Video From Providence Cross

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!!

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

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...

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

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

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

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!

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

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

'CrossNatz Trailer from cyclofile.com on Vimeo.