an Aquarius orange drink for us; champagne for the staff), dinner, and cake for dessert.

Bjorn

Belgium Update

2010-12-23T09:07:00.010-07:00

Today marks the one week anniversary of my adventure here in Belgium. Im going to use this post to list the most interesting things that have stood out from my trip thus far.

1). Raced my first race outside of the U.S.

2). Raced my first World Cup

3). Bumped elbows with a Belgian in a World Cup

4). Crashed in my first world cup

5). Ate Speculoos

6). Had my first Belgian pastry

7). Got completely lost on a training ride

8) Tried white Asparagus.

Everybody on the team has their bikes now, and we were all able to pasticipate in the training race. While none of us won and got of the chores we all had a good time, and it was nice to mix up the training a bit.

I did notice some cool Practices here in Belgium that the US should adopt. The coolest thing is the recycling. The Belgians have really got this down. It really to see how much they care about the recycling, and how much the people here do it. Another thing is grocery bags. at the grocery stores if you want a bag you have to buy a reusable one, and most everybody brings bags to the store to reuse. I know I know "they have this already in the states" you say but the the difference here is that the ALL the Belgians reuse their bags, and its comes naturally to them. Anyways its dinner time now, but I will leave with some pictures.

Screen at the World Cup

World Cup Kalmthout

Riding along trail the canal

My Bed for two weeks

One Of the Team USA vans

Snowy Daze

2010-12-21T12:55:00.004-07:00

The whole team arrived last week safe and sound. Bjorn Zane and Kolben safely navigated the Wold Cup in Kalmthout which is a tall order for the second race in Europe.We are looking forward to a little bike scrimage tomorrow with the whole EuroCross Team tomorrow.

Unfortunately no bikes for me yet, but I will have a CX bike to borrow tomorrow and hopefully trusty steads arrive soon. This is is supposedly the biggest snow event they have seen since WWII, they don't plow road hear and the Belgians don't really know how to handle the snow. Flights keep getting canceled because the planes don't have any de-icer which is being delivered but the trucks are stuck on the roads which aren't plowed.

Wings of airplanes curve a when they don't have any more petrol

New Training Bike, note that side walked is plowed better then the road

One Whole Gallon

Check Back soon

Mitch Hoke

First Day in Izegem

2010-12-18T09:37:00.004-07:00

Well day one of racing is done here in Europe. The boys had a successful day. Bjorn finished 4th and Zane and Kolben treated the race as opener and got a couple hard laps in at the front and then took some easy laps. They should be going good for tomorrows World Cup in Kalmthout.

I unfortunately got delayed and put on a train from Frankfurt so i have no bicycles yet.

Check in Later for more pictures and results.

Mitch

USGP in Portland

2010-12-05T21:04:00.003-07:00

Everyone had great races at the second of the USGP in Portland.

In the mens 15-16 race Jordan Cullen conquered a challenging course to take the win. He looks really strong coming into nationals.

The 17-18 race was dominated by former team member Yannick Eckmann. Zane and Bjorn scored some UCI points coming in 4th and 5th and Kolben came in 7th for another super strong ride

I had the best GP yet finishing 17th.

More photos to come and stayed tuned for updates from US National Championships and from Europe after that.

Thanks

Mitch Hoke

Europe Bound

2010-11-23T19:16:00.002-07:00

Great news. We are sending 4 riders to Euro Cross Camp this year.

Kolben Preble, Zane Golby, Bjorn Fox and myself will be heading across the pond after nationals to race. You can follow are adventures here and find more info on the camp at www.eurocrosscamp.com.

Check back for more.

This weekend the team is off to Jingle Cross in Iowa City followed by rounds 7 and 8 of the USGP at the infamous PIR course in Portland.

Sea you out there

Mitch Hoke

New Name Stickers

2010-11-17T10:26:00.002-07:00

Check in later for more about this weekends New Belgium Cup!

Mitch

Weekend Update: November 6th and 7th

2010-11-09T19:00:00.003-07:00

Jordan Cullen competed in the Behing Bars VeloCross at the National Sports Center in Minneapolis Minnesota, he finished 2nd in the Mens 1/2 field after.

Curtis White got to race one of my favorite races in the states, The Cycle-Smart International in Northampton Massachusetts. On Saturday Curtis fought with a strong group that kept shelling riders until there were just 3 left. Curtis attached on the barriers to get 2nd. Sunday was a little less fruitful as he suffered a 1st lap mechanical but fought his way back up to 9th in a field of over 150 riders.

Bjorn Fox represented Team Clif Bar in California this weekend at the Sacramento Cyclocross Series Race#3 and the Bay Area Super Prestige #2. He finished 2nd in the Elite mens field in Sacramento and 6th in San Francisco.

Spencer Downing and Zach Gould returned to the Boulder Res on Saterday for School House Cross this weekend. Zach got 18th in his first open mens race (which was won by are Clif Bar step teammate Brady Kappius). Spencer really stepped up his game and placed 3rd in the 3's race.

On Sunday Brady and I went for the old Clif Bar oneTwo at the Castle Cross in Castle Rock Colorado.

Bjorn on the Podium

Jordan at VeloCross

Thanks
Mitch Hoke

Clif Bar at the Boulder Cups

2010-11-01T20:42:00.007-06:00

This weekend was Boulder Cups in Colorado and was a great showing by the Clif Bar Development Cross Team.

Saturday was the always challenging Boulder Reservoir course. This year was no different with multiple sections of sand over 50 feet. Zack Gould took his first win in the ACA 3's category after going off the front the entire race with with Michael Dessau. They went in the final couple of turns elbow to elbow, Michael took to hard of line and went down and Zach came through for the victory.

Zane Golby, Kolben Preble and Spencer Downing took on the Junior Mens race. The race was dominated by former Development Team Rider Yannick Eckmann. Yannick road through the enitre single speed and 3's feild but was followed closely by Zane who finished second. Spencer and Kolben also rode to strong 5th an6th place finishes.

I competed in the Elite Mens race and got ride multiple laps with step teammate Allen Kruegoff and finished 27th on the day.

Zack on the Sand Steps

Zane on the Beach

Spencer leading Kolben up the Steps

Mitch in the Dust

Zach on the top step of the Cat 3's Podium

Yannick and Zane on the Junior Mens Podium

The next day was a new venue for the Boulder Cup at the Flat Irons Mall. This course was all about off camber traverse, crashes and run ups.

Instead of competing in the 3's on Sunday Zach decide to join the rest of the team and compete in the Junior Mens race. Again the Juniors started behind the Cat 3's which meant are boys had to move up through the pack. This was very challenging on the off camber sections. Yannick got tangled up with the some riders so Zane was able to take the lead for a while. Eventually he came around and opened up a large gap to the rest of the field. Zane and Zach took the 2nd and 3rd places on the podium. Kolben and Spencer finshed up 6th and 7th.

Zane and Yannick passing Spider MAn

Kolben

Spencer

Zach on the Run Up

Mitch Hopping the Barriers

Yannick, Zane and Zach on the Podium

Thanks for reading and supporting the team. Thanks to Hannalore Eckmann for the always amazing photos

Mitch

Weekend Update: October 23rd and 24th

2010-10-25T21:37:00.002-06:00

The Clif Bar Development Team had another successful weekend around the US.

Jordan Cullen and myself made the trek out to Louisville for the 2^nd stop of the USGP, the Derby Cup. The race was hot and dry, the first lap resemble more of a dustbowl then a cross race. Despite the weather the folks in Louisville are doing a great job with their new venue that will host the World Championships. Super big thanks to the McShane and Haley families for helping out Team Clif Bar.

Jordan soled off the front both days to win the 2/3s field. Keep in mind this is a 15 year old kicking but in a field of grown men. I fished up 27^th and 28^th on the days starting from back in the Elite field.

Curtis White stayed close to home and finished 6^th in the 1/2 field in Saratoga NY after a hard fought race with big group of chasers.

Kolben Preble got treated to a real muddy race at Cross Crusade # 4 at the infamous PRI in Portland. Kolben fought his way up through the pack to finish 15^th, his highest placing in Cross Crusade to date. He has also been working with the promoters of the races in Portland to set up better recycling.

Zack Gould and Spencer Downing were defending Team Clif bar home territory in Boulder Colorado this weekend. Zack had a great ride at Xilinix this weekend finishing 2^nd in the 3’s. Spencer placed 20^th in the large field.The next day they finished 7^th and 16^th respectively in the 3’s field at 3^rd installment of the Boulder CX series.

Mitch racing in the Louisville dust bowl.

Jordan getting it done of the barriers

Thanks

Mitch Hoke

Baker Orchard Cyclocross

2010-10-17T18:53:00.003-06:00

Jordan posting up for his first 1/2s victory!

The amazing autumn weather kept up in Wisconsin this weekend. It was the perfect weather for fall cyclocross racing. Jordan Cullen headed north to Centuria, Wisconsin for the Baker Orchard cyclocross race. Jordan had helped setup the course and was able to get the course dialed in the day before the race. At the start line Jordan stood over his bike ready for the gun to go off. Right at the start he was third off the line behind Pat Lemieux and Adam Bergman. After about half of a lap Jordan was in a group of four with himself, Adam, Pat, and Johnathon Toftoy. The group stayed together until a lap later Pat fell off the group and it was down to three. Then, with 7 laps to go Jordan took off solo. He stayed off solo until three laps to go and then Johnathon bridged up to him but shelled Adam in the process. Those two stayed together until one lap to go but, what Jordan had noticed is that Adam was sitting only about five seconds back and Jordan knew that Adam was fast enough to chase up and still win. So going into the first set of barriers Jordan absolutely hammered into them and got a good gap on Johnathon. Then Jordan soloed into the finish in first place. Jordan is very pleased with his victory especially because it is his first category 1/2s race win.

Cross Season Has Begun!

2010-10-12T23:44:00.004-06:00

At last autumn is here and cyclocross has started. The race season for Bjorn Fox started with USGP Planet Bike, followed by a Central Coast Cyclocross Race near Monterey, CA, and Sacramento Cross race this past weekend. Now with five races under his belt, he fells more confident about his cyclocross form. Bjorn has the new Ridley X-Fire all built up and racing. Bjorn said, “It was pretty awesome to race at local races with riders like Ben Jacques-Maynes and Justin Robinson.”

Boulder CX Series #1 and #2!!

2010-10-11T16:39:00.005-06:00

My cyclocross season just started two or so weeks ago and I am totally psyched to be racing 'cross again! This will be my 4th season on the CLIF BAR Development Cyclocross Team and I am totally stoked! My first race was the Boulder CX Series Race #1 in the Senior Men's 3's at Xlinx down in Longmont, CO! I was feeling really good and was ready to fly off the start line (especially after having an epic crash in my warm up)!! At the start I was in the first row but didn't go to crazy in the begining and was sitting in about 10th place going into a sand pit about halfway through the first lap. I rode through the sand pit as hard as I could and passed about 3-4 racers in each direction! At the end of the first lap I was in 3rd! On the second lap, I really started to get into my groove and passed the second place rider (Michael Dessau) and stayed in second for another lap or so. Shortly there after, I got passed and was riding hard to keep my 3rd place for the rest of the race! I was very pleased with this result given it was my first SM 3's race of the season!

Two weeks later, I did the second race of the series at Interlocken Loop in Superior, CO! The course today was a very hard course!! The mud was not super wet, but really sticky making the course feel like you were riding on velcro. I got off to a good start in the SM 3's but I wasn't having a great day so I started to fade about halfway through the race. I ended up in 15th on the day which I wasn't exactly pleased about but it wasn't terrible either. Huge shout out to ex-CLIF BAR Team Member Yannick Eckmann winning the Pro-1-2 field today!! Really looking forward to the Aspen Lodge CX Race next weekend!!

Thats all for now!
Zack

(Photo Credit to Dejan Smaic)

CLIF BAR Rider Partners With Chris King To Indroduce First Ever Recycling Program at the Cross Crusade

2010-10-04T17:51:00.002-06:00

This weekend over 1500 racers descended upon the Alpenrose Dairy in Portland, Oregon for the opening round of the Cross Crusade. Among other new things this year were several recycling bins for aluminium, glass, and paper placed near the ever popular Chris King coffee and cider truck. CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team rider Kolben Preble, who is the leader of the project Said he saw a problem With the thousands of cups heading to the landfill every weekend and wanted to do something about. Chris King whom also was regretful of the waste created, but didn't have the man power or time to make a solution was happy to join Preble in his cause. For the future both Chis King and Preble hope to grow the program and eventually create a zero waste solution to the waste problem at large races like the Cross Crusades. Look for the black and white bins with the universal recycling logo on them at Cross Crusade number two in Rainier Oregon.

Hudson Cyclocross

2010-10-03T17:52:00.004-06:00

Jordan chasing the lead in the 1/2's race

It was the perfect autumn day for a cyclocross race. It was Jordan's hometown race and he felt like he was going to have an awesome day on the bike. Jordan rode to the race which was only about 15 minutes away from his house. When he arrived at the race he could see that the course was very technical and would require a lot of accelerating, which would suit him very well. He rode the course at speed for several laps just to check out the course and to decide what tires would stick to the turf the best. After he had ridden the course a few times, he went to the car to get on the trainer. On the trainer, you could see it in his eyes that he was excited, yet prepared for the race. At the start line, Jordan's body hummed with anticipation for the start. At the sound of the gun, he was third off the line and by the end of the lap, he was off the front with Adam Bergman and Pat Lemieux. By the end of the second lap Adam had gained about a five second gap on Jordan and Pat was about 30 seconds back. The gap stayed at a cool eight seconds between Jordan and Adam until 2 laps to go it opened to 12 and by the finish the gap was 20 seconds but Jordan still managed second with third place a minute back.

Planet Bike Cup

2010-09-28T20:33:00.002-06:00

Jordan Cullen showed up to the first USGP of the season with high hopes in his first race for the CLIF Bar Devo Team. On Saturday Jordan lined up to for the start of the 2/3's race very focused and intent on doing well. When the officials fired the gun he was off the line like a race horse. Jordan got the hole shot and had a gap for a majority of the first lap. But nearing the end of the last lap tragedy struck Jordan's race. He slid out in an off camber turn and the race behind him plowed into not only Jordan but his bike. Jordan got up but his bars were twisted, his back wheel was broken, and he had broken both chain stays. He rode to the pit and lost about 20 spots in the process. Once he switched bikes he slowly but surely started to pick off riders and moved all the way up to fourth. From the start on the second day he was about second or third off the line but got within 3 seconds of the leader but then his hood slipped through a rough section of the course. He had to switch to his bike that he had broken the day before which probably wasn't the best idea but he didn't have a choice. Jordan then got caught by two other riders who later shed Jordan with one lap to go. In the end Jordan ended up fourth both days. Jordan was very pleased with the awesome presence the CLIF Bar Team had at the race and was glad to be part of the experience!!

Vegas Baby

2010-09-26T23:26:00.003-06:00

Cross Vegas was awesome. Got off to a tough start because there was no PA system at the start. I missed the two minutes to go and was just kinda chilling when the gun went off. Managed to hit the dude in front of me and almost take out Pacho behind me. Got into the swing of things and made it to a group with good friends Travis Livermon and Braden Kapius. I was sitting in the group pretty comfortably for several laps when i looked back and saw a group with Carl Decker and Barry Wicks closing the gap to us. They caught us with about 4 laps to go. The last three laps were extremely hard and really surprised myself with the matches that i had left in the tank, guess I still have some good fitness from MTB season . I got shot off the back with one to go from the group that would contain 18th through 27th place. Still 28th was pretty good considering the strength and size of the field there.

Unfortunately my buddy Travis crashed into a gate in the finishing straight and broke his collar bone. Hopefully it is quick healing one and he will be back form some late season action.

Now i have the annual Colorado College Aspen Bike Trip to look forward to starting on Wednesday. A good friend and myself are leading it so it should be pretty fun. Then it is back to the training plan and a trip to 3 UCI races in Cincinnati Ohio on October 8th.

Cheers and make sure to ride your bike

Mitch Hoke

Green Mountain Cyclocross NECCS 1 & 2

2010-09-21T16:17:00.005-06:00

This past weekend was my first big cross race of the season up in Burlington, Vermont. It seemed like a really fast and dry course. With over 100 guys starting, it was crucial to get to the front. From the gun, there was a selection. By the end of the first lap, Yohan Patry from Canada and I had a gap over the cat. 3 field and the juniors. Every lap, the gap grew. With one lap to go, I dropped my chain. I found out as I tried to sprint out of a corner. By the time I got the chain back on, Yohan had a gap and kept it all the way to the finish. I finished second behind him.

Day two was very similar to day one. A selection was made, this time with Karl Hoppner, again from Canada. We established a gap over the cat 3 field and the juniors. With 2 1/2 laps to go, I tried to bunny hop a log, but failed. Karl got a 10 second gap and was able to hold it for the remainder of the race. Again, I finished second, but I obtained the points leaders jersey with a 15 point lead over Nate Morse, former Clif Bar teammate. Hopefully I can hold the jersey at the next NECCS race!

Day 1- Chasing the lead. Day 2- Chasing, again. Me in the leaders jersey.

Cross, Worlds and Vegas Baby!

2010-09-19T08:20:00.006-06:00

Well, it is officially game on. The first cross race of the season never fails to remind me of one thing, cross is real hard. I mean you are either coming off the mountain bike with disc brakes and suspension or the road bike with smooth roads. Then you do an hour long suffer fest on bumps in hot sun. It can't even be cold for the first race. My hands hurt, my back hurts and must of all my skills are hurting.

But the race was pretty awesome. It is always nice to ride from your house to the race. The race was pretty well attended and it was good to have Zane and Brady there. Brady and I rode together off the front until the 3 laps to go then he flatted. I had to ride away with out him. Allen from Boulder Cycle Sport was coming up fast so there was no sitting up.

Our new Ridley X-Fire are pretty dialed. Super stiff frame with good cross geometry. The really cool trick set up we are using this comes from the help of Mavic, Stan’s NoTubes and Clement Tires. Running clincher tires tubeless makes it really easy to race cross and budget while still have multiple tire choices and running low pressure. I was able to us the PDX tire on my Ksyrium Wheels at 32 PSI.

In other news I had a really awesome time at MTB Worlds a couple weeks ago. Some good friends from the East Coast came up to watch and one was even kind enough to shoot and edit some video from his iPhone.

I ended up 40^th which I was pretty stoked about.

Now I am mentally preparing for Vegas. I am not so much worried about the race, but more about entering the bizzarro world that is Las Vegas and industry juggernaut know as Interbike. I flew over Vegas once and that was over whelming. No plan to get to and from the airport, so if you see some lost kid in LAS, it is probably me. Cycling Dirt will be streaming the race live.

See you out there

Mitch Hoke

New Web Site for the Team

2010-08-19T21:20:00.003-06:00

Check out our new website in the works that includes info on riders, staff and our sustainability projects for the season.

Click here for the site

Mitch

2010-08-16T23:09:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone,

Im Kolben Preble and this is my first year with team CLIF BAR. Im super stocked to be on such an awesome team, that stands for a noble cause. Ill be racing the Portland Cross Crusade series and some national events around the country. Im sixteen years old and going into my second year in the 17-18 category. Cyclocross is my all time favorite discipline of cycling, but i also participate in road and mountain. This year in my "off season" i decided to tackle the road monster. I had done a few RR before but was still a cat five. I struggled early in the year but then improved and was able to make it to a cat three. The part i had the hardest time with was figuring out what i was supposed to do. In cross you have a clear goal: go as hard as you can for an hour. pretty strait forward right. Well in road it took me awhile to figure all of the tactics and decisions you must make in a race. In the end it has paid off because it helped to get something i lacked for cross. Straight up power. As the year progressed i began to move more towards Cross country racing. Then on to short track. Both of these im very familiar with. I like to use cross country to brush up my technical skills before moving to short track to work on some good old anaerobic fitness. Any way thats a little bit about me and what i do.

Catch you later!

Team Clif Bar Gearing up for 2010

2010-08-16T21:31:00.003-06:00

Everything is falling to place for another successful season with the Clif Bar Development Cyclo Cross Team. We have added some great knew sponsors and are excited to be taking on more races and more environmental advocacy. Look for an official Team announcement soon.

Hope to see you out there

Mitch Hoke

Euro Cross Camp blogs

2009-12-28T20:54:00.002-07:00

See how CLIF BAR Development Team members Yannick Eckmann and David Kessler are enjoying their holiday cross racing trip in Belgium:

David Kessler's blog post.

Yannick Eckmann's blog post.

Great results for CLIF BAR Devo Team in Belgium

2009-12-23T21:12:00.001-07:00

At the Noordzeecross in Middlekerke, Belgium, today, Yannick Eckmann rode to an amazing 2nd place, just 7 seconds behind. David Kessler came through with an awesome 11th place.

Results on cyclingnews.com

Nationals results

2009-12-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

The CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team turned in an impressive showing this past weekend at the US Cyclo-Cross Nationals in Bend, OR.

Starting off the weekend, the Junior 15-16 race was icy and exciting, with all four team members cruising into the top 10. Zane Godby took the hole-shot and led the race for several laps before a late-race crash set him back a few spots. Zane battled back for an incredible 2nd place ride. Curtis White rode steady all day and finished 3rd. Nate Morse helped the team set an early fast pace in the front group and finished 6th, and Zack Gould rode steady in the top-10 all day to finish in 10th.

In the Junior 17-18 race, Euro Cross Camp member David Kessler ended up down for the count with the flu, so he did not make the trip to Bend. Californian-via-Sweden Bjorn Fox showed all of his hard training and cold-acclimation paid off, with a strong race where he moved up every lap and just barely lost the sprint for 5th.

In the Under-23 race, all four CLIF BAR teammates got themselves into good position early, with Mitchell Hoke and Alex Howes contributing strong efforts to the chase group, and the Mullervy twins moving up steadily. In the end, all four would suffer untimely crashes and/or flat tires, affecting their finish placings, but they had great races. Conor Mullervy ended in 7th, Alex Howes in 8th, Mitchell Hoke in 13th, and Kevin Mullervy in 19th.

Sunday ended the Nationals weekend with Collegiate and Elite races. In the Division II collegiate race, Mitch (Colorado College) and the twins (Mesa State College) went to battle for their respective schools. All three were in on the action and finished well. Mitch took 3rd, Kevin 5th, and Conor 11th. In the Division I race, Brady Kappius took the hole shot and traded the lead with a Fort Lewis rider. Eventually Kappius had a crash and dropped to 3rd, but held on for a strong finish.

In the Elite race, TEAM CLIF BAR's Troy Wells took 13th, and Kappius came back for his second race of the day to get an impressive 23rd.

Yannick Eckmann is Junior USGP Series Champ!

2009-12-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Dec. 6 at the final USGP race in Portland, OR, CLIF BAR Development Team's Yannick Eckmann continued the strong history of the team by capturing the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series title for Junior 17-18. Eckmann battled again in the final USGP race with Cal-Giant's Cody Kaiser. The two raced neck and neck all season, with Kaiser winning many of the USGP races and Eckmann sweeping the New Jersey weekend. Eckmann's consistency paid off, with no finishes below 2nd place in the Series, and he locked up the overall title with a second place on Sunday in Portland.

Yannick Eckmann 2nd in Portland on Saturday

2009-12-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yannick Eckmann, in the USGP Leader's Jersey heading into this final USGP weekend in Portland, took home a hard-fought 2nd place on Saturday, battling back and forth all day with Cody Kaiser (Cal-Giant). Kaiser is in second place in the Series points standings. After taking an early gap, Eckmann crashed, Kaiser took the lead, Eckmann returned, and the two sprinted to the line with Kaiser getting him by a wheel.

Robin Eckmann rode to a strong 4th place.

In the Elite race, Troy Wells showed good form coming back from sickness, finishing 13th; Brady Kappius suffered a rolled tubular but managed to come back up to 26th place.

David Kessler and Yannick Eckmann selected for Euro Cross Camp

2009-12-06T13:44:00.002-07:00

CLIF BAR Development Team juniors David Kessler and Yannick Eckmann will be heading over to Belgium later this month for the 7th edition of the Euro Cross Camp - joining Elite Team CLIF BAR rider Troy Wells on the roster.

Cyclingnews.com story is here.

Past members of the CLIF BAR cyclo-cross program who have attended the camp include Jackson Stewart, Andy Jacques-Mayne, Ben Turner, Brady Kappius, Alex Howes, Jim Lennon, Troy Wells, Daniel Summerhill, and Cody Cox.

USGP #3 pics

2009-11-21T10:10:00.002-07:00

Here are some pics of the Mecer cup.

2009-11-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend me and my brother and father traveled to Trenton New Jersey. It was the third USGP race we went to that year but this one was gonna be really muddy. We decided not to go to the course on friday to look at it because it was a little drizzling and it was really windy, so we went to our host house right away. The next morning when we got to our race you could see already that it was really muddy which I was excited about. Me and my brother looked at the course how and where we should ride it. We looked at it 2 or 3 times then we gave our bikes to the mechanics to clean them and that we could go warm up. We went on the road to warm up. We were pushing each other to go harder at the warm up so that we would get a good start. When it was time to line up we went down to the starting area. I was able to start in the first row because I picked a good number. When the gun went off then i was shooting out of my starting position and just sprinted as hard as I could. I got the hole shot plus I had a little gap to the other people into the dirt section. When I got onto the mud I gave them some more meters. I kept on hammering the hole time. I switcher my bikes like every half lap because it was so muddy and the bike would get heavier if you wouldn't change. One time when I cam in the pit my dad was holding a green, whitish bike, then I looked down at my bike and first said to myself that the bike my dad is holding isn't my bike. So I yelled at him that it isn't my bike in german. So at the time I got to him he hadn't switched it yet, s just threw my bike down and waited till he got my bike. It didn't take to long but the Jeffery Bahnson who was in second was closing down a lot, but when I got my bike I took of again and opened the gap up again. So I crossed the finish line in first place.1.Yannick Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
2.Jeffrey Bahnson (Thule / Van Dessel)3.Cody Kaiser (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized)
4.Skyler Trujillo (Niner)
5.Robin Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
6.Matthew Spinks (Team Metra / Wendy’S P/B Cycles 54)
7.Jesse Keough (Clnoonan/Kam/Coast To Coast)
8.Gunnar Bergey (C3- Athletes Seving Athletes)
9.Joshua Lehmann (Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving Racing Team)
10.Andrew Bennett (Team Redline)
11.David Kessler (Clif Bar Development Team)
12.Jeremiah Dyer (Hudz-Subaru Jr-Development Cx)
13.Jacob Arnold (Pioneer Racing)14.Chris Wallace (Kccx/Navigators Insurance/Verge)
15.Stuart Wight (Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team)
16.Kolben Preble (Hammer Velo)17.Cam Mancuso (Death Row Velo)
The second day was just an awesome day as the first. I started in the second row and i didn't get off the start as good as I did the day before. I was like in 8th or so. Then when we started going into the dirt I was starting to pass a lot of people. Then when I got to the front i just kept on hammering and nobody could hold my will at the beginning. jeffery Bahnson caught me again and then I just attacked again and got a gap again. The next lap again he was on my wheel again and then i just attack one more time and i was gone for the rest of the race. The race wasn't as muddy as before, it was just harder mud, so some section by running was faster. So i crossed the finish line in first with a nice gap to second.Also this time nothing went wrong in the pit either which was good but it wasn't as much switching bikes because the mud was drying out.
1.Yannic[Photo]k Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)2.Jeffrey Bahnson (Thule / Van Dessel)
3.Stuart Wight (Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team)
4.Robin Eckmann (Clif Bar Development Cross Team)
5.Chris Wallace (KCCX/Navigators Insurance/Verge)
6.Cody Kaiser (California Giant Strawberries/Specialize)
7.Skyler Trujillo (NINER)
8.Matthew Spinks (Team Metra / Wendy’s p/b Cycles 54)
9.Jesse Keough (CLNoonan/KAM/Coast to Coast)
10.Andrew Bennett (Team Redline)
11.Joshua Lehmann (Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving Racing Team)
12.Kolben Preble (hammer velo)
13.Gunnar Bergey (C3- Athletes Seving Athletes)
14.Jeremiah Dyer (HUDZ-Subaru Jr-Development CX)
15.Benjamin Wolfe (Mystic Velo Juniors)
16.Paul Lynch (CL Noonan/Coast to Coast/KAM)

I want to say a thank you to my Dad and to TJ who helped me out in the pit. I couldn't have done it with out them.

Yannick Eckmann Sweeps USGP Weekend, Takes Series Lead

2009-11-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Middle School 'Cross - 2009

2009-11-14T16:07:00.014-07:00

Hello Everyone!!

This last week, many of the kids in the Boulder Valley School District, and other districts too, had no school on Wednesday due to Veterans Day. So our very own Ben Turner and the founder of Middle 'Cross Mike Eubank decided that on a day off, what's not better than having a 'cross race? With that being said, they organized a fun-filled non-competitive race at a local Middle School for kid’s grades six through eight. The Clif Bar Team was a supporter, so Yannick, Robin, Brady, Zane and myself decided to go and help out. I arrived right as the races were beginning and saw a "jaw dropping" seventy middle schoolers out on 'cross bikes! The event started out with a couple of warm-up laps and then some "hot laps" consisting of six racers followed one of the Clif Bar team members. Shortly there after, the real racing began. The race organizers created two groups of racer's; girls, and the boys. As the 6-7 racers approached the line the tension felt the same as a regular weekend race. Kids were shedding of their sweatshirts, making sure their shoes were tied, and putting their bikes in a viable starting gear. "BOOM!", the gun sounded, and the kids were off to the races. The starting straight was a 50-yard long grass field, followed by cornering around trees, riding through mini sandpits, and of course having to dismount for barriers! As the day went on, it seemed like the kids started having more and more fun. After the races, they would go around to the "Evol" burrito tent to gain some energy, head over to the Boulder Cycle Sport tent to get their bike tuned up, and of course, collecting stickers from all the sponsors. In the end, I talked to a lot of the kids at the end and they all said they had a great time and love cycling. At the end of the day, it's not who wins, or who's the best, it all comes down to having a passion for the sport and having fun!

Cheers,
Zack Gould

Photos Courtesy of Brandon Dwight

Cycle-Smart International

2009-11-09T18:31:00.007-07:00

This past weekend, Nate, Mitchell, and I all raced at the Cycle-Smart International, rounds 9 and 10 of the NECCS. Day 1 was sunny and dry and FAST. From the start, the race broke apart. While Nate had some trouble behind, I jumped into the second chase group. At the end, the chase group split apart. I sprinted in for 3rd behind 2 Canadian dudes and Nate came in 8th. Later that day was the Elite/ U23 race, Mitchell's race. Not 100 meters after the start, a huge pile up took down half the race. Mitchell was only heald up. Mitchell rode his way back up to 17th in the Elite race and 4th in the U23s.

The next day was the exact conditions. Again, the race broke apart fast. Nate and I were in the second chase group. Nate rode a beautiful race and snagged 3rd. I rode in for a 4th place. In the Elite/ U23 race, another pile up accured 25 meters after the start. Mitchell, again, had to work his way back into the race. Mitchell worked his way back up to 5th in the U23s and 23rd in the Elites.

All in all, it's been a great weekend for Clif Bar!

A special thanks to the guys at Pedro's! They were a great help to Nate, Mitchell, and me.

Boulder Cup Zero Waste

2009-11-09T17:01:00.002-07:00

Not only was the Boulder Cup race an important race for us due to that it was a UCI race so close to home, we also had the zero waste stations set up again. Our team took on the goal to make the Boulder Cup as environmental friendly as we could. The team once again set up the Trash, Recycling, and Compost stations threw out the venue. Everyone on the team helped out threw out the day monitoring these stations and helping people sort out what they may have thrown away and put them into the right bins. By the end of the day the recycling and compost bins had to be emteyd numerous times, while the trash bin stayed extremely empty. Here are some of the figures that came out of the Boulder cup race.

We recovered:
1,264 pounds of material threw recycling and composting
Which was 85% of all the stuff discarded that day

We Saved:
37 gallons of Gasoline in energy Savings
3,866 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions

We avoided:
7.1 pounds of air pollution
1.8 pounds of water pollution
3.5 pounds of toxic herbicides(that threaten plants, wildlife, humans and our food system)
1,417 pounds of substances that threaten human health(including carcinogens, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds)

We also need to give a huge thanks to Eco-Cycle for helping us out with this and making it all possible.

Valmont Bike Park Zero Waste

2009-11-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago fellow teammate David Kessler and I took part in heading up the Zero Waste program at the Valmont Cylo-Cross race. For those unfamiliar with this program, its main mission is to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills. This is accomplished by placing different stations around a venue. There are 3 bins; Trash, Recyclables, and Biodegradable objects.

We set the stations up bright and early before any race started to maximize the amount of savings. People were using them wisely and helping to make this Earth a better place. By the end of the day, all the bags were pretty full except the trash. It amazes me how much is wasted day to day.

Here are some statistics from the event:

-851.76 pounds of materials through recycling and compost which was 77% of all the materials collected.

-We saved 35 gallons of gas in energy savings

-1,838 pounds of greenhouse gases eliminated

-Our event saved:

-3.6 pounds of air pollution

-1.7 pounds of water pollution

-1.6 pounds of toxic herbicides that threaten plants, wildlife,

humans and our food systems

-387 pounds of substances that threaten human health,

including carcinogens, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds

Imagine the savings on a global scale!

Blue Sky velo cup/ Boulder Cup

2009-11-02T17:29:00.008-07:00

Last Weekend was the Blue Sky Velo Cup and the Boulder cup. I started in the junior 15-18 elite field that started 2 minutes behind the Cat.3 field. The first race was out near Longmont. It was a really muddy race. When we started my brother Robin got the whole shot and I was in 6th place. Then i started to move up when it went down the back side of the course. Before it went back up to the sand pit I took over the lead. I had pretty good tires on so I had a good grip and basically took of there from the other people. At the top of the hill then I caught the first cat.3 riders. I picked the cat.3 riders up one by one, sometimes in packs. Going into the 2 lap then I was only 26 seconds behind the leader of the 3's. I rode as fast as I could to catch the leader of the 3's. Before the barriers at the top I was on his back wheel and past him after the barriers then. After I passed him then I decided not to play around and slow down I kept a nice hard pace up. One lap to go then I just watched out that I wouldn't crash because I knew that I won. So I crossed the finish line in first place in the juniors field, but I also crossed the finish line in first in the cat.3 field. I don't get placed in the cat.3 field because I was starting in the junior 15-18 field. I think I also did so well because I changed my bikes like every lap so I got a new clean bike that runs fluently and smooth.

Yannick Eckmann David Kessler

Zack Gould Robin Eckman

Danny Hiller Yannick, Zane Godby

I want to give out a thank you to my awesome pit crew and all the people who came and cheered.

1st Yannick Eckmann

2nd Robin Eckmann

3rd Skyler Trujillo

4th David Kessler

5th Zack gould

The next day the race was at the Boulder Reservoir it was amazing that it wasn't muddy or anything. I raced again in the junior 17-18 filed that started 2 minutes behind the 3's again. My brother got the whole shot again and I was right behind him. I took over the lead after a U turn on the very far back side of the course, because my brother had a problem with his wheel. I got instantly a gap to all the riders in my field. I was happy that i was in first place that lap because there was a prime also in the first lap that who ever crosses the sand after the bike pit first from the field would get a prize. So I got that and also had passed some of the 3's riders. So i was chasing the 3's down once again. Both days my goal was to pass the leader of the 3's. That day I didn't catch the 3's leader so fast because the ground was dry so everybody went a bit faster and it was so difficult because there was no mud. At one point I saw a time by the finish that said how far back we were behind the leader of the 3's. The first time I looked after 2 laps was 1:40 min I knew that i had to put a lot more power in to catch the leader that day. The next lap then was 1:15 min, then 35 sec, then the next lap I saw him and it was only 15 sec left to him. I caught him 4 laps to go then. I passed him right away and I kept going just not full power anymore. I tried to have more fun then, like speeding through the sand like the elites. It felt good because all the people would like yell and all that and that made me feel like I was in the elite race. I finished in 1st place that day in the juniors and unofficially in the 3's again.

Zack, Zane, Danny, Yannick Robin Yannick

Yannick Eckmann Zane Godby enjoying the sand

David Kessler Robin Eckmann

Danny Hiller Zane Godby

Zack Gould Zane Godby, new way to get over the barriers

I want to give a thank you again for the people who were at the Boulder Reservoir cheering and watching and just for being there. It is just a great atmosphere when so many people come and watch the race. It makes me go even faster at some points.

Also a thanks to my pit crew again. Unfortunately I didn't have to change but you never knows what can happen.

1st Yannick Eckmann

2nd Robin Eckmann

3rd Skyler Trujillo

4th David Kessler

Yannick

350 around the world

2009-10-28T17:52:00.000-06:00

Downeast 'Cross

2009-10-26T18:06:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday and Sunday, Curtis and I raced in maine for the 7th and 8th rounds of the Verge series. The conditions were extremely muddy both days. It was freezing and rainy on Saturday. It was nice and warm on Sunday, but muddy because they just ran the previous day's course backwards. I started out well on saturday and got the hole shot with Curtis right behind. I had too big of a gear for the extremely thick mud, so I went right back to 7th place. My legs just didn't work. (This was also due to poor race preparation on my part...) Curtis was with the leaders for most of the race and finished fifth. A few of the top finishers were mountain bikers, so they had an advantage in the woods section. On sunday, I used my dad's bike because it had a 39T little ring, which was needed for the mud. Again, Curtis was second off of the start and I led. Curtis and I changed bikes every half lap, which was extremely helpful. Curtis was with the third place rider for the majority of the race. I caught up to him in the long woods section. We were going to try to catch second and third place but his gears were shifting all over the place on a climb, forcing him to run. Curtis and I both held our spots for the next two laps to finish in 4th and 5th place. I learned a good lesson on saturday. A successful weekend overall for the New England Clif squad!

Kentucky USGP #2

2009-10-26T18:03:00.003-06:00

Last weekend was our 2nd USGP race in Kentucky. We looked at the course on friday to check out the course. It was muddyish and in some spots it was dry. The next morning me and my bro pre rode the course and looked at it. Then we went to warming up on the road. When it became to the staging i got nervous. When we started i was going second into the first turn which was a great position. After 1 lap the field was split up already it was Chris Wallace, Robin(my brother) and me. After another two laps robin dropped back and it was only Chris and Me. Two laps to go then I put the hammer down through a really hard muddy section were i dropped Chris then. From that point on i was pushing as hard as i can to get me a win and get me closer overall to the leaders jersey. In the last lap i had a nice gap to second. I crossed the finish line in first and behind me Chris was fighting with Cody Kaiser the series leader and cody ended up second then becasue i just had a greater momentum going in the last mud section of the course.

So the results were 1st me, 2nd Cody Kaiser, 3 Chris Wallace, 4th Jeffery Bahnson and 5th Robin Eckmann

The next day they switched the course a little. It was robin who got the whole shot and was out front for 2 laps with a 5-10 second gap to the main group. After the two laps i attacked and went out front. I was leading the last 3 laps of the race and then in the last 200-300 meters of the race Cody Kaiser came from the back passing me and i tried to stay on him but at the last muddy section i took the wrong line that i thought was better but unfortunately it was the slower line so i didn't get on the road right behind him for the sprint so he got another win. I still finished in a strong second place.

third place was Chris Wallace

fourth Robin Eckmann

fifth Jeffery Bahnson

After the race my dad told me that if you don't look at the course carefully enough that this could cost you the whole race unfortunately that happened to me.

Yannick

350.org International Day of Climate Action

2009-10-26T09:14:00.003-06:00

Check out the slideshow over at 350.org!

On 24 October, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

Weekend Wrap-Up, 10/24-25

2009-10-26T09:14:00.002-06:00

The CLIF BAR squad was racing this past weekend in Kentucky, Maine, and Colorado...

At the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix Series in Louisville, KY, great results were achieved by Robin and Yannick Eckmann in the Junior 17-18 races, and Brady Kappius and Troy Wells in the Elite race.

Saturday: Yannick 1st, Robin 5th / Troy 16th, Brady 17th
Sunday: Yannick 2nd, Robin 4th / Troy 15th, Brady 18th

The East Coast crew was dealing with rain, cold, and mud in Maine at the Verge New England Championship Series.

Saturday: Curtis White 5th, Nate Morse 7th
Sunday: Nate Morse 4th, Curtis White 5th

Out in Colorado it was a muddy and snowy weekend, with races in Castle Rock and at the Boulder Reservoir.

Saturday: Conor Mullervy 4th, Kevin Mullervy 12th
Sunday: Colin Cares 16th, Mitch Hoke 26th

Connecting with the pavement

2009-10-25T18:00:00.000-06:00

This past Friday Kevin and I made our trip over to the front range for some cross racing. Saturday was the Castle Cross race in Castle Rock. We had some nice weather and a muddy course. Since it had snowed a couple days before this the course was covered in mud making for a fun race. Pre-riding the course was interesting, considering some of the course was difficult to ride with all the mud. Though by the time our race started some places firmed up and made for some quicker sections, but was still muddy.

I had a good start this time, sitting in about 8th or so before we got to the first corner. I sat in for the first lap as Summerhill and Baker made there gap off the front. Starting the second lap I started moving up to try and close that gap as much as possible. I made my way up to 3rd after the second lap with Baker and Summerhill about 30sec. up and 4th about 20sec behind me. Though as I came into the finish I went wide to make the 180degree turn off the pavement. Though doing this I went threw some water greasing up the mud on my tires making it so I slid out on the corner hitting the pavement real hard. I laid there for a couple of seconds before I got back on. And by this time 4th place closed that gap on me.

This fall took a lot out of me, including a good portion of skin. I kept on going trying to stick with 3rd but by this time I was hurting a lot due to the fall. I managed to stick it out for 4th which is my best result this year. Kevin had some bad luck with a flat on the start, though he clawed his way back to 12th. Not bad considering he almost lost 2min by the time he got to the pit to get his new bike.

We heading over to the race today at Boulder Res. I decided I wasn't racing cause I am still real sore from the fall and I have a bad chest cold now. Kevin pre-road the course which was about 90% sand and most of it seemed to be un-rideable. So we decided it was best to head back to Junction cause the mountains are suppose to get a lot of snow.

Next weekend is a set of UCI races in Boulder that Im really looking forward to. I just hope I get over this cold and the passes are clear to head over.

Old school log-hopping

2009-10-21T10:57:00.002-06:00

Nate Morse in the freezing rain at the Wrentham Cross.

Brodie's first 'cross race

2009-10-18T21:06:00.001-06:00

I guess he found it boring!

Valmont Bike Park Groundbreaking & Cross Race

2009-10-18T10:36:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a monumental day for Boulder, and all those cycling advocates and local 'cross legends who have worked tirelessly for years to make the Valmont Bike Park a reality. The City of Boulder, Parks & Rec Department, and Valmont Bike Park organization held the official groundbreaking ceremony for the park, slated to open as early as next year. It will be an impressive, world-class bike facility, with a permanent cyclo-cross course, BMX park, singletrack trails, and more.

Boulder Daily Camera story here.

Chris Grealish put on an ACA 'cross race and over 400 riders got to test out a sample course. Chris continued his support of more sustainable cycling by working with Eco-Cycle to make the race a Zero Waste event.

The CLIF BAR team volunteered to set up the Zero Waste stations and make sure the waste produced by the event got sorted into the proper bins - recycling, compost (food waste, compostable cups, and napkins), and trash..

In the racing action, Zane Godby led off the day for CLIF BAR with a solid 3rd place finish in the Cat. 3 category, after leading much of the race. Danny Hiller finished 3rd in the Junior 17-18 race, in his first cross action of the season.

In the Elite men's race, TEAM CLIF BAR's Brady Kappius, and the Devo Team's Eckmann brothers showed they are on top form heading into next weekend's US Gran Prix races in Louisville, KY. Fittingly, the race was won by Boulder MTB star Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. Yannick Eckmann made a strong showing in the lead group from the start, and was quickly joined by Kappius. The two rode in the front group all day, with Yannick dropping back in the last lap due to a flat tire. Kappius cruised in for third. Robin Eckmann had his best Elite race of the season to date, finishing in 11th.

Help 350.org get the message out about climate change action!

2009-10-15T09:27:00.002-06:00

This December, world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark
to draft a new global climate treaty -- one that has the
potential to turn the tide on global warming and get our planet
back on a brighter path. The problem is, most world leaders and
their negotiators aren't getting it. They're not planning to do
enough to to avert the climate crisis. But we can change that --
with one number, and one day. Sound implausible? Take a minute
to hear us out.

The number is 350, and it's now the most important number on the
planet. 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the
safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, measured
in parts per million. Since we're at 390 ppm now, it's a tough
number, and getting back to it will require remarkable efforts.
The good news is that people all around the world are mobilizing
around 350 in a unique and beautiful movement to solve the
climate crisis.

On Oct. 24th, the International Day of Climate Action, people
from over 150 nations will come together in creative climate
actions to take a stand for 350 and a safe climate future. There
will be 1000s of creative on-the-ground actions everywhere from
the slopes of Mt. Everest to the underwater reefs of the Maldive
Islands to the streets of our biggest cities. All designed to
drive the 350 message into the human imagination -- and help our
leaders realize we need a real solution that pays attention to
the science.

With 10 days to go until Oct. 24th, we need to take action now
to make this day truly count.

How can you get involved?????

Search out an event to take part in on Oct. 24!

View Actions at 350.org

Video From Providence Cross

2009-10-14T18:36:00.004-06:00

Video from Providence Verge race. Curtis and Jesse Keough are off the front and I am a little behind. Great weekend of racing!

http://www.cyclocrossvideos.com/cx/2009_cx/2009_Providence_cx_day_2_Juniors_15-18_barriers.html

I couldn't find another way to get the video in the blog, so you have to copy and paste into the box.

A COLD one!!

2009-10-12T20:48:00.004-06:00

Well this past Saturday was the second race in the Boulder CX series. I was looking forward to this race because it was the first race of the season that we had some cross like conditions. It was a little different from the hot, dry dusty races that we have had all season so far.

The field was a big and strong with a lot of talent showing up. I knew the start would be critical with the first set of barriers not too far after the start along with a sand pit we passed threw twice in a matter of seconds. Though I didn't get a good start I was still sitting in the top 20 after the sand pit, which meant I had a lot of work to do. This course had a lot of tight corners, and since it snowed the previous day it made some of them pretty slick.

Though I never did come close to the front group I still had a good race to practice my technique in these conditions, considering this was the first time this year I got a chance. As the race went on my cornering skills got a lot better. Though my result didn't show the improvement I still had a fun race.

Now Kevin and I are heading off to Truckee, CA in the morning for Collegiate MTB nationals this week. So this means we wont be doing a cross race for a couple weeks. Though I cant wait till we get back because then its full on cross season.

Providence Cyclocross Rounds 5 & 6 Verge Championship Series

2009-10-12T17:42:00.006-06:00

Nate and I just finished up races 5 and 6 of the Verge New England Championship Series in Providence, Rhode Island. This was our first real weekend working together as teammates.

Day one was the exact same course as the 2006 National Championships. From the gun, a lead group of four formed at the front, Jesse Keough, Josh Lehmann, Nate, and myself. About half way through the race, Josh Lehmann attacked. I wasn't able to stick with the acceleration, but Nate hung in there. In the end, Jesse won, Nate got second, Josh got third, and I finished fourth.

Day two was a very different course. It was more technical than day one, which meant lots of quick accelerations. From the start, again, a lead group formed. This time it was a group of three. The group was made up of Jesse Keough, Nate, and I. Half way through the first lap, Nate decided to bunny hop the barriers. Nate cleared the first one with ease, but hit the second one. Jesse attacked and I followed. Nate chased for the next two laps. Nate bunny- hopped the barriers for the rest of the race. The crowd liked that. With 4 laps to go, we started putting in small attacks trying to weaken Jesse. With 2 laps to go, I put in a huge attack, and was away for the next lap. Jesse and Nate caught me with one lap to go, and we remained together until the finish. It came down to a sprint. 1st-Jesse, 2nd-Nate, 3rd-me. Nate and I were feeling pretty proud standing on the podium representing Clif Bar.

Howes not 'crossing just yet...

2009-10-12T16:03:00.003-06:00

he's busy in the KOM jersey at the Tour Down Under with Garmin/Slipstream...

Alex Howes (Garmin/Slipstream) dons the Herald Sun polka dot jersey as King of the Mountains Championship leader after stage one.
Photo credit ©Shane Goss

USA Cycling MTB Camp

2009-10-12T09:23:00.000-06:00

Report from Zane Godby:
On October 8-12 I was invited to the USA Cycling Talent ID mountain bike camp. It was down in Colorado Springs, so I thought it would be a really good experience, a fun time, and at the time I didn’t know it but it was actually pretty informational. I learned all about training, nutrition, USADA (USA Doping Agency), and we also did a field test to get our numbers (watts, watts per kilo, VAM-vertical ascended meter). I arrived there on Thursday, and we did a soft pedal that afternoon. The temperature wasn’t too bad but it was a little chilly. On Friday we did the field test, and it was around 20-25 degrees at 7:00 A.M. Everyone was all bundled up, and I was in all of my Pearl Izumi clothes looking good and feeling warm. It barley got above 30 degrees that day, so we did not go out and do a second ride that afternoon. On Saturday and Sunday it was foggy and sleeting, and there was black ice all over the place so we did not ride either day. I was bummed about that but both the roadies and the mountain bikes got to go to the gym and play some dodge ball. So we got to know all the different guys there. One of the kids was from Florida, and he didn’t own any pants, and it was pretty funny watching him in the cold. Then on Monday our last day we finally got to ride. We went to Palmer Lake. It is a ton of really fun and flowing but technical ripping singletrack. This camp was very fun and I feel very honored to have been part of it.

Organic Farming Fights Climate Change

2009-10-09T11:29:00.001-06:00

Organic Farming Could Sequester 40% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions!
Tell Congress: Organic Is the Answer to Climate Change!
Take Action Now!

Watch this new video from the Rodale Institute's Demand Organic campaign and learn how, if the world’s 3.5 billion tillable acres were transitioned to organic agriculture, organic farms could sequester 40% of yearly carbon emissions. Then, tell Congress: Organic Is the Answer to Climate Change!

Team preview on Cyclingnews.com

2009-10-08T19:47:00.001-06:00

Nice summary of the team's roster and goals on the weekly Cross News round-up from Cyclingnews.com.

Reduce Your Carbon Foot Print with Mitch!

2009-10-07T18:55:00.004-06:00

AIR DRY YOUR CLOTHING

A great way to save energy and carbon emissions in Colorado is to use the sun and wind to dry your clothes. We are blessed with a dry climate and 300 days of sun per year, which makes drying your clothes on a clothesline viable for most of the year. According to the website www.consumerenergyreport.com your dryer uses the second most energy of any appliance in your house except for your refrigerator. This equates to about 85 dollars a year. So drying your clothes outside for 6 months during the warm part of the year will save over 40 dollars a year. This is about 700 kilowatt hours a year and savings of around 1000 pounds of CO2 per year. If Kwh don’t really mean much too you that’s okay. This is roughly the equivalent of 45 gallons of gasoline. That’s 3 tanks of gas for a Subaru Outback and well over 1100 miles traveled. So next time you do a load of laundry consider the clothesline approach. It is best done outside but a relatively well ventilated space inside can do the trick for year round drying.

Check out this site for more energy usage info

http://www.diversepower.com/watt_uses_watt.php

Cheers,

Mitch Hoke

Weekend results, 10/3-4

2009-10-06T14:18:00.003-06:00

Saturday:

Frisco Cross #1, Frisco, Colorado
Open Men
2nd - Yannick Eckmann
6th - Alex Howes
7th - Robin Eckmann

Cat 3 Men
1st - Zane Godby

Gran Prix of Gloucester #1, Gloucester, Massachussets
7th - Nate Morse
10th - Curtis White

----
Sunday:

Gran Prix of Gloucester #2, Gloucester, Massachussets
5th - Nate Morse
10th - Curtis White

Coming Soon: New film by Sam Smith

2009-10-01T14:38:00.000-06:00

'CrossNatz Trailer from cyclofile.com on Vimeo.

Verge New England Cyclocross Series rounds 1&2

2009-10-01T04:39:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday and Sunday was the start of this year's Verge New England Championship series. As a first year in the U19s, my expectations weren't too high. But for Curtis and me, the season got off to great start.

The weather on Saturday was sunny and clear. The course was nice and dry. I got the hole shot, but went out too hard, but faded back to about 7th place by the end of the first lap. Curtis stuck with the second group, who were chasing the leaders from EMD/Serono. I attacked the guy I was with and started moving my way up. Curtis was having a problem with his crank and fell back from the group he was with. Next I was riding with Curtis and Kiernan Orange. I felt great, so I picked up the pace, hoping that Curtis and I could drop Orange and hopefully catch back up to the chase group. The next think I knew, I had a gap and was pulling in Jesse Keough and Connor O' Brien. I rode with the chase group for the rest of the race. At the final corner, Josh Lehmann (Sunapee S&W) started to sprint early and grabbed 3rd place, leaving Keough and me to sprint for the points. With a close finish, I had thought Jesse had beat me, but the camera showed his body in front of mine, but my wheel in front of his. Having taken a bike change, Curtis was not far behind.

Sunday was rainy, cold, and muddy. Perfect cross weather. From the start, all 4 Canadians took the lead. The next group was Jesse, Curtis, and me. We stayed together the whole race, taking turns at the front. On the last lap, Jesse attacked. I managed to stay with him. Curtis was chasing to get back on and I tried to slow the pace so he could get back with us. Coming into the finishing straight, it was another sprint between Jesse and me, with Jesse taking the sprint for 5th. Curtis finished right behind in 7th. Considering that we were some of the youngest U19s in the race, I feel like it is going to be a great season for team CLIF BAR.

Saturday 9/26 results

2009-09-26T21:15:00.005-06:00

Boulder Series #1, Louisville Rec Center - Photo courtesy Daimeon Shanks

USGP #1, Madison, WI
Yannick Eckmann 2nd, Jr 17-18
Robin Eckmann 3rd, Jr 17-18
Troy Wells 14th, Elite

Verge New England Championship Series #1 - Williston, VT
Nate Morse 4th, Jrs.
Curtis White 8th, Jrs.

Boulder CX Series #1 - Louisville Rec Center
Conor Mullervy 11th
Kevin Mullervy 14th

New England and Boulder Series kick off this weekend

2009-09-26T06:48:00.003-06:00

Today in Louisville, CO is the first round of the BoulderRacing Cyclo-Cross Series - most of the Colorado crew will be there; meanwhile, in Williston, VT this weekend marks the opening round of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series, where the team's new east coast juniors will be representing.

Eckmann brothers, Wells line up for CLIF BAR in first USGP weekend

2009-09-24T23:46:00.000-06:00

The CLIF BAR crew at this weekend's opening round of USGP races in Madison, WI will be Troy Wells in the Elites side, and Robin and Yannick Eckmann in the Jr. 17-18 race.

Wells is coming off an strong 6th place performance last weekend at Star Crossed, while both Eckmanns have been ramping up their form in the early Colorado races.

Call to action on climate change - Oct. 24: 350.org

2009-09-24T23:18:00.003-06:00

Dear fellow cyclists:

Riding our bikes on roads and trails, we have access to parts of the world few of our fellow citizens ever see, and enjoy scenery that most people don’t notice whizzing by at 65 mph. By being active outdoors during all seasons, we as cyclists surely take note of our changing climate patterns – and we are able to directly impact climate change by choosing to ride our bike more instead of drive. We're asking you as a cyclist to take action on Oct. 24 in a one-day project that we hope will have some measurable impact on changing the world.

You spend much of your time riding your bike out in the elements. It is likely that you’ve noticed your local weather patterns getting less stable, less consistent, and more volatile. Climate change is having a direct impact on our world weather through significant melting of glaciers. In fact, scientists who have drilled glacial cores around the world tell us this melt is happening ever faster, to the point where in our lifetimes it may endanger billions of people, ecosystems, food production and more. So far, though, the political response to climate change has been too slow!

The cycling response has been great: 350.org is lucky to have the CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team, Kashi Leuchs, Ted King, Adam Craig, Tom Danielson, Heather Irmiger, Lea Davison and more riders and teams supporting our cause.

Now, with the crucial negotiations looming on the horizon at the United Nations Climate Change Conference this December in Copenhagen, we can do something to help change that. The world's foremost climatologist, NASA's James Hansen, and his team last year declared that 350 parts per million co2 was the most carbon we could safely have in the atmosphere. That's a tough number, because we're already past it. At the moment, the atmosphere holds 387 ppm co2, which is why glaciers and Arctic sea ice are melting. Indeed, this research team cautioned that unless we got back below that number, then eventually the earth might well be ice-free.

The planet will scrub some of that co2, but only if we stop pouring more in. To move political leaders to take this seriously, 350.org is organizing a huge global day of action on Oct. 24, designed to drum that number into every head on the planet. So: we urge you to ride somewhere notable and visible on October 24 – by yourself, with a group, or at a race - and figure out some way to make the number 350 visible. What we'll need by day's end if possible, is a photo, uploaded to the web, of whatever 350 bike ride action you've figured out to do. We need a picture of you and 350.

A few days beforehand or a day or two after will work as well - the goal is simply to take this obscure number, arguably the most important number in the world, and make it the most well-known 3 digits on the planet. If we do, then it will set the bar for negotiators. At the very least, we'll have helped let the rest of the world know what the crucial reality facing the planet is.

If you can help, please contact Jamie Henn at Jamie@350.org.

Troy and Brady hit Vegas!

2009-09-23T09:39:00.001-06:00

Cross Vegas is tonight!

Cyclocross season is here!

2009-09-22T12:26:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was my first cyclocross race of the year in Breckenridge. I was really excited to start racing cross again and to see if I remembered how to dismount and run with my bike. Before this weekend I only road my cross bike for about an hour the week before and I felt pretty good but that was with no barrier in front of me. Once you actually have to jump over something it becomes a mental game. I was a little worried about running because two weeks before this I crashed pretty hard in a collegiate mountain bike race. I smacked my upper thigh pretty hard onto a rock and could barley bend it for a couple of days. So when I ran it really hurt. But I was not going to let that stop me from racing my bike.
I got to Brek about two hours before the start of my race. I warmed up really good and pre road the course a couple of times and really liked it. It looked like it was going to rain but it held out until the last lap so that was nice. The start of a cross race is very important. If you have a good start it is a lot easier to do well in the race. Unfortunately that was not the case for me. I got to the start about five min before the race but everyone else was already lined up, so i started near the back in the middle, and with the course pretty much shooting into a single track right off the bat I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I started moving up pretty quick and starting to get closer to the leaders. I was feeling really good and finally caught up to Conor and Robin and worked good together. Then it was Conor and I chasing the leaders down and really working hard but feeling good. With three laps to go I got a flat rear tire so that was my race. I was to far to get a wheel change so I just had to pull out. Kind of a disappointment that I had to pull out but at the same time I was feeling good so that a plus. It is early in the season so I will have many more opportunities. This weekend I will be racing again on Saturday in Boulder so I cant wait. You can feel the chill in the air now and that only means it is CYCLOCROSS season. I am really looking forward to the season and getting some good results. Can't wait.

TCB's Wells takes 6th at Star Crossed!!!

2009-09-20T10:26:00.001-06:00

STAR CROSSED CYCLO-CROSS, Redmond, WA
Sept. 19, 2009

Full report here.

1 Christian Heule (Rendemenhypo Cycling)
2 Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com)
3 Jonathan Page (Planet Bike)
4 Ryan Trebon (Kona)
5 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissel Pro Cycling)
6 Troy Wells (Clif Bar)

Green Mountain sports cx race

2009-09-19T22:27:00.000-06:00

Yes i got the first race report up on the blog I won :) :) :) :)

Ok so now the race report

This was my second cyclocross race of the season. I started the race from the first row because I got a call up. In the first lap the field already was splitting up. 3 riders were out front and I caught on in the second lap. The a lap later Colby Pearce attacked. Then the next lap then Colby attacked and he was gone, the 3 of us didn't want to chase him down. After another two laps passed I attacked and try to catch up to him. I got pretty close to him but the my energy went out and i got slower every lap. I still managed to stay in 3 place till the last lap. Then Spencer Powlison from Mafia racing shot by me but he overestimated a turn with a lot of gravel in it and he went down. So I passed him again and just tried to stay in front of him so i can secure my 3 place. Going up to the finish i got a little gap and stayed in my 3rd place. I was really happy after the race but also really tired.

First "Middle Cross" clinic

2009-09-15T23:15:00.004-06:00

Today was the first Middle School cross clinic put on by the CLIF BAR team, helping to prepare kids for the second annual Middle Cross event in November.

TEAM CLIF BAR's Brady Kappius, Devo Team's Eckmann brothers, and I instructed the Manhattan Middle School bike club on dismounting/mounting, climbing/descending, and cornering. The kids love working with the "older" kids on the team, and this clinic is always neat because Robin and Yannick are Manhattan grads.

Middle school kids are great bike riders. They seem to either already be smooth as silk, have no fear, or else learn new skills in s snap.

2009 Team Announcement

2009-09-12T22:05:00.004-06:00

CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team Enters Sixth Season, Focusing on Climate Change

Boulder, Colorado, September, 9 2009—The CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team is set to begin its sixth season this month, looking to build not only on its past racing success but to continue to raise awareness about important environmental issues.

This season’s focus on climate change lines up perfectly with the timing of ‘cross season:

- CLIF BAR’s Start Global Cooling campaign is always promoted through the Team and at the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series;

- 350.org is working to unite the public, media, and our political leaders behind the goal of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 ppm, harnessing the power of the Internet to coordinate a planetary day of action on October 24;

- Brighter Planet will be helping the CLIF BAR Team and the cycling community measure their carbon footprint, discover simple ways to reduce it, track their progress, and share their experiences;

- ClimateCounts.org, a collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change, will be working with the CLIF BAR Team and its sponsors;

- During the U.S. Cyclo-Cross National Championships, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark is taking place.

Team members will be learning, helping create awareness in the cycling community and their own communities and schools, and taking action themselves.

The CLIF BAR Development Team features an exciting roster of top young cyclo-crossers, led by first-year Elite Colin Cares and veteran Under-23 racer Alex Howes, who has been with the program since its first year in 2004. The team also has several returning and first-year Under-23 riders, and many promising Juniors ranging from 14 to 18 years old.

The team is looking forward to a strong season, following many podium appearances at the 2008 Cyclo-Cross Nationals last December and a summer filled with National Championship medals and top results in road, track, and mountain bike races.

For the third year, the CLIF BAR Development Team will be riding the Salsa Chili Con Crosso, with SRAM drivetrain, Chris King headsets, Crank Brothers pedals, TRP brakes, fi’zi:k saddles, and MAVIC wheels. Pedro’s will keep the team rolling with race support, tools, and bike care products. Pearl Izumi and Patagonia will outfit the team on and off the bike.

CLIF BAR Development Team riders will be focusing on the US Gran Prix Series, Boulder Racing Series, New England Championship Series, Bay Area Super Prestige Series, and the New York State Series – before ending the season with the US Nationals.

You can keep up with what the kids on the team are up to, and learn more about how you can take action in the fight against climate change at the team’s blog:

http://www.sustainablecycling.blogspot.com

Team Roster:

Andrew Barker, U23 - Boulder, CO

Alex Howes, U23 - Boulder, CO

Bjorn Fox, Jr – Stinson Beach, CA

Cody Cox, U23 – Golden, CO

Colin Cares, Elite – Colorado Springs, CO

Conor Mullervy, U23 – Grand Junction, CO

Curtis White, Jr – Delanson, NY

Danny Hiller, Jr – Boulder, CO

David Kessler, Jr – Littleton, CO

Kevin Mullervy, U23 – Grand Junction, CO

Mitchell Hoke, U23 – Colorado Springs, CO

Nate Morse, Jr – Cohasset, MA

Robin Eckmann, Jr – Boulder, CO

Russell Finsterwald, U23 – Colorado Springs, CO

Yannick Eckmann, Jr – Boulder, CO

Zack Gould, Jr – Boulder, CO

Zane Godby, Jr – Louisville, CO

2009 CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team Sponsors:

CLIF BAR & CLIF SHOT

Salsa bikes, bars, stems, seatposts

Pedro’s bike care and tools

SRAM drivetrain components

Pearl Izumi cycling clothing, shoes, and accessories

Crank Brothers pedals

TRP brakes

Chris King headsets

Mavic wheels

fi’zi:k saddles and bar tape

Kinetic trainers

Cyclocrossworld.com tires and accessories

Thorne chainrings

Patagonia outerwear

Cycle-Smart, Solutions for Cycling

Boulder Cycle Sport

ClimateCounts.org

Brighter Planet

350.org

Team members' summer results

2009-09-08T18:44:00.011-06:00

With Labor Day behind us, it is now officially cross season. It was a successful summer for members of the CLIF BAR Development 'Cross Team, on the road, track and mountain bike. It is looking like everyone is ready to rip this fall!

Here is a selection of top results recorded by team members:

U23 Mountain Bike National Champion, XC

U23 Road Race National Champion

U23 Criterium National Champion

Jr. 15-18 Mountain Bike National Champion, XC

Jr. 15-16 National Time Trial Champion

Jr. 15-16 National Road Race Champion

Jr. Swedish National Road Race Champion

Overall win, Tour de L'Abitibi

Overall win, Nicole Reinhart Memorial Stage Race, Jrs.

Stage win, Tour of Utah, Pro

Stage win, Tour de L'Abitibi

1st - Firecracker 50 MTB Marathon

Stage win, Tour of the Gila, Cat. 2

1st - Tour of Battenkill, Jrs.

2nd - Track Nationals, Points race, Jr. 15-16

2nd - Track Nationals, Points race, Jr. 13-14

2nd - Track Nationals, 500m TT, Jr. 13-14

2nd - Road Race National Championship, Jr. 15-16

4th Overall, Tour of Utah, Pro

2009 'cross season is here

2009-09-03T11:07:00.002-06:00

The CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team is lubing their chains with some Pedro's Ice Wax 2.0 and dusting off the skills that have made them one of the premier Devo teams in the US, looking ahead to a strong 2009 season.

Some team members got together last Sunday in Boulder to help instruct beginners at the 6th annual Cycle-Smart Boulder Cyclo-Cross Clinic, held at Boulder Cycle Sport - the 'cross shop in Boulder. Thanks to BCS team members Brandon Dwight and Greg Keller, and TEAM CLIF BAR's Brady Kappius for teaching the groups. The clinic was a fundraiser for the CLIF BAR Devo Team.

Some smooth footage over at MudAndCowbells.com.

2009 Team details coming soon!

Germany

2009-01-18T10:11:00.007-07:00

Over the Winter holidays I were in Germany to visit my grand parents. I also attended some more cross races. Before I went over I decided to race the German national championship too. The German nationals were on January 10th. To prepare I did 3 races in Switzerland. The first race in Dagmersellen went for me really good. I started from the last row and I still got first place it was a sprint finish. That race was also wired because it was just put against a mountain. It just went up the mountain on a paved road, down on frozen grass and the bottom were it was flat again was paved so it was more like a road race but still a hard race going up that mountain 6 times.

Then I got to train for 4 days again before I had my next race. The next race was in Beromuenster, Switzerland. I started in the last row again but that didn't matter for me. I went right up to the lead group. I didn't have an excellent of a race because I was just sitting in waiting for the sprint because i didn't have enough power that day to ride away. So in the last lap a guy attacked and I could hold him so he just rode away from me. On the end I finished 2nd 2 seconds behind the leader.

Then I got a 3 day break/ training time before I had my last race before Nats. This last race was in Duebendorf, that was also in Switzerland. This was the last race that I could prove my self that I am ready for Nats. I started of course in the last row again. This race was on a military airport so it was a lot of fun. But this time there was a French guy there to that had one every single race he raced in Switzerland. After the start I were in 5 place and than on the pavement I attack right before a steep hill. After that I hammered it like for 2-3 laps and I opened a big gap. Midway through the race I was more then 40 seconds ahead. In the last lap I slowed down a little were I also crashed then. But when I crossed the finish line I were still 20 seconds ahead. From that day I knew I'm ready for nats.

Two days before nats. I felt that I am not feeling so good. I had a bad cough and I just felt really bad.

On the race day I surprised by an official commissar that they forbidden me to race in my so lovely Clif Bar race suit. Fortunately I could barrow a apparel kid from my previous home town club. I was very upset about this. After this action to change jersey's I tried to get back to my routine to study the course very carfully. It was a real nice course. It was just frozen ground and on the side of the course it was snow. It was a real fast course just how I like it. At this race I started in the last row of a field of 60 racers. After 1 and a half lap I caught up to the lead group of 10. Three laps to go somebody attack and I was stuck behind some other guy. So two rode away and when I had the chance to pass my guy I rode right back up to the other two guys. In the last lap we were down to 2 racers for the victory. The 3rd guy had a gap of 2 or 3 seconds. So i came in the sprint with the leader of the german race series. I thought I could take him in the sprint but I couldn't do it. I ended up 2nd place less then a wheel length behind him. I were proud of my self because I started in worst position and rode all the way up to second place.

It is always good to get a chance to race in a different country to see how good you are especially knowing the Swiss and german are ranking up in the the top nations worldwide.

During my European races I always had top material and no defects. With this said I want to thank you to our sponsors for supporting us with all the best material, and a big thank you to Ben Turner and his support team for their great work and support over the entire cyclocross season.

See you next season

Nor-Cal Nevada Cup series win

2009-01-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

On January 4, I completed in the last race of the NCNCA Cup, which is made up of six races from different series in Northern California and Nevada. I attacked from the start and gained on my lead. Isaiah, a fast junior from Kaiser/Team Oakland, was with me in the beginning but I attacked early and got a lead that lasted throughout the race. We started a minute behind the C men and I went through the field ahead of us and finished the race over a minute ahead of the first place C man and all the juniors. It was a fun course in beautiful Monterey Bay. Being race winner and series winner is awesome! Here are some pictures from winning the NorCal/Nevada Cup and bringing the junior championship to Clif Bar - Thanks for all your great support this season. Bjorn

3rd Place in Sacramento Men's A race

I was car-pooling to the Sacramento CX race with Josh Snead, Rock Lobster, and he joked with me that I should go out and place 3rd in this A men's race. So that is what I did. At the start, Josh got away from the whole field and I was at the back of a 5 man chase group. I decided to try to go faster, went around them, and got a gap on them, was is second place - chasing Josh! This surprised even me. I held on to second place for 2 or 3 laps before anybody caught me again. I rode in a 3 man group for another three laps, with one rider from the 35+A group and another A man. I am used to racing 30 or 45 minute races so this 60 minute race was pretty hard. I didn't think that I could keep us this pace much longer, but I did! I held on to 3rd place for the finish. Bjorn

Clif Bar Team bus, R.I.P.

2009-01-11T20:59:00.003-07:00

Photos copyright Brad Kaminski

Unfortunately, the Clif Bar Team bus met it's fate early last Thursday morning about 5am.

The Olde Stage Fire - that started last Wednesday afternoon just north of Boulder city limits - began to spread east of Highway 36, and traveled down a little valley next to the commercial parking area where the bus is stored during the off season. High winds blew burning debris that started the bus on fire, with the front end destroyed before fire fighters arrived to put out the fire.

Link to story about the fires in Boulder is here.

Thanks to everyone for their support in making the team bus project come together in the fall of '07, and for keeping it rolling strong this past 'cross season. It was a huge team effort getting the bus ready for bike equipment, making it functional and look great, and especially driving all over the country. Having the bus at the races was a huge help to the team, made for a great sponsor presence, and was a lot of fun for people to see.

The former Dartmouth Big Green Bus had a great run as the Clif Bar Team bus, and there may not be another cycling team vehicle quite like it again!

1/03/2009 Lyons cross

2009-01-07T19:18:00.004-07:00

Well this past weekend there was one last cyclocross race of the season right out side of Boulder in Lyons, same place where States were last year but different course. I was looking forward to one more race but was not too sure how I was going to feel, since it was my second time touching my bike since nationals which was about 2 weeks ago. Got to the race early to check it out and make sure my bike was still working from nationals. Pre-riding the course got me excited to race, it was a really cool course. With a steep run up and a barrier, little drop/roller, pump-ish section and a steep mound of dirt all made for a sweet course.

At the start line I think everybody had at least one goat head in there tire and was hoping for the best. The weather was nice and cold in the high 20's i think, cold enough. Though I had a really bad start getting cought behind a wreck on the steep run up falling back about 20seconds or so. After I got threw the mess I caught a group of two and sat with them for a while till pulling threw to try and catch Brady, Mitch and Pacocha. By the time I caught up to there group Mitch was off the front and Brady was spinning out on his single speed. So i decided to sit for a while and attack on the flat. Though I never did catch Mitch, who finished a good 10-15 seconds ahead of me I was able to hold on to second with a good 30-40 seconds on third. So the team finished up 1st and 2nd. Not too bad to start off the new year. With that two week rest I felt so rested and relaxed it seemed to help a lot. Mountain flyer did and article on the race at: Mountain Flyer Magazine

Nationals report: Friday (Juniors)

2008-12-15T14:59:00.005-07:00

By Friday, the frozen ground of the Nationals course had given out under the pressure of Thursdays herds of B and Masters racers, and succumbed to sunshine and warming temperatures...creating a slippery, goopy mess of mud more suitable for holding wads of grass together for the walls of a primitive prairie home. Instead, this went on the bikes as they slid around the course, spinning for traction on the uphills and trying to stay in control through the turns.

The 10am Junior events featured some truly weight-gaining mud. Zack Gould's rig probably doubled in weight before he pitted with a rear derailleur broken by its struggle against the thick adobe building material clinging to his bike. He got a good workout running half the course with a 30+ lb. bike slung over his shoulder! Kudos to Zack for not giving up and hanging in there to finish a really solid 11th place in the 13-14 race.

In the 15-16 race, the CLIF BAR foursome of Yannick Eckmann, David Kessler, Bjorn Fox and Zane Godby went to work against a strong field and the mud. Yannick resumed his friendly rivalry with Delaware's ace junior Jeff Bahnson (the two had traded wins in the Cat. 2/3 races at the New Jersey USGP weekend). Bjorn looked to continue his hot streak after winning both under-16 junior races at the Portland USGP the previous weekend. David made his Cross Nationals debut, and 14-year old Zane stepped into his first race with the 15-16 category. Yannick raced hard and rode with Jeff for several laps, but before long Jeff's amazing mud riding skills and awesome fitness created a winning gap. Yannick powered home strong in 2nd, and both David and Zane had amazing races to finish in 4th and 5th, respectively. Bjorn was having a great race before he was sidetracked with a flat, but he came back strong to finish 8th. Three CLIF BAR 15-16 Juniors on the podium, and all 4 in the top ten!

The 17-18 crew was shorthanded from our usual USGP squad, with German Robin Eckmann having to race the B race on Thursday. Cody Cox and Andrew Barker rode strong races, starting out in the main chase group, fading a little bit after some blistering opening laps, but recovering to hold on to strong 9th place (Cody) and 13th place (Andrew) finishes.

Cody will now head off to Belgium later this week to begin his first European race experience at the Euro Cross Camp with National Team coach Geoff Proctor.

Nationals report: Thursday (B race)

2008-12-15T14:02:00.004-07:00

Junior Robin Eckmann wins the B race! Since non-US citizens are not allowed to race US Nationals once they reach age 17, CLIF BAR's outstanding Junior 17-18 racer Robin Eckmann, who is from Germany but now calls Boulder home decided to race the B race for fun this year at Nationals.

He killed it! Robin moved up to the front of the race on lap one along with another junior ace - 15 year old Jeff Bahnson from Delaware, who was using the B race as a warmup for Friday's Junior 15-16 event. The two rode together off the front for several laps before Jeff completed his "opening" workout at 30 minutes. Robin then was joined by one other competitor, who stuck with him until the final lap.

One strong attack heading onto the pavement though kept his lead comfortable and he cruised in for the win.

Bay Area Super Prestige

2008-11-30T21:40:00.005-07:00

Today I had a great race at the Bay Area Super Prestige series in Golden Gate Park. I went hard from the start getting 5 to 10 bike lengths on 2nd place by the end of the first lap. Then 2nd place got a mechanical that put him down one place. I kept a hard tempo making a bigger and bigger gap until the end of the race. Which led to my win!
Two weeks ago I also won the race which finally put me in the leaders jersey. It has been a tough season battling fast juniors, but hard work has helped turn the series around.

Bjorn

On the Cross

2008-11-29T23:04:00.004-07:00

Today was the On the cross race at Chatfield. And about 5:00 last night the snow came in, and it snowed a lot in just an hour. So I knew it was gonna make for a muddy and fun race. The course was mostly single track which got muddy after all the races went before us. For our team we had Andrew, Yannick, Robin, Kevin and myself racing in the Open race. After the first lap in the lead group there were about 8 guys including Robin, Yannick and myself. Then the race began to break up some more and then we all found ourslelfs chasing the lead group of 5. So it was Yannick Robin and myself working together to get back into it. Though around one of the muddy corners I was on Yannicks wheel when he hit the deck, causing me to use his real wheel as a ramp and pulling a superman over him. We got right back up and kept on chasing. Then with about 3 laps to go I found myself alone trying to chase down the lead group of five. Then on the last lap on the last corner I just had to hit the deck causing the guy 10seceonds behind me to catch up and pass me in the sprint. So I eneded up 7th place which was not too bad. And Kevin was unable to finish due to his pedal coming completly off on the third lap.

Of course I am just starting to feel good on the bike and I can't even race tomorrow. Because we have to leave ealrly tomorrow to try and make it back up to Grand Junction for school on Monday. The passes are already snow packed and are expecting anywhere from 2-12 inches up in the mountains. And we can't even bring our cross bike back, because we drove down in a little Honda Civic which will not make it back over, so were catching a ride with our room mate who has all wheel drive but has no room for our cross bikes. So I guess we can't even ride cross again until Nationals. Unless we can make it back next week for states but im guessing the weather will be similar to how it is now on the passes.

Mercer '08 Elite Men | NY Velocity

2008-11-21T18:10:00.002-07:00

Mercer '08 Elite Men | NY Velocity

CROSS!
Check out these nice photos of the Mercer race. Some good shots of team and pit action! (just click on the link above!)

Jersey Cross Life

2008-11-19T12:11:00.003-07:00

Late Flights, Food Blights, Mudd

Jersey Pike, No Left Whole Foods

"Out of the way Hoke"

Ride On/Go Green

Mitch

My Global Cooling Speech!

2008-11-18T20:04:00.003-07:00

What is global cooling? We all know what global warming is. Today I am going to tell you about global cooling. Global cooling is basically trying to stop global warming. We can start global cooling by riding our bikes or walking to school, instead of taking a car which releases pollution into the atmosphere decreasing the ozone making it hotter. The things that we want to prevent from happening in order to start global cooling are greenhouse gasses, solar variation, and temperature changes. To start, greenhouse gasses are caused by human-activity that mostly started when the industrial system was started. The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier and he says “It is the process in which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface.” Another example of Global Warming is Solar Variation. As stated by two researchers at Duke University, solar variation is caused by the sun. A different hypothesis is that variations in solar output, possibly amplified by cloud seeding via galactic cosmic rays, may have contributed to recent warming.
Now onto a simpler example, when you drive your car you are releasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere helping create global warming. Think about that the next time you want to go somewhere but you are too lazy to walk, run, bike, skateboard, or even take a bus. If you ask your parents to drive you, then your laziness is making the atmosphere full of CO2 emissions, also known as ruining the earth. Another kind of emission is called methane. Methane is also known as poop gas from animals that live on a farm. Say you had a hundred pigs on your farm and they all pooped twice a day. In a year that would pile up to be a bunch of methane polluting the atmosphere. Methane is also the gas that is a fart. So the next time you are about to fart, just be selfish and keep it to yourself and don’t pollute the environment with your fart. Rotten trash also forms methane.
Who likes snow? I sure do! So by starting global cooling we can have more snow days. Another way to start global cooling is to recycle and compost. By doing this we can reuse our natural resources instead of dumping it into a landfill and have to use up more energy to create paper and bottles. To help global cooling we can put solar panels on the top of our houses to get energy from the sun instead of Excel Energy. Some materials that are appropriate for recycling are: glass bottles and jars of all colors, aluminum cans, pie pans and clean aluminum foil, plastic bottles and jugs with a #1 a #2 or a #5 on the bottom, paper milk boxes, juice boxes and drink boxes, #2 and #5 plastic tubs and cups, scrap metal, most paper items, and phone books! Also, if you eat a whole banana and you are about to throw away the peel, stop, think and remember that all vegetables and fruits can be composted. Even napkins, plates and many other things too! So the next time you drink a soda and you are about to throw it in the trash, think and remember that it can be recycled!
There is one bad thing, and that is that not everything is recyclable or compostable. Some items that are not recyclable are: orange brownish envelopes, construction paper, tissue paper, wrapping paper, paper towels, tissues, waxed items, frozen food or ice cream containers, pictures, and stickers. An item that can not be composted very easily is meat. This is because it takes a long time to decompose, and it also attracts rats and mice to your compost pile.
Obviously, global cooling is the way to go!
By Zack Gould

Summerhill 13th in GvA Series round in Niel

2008-11-11T19:43:00.002-07:00

TEAM CLIF BAR's Danny Summerhill will be back in the US this week to re-join the team for the 2nd round of the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series in Mercer County, NJ.
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Jaarmarktcross Niel (GvA Trofee #2) - C2
Belgium, November 11, 2008

Kenneth Van Compernolle Sunweb Projob
2 Tom Meeusen Fidea Cycling Team
3 Jim Aernouts Palmans-Cras
4 Stef Boden
5 Arnaud Jouffroy
6 Joeri Adams
7 Quentin Bertholet Fidea Cycling Team
8 Kevin Cant AVB Cycling Team
9 Sven Verboven Palmans-Cras
10 Dave De Cleyn Scott USA Cycling Team
11 Gianni Denolf Palmans-Cras
12 Philipp Walsleben Palmans-Cras
13 Daniel Summerhill TEAM CLIF BAR

Junior State Cyclocross!

2008-11-09T14:08:00.010-07:00

This Saturday was the Junior State Cyclocross Championships! This was my best race so far. At the start line I was all ready to go, and then I heard the whistle. I was one of the first off the line and I thought I was clipped in so I started sprinting, as if to take the hole-shot. Suddenly, my foot slipped and I swerved a little and was not in the position I would have liked to be in. I was probably in about sixth place and about fifteen seconds behind the leaders. I had to bring up the tempo a lot and finally caught up to fourth and fifth place. In this race there was a ton of singletrack so it was very difficult to pass, but once we eventually got on to a dirt road section I flew past fourth and fifth place. Then I came into a barrier section, the barriers were set to half height, I attempted to bunny hop both of them and did it successfully. By then I had a minor gap on fifth and sixth place. Just five seconds ahead of me I saw second and third place putting down the hammer. Then I came into another barrier section and the barrier was the same size so I attempted to bunny hop that one, and got the first wheel about six inches off the ground and the second one only about two. I nailed the barrier at around 15-20 MPH and almost did a front flip and slammed my whole right side into the ground.
It turns out afterward that I also cracked my helmet. Anyways, I got right up and got on the bike. But when I crashed fifth place caught up to me, and as it turns out third place was right in front of me when I crashed. So we got onto the single track again and I took about thirty seconds to collect myself and then dropped the hammer. I caught up to third place, and passed him on the wider, dirt section part. This time I ran over all the barriers. By the next barrier section, me and third place broke away from fifth and the third place rider was trying to drop me. I didn't budge. The other rider hit a root and his rear wheel started making a weird noise. I passed him and dropped him on the run up and then twenty seconds later I hear a loud POP! I finished in third place and was so tired but the good hard working kind of tired. I did better than I thought was even possible for me to do. So, the moral of the story is; don't give up even if you have a bad start or crash hard. Other good results from the Clif Bar Development CX Team: David Kessler:15-16 State Champion. Zane Godby:13-14 State Champion. Yannick Eckmann: 5th place- Pro Race. Robin Eckmann: 6th place- Pro Race. Brady Kappius: 3rd place- Pro Race. Mitch Hoke: 10th place Pro Race.

By Zack Gould

Best race so far

2008-11-06T20:10:00.003-07:00

Last Saturday and Sunday were my best races in my season so far. It was the Boulder Cup that weekend. The first day at the reservoir was really good. I raced the juniors Elite which started 2 minutes behind the Cat.3. So we basically chased the cat.3 down. I had a perfect start. I got the whole shot and kept my pace up as long as i could. I got a a gap in the first lap. But I got chased down from a lot of my team mates and other people. I tried to stay away from them, I went each lap so fast as possible. Also each lap i got closer to the leader from the cat.3 guys. In the last lap i was in 7th place in the cat.3 and first place in the juniors elite. When i finished i needed 34 seconds more to catch the leader of the cat.3 but that didn't happen. I still said to my self I still have another day.

On sunday we started 2 minutes behind the cat.3 again. My brother robin got the whole shot, Skyler from Black Sheep was in second and I was in third. After like the 3 corner before the hurdles I past both of them and went through the hurdles first and got a gap. Each corner the gap got bigger and bigger. In the first lap I caught a lot of cat.3 riders. In like the 3 lap in the race i was close to 5 place. I was far gone from the junior field i was like 45 seconds ahead. I didn't slow down though I wanted to catch the leader from the cat.3 guys. It took me another 2 laps until i caught the leader. When i passed him i just kept on hammering it down so i rode away from him too. The announcer went crazy yep talk about how old i am and that i started 2 minutes behind a caught all of the riders and all that. Oh by the way the run up after the hurdles was just amazing the crowed was just yelling and everything it felt like i was in the pro race. On the end of the race I ended up in 1st, 43 seconds ahead of the first cat.3 rider and more than 1 minute in front of the next junior Elite rider. A lot of people came up after the race to congratulate me and all it was just so cool.

So that is why is was my greatest weekend ever.

written by Yannick Eckmann

Photos from Sunday's Super Prestige

2008-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

Veghel-Eerde (Superprestige #2), Ned (C1)

Summerhill strong, still having bad luck at Koppenburg

2008-11-01T23:28:00.001-06:00

Race report from the Koppenburg 'Cross on cyclingnews.com.

Daimeon Shanks and Alex Howes finish cleaning the interior

2008-10-31T21:11:00.000-06:00

Working on the bus interior

2008-10-31T21:09:00.000-06:00

CLIF BAR Juniors relax after painting bus

2008-10-31T21:06:00.001-06:00

Yannick and Robin Eckmann add a fresh coat of green

2008-10-31T20:08:00.000-06:00

Danny Hiller & Zack Gould prep the bus for painting

2008-10-31T20:07:00.000-06:00

CLIF BAR kids' clinic at Louisville USGP

2008-10-27T21:41:00.003-06:00

Summerhill 20th in second World Cup

2008-10-27T21:04:00.002-06:00

On Sunday in Tabor, Czech Republic, TEAM CLIF BAR's Danny Summerhill finished a respectable 20th place after chasing hard all day to make up ground after two early pile-ups put him way back.

Danny's race report:

"Bjorn [Selander] got a really good start and I followed probably top 15 first corner then going through it someone crashed right in front of me sending me back a few places - then 300 meters later I got caught behind someone else who had crashed which put me almost last, so at that point I was pretty scared, and knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't step it up! (haha)...so I slowly started picking off riders and was able to get in a group of 2 czech riders and we we're coming up to what was basically the second pretty big group with Sinkeldom and Adams and I dropped my chain. Fast forwarding a few laps I finally caught the really big group by myself with 2 to go... And even though I know that I proved to have a lot of power to make it from almost last to top 20 I am still quite mad in general that I wasted sooooo much energy just making it up to that group because I feel like this course suited the 3 of us soo much more than most other people as it was very dry and reminded us a lot of a home race!!!"

Other then that I am working on not getting down on my self because I know this trip is for learning and january is for kicking ass but it is still a pain knowing I could have, from what I feel right now done a lot better!!!