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2010-04-19T18:27:00.002-07:00

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Sea Otter Classic - Cross Country- Full Results, Photos and Report to Follow

2010-04-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

Photos courtesy of Brightroom

Burry Stander took the sprint finish for his second consecutive Sea Otter win

Georgia Gould took wins in the short track and XC this weekend

Pro Men

1, Burry Stander (Specialized) 1.23.13
2, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain) 1.23.13
3, Todd Wells (Specialized) 1.23.15
4, Christoph Sauser (Specialized) 1.24.19
5, Roel Paulissen (Cannondale) 1.25.27
6, Manuel Fumic (Cannondale) 1.25.52
7, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.26.05
8, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) 1.26.05
9, Marco Fontana (Cannondale) 1.26.30
10, Chris Sheppard (Rocky Mountain) 1.26.35
11, Carl Decker (Giant)
12, Barry Wicks (Kona)
13, Adam Morka (Trek)
14, Conrad Stoltz (Specialized)
15, Jason Sager (Jamis)
16, Benjamin Sonntag (Cannondale)
17, Lachlain Norris (Drapac)
18, Travis Livermon (Champions systems)
19, Kris Sneddon (Kona)
20, Thomas Turner (Jamis)
21, Craig Richey (Aviawest)
22, Andy Schultz
23, Stephen Ettinger
24, Ryan Woodall
25, Rotem Ishay
26, Ken Onodera
27, Spencer Paxson
28, Tad Elliot
29, Peter Glassford
30, TJ Woodruff
31, Dana Weber
32, Max Know
33, Robert Marion
34, Stefan Widmer
35, Sean Babcock
36, Kerry Werner
37, Simon Jensen
38, Sam Schultz
39, Tinker Juarez
40, John Bennett
41, Russell Finsterwald
42, Mitchell Hoke
43, Pierre Facomprez
44, Burke Swindlehurst
45, Kalan Biesel
46, Eric Emsky
47, Jeffrey Herrera
48, Dror Pekatch
49, Vincent Lombardi
50, Brendan Stewart
51, Colin Cares
52, Yuki Saito
53, Ben Thompson
54, Bryan Alders
55, Aaron Bradford
56, Erik Tonkin
57, Aren Timmell
58, Scott Frederick
59, Adam Snyder
60, Tim Allen
61, Ross Schnell
62, Greg Carpenter
63, Ethan Gilmour
64, Nate Whitman
65, Alex Grant
66, Kevin Smallman
67, Drew Edsall
68, Spencer Powlison
69, Anthony Slowinski
70, Troy Wells
71, Lucas Livermon -1 lap
72, Omer Kem
73, Nicholas Stevens
74, Aaron Snyder
75, John Nobil
76, Blake Harlan
77, Bradford Perley
78, Dylan Stucki
79, Michael Mooradian
80, Aaron Elwell
81, Brady Kappius
82, Kenny Burt
83, Alex Boone
84, Nate Byrom
85, Justin Maka
86, Gabriel Keck
87, Nitish Nag
88, Brian Astell
89, Charles Jenkins
90, Mitchell Peterson
91, Ncik Weighall
92, Jeff Blair -2 laps
93, Mike Anderson
94, Randall Jacobs
95, Tony Smith
96, Jason Moeschler
97, Wiley Mosley
98, Matt Connors
99, Noah Tautfest
100, Ben Sullivan
101, John Burns
102, Ron Castia
103, Jeff Kerkove
104, Seamus Powell
105, Zachary Keller
106, Bob Delp
107, Osias Lozano
108, Garnet Vertican
109, Rob Sousa
110, Anastasio Flores
111, Andrew Rigel
112, Hal Helbock
113, Eric Batty
114, Evan Plews
115, Rouke Croesser -3 laps
116, Bryan Van Vleet
117, Matt Wittler
DNF Ryan Trebon
DNF Sid Taberlay
DNF Kat Statman
DNF Nick Truitt
DNF Drew Mackenzie
DNF Jim Hewett

Pro Women

1, Georgia Gould (Luna) 1.16.48
2, Lene Byberg (Specialized) 1.16.54
3, Katharine Pendrel (Luna) 1.17.33
4, Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.17.34
5, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.17.57
6, Emily Batty (Trek)
7, Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com)
8, Katerina Nash (Luna)
9, Chloe Forsman (Tokyo Joe's)
10, Kelli Emmett (Giant)
11, Amy Dombroski (Luna)
12, Alison Powers
13, Melanie McQuaid (Specialized)
14, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt)
15, Judy Freeman (Kenda/Felt)
16, Alice Pennington (S&M)
17, Sue Butler (River City Bicycles)
18, Kathy Sherwin (Mafia/Pabst/Felt)
19, Nina Baum (Cannondale)
20, Aleksandra Moora (Bedford/Spin/Verge)
21, Lizzy English
22, Sonya Looney
23, Rebecca Rusch
24, Krista Park
25, Linnea Koons
26, Joelie Guynup
27, Holly Liske
28, Wan Line Chang
29, Christina Betz
30, Lydia Tanner
31, Timari Pruis
32, Danae York
DNF Mical Dyck
DNF Kari Studley

Sea Otter Classic - Cross Country- Pro Men Live Updates

2010-04-18T14:02:00.016-07:00

Kabush brings it all back together. It's going to be a 3 up sprint for the win!

All three riders wind it up. And it's looks like Stander is going to take the win!

He just inches in front of Geoff Kabush with Wells right behind.

Christoph Sauser rolls in unchallenged for fourth with Roel Paulisen in the fifth and final podium spot

Marco Fontana takes 6th

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Jeremiah Bishop come sprinting into the finish with JHK just taking it in front of the Cannondale rider

Special thanks to Todd Park for assistance with the reporting today
_________________________________________________________________________________

With a 1/2 lap left Wells attacks on one of the dirt climbs but Kabush closes it down and counters with his own move putting him in the lead. It doesn't last long.

Now Stander takes his shot with a huge acceleration! He has a gap but it's small...

__________________________________________________________________________________

As the leaders enter the final lap it's now Stander's turn to attack on the pavement of Laguna Seca. Kabush quickly shuts down the young South African with Wells locked onto his wheel.

It's great to see an American doing this sort of damage in a field stacked with international talent

Sauser remains in 4th but he is now too far out to contest the lead. It will come down to Stander, Kabush, or Wells

__________________________________________________________________________________

The third lap is now done. Geoff Kabush attacks the Specialized duo on the track. Kabush wants to get rid of these two or at least split them up. Even someone as strong as K-Bomb doesn't stand a chance against the combined strength of Stander and Wells.

Kabush needs to keep the pace high to keep Sauser from bridging up and making it three against one at the front.

The chase group is no down to just one rider and it's Sauser.

Just 45 seconds behind Sauser it's a group of six including Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Marco Fontana, and Roel Paulisen
___________________________________________________________________________________

At the beginning of the third lap Todd Wells and teammate Burry Stander have moved off the front with Canadian Geoff Kabush in tow

Christoph Sauser is in fourth with one comrade.
___________________________________________________________________________________

After the opening lap a lead group of twelve has joined at the front. Most of the top contenders are in front group. The games are already beginning as no one wants to pull through the paved sections of the course.

Todd Wells launches a big attack on the climb just before the riders exit the race track.

Sam Schultz and Ryan Trebon are two big names not currently in the lead group. They are both chasing hard to get on.

These riders completed the first lap in just 18 minutes! Unfortunately some racers will be getting pulled on the next lap.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The men's race has just started.

It promises to be a truly high-octane event with some of the fastest men in the world on hand. Yesterday's winner Todd Wells will certainly be up front as will his teammate South African Burry Stander. Euro World Cuppers Marco Fontana, Roel Paulisen, and Christoph Sauser will all be looking to steal a win on US soil. And of course, Geoff Kabush is always a factor.

In order to comply with UCI regulations the Sea Otter course has been radically modified from it's previous route. Now racers will stay on the Laguna Seca raceway for about 3/4 of a mile throughout the race while periodically ducking onto the dirt for some singletrack. FInally the race leaves the raceway for two steep off-road climbs before entering the track again just before the finish. Laps shouldn't take more than 18-19 minutes for these monster of mountain biking.

Stay tuned for all the action with live updates each lap on MTBRaceNews.com

Sea Otter Classic - Short Track - Full Results, Photos, and Report

2010-04-17T16:17:00.011-07:00

Photos by: Todd Park
Americans Take Both Sea Otter Short Track Titles

Todd Wells saw nothing but clean air in front of him all throughout today's short track

April weather in Monterrey, California, is known for being predictably unpredictable. It ranges from temperatures in the 50s and thick mud to soaring highs well over 100 with gusting winds. This year however, it seems to be down right pleasant. As riders lined up for the short track today many commented that this is the best weather they have ever seen at Sea Otter.

The racing action was pretty good too.

The women started first with Pro XCT #1 short track winner Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher) going to the front. Koerber was joined by Specialized rider Lene Byberg and Georgia Gould (Luna). Canadian Katharine Pendrel (Luna) chased the leaders.

Gould quickly made it clear she had her sights set on winning this race. After several early attacks by the Luna rider, she was finally able to get clear with four laps remaining. Byberg and Koerber were left to do the chasing but Gould's determination to win was just too much.

Georgia Gould took her first win of 2010 in commanding style

With each lap she powered farther off the front leaving all the other riders to sort out who would be second. With one to go, it looked as if Gould's teammate Pendrel would take the runner up spot but Norwegian Lene Byberg surged one final time and passed the Luna rider. Pendrel would take third in front of Koerber and 2009 Sea Otter short track champion Emily Batty (Trek).

Just as the dust settled the men took their turn at Sea Otter glory and just like last year the Specialized team stomped out the competition.

Todd Wells leads the chasers through the chicane

Early on, it was Specialized's big man Todd Wells doing most of the damage accompanied by Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain). A crash early on waded up a healthy portion of the field and assured the front-runners clear sailng.

Wells was soon joined at the front by his South African teammate Burry Stander. And just like 2009, the two simply checked out from the rest of the field. Kabush had his hands full trying to hold off former world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized) while Subaru/Gary Fisher riders Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Sam Schultz did their best to latch on to the Swiss rider.

Sid Taberlay, flying to Aussie National Championship colors, leads Burry Stander early in the race

There was simply no catching Wells today. The big Specialized rider rode confidently slowly increasing his lead and proving that he is truly on great form heading in to 2010. Wells was able to cruise across the finish line claiming back-to-back Sea Otter STXC wins.

His teammate Stander also repeated his result from 2009 taking second. Kabush held off the charging Swiss rider for third. Sauser crossed the line in fourth while Sho-Air/Specialized rider Sid Taberlay squeaked into the fifth and final podium spot.

Geoff Kabush on course

Staging for the short track event under warm sunny skies in Monterrey

Lene Byberg on her way to a second place finish

Willow Koerber, Lene Byberg, and Georgia Gould opening things up early in the race

Pro Women

1, Georgia Gould (Luna)
2, Lene Byberg (Specialized)
3, Katharine Pendrel (Luna)
4, Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
5, Emily Batty (Trek)
6, Katerina Nash (Luna)
7, Kelli Emmett (Giant)
8, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
9, Chloe Forsman (Tokyo Joe's)
10, Mical Dyck (Trek Canada)

Pro Men

1, Todd Wells (Specialized)
2, Burry Stander (Specialized)
3, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain)
4, Christoph Sauser (Specialized)
5, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized)
6, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
7, Sam Schultz (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
8, Manuel Fumic
9, Carl Decker (Giant)
10, Marco Fontana
11, Ryan Trebon (Kona)
12, Max Plaxton (Sho-Air/Specialized)
13, Ken Onodera (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
14, Roel Paulissen (Cannondale)
15, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale)

The Robbie Report

2010-04-16T20:29:00.006-07:00

He's Back and He's Got Even More To Say

Former Junior National Champion and America's top U23 racer Rob Squire. This season Rob will be traveling the world gaining valuable experience and saddle time as one of America's elite racers. Rob will share his adventures with us throughout the 2010 racing season. Here is his first report:

Currently I’m sitting in an airport headed out to Albany, New York, for my first road race of the season with my new road team Holowesko Partners. The race is Tour of Battenkill, a 200km race, much of which is on dirt roads, which should make for an interesting first road race.

Tour of Battenkill will be my first road race of the season I’ve already taken part in two mountain bike races. The first of which was a PRO XCT national race in Fontana, California. I went to it not expecting to have a great result because it’s early in the season and usually the guys from California and warmer climates have a bit of an advantage because they can get more riding and training in earlier in the year. However, as it turns out I had a pretty good race. I recorded my highest place finish in an elite national race and was the number one placed U23.

At the start of the race I was nervous, as it was my first real race of the season against a formidable field. I had a great start position in the second row just behind Todd Wells due to the UCI points I had accumulated over the course of the last year. Despite my good start position, once the race started I went backwards almost immediately dropping from 9th to high 20s. I was able to make up some spots on the climbs and started closing in on the top-10. Unfortunately, I put a nasty kink in my chain on the second lap and had to ride 4 laps with a skipping bike. The big bonus of the weekend was that Scott Tedro, the Sho-Air series sponsor, decided to start doing a U23 podium and cash payout so I was able to pick up a few bucks for being 1st U23 and 14th elite.

My biggest news of the season so far was at Pan American Mountain Bike Championships in Guatemala City. This race takes the top riders from each nation in both North and South America to compete for the title of Pan American Champion. I was really excited to compete in the event but a little less eager to go to Guatemala. I had heard that it isn’t a good place for Americans to go because of crime but it wasn’t that bad. I did receive a few warnings about where to avoid and to be careful of bandits and for the most part this was enough to keep me out of trouble. The most exciting part of the security issues down there was the armed guards almost everywhere the team went. The hotel was guarded by men with shotguns at each entrance as well as guards along the course. I was happy to have the added security but I never saw anything that made me think that armed personnel was necessary.

As far as the racing goes, the course was a lot of fun. It wasn’t the best racecourse because it lacked anything technical. What it lacked technically it made up for by being a really fun course.

The start of the race was really chaotic. The U23 men were started 2 minutes after the elite men so we had to kind of hurry up to get lined up and ready to go in a short amount of time. I was looking forward to the call up here because I knew that I would have a good start position. I was called up third and lined up right in the middle of the first row, a perfect start position for the first climb and starting lap.

I was getting ready to start as the official counted down, 60 seconds….. 30 seconds….. 15 seconds….. and then without a whistle from the official the two Brazilians on either side of me just decided to go. They didn’t wait for the race to start and ended up doing a false start. The official decided not to start the race over because the elite men were already on course and restarting the race would take too long so I went from excellent start position to about 15th in the first 2 seconds.

I was able to make up some ground on the first lap and starting the second lap I was in second place in a group of 5. As the climbing started on that lap the pace really picked up and we lost a guy bringing the group to 4 halfway through the second lap. On the 3rd lap the two Brazilians attacked and got away from me and now I was in 3rd with a Costa Rican right on my tail. Once those two got away I decided to ride my own race and ended up dropping the Costa Rican and finishing in 3rd place.

Although I think I could have done a bit better I’m still really happy with the result. It was my first international UCI podium. I don’t have any pictures but you can find some on www.usacycling.org

From here on out my schedule is pretty hectic with this race in New York and then another stop in New Mexico next weekend before heading across the pond to Europe for some mountain bike World Cups and some road bike stage races-I can’t wait.

-Rob

Camp Hilbert 1 Continues The 2010 Season Of The Virginia Off Road Series

2010-04-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 11th, under perfect race weather, Camp Hilbert 1 was held in Maidens, VA as the 2nd race in the Virginia Off Road Series. A strong turnout of 179 riders turned out to ride between one and ten laps of the six mile course of twisty, rooty singletrack with plenty of whoops and hills.

A VORS rider charges through the singletrack

Expert Vet was the closest and most exciting category of the day. Michael Hosang of TriPower and Brent Williamson of Rostello presented by Fiorucci/Cycor were neck and neck for the entire 24 mile race, trading places for the lead with lap times always within 3 seconds of each other. With Hosang and Williamson passing near the finish line with a quarter mile left, Jared Stangl was heard saying "There's going to be a fight!" to Woody Elliott, both Virginia Off Road Series directors. In an uphill sprint finish, Hosang edged Williamson out by a single second and finished in 1:51:14.

Warm weather brought out large groups for Camp Hilbert

In Expert Men, Michael Runnals won by almost three minutes after producing the fastest lap of the day on lap 2. Sheila Scott of Bike Factory Racing/Trek won the Women's Expert category in the three lap event. In Single Speed, the 22 year old Gordan Wadsworth with Gary Fisher 29er/Trek Co-op clocked faster than sport class laps for the win, while Anne Green was the fastest Single Speed Woman.

In Sport Men's Classes, Jay Catlett of Bike Factory Racing/Trek, Todd Green of Design Physics/Rowlett's, and Mark Lewis took their age groups, while Sport Women was won by Jennifer Whedbee. Beginner Men Classes was won by Robert Unberhandt and Michael Spinos, while Kate Fisher won Beginner Women.

Some of the deep woods singletrack on hand at Camp Hilbert

The Virginia Off Road Series introduced an enduro-style category into the season called X-Cat. Charles Clarkson was the only Enduro to complete ten laps under 5 hours to win the Enduro Men category with 36 racers and Denelle Grant of Gary Fisher 29er/Trek Co-op won Enduro Women with eight laps.

Full Results, Photos, VORS Standings - click on standings

2010-04-14T03:38:00.000-07:00

Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

Question: I do a lot of races that require me to drive long distances after I race. What is the best way to maximize my recovery when I have to get in the car and drive 4-6 hours after my race?

Answer: Racing is hard enough, but to sit in a car or get on a plane immediately after your event can put a wrench in your recovery plans and wreak havoc on your legs. Fortunately there are a few simple things you can do to improve your body’s ability to recover before jumping in a car for the long drive home.

As soon as you cross the finish line you should head straight for your car. The temptation to stop and talk with friends, family, and your fellow racers is strong, but you’ve got some muscles to take care off. At your car you should immediately change clothes and put on a dry jog bra, undershirt, and cycling shorts. Even on a warm day, hanging out in wet sweaty race clothes can create an uncomfortable chill.

After you are warm and dry your next task is to have a recovery drink. A recovery drink is a high carbohydrate/protein drink mix that will help get needed carbohydrates to your fatigued muscles. Most of the good recovery drinks have a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Protein has been shown to increase the absorption of carbohydrates. The recovery drink needs to be consumed within 30 minutes of finishing your race. This is SUPER important. When you race, your body releases an enzyme that facilitates the uptake of glucose from the blood into your muscles where it is used for muscle contraction. This enzyme is extremely active during your race and then starts to dissipate about 30 minutes post exercise. If you can get a large amount of carbohydrates into your body while this enzyme is still “hot”, you will get more carbohydrates to your muscles faster. The more carbohydrates your muscles get, the faster they will recover. Research shows that having a recovery drink as soon as you finish your race is more effective than waiting two hours and then having a large meal.

Once you have changed into dry clothes and you’ve got your recovery drink in hand, head back out on the bike for a cool down. I know this is the last thing you want to do after a race, but this can be one of the best things you do for your legs. A light spin will increase blood flow to your muscles which helps flush out the byproducts of metabolism, lactate being one of them. 20-30min is the minimum for a good cool down.

The last thing you’ll want to do before getting in the car is a 10 minute stretch. After your cool down, the muscles are nice and warm and supple which is the perfect time to stretch. Focus on the major muscle groups; quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, IT bands, and calves. If your stomach isn’t too upset you could also eat some kind of solid food; bagel, energy bar, fruit etc.

Now you’re ready to stuff yourself into your car for the long drive home. You’ve done the best you can to jump start your recovery, but I guarantee you will still feel pretty lousy when you get out of the car in a few hours. That’s just what happens after a hard race. It takes about 24-36hrs for your muscle glycogen stores to be fully replenished. Keep eating and drinking on the drive home! By morning you’ll still be tired, but your legs will feel a heck of a lot better.

Good luck and happy trails!

Alison

Julian Death March: Julian, California -- Full Report, Results, and Photos

2010-04-11T20:08:00.003-07:00

Written by: Jens Raz

California Cyclocross Champion and two-time Death March Champion Brent Prenzlow defeated Danish Champion Simon Jensen to take his third win at this demanding race.

Brent Prenzlow brining it home for his third Death March win (photo by Mrs. Brent Prenzlow)

This race is called the Julian Death March for a reason. In Race-Director Rich Wolf's own words: "If you weren't dying at some time during the race I haven't done my job." True to form this was one of, if not the toughest race on the West Coast.

A shivering cold greeted the most competitive and eager group ever assembled at the Death March. The 4th annual running promised more climbing and additional miles than ever before.

The promise of stiff competiton drew out defending champion and local speed man/Dentist, Guy Sutton (Cal Coast Cyclery), fresh from a top-10 finish at Vision Quest. His competition was fierce as 2-time Death March winner and multiple California State Cyclocross champion, Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific), was waiting in the wings. Brent had company during the waiting game as the current Danish Cross Country Mountain Bike National Champion, Simon Jensen (HC Stevens Bikes), slid up in position among the defending champions. Cannondale Factory Racer Dezmin Wilder and Sho-Air’s Mario Corea rounded out the top competition. They too wanted a piece of that Julian Apple Pie!

The lead group opens it up on an early climb with Jensen, Prenzlow, Sutton, and Corea left to right (photo by: Rich Wolf)

Compared to the previous years, the 2010 edition was 5 miles longer. A tough "horsethief" like climb/hike a bike was added to the first of two laps, 55 miles into the 64. The last loop adds about 3200 feet of climbing and 22 miles of "beautiful" riding through cow pastures and Wildlife Preserves with turkeys, bulls, snakes and other distractions.

Past editions of the Death March were marked by early breakaways and the eventual winner soloing to a commanding victory. Prenzlow, in his first two wins did so on a cross bike. In contrast, Guy Sutton took the win last year on his Ibis Mojo.

This year interestingly enough, the lead group stayed together producing a very close race for the first 60+ miles between Brent Prenzlow, Guy Sutton and Simon Jensen. Prenzlow was riding smart and doing minimal work while staying in the draft until dropping off on Rodriguez Canyon due to a mechanical. He had lost a water-bottle cage bolt and bottle, as it was wedged into his crank. Loosing close to 5 minutes by the 3rd aid station.

Utah racer Greg Gibson flying the flamboyant orange of Union College with his older brother Charlie just behind (photo by Rich Wolf)

Left to their own wits with Brent distracted, Guy and Simon were on their own to battle it out. Coming out of the desert, Oriflame was the first of 2 brutal climbs to test their strength. Sutton, the 41-year-old dentist, almost dislodged the European coming out of the 1600' climb. Unfortunately for Guy, the thought of early glory was short lived as the Dane was able to create a gap going up the next grueling ascent of Banner Grade. Brent recovered from his potentially devastating mechanical and surged past the 2nd placed rider before leveling out into the town of Julian.

Prenzlow and Jensen duked it out on the final loop. Finally, Prenzlow, riding a 29"mountain bike this year, rode clear on the final evil granny gear climb with just 9 miles to go. Riding solo past the resting steers and turkeys to victory. Rounding out the Podium were the Jensen and Sutton.

Guy Sutton challenged for consecutive wins at the 64-mile grueler (photo by Rich Wolf)

Dezmin Wilder came in fourth with Provo, Utah, resident Greggy Gibson (Racer’s Cycle Service) taking the final podium spot in 5th.

Cannondale's Dezmin Wilder (photo by Rich Wolf)

Not to be outdone, Calvin Mulder finished the race in just over 9 hours on a fixed-gear and rigid mountain bike to show how truly tough some people are!

The Men's Podium -- Sutton, Prenzlow, and Jensen left to right (photo by Jens Raz)

The Death March offers up over 16,000 vertical feet of climbing in 86 miles.

Pro Men

1, Brent Prenzlow
2, Simon Jensen
3, Guy Sutton
4, Dezmin Wilder
5, Greg Gibson
6, Chris Crosby
7, Tom Andrews
8, Luke Wiens
9, Michael Hanson
10, Bruce Wilson
11, Alex Ter-Vrught

Greg Gibson Report from Julian Death March

2010-04-11T07:35:00.002-07:00

Greg Gibson is a Pro-level mountain bike racer and frequent contributor to MTB Race News and owner of www.truckerco.com. He recently made the long drive from Provo, Utah to compete in the Julian Death March, in Julian, California. The Death March boasts 16,000 feet of climbing in 64 miles. Greg shares his experience with us.

Chuck (my brother) saw the event on the MTBRaceNews calender and emailed it to me last week.

Because it was snowing at our house in Utah we decided to make the trip. The town of Julian is totally cool and was the perfect place for an event of this sort. We started in the very back of the race. The first climb is about 4 kilometrers up and takes at least an hour so it pretty much shook out the race. Positions didn't change much after that.

Greg, with Chuck just behind, chase the lead group (photo by Rich Wolf)

Chuck and i rode together and worked through the field to the front. At the top of the first climb the three leaders were together a minute or two ahead of our chase group of four. The race got a little technical and we had some singletrack that split our chase group up. I got away and ended up doing the next four hours alone.

Chuck made a wrong turn and I never saw him again. It is impossible to mark the entire course , so, I recommend pre-riding or owning a Garmin if you do this event.

At one point I was in the middle of the desert and I saw an old sign that pointed to Mexico. I thought that was cool. I had no idea where anyone else was or what the time gaps were. I rode strong 'till about 10 miles to go when I blew up, totally bonked and dehydrated, when a very fresh and strong Dezmin Wilder plowed by. Considering the difficulty and amount of climbing, I say "Cheers" to anyone who can even finish this thing.

US Cup West #4: Santa Ynez, California -- Preliminary Results

2010-04-10T21:09:00.002-07:00

Pro Women

1, Tonya Bray (MTBChick.com/Cannondale) 1.39.09
2, Dorothy Wong (The Team/SoCal Cross) 1.49.58

Pro Men

1, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.48.41
2, Adam Morka (Trek Canada) 1.49.31
3, Tinker Juarez (Cannondale Factory Racing) 1.51.45
4, Craig Richey (Aviawest) 1.52.03
5, Ryan Woodall (Brick City Bicycles) 1.52.12
6, Vincent Lombardi (Sho-Air/Sonnance)
7, Dana Weber (Trek/World Bicycle Relief)
8, Eric Emsky (Blue Competition)
9, Menso DeJong (Santa Cruz)
10, Ethan Gilmour
11, Sean Donovan (KHS)
12, Nate Whitman (Cynergy)
13, Kevin Smallman (Incycle/Cannondale)
14, Alex Boone (Trek)
15, Pierre Facomprez (Look)
16, Aaron Bradford (Specialized)
17, Doug Andrews
18,Matthew Cochran (Win Wheels)
19, Paul Freiwald (Pivot Cycles)
20, Romolo Forcino (Bear Valley Bikes)
21, Randall Jacobs (Wheelworks Racing)
22, Ryan Clark (Cynergy)
23, Chris Heinrichh (The Path Bike Shop)
24, Zac Griffen (Mafia Racing)
25, Tsering Alleyne (Marin Bikes)

Pro XCT Returns to Wisconsin/Kenda Cup #4 Preview

2010-04-09T03:32:00.001-07:00

National Mountain Bike Pro Tour Returns to Wisconsin for the Subaru Cup

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Midwest will host a Pro Cross-Country Tour (Pro XCT) mountain bike race on June 26-27, 2010. The Subaru Cup, presented by Trek, will welcome the USA Cycling Pro XCT to Nordic Mountain, outside Wautoma, WI.

Brian Matter leads out a huge men's field at the 2009 Subaru Cup (photo by: John Wrycza)

The Subaru Cup is the annual mega-event of the Wisconsin Off Road Series, and is one of only five Pro XCT events in America during the 2010 racing season. Other venues on the Pro XCT Tour include the Sea Otter Classic, in Monterey, California and the Mellow Johnny’s Classic, hosted on Lance Armstrong’s Rancho de Juan Pelota in Dripping Springs, TX.

North America’s top male and female racers, including those who represented the United States and Canada in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, will compete at the Subaru Cup to qualify for the 2010 National Championships and 2012 Olympics. The race at Nordic Mountain will offer a real taste of Midwest mountain biking, with wooded singletrack, fast descents and short, steep climbs.

WORS will offer a large prize list at the Subaru Cup, with an increased size and depth of awards totaling nearly $7000 for top finishers in the Pro XCT. Cash prizes will be awarded over 30 places in the Pro men’s field and over 20 places for the Pro women. A Pro Short Track, presented by Wheaties Fuel, will also offer racers the chance to compete for cash payouts. In total, nearly $10,000 in cash prizes will be distributed. WORS is able to substantially increase the size and depth of the prize field above the requirements of the International Cycling Union thanks to the generous support of committed WORS sponsors, including Title Sponsor, Subaru, Subaru Cup Presenting Sponsor, Trek Bicycle Corporation, and Impreza Pro Short Track Presenting Sponsor, Wheaties Fuel.

Now in it’s 19th season, WORS is America’s largest state mountain bike racing series. The series has an average attendance of over 650 racers for each of the twelve WORS races held throughout Wisconsin. The first priority of the WORS Series is “to create access to fun, competitive mountain biking for as many individuals as possible,” states Series Director Don Edberg. In addition to the Pro races, the Subaru Cup will host a full slate of amateur racing with ability categories and age classes for everyone. The Subaru Cup will also serve as the first USA Cycling Midwest Regional Championships, which will crown champions in all age categories and ability levels as “Fastest in the Midwest”.

“WORS continues to focus on creating the ultimate environment for as many mountain bikers as possible to explore their potential through safe, fun, friendly competition,” states Edberg. “Whether you are looking for a great individual race to motivate your riding or want to immerse yourself, family and friends in the complete social and competitive experience that is WORS, we have you covered.”

Queen of Midwest racing, Jenna Rinehart, is unstoppable racing in Wisconsin (photo by: John Senkerik)

Outstanding spectator turnout is a hallmark of events hosted by the Wisconsin Off Road Series. In 2009, the Subaru Cup drew over 800 spectators during a weekend of racing. WORS Series Director Don Edberg expects an increase in spectator turnout and in racer participation in 2010. The Subaru Cup Pro XCT course is of the modern World Cup model, approximately 4 miles in length. Over an area of 60 acres, it winds in on itself several times to provide spectators convenient access and numerous viewing opportunities. From the all-new “spectator central”, spectators at the 2010 Subaru Cup can cheer for their favorite racers on multiple climbs and technical descents every lap.

The Subaru Cup will be a major cycling industry gathering of the summer for the Midwest and include demos, displays, and free gifts for those in attendance. WORS and WORS sponsors will offer a full slate of festival activities including tours of the race course, wake boarding, onsite camping, food and entertainment.

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Santa Ynez Kenda Cup Preview

The fourth round of the Kenda Cup West Series, presented by Specialized rolls into beautiful Santa Ynez Valley this weekend.

Current series leader, Sid Taberlay, will be looking to score more points this weekend (photo by: John Mullen)

Nestled just north of the Danish town of Solvang, the Santa Ynez Valley venue has hosted several National events over the years, and this will be the second year that the Kenda Cup West Series returns.

Additionally, this weekend’s race will also serve as the second round of the H2O Overdrive West Regional Triple Crown for Pro riders. The west coast regional triple- crown format is being run as a beta test for possible implementation across the country for 2011, with the three disciplines factored into the series format. The goal is to target more regional and local pro’s by offering good payout, with stronger competition in their respective region.

The Santa Ynez XC course is a 9.1 mile loop and offers riders nearly 1200 feet of climbing per lap. The course is deceivingly hard, with short, steep climbs and fast sinewy descents. A mixture of double track, single track and fire roads, set against green rolling hills and vineyards, makes the venue a favorite among racers. Recent rains have left the cross country course tacky and in good condition for Saturday and Sunday’s events.

The racecourse as it winds through the California hills (photo: Trailwatch.net)

Current Kenda Cup West Series men’s Pro leader Sho-Air/Specialized Sid Taberlay is slated to attend, while the women’s Pro series leader is Pua Sawicki, fresh off a podium at the Fontana City National two weeks ago, looks to make it a go for the weekend. Trek/Canada’s Adam Morka makes the trip this weekend to compete, as well as the southwest top local and regional pro competitors.

Saturday’s schedule starts off with Junior racing at noon, followed by the H2O Overdrive Cross Country men and women’s event at 2:30pm

Sunday starts of with CAT 1 racers in the morning, followed by CAT 2/3 riders in the late morning.

Pro’s return later in the afternoon with the Kenda Women’s Pro Short Track at 2pm, followed by the Pro men at 2:30pm.

Pro Triple Crown competitors then finish the weekend’s final race with the Super D at 3:15pm

Ride the Ridge launches 2010 Virginia Off Road Series

2010-04-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Virginia Off Road Series kicked off with Ride the Ridge hosted by the Blue Ridge School. Over 100 athletes were on the start line for this events largest showing in its 4 year history. Virginia experienced a long and hard winter that had everyone eager to test their skills. The day before and during the event the drizzle, overcast and damp weather would add another element to challenge them.

The Virginia Off Road season kicked off with a little mud and a lot of challenging singletrack

From the starting siren, the masses charged for the chute. The spectators would hang in suspense for about 53 minutes until Nick Waite would charge to complete the fastest lap of the race with Chris Michaels not to far off Nick's wheel. As other athletes filed out of the mucky wilderness, you could see they were fighting more than each other. The climbs are notorious for challenging the best of them. Along with the other scary features in the woods, athletes faces showed Ride the Ridge is no walk in the park.

Waite would eventually take the win with Denelle Grant (Gary Fisher 29er Crew) winning the elite women's race.

Most Categories had their work cut out for them. To some, this race was an event to get a jump on the competition and others were finding where their training lies. Regardless, the folks at the Blue Ridge School put on a great event! Points for all Categories and Teams have been posted on the Virginia Off Road Series website!

Racers wait to take the start beneath the mist-covered Virginia hills

Ride the Ridge was a great sendoff for the 2010 Virginia Off Road Series. With a record attendance, this means the World Bicycle Relief will receive a larger than usual check from the Blue Ridge School. All proceeds went to this great charity. The Virginia Off Road Series is proud to have great races like Ride the Ridge to help contribute to these great charities and to challenge athletes across the state.

Next up Camp Hilbert! All the Categories of the Virginia Off Road Series will be in the ring for points!!!

The leafless trees are a sure sign that spring has not yet sprung but it's never too early for some quality mountain bike racing

This time of year the creek crossings are not only wet, they are very cold

2010-04-07T03:18:00.000-07:00

Question: Should I train and race with a heart rate monitor or a power meter? What are the pros and cons?

For mountain bike training, I recommend using a power meter, perceived exertion and a heart rate monitor. The more data you have, the more tools you have at your disposal to measure performance and improve your training.

The Bottom Line

Use a power meter extensively in training to best mimic racing demands, track measured changes in fitness, nail training objectives, and effectively calibrate perceived exertion with reality. Changes in power output give you a direct, objective measure of the effectiveness of your training plan. Heart rate will let you know you are alive.

Direct vs. Indirect

Power (Watts) is a direct measure of exercise intensity, whereas heart rate is an indirect measure of exercise intensity. Heart rate is a response to exercise and other factors (heat, humidity, altitude, diet, caffeine, stimulation, motivation, fatigue, time of day/night).

Crystal Clear vs. Crystal Ball?

Performance is accurately measured with power. Power data is crystal clear. You either produced the watts or you did not. Heart rate data requires guess work to interpret the result due to the many variables included. A crystal ball may be helpful in order to draw real conclusions from heart rate data.

Immediate vs. Time Lagged

Power has an immediate reaction to changes in exercise intensity. Heart rate has a time lag of about 30 seconds in its response to changes in exercise intensity. This makes heart rate a useless pacing tool for efforts of less than 30 seconds and for the first 30 seconds of any longer interval. Heart rate encourages athletes to over-pace at the start of an interval in order to quickly get their heart rate into the target zone. When training with power you can immediately peg the exact goal exercise intensity and train with accuracy.

Here’s an example: The goal in the following workout was to maintain a steady power of 265 Watts. The rider also wore a heart rate strap, so we have both sets of data.

Not only does heart rate lag effort by 30 seconds, it can also creep upward over time. Imagine if this rider didn’t have the benefit of the power readings, and instead attempted to drive HR up to 165bpm in the first few minutes. The result would likely have been an interval ending meltdown about 18 minutes in, and at the very least a drastic reduction in power in the 2nd half of the interval.

Software

There are several software applications available to crunch your power data. They will analyze, interpret and summarize. You can look at how fast and hard you are pedaling with Quadrant Analysis (QA) to see if you are mimicking the demands of racing in your training. You can get a measure of the intensity of a ride (IF), the variability of a ride (VI) and the training stress (TSS) of a ride.

Performance Manager Chart (PMC)

PMC is a valuable tool for mountain bikers. It uses ride TSS scores, averaging them over days and months. Analyzing a single ride is like looking at a single tree in a forest. You get a nice picture of that tree but don’t know where it sits in the forest. The beauty of the PMC is that it tallies up TSS over time to give a bird’s eye view of the forest – or your entire season (or even cycling career). The PMC can be used retroactively to look at scores during times you had personal best performances and during times you thought you should have but didn’t. It can be used for forward planning to target a specific set of scores known to put you in peak form and to time that peak form to land smack bang on race day. The PMC takes much of the guess work out of training, tapering and peaking.

Racing

Whether or not to race with a power meter depends on the priority of your race. In low priority training races, go for the power meter. Race data often uncovers one’s strengths and weaknesses, and can also turn up some surprising finds with regards to race demands. Race files are a powerful piece of the training puzzle.

As an example, using Quadrant Analysis (a feature of WKO+ 3.0) with power meter data from single speed mountain bike races shows a particularly high concentration of power in the VO2max range with cadences below 60. This means pedal forces are much higher on average than when riding with gears. This has led to some novel training methods for single speeders.

Goal events are different. By the time you have reached a fitness peak, all those hours of training with a power meter have worked to “calibrate” your perceived exertion (PE). PE is your best option for pacing goal events. You’ll know what you can do and for how long, and with enough experience, PE alone will guide you to your best results.

Potential drawbacks to mountain bike racing with a power meter

Power meter and heart rate monitors are not 100% reliable. How will you pace the event if your gadget malfunctions?
Power meters are heavier than race-weight wheels or cranks.

The highly variable nature of power production in mountain bike races makes it quite difficult to turn the real time power data into actionable information. Short accelerations and race starts are deep into anaerobic power levels, even for longer endurance events. It is tough to make sense of the numbers without software.
Mountain bike race starts are mayhem. The place for your eyeballs during a race start is on the trail, your surroundings and fellow racers and not on a little monitor screen.

Power meters can even make you slower in a peak race!

More importantly, pacing with a power meter may actually hold you back from a breakthrough performance! On a top priority race day your body should be in peak condition; trained, tapered, fueled, hydrated and ready to go. You should be poised to set records by producing more power and going faster than ever before. Pacing yourself using power numbers established in training may act as a governor on your peak day and could hold you back from a potential record performance.

Post Race Analysis

There is often quite a difference between what you think you did in a race (or, what you tell your coach you did) and what you actually did. Power data tells all! You can learn how to pace races more accurately and how to repeat outstanding performances from the data. Race data is useful in learning how much power you needed to win a certain race and in what pattern that power was created. This type of information is valuable in order to design better training plans and improve future performances.

Without a doubt, train with a power meter. Also, race your lower priority events with the power meter to help objectively assess your strengths and weaknesses, helping you dial in your training for the goal event(s). For peak priority races use your lightweight race equipment and rely on a well calibrated sense of PE to reach new performance heights.

Lynda Wallenfels is a USA Cycling Cat 1 certified cycling coach and pro mountain bike racer. She is owner of LWCoaching.com. She always trains and often races with a power meter.

Intermountain Cup #2: Hurricane, Utah

2010-04-03T21:01:00.005-07:00

Written by: Shannon Boffeli
Photos by: Ryan Keating

Another cold and snowy weekend in Salt Lake City led to a bigger than usual turn out for some spring racing in Hurricane, Utah. Temperatures in the 60s greeted racers hoping to unleash the speed stored in their legs after a long winter.

Alex Grant leads Burke Swindlehurst over the slick rock

The Pro fields have been bigger than ever this season and faster some would say. The Hurricane racecourse features a brutal mix of slick rock, flowy singletrack, and power-sapping flats. Despite the dry and dusty conditions the trail held up admirably and produced some fast-paced racing.

The men started in a cloud of dust and dirt. CFR racer Alex Grant had to back off the pace just to see the trail in front of him. Burke Swindlehurst (Team Give), winner of Intermountain Cup #1, got pinched at the start and also fell back in the group of 21 riders.

It didn’t take long for both Grant and Swindlehurst to work their way through the pack and take their designated spots at the front.

The leaders were accompanied by nationally-ranked riders Drew Edsall (Yeti), Trevor Downing (Mafia Racing), and Trevor Simper. For the first of four laps these five rode together. On the opening climb of lap two, Grant made an acceleration. His climbing was enough to dislodge Downing, Edsall, and Simper who ran into mechanical difficulties soon after.

Burke Swindlehurst leads Drew Edsall and Trevor Simper at the end of lap one

From this point on it was a two-person affair. Grant and Swindlehurst battling each other for the top spot on the podium. Swindlehurst started the fireworks with multiple small attacks designed to weaken Grant’s legs and establish a small gap but the Cannondale rider answered.

With just one lap to go Swindlehurst opened the smallest of gaps - just 15 seconds over his challenger. Then his talents as a time trialist kicked in. The Team Give racer put his head down and pushed the pace throughout the final lap finally taking the win by just 19 seconds.

Downing held on for third place followed by Edsall. Kuhl/Specialized rider Thomas Bender turned in a strong effort just passing Chris Holley before the line to take fifth.

Start of the women's race. Lynda Wallenfels (far right) seems to already know she is headed for a win

The women’s race featured a talented group of Utah’s top female mountain bikers. From the start it was 41 year-old Lynda Wallenfels (LW Coaching) charging to the lead. Wallenfels, an ultra-endurance specialist, was determined to start fast and it showed. She quickly went to the front and never looked back. Despite to fast group Wallenfels was able to get clear just after the start.

Left to chase the leader was Mafia racer Kathy Sherwin, Sarah Kaufmann (Roaring Mouse), KC Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew), and Jen Hanks (Revolution/Peak Fasteners).

Sherwin and Kaufmann stayed close and took turns challenging each other. Ultimately it would be Sherwin moving clear with Kaufmann not far behind.

The battle for fourth was tight with Hanks and Holley riding wheel to wheel until the end of the second lap when Holley pulled away on the flat leading to the finish. Holley crossed the line just 38 seconds clear of fifth-placed Jen Hanks.

Sarah Kaufmann chases Kathy Sherwin

KC Holley keeps her gap on chaser Jen Hanks

Brian Tolbert grinds it out in the desert of Hurricane

Shannon Boffeli crests a slick rock climb

Results

Pro Men

1, Burke Swindlehurst (Team Give) 1.52.55.
2, Alex Grant (Cannondale Factory Racing) 1.53.16
3, Trevor Downing (Mafia Racing) 1.54.58
4, Drew Edsall (Yeti) 1.55.56
5, Thomas Bender (Kunl/Specialized) 1.57.30
6, Chris Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew) 1.57.40
7, Trevor Simper 1.59.08
8, Reed Wycoff (Contender)
9, Jake Pantone (Biker Edge)
10, Greggy Gibson (Racer’s Cycle Service)
11, Daniel Nelson (Racer’s Cycle Service)
12, Brian Tolbert (Kuhl/Specialized)
13, Shannon Boffeli (iRide Adventures/MTBRaceNews.com)
14, Taylor Foss (Kuhl/Specialized)
15, Brent Pontius
16, Charlie Gibson (Felt)
17, Ryan Krusemark (Kuhl/Specialized)
18, Brent Steinberg
19, Mitchell Petersen (Giant)

Pro Women

1, Lynda Wallenfels (LW Coaching) 1.39.48
2, Kathy Sherwin (Mafia Racing) 1.41.55
3, Sarah Kaufmann (Roaring Mouse) 1.44.42
4, KC Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew) 1.47.08
5, Jen Hanks (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 1.47.46
6, Nicole Wangsgard (Rooster’s) 1.49.42
7, Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 1.52.51
8, Jennelle Kremer (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 1.59.21

2010-03-30T20:31:00.004-07:00

Travis Woodruff is a USAC Level I (elite) certified coach who holds a B.S. in Kinesiology with emphasis in Exercise Science. He’s coached riders to five MTB National Championship wins and has over 10 years of personal racing experience. Since 2005 he’s competed as a pro mountain biker and has coached full-time. His business, Momentum Endurance LLC, is based out of Tucson, Arizona where he hosts wintertime training camps.

Question: I want to be fast for some early season national races but I live in a cold climate. How do I get fast when it is still so cold outside?

Racing Fast After a Tough Winter

The early start to the national-level mountain bike season creates a tough situation for riders living and training in wintery locations. Despite numerous challenges that exist, it is completely possible to have successful early season performances. In recent years the national circuit has kicked off with March races hosted in Arizona or California while Sea Otter has remained a mid-April staple. To be in race-ready condition it typically takes several months of consistent training which means that training begins long before conditions are favorable.

I started my cycling career in Wisconsin and know firsthand how brutal the winter months can be when trying to ride consistently. Memories of countless hours spent on the trainer or facing sub-freezing temperatures on messy snow covered roadways have not left even though I’ve called Tucson, Arizona home during recent winters. Many of those who I coach still embrace their winters so I continue to strategize ways to make the most of each rider’s situation as it pertains to training for the early season. It’s important to note that embracing winter is much different than dealing with it, and it’s this pro-active mindset that is extremely beneficial when a rider must make the most of their circumstances.

Two Midwest riders have had some excellent early season races that stand out in recent memory. Jenna Rinehart (Mankato, MN) placed 9th in the 2009 Sea Otter XC and Mike Phillips (Milwaukee, WI) placed 9th in the 2008 Fountain Hills, AZ NMBS XC. These racers have certainly achieved other noteworthy results, but these finishes exemplify two successful winter training programs.

Specialized rider Jenna Rinehart knows how to train through the long winter month as she demonstrated with a top-10 at the Sea Otter Classic last year (photo by Danny Marchewka)

Set the goal and be motivated

It all starts with a lot of motivation. Only when a rider is inspired to excel, does fast racing become possible. Putting this motivation to work in the right direction is equally important. This is especially true when an athlete must work through less than desirable conditions in order to achieve their goal. With attention set on a goal, a focused athlete is more willing to do the required work than are their lesser-motivated counterparts. With high motivation it is possible to stick with a plan and embrace challenges as they come. Having a coach can help direct your efforts and a support system in place will help you keep everything on track.

When conditions are poor it’s wise not to squander training time, so a little extra organization and encouragement can certainly help. A few dedicated training partners will go a long ways to keep spirits high when the temperatures are low. Planning for early season success will allow you to achieve it.

Train hard (specifically)!

During weekdays when training time and daylight are most often limited, completing workouts that specifically address VO2Max or Lactate Threshold fitness are excellent options (indoors or out). A ride of 60-90 minutes can be highly effective this way. The ‘off season’ is an opportunity to improve by incorporating race-like intensity in your workouts. This is especially true when your training volume cannot be relatively high. With a training plan tailored to improve specific components of your race fitness during the weekdays, weekends can be dedicated to longer duration workouts. These longer workouts should be done outdoors and on the bike when possible. If riding outdoors isn’t an option you can supplement in xc skiing, snowshoeing, or just about any other aerobic winter sport.

As the races get nearer, more of your weekend training should be done on the bike, but earlier on it’s equally effective to do the snow sports instead. Starting with a couple of hours and gradually extending workouts longer each week as you adapt will allow for progression. Keep in mind that you’re doing very high quality riding during the week, so it’s okay for the weekend workouts to have less structure. As long as you’re building your aerobic endurance they’ll be doing the trick.

Keep it in perspective

Many riders adhere to the mantra that winter training needs to be low intensity training. While this might work for a rider who is able to accumulate a large training volume, it is certainly not the best option for a rider coming from a wintry environment. It is important to build intensity into the mix so that you’re always improving the components of your fitness that have the biggest impact on your racing results. In doing so, you’ll be specifically prepared for the speed and intensity of the early season races.

Training through a tough winter will never be easy, but neither is racing. With an early season goal and a lot of motivation it’s possible to show up ready to race fast despite the wintertime challenges. Just be sure to have fun with it and embrace the experience. For every one racer who trains successfully through a rough winter, there are a countless number who won’t find their form until later in the season. See what works best for you and always strive to find a healthy balance.

More Excellent MTB Races Coming Your Way

2010-03-30T03:33:00.000-07:00

We just added 2010 dates to the best MTB race calendar on the web. Click here and start your search for the best mountain bike races in your area. We put all the info you need in one easy to find and easy to search location.

Click a state and start your search

Check out these and many more new races we have added to our calendar just this week:

Front Range MTB Series in Colordao
The 6-Race Laramie MTB Series in Wyoming
The Southern Classic Series in Virginia and the Carolinas
The Burn 24 Challenge in North Carolina
SONOMAS in California
Lake Sonoma Series in California
Napa Valley Dirt Classic in California
The Howell Mtn Challenge in California
Big Sandy Point to Point in California
Folsom Cyclebration in California
Chain Buster Endurance Series in Georgia

View these and literally hundreds more at our online easy-to-use nationwide MTB race calendar

If you have an event you would like added to our nationwide race calendar send your information to info@mtbracenews.com and we will get it posted.

Pro XCT #1 -- Fontana, California -- Full Results, Pictures and Report from the XC

2010-03-28T15:37:00.002-07:00

Each of the past 4 years the Fontana City National has marked the start to the National mountain bike racing season. The Fontana race is known for it's "urban singletrack" and normally exciting atmosphere as all the best racers amass to kick off the new season. Plenty of big names were on hand from Norwegian Lene Byberg (Specialized) providing some international flavor to former and current Canandian and US National Champions.

At the start of the day the wind was already whipping and by the time the race started the wind was blowing like a sandblaster. The women started first. Byberg entered the race as the favorite due to her second place in the World Championships. But she had been defeated just two weeks earlier by All-American girl Kelli Emmett (Giant). Subaru/Gary Fisher teammates Willow Koerber and Heather Irmiger were also expected to be in the mix as they hold a World Championship podium and National Champion jersey between the two of them. Although no one had heard much from Georgia Gould since last fall, the Luna rider is always strong in Fontana and has a habit of winning Pro XCT races.

The women started fast, all hoping to be the first person up the opening climb ahead of the bottleneck that always happens. Byberg, Gould, and the Gary Fisher teammates all surged toward the front of the bunch. While Okolestuff,com rider Pua Sawicki was mired in traffic and forced to the rear of the 20-plus field.

This year the women got their chance to ride the technical rock drop section that was deemed "too difficult" for them to attempt at last year's race. But rocks weren't about to slow this group down. Byberg occupied the lead with Irmiger, Koerber, and Gould right with her.

After the first of four laps the Norwegian broke free of her counterparts who could do nothing to bring her back even in the strong winds. While Byberg was working her way clear of the group Pua Sawicki had put in a huge effort to work her way through the entire field and into the top-5. Shortly, she was all the way up to third and putting the wood to Willow Koerber. Koerber's teammate had since dropped off the pace but Gould was holding on tight to her podium spot.
At the start of the final lap it was Byberg on her way to a win barring any catastrophe on course. Behind her Sawicki and Koerber were battling each other for the runner-up spot. Gould was still in fourth with Allison Mann (Rock n' Road Cyclery) and Kelli Emmett coming on strong.

Finally, Sawicki made her move, throwing down a nasty attack against the Gary Fisher rider. Koerber couldn't match the speed in Sawicki's legs as the Hawaiian rider moved securely into the second spot.

Behind them Gould was suffering through one of her worst final laps in a long time. The normally dominant rider was feeling some serious pressure with Allison Mann passing her first followed by Emmett.

The Giant rider wasn't done just yet. In her usual come-from-behind fashion she tracked down Mann and made the move into fourth.

In the end it was Lene Byberg winning by over a minute. Sawicki would come in with over a minute on Koerber who was followed by Emmett just three seconds in front of Allison Mann.

The men's race followed a very different script with equal amounts of excitement. Off the line Todd Wells (Specialized) seemed determined to make amends for his broken chain from Fontana last season. He was already in the lead when he reached to spot of his demise from 2009. The big Specialized rider was accompanied by four-time Fontana winner Geoff Kabush, US National Champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Sho-Air/Specialized teammates Sid Taberlay and Max Plaxton, and Sam Schultz also from Gary Fisher.

On the second lap, JHK had encountered a mechanical which dropped him from the group. His Gary Fisher teammate Sam Schultz had come unglued frojm the leaders but clung just 20 seconds off the back.

The leaders shuffled their positions throughout the race but no one could break free into the stiff head winds. The short climb on the back side of the course usually accounts for many of the breaks in the Fontana race and this year riders were driving straight into the worst of the wind. This meant a rider would need to get off the front in one of the singletrack sections and that is a tall order in a talented group of bike handlers like this one.

Cannondale rider Jeremiah Bishop was giving it his all to crack the top-5. He was clearly feeling strong and was putting time into fifth-placed Schultz. Just past the halfway point Bishop flatted his front tire. A slow wheel change sent him out of the top-10.

With just one lap left the lead group still remained. Each member of the group had to be acutely aware of Geoff Kabush being in the bunch. Kabush has never lost a race at Fontana and always seems to find a way to win in California. As the final miles ticked by the group stayed together with Wells finally leading them into the finishing straight.

Wells quickly wound it up with Kabush locked on his back wheel. Nothing was going to stop the Big Red S from crossing the line first. He had just enough lead to pump his fist as he took the win just 3 tenths of a second in front of Kabush. Plaxton crossed the line a few seconds later. Taberlay held on for fourth with Schultz rounding out the podium three minutes behind the lead group.

Race Notes:

20 year-old Robbie Squire (Jamis) finished 14th just behind Horgan-Kobelski, Kris Sneddon (Kona), and Jeremiah Bishop. He was the seventh US rider, a truly impressive result for the youngster.

Click Here for Men's Results

Click Here for Women's Results

Men and Women's Short Track and Super-D Full Results and Photos from Fontana Pro XCT

2010-03-28T14:54:00.008-07:00

Men's short track podium

The big guns attacking the course with Geoff Kabush leading the way

The Pro men turn up the heat on the Fontana STXC course. The race was just 15 minutes plus one lap

The steep and dusty descent on the STXC course

Lene Byberg leads the women on the STXC course. Byberg chose to ride her 29er today. Here she leads Willow Koerber and Heather Irmiger up the climb

Kelli Emmett and Willow Koerber battling for a spot

The start of the women's race. A small but very fast group was on hand today

Short Track Results

Pro Men

1, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized)
2, Ryan Trebon (Kona)
3, Max Plaxton (Sho-Air/Specialized)
4, Todd Wells (Specialized)
5, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
6, Geoff Kabush
7, Derek Zandstra
8, Jeremiah Bishop
9, Sam Schultz
10, Barry Wicks
11, Carl Decker
12, Kris Sneddon
13, Eric batty
14, Manuel Prado
15, Travis Livermon
16, Andy Schultz
17, Kalan Biesel
18, Colin Cares
19, Raphael gagne
20, Ken Onodera
21, Ben Sonntag
22, Andrew L'Esperance
23, Robert Marion
24, Peter Glassford
25, Stephen Ettinger
26, Jeff Herrera
27, Tim Allen
28, Ryan Woodall
29, Kerry Werner
30, Sondre Norland
31, TJ Woodruff
32, Scott Keller
33, Cody Canning
34, Russell Finsterwald
35, Alex Grant
36, Mitchell Hoke
37, Dror Pekatch
38, Braden Kappius
39, Evan Guthrie
40, Bryan Alders
41, Kevin Smallman
42, Zachary Hughes
43, Rob Squire
44, Nicholas Stevens
45, Ryan Dorsey
46, Trevor Downing
47, Greg Carpenter
48, Dylan Stucki
49, Lucas Livermon
50, Ethan Gilmour
51, Brent Steinberg
52, Brent Steinberg
53, Yuki Saito
54, Matthew Paziuk

Pro Women

1, Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
2, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
3, Georgia Gould (Luna)
4, Lene Byberg (Specialized)
5, Mical Dyck (Trek Canada)
6, Kelli Emmett (Giant)
7, Emily Batty (Trek)
8, Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com)
9, Allison Mann (Rock 'n Road Cyclery)
10, Judy Freeman (Kenda/Felt)
11, Amanda Carey
12, Krista Park
13, Amanda Sin
14, Sue Butler
15, Kari Studley
16, Philicia Marion

Super-D Results

Pro Men

1, Carl Decker (Giant)
2, Manuel Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized)
3, Todd Wells (Specialized)
4, Tim Allen (Niner/Ergon)
5, Travis Livermon (Champion)
6, Eric Bierman
7, Trevor Downing
8, Robert Marion
9, Dylan Stucki
10, Greg Carpenter
11, Scott Keller
12, Lucas Livermon
13, Aaron Bradford

Pro Women

1, Kelli Emmett (Giant)
2, Allison Mann (Rock n' Road Cyclery)
3, Sue Butler
4, Krista Park (Cannondale/Incycle)
5, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt)
6, Philicia Marion (AMC/Kenda/Tomac)
DNF C. Michelle Rivera

Full Results Now Up with Live Updates from Mens XC in Fontana

2010-03-27T15:04:00.016-07:00

Photos by Todd Park

Specialized rider Todd Wells has upset Fontana wonderman Geoff Kabush to take the opening leg of the Pro XCT. The two riders entered the finishing straight together with Wells outsprinting the Canadian to the line. Max Plaxton crossed the line in 3rd with his teammate Sid Taberlay just behind. Sam Schultz held on for 5th.

Todd Wells takes the win just in front of Canadians Geoff Kabush and Max Plaxton

Men's podium with Sid Taberlay, Goeff Kabush, Todd Wells, Max Plaxton, and Sam Schultz left to right

Pro Men

1, Todd Wells (Specialized) 1.46.15
2, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain) 1.46.15
3, Max Plaxton (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.46.17
4, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.46.44
5, Sam Schultz (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.49.29
6, Derek Zandstra (3 Rox Racing) 1.50.46
7, Barry Wicks (Kona) 1.51.19
8, Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) 1.51.44
9, Eric Batty (Trek Canada) 1.52.02
10, Carl Decker (Giant) 1.52.58
11, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory)
12, Kris Sneddon (Kona)
13, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
14, Robbie Squire (Jamis)
15, Peter Glassford
16, Ben Sonntag (Cannondale Factory)
17, Adam Morka (Trek Canada)
18, Andy Schultz (Kenda/Felt)
19, Colin Cares (Kenda/Felt)
20, Russell Finsterwald (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
21, Spencer Paxson
22, Vincent Lombardi
23, TJ Woodruff
24, Travis Livermon
25, Stephen Ettinger
26, Ryan Woodall
27, Jeff Herrera
28, Alex Grant
29, Sondre Norland
30, Ryan Trebon
31,Cody Canning
32, Zachary Hughes
33, Robert Marion
34, Ken Onodera
35, Kalan Beisel
36, Tyson Wagler
37, Miguel Valadez
38, Dror Pekatch
39, Bryan Alders
40, Burke Swindlehurst
41, Kevin Smallman
42, Drew Edsall
43, Evan Guthrie
44, Kerry Werner
45, Andrew L'Esperance
46, Paul Freiwald
47, Tim Allen
48, Jim Hewett
49, Danny McNaughton
50, Zachary Keller
51, Matthew Connors
52, Yuki Saito
53, Trevor Downing
54, Rob Sousa
55, Dylan Stucki
56, John Nobil
57, Ryan Clark
58, Lucas Livermon
59, Haydn Boucher
60, Nitish Nag
61, Justin Maka
62, Randall Jacobs
63, Alex Boone
64, Brent Steinberg
65, Eric Emsky
66, Scott Keller
67, Greg Carpenter
68, Ethan Gilmour
69, Jason Siegle
70, Menso De Jong
71, Michael Mooradian
72, Garnet Vertican
73, Ryan Dorsey
74, Nicholas Stevens
75, Matthew Paziuk
76, Eric Bierman
77, Patrick Dennis
78, Tom O'Brien
DNF Matt Miller
DNF Erik Tonkin
DNF Aaron Snyder
DNF Dezmin Wilder
DNF John Bennett
DNF Aaron Bradford
DNF Cameron Jette
DNF Tinker Juarez
DNF Mitchell Hoke
DNF Nicholas Weighall
DNF Braden Kappius

Wells leads out the bunch with all the big guns in tow. This would become the lead group, controlling the race from this point on

The usual craziness at the Fontana start being at the front makes all the difference

Jeremiah Bishop made his way into 6th place before a front flat forced him to make a unscheduled stop

________________________________

With just one lap to go the lead group remains intact Wells, Kabush, Taberlay, and Plaxton with Schultz just behind. The winner is sure to come from this group of leaders.

The group needs to try and shed Kabush if they want to win. Kabush has won every race ever held at Fontana and if he reaches the final stretch in sight of the lead there is little chance of stopping him

Barry Wicks (Kona) has now moved into the lead chaser after Bishop's flat. Bishop is now chasing with JHK, and Ryan Trebon (Kona)
_________________________________

With two laps left Kabush is now leading the group containing Wells, Taberlay, and Plaxton. Schultz continues to dangle just 20 seconds off the back.

Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) leads the chase group behind the leaders. Bishop just punctured his front tire. That will cost him some precious time changing the flat on his Lefty fork..
_________________________________

After the second lap Todd Wells and is just in front of Geoff Kabush and the Sho-Air duo of Taberlay and Plaxton. Sam Schultz is giving it his all to stay in contact just 20 seconds behind the leaders

_________________________________

After one lap in Fontana the heavy hitters are in control. US National Champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) leads a group including Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain), Todd Wells (Specialized), Sho-Air teammates Sid Taberlay and Max Plaxton, and Sam Schultz. The group is 42 seconds in front of the closest chasers.

Pro XCT #1 -- Fontana, California -- Full Results, Pro Women's XC

2010-03-27T13:54:00.006-07:00

Norwegian Lene Byberg of Team Specialized made her move on the second of 4 laps to get clear of the bunch and take win at this year's Pro XCT opener in Fontana. Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com) put in a consistent effort throughout the race. Sawicki picked racers off one by one throughout the race before making a decisive attack on the final lap to clear herself of Gary Fisher rider Willow Koerber.

Last year's winner Georgia Gould came home in 6th place.

Women's XC podium with Kelli Emmett, Pua Sawicki, Lene Byberg, Willow Koerber, and Allison Mann left to right (photo by Todd Park)

Full Results

1, Lene Byberg (Specialized) 1.38.58
2, Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com) 1.40.15
3, Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.41.37
4, Kelli Emmett (Giant) 1.41.46
5, Allison Mann (Rock n' Road Cyclery) 1.41.49
6, Georgia Gould (Luna) 1.42.32
7, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.44.54
8, Mical Dyck (Trek Cananda)
9, Emily Batty (Trek World Racing)
10, Amanda Sin (3 Rox Racing)
11, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt)
12, Aleksandra Mooradian
13, Krista Park (Cannondale/Incycle)
14, Sue Butler
15, Judy Freeman (Kenda/Felt)
16, Amy Dombroski (Luna)
17, Andrienne Pichette (CVM Subway/Genetik)
18, Kari Studley (Mafia Racing)
19, Anna Fortner (The Team/SocalCross)
20, Lydia Tanner (Tokyo Joes)
21, Deidre York (Velobum.com)
22, Philicia Marion (AMC/Kenda/Tomac)
DNS, Catherine Pendrel (Luna)

Pua Sawicki's Ellsworth Truth, ready to take Sawicki to a personal best finish in the Pro XCT (photo by Todd Park)

2010 Race Bikes

2010-03-27T07:11:00.004-07:00

With the official launch of the 2010 mountain bike racing season happening today in Fontana, California, we bring you some of the race bikes the elite riders will be racing this weekend. Although some of the new bikes are still under wraps until the race starts we found these beauties hanging out in the Fontana tech zone Friday.

The Cannondale Scalpel ridden by C-Dale/Incycle racer Krista Park. This ultra-lightweight ride sports a set of Stan's No Tubes ZTR Podium wheelset and the C-Dale Si crank. Park's Magura stoppers are tricked out with sexy red hydraulic hose.

Kelli Emmett's carbon Giant XTC carried her to a season opening win in Bonelli two weeks ago. With Fox 15mm thru-axle and full XTR components Emmett is poised for another fast weekend.

The women of Gary Fisher will be saddling up on 29ers this season. Irmiger and Koerber rode the big-wheeled machines to two National Championships and a podium at World's in 2009. Check out the super-sloped stem with riser bar combo on Koerber's race rig.

The Gary Fisher men will once again be on 29ers as well. This SRAM XX bike belongs to young gun Sam Schultz. The Superfly 100 still hangs in the back of the truck, no doubt waiting for the Super-D on Sunday.

Here is another bike waiting for Sunday's Super-D. The Tomac Snyper is built to eat up the rocky descents in and around Fontana

Check back later today and Sunday for full results, photos, and report from the Fontana Pro XCT

Help MTB Racer Carey Lowery Raise Money for Healthy Kids

2010-03-25T03:37:00.001-07:00

Outdoor Store/Specialized rider Carey Lowery has experienced great success as a mountain bike racer. Now she wants to use her skill as a mountain biker to give back to her community.

Lowery, a veterinarian from Athen, Tennessee, has won some big races including Transrockies, Cohutta 100, and the National Ultra Endurance series in 2007. Now she wants to use her talents as a bike racer to raise money for physical education. Make a pledge for each lap Carey completes at the upcoming Burn 24 and help support kids and physical education.

Carey Lowery outside one of the schools she will be raising money for

I first hopped onto a mountain bike 11 years ago after a back injury forced me to look for an alternative to running. I was bitten by the racing bug after competing at a local MTB race. For several years, I raced XC, but after my good friend and training partner, Zeke Lilly, suckered me into racing The Off-Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell, I entered the scene of ultra-endurance racing and never looked back.

Racing has taken me places I have never dreamed of going. I have pushed myself to my limits, stood atop the podium, and fueled that inner monster that makes me feel alive. Up until now, racing has been about me. For 2010, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to do a race and use it as a platform to raise money for a cause. There are hundreds of wonderful charitable causes. I based my choice on four things. I wanted it to be local, educational, proactive, and hit a sector of the population that cycling needs desperately.

I am going to be racing solo at The Burn 24 Hour MTB Challenge over Memorial Day weekend. This grassroots 24 hour race is in its 10th year and is the largest in the Southeast. I am using this as a platform to raise money for the physical education programs at City Park and Ingleside Elementary Schools. Both are K-3rd and educate about 700 children. My daughter, Carly, goes to City Park. This is my own personal fundraiser as there are no organized drives to raise money for this purpose. My bike shop, The Outdoor Store, is helping me in this endeavor. My goal is to raise $6000.

Lowery will be using her MTB skills to help kids learn to love exercise and make a start to a healthy lifestyle

I will be giving two educational presentations to the students. The first will focus on health, fitness, nutrition, and cycling. Sadly, the county I live in is one of the most obese in Tennessee, according to CDC studies. And Tennessee is on the podium for being one of the fattest states! My hope is that I will interest them in getting off the couch and away from TV’s and computer monitors and back outside on their bikes.

The second will focus on mountain biking and my 24 hour race. I am going to try to have pictures and video from the race to entertain the kids as well as all my gear needed for racing solo.

I will also be holding a contest for the kids. The top 3 boys and girls closest to guessing how many laps and miles I complete in 24 hours will win. As of now, I am working with The Outdoor Store, Specialized, and local businesses to give away bikes for 1st place.

I will be accepting pledges through May 29, 2010. If interested, you can e-mail me, careylowery@yahoo.com, visit my website, www.careylowery.blogspot.com, or Facebook me. I will collect the donations during the month after the race. I feel that pledges per lap versus a flat rate will give me better incentive to grind through those laps, especially during the night hours. Besides, it will give my mind an opportunity to do the math rather than dwelling on the suffering my body will be enduring.

2010-03-24T03:12:00.002-07:00

This week we hear from Eric Orton of TrainWithEric.com. Eric is an elite-level coach who trains some of the top MTB racers in the U.S. Eric is the former Director of Fitness at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, a certified Functional Training Specialist, a Certified Sports Hypnotist, and holds coaching certifications from both USA Triathlon and USA Cycling.

Question: When training for long endurance events of 4 hours or more, how do I train to keep my intensity high for that entire time. And how hard can I push myself during such a long event?

Answer: The majority of cyclists training for marathon events lasting 4 hours or longer have no trouble getting in miles or long rides. This is the most intuitive and specific training that usually occurs. But many riders will take this to the extreme, riding too long and too easy, thinking this will provide drastic improvements in their race performance. Long training rides are important, but what tends to be missing from marathon riders training repertoire is attacking the neuromuscular system to ‘improve’ the riders race pace endurance.

When a muscle becomes stronger in response to traditional endurance training, the gain in strength is usually attributed to an improvement in the size or quality of the muscle. The truth, however, is that strength upgrades can occur without any change in the muscle at all. Many upswings in strength are actually the result of alterations in the way the muscle is controlled by the NERVOUS SYSTEM. And this can lead to great gains in race performance at the marathon and ultra distances, not just in short, explosive events.

Riders like Pua Sawicki know how to keep the pace high during XC and 100 milers alike

Specifically, the nervous system can do a better job of recruiting muscle fibers and are more accomplished at stimulating muscles which aid the primary muscle in carrying out force production during a long endurance race, thus producing more forceful movements more efficiently, causing less fatigue. While this by itself does not upgrade force production, it allows forces to develop more rapidly, converting strength into power. To put it another way, if you are a strong 100 mile cyclist and your nerves learn to activate your leg muscles more quickly, you would have not only improved your strength to scale the various climbs on the race course but also the power to climb those hills and mountains very quickly.

The nervous system can also learn to activate motor units in a way which will produce not only the desired level of strength and power for your long endurance event but also the most energy-efficient production of strength and power. The nervous system enhances coordination (skill and efficiency during technical singletrack), thus conserving energy and allowing competitive levels of effort to be tolerated and sustained for longer periods of time, which is ultimately the goal for long races.

Typically neuromuscular efforts are very hard intervals ranging from 8-15 seconds in duration either done on hills and/or flat terrain. I like to take this concept and design workouts that are specific to marathon or ultra distance events, helping the cyclist improve race pace endurance and to give the rider an understanding of what an appropriate race pace is for their ability at their chosen distance.

Here is a great back to back workout for a Saturday/Sunday ride I like to assign during the Specific Training phase of the riders I coach, or during the 6-8 weeks leading up to the goal race.

Saturday: After a good warm-up of 30-50 minutes, perform 10 X 30 second hill repeats where you increase your pace as you go, nearing a max effort by the end of the 30 seconds. Take plenty of recovery after each, 2-3 minutes in length. Once you have completed this set, ride 60-90 minutes at a self-perceived steady race pace, adding a 10-15 second very hard effort every 8-10 minutes. After completing this race pace effort, finish the ride with 10 X 15 second very hard efforts with the odd numbered on hills and even numbered on flats. Again, with 2-3 minute recovery between each. Then start your warm down.

Sunday: After a good warm-up that includes several short pick-ups. Ride easy for one – three hours and then finish the ride with a 20 minute steady effort at faster than self-perceived race pace.

It is important to monitor your effort by HR and perceived exertion during your race pace effort on both days, in an effort to gain valuable knowledge to establish what is an appropriate pace for you come race day and to evaluate fueling needs.

I hope this detailed explanations peaks your interest to start training your neuromuscular system.

If you have a question for our team of mountain bike coaches please email it to info@mtbracenews.com

Todd Tanner Hosts Free Ultra-Endurance Clinic this Saturday

2010-03-22T03:30:00.004-07:00

If you've ever thought about doing a multi-day self supported epic like Colorado Trail Race or the Great Divide Race now is your chance to learn how from one of the sports best - Todd Tanner.

Todd Tanner is a man of many talents. He spent the 90s as a world cup downhill racer on the dominant specialized mtb racing team. After the turn of the century, Tanner reformed himself as a cross country grinder. Once again he rose to the top of the heap. Now Tanner has chosen to move into the realm of ultra-endurance and bike packing.

Todd Tanner racing the Solo 24 Hour World Championship with all his bike packing gear in tow

After several years of intense study and immersion, Tanner is once again perched on the pinnacle of his trade. Tanner’s skills as a bike racer are matched only by his singular focus and dedication.

In July 2009, Tanner decided to test his skills as an endurance rider and bike packer. Tanner, a resident of Eureka, Montana, decided he would ride his bike, unsupported, from his house to 24-Hour World Championships in Canmore, British Columbia. An off road trip of over 200 miles, everything he needed he carried on his bike: sleeping bag, tent, food, and everything else.

Upon arriving in Canmore Todd then raced, 24 hours, completing 14 laps and finishing an astounding 9th, with all of his bike packing gear. Once finished, in true Todd Tanner fashion, he rode home.

Tanner packed every piece of gear seen behind him over 200 miles to Canmore on his bike and then raced with it

Owner of iRide Adventures, a mountain bike touring company, Todd Tanner is sharing his expertise at a free clinic this Saturday, March 27th. Todd will speak about bike packing and endurance riding.

The clinic will be held at the home of Brad Remington in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For your chance to learn the art of bike packing and endurance riding from one of the best, RSVP by emailing todd@irideadventures.com by March 25th.

Don’t miss your chance to learn everything you need to know about bike packing from one of the best riders in the business.

The clinic will be at: #5, 4948 126th Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2Z 0A9

To read more about Todd's ride at the 2009 Solo 24 Hour World Championships click here for the race recap from the official website

Todd Tanner prepares for the 2009 Solo 24 Hour World Championship start

Tanner puts his expertise in bike packing to the test at the 24 Hour World Championship

Even with all his gear Todd Tanner descends as well as anyone.

Vision Quest, Orange County California

2010-03-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah Bishop wins the Vision Quest with a new course record. Last year's winner Manuel Prado is stopped by mechanicals. Bishop logged a scorching time of 4.45.12, almost a full 30 minutes faster than 2009's winning mark.

Well….. where to start. It is a difficult undertaking to try and describe what the Warrior Society’s “Vision Quest” means to its participants. Supported by Switchback Cyclery this is not considered a race by the promoters. It is heralded as an event to push a rider beyond weakness and overcome their adversities.

Tinker Juarez takes off from aid station #2 (photo by: Ivan Artates)

Not all listened though! Record times, despite 60 minutes, in pitch dark were set..

Perfect conditions greeted the participants on the 2010 edition of the 56 mile/11,000’ “Vision Quest” and the shorter 44 mile/8000’ little brother “Counting Coup”. Thanks to amazing trail conditions, Southern California weather and the house wives of Orange County cheering, this could have appeared to be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the competition and terrain were not as considerate, neither was the Poison Oak.

With Jeremiah Bishob, Tinker Juarez, Manuel Prado and Cameron Brenneman present, fast times at the Santa Ana Mountains were on tap. Sid Taberlay might have been a cantankerous addition to this dramatic, true mountain bike battle. None the less, this impressive group of riders took the lead on a fast start early Saturday morning.

Going through the first Aid Station it seemed to turn into a battle between Manuel Prado and Jeremiah Bishob. Barely seeing daylight before the first descent down a treacherous, loose and narrow shoot forced the riders to face their fears…..mainly of crashing down the 1800’ plunge.

Manny Prado, seen here with no chain and a flat, was forced to retire from the race due to mechanicals (photo by: Ivan Artates)

When Manny abandoned with mechanical difficulties at the base of Holy Jim, what was rumored to be two flat tires and a broken chain were ultimately his demise.

Another 3000’ plus climb leads to what is arguably one of the most fun descents in the area. Upper Holy Jim is pure joy of tight technical riding opening up to lower HJ with speeds getting up to the 30s . The brutality soon followed after the last climb of VQ’s transition to the Horsethief’s 1.5 mile Hike a Bike slice of pain. Walked by most, feared by all! The reward for this pain is the thrilling last run down Trabuco Canyon towards the finish.

No awards beyond a feather and bragging rights are given.

1st - JB 4:45 course record. (First time racing VQ. Rode 99% of the Horsethief’s hike-a-bike section)
2nd - Tinker Juarez 5:06 (First time riding VQ with a Scalpel full suspension. No headlight, and was just happy to see “something”)
3rd - Cameron Brenneman 5:15. (Has won VQ in past riding single and geared. New course record for singlespeed)
4th - Doug Andrews age 48, (the man behind GeoLadders.com)
5th - Nate Whitman 5:29. Multiple VQ veteran.
6th - Guy Sutton 5:30 (Fastest Dentist in Socal)

Third place overall, Cameron Brenneman set a new course record for singlespeeds (photo by: Ivan Artates)

Even though these blazing times and battles are an amazing story in their own right, Vision Quest tends to challenge all of us in different ways:

Tales like the one of Calvin Mulder, who in the past has run the course, decided to push his limits yet again. After completing the course on a rigid SS in 16th place overall, Calvin ran the course backwards. Next up for him, riding the Julian Death March on a fixed gear.

Mark Sheets riding on a 24” BMX bike, Troy Sladeck who at 15 years is the youngest VQ competitor.
Have you ever considered what your Vision Quest could be?

Men

1, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) 4.45.12
2, Tinker Juarez (Cannondale Factory Racing) 5.06.34
3, Cameron Brenneman - singlespeed - 5.15.48
4, Doug Andrews 5.18.57
5, Nate Whitman 5.29.37
6, Guy Sutton 5.30.42
7, Tim Zandbergen
8, Eric Schuda
9, Jason Rusnak
10, Ryan Clark
11, Charly Kemp
12, Andy McSorley
13, Craig Ames
14, James Walsh
15, Adam Galland
16, Calvin Mulder
17, Michael Caffrey
18, Marc Kase
19, Jeff Resnick
20, Rob McGee
21, Jens Raz (iRide Adventures/MTBRaceNews.com)

Women

1, Christine Gray 8.09.50

Counting Coup Results

Men

1, Danny Munoz 3.53.47 (course record)
2, John Flagg 4.35.46
3, Rich Merrick 4.44.15
4, Jerry Chen - singlespeed - 4.46.19
5, Sjon McGookin 4.47.35

Women

1, Heidi Volpe 4.57.50

Stage 1: ABSA Cape Epic - South Africa

2010-03-21T08:28:00.002-07:00

Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata of team MTN Quebeka win stage one of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Diemersfontein Wine estate, Wellington, to Ceres in the Western Cape, South Africa on the 21 March 2010
Photo by Nick Muzik/SPORTZPICS

Burry Stander of team Songo Info during stage one of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Diemersfontein Wine estate, Wellington, to Ceres in the Western Cape, South Africa on the 21 March 2010
Photo by Ron Gaunt/SPORTZPICS

Stage winner Kevin Evans leads through a water crossing in the Watervalberg area during stage one of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Diemersfontein Wine estate, Wellington, to Ceres in the Western Cape, South Africa on the 21 March 2010
Photo by Gary Perkin/SPORTZPICS

The lead bunch climb towards Watervalberg during stage one of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Diemersfontein Wine estate, Wellington, to Ceres in the Western Cape, South Africa on the 21 March 2010
Photo by Gary Perkin/SPORTZPICS

The lead bunch descend the Bain's Kloof pass during stage one of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Diemersfontein Wine estate, Wellington, to Ceres in the Western Cape, South Africa on the 21 March 2010
Photo by Gary Perkin/SPORTZPICS

Not So Fast with Brian Hester

2010-03-18T03:06:00.002-07:00

Not So Fast

MTB Race News took self-described regular guy, Brian Hester, and dropped him into a serious training program with 19 Sports in Park City, Utah, to see if they could take him from zero to hero. Join us and watch Brian's progress throughout the season.

Brian putting it together on the St. George rock

Brian:
Last weekend was not only the season opener for the Utah XC season in St. George - it was also my first XC race in four years. I had a full 6 weeks of training with 19 Sports under my belt and high hopes for a solid race. Despite my long hiatus, I felt great. The weather was perfect and the fields were large. I couldn’t wait to get started.

My trainer laid out a warm up regimen for the race that consisted of 20 minutes easy, 5 x 1 minute on 1 minute off intervals at a hard pace, then 10 minutes at a moderate pace. It seemed a little too hard for a warm up but I’m trying to follow the plan as closely as possible. Feeling completely warmed up and ready to race, I got on line for the start.

The regular guy gets ready for the race

First the Pros took off at what looked to be a blistering pace. I was briefly happy to not be in that group. Next up were 20 to 29 experts and one minute later my group (30 to 39 experts) started the 1/4- mile sprint to the singletrack. My warm up really paid off here as I easily sat in 5th as we hit the trail.

It was not until the first climb that I realized that my fitness was good… but not as good as everyone else’s. Riders were easily overtaking me going up and I would get a few back on the downhills and tricky fast flats. It was the same for all three laps. My goal was to finish in 1:40:00 and I ended up at 1:34:25. Not bad, I thought, until I saw the results. My time was good for 26th place out of 36 riders in my class. Suck!!!

On Monday, I resumed my training schedule. Time and effort on the bike will be increasing over the next month so hopefully I can improve my speed and endurance before the next race. Stay tuned!

2010-03-17T03:27:00.004-07:00

This week our question goes to Namrita O'Dea. A licensed dietitian and member of the Topeak/Ergon racing team, O'Dea helps riders fine tune their bodies for maximum performance through her business 55 Nine Performance Nutrition.

Question: I did a couple of 100-milers last year and had trouble with bonking. Someone told me that in a race that long you need to change the kind of sugars you are ingesting because your body slows processing it if you stick to only one. Basically, you could still be eating but your stomach has shut off. Is that true? And what do you recommend for feeding during a long endurance MTB race.

Carbohydrates, electrolytes (mainly sodium), and fluid are the three most important things to replace during an endurance race. The amount and the timing of intake are important to ensure that you are digesting, absorbing, and delivering nutrients in a timely manner, without any distress on your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

If you are using a sports drink, it should be around 6-8% carbohydrate (approximately 30-60 grams per hour, or 120-240 calories per hour). Going above 8% carbohydrate may slow the emptying of fluids from your stomach (gastric emptying). Drinks of >10% carbohydrate can cause symptoms of dehydration and GI distress. Any of these can cause the feeling of your stomach “shutting down.”

Glucose, sucrose, and complex carbohydrates (glucose polymers) are all effective, but a blend of glucose and fructose may be better utilized during exercise. Studies have shown 20-50% higher carbohydrate oxidation rates when a mixture of glucose-fructose is used, compared to glucose alone. You will find that most sports nutrition products are formulated with a blend of carbohydrates. Fructose should not be the predominant carbohydrate, though, as it can also cause GI distress.

Generally, the goal is to replace as much fluid as you can tolerate without any GI discomfort, up to the rate of your sweat loss. Rate of sweat loss can be determined by checking pre- and post- exercise body weight. One pound of weight loss = 16 oz of fluid.

There still isn’t any specific recommendation on sodium replacement as needs likely vary between individuals. So, it’s a good idea to experiment with this during training. Some people lose more salt in their sweat than others do, but it is not yet clear if these individuals need to replace more sodium to compensate for their increased losses.

During a long race, intake should be steady, every 15 to 20 minutes, to maintain nutrition without overloading your digestive system. Most people do well with 200-300 calories per hour. And, when possible, your race-specific nutrition strategy should be developed while training in similar conditions. Just as you train with specificity, you want to develop your nutrition plan with specificity.

If you have a question you would like our team of elite-level coaches to answer email it to info@mtbracenews.com

US Cup Triple Crown -- Bonelli Park, California -- Super-D and Overall Results

2010-03-15T19:43:00.005-07:00

Super-D and Triple Crown Results

Men's Overall Podium

Women's Overall Podium

Pro Women

1,SAWICKI PUA
2,EMMETT KELLI
3,BYBERG LENE
4,MANN ALLISON
5,FORSMAN CHLOE
6,PARK KRISTA
7,SHERWOOD KAY

Pro Men

1,PLAXTON MAX
2,KABUSH GEOFF
3,WEBER DANA
4,HORGAN-KOBELS JEREMY
5,TABERLAY SID
6,MORKA ADAM
7,7WELLS TODD
8,SCHULTZ SAM
9,9PRADO MANUEL
10,SCHULTZ ANDY
11,SAGER JASON
12,SNEDDON KRIS
13,GLASSFORD PETER
14,TREBON RYAN
15,CARES COLIN
16,SNYDER ADAM
17,BRADFORD AARON
18,BIERMAN ERIC
19,FORCINO ROMOLO
20,WOODRUFF TJ
21,SIEGLE JASON
22,HERRERA JEFF
23,LOMBARDI VINCENT
24,BISHOP JEREMIAH
25,DOWNING TREVOR
26,FINSTERWALD RUSSELL
27,BYROM NATE
28,BEATON MATTHEW
29,PLEWS EVAN
30, LA BAR RYAN
31,ELLIOTT TAD
32,HOLCOMB NOAH
33,SCHNEIDER JOE
34,HERMON DEREK

Bonelli Triple Crown Overall Results

Pro Men

1, PLAXTON MAX
2,TABERLAY SID
3,KABUSH GEOFF

Pro Women

1, EMMETT KELLI
2, BYBERG LENE
3, SAWICKI PUA

US Cup Triple Crown -- Bonelli Park, California -- Short Track XC

2010-03-15T19:03:00.004-07:00

Bonelli Park Short Track XC Pictures and Results

Geoff Kabush leads the men's paceline

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski starts to shake things up with an attack

With JHK back in the mix Taberlay keeps his eye on the competition

Taberlay leads the bunch across the line to claim back-to-back wins for Sho-Air/Specialized

Kelli Emmett gets the hole shot at the start of the women's race

Pua Sawicki stays in the mix during the women's STXC

Women's STXC podium with Chloe Forsman, Lene Byberg, Heather Irmiger, Kelli Emmett, and Pua Sawicki (left to right)

Short Track XC Results

Pro Women

1,IRMIGER HEATHER
2,BYBERG LENE
3,EMMETT KELLI
4,FORSMAN CHLOE
5,SAWICKI PUA
6,NEBEN AMBER
7,MANN ALLISON
8,PARK KRISTA
9,SHERWOOD KAY

Pro Men

1, TABERLAY SID
2,WELLS TODD
3,HORGAN-KOBELSKI JEREMY
4,BISHOP JEREMIAH
5,PLAXTON MAX
6,SCHULTZ SAM
7,KABUSH GEOFF
8,MORKA ADAM
9,WICKS BARRY
10,SAGER JASON
11,SNEDDON KRIS
12,FINSTERWALD RUSSELL
13,GLASSFORD PETER
14,ELLIOTT TAD
15,PRADO MANUEL
16,HERRERA JEFF
17,WOODRUFF TJ
18,CARES COLIN
19,ETTINGER STEPHEN
20,WEBER DANA
21,SCHULTZ ANDY
22,BIERMAN ERIC
23,TREBON RYAN
24,SNYDER ADAM
25,SIEGLE JASON
26,BEATON MATTHEW
27,DOWNING TREVOR
28,FORCINO ROMOLO
29,LOMBARDI VINCENT
30BYROM NATE
31,SCHNEIDER JOE
32,VERTICAN GARNET
33,KELLY JOSH
34,STOEHR CHAD
35,HERMON DEREK
36,PLEWS EVAN

US Cup Triple Crown -- Bonelli Park, California

2010-03-14T17:24:00.008-07:00

Photos by: Danny Munson see more at dmunsonphoto.com

The 2010 racing season is officially upon us. With the opening race of the US Cup Triple Crown presented by H2Overdrive, the mountain biking public enjoyed the first Pro-level mountain bike event of the new year.

Sid Taberlay leads Geoff Kabush

Scott Tedro and the US Cup crew have been working hard this offseason to put together a rewarding and high-level series of events for the mountain biking public. They unveiled the first of the three races this weekend in Bonelli Park, California.
After a week of cold temperatures and rain the weather held off for the inaugural Triple Crown cross country on Saturday. The Pro fields were smaller than your average National Championship level event but stacked with top-ranked competition.

The men’s field included big guns like Geoff Kabush, National Champion Jeremy Horgan –Kobelski, youngster Sam Schultz, Todd Wells, Jeremiah Bishop and his Cannondale teammate Tinker Juarez, and of course the Sho-Air squad featuring Sid Taberlay, Max Plaxton, Manny Prado, and newcomer Tad Elliot.

With sizable cash on the line, these huge motors would be battling hard to reach the finish line first. As usual things got off to a fast start, with the group splitting and reforming several times throughout the opening laps.

At the halfway point Kabush, JHK, Wells, Schultz, Plaxton, and Taberlay all remained at the front with no room in between. Finally, with two laps to go, Plaxton broke clear of the bunch. Quickly getting a lead of 20 seconds on the chasers.

Taberlay was not about to chase down his teammate so it was up to Kabush to try and pull his countryman back.

Kabush and Taberlay changing wheels on the final lap (photo by Todd Park)

Disaster struck on the final lap when both Taberlay and Kabush flatted virtually ending the chase. Both riders lost spots but Taberlay had clearly been holding back. After the flat and a slightly hectic wheel change, the Aussie put down an outstanding final lap moving back into the second spot.

Max Plaxton charging toward the victory

Eventually Plaxton would take the win by less than a minute over his teammate who just squeaked in front of Subaru/ Gary Fisher man Sam Schultz. Kabush crossed the line a mere 3 seconds behind Schultz with Todd Wells another 11 seconds back.

The small but stacked women's field (photo by Todd Park)

In the women’s race just 11 riders took the start. But the small field included National Champion Heather Irmiger, Kelli Emmett, Pua Sawicki, World Class roadie Amber Neben, ’09 Bonelli winner Krista Park, and Lene Byberg.

The women would complete 5 laps of the 4-mile course. In the early laps, Pua Sawicki put the hammer down and took the early lead. Byberg and Emmett stayed close followed by Irmiger and Rock n Road Cyclery rider Allison Mann putting in a solid performance.

Lene Byberg challenges for the win

By the midway point Byberg had taken the top spot with Emmett still close behind. Irmiger continued to tap out a consistent cadence just behind. As the laps wound down it was clearly shaping up to be a close race between Byberg and Emmett. The two stayed wheel to wheel and entered the finish stretch locked together. Both riders kicked with all they had with Emmett gritting her teeth to cross the line first.

With the cross country complete riders will have to wait for the official winner of the Bonelli Park Triple Crown to be announced. Riders will have to contest a short track and Super-D event on Sunday before the winner is ultimately decided.

Stay tuned to MTBRaceNews.com for the latest results from Bonelli.

Race Notes:

Chloe Forsman back with Tokyo Joe's

Former U-23 National Champion Chloe Forsman made her national debut this weekend riding for the Tokyo Joes team

Juarez still in the mix

42 year old Tinker Juarez finished 11th in a stacked men’s field

Full Results from Bonelli Park, US Cup Triple Crown

2010-03-13T20:01:00.003-07:00

Pro Women

1, Kelli Emmett (Giant) 1.33.21
2, Lene Byberg (Specialized) 1.33.22
3, Pua Sawicki (Okolstuff.com) 1.34.12
4, Allison Mann (Rock N Road Cyclery) 1.36.53
5, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 1.37.53
6, Amber Neben
7, Chloe Forsman (Tokyo Joe's)
8, Krista Park (Incycle/Cannondale)
9, Anna Fortner (Socal Cross Cycle)
10, Kay Sherwood (Tokyo Joes)
DNF Rebecca Tomaszewski (NinerErgon)

Pro Men

1, PLAXTON MAX (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.35.35
2,TABERLAY SID (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.36.26
3,SCHULTZ SAM (Gary Fisher/Subaru) 1.36.28
4,KABUSH GEOFF (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain) 1.36.31
5,WELLS TODD (Specialized) 1.36.42
6,MORKA ADAM (Trek Canada) 1.36.59
7,BISHOP JEREMIAH (Cannondale Factory Racing) 1.37.06
8,HORGAN-KOBELS JEREMY (Gary Fisher/Subaru) 1.38.22
9,WICKS BARRY (Kona) 1.39.04
10,GLASSFORD PETER 1.39.05
11,JUAREZ DAVID (TINKER) (Cannondale) 1.39.25
12, TREBON RYAN (Kona) 1.39.51
13,PRADO MANUEL (Sho-Air/Specialized) 1.40.43
14,WOODRUFF TJ (Trek Bicycles Boulder) 1.40.48
15,SNEDDON KRIS (Kona) 1.40.53
16,FINSTERWALD RUSSELL (Gary Fisher/Subaru) 1.41.36
17,SCHULTZ ANDY (Kenda/Felt) 1.41.59
18,SAGER JASON (Jamis) 1.42.43
19,HOKE MITCHELL (Tokyo Joes) 1.43.13
20,ETTINGER STEPHEN (Mafia/Felt/PBR) 1.43.54
21,CARES COLIN
22,LOMBARDI VINCENT
23,VALADEZ MIGUEL
24,WEBER DANA
25,ELLIOTT TAD
26,SNYDER ADAM
27,BRADFORD AARON
28,PLEWS EVAN
29,FORCINO ROMOLO
30,WHITMAN NATE
31,DONOVAN SEAN
32,ANDREWS DOUG
33,HERRERA JEFF
34,SIEGLE JASON
35,PRENZLOW BRENT
36,BEATON MATTHEW
37,BOONE ALEX
38,COCHRAN MATTHEW
39,FREIWALD PAUL
40,BIERMAN ERIC
41,OBRIEN TOM
42,JENKINS CHARLES
43,JACOBS RANDALL
44,DOWNING TREVOR
45,CONNORS MATTHEW
46,NAG NITISH
47,STOEHR CHAD
48,FREEMAN MATT
49,BYROM NATE
50,SCHNEIDER JOE
51,HEINRICH CHRIS
52,HERMON DEREK
53,KOERNER TOM

US Cup Triple Crown Update: Bonelli Park, California

2010-03-13T16:25:00.007-07:00

At the halfway point this is where everything stands:

In the women's event Lene Byberg (Specialized) is out front with Kelli Emmett (Giant) just behind. Then comes Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com), Allison Mann (Rock n Road Cyclery), and Heather Irmiger (Gary Fisher) rounding out the top-5.

After three of six laps the men have formed a large group at the front of the race with Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Gary Fisher), and Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain) leading a pack containing Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air), Jeremiah Bishop (CFR), and Sam Schultz (Gary Fisher).

With one lap to go:

Byberg maintains the lead in the women's race.

In the men's race, Sho-Air rider Max Plaxton attacked with two laps to go. He has increased his lead heading into the final lap. Taberlay and Kabush both stopped in the pits for a wheel change.

Final Results:

Canadian Max Plaxton continues the Sho-Air domination of the US Cup taking first. His teammate Aussie Sid Taberlay comes in second after a mechanical with one lap to go. Gary Fisher rider Sam Schultz took third followed by Geoff Kabush and Specialized man Todd Wells.

The women's race ended in a sprint finish with Kelli Emmett crossing the line just in front of Lene Byberg to take the win. Pua Sawicki finished third in front of Allison Mann and National Champion Heather Irmiger.

More to come...

H2O Overdrive Triple Crown-Bonelli Park Pre View

2010-03-12T20:40:00.004-07:00

On the eve of the inaugural H2O Overdrive Triple Crown opener at Bonelli Park, things are shaping up to be a fantastic event.

Start of the 2009 Bonelli US Cup cross country event this season will include a short track and Super-D

The US Cup staff has been putting in the final touches on what has been hundred of man hours of re designing the Bonelli Park course.

Sunny skies and mild temps are on tap for the weekend, as the snow-capped San Gabriel’s set a perfect back drop to the Southern California venue.

Pro XC Course: The H2O Overdrive Pro cross country course features a four mile loop, with six hundred plus feet of climbing per lap. There will be the addition of a special start loop used on the first lap only, to let the pack sort itself out, and hopefully help alleviate the all too often bottle neck, and subsequent hike-a-bike that follows.

New singletrack, bridge crossings, steep punchy climbs and shaded switchbacks should be a welcomed site for riders and spectators, a far cry from the normal dusty fire roads that most people associate with a Southern California urban venue.

Rocky climb with dual racing lines

Pro men will do six laps, and women are slated for 5. The course is expected to get faster over the weekend, as the course packs down and dry’s out from the recent rains. Lap times look to be in the 15-17 minute range, making for a very spectator and media friendly course.

The players: In only its first year, the H2O Overdrive Triple Crown is drawing some of the world’s top tier talent, with riders like World Cup winner Geoff Kabush and Silver World Medalist Lene Byberg slated to attend. Both Kabush and Byberg will have heavy competition, as the men and women both go for a potential $20,000 dollar combined pro purse.

Other notables include Sho-Air/Specialized riders Sid Taberlay, Max Plaxton, Tad Elliot and Manny Prado. Gary Fisher/Subaru sends out Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Sam Schultz and Heather Irmiger, who were voted North American team of the year for 2009. The Kona team sends out Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks, and Specialized Factory rider Todd Wells is expected to be in the mix all weekend as well. Canada’s Adam Morka makes the trip down to test his early season form, as well as a host of the nation’s fastest men and women racers. The 2009 Bonelli event was won by Krista Park (Incycle/Cannondale) and Sid Taberlay.

The format: Saturday will be the H2O Overdrive XC race, while Sunday the riders will complete the Triple Crown event with a Short Track race and a Super D TT that will crown the first winner of the season.

Singletrack on the backside of the course. The San Gabriel mountains can be seen in the background

News Flash -- 2010 24 Hour National Championship Venue Announced

2010-03-12T06:44:00.004-07:00

USA Cycling has officially announced that the 2010 24 Hour National Championships will be held at 24 Hours of Moab on October 9-10.

The USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships were originally scheduled to take place alongside the 24-Hours of Big Bear in Hazelton, W. Va., June 12-13. However, due to financial concerns, 24-Hour Race Series promoter Laird Knight cancelled the 2010 edition of the West Virginia race.

In its second year being hosted by the 24-Hours of Moab, the USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships will award national titles in fifteen different categories: Male and Female Solo, Single speed, Duo, 4-person team, Junior 4-person team, Master 4-person team 35+, Master 4-person team 45+, as well as Mixed Duo.

Help Yeti Betis, Buy a Coffee Mug/ Felt Extends Support of Mafia Racing

2010-03-12T03:32:00.002-07:00

Team Yeti Beti, an all women's mountain bike race team based in Lakewood, CO, is selling swanky travel mugs as a fundraiser for the team. Unlike selling Girl Scout cookies, the mugs will not only last more than a day, they will bring a smile to your face every morning. They are great enhancement to your caffeinated (or decaffeinated) morning. The mugs are stainless steel inside and out, double insulated wall, with an additional rubber grip for those slippery mornings.

Swanky!

All team funds are distributed equally among the 10 riders to help subsidize the cost of racing.

Get yours today and thank you for the support!
www.yetibeti.com under "Events"

Team Yeti Beti

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Colorado-based off-road team strengthens its roster with new national-level talent

Felt Bicycles is proud to announce it is continuing its sponsorship of the Mafia Racing off-road team in 2010. The Colorado-based Mafia Racing program started in 2007 and has grown each year to extend its reach to the national level while still remaining true to its grassroots community-based focus.

Joining the Mafia team this year are former Under-23 National Champion Sam Jurekovic of Colorado and three-time Utah State Cross-country champion Kathy Sherwin. Also new to the team this year is Tristan Schouten, a versatile road and cross-country rider and also a standout cyclocross racer, winning the 2010 Wisconsin state cyclo-cross champion and placing top-10 at the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross’ Planet Bike Cup.

Returning to Mafia Racing in 2010 is Becca Blay, who had a strong 2009 season, finishing fourth in the Mountain States Cup and finishing in the top-20 at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Nationals in Granby, Colorado, last summer. Also back with the team is Jake Wells, whose strong 2009 cyclo-cross season culminated with a 12th place finish at the U.S. National Championships in Bend, Oregon. And finally, Seth Wealing will continue representing Mafia at XTERRA competitions. Wealing is a perennial favorite and former national champion in the off-road multisport competition series.

“We’re excited to be continuing our support of the Mafia Racing program in 2010,” said Jim Felt, the company namesake of Felt Bicycles. “It’s a unique program that accomplishes a lot with both its racing results and its community outreach efforts. Felt shares those same values, and this continues to be a great partnership.”

Mafia Racing athletes will compete on a variety of Felt mountain bikes and cyclo-cross bikes in 2010, including Nine series cross-country bikes, which set the standard in competitive 29-inch-wheel hardtails. They’ll also race the Virtue series full-suspension bikes, featuring Felt’s award-winning Equilink rear suspension, and the FX series cyclo-cross bikes.

“The goal of the Mafia Racing program is to inspire individuals to become more active in their communities,” said team director David Janowiec. “To reach out to people wherever we go and inspire them to incorporate health, the arts, culture, sustainability and creativity into their lives.”

Other Mafia Racing team partners include Pabst Blue Ribbon, Shimano, DT Swiss, Pearl Izumi, Skull Candy, Silverback Music, Nooka, GoFast, GU Sports, Nuun, Squirt Lube, Rudy Project, The TopShelf Lab, and Human Movement Management.

2010 MAFIA RACING PRO ROSTER
Andy Rigel (Seattle, WA), cross-country
Becca Blay (Boulder, CO), cross-country, cyclocross
Bradford Perley (Banner Elk, NC), cross-country, cyclocross
Dylan Stucki (Gunnison, CO), cross-country
Jake Wells (Avon, CO), cross-country, cyclocross
Jan Koles (Winter Park, CO), road, cross-country, cyclocross
Jared Berg (Louisville, CO), cross-country
Kari Studley (Bothell, WA), cross-country, cyclocross
Kate Scheider (Boulder, CO), road, cross-country, cyclocross
Kathy Sherwin (Heber City, UT), cross-country
Lindsey Bishop (Boulder, CO), road, cross-country, cyclocross
Meghan Korol (Madison, WI), cross-country, super-d, cyclocross
Sam Jurekovic (Jackson Hole, WY), cross-country
Seth Wealing (Boulder, CO), Xterra triathlon, cross-country
Spencer Powlison (Boulder, CO), cross-country, super-d, cyclocross
Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, WA), cross-country
Trevor Downing (Durango, CO), cross-country
Tristan Schouten (Plymouth, WI), road, cross-country, cyclocross

News Flash: 24 Hour National Championships in West Virginia Cancelled for 2010

2010-03-10T18:47:00.004-07:00

This year's 24 Hour National Championship was scheduled to be held June 12-13 in Big Bear, West Virginia. The National Championships was to be held in conjunction with the 24 Hours of Big Bear, a race promoted by Granny Gear Productions.

Spokes Magazine is reporting that Granny Gear director Laird Knight has decided to cancel this year's race siting difficulties obtaining sponsorship and low attendance at the West Virginia event.

Josh Tostado on the podium at the 24 Hours of Moab

The 2009 24 Hour National Championships were held in Moab, Utah as part of the 24 Hours of Moab, also a Granny Gear event. The Moab race was chosen only after the original venue in Payson, Arizona was cancelled in February of that year. The 2009 National Championship was won by Colorado racers Josh Tostado and Eszter Horanyi.

Does this mean the '10 National Championship will once again be held in Moab? It is still unknown. After the previous year's last minute rescheduling, USA Cycling seems to have allied itself with Granny Gear Productions to host it's National Championship event. Because Knight has chosen to cancel the West Virginia event and 24 Hour of Nine Mile in Wisconsin, Moab seems to be the last resort. Check back with MTB Race News for the latest information from USA Cycling and more breaking news.

2010-03-10T03:08:00.001-07:00

Question: Alison, throughout your career you have been great at peaking for the big races whether it's National Champions or the Worlds. How can I time my fitness to peak at just the right time?

Peaking for the Big Race

Being able to peak for the “big race” is one of the hardest things to do in cycling. Even after 20 years of racing I still had races that didn’t go well after doing everything perfectly to get ready. There are things you can do, however, to improve your chances of having that “perfect” day at the most important race of the season.

Peaking for a race begins months earlier in the off-season. This is the time when athletes sit down and plan out their entire race season. Most cyclists know that they can’t physically race at their best from March through September, so most will prioritize their races by order of importance. Once a rider has established which races are the most important, she can then build her schedule around those particular events.

Designing a training schedule that brings you to your most important race in peak form takes years of experience and a little luck. Based on what kind of race you are peaking for, you’ll want to design your training so that the month before you’re doing the most race specific training possible; workouts that are most similar to the kind of race you’re doing. For example, if you are peaking for the Cyclocross National Championships in December, it doesn’t make sense to do 4hr endurance rides the month before your race. You instead need to be doing lots of short intense anaerobic power workouts.

It is also important to reach your peak event in not only super fantastic race shape, but rested and mentally motivated. You can use something called a “taper” in the weeks leading up to your big event. A taper is a way to maintain intensity and peak race fitness, while allowing your body to rest and recover at the same time. A taper typically lasts 1-2 weeks, depending on the athlete. In a taper the intensity stays high, but the volume goes way down. You can still do high intensity workouts leading up to your big race, but don’t add any extra mileage during your taper. You are basically doing short interval workouts and nothing else other than recovery rides. And skip the big weekend group rides as well during your taper.

The last two days before your event are the most important and can also be the most challenging. In these two days you need to make sure you are 100% rested, but also 100% opened up and ready to race. If you’ve had a few easy days leading up to your event, it is super important to get the legs “opened up” before your race. Pre-race openers can be done 1-2 days before your event and involve maybe some tempo riding and then some short, high intensity efforts. If you are doing a mountain bike or cyclocross race, your pre-race openers can be done on the course.

On race day it is super important to get a good solid warm-up before your event. I recommend doing a combination of endurance and tempo and then finish with some short high intensity efforts as close to the start as possible. In general, the longer your event, the shorter and less intense your warm-up needs to be. For example, if you are warming up for a 24hr solo race, it doesn’t make sense to do a bunch of vo2 intervals.

We all know there is a lot more that goes into having a good race than just fitness. There can be crashes, weather, and mechanicals that unfortunately affect the outcome. Coming into your most important race in peak fitness will give you the confidence to handle not only the physical stress of the race, but any unexpected bad luck that might derail your effort. When you cross the finish line you want to know that you did absolutely everything possible to have your best day. Don’t have any doubts or “what ifs”. The athlete that wins the big one is the athlete that is the most prepared.

Good luck and happy trails!

Alison

Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

Results, Report, and Photos -- Intermountain Cup #1: St. George, Utah

2010-03-06T17:50:00.006-07:00

Once again the threatening early forecast for this weekend’s race failed to materialize. Fortunately, some of the most exciting racing in Utah Intermountain Cup history blew in just as predicted.

Men's podium Alex Grant, Burke Swindelhurst, Bart Gillespie, and Chris Holley (left to right) 4th place Rob Squire not pictured

Large fields were the norm for all categories with the Pro men boasting an impressive field 33 strong. The Pro women put 8 of the fastest women in Utah on the start line.

The women’s event started with a burst from top-ranked national rider Kathy Sherwin (Mafia Racing). In normal fashion Sherwin powered to the front and pulled the group along the opening road and toward the first technical climb of the day.
Once into the technical climbing, Lynda Wallenfels (LW Coaching) took a shot at the lead.Once out front the 24-Hour Singlespeed National Champion used her finely tuned handling skills to open up some breathing room on the group.

Sherwin stayed strong in second place with KC Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew), Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse), and Jen Hanks (Revolution/Peak Fastners) battling behind.

Throughout the 6-mile rock-strewn course, Wallenfels continued to put time between her and her nearest challengers. On her final lap the LW Coaching rider could be heard encouraging the other racers on the course as she passed at one point making her way past several of the Pro men who started minutes in front.

By the finish Wallenfels was 5 minutes clear of the field with Sherwin crossing the line comfortably in second. Third place went to KC Holley who used technical climbing skills to hold off Kaufmann who stayed close by powering through the open sections of the trail. At the finish the two riders were separated by less than 30 seconds. Jen Hanks crossed the line in fifth less than a minute behind Kaufmann.

Sarah Kaufmann, Kathy Sherwin, Lynda Wallenfels, KC Holley, and Jen Hanks (left to right)

The men’s event may have been a coming of age of sorts for Pro MTB racing in Utah. After years of slowly growing fields and deeper talent this weekend’s race was the pinnacle of that progress. Thirty-three of the state’s top riders took the start with names like Alex Grant (Cannondale), Bart Gillespie (Cannondale), Rob Squire (Jamis), Jason Sager (Jamis), Adam Snyder (Jamis), Burke Swindelhurst (Team Give), and Chris Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew), all vying for the top spot.

From the start it looked to be a show down between the Jamis and Cannondale teams. Adam Snyder led into the opening singletrack with his teammates Sager and Rob Squire close behind. Grant and Gillespie from Cannondale were still in the mix and quickly took the lead establishing themselves at the front of the pack.

Grant and Gillespie worked at the front getting clear by 20 seconds. On the second lap Snyder fell victim to mechanical while Squire and Swindlehurst stayed close to the leaders.

By the third lap of four, Swindelhurst had bridged to the leaders and launched an attack on the final section of doubletrack climb on the lap. Grant and Gillespie closed back down on the new race leader in the technical descent ending the third lap.
Again on the flat doubletrack Swindelhurst attacked again. This time the Cannondale duo couldn’t respond. Swindelhurst had too much speed in his legs and he held his gap through the final lap crossing the line 20 seconds ahead of Grant.

Gillespie took third just 15 seconds behind his teammate. 19 year-old wunderkid Rob Squire picked up right where he left off last season. Squire rode a strong race taking fourth just 38 seconds behind the veteran Gillespie.

Gary Fisher rider Chris Holley proved once again that you don’t have to have a great start to finish on the podium. After the opening road section Holley was toward the end of the 30-plus rider field. He battled throughout the race slowly making his way all the way to fifth by the finish.

Race Notes

The large turn out and fast course led to tremendous frustration among the racers as over 200 riders were battling on course at the same time. “It was really frustrating” commented Cannondale rider Alex Grant, “ we spent most of the race off the side of the course trying to pass people.” Indeed, many of the racers were disappointed with the conditions on course saying they were either passing lapped traffic or being passed all throughout the race.

Results

Pro Men

1, Burke Swindelhurst (Team Give) 1.43.46
2, Alex Grant (Cannondale) 1.44.06
3, Bart Gillespie (Cannondale) 1.44.21
4, Rob Squire (Jamis) 1.44.59
5, Chris Holley (Gray Fisher 29er Crew) 1.45.59
6, Jason Sager (Jamis)
7, Tom Bender (Kuhl/Specialized)
8, Scott Allen (Canyon Cycles)
9, Jake Pantone (Edge)
10, Rich Abbott (Rveolution/Peak Fasteners)
11, Kevin Day (Kuhl/Specialized)
12, Brent Steinberg (Gary Fisher 29er Crew)
13, Mitchell Peterson (Cannondale)
14, Dylan Cirulis
15, Geoff Montague
16, Danny Van Wagner
17, Zac Ramras (Ski Utah)
18, Dan Nelson (Racers Cycle Service)
19, Matt Ohran (Cannondale)
20, Shannon Boffeli (i Ride Adventures/MTB Race News.com)
21, Keegan Swenson (Cole Sport)
22, Brent Pontius
23, Taylor Foss
24, Brandon Firth
25, Ryan Krusemark
26, Tanner Cottle
27, Reed Wycoff
DNF Brian Tolbert
DNF Adam Snyder

Pro Women

1, Lynda Wallenfels (LW Coaching) 1.25.35
2, Kathy Sherwin (Mafia Cycles) 1.30.17
3, KC Holley (Gary Fisher 29er Crew) 1.34.14
4, Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/ Roaring Mouse) 1.34.38
5, Jen Hanks (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 1.35.27
6, Joey Lythgoe (Kuhl/Specialized)
7, Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)

Not So Fast with Brian Hester

2010-03-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

After 6 Weeks My First Race Is Here

19 Sports located at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah

For the past 6 weeks I have been training with the folks at 19 Sports in an attempt to turn my whoa into go. For those who didn’t read the first installment of this series, 19 Sports www.nineteensports.com offers 8-week classes on a Computrainer with the goal of increasing power and overall fitness. In addition to the classes, the 19 Sports team set me up with a training schedule that details each day’s efforts on and off the bike.

The month of February was scheduled to get me ready for the Intermountain Cup season opener this weekend in St George, Utah. On average, I spent around 12.5 hours a week riding, hiking, running, playing racquetball, weight lifting, and even some yoga. My training plan had me doing easy days, moderate days with a few hard efforts, and impossibly hard days.

There is no coasting on the Computrainer

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I attended 70-minute Computrainer classes at 19 Sports. Each class focuses on a different type of riding. My favorite (said with heavy sarcasm) is the slow cadence riding in a huge gear with increasing tension from the Computrainer. It’s designed to build muscle and power in my legs. After an hour and three hard intervals my legs felt like bricks. All of the classes were hard. 19 Sports claims a 70-minute class is like riding outside for 2.5 hours. No doubt it’s hard, but I don’t think it’s quite that difficult. I usually rode outside for an hour or two after the class.

Is all this work paying off? I retook the 40-minute initial test and my watts have improved from an average of 189 to 223 or about 15% better. I must be doing something right but I won’t know for sure until race day. Check back to see if I can keep up with the 30-39 experts on Saturday.

The Virginia Off Road Series vs. Mother Nature/Training Tips From Racing Superstar Sue Haywood

2010-03-03T21:23:00.008-07:00

Last week, The Virginia Off Road Series race at Camp Hilbert, March 7th, was postponed due to the rough winter Virginia has experienced. After much thought, the decision was based on the current trail conditions at the venue and to give athletes adequate notice. The new date for Camp Hilbert will be April 11, 2010. All registrations will be moved to the new date.

The Virginia Off Road Series will kick off on March 28 at the Blue Ridge School’s ‘Ride the Ridge’. This event is known for its challenging ascents/descents. Ride the Ridge is more than a tough race. It’s also for a great cause. All proceeds from Ride the Ridge go to benefit the World Bicycle Relief. So get ready to race, the startline is getting closer all the time!

Don’t let Mother Nature believe she won this one. VORS doesn’t give up easily. We have recently announced the VORS PayDirt Program. PayDirt gives competitors the ability to earn VORS points while working on our trails around the state. Trail Advocacy groups around the state are encouraged to contact us with their projects. This weekend, CAMBC (Charlottesville) will be offering two days of trailwork projects around the Charlottesville area. Stop by the Virginia Off Road Series website for all the details on the PayDirt Program. So Mother Nature thinks she got us. She’s wrong. Mother Nature has created more ways for VORS athletes to score points!

One last incredible announcement: Sue Haywood ‘Year of the Tigress’!

One of the all-time best female mountain bikers (seen here on the top of the '09 Shenandoah 100 podium) has written a column for the Virginia Off Road Series. Haywood's column gives female athletes insight for better training and motivation. Her new column was just released today. Her words will put a little more motivation into all our pedal strokes! Click Here to read Sue Haywood's "Year of the Tigress" column.

Woody Elliott
Director
-The Virginia Off Road Series-

2010-03-03T03:49:00.002-07:00

Question: I am doing a 24 hour solo race and am hoping to be competitive. How should I pace myself?

Answer: Oooh, this is a big thorny question! 24 hours is a long time to be racing your bike, and the answer to this question contains more than 24 hours worth of variables. The accurate pacing plan depends on race day/night weather, course profile, training and personal limiters.

For example, in a summer 24 hour race when it is hot during the day and cooler at night, it is best to put more effort into riding after sunset when the heat stress is lower. For a winter 24 hour event such as 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo this is not a variable to consider when formulating your pacing plan.

A 24 hour solo mountain bike race pacing plan is best broken down into five segments. It is easier to focus on distinct blocks of time as opposed to one full 24-hour chunk of time.

The Le Mans Start:
24 hour solo mountain bike races start with a Le Mans style run of about 800 yards to your bike. The race is never won on the run, but it definitely can be lost. Pacing the run is all about risk management.

If you haven’t run a lick in training, run at an easy pace with short frequent strides – kind of like pedaling on your feet! Taking long fast running strides and slapping your feet down without any training to do so will tear muscle fibers and create soreness in your legs. This will haunt you for the next 24 hours and may even create a DNF-causing injury. If you have been running short fast bursts in training, stage at the front and run fast.

Noon Start Time to 2 pm:
The next most crucial pacing period is the noon start time to around 2pm. You will have more than enough speed, motivation and energy on tap to over-pace. You need ‘governors’ in place – things to slow you down and keep the pace in check. The solo racer who comes in first place off the first lap is often also high up on the DNF list.

Use a power meter or heart rate monitor to pace yourself. Start the first couple of race laps in heart rate zone 2-3 (or with normalized power near 0.7 Intensity Factor (IF), or about 70% of functional threshold power). A power level and heart rate zone calculator can be found here.

Also, pace yourself by Perceived Exertion (PE). During the first 2 hours of the race, spin uphill in your granny gear, ride one gear easier than you feel you can on the flats, keep your breathing level quiet and ride with no burn in your legs.

2 pm to Sunset:
Keep your heart rate mostly in zone 2, and normalized power in the 0.7 IF range. Aim for even-paced lap splits. Chip away at the lap count at a comfortable PE.

Sunset to Dawn:
At the 6-7 hour mark in a 24 hour solo, heart rate becomes depressed with fatigue and natural circadian rhythm. Allow your heart rate to drop. Fighting to keep your heart rate up after sunset will lead to over-pacing. Lap splits and PE become the key pacing tools after sunset. Keep lap splits as tight and consistent as possible. Keep PE in a comfortable range. No drilling it yet!

Keep pit stops short to avoid cooling down and resist the temptation to crawl into your sleeping bag during the “witching hours”.

Dawn to Finish:
Dawn to finish is the time to spend what you have left. If you are in survival mode, keep it steady, manage problems that have appeared, and stay on the course for as long as possible. Placing is often determined by laps at this point. One more lap can bump you up ten places in the standings. Use the mantra “a slow lap is better than no lap”.

Ideally, you have paced and fueled the first 18 hours accurately. Dawn is the time to start spending big and pick up the pace. Ride faster, bring your heart rate back up and drop your lap split times. Push the pace a little past your comfort level and ride as fast as you can to the finish!

Below is a heart rate file from a beautifully paced 24-hour solo mountain bike race. This athlete finished on the podium.

Product Review: Mountain Smith's Bike Cube Deluxe

2010-03-01T21:12:00.011-07:00

written by: Kevin Day (K-Day Racing.com)

I would dare say that my bag and pack obsession rivals SDAY’s (Mrs. K-Day Racing), but Shan’s are generally a bit different in both form and function. I’m always looking for something nice that fits on my back rather than over my shoulder or if does go over the shoulder, it needs to hold at least a weeks worth of cycling clothing and accessories. That being said, KDAY Racing will now be sporting the Bike Cube Deluxe, at every cycling related event.  Mountain Smith isn’t known for their cycling related packs but this one should put em on the map. I’ve never found a more perfect bag that not only holds a large volume of clothing, but has more than a handful of pockets and compartments for all the extras you pack along to your events.

The Bike Cube Deluxe has three main compartments, two of which are specked with a heavy duty mesh on the top side that allows wet items the ability to vent. A large changing mat is stored in a fourth compartment/pocket located on the back-side of the bag which proves to be extremely valuable when you’re slipping on some shoes and socks and you don’t want to stand in the dirt or on the hot pavement.

Within each compartment are more pockets and dividers that help to allow even better organization. Spots for extra food, gels, bottles. You name it. There’s even a sleeve that holds a roll-up tool pouch that comes with the Cube.

At 56 L. the Bike Cube Deluxe so far has been the pack-all of all my bags. It’s especially nice for those days when you’re just not sure how much clothing you’ll need to bring for your afternoon ride. When in doubt, bring everything. And the Bike Cube Deluxe can handle it.

You can purchase the Bike Cube Deluxe on Mountain Smith’s website or many other online retailers. Check it out here. If you’re a team manager you may want to consider snagging some of these and having them custom embroidered. Not a bad way to show up to any race or event.

US Cup West #1: Sagebrush Safari

2010-02-28T18:36:00.004-07:00

Sawicki and Taberlay start off the 2010 US Cup season with wins

Pro Men's Podium: Vincent Lombardi, Jeremiah Bishop, Sid Taberlay, Manuel Prado, and Dana Weber (left to right) Photo courtesy of Manuel Prado

1, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized) 2.00.20
2, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) 2.02.59
3, Manuel Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized) 2.07.31
4, Vincent Lombardi (Velosport) 2.08.02
5, Dana Weber (Trek/World Bicycle Relief) 2.08.06
6, Adam Snyder (Jamis Bikes) 2.08.07
7, Romolo Forcino (Bear Valley Bikes) 2.08.17
8, Miguel Valdez 2.10.03
9, Menso De Jong (Santa Cruz Bicycles) 2.12.05
10, Jason Siegle (Bike Religion) 2.14.42
11, Doug Johnson
12, Charles Jenkins
13, Sean Donovan
14, Dezmin Wilder
15, John Nobil
16, Paul Freiwald
17, Tsering Alleyne
18, Matthew Connors
19, Eric Biermann
20, Alex Boone
21, Robert Herber
22, Ryan Clark
23, Tom Koerner
24, Chris Heinrich
25, Noah Holcomb
26, Matt Freeman
27, Derek Hermon

Pro Women

1, Pua Sawicki (Okolestuff.com) 2.17.03
2, Allison Mann (Rock 'n Road Cycling) 2.26.30
3, Rebecca Tomaszewski (Niner/Ergon) 2.42.21
4, Anna Fortner (Team Socal Cross) 2.49.08
5, Dorothy Wong (Team Socal Cross) 3.16.10

2010-02-27T19:58:00.003-07:00

Online registration is now open for the Beti Bike Bash. On June 12, 2010, women of all ages and abilities will converge at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado to take part in a little piece of mountain biking history.

Hosted by Yeti Beti with the support of Yeti Cycles and Bigfoot Productions, the first ever women's only event will offer several races for all ages and abilities. Whether you are a first time racer or a seasoned professional, this event is truly for everyone. The five-mile, non-technical, singletrack loop, with views of the surrounding Red Rocks Park, will see beginners, sports, and elites race two, three and four laps respectively. There will also be a three-woman relay fun race for those who want to experience the camaraderie of a mountain bike race with their friends.

"Mountain bike races are intimidating for beginner women for several reasons," said Sarah Rawley, Bigfoot Productions public relations and Team Yeti Beti rider, "Steep climbs, rocky descents, high altitude, and often you are gone all day from your family. We wanted to break down those barriers and offer something that any woman who rides would enjoy. With Bear Creek's close proximity to Denver and great trail system, it was a perfect venue for an event like this."

For more detailed event information and registration, please visit www.betibikebash.com.

For event sponsorship opportunities, please email betibikebash@gmail.com.

Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race, NZ – Day Four (Final)

2010-02-27T07:30:00.006-07:00

Whalley and Miller win stage, Williams and Hogg take the title

Capping off four days of tough racing, Team R&R Sport riders Tony Hogg and Mark Williams sealed the victory at the 2010 Alpine Epic, but not without a big final stage fight from the Property Syndication riders Ollie Whalley and Brent Miller, both of Christchurch, who won Stage 6.

Big Mountain Riders: Team R&R Sports riders Tony Hogg and Mark Williams ride toward New Zealand's highest mountain, Mt. Cook (3700m)

“Brent was on fire today and totally smashed the climb up the Irishman,” his teammate Whalley said.

“I just wanted to be the first one to the top to see the view of Mt Cook,” Miller laughed.

“We tried to attack off the start, got a bit lost and then had to find our way to the front again and just pulled away after the climb,” Whalley said.

Near the end of the 74km stage Whalley, of Christchurch, thought his race might be over when it felt as though he had stripped a cog off his bike's cassette, but it was later that he realised he had actually stripped the spline off the freehub. He managed to preserve the bike to the end and win the stage in a time of 3:22:03 and secure second position overall.

“The event has been lots of fun and I will definitely do it again – but maybe with tougher tyres next time,” Miller said.

“Willie and Tony are a very tough team to beat,” Whalley said.

Champions: Team R&R Sport's Tony Hogg and Mark Williams celebrate winning the 2010 Alpine Epic multi-stage mountain bike race

Williams, of Queenstown, and Hogg, of Dunedin, overcame a tough start in Stage 6 after Williams struggled on the ascent up the Irishman – a climb that took riders to 1300m above sea level and a panoramic view of the Southern Alps on the clear, hot, windless final day of racing on Saturday.

“I was in the box today and Tony had to pull me through. I lost a bit of traction up the climb and then the gap just grew,” Williams conceded.

“I knew we had a big lead going into this stage so it was just a case of managing that lead – maintaining a good pace without blowing ourselves to pieces,” he said.

“You can’t take any lead for granted – anything could happen,” Hogg said.

“It’s good to see those guys win a stage today – they’ve raced bloody hard and had a lot of bad luck, so they really deserved the win today,” Williams said.

Williams and Hogg rode bikes equipped with 29-inch diameter wheels [standard is 26-inch] and they both admitted that this had a hand in their success at this year’s Alpine Epic.

“Stage racing and getting used to the whole team dynamic has been great fun and we were quite evenly matched and didn’t abuse each other too much,” Hogg laughed, vowing to return again in 2011.

“The camaraderie of this event is the best bit for me – getting your tents up, sitting around and having a laugh and hearing all the stories from the day and just eating as much as possible,” Williams said.

The Team Yeti NZ pairing of Kashi Leuchs, of Dunedin, and Marcus Roy, of Invercargill, finished third.

Fast Women: Kath Kelly (left) and Erin Greene, take a swim in Lake Tekapo after winning the women's title at the 2010 Alpine Epic

The lead three women's teams continued their tussle during the final stage with Athena Girls Bec Rae and Jo Turnbull, both of Christchurch, pulling away to a strong lead to the top of the Irishman, ahead of Team Outside Sports, Floortje Draisma and Jo Williams, both of Wanaka, and Team R&R Whippets, Erin Greene and Kath Kelly, both of Dunedin.

However, Greene and Kelly, recovering from a series of bad luck in the preceding stages, determined to build on their lead and applied the pressure through the gravel road section and made it into first place on the second climb and went on to win the final stage and the women’s title.

"We probably worked together better as a team and every night we made a plan about how we would apply the pressure and attack things," Greene said.

"Erin made me hurt," Kelly said.

"Erin came back down on the big climb when I was hurting and she carried my bike up – she's been an awesome teammate."

Greene and Kelly made their move on the second climb and never looked back – literally.

"Erin kept telling me that the other team was right on us, but she wouldn't let me look back at them," laughs Kelly.

Greene and Kelly could not relax to enjoy their final moments in the stage until they had the finishline in sight, they said.

"This has been one of the best races I have ever done," Kelly said.

"The atmosphere at nights is unreal and the food is fantastic ... and as for the weather – four days of perfect conditions – I'd hate to do that in the rain!"

Having two strong women's teams around them throughout the four day journey made it "scary, but made us work harder", admitted Kelly.

Greene and Kelly completed the four-day, six-stage race in 21:18:17, and placed sixth overall.

The race for second was won by Draisma and Williams, who finished Stage 6 three minutes ahead of their rivals, Rae and Turnbull, and in doing so stretched their overall advantage to 8 minutes. Draisma and Williams finished on 21:49:50 for ninth overall with Rae and Turnbull on 21:57:02 and in 11th position overall.

Event co-organiser Nick Ross said the event had surpassed his expectations this year with stunning weather adding to the ocassion.

"You couldn't ask for better – stunning views up the lake to Mt Cook today and for the last two days we've had views right up the Aoraki range – it has been good," Ross said.

"It has been a tough event, the second day in particular, but riders are coming in stoked with a real sense of achievement that they have completed it, which is brilliant."

Stage Winners: Property Syndication team members Brent Miller and Ollie Whalley led the final stage and secured second place in the overall competition

Ross admits that he thought he may have made Day 2 a bit hard at one point.

"The stage across Coal Hill and then on to Clayton Station is a critical part of the race, but we started to worry when we were looking at our watches and no one had come in after five hours," he laughed.

Organisers expect the event to grow and would like to lift the entry numbers to help "streamline some areas of the operation".

"It's great to see some international riders here and we would like to see more coming to take part and to grow the event," Ross said.

Next year's race would maintain the intensity of the 2010 course, but Ross said it might include some new trails and hinted at the possibility of a fifth day being added.

He also suggested that alternate loops would be created for those who want to complete the event, but will be challenged on the longer days.

"That way top riders could have bigger days and less experienced riders would still get to ride most of the course," he said.

Ross was quick to acknowledge that both winning teams in mens and womens were R&R Sport teams – something that fits well with the event sponsor.

"They came on board from the beginning and have been really supportive throughout the race, so it was good to see they also fielded such strong teams," Ross said.

Click Here for full results

Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race, New Zealand – Day Three

2010-02-26T06:43:00.003-07:00

Leuchs and Roy win Stage 4, Williams and Hogg extend lead

With Day 3 split into two stages overnight, for logistical reasons, the fields had two chances to win a stage on Friday and for Kashi Leuchs and Marcus Roy, the technical Stage 4 played right into their hands at the 2010 Alpine Epic in New Zealand.

Photography by: Derek Morrison

Deep Water: Competitors cross the Tekapo River on Stage 5 of the Alpine Epic

The Team Yeti NZ pairing of Leuchs, of Dunedin, and Roy, of Invercargill, won the 32km technical stage from Lake Opuha to Burkes Pass in a time of 1:45:32, 2mins30secs ahead of second – Team R&R Sport's Mark Williams, of Queenstown, and Tony Hogg, of Dunedin, who are the overall race leaders.

"We had fresh legs after yesterday's nice cruise in the mountains," Leuchs states.

"Marcus put down the hammer quite early in the river section and I just followed. We had one rider from each of the other teams with us after the river and Marcus just led the way."

"It was a fun stage – we liked the gully and real mountain biking terrain of this stage," he said.

Two punctures kept the Property Syndication team of Ollie Whalley and Brent Miller, both of Dunedin, out of the front running in Stage 4, finishing almost 20 minutes adrift of the leaders.

Team R&R Whippets, Erin Greene and Kath Kelly, both of Dunedin, extended their lead winning the women's Stage 4 race from Athena Girls, Bec Rae and Jo Turnbull, both of Christchurch, and Team Outside Sports, Floortje Draisma and Jo Williams, both of Wanaka.

The women continue to keep the intensity in the race – finishing within five minutes of each other in Stage 4, despite Draisma and Williams suffering mechanical problems in the stage.

Stage 5 saw competitors leave Burkes Pass on a 43km route that finished in Windy Ridges, 20km southwest of Tekapo and included a series of climbs above Burkes Pass and a desert traverse through a section of the Mackenzie Basin.

Williams and Hogg controlled the race after Whalley and Miller flatted twice. Roy and Leuchs punctured after a climb early in the stage and never rejoined the front teams.

Big Climb: Mark Williams of Team R&R leads his teammate Tony Hogg and members of the Property Syndication team up a climb above Burkes Pass

"Ollie and Brent were going pretty hard and so we went with them and then they punctured," Williams said.

"Some of the views today were magnificent. Mt Cook looked stunning and clear – as if you could touch it," he said.

Williams said the desert crossing was a tough one because of the rough ground.

Team R&R Sport won the stage in 2:17:03 with the Property Syndication team chasing hard to close the gap to just nine minutes.

"We had four punctures today – two in each stage," Whalley said.

But he admits he enjoyed the variety of the day.

"The desert stage was surreal – you were just riding forever and it was tough going with lots of small bumps," he said.

"We were trying very hard to catch up – we were smashing it, but couldn't claw the leaders back."

In the women's race in Stage 5 Rae and Turnbull turned up the intensity and led the women's race from early on. Draisma and Williams found their form, but were unable to rejoin the leading girls who won the stage in 2:46:41 – making up valuable time in the overall standings.

"We felt good after the break between stages and just pushed hard up a couple of hills, but the R&R girls were right on us," Rae explained.

"We didn't talk as much today so maybe that helped."

"I found the desert really hard – my hardtail wasn't the ideal bike for that," she said.

"But we are happy we won today – we can't let the R&R girls win every stage."

R&R Whippets made a navigation error in Stage 5 that saw them ride 3km down the wrong trail turning their 43km stage into a 49km struggle and relinquishing 18 minutes to the leaders of the stage.

As the race draws into its final day, Williams and Hogg have a comfortable lead sitting on 13:36:05 going into the final 70km stage with almost an hour buffer from Whalley and Miller.

Greene and Kelly are also in a commanding position in the women's at 17:16:34 – 30 minutes ahead of Draisma and Williams and 34 minutes up on Rae and Turnbull.

"We'd like to try to sneak our way into second, but we are still paying for our nine flat tyres on day one," Rae said.

Embarking on the 2010 Alpine Epic are two riders from San Luis Obisto, Calfornia, who have used the race as a catalyst to relocate their lives to New Zealand.

Epic Attractions: Sarah Ledger and Zeph Wadsworth of San Luis Obispo, California, made the Alpine Epic their deadline to relocate to New Zealand

Sarah Hedger and Zeph Wadsworth have embraced the ride and been wowed by the scenery.

"We heard about the great trails here and the New Zealand way of life is a better alignment to our values – it's a better quality of life for us here," Hedger said.

"We booked onto the race and used it as a deadline to get us here – a set event that we had to be at," Wadsworth said.

They sold their belongings and jumped on a plane with four bikes and all their possessions.

"We are just going to travel around and see the country and figure out where we want to be,"

"The race has been much harder than we thought with bigger hills than we expected and crossing the rivers is like something out of Lord of the Rings," Hedger said.

The couple has clocked up 23:19:14 in their first three days on the event.

Saturday's final leg will traverse the mountain tops to the west of Lake Tekapo before finishing in the Tekapo township.

Kenda Cup West Opener Drawing Top Talent

2010-02-25T22:02:00.002-07:00

The Kenda Cup West Series opener at Sage Brush, brought to you by Team Duke.Org is drawing top pro and amatuer athlete’s for 2010.

2009 race winner Sid Taberlay

Last years Sage Brush men’s pro winner; Sho-Air/Specialized rider Sid Taberlay, brings with him a 2010 Austrailian National Short Track title to this year’s event, as the Aussie looks to make it two for two.

Men's start in 2009

Taberlay will be hard pressed in 2010 however, as newly signed Cannondale Factory riders Jeremiah Bishop and Tinker Juarez are set to race this weekend. Add in 2009 La Ruta and Costa Rican XC Champion Manny Prado of the Sho-Air/Specialized team, and the 2010 Kenda Cup West Series opener is shaping up to be a slug fest.

Women's podium in 2009 with Pua Sawicki on the top step

2009 women’s race winner, Pua Sawiki, of Team Mata/Okle Stuff.com looks to repeat as a two time race winner. Sawiki will have a solid line up of women racer’s with Rock N Road’s Allison Mann and others trying to knock off the six time National Endurance Champion.

The Sage Brush racecourse

About Sage Brush: Located east of San Diego off Interstate 8, the Sage Brush course is a throw back to a more tradional mountain bike loop, with multiple distances ranging from 26.8 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing for the Pro and CAT 1 loop, to a shorter 18 mile loop for the CAT 2 and 3 riders.

The course uses exsisting jeep and motorcycle trails of the Lake Morena OHV park and offers racers a wide variety of terrain, with rolling Whoop De Doo’s, banked berm corners and a fun flowy style of riding. For the mountain bike purist, Sage Brush is a must attend event!
Sage Brush course map http://www.geoladders.com/gps_route_racer.php?route_id=21974\

Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race, New Zealand – Day Two

2010-02-25T06:53:00.006-07:00

Women's teams rise to the challenge on tough Coal Hill stage

Photography by: Derek Morrison

Three women's teams stole the show during Stage 3 of the 2010 Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage race held between Rangitata River and Lake Opuha, near Fairlie, on Thursday.

Team Work: Wanaka residents Jo Williams, formerly of Ireland, and Floortje Draisma, formerly of the Netherlands, ride past Mt. Peel in Stage 3

Led by the R&R Whippets team of Erin Greene and Kath Kelly, both of Dunedin, a trio of women's teams reached the Coal Hill ridgeline within whispering distance of each other after an arduous morning climb.

"It was a very tough day – I think we did 3400m of climbing in about 83km," Kelly said.

Race Leaders: Team R&R Sport riders Erin Greene (left) and Kath Kelley, both of Dundin, lead the women's event after Stage 3

Greene and Kelly were the fourth team to arrive overall and were closely followed by Team Outside Sports' Jo Williams and Floortje Draisma, both of Wanaka and Athena Girls riders Becs Rae and Jo Turnbull, both of Christchurch.

"We were tussling with Jo and Floortje," Kelly said.

"They caught us on the ridgeline and were very fast on the descent," Greene said.

"We had girls in front and girls behind us at the top of Coal Hill and we could hear them chatting away – it was a bit of a battle," Williams laughed.

"We got to the descent first, but lost a bit of time on the gravel at the bottom."

The top three women's teams traded the lead across the ridgeline and held the race intensity right to the end of the six and a-half hour stage. Greene and Kelly finished in fourth overall and won the women's stage in 6:27:48 with Williams and Floortje arriving at camp in sixth place overall in a time of 6:34:50 and Rae and Turnbull finishing in ninth overall in 6:42:43 for third in the women.

"I think this is one of the toughest races I have done and that's including the Goldrush and Coast to Coast," Kelly said.

"We didn't expect to finish fourth overall," Greene admitted.

"I was surprised that we were so close to Marcus and Kashi."

Big Challenge: Wanaka residents Jo Williams and Floortje Draisma are among three women's teams vying for the top spot

Williams and Draisma got lost in a bog near Lake Opuha that cost them about 20 minutes they said.

Team R&R Sports riders Mark Williams, of Queenstown, and Tony Hogg, of Dunedin, won the men's stage on a gruelling route across the top of Coal Hill and down into the Hewson River in a time of 5:15:20.

But their race was not without hardship – Williams crashed hard on the first big descent grazing his shoulder, smashing a spoke and ripping the bottom jockey wheel off his rear deraileur.

"That made things a bit interesting for the rest of the race – every now and then the chain would get stuck in between the cassette and the spokes, but it wasn't major," Williams laughed.

"We were fortunate to get through the final half of the day with that kind of mechanical," he conceded.

With them the whole way were the Property Syndication team members, Ollie Whalley and Brent Miller, both of Christchurch after dropping the third member of the front group – Team Yeti NZ's Kashi Leuchs and Marcus Roy on the first climb of the day.

"Brent was battling a bit today – he only had three bottles of water for five and a quarter hours – he suffered from a bit of dehydration," Whalley said of his team member.

Race Leaders: Leading the climb up Coal Hill on Stage 3

"We used lots of tactics today – we had to get between Tony and Willy [Williams] up the hills and slow them down a bit and on the downhills we had to try to slow them up so Brent could stay in touch."

Kashi was just cruising today – he was just out to enjoy a good day in the mountains, Whalley said.

After more than 80km the two lead teams got lost in the final run into camp at Lake Opuha, and finished within seconds of each other.

Team Yeti NZ riders Leuchs and Roy finished in third place more than an hour later with a time of 6:19:49 after what they described as "a fun day in the mountains".

2010-02-24T03:22:00.001-07:00

Travis Woodruff is a USAC Level I (elite) certified coach who holds a B.S. in Kinesiology with emphasis in Exercise Science. He’s coached riders to five MTB National Championship wins and has over 10 years of personal racing experience. Since 2005 he’s competed as a pro mountain biker and has coached full-time. His business, Momentum Endurance LLC, is based out of Tucson, Arizona where he hosts wintertime training camps.

Question: I race a full mountain bike schedule as a Pro throughout season but I still have a full-time job. How do I balance training with my work responsibilities to maximize my abilities as a racer?

Optimizing Training for your Time-Limited Schedule

Most all competitive cyclists have numerous time demands which limit their ability to train at will. Even very few pros enjoy the luxury of a daily schedule, which solely revolves around training -- so time-limited training principles apply to most all of us. If training is going to be effective and enjoyable it is important do some objective planning before turning the pedals. Keep in mind that the perfect training plan isn’t so great if it means you’re neglecting work or family commitments. With less time available to train, there’s less margin for training error and its important to make the most of training opportunities. With an optimized program you’ll be challenged, always improving, and enjoying the experience. A small amount of planning, organization, and time management can bring huge dividends to your training routine.

Plan Ahead for the Big Picture (realistically)

Get a handle on your work schedule, family vacation plans, school schedule, race schedules, or any other schedules that your life might be dependant upon. With this information in front you, you can objectively plan out the bigger picture of your season. Knowing which blocks of time will be great for training, when your riding schedule might be tight, and when it might be best to take a short break will help you to define the season’s goals. Chances are good you’ll be riding your best after periods of consistent training and relatively fewer demands otherwise. Try to choose goal races that coincide with when you’ll best be able to prepare for them.

Woodruff puts his expertise to use on and off the dirt

Break it into Smaller Cycles and Set the Course of Action

With the bigger picture outlined it’s helpful to break down the season overview into smaller cycles. It works well to let overload and recovery do its trick within a block of three or four weeks. Two to three weeks of challenging riding should be followed up by four to seven days of lesser workload. For each of these cycles it’s critical to have a clear goal for the training. This could be overloading a specific energy system such as your Lactate Threshold or tallying up a lot of singletrack miles. Moving from the development of one specific focus onto the next is progression towards your goals.

Be Consistent

With the focus clearly defined for the three or four week cycle it’s time to plan weekly rides. If weekends are a good opportunity for training, try to also incorporate two high quality workouts during the work week. With four days where you’re achieving a training overload the other days can then be of lesser intensity and/or duration – a chance for recovery. The body thrives on consistency so if possible, keep your rides to a similar time of day. In doing so the training becomes a natural part of your day rather than something that’s incorporated haphazardly. The better your body can detect a pattern, the more likely it is that you’ll benefit from the specific overload that you’re placing upon it.

Make Note of your Progress

Most riders will thrive with just a little more organization than they’re currently used to. Keep a training log with objective data (power, HR, or otherwise) and also your subjective notes or comments. Over the long term you can review the log and better fine tune your training while you seek the perfect balance with your busy schedule. Plan for your successes, be consistent with your training and you’ll come through a stronger rider in the end.

Get Optimized

Check out MomentumEndurance.com for more information and some helpful season planning tools so that you can make the most of your time-limited training schedule. With a balanced plan put into action all that’s left to do is accomplish your goals. Related questions or comments can be sent to TJ @ twoodruff@MomentumEndurance.com. Enjoy the ride!

Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race, NZ – Day One

2010-02-24T02:05:00.001-07:00

Hogg and Williams Victorious After Tough First Day

Navigation errors and misfortune thrive during the first day of the 2010 Alpine Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race yesterday with Tony Hogg and Mark Williams taking two stage wins from defending champions Kashi Leuchs and Marcus Roy.

Leaders: The three lead teams – Team R&R Sport (Mark Williams and Tony Hogg), Team Yeti NZ (Marcus Roy and Kashi Leuchs) and Property Syndication (Ollie Whalley and Brent Miller) pass a high country hut on Inverary Station during stage one of the 2010 Alpine Epic Multi-Stage Mountain Bike Race (Photo: Derek Morrison Photography)

The wins, on sub-alpine routes that travelled from Mt Somers to Rangitata Gorge, came as a surprise to the R&R Sport team of Hogg and Williams.

"We were behind two teams coming into the last dash to the Rangitata River, but we got there and there was no one else there," Williams, of Queenstown, said.

Hogg and Williams finished the first stage in a time of 3:32:18.

Roy and Leuchs, of Team Yeti NZ, were slowed by a poor navigation choice that left them languishing in a swamp while the third lead team – Property Syndication – saw its riders, Ollie Whalley and Brent Miller marred by a string of misfortune.

"I realised we were lost coming into the Rangitata River, then I blew my tyre out and my drink bottle disappeared when I crashed so I had no water," Miller explains.

"I went through a dark patch for about an hour – I had no food, no water and I was bleeding."

Crossing the Rangitata: Riders are ferried across the Rangitata River on Wednesday after stage one of the five-stage 2010 Alpine Epic Multi-Stage Mountain Bike Race (Photo: Derek Morrison Photography)

After leading the end of the stage Miller and Whalley lost at least an hour looking for water and the waiting raft at the finish of stage one.

"I thought the raft was to the left and I was loving the tailwind we had – until I realised we should have gone upstream, and so we had to ride all the way back into the wind," Whalley laughs.

In the following stage Miller and Whalley broke a chain and flatted at the same time.

"Someone didn't want us to win today – then my chain breaker needed a 4mm Allen key, which we didn't have with us," Miller adds.

About midway through the first stage Hogg stopped the lead riders in their tracks when he came off at speed in a rut and was thrown several metres down a bank.

All three teams rallied around what they suspected might be a serious injury, but Hogg soon remounted and was able to continue the race with a couple of gashes to his left knee and a hematoma on his left hip.

"Everyone came back to help me out – that's just what mountain bikers do," Hogg laughed.

"I thought we were going to be calling the helicopter in for him," Roy said.

We went from a bad incident, to just trying to limit our loss, to actually winning it, Hogg said.

Poor luck: Team Property Syndication Ollie Whalley (left), of Dunedin and Brent Miller, of Christchurch reflect on a day of poor luck – they went from leading stage one to a series of misfortunes that left them more than an hour and a half behind after the first two stages (Photo: Derek Morrison Photography)

Hogg and Williams won the time trial – an 18km sprint in a time of 43:18.

Leuchs was not concerned by the time he and Roy lost in the first stage.

"There are four big days in this race and a lot can happen – we saw that with Ollie's team today," he said.

The field of almost 80 riders will embark on stage three at 8am on Thursday morning, which will take them around Mt Peel and finish in Ashwick Flat 78km later.

For full results and info. visit www.alpineepic.co.nz

Trans-Sylvania and Chris Eatough Team Up

2010-02-23T06:38:00.001-07:00

Trans-Sylvania Epic and Chris Eatough Coaching Announce Strategic Partnership,
Training Camps and Plans for Trans-Sylvania!

Chris Eatough and promoters of the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic are pleased to announce two great ways to help athletes prepare for the incredible seven-day event, scheduled May 30-June 5, 2010, in State College, PA.

Chris Eatough, the World's most accomplished endurance cyclist, has created the Trans-Sylvania Epic Training Plan at ChrisEatough.com. It is a custom built training plan designed specifically around the demands of this incredible event and will bring participants to peak form in time to race. Whether you are preparing for an all-out solo assault on Trans-Sylvania or choosing your own stage race adventure on a Trans-Sylvania Team, this custom plan will prepare you perfectly.

Says Eatough, "Mountain bike stage racing is such a great format, but there is a lot to know if you want to maximize your performance and fun. I have packaged all my knowledge, tips, and experience into the Trans-Sylvania Epic Training Plan so that participants can arrive at the race, ready to perform at their peak".

Chris worked closely with Trans-Sylvania Director and renowned endurance coach Mike Kuhn to delve into the demands of each and every stage of the race and integrated these considerations into the 12-week plan available for download on ChrisEatough.com. In addition, Eatough will be attending several days of the event though not as a racer. Eatough will be on hand to advise racers on how to best prepare for the rigors of upcoming stages - physically, strategically, and mechanically. Eatough plans to ride along with racers, providing technical tips and advice while enjoying the sweet central PA singletrack.

"Since I've known Chris he has always been the consummate professional and he is now using his attention to detail in creating the Trans-Sylvania Epic Training Plan. We're very excited to offer our participants the opportunity to take advantage of Chris' knowledge and experience through this plan designed specifically for our race. Combined with our training camp and the opportunity for fully personalized training through yours truly, we have the full spectrum of options for endurance mountain bikers." said Kuhn.

To further prepare participants for Trans-Sylvania and offer a way for all athletes to ready themselves for the summer season, TSE is offering the Endurance MTB Training Camp/Trans-Sylvania Epic Preview. The Endurance MTB Camp/TSE Preview will run May 13-16 in State College, PA and will be led by Mike with assistance from two-time US National 24-Hour series champion and fellow PAValleys.com racing team member, “Vegan Rob” Lichtenwalner. Training rides on the Trans-Sylvania Epic courses will ready participants for the exact demands of the race. The TSE Camp offers all endurance mountain bike racers the opportunity to lift their fitness to a new high as they prepare for the summer schedule of cross country racing, 50 to 100+ milers, and 12- and 24-hour mountain bike races. Evening discussions will explore all aspects and nuances of endurance MTB racing. Participants will leave the camp more ready than ever to go the distance! More information about the camp, plans and this incredible event may be found on www.TransSylvaniaEpic.com.

Type rest of the post here

2010 Virginia Off Road Series : Bigger Than Ever!

2010-02-18T20:33:00.003-07:00

- Richmond, Va –

The 2010 Virginia Off Road Series will launch our 3rd season on March 7 with the first Camp Hilbert race outside Maidens, Va. Continuing on our quest to keep things interesting, our series will cover events, new and old, across the state through the end of October. New events in southwestern and northern Virginia will challenge our athletes to some great events. But these events are not the only thing new and exciting to the Virginia Off Road Series!

This year, the Virginia Off Road Series has added a new Enduro Category: XCAT. These competitors will only be scored on the longer events vs. the traditional cross country. These slow twitch athletes asked us for their own Cat and we have delivered. There will be plenty of opportunities for the XCAT’s to take on one another with our Calendar.

The Virginia Off Road Series will be partnering with Endorphin Fitness, CyclingCentralVa, Friends of Pocahontas State Park, Virginia State Parks and MTBRaceNews.com for more excitement to the season. Endorphin Fitness excels at bringing the best out of athletes, their new column, EF Advice, will be updated monthly with new training ideas. CyclingCentralVa will offer the Virginia Off Road Series an exclusive Forum for our athletes to discuss the Series and related topics. The Virginia State Parks returns with their sponsorship of the Wildman Award. MTBRaceNews.com will be delivering customer tailored coverage with articles from our athletes.

An exciting new venture this year is our PayDirt Program. The Virginia Off Road Series will be working closely with the Friends of Pocahontas State Parks to implement this rewarding program. PayDirt will reward athletes with extra points for hours worked in Virginia’s great trails. These points will be added to their final score and will make a difference.

Technology will be working for the Virginia Off Road Series in the form of Facebook and Twitter. One of the quickest ways to get our audience, Facebook will carry up to the minute news. Our Twitter connection can update our website from any location that we have cell service. All this will help keep the Virginia Off Road Series ‘live’ with information.

Bring your A game to the 2010 Virginia Off Road Series. We got what you are looking for in off road racing…

Click Here to view the entirety of the enormous Virginia Off Road Series

More Races Added to the Best MTB Race Calendar on the Web

2010-02-18T03:52:00.002-07:00

More 2010 dates added to the best MTB race calendar on the web. Click here and start your search for the best mountain bike races in your area. We put all the info you need in one easy to find and easy to search location.

Click a state and start your search

Check out these and many more new races we have added to our calendar just this week:

New Belgium Brewing 18 Hrs of Fruita, Colorado
SoNoMas, California
Boggs, California
Shasta Lemurian, California
Bloomer 62, Michigan
Teva Mountain Games, Colorado
Crankworx, Colorado
Bone Bender, Missouri
6 Hour Grind, North Carolina
Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina
Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race, North Carolina
The Ramble Around Prattsburg, New York
The Hardcore24, New York
Cascade Creampuff, Oregon
Oregon MTB Race Series
Keyesville Classic, California

If you have an event you would like added to our nationwide race calendar send your information to info@mtbracenews.com and we will get it posted.

2010-02-17T03:09:00.006-07:00

This week we hear from Eric Orton of TrainWithEric.com. Eric is an elite-level coach who trains some of the top MTB racers in the U.S. Eric is the former Director of Fitness and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, a certified Functional Training Specialist, a Certified Sports Hypnotist, and holds coaching certifications from both USA Triathlon and USA Cycling.

Question: You coach Amanda Carey, who has great success racing in cross country, cyclocross, and ultra endurance MTB races. How does she train to be successful at such varied racing distances in the same year?

Every December, Amanda Carey and I meet at the local coffee shop for our yearly chat. We discuss how the past year went, perceived strengths and weaknesses, what worked and more importantly what didn’t. You know, all the usual coach and athlete stuff. Once we start to hammer out the seasonal race and training plan, the inevitable question always surfaces, “So, what are we going to focus on this year, cross country races or marathon-endurance races?” And for the last four years, the answer has been – both.

As we pull out the calendar and dive into planning the specific races for the season, Amanda always gets very excited and sometimes I need to remind her why we prioritize races and have purposeful training. I tell her, the goal in training is to improve your raw ability or power, and not just continue to enhance your ability to sustain your race pace. The latter usually comes in the form of building an endurance base first and then applying some intensity to this base. The key to Amanda’s success at both cross country distance and the marathon distance races - and now cyclo cross races - is to employ just the opposite approach. This means we have to continually build and improve her engine at the start of each year. So instead of long rides in January to improve the engine, she is pumping out intervals to help improve her power at VO2max (pVO2max), neuromuscular power, and economy.

The pVO2max reveals both the magnitude of aerobic capability and the efficiency with which power is applied to the pedals, and it is one of the most powerful predictors of endurance capabilities. Neuromuscular power works in tandem with Amanda’s pVO2max training to improve her maximal velocity and economy. Once we established this training effect, I apply this improved power, efficiency, and maximal speed to her cross-country specific endurance training phase. This way she is faster, more powerful, and more efficient during the most important training phase as she prepares for the cross- country race season. Her specific cross-country training and races then, in effect, continue to improve her strength endurance and threshold simply by the nature of the energy systems at work during the races.

Amanda Carey has finished on the podium at the Breckenridge and Leadville 100, US Cup races, and UCI-level Cyclocross events

As Amanda nears the end of her high priority cross-country races, we shift gears and spend about 6-8 weeks focusing on specific endurance training for her 100ers. Now that she is extremely fit from the cross-country race circuit and early season power development, she has the ability to ride with more power and speed. Our next key chore is to train in a manner that maximally extends the time over which she can sustain that fast riding. The overall principle is to apply her improved power and strength from the early season to her specific race pace endurance training rides. This creates a faster race pace and an improved tolerance for holding this pace. It's no longer enough for her to ride long miles and focus only on her aerobic development . In fact, it never was enough.

Whether I am preparing Amanda for cross country, marathon, or cyclo cross races or Cary Smith for his second place finish at the World’s 24 Hour Championship, the good news is that power factors can be improved by all level of riders. By training in the early season to improve power in a progressive and systematic way and then applying these gains to race specific training, eventually anaerobic and aerobic characteristics should fuse to produce the best-possible race times - from short course all the way up to the ultra distances.

If you have a question for our team of mountain bike coaches please email it to info@mtbracenews.com

24 Hours of Old Pueblo: Tucson, Arizona

2010-02-14T19:37:00.007-07:00

Report by: Krista Park dedicated to Stan Koziatek

The members of the Stan's sponsored teams

Pro rider Krista Park just completed the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. She teamed up with several of the folks from the Niner team and East Coaster Harlan Price. It seems Park is in great shape and ready for another great season of mountain bike racing. Krista's report and photos are below.

Stan (of Stan's No Tubes fame) brought three teams to Tucson, all of which placed 1st; The Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World 155-199 team (22laps), a 200+ team (21laps) and a female singlespeed solo Karen Rishel (13 laps) .

The 155-199 team was Fuzzy Mylne, Dejay Birtch, Krista Park, Harlen Price, and Jake Kirkpatrick "The Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World". The competition was Team Topeak - Ergon (21 laps) with Dave Wiens, Yuki Saito, Sonya Looney, Jeff Kerkove and Rebecca Tomaszewski.

I believe I got both fastest day and night laps for the women, but don't see those posted. The best part of the weekend was being on such a fun/fast team and having Stan and Mike so involved with our racing. They knew lap times, who was up next, when the next racer was due in, etc. It was awesome standing in the exchange tent getting ready to go on a night lap and have Stan himself give me the strategy, adjust my light and make sure I had everything I needed, then when I finished my lap Mike would meet me. Mike knew everyone's lap time right away as he walked around with his iphone and kept an eye on the live results. Todd (my husband) loved it too and went to bed for the night.

Mike working the online updates

Scott Morris and 24 Hour Singlespeed National Champion Lynda Wallenfels won the Duo Coed race

Old Pueblo always offers up plenty of foot cactus

live results: http://epicrides.com/twofour/24.htm

Results:

Solo Men

1, Ant White 17 laps
2, Sean Allan 16 laps
3, Dave Byers (Athlete360.com) 15 laps
4, Chester Artman 14 laps
5, Sean McDevitt 13 laps

Solo Women

1, Windy Marks 13 laps
2, Delena Hanson 12 laps
3, Elizbeth Boese 11 laps
4, Wendy Skean 11 laps
5, Catherine Bywaters 10 laps

Duo Female

1, Alacia Sooter/Lyn Crew 14 laps
2, Bojo Post/Emily Eads 12 laps
3, Cynthia Bryan/Caroline Lanier 11 laps

Duo Coed

1, Scott Morris/Lynda Wallenfels 20 laps
2, Aaron Gulley/Jeny Meinerz 19 laps
3, Nick Thelen/Tracy Thelen 18 laps

Duo Men

1, Brian Bennett/Ernesto Marenchin 20 laps
2, Scott Spangler/Chad Watson 19 laps
3, Kevin Risebrough/Zack Heim 18 laps

5 Person Coed Combined Age 150-199

1, Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World
2, Team Topeak-Ergon
3, Heidi's Pig Farm
4, Zero Gravity
5, 4 Studs and Their Sugar Daddy

Not So Fast with Brian Hester

2010-02-11T03:42:00.002-07:00

There are people in the world of cycling who were born to race. They are the ones off the front looking like they’re out for a Sunday ride with your local biking club. They can put down chain breaking power with seemingly little effort and process oxygen faster than a top fuel racecar. I am not one of those people.

My first test on the Computrainer

MTB Race News thought it would be interesting to use me as a guinea pig in their experiment. It goes like this: I get on a serious training plan and throughout the year I will be thrown into mountain bike races to see if I float. The ultimate question is: Can a serious training regimen make anyone fast, even someone as pathetic as me. In the name of science, I agreed.

Doing the hard part of this little experiment will be Rodney Riley of 19 Sports. 19 Sports, located at the fabulous Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, is part bike shop and part Computrainer classroom. Rodney will assess my needs and abilities with specific goals in mind and tailor a training program to help me reach those goals.

19 Sports will be helping me along the way

Class began with a 40-minute time trial on the Computrainer to determine a baseline. Because the Computrainer allows you to replicate the exact conditions on any given day, it’s an excellent way to measure your improvement (or lack of improvement) over an 8-week course. The course programmed for me was the Coors Classic Morgal-Bismark time trial.

The hilly Morgal-Bismark started out with a lung-busting climb that instantly maxed out my heart rate. I dropped a few gears to let my HR fall back down to 190 and settled in to a hard but relatively comfortable pace. The flat screen monitor showed my progress, heart rate, watts, speed, distance, and unfortunately a clock counting the seconds. I spent the last ten minutes staring at that damn clock making the time drip by as if in slow motion. I tried to get out of the saddle and really hammer the last two minutes but instantly blew my heart rate again. Eventually, I crossed the virtual finish line satisfied that I had gone as hard as possible.

And the results are…. not great. Of all the people 19 Sports has tested I was somewhere in the 25th to 30th percentile. In other words, 70 to 75 percent of people tested were better than me. My average heart rate for the test was 189. Lactate threshold power (LTP) was a pathetic 181 watts and LPT/weight equaled 2.7. No wonder I was never any good at road bike racing. I have the power of a Toyota Camry in neutral with the gas pedal stuck halfway down.

Check back to see if I can improve my numbers and finally get in racing shape. My first race of 2010 will be the Intermountain Cup’s (www.intermountaincup.com) season opener in St George, Utah on March, 6th.

2010-02-10T04:23:00.002-07:00

This week our question goes to Namrita O'Dea. A licensed dietician and member of the Topeak/Ergon racing team, O'Dea helps riders fine tune their bodies for maximum performance through her business 55 Nine Performance Nutrition.

Question: My body fat hovers around 10-12 percent and I would like to get it down a few points. What's a safe way to bring my body fat down without negatively impacting my winter training?

Namrita O'Dea: Winter is a good time to really focus on changing your body composition. Losing body fat while building fitness is a fine line to ride, though, and extra care should be taken to adequately fuel and recover from all training sessions. As you will read below, a multi-pronged approach will be most effective. A detailed training and a nutrition log, if you have time, are also very useful throughout the process.

DXA, hydrostatic weighing, and the Bod Pod are the more accurate methods of measuring body composition. However, if you only have skinfold or BIA, use them as relative measurements to gauge your progress. Just keep in mind, the error percentage is higher when using the latter methods. A regular weight scale won’t tell the whole story when you want to differentiate percent fat from lean mass.

In order to preserve your metabolism and lean body mass while losing fat, create a slight energy deficit of approximately 250 to 400 calories per day. You can do this by eating slightly less at your larger meals, eating more nutrient-dense rather than energy-dense foods, increasing the amount of fresh foods in your diet, and reducing extra calories such as those from salty snacks, desserts, sodas, or alcohol.

Protein will keep you satiated longer and, when consumed with carbohydrates, will help to slow the insulin response. Aim for just under 2 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight, per day. When race season comes around, you can slightly decrease protein and increase your carbohydrate intake again.

Aim for around 20% of total calories from fat per day, with the majority of fat coming from unsaturated sources. Animal fats are higher in saturated fats and should be limited. If you can’t successfully moderate your dessert intake it is probably best to cut it out all together and substitute it with lower-calorie options. One square of dark chocolate can go a long way in satisfying a sweet craving!

As an athlete, carbohydrates should comprise at least 50% of your macronutrient intake. Because refined sugars are less satiating and cause more rapid insulin spikes, most of the carbohydrates should come from higher-fiber complex carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables. When possible, combine carbohydrates with protein. Once higher intensity training and racing ramps up, you will want to increase the daily percentage of calories from carbohydrates to approximately 65% of total calories.

The timing of your energy intake is equally important as what you eat. Scale your energy intake so you are taking in more calories when you are more active (i.e. in the first half of the day versus right before bed). Don’t skip meals or snacks and try to go no more than 3 hours at a time without energy intake. Avoid consuming mass amounts of calories at one time, as is often done at a post-ride recovery meal.

Never skip the recovery drink or snack. Immediately after a training session, use a 250 to 400 calorie recovery drink (or equivalent food with additional fluid). Then consume smaller 250-600 calorie snacks or meals every 1-2 hours to maximize recovery and minimize excess fat storage.

Incorporate strength training into your regimen, if you have not already. Not only will it help your performance, it will help you reach your fat loss goals more quickly.

Finally, green tea catechins have shown some promise in fat metabolism. So, brewing some hot green tea might be a good way to keep warm in the winter!

Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic: MTB Stage Racing Arrives on the East Coast

2010-02-08T21:11:00.007-07:00

written by: Karen Potter
This May will be the first opportunity for many east coast racers to experience the newest and most exciting trend in U.S. mountain bike racing, a stage race. No doubt many east coasters are grinning from ear to ear, at the prospect of their first 7-day stage race, with, perhaps, a hint of grimacing at the thought of 7 days of grueling east coast singletrack. The Trans-Sylvania Epic will be a first for east coasters and the east coast alike. A 7-day mountain bike stage race has never been tried east of the Rocky Mountains. The Trans-Sylvania Epic takes place May 30 – June 5th. The race is bound to put Pennsylvania on the map as a mountain biking destination.

Race Director Mike Kuhn surveys the Trans-Sylvania trails

Race directors Mike Kuhn and Ray Adams are experienced at promoting and organizing races that are fun, accessible to all levels of racers, and usually include a twist, like the well-known Iron Cross event that Mike originated which, includes the infamous “Spiral of Death.” They also have ample experience as pro mountain bike racers and as directors of one of the most successful amateur mountain bike teams, visitPA.com (now PAValleys.com). Drawing on their vast knowledge and experience the race directors feel confident they know how to tackle an Epic race.

When asked what he felt would be biggest draw for this race, Mike Kuhn emphatically responded, “the Trails!” The Trans-Sylvania epic will be staged just outside Stage College, Pennsylvania, which is set in a spectacularly beautiful mountainous region. Anyone who has raced the Wilderness 101, which is 45 minutes east of State College, knows there are plenty of hills in central Pennsylvania. Both lowlanders and highlanders will be on equal footing given State College’s elevation of 1150 feet above sea level. The Wilderness 101 features trails that are extremely technical, even for the hardest east coasters. The trails are certain to challenge the abilities of all riders…but Kuhn assures there is plenty of mix to appease a wide range of trail appetites.

Wooded Pennsylvania singletrack, a sight riders will get accustomed to

The seven days of racing will include stages with technical riding, smooth twisting roller coaster/pump track like riding, climbing, ridge riding, and flat open rolling sections that will take riders through historic train tunnels and the amazing Amish countryside. The stages will be 25-45 miles with exception of first day’s 11-mile time trial. And the “twist” for this race comes on Day 5 with a Super D stage broken down into 4-5 mass start Super D events with cumulative time counting for the day. So, really, this is a stage race accessible to all riders of all abilities, whether you’re a climber, a descender or a technical aficionado. The organizers along with Frank Maguire, State College's own Mid-Atlantic IMBA rep, have made creating a course that is all about fun and leaving people with a good taste of Pennsylvania’s vast trail offerings the number one priority of Trans-Sylvania! In addition, the race will primarily be staged out of the campground race headquarters, so there’s no packing up and settling in each night.

The Scout Camp Dining Hall will be a popular place during 7 days of mountain bike racing

Another strong appeal to this race is the location. It’s within a days drive from, well, a huge chunk of the country. That’s certainly appealing to many riders who have experienced the difficulties and expense of flying with one’s bike. Simply put, it’s not fun. It’s much easier to pack everything in the car and go on a fun journey. But for those who need to fly, Kuhn and Adams have partnered with Bikeflights.com – a new company that specializes in bike related trips and happens to be based in Stage College. Kuhn pointed out that “anyone booking travel through Bikeflights.com will not only receive pricing that is typically better than what you’ll find on other travel sites, but also bike shipping services and trip insurance that can cover the entire cost of the travel and entry fee.” And with a hometown race with a hometown company, they’re likely to be taking personal care of race participants.

After researching the Trans-Sylvania Epic I am left to wonder - is it May yet? The Trans-Sylvania Epic is sure to be an exciting and unique event. It’s also one of the most affordable seven-day stage races, costing roughly $1,200 including food and lodging. Check it out at www.transylvaniaepic.com.

photos courtesy of: Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic

TransRockies adds UCI points and More Prize Money in 2010

2010-02-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

photos by: Dan Hudson

In the same year that the TransRockies returns to the majestic Alberta Rockies, it has been granted UCI status—only the second North American stage race to do so--and will offer the most international ranking points in addition to the best-organized and most epic stage race in North America.

In addition, the 2010 TransRockies, will offer even more prize money to elite teams, the prize purses for the top teams in the 7-day 2-person team TransRockies and the 3-day solo TR3 will be over $30,000 cash.

“2010 is a very important year for TransRockies,” said Event Director Aaron McConnell. “We are returning to our roots in Alberta with an awesome new course that’s more fun, rideable and challenging than ever before. And, given that our team has organized numerous World Cups, applying for UCI Sanctioning seemed like a natural next step in the race’s evolution.”

With the points chase for the 2012 Olympic spots about to kick off in earnest, the opportunity to earn some of the over 2500 UCI points on offer should attract some of the top riders in North America to the start line in Fernie, BC. “Having TransRockies become part of the national calendar along side the other exciting events in Canada this summer, will help to solidify Canada as one of the strongest mountain bike nations in the world!” said Nicholas Vipond, Mountain Bike and BMX coordinator for the Canadian Cycling Association.

The TransRockies brought the concept of mountain bike stage racing to North America and continues to push the format forward, offering the best experience for riders of all levels with a combination of seamless complete support, epic singletrack and real Wild West hospitality.

“While we’re looking forward to a deep and competitive elite field, we’re still completely focussed on making sure that we offer all of our riders the adventure of their lives,” said McConnell. “We’re hoping that the presence of more pro riders just adds to the excitement for our recreational riders. We’re confident that we’re going to set a new benchmark again in 2010.”

The 2010 TransRockies starts August 8th in Fernie and finishes 7 days later in Canmore, Alberta on the edge of legendary Banff National Park. The TR3 runs concurrently with the first three stages of the TransRockies finishing August 10th. For more information on the 2010 TR and TR3, visit www.transrockies.com.

With the scarcity of UCI sanctioned mountain bike races in the United States and close proximity of the Transrockies you can expect many top U.S. racers will be traveling up north. Top riders who have raced Transrockies in the past include Barry Wicks, Kris Sneddon, and Katerina Nash. Don't be surprised to see some big names from the United States racing in Canada this summer.

Singlespeed USA Championship, Tucson, Arizona

2010-02-07T08:34:00.006-07:00

Report and photos courtesy of Krista Park

The race was about 50 miles, but the first 7.5 miles was a neutral roll-out on paved roads. Once we got to Redington dirt road, everyone stopped, we walked our bikes up around a bend in the road, and removed the front wheel. After walking the front wheel back to the "start" we sang Happy Birthday to Dejay Birtch, the event promoter, ran up to our bike, put the front wheel back on and started racing up the dirt road. Approximately 100 riders were on hand to serenade Birtch in his birthday celebration.

Race venue before the start

Those who short-cut the course didn't sign in on the result list. Riders were still coming in after dark. Todd (Krista's husband) and I would have finished close to each other, but he broke not one, but two, pedals in the race. He ended up having to short-cut the course and didn't sign in at the finish.

It was a cool course, with a big climb to start on a fireroad I never had any issues passing. After 9.5 miles of dirt road we turned right onto a section of AZ Trail singletrack which was a blast, and a little hard to follow; I blew through a lot of turns. After that it was a mix of super steep rocky ATV trails, more than a little hike-a-bike, back to Reddington road to repeat a 5-mile section then left on the AZ Trail, again a really fun section, then the famous Milagrosa descent (with a few more climbs). Lots of cactus and rocks, perfect weather, no arm warmers needed.

The SSUSA racecourse

I still don't know Dax's winning time, Dax didn't know his own time and in true SS fashion, no one wrote it down. Scott Morris (topofusion.com) is listed as 4th, he thinks he was 5th, there is no telling. Scott's time from the official start at 9:45am (after "happy birthday") was about 4 hours, mine was 4:13, maybe 1.5 hours in front of the next girl.

Although Dax and I had the best times, the official SS Champ title was awarded by a no-foot-down game about four hours later (while riders were continuing to come in off the course). Neither Dax or I won this game. Some guy took me out, I don't know who he was or if he even raced.

Of course Dale's Pale Ale was on hand for this event

Campers awaiting the race start

Race bikes prepared for a 50-mile beatdown

Results after the ride

1, Dax Massey
2, Mike Montalbano
3, David Wilson
4, Scott Morris
5, James Harmon/Nick Gould
6, Scott Moots
7, Robin Guillame
8, Fuzzy Milne
9, James Upshaw
10, Jake Kirkpatrick
11, Tom AMen
12, Krista Park (Incycle)
13, Thor?
14, Rob Decot
15, Nat Pellman
16, Shey Lindner
17, Evan Smith
18, Kaolin Cosmo Cummens
19, Andrew 40 Hands
20, Chad Cheney

** Results for this race are compiled by having the racer sign his or her name to a piece of paper after crossing the finish line. Apparently after racing a singlespeed for 50+ miles writing legibly is difficult. We at MTBracenews.com had a difficult time deciphering some of the names because the entire list looks like it was written by a left-handed Spider Monkey on crack. We apologize for any misspellings or inconsistencies in the reporting of these results**

2010-02-05T10:46:00.002-07:00

With Colorado’s famed history with the sport of mountain biking, it is only fitting for the first ever women’s only mountain bike event to launch on the state’s legendary turf. In 1990, Durango hosted the first ever UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and two Coloradoans, Ned Overend and Juli Furtado, were crowned World Champions. Crested Butte is home of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and Museum and the Leadville 100 attracts some of the most renown racers from all over the world to compete in one of the toughest mountain bike races in the U.S.

Now on June 12, 2010 the Beti Bike Bash will add to the history with its debut as the first ever women’s only mountain bike event at Lakewood’s Bear Creek Lake Park, 15 miles west of Denver, Colo.

Team Yeti Beti will play host to this event with presenting sponsors Yeti Cycles and Bigfoot Productions of Golden, Colo. The event will offer women several exciting and fun races for all ages and abilities. The course at Bear Creek Lake Park is a five mile, non-technical singletrack loop with views of surrounding Red Rocks Park. Beginners (CAT 3) will ride two laps, with the sport (CAT 2) riders racing three laps, and the Open/Pro race featuring four fast laps. There will also be a three-woman relay fun race for those who want to experience the camaraderie of a mountain bike race with their friends.

The Beti Bike Bash is being supported by many of the Yeti Beti’s team sponsors. Yeti Cycles was the first to commit their support and help launch the idea. “Chris Conroy, the president of Yeti, pretty much told us to make it happen. We’ve wanted to do this since we started the team in 2007 but didn’t have the resources to do it until now”, says Amy Thomas of Team Yeti Beti. “The Beti Bike Bash is something that the team supports 100 percent as a way of giving back to our sport.”

Citing other successful women’s only events in triathlon and running, it seemed logical to the team to host such an event. “Mountain bike races are intimidating for beginner women for several reasons,” said Sarah Rawley, Bigfoot Productions public relations. “Steep climbs, rocky descents, high altitude, and often you are gone all day from your family. We wanted to break down those barriers and offer something that any woman who rides would enjoy. With Bear Creek’s close proximity to Denver and great trail system, it was a perfect venue for an event like this.”

For more information, visit www.betibikebash.com. Online registration will be available in February at www.active.com.

Bigfoot Productions was established in 2006 in conjunction with Yeti Cycles to promote bike industry involvement in racing and expand and improve mountain bike racing in the Rocky Mountains. For further inquiries please contact srawley@yeticycles.com.

H2O Overdrive Triple Crown Opener Drawing World Class racers/Pua Sawicki Raffle Off Truck and Travel Trailer

2010-02-05T08:17:00.005-07:00

The 2010 H2O Overdrive Triple Crown presented by Specialized is on the radar of some of the World’s top Mountain Bike talent, according to US Cup management.

The Triple Crown consists of three races across the United States. Each race includes cross country, short track, and super-D events. A riders placing will be determined by the highest placing from two of the three disciplines after a weekend of racing. The rider with the lowest combined score at the end of the weekend wins. And at the Triple Crown winning is good. If more than 60 riders take the start the winner would go home with $3,000 in their pocket and payout would go 30 riders deep! It seems not spending all your money on UCI inscription fees has it's perks.

The Triple Crown's impressive payout schedule

“We are very excited with the feedback we have been receiving from the industry and riders attending the opening round of the H2O Overdrive Triple Crown All Mountain Series stated US Cup marketing director Ty Kady. “To date, I have confirmation from some of North America’s top riders, plus 2009 women’s World Championship Bronze medalist Lene Byberg of the Factory Specialized team is set to race, along with her teammate Todd Wells.”

“I can also confirm that a lot of top talent will be attending, including newly signed Cannondale Factory riders Jeremiah Bishop and Tinker Juarez. Team Sho-Air/Specialized will be sending five time Australian champion Sid Taberlay, along with Max Plaxton and Tad Elliot. We also expect some of the Kenda/Felt team, some of the Subaru/Gary Fisher crew, as well as a possible Geoff Kabush sighting with his Rocky Mountain/Maxxis team. All in all, we expect the field to be loaded in both the men and women’s races as they go after potentially huge prize money and media coverage!” continued Kady

“But let’s not forget about all the privateers, both regionally and nationally that can come stake their claim” reiterated Kady. “We could be paying as deep as 30 spots, and we have a Top U23 and Top Senior (oldest) rider bonus too.”

“Industry feedback has been really positive on the new concept and the H2O Overdrive Triple Crown seems to be gaining momentum with the sponsors, teams and riders commented Kady.

North America’s top cross country male pro Geoff Kabush, chimed in via e-mail with his support, “I think you will get a lot of appreciation from the riders for the payouts. That is about how it was back in the day when I started… $3500 for the win….. It is nice when you can finish 5-6th and still get $500-600 bucks to break even for the weekend.”

For more info go to: www.uscup.net

H2O Overdrive Triple Crown Schedule:

Bonelli Park, California: March 13-14
Chalk Creek, Colorado: May 15-16
Massanutten, Virginia: June 19-20

________________________________________________________________________________________
Win Pua's Palace Giveaway

World Class endurance and cross country racer Pua Sawicki and Team Mata have become known for some pretty incredible giveaways. Last season they raffled off thousands of dollars of merchandise and bikes on the Team Mata web site. This season they have taken raffling to a whole new level: Pua's home.

For the past four seasons Pua and her husband Ron have lived on the road. Traveling from race to race in their gigantic truck and travel trailer.

The prize package in action

While that works great for racing on the domestic scene Sawicki wants to take her racing across the pond in 2010 and focus 100% on qualifying for the 2012 Olympics in London. That means she needs cash for her travel expenses.

To help support Pua and have a shot at winning her truck and travel trailer you can visit her web site and enter the raffle for $40. Pua needs 2,400 entries to raffle off the dream package, if that number isn't reached by May 1st, 2010 all money will be refunded.

Visit www.teammata.com for more information

Win Two Nights Stay and Free Entry to the Park City Point to Point

2010-02-03T20:25:00.006-07:00

In the fast growing world of ultra-endurance racing, the Park City Point to Point broke onto the scene in a big way last fall. Now one of the premier events in the west, the Park City Point to Point is giving away an entry into this year's race and two nights lodging in the resort community of Park City, Utah.

Race leaders attack the singletrack at the Park City Point to Point

In order to win you just have to visit their facebook page and write your craziest road trip story when traveling to a race. You can also learn more at the PCP2P official web site, www.thepcpp.com.

The Park City Point to Point (PCP2P) is a 78-mile ultra-endurance mountain bike race. The PCP2P includes 75 plus miles of fabulous high-mountain Utah singletrack and a grueling 14,000 vertical feet of climbing. Last year's inaugural event was won by Alex Grant and Pua Sawicki. Grant posted a winning time and established the current course record with a time of 7.04.01. This year's event will be held on September, 4th.

Lodging for the PCP2P giveaway is being provided by Park City Crash Pads. A unique and exciting new company specializing in providing affordable high-end condo rentals in Park City, Utah, Park City Crash Pads caters to real people not traveling on the company dime and unable to drop a cool grand for weekend in resortville. Learn more at www.parkcitycrashpads.com.

Official registration for the PCP2P opens February 15th. For up-to-the-minute reports, including registration launch reminders from the Park City Point to Point follow them on twitter @PCpoint2point.

Already scheduled to appear at this years event are MTB racing legend Tinker Juarez, 24 Hour Solo National Champions Josh Tostado and Ezster Horanyi, Ruta De Los Conquistadors runner-up Alex Grant, and 24 Hour Singlespeed National Champions Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris.

2010-02-03T03:31:00.002-07:00

Question: After racing an entire cyclocross season how do I make the transition back mountain bike training?

Alison: Making the transition from the cyclocross to the mountain bike season can be fairly easy if you follow a few simple rules; rest, rest, rest!

Racing a full season of cross is grueling and takes a toll on the body

The biggest mistake cyclists make is not taking enough rest at the end of the cyclocross season. Most riders will transition into their cyclocross season directly from their road or mountain bike season. It is easier to maintain race fitness and fine tune it for cross racing, then to take a few weeks off after your road/MTB season, and then try and play catch up once you do start racing cross. This means that at the end of your cross season, it is crucial that you take a few weeks off the bike for some rest and recovery.

When your cross season is over, take a good 3-4 weeks off from structured training. I still recommend riding at least 4 days a week. But don’t do any intervals or group rides. Instead, do rides you enjoy and rides that are fun. This is your one chance to take not only a physical break from training, but also a mental break. If you finish your cross season with Nationals in mid-December, you won’t have a lot of time before the start of the mountain bike or road season. It is super important to take full advantage of the few weeks right after the cross season ends to rest, relax, and recover.

Once you’re ready to start training again, I suggest taking two weeks to work in some long endurance rides to get your fitness level back up before starting any intensity. After two weeks of endurance rides you can start into your interval training and shift your focus to the upcoming season. Failing to take time off will lead to a meltdown part way through the summer, and I guarantee it will happen at the most inopportune time.

Remember that with training it is better to focus on quality than quantity. And don’t be afraid to rest. Rest does a body good!

Happy trails!

Alison

Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

Product Review:Ergon Grip Review

2010-02-02T04:35:00.001-07:00

Written by: Jen Hanks

I like to be comfortable. I love to wear soft sweatshirts and I don’t see the point of high heels. When I ride my bike for hours on end, I also want to be comfortable. I’ve put a lot of thought into improving my comfort on my bike. I’ve ridden endless saddles, definitely have favorite chamois, and even prefer some helmets over others. I had never really thought about improving my hand comfort; mostly because there was only one type of grip available. Round.

These Ergon GX 1s went through some serious testing by our reviewers

In 2007, I started dabbling in ultra-endurance riding/racing, my hands started to bother me more. I came back from the 2007 TransAlp with sore, blistered, and bruised hands. This is when I started hearing about Ergon grips.

Ergonomic grips. What a brilliant idea. I bought a pair of GX1s to try for 2008. The difference was amazing. The grips worked, surprisingly, just like they were advertised.

No more numb, blistered, sore hands. Plus, the platform shaped grip surface allows me to rest my hands on the grips and therefore relax my upper body, which decreases energy expenditure. This difference is especially noticeable during insanely long rides. The GX1s saved my hands for my first 10-hour solo event as well as the 2008 TransRockies. At TransRockies, though, with it’s endless climbs, I thought, ‘perhaps I would like some extra hand positions.’

The Ergon GX 2 with integrated carbon bar end

So, for 2009 I bought a pair of GX2s. The GX2s were essentially the same platform grip as the GX1s, with carbon bar ends. I had never been a fan of bar ends, mostly because I like to shift a lot, and I can’t shift when on the bar ends. But, the extra hand positions provided even more comfort and upper extremity relief. The GX2s were the perfect grips for the long steep climbs of the inaugural Breck Epic.

One of my favorite things about the Ergon grips is the ease in which they are installed. This allows me to swap my grips out easily based on course profile. I prefer to use the GX1 grips, however if I know a course has a ton of climbing I can throw on the GX2s in just a couple of minutes. The grips also clamp securely to the bar, which eliminates the potential for slippage in rainy conditions and come in size small and large.

Ergon grips are mounted over a plastic tube with expansion joints that allow it to clamp securely to your bar when the outer ring is tightened

The Ergon grips are also competitively light. The GX1s weigh in at 134 grams and the GX2s 190 grams on my gram scale (this is pretty dang close to the advertised weights on the Ergon website). I have not had an opportunity to ride the new, smaller profile GA1s, but they weighed 124 grams. For comparison, I weighed some other, non-ergonomic grips. A pair of non-ergonomic rubber grips weighed 100 grams while a pair of non-ergonomic foam grips weighed 38 grams. As for me, I will take the small weight penalty for comfortable hands and improved performance!

Search all the new races on our Nationawide calendar and hundreds of others

2010-02-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

We have added a ridiculous amount of new 2010 dates to our national calendar. Brian has been working overtime getting all the new dates in our nationwide calendar. See if you can find a new race in your area and add it to your race calendar in 2010. We have these new races and hundreds more from across the country. Click here to start your search.

Click the map to start your search

We just updated these races:
--Tennessee Bicycle Racing Association 15 race series
--Hudson to Highlands series... NJ and one in NY
--Illinois Homegrown Race Series formally known as I-74 Homegrown race series
--Arkansas Championship Series
--Arkansas MTB Marathon Series
--The massive Virginia Off Road Series including the Camp Hilbert Mountain Bike Race Series
--Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series
--Kentucky Point Series (about half of the point series has been announced)
--Minnesota State Championship Series
--12/24 Hours of Mohican OH
--Ohio Mountain Bike Championship Series

If you have a race you would like added to the MTBracenews race calendar send your information to info@mtbracenews.com

Kathy Sherwin Announces a New Team and Renewed Focus for 2010

2010-01-29T16:08:00.006-07:00

Crushing, demoralizing, agonizing are all words that can be used to describe Kathy Sherwin’s 2009 season.

Written by: Shannon Boffeli

Kathy Sherwin racing close to home in Heber, Utah

For mountain biker Kathy Sherwin, 2009 presented challenges beyond imagination. The season started off with her husband and number one supporter, Chris, breaking his ankle and tearing 4 ligaments on the first day of her annual California training camp. Next her elderly parents became ill leaving them in and out of the hospital all year. Ultimately their collective struggle ended as both of Kathy’s parents passed away less than two month apart. Finally, Sherwin’s spirit and career seemingly all came crashing down as she was let go by her former team Kenda/Tomac/Hayes.

Certainly Sherwin’s 2009 was more than any one person should have to suffer through. As the season ended Kathy was left pondering her future as a bike racer. “It was a very hard time and I was very down. I told Chris I was ready to cash it all in.” recalls an emotional Sherwin. “But I knew I shouldn’t make any decisions in such an emotional state.”

That was when one race turned it all around. Despite having had very little time on the bike and just weeks after her father’s funeral Sherwin made the trip up to Portland for the Cyclocross National Championship. Being back in the racing atmosphere felt comfortable but Sherwin still had no idea what to expect during the race.

Remembering her feelings on the start line that day Sherwin said, “I hadn’t raced all season so I started like 60th in the group. As soon as the race started I just felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt great even though I knew I shouldn’t. I just kept passing other girls the whole race and when I saw the sign saying one lap to go I was actually sad because I didn’t want the race to end.“

Sherwin taking the barriers at a local cross race

Now anyone who has raced a cyclocross event knows no one is ever sad to see one lap to go. Clearly Sherwin had experienced something special. “I saw so happy during that race.” Sherwin recollects. “So happy to realize that racing was still my passion.”
Thanks to the folks at Mafia Racing Sherwin will be able to pursue her passion in 2010. Sherwin recently signed a contract to ride for Mafia in the ’10 season. An ecstatic Kathy Sherwin said of her team, “Mafia is a very open team. They didn’t put a lot of restrictions on me. They just want me to race and have fun doing it. I am so lucky to have found them.”

Sherwin will be racing a Felt 29er in 2010. She’s very excited about her first opportunity to ride and race a big-wheeled bike. Sherwin will be competing at the US Cup Triple Crown events as well as several legs of the Pro XCT, the TEVA Mountain Games, and is considering taking her first crack at the marathon distance tackling the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Look for Sherwin to be sporting a big smile along with her new Mafia Racing kit at mountain bike races all across the country. For Sherwin, it’s almost guaranteed this year will be better than the last.

2010-01-27T05:29:00.008-07:00

MTB Race News is starting a weekly feature. Our weekly "Coach's Column" answers your most pressing training questions. We have brought together some of the greatest minds in mountain bike training to put you on track to being your very best. The weekly column will include coaches Lynda Wallenfels, Alison Dunlap, Namrita O'Dea, Eric Orton, and Travis Woodruff. We start this week with Lynda Wallenfels.
Question: When training for a 100 miler what are the differences between training to finish and training to win or set a personal best?

Response: The first time I signed up for a 100 mile mountain bike race I had a hard time wrapping my head around the distance. I wasn’t sure I could ride that far off-road! I’d never even ridden 100 miles on the road. Finishing was a huge personal challenge. After the finishing glow wore off I wanted to do it again and go faster the next time.

When training for a 100 mile mountain bike race, training to finish it, and training to go faster or to set a personal record time are two distinctly different training plans. The first thing you need to decide is your goal. Next, train that goal, and last, race that goal. It sounds simple but many racers slip up the last step by setting a goal to finish, training on the Finisher Plan, then going out on race day and attempting to execute the (personal record) PR race Plan. Before you start, define your goal (make a decision which plan you are on), train the plan, race the plan, and follow it though to the finish line.

Whatever you choose, training for a 100-miler means lots of riding

The Finisher Plan

On a Finisher Plan the goal is to finish the race happy and within the cut off time. Most hundie races have cut off times. Usually it is 12 hours at the finish line. The important aspects to train on the Finisher Plan are endurance and race execution. Race execution involves fueling, pacing, keeping yourself mentally happy and your bike mechanically working.

Here is a link to the race execution plan for the 100 mile Finisher

The Finisher Plan is a simple endurance volume build plan until 2-3 weeks prior to race day. In the final 2-3 weeks, volume tapers down in order to be fresh on race day. The majority of training is paced within heart rate zones 1-3 (or power levels 1-3) which are aerobic training zones. A focus on fueling practice and endurance pacing are part of every long ride.

The Personal Record Plan

The PR Plan comes into play when a racer wants to go faster. With the PR Plan, it is assumed that a racer has already finished a hundie and has practiced race execution skills. With endurance and race execution skills established, the PR racer can focus on fitness physiology: increasing VO2max, threshold power, and extending the ability to ride near threshold pace for extended durations. You know, the stuff that makes you faster.

Race pace in a PR hundie depends on course profile but consists of mostly upper tempo to threshold pace (power levels 3-4, or heart rate zones 3-4). These are the most important (or most race specific) training zones. Any training plan should progress from general to specific abilities.

To design a 100 mile PR training plan, schedule backwards from your 100 mile mountain bike race day. Follow a 2-3 week taper (race week plus 1-2 taper weeks) before the race to arrive at the start line fresh and ready to execute your PR race plan. The training block prior to the taper is the race specific training block and should predominantly focus on the most race specific abilities. This is threshold and tempo pace (or power Level 3-4, or heart rate zones 3-4) work. The 3-4 weeks prior to the race specific training block should be structured around VO2max work, which is heart rate zone 5 or power Level 5. Cross country racing fits nicely into the VO2max training block. Prior to this, block 3-4 weeks with a mix of neuromuscular power work and endurance work to kick off your PR 100 mile training plan.

Lynda Wallenfels is an endurance mountain bike coach and pro racer. She is owner of LWCoaching.com and current US 24 Hour Solo Single Speed National Champion.

Next Wednesday we will hear from Cross Country World Champion Alison Dunlap about making the transition from cyclocross racing back to the dirt.

If you have training questions you would like answered send them to info@mtbracenews.com

More Races Added to Our Nationwide Calendar Including NUE Series and Much More

2010-01-25T21:06:00.004-07:00

Check out the new races we just added to our Nationwide MTB Race Calendar. See if you can find a new race in your area and add it to your race calendar in 2010. We have these new races and hundreds more from across the country. Click here to start your search.

We just updated these races:
National Ultra Endurance Series
Mid-Atlantic Super Series
USA Cycling MTB National Ultra-Endurance Series

Pro Men's podium from this year's Shenandoah 100 part of the NUE series

If you have a race you would like added to the MTBracenews race calendar send your information to info@mtbracenews.com

12 Hours of Temecula - Full Report and Photos from Vail Lake, California

2010-01-24T12:26:00.008-07:00

Tinker Juarez Gets First Win for Cannondale Factory Racing

Written by: Jens Raz

Tinker Juarez, still racing in his MonaVie kit, puts the wood to the competition at 12 Hours of Temecula

Fear of rain and treacherous conditions for Jason Ranoa’s long-running 12-hour mountain bike marathon in Temecula evaporated, as quickly as water from Vail Lake trails. Temperatures started out in the 30s, and steadily climbed to the mid 50s for most of the day. Perfect weather for racing!

After a week of torrential downpours just north of San Diego parts of the racecourse were diverted to avoid a few river crossings. Net result from the week was close to 5 inches of water in Temecula. That number might not mean much to the rest of the country, but it constitutes about half our yearly rainfall in one week.

The resulting racecourse was fun, fast, with plenty of hard punchy climbing thrown in. The staple “Damn Climb” was taken out and replaced with the Bridges. A shorter but steeper switch back climb that led to a high-speed descent on the ridgeline climbing back up to Marlin Ridge. Yet another express descent followed with an undulating course that shot riders into the famous “Tunnel of Love.” Flying out of the Tunnel, feeling more like a video game than a bike race, the course drops out onto a BMX track and sets the rider up for the last short but steep plunge into base camp, just to do it all over again.

The solo race started hard and fast with Tinker Juarez (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking the holeshot and not relinquishing it until the race was over. 9 hours 51 minutes into the 12 hour race Tinker forged out enough padding to relax and let Alan La Framboise and Brian Van Vleet (KHS) hash it out for 2nd and 3rd respectively. 2009 series winner Alan La Framboise encountered some bad luck with a broken rear derailleur hangar that put a stop to his winning intentions. The fast lap of the day 42.02 went to Tinker.

Alan La Framboise kept the pedal to the metal until a mechanical forced him to slow down

The Expert class appeared to be the most closely contested group with both winner Daniel Nelson and 2nd place Phil Kelly doing 13 laps. 3rd place Tom Andrews and 4th Henry Valenzuela rounding it out with 12 laps each.

The second round of the SoCal Endurance Race Series will continue on June 12th at a yet to be disclosed location with the finale to be held on November 13th. Racers enjoyed great support and enormous amounts of swag from Specialized, Spinergy Wheels, Night Rider Lights, Baja Design Lights, Cyco Path Cyclery, Hammer Nutrition, Nimbus Water Systems and many more!

The finishing stretch of the 12 Hours of Temecula

Pro Men

1, Tinker Juarez (CFR) 12 laps
2, Allan La Framboise 10 laps
3, Bryan Van Vleet 10 laps
4, Jared Fisher 9 laps

Southern Cross Results and Photos

2010-01-23T07:05:00.006-07:00

No rain but lots of fog for Southern Cross 2010 as Cogburn and Wilson take the win. Cogburn has the fastest time at over 3 hours for a cross race!

Southern Cross is one of only a handful of endurance cyclocross races in the nation. The Southern Cross event starts on a with a traditional cyclocross course around the Wahsega 4-H center. Riders wind around a traditional cyclocross race course before busting out for 54 grueling miles of dirt roads, mud, downed trees and climbing.

Cameron Cogburn once again took the Southern Cross title after a tough showdown with top-ranked riders like Thomas Turner, Nathan Sibly, and Garth Prosser. Andrea Wilson took the win in the Open Women's category. Both winners rode cyclocross bikes.

Below is a report from race winner Cameron Cogburn following the race:

The race started with a lap of a unique cyclocross course around Camp Wahsega that included bridges, bench barriers and a stone stair run-up. Leaving the campground for the giant dirt road loop, a lead group quickly established itself at a quick but comfortable pace. There were seven of us, two of which were on mountain bikes. The first climb was only 3 miles long, but 2.5 of those were at 9-10% and on dirt – in other words, a serious climb!

I hit it hard at threshold to see who I would be up against for the day. Yep, it was Thomas Turner. Twenty minutes later, after literally climbing into the clouds, we hit the SAG point at the top of Winding Stair Gap and proceeded to bomb back down into the valley. Thomas was on his mountain bike and put a twenty to thirty second gap on me and my cross bike on the descent. I did not panic as Eddie told us at the start there was a ten-mile stretch of pavement that linked the dirt sections up, and I knew I would have the advantage there.

Turning onto the road portion, I saw Thomas in the distance and I was coming up fast on him. I think he was hoping to work together on the road but I knew I could not forfeit the opportunity here of using my cross bike advantage and isolating him on his knobbies on the pavement, so I blew by as fast as I could and tucked into aero position and kept hammering.

Upon hitting the dirt again, I settled into a steady tempo up the big ring climb back into clouds to the SAG point, and descended quickly but in control down Cooper’s Gap back to Camp Wahsega. There was one more lap to be done on a modified version of the initial CX course that involved an incredibly steep and long “run-up” (like the Wigwam Hill power line run-up from Iron Cross except at the end of the race – ouch!) and a neat section of singletrack with four fallen logs that acted as natural barriers. I rolled through the finish in 3:13, the last two hours of which were ridden alone.

This is definitely one of the more unique races around and comes at a perfect time of year, when people have just resumed riding and are eager to test their legs. Due to the terrain (long mountain climbs and descents) one is guaranteed to be either rewarded with playing in the clouds or spectacular views. The prizes, payouts and swag are top-notch, and I will certainly be back next year for a third helping of this awesome race.

Open Men Finish Time

Cameron Cogburn 3:13:00
Nathan Sibly 3:25:00
Thomas Turner 3:27:00
David Worth 3:38:00
Garth Prosser 3:45:00
patrick harkins 3:45:10
David Hornak 4:07:00
Ryan Bosio 4:10:40
Greg Schisla 4:18:00
Russ Marshall 4:23:00
Kevin Conerly 4:27:00
lee simril 4:27:05
Erik Van Name 4:33:00
Michael Livingston 4:35:00
Robert De Rose 4:38:00
monte hewett 4:41:00
Kurt Rampton 4:47:00
Josh Jackson 4:50:00
Craig Steeds 4:57:00
Jafer Beizer 5:09:00
Mitch Moses 5:09:40
Ben Braxley 5:12:00
mike saunders 5:13:00
Ross Douglas 5:17:00
Zach Davis 5:29:00
Marty Engelstad 5:36:00
Jonathan Moorehead 6:14:00
Leo Anderson 6:15:00
Jonathan Brightwell 6:20:00

Open Women

Andrea Wilson 4:10:10
brenda simril 4:39:00
Emily Brock 4:57:40
Elizabeth Lee 5:01:00
Jennifer Engelstad 5:12:30
Paula Lamberson 5:27:00
Molly Graves 5:47:00

News Flash: Specialized Partners with SoCal Endurance Series/ Cannondale Officially Out as MonaVie Supporter

2010-01-21T22:21:00.013-07:00

Just in time for their first race of 2010, the SoCal Endurance series has formed a partnership with California-based manufacturer Specialized.

SoCal Endurance series director Jason Ranoa said, "Specialized will be our headlining sponsor and be on board to support the races and riders at all our events. I am very excited knowing the passion and dedication that Specialized brings to the table.
Having a world leader in the cycling industry in our corner is a phenomenal resource. Both of our companies will be striving to give our riders the best experience possible."

The SoCal series kicks off this weekend with their first 12 Hour of Temecula race of 2010. Utilizing the extensive trail system at Vail Lake, California the opening race of the three-race series should be a real "barn-burner".

Tinker Juarez will be looking to take home the cash again this weekend

Cannondale Factory Racing team member Tinker Juarez is slated to take the start line along with other strong local talents.

MTBracenews.com will be bringing you results, photos, and a full report from Vail Lake this weekend.

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Cannondale Out as MonaVie Team Sponsor

With the creation of the Cannondale Factory Racing Team for 2010 Cannondale's status as a supporter of the MonaVie Epic racing team was left in question. Cannondale has now officially announced that they will not be partnering with MonaVie for the 2010 racing season.

Alex Grant remains one of MonaVie's most promising riders for 2010 (photo by: Lyna Saffell)

In a prepared statement, Cannondale PR Manager Michael De Leon said, "For the past three years, Cannondale has celebrated many victories with the MonaVie team and we have been thrilled to contribute to the growth and development of its athletes. We see an opportunity with Cannondale Factory Racing to continue to support Mountain Biking with an International team that mirrors the global nature of the Cannondale brand.

Sponsoring CFR allows us to focus our efforts and support the team in a bigger way and with the addition of athletes like Tinker and Jeremiah we see an opportunity to gain more traction with CFR in the U.S."

What this means for the powerhouse MonaVie team in the coming year is currently unknown. Our requests for a comment from MonaVie team director Matt Ohran have gone unanswered.

Despite the loss of high-profile riders Jeremiah Bishop and Tinker Juarez to CFR the MonaVie squad retains top-ranked riders Alex Grant, Sue Butler, and Bart Gillespie for the 2010 season.

Stay tuned to MTBracenews.com for the latest news on the CFR and MonaVie teams and other mountain bike team news

2nd Annual Tri-Flow XC Indoor Invitational at Ray Indoor MTB Park--Cleveland, Ohio

2010-01-21T06:45:00.005-07:00

Written by: Justin Mann
Photos by: Allison Mann and Justyna Wusek

I think that everyone can agree that the purest form of bicycle racing is the Individual Time Trial. ITT’s are elegant; one person, a bike, a specified course, and of course the clock. There are different ways to approach an ITT. You don’t have to have a silly helmet and wind tunnel tuned parts. Downhill mountain bike racing is a very pure form of ITT requiring tons of skill, fitness, and even luck, to ever approach greatness. So if you were to sit down with some typical mountain bikers and invent an appropriate Cross Country Individual Time Trial what would it look like?

Allison Mann weaves her way through the Ray's Indoor course

It would be just long enough to really test the person's ability to pedal as hard as they can and go really fast. It would be just technical enough to create a chance for errors. If an error was made then of course there would need to be a time penalty. Ideally one would be able to eliminate external factors like course conditions and wind. Add in a bunch of screaming fans, some jumps, berms, drops, maybe a bunch more screaming fans, and a whole lot of cowbell… Sound pretty awesome? It is!

This past weekend a few top cyclists were invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Tri-Flow XC Indoor Invitational in Cleveland, OH. For those who have not been, Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park is the perfect venue for such an event with literally hundreds of lines and features to ride including jumps, bridges, whoops, skinnies, berms, and even climbs! With equal payout, $5k in prize money, and killer unique "Leg" trophies this event is quite a show!

The course: The riders are allowed a rolling start and trip a beam to start the clock. Once the clock starts the riders drop off the GT platform and onto the "Prologue" line with a tricky turn, some 10" high speed skinnies, through the "Whoops", 2 fast corners then out onto the "XC Loop". The "XC Loop" starts with a quick up, a tricky left, then a drop into a big left hand berm. Option lines abound on course as one can choose to ride a "plateau" with speed bumps or drop into a "Rock Garden", then all lines go over a table top jump and up a ramp into the rafters. Dropping out of the rafters the racers fly through left, then right hand berms, over another table top jump, and into the "Beginner Room".

Justin Mann uses up every bit of the Red Bull berm

At the entrance to this room a high speed left hander leads to a ramp back up toward the rafters, then a treacherous downward sharp right hander. A short sprint through a hallway leads to a sharp 90 degree right and a steep up onto a platform. Dropping off the other side of the platform throws the rider into a right hand berm and an option to jump the table top to the right or roll it to the left, carrying speed the riders fly through a hard right, then a left and sprint to a 180 degree uphill turn through a doorway. After negotiating this speed robbing turn the riders sprint off a 3' drop into a right/left option. The left hand line is higher and takes more energy, but sets up the next corner with more speed. The proper technique and a bit of risk taking can make the right hand line very fast as well! Another right hand berm and then the racers face the horrible leg burning climb into the rafters. It is tortuously steep, and they are forced through a momentum destroying tight 180 switchback midway. A narrow catwalk provides the racer with a moment to reflect on their new found max heart rate and the pain in their legs and lungs before dropping from the sky into a series of left hand berms and high speed rollers and finally back to where they started.

At this point you might think the course was done, but indeed you have to make three complete circuits of the "XC Loop" and in between each one the riders are forced to ride 2 of the 6 "Technical Lines". These "Technical Lines" consist of bridges and skinnies and other obstacles that can be tricky when fresh, but when your eyes are blurred from sweat, and your heart is trying to jackhammer its way out of your chest (not to mention lack of mental function due to oxygen debt) it gets really interesting! To make these lines even more treacherous, 15 precious seconds are robbed from your elapsed time for an "Incomplete Line". So a slip of a tire or a dab of the foot, or worse yet a full on yardsale crash, can spell disaster for a race run! Now this is mountain bike racing!

Adam Craig getting it done in one of the tight sections

The male contestants came in all forms including Scott's Aaron Snyder on a full suspension Scale with an integrated seatpost (this alone was a feat of courage on this course), local neo-Pro and fast man Kyle Spisak on a Cannondale Scapel, with Trek's Tyler Morland (Canadian National Downhill MTB Champion) and Giant's Adam Craig (Olympian, and holder of both National and World titles!) rocking hard tail dirt jump bikes. A last minute addition allowed Rock N' Road Cyclery's Justin Mann to race with the big boys on a Rental 26" dirt jump bike courtesy of Ray.

Competing for the women the only returning contestant was Lindsey Bishop, representing Mafia Racing and rocking a SRAM XX equipped Felt full suspension race rig. She was up against some stiff competition though. Also on a full suspension bike was Rock N' Road Cyclery's Allison Mann on a full carbon Specialized S-Works Epic and then a fierce duo racing on hard tail dirt jumpers in Lizzy English (Giant STP), and 15 year old local ripper Lyndsey Prososki on a Gary Fisher.

Lyndsey Prososki attacks a downhill section of the course

Out of this mayhem the winners were awarded their $1,000 prize purse in $1 bills and a full mannequin human leg trophy custom painted for the occasion. Adam Craig showed in dominating fashion how to rip up a course with skill and power and win despite a 15 second penalty (yes even the best make mistakes!). His time without the mistake would have blown away the course record previously set by nearly 15 seconds! Allison Mann showed off not only the power to speed to a winning time, but the skills to make a flawless run to the top of the women's podium.

Results:

The men's podium with Spisak, Craig, Snyder, Morland, and Mann (left to right)

Men
1 Adam Craig (Giant)
2 Kyle Spisak (Canondale)
3 Aaron Snyder (Scott)
4 Tyler Morland (Trek)
5 Justin Mann (Specialized)

Women
1 Allison Mann (Specialized)
2 Lindsey Bishop (Felt)
3 Lizzy English (Giant)
4 Lindsey Prososki (Gary Fisher)

Plews and Rasmussen Solve the El Paso Puzzler - El Paso, Texas

2010-01-19T16:47:00.003-07:00

The 3rd Annual El Paso Puzzler 50 mile endurance mountain bike race was held under sunny skies and temps in the mid-60's with 140 anxious riders testing themselves in what was being billed as the toughest race in Texas. With last year's winner performing a bit of course marshaling due to pregnancy, this year's race was a whole different ball game.

The lead group charges out for 50 puzzling miles (photo by: Jennifer Wilson)

Evan Plews (www.evanplews.com - Salem, OR) the 2009 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo solo winner, and ridiculously fit retiree, Travis Brown (Trek -Durango, CO), destroyed the technical course and floated up the climbs. Course designer David Wilson, the SS winner of last summer's Breck Epic stage race, led through the start/finish area for the first 11.5 mile section with Plews, Brown, and El Pasoan Santiago Chavez (Sports Systems) close behind.

After exiting a bit of twisty singletrack onto a super rocky road climb known as Trenchtown Rd., the three riders dropped Wilson and began to grow a large gap. Singlespeeders Cameron Brenneman (Sante Fe, NM) and Beto Villegas (Sierra Vista, AZ) blitzed the 1600' Mundy's Gap climb along with 40-49 winner Kenny Wehn (Colavita – Durango, CO) and 19-29 winner Sem Gallegos (Crazy Cat Cyclery – Austin, TX) close behind the lead threesome of Plews, Brown, and Chavez.

On the west side of the Franklin range, Brown plowed through the infamous granite rock slide to regain the lead. At about mile 30, Plews regained contact and later took control up the final major climb of the day, a 350' foot grind up a newly finished set of 12 switchbacks.

Evan Plews on his way to the Puzzler win (photo by: Chris Oaxaca)

Plews, coming off double pneumonia just before the holidays, went on to take the win in 4:38 with Brown about four minutes back. Moving into 3rd position was Brenneman who pushed a 32x19 on his 29er. Villegas and Gallegos rounded out the top five.

In the women's race, local Susanne Rasmussen took the win in 6:24 with singlespeeder Paula Bohte (Sierra Vista, AZ) coming through in second. Alex Castro (Bicycle Co.- El Paso, TX) was the top finisher in the shorter 35-mile men's event and Diana Almeida (El Paso, TX) took the women's 35 miler.

Susanne Rasmussen was the top female finisher in the 50 mile event (photo by: Rebecca Reza)

115 riders finished the event with no major injuries though many riders looked like they got into a cat fight due to close encounters with the large variety of spiky plants lining the Chihuahuan desert trails. This year’s attrition rate was much lower with only 18 DNF’s in the 50 despite more singletrack than the previous years.

Race director Brent Sanders wasn't sure if comments about the difficulty of the race were compliments or complaints. “I had several people come to me afterwards saying that the race was too difficult,” stated Sanders. “Travis and Evan said it was definitely the most technical 50 miler they've ever completed and both said that with huge grins on their faces. When other riders say that to me without a grin, I take it as a complaint. We consider all suggestions, but this event is intended to be a tough race. All I can say is that we warned people best as we could.”

The El Paso Puzzler, the third race in the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association's Marathon Series, is hosted by the Borderland Mountain Bike Association whose core members donated countless hours of trail building to a new three mile section of singletrack allowing the race to be held entirely in the Franklin Mountains State Park, the largest urban state park in the country.

50 mile competitors only repeated six miles of trail. The event was originally conjured up by Wilson and Sanders as a way to up the level of riding in El Paso. “David and I had been riding this huge loop around the Franklins for a couple of years, but we could never find anyone that would join us,” said Jennifer Wilson, the 2009 winner. “Brent and Susanne (Rasmussen) rode it with us and we realized that we shared the same vision to put on this event.”

“We've seen a complete paradigm shift in mountain biking in El Paso since the first Puzzler with group rides now consisting of this epic loop around the mountains whereas before, most people never wanted to make the effort at the huge climb up Mundy's,” said David Wilson, the BMBA president.

This year's Puzzler was sponsored by Hunt Communities and the El Paso Sports Commission along with industry sponsors, local bike shops and many others. All proceeds from the event go towards trail projects in the Franklin Mountains State Park.

For complete results click here