Cross racers gone wild.

Got this video from Jesse Antony.

I think Trebon and Wicknasty steal the show.

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De Stad Cup Mudfest

Here's the video from Sunday's muddy race at St. Mary's College.




Click here for the full race recap.

Back to the Interweb: Part I

I've been remiss in my blogging duties this year.
Real life has taken precedence over E-living, and life has been good.

Cyclocross season is well underway. Cross starts earlier every year; I'd prefer the season to start in October and go through February. But as long as I'm racing, I'm not complaining.

My plan to race myself back into shape seems to be paying off. Every weekend I've been feeling stronger and have slowly been creeping my way up in the standings.

For some reason I've been riding like a squirrel — making little mistakes that cost me time — silly crashes, dropped chains and bad line choices. I'm hopeful that repetition through racing is the solution.

Disc brakes for all

I'll admit I have a fondness for disc brakes. I came to cyclocross from a mountain bike background. I haven't run rim brakes on any of my mountain bikes since 2000. I am happy to see them going the way of the Dodo.

Here's an interesting story from Velo News to peruse, Next big thing: disc brakes on road bikes.

Cyclocross is a different story.

Banned from cross? Well kinda. Depends on who you are and the sanctioning body under which you race.

Discussions of the pros and cons of disc brakes generally ignite heated debates among members of the cyclocross community

Many of the reasons given for not using disc brakes — weight penalty, overkill for road and cyclocross racing — have less to do with using disc brakes than using brakes designed for mountain bikes.

There's no way around it, discs will always weigh more than canti's. But they don't have to weigh as much as they do now. When it comes to using disc brakes with road levers there's very little selection. Last time I checked the number of mechanical disc brakes designed for use with road levers was two: the road version of the venerable Avid BB-7 and Tektro's Lyra.

Per wheel the road BB-7's weigh in at 361 grams. The Lyra has a published weight of 148 grams per wheel. These weights include caliper, rotor and mounting hardware.

The Lyra is sign of things to come; 140mm rotors instead of the traditional 160mm sizing reduce weight as well as stopping power. The reduction in braking power is not necessarily a bad thing. Disc brakes with equipped with 140mm rotors can provide more stopping power than cantilever brakes while decreasing the weight penalty.

There's a lot more that has to happen than designing road and 'cross-specific disc brakes. Frames, forks and rims all have to be strengthened. Even though it may be small, there's a weight penalty incurred in a disc-specific road or cross bike frameset and wheelset.

There are significant benefits. Disc brakes outshine rim brakes when conditions turn nasty. Mud, water, sand and ice wreak havoc on rims and brake pads while decreasing braking performance. Discs are less effected by adverse conditions. Wheel changes can be faster with discs, flip the quick release, pull the wheel out — no fussing with the brakes.

If I were to make a prediction, it would be that as commuter bikes become more prevalent, so too will disc brakes for road and cross. I don't think Sven Nys or Tim Johnson will be straddling disc-equipped race bikes anytime soon, but for the the weekend warrior — for whom a cyclocross bike is a commuter / utility bike first and a race bike second — discs make perfect sense.

Issue #2 Now Available!

Cyclocross Magazine's second issue is hot off the presses!

If you already subscribe, you've either got your hands on it, or will shortly. If not, you can subscribe here.

Issue #2 is jam-packed with tech articles, product reviews and interviews with all the winners at 'cross nationals in KC. Not just the pros, we mean everyone, juniors, masters, you name it, we got'em.

Weekend on the La Cruz

This showed up at my doorstep last Monday. The Salsa La Cruz, disc brake equipped 'cross bike, to review for CxM. I didn't have time to put any miles on it until the weekend. Even without riding it, I liked what I saw. It has three things I look for in a bike: a ferrous frame, disc brakes and a well-appointed component spec.

I had a choice: spend Sunday logging in gravel miles, or race mountain bikes on what I knew would be a very muddy course. I choose the latter. The Midwest Fat Tire Series promoters decided not to cancel the race. Instead they made an alternate course, which included XC ski trails, gravel roads and some paved sections. It was less a mountain bike race than it was a really long 'cross race. I figured this was the perfect trial-by-fire for the La Cruz.

I pulled the stock Panaracer Crossblasters off and replaced them with a pair of Ritchey Zeds - 700x42. These were my Dirty Kanza tires two years ago. I figured the nature of the race course – relatively flat, smooth, nothing technical – would favor 'cross bikes over mountain bikes.

For the most part I was right. What I didn't count on was the thick mud that made even gentle inclines a slog. The combination of gumbo mud and longstem grass quickly made every rider's drivetrain, seatstays and chainstays a sodden mess. As a result, I quickly found myself over geared – 48/38 in the front combined with a 12-27 cassette in the rear – and spent the modicum of fitness I had in my legs.

My first impressions of the La Cruz are favorable, it's not quick, but predictable. It handled everything I threw at it, and even if it was not the perfect bike for the course, it was good enough for a 4th place expert finish.

...I like to think of it as 'the first place cross bike.'

Cyclocross Nationals

This was my first time at 'cross nationals. No racing for me this year, though by the end of Sunday I felt like I had gotten a pretty good workout -- I was busy running around snapping pictures and conducting interviews for Cyclocross Magazine.

Unfortunately, I was only able to cover Sunday's events. Last weekend's snow storm left me stranded in a national guard armory Russell, Kan. on my way back from a week of snowboarding Park City Utah. It's a rough life I lead.

From all accounts, Sunday's conditions were better than they had been the day before, though the warm afternoon weather made the elite men's race a mudder.

There are plenty of well-written race recaps out there so I'll skip the play-by-play and go straight to the highlight of the day for me -- the collegiate men's pile-up. There's something about combining 170 athletes of varying ability levels, from elites to beginners, into one field that makes for an exciting first lap...

Ryan Trebon's crash only took out him and another unfortunate rider. Here's a video I shot of the first turn into the mud, see if you can count how many guys go down here: