October 27-28 Race Results

Saturday Oct. 27

USGP #1, Papa John's Derby City Cup, Louisville, KY

- Robin Eckmann, 4th (Jr 15-16)
- Cody Cox, 12th (Jr 17-18)
- Andrew Barker, 14th (Jr 17-18)
- Danny Summerhill, 1st (U23)
- Brady Kappius, 14th (U23)


Sunday Oct. 28:

Boulder CX Series #3

- Conor Mullervy, 4th (Cat 3)
- Kevin Mullervy, 7th (Cat 3)
- Yannick Eckmann, 8th (Cat 3!)
- Zack Gould, 2nd (Jr 10-12) and 61st (Cat 4)
- Danny Hiller, 1st (Jr 15-16)

USGP #2, Papa John's Derby City Cup

- Robin Eckmann, 1st (Jr 15-16)
- Andrew Barker, 11th (Jr 17-18)
- Cody Cox, 15th (Jr 17-18)
- Danny Summerhill, 1st (U23)
- Brady Kappius, 8th (U23)
- Taylor Lane, 19th (U23)

Interlocken

Let's just say it was about 8:45 in the morning and it was a good 60 degrees out. Perfect race weather. The course was mostly all grass, had a mud bog section and a sand pit surrounded with two barriers. The perfect 'cross course. I was all bundled up in my under shirt and my long-sleeve skinsuit. I had already pre-ridden the course various amounts of times and was ready to race.

"READY, SET, GO!", the official starting man said. I shot off the line and was in first position. Then a pretty fast 15 year old came by me. I clung on to his wheel like a magnet. It was us two for a while when another kid joined our group, but not for long. We got to the mud bog on the second lap and me and the other younger kid crashed. During the crash an amazing creature found its way on to my seatpost, a worm! Although, I didn't realize this until after the race. Anyway, the 15 year old got away so I was in second overall. It stayed that way throughout the rest of the race. I finished 2nd overall and first in my age group. And I managed to find a worm along the way! HA HA HA!

The rest of the day went really well. A lot of people were composting and recycling.

Yannick Eckmann took 2nd in Cat 4 to another German!
Andrew Barker won Cat 3!
And Robin and Cody did really well too along with Brady who is a bunny hopping beast.

High fives all around!

The pictures of the worm is Coming Soon!

Classroom Visit

I did my first school visit today. I talked to the kindergartners about the team, did a cross demonstration and talked to them about sustainable cycling/local food. Where I live there are several small local farms. We eat seasonal foods from these farms for school lunch. The kids were responsive to biking as a means of transportation instead of driving.


They were enthusiastic about cross when they saw me jump over the barriers and remount the bike. The teacher said, “Kids, you shouldn’t try this at home, he’s a trained athlete.”

From Bjorn Fox

Summer vs. Winter

Well let’s just say that the Western Slope Cyclocross series was very interesting and fun. They put on a lot of cool venues which included; Aspen, Gunnison, and Eagle. In Eagle just last weekend it went from summer to winter over night. Saturday’s race almost felt as if it was summer out. It was a good course with some single track and some good natural barriers such as logs, ditches and some mud pits. Kevin and I started off strong but let Tom Hopper (who built our bikes) make a big gap on us. About half way through the race he had a good 30second lead on us. We worked together to pull him back which didn’t seem to be working until the end. Last lap to go Kevin and I pulled him back to only a 3second gap which was just enough for him to get the win. Kevin took 2nd and I took 3rd. Though Sunday’s race was a whole different story.

vs

We woke up and outside was about 6inches of snow on the ground. At the start of our race it was only 28degrees out and snowing. The field took off strong all trying to get down to the S-turns first so that you dint have a chance of getting behind someone who fell because of the slick snow. I was the first one to them but just a couple turns later I was the first one to slide out along with Kevin. The field past us and had a good enough gap to keep it off the rest of the race. It was very interesting racing with no brakes, no shifting and no grip due to the freezing conditions. All together it was a great race and an awesome series. Kevin won the overall series and I took 2nd right behind him. Western Slope Series
Kevin and I stayed in BeaverCreek over night and when we were roaming around we found this sign which we found really cool. (BeaverCreek 100% powered by wind)

Cow Power

In our world today, the most common energy sources are derived from consumable resources. As powerful as they maybe, they usually are extremely “dirty.” Oil, coal and nuclear power are extremely effective in powering a city, but dump billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year. It is clear that these types of energy sources are becoming quickly dated and newer technology that could be more powerful and 100% green is paving the way for a cleaner world. Wind power is one of the cleanest and most effective ways to create energy. The power from the sun also is an enormous source of energy. But a source that few know about is “Cow Power”. My family in Vermont lives in a quaint town on several acres of land with no cows. What we try to do there is make the home as efficient as possible. We also have a garden of organic veggies. But our latest addition to helping “green” the world is an investment in energy credits from cow power. You may wonder how electricity is generated from cow manure. The answer is very simple. Manure is collected from the cows into a large concrete tank on various dairy farms. There it will sit for around three weeks. Bacteria “digest” the manure; much like the cows stomach digests feed. Methane gas is produced by the bacteria and it builds up in the tank, where a pipe then delivers it to a modified natural gas engine. The gas is then burned to generate electricity which is fed into the electrical grid where it goes into our home. The benefits from this are many. With anaerobic treatment, the waste significantly reduces odor and water-quality impacts of cow manure, killing pathogens and weed seeds. It also contributes largely to the economic steam of small organic farms. The methane is otherwise released into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat into the atmosphere. In all, it is a smart way to be moving forward.
I also wanted to provide a visual of what the team has going on currently at the local races in Boulder; a small glimpse of what we’re doing and what we will be doing at the big USGP races throughout the year. Andrew, Yannick and Robin, nice race too! You guys ripped it up! 

Summerhill 10th at UCI C1 Granogue

Clif Bar Development CX Team's Danny Summerhill continued his 2007 East Coast swing with an improving 10th place at the UCI C1 Granogue Cyclo-cross in Montchenin, DE. This is a race the team has historically enjoyed coming to, as it's put on by friend-of-the-team Tom McDaniel of the DCCoD.

On a typically hard, technical Mid Atlantic course, Danny stayed in the top 10-15 off the start line, never going over his limit but also riding technically very clean. Eventually Michael Gallegher (US Armed Forces) and Danny dropped the group they were with, Danny taking the sprint for 10th place. Danny was also 2nd U23 behind the in-form Jamey Driscoll (Fiordifrutta), showing his progression over the last few weeks.

This is Danny's top UCI elite result, and with it come valuable points that will get him a better starting position as soon as next week. Tomorrow the team of Danny, team coach John Verheul and ace mechanic Nick Legan travel to the Wissahickon cyclo-cross in PA for round 2 of the Mid Atlantic series, with more UCI points on the line.

Housemate for the weekend Joachim Parbo (CCB Protek), the Danish champion, took out 6th place on the day, ahead of former development team member Troy Wells (Clif Bar).

Sustainability @ CU

I saw this sign for a compost bin on my way to class today! Hopefully it is the first of many around campus.
-Andrew

CLIF BAR announces Junior Worlds team scholarship

In addition to supporting the Kids' Clinics that Danny, Geoff Proctor, and I will be leading Friday after school on each USGP weekend, CLIF BAR has announced a new scholarship program that will allow an additional top Junior to attend the 2008 Cyclo-Cross World Championships.

Full story at Cyclocrossworld.com.

---
Ben

California update

Bjorn Fox, our man in California, checks in again:

"There is a California Cup going on for the first time this year. The series has 5 races. I got second place in the NorCal Cup #2 last weekend in Sacramento in the Junior A group. It was a hard race because I haven't done many 60-minute races. The week before, I got first place in the Bay Area Super Prestige #1 (Junior 15-18). NorCal Cup #1, I placed 2nd in the Juniors."

Keep tearing it up out there Bjorn!!!

Gloucester & Gunnison

The weekend of October 13 & 14 saw Danny Summerhill fly east to represent at the G.P. Gloucester both days. Gloucester, MA is one of the most prestigious 'cross venues in the US, and both days saw hard, fast racing.

Danny picked up 23rd (4th U23) on Saturday, but a series of mechanical problems caused him to simply finish Sunday. The weekend was quite productive though, as team manager Ben Turner and bus driver Josh Liberles flew out to NH early in the week to take delivery of our vegetable oil powered team vehicle. More on that as we're able to get it back to Boulder and refit the thing for cycling team use!

Speaking of Colorado, the rest of the team was ripping it up as usual at the races down in Gunnison. Saturday saw Conor Mullervy win the cat 3 race with his brother Kevin in 2nd, while Sunday they reversed roles and Kevin took the V with Conor finishing in 3rd.

Yannick Eckmann continued his streak of cat 4 wins, winning the race Saturday, while Zack Gould won the junior 10-12 race and took 12th in the cat 4 race later that day. Sunday's race saw Ethan Bell pick up 4th place in the cat 4's as well.

Brady Kappius was fighting off a cold, but still finished 4th in the open men's race Saturday, then moved up to 2nd on Sunday behind The Real Joey Thompson.

This coming weekend will have the Colorado crew racing in Boulder on Saturday, Golden on Sunday, while Danny tackles UCI C1 Granogue (Delaware) and Wissahickon (PA) back in the mid-atlantic. Team coach John Verheul and mechanic Nick Legan (back from track worlds and a move to Boulder) will encompass Danny's entourage.