The Nationals Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Summerhill: Bronze medal at CO State Champs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




photo of Daniel Summerhill courtesy of Nicholas Saucier


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clif Bar and Clif Shot

Patagonia, Javelin, Crank Bros, Cyclocrossworld.com

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

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

Re:cycle Hardwear, Sheila Moon, Boulder Cycle Sport

Mavic, Alpha Q, JBV Coaching, 5280 Magazine

Fundraiser for ACA development 'cross programs

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

Brandon Dwight's latest VeloNews.com Diary

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

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

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

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

Looking back on Thanksgiving food sources

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

From Thursday's NY Times.

Making renewable energy a reality in Colorado

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

Thanksgiving dinner and BND

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

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

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

Happy buy nothing day!

-JBV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Thanksgiving,
Andrew

Tacoma and Portland in the eyes of a virgin cyclocrosser.

Hey there,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

until next time

-tp