Verge New England Cyclocross Series rounds 1&2

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

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

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

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

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!

Cross Vegas is tonight!

Cyclocross season is here!

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!!!

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

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

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.