First Day in Izegem

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

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

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

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

Mitch

Weekend Update: November 6th and 7th

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

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

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

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!

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!!

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)