Ibis Hakkalügi Review & Erwin Vervecken Article

Cycling News continues their outstanding coverage of all that is Bicycle Racing with two very good reports relating to Cyclocross. First a very good review of the new IBIS Cross Bike. Plus a very complete article on Erwin Vervecken and his career- racing in America- and his eventual retirement. Have a read...

Ibis Hakkalügi Review.....

http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/ibis-hakkalugi

This bike is sweet! IBIS is located in Santa Cruz. A Nor-Cal company doing Cyclocross proper....

Erwin Vervecken Article....

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vervecken-fond-farewell-to-american-cross

Erwin Vervecken is a class act. For the 3 time World Cyclocross Champion to come to the USA and compete will only raise the bar of performance a little higher for American Cyclocross....

Cyclocross Panel Discussion at Sports Basement -Thursday, 10/1 from 6:00ish to 8:30

Sports Basement in the Presidio is hosting a free Cyclocross Panel discussion on Thursday, 10/1 from 6:00ish to 8:30 or so. Barbara Howe (Vanderkitten) , Tom Simpson (Pilarcitos/ BASPS) and Andrew Yee (Cyclocross Magazine) will all be there to talk about your favorite sport. Sports Basement is going to raffle some stuff off and the beer will be both cold and free if you're over 21. They also may add another guest to the roster before the event.

This should be good as Andrew Yee, Tom Simpson, & Barbara Howe will share their vast wealth of knowledge with all who attend.

Bay Area Super Prestige Photos From Cross Vegas

Tom Simpson, the voice of Northern California bike racing, and father of the B.A.S.P. Series, clicked off some strong photos from Cross Vegas. Just click on the photo to enlarge it, and when the picture is at full size you can really see the quality of the photo. That all grass course in Las Vegas looked very interesting to race on, and delivered some excellent photos.


Barbara Howe sporting her new race colors for the 2009 Cross season.....

Some serious fire power in this lead group with Treborn, Johnson & Vervecken ....

The lead pair have a very serious look going. If you enlarge this photo you can read the desperate state of drive the winner Jamey Driscoll has posted on his face. Sitting on Driscoll is Christopher Jones. When Jones won the Golden Gate Park event of the BASP Series over Justin Robinson and all the other Nor-Cal fast men last year, people were wondering who this guys was??
Well Christopher Jones is for real, and he showed his talent again with a fine 2nd place overall at Vegas Cross...


Nor-Cal's own Don Langley(Cal Giant Inc.) on course. Langley is a Northern California legend on two wheels. Check out that radical Specialized Cross bike, it looks like there is still dirt on it from CCCX #1 at Manzanita Park the previous Sunday. One thing you can count on is that bike is light!....

Lauren Haughey(Sheila Moon) shows tremendous style and grace on course. Is she smiling or is that an expression of suffering??.....

Katie Compton- KFC- to her competitors shows off focus and fight while railing a high speed section...

John Howard, a true U.S.A. Road icon from the 70's hits a turn at Cross Vegas. In 1985 Howard set a land speed record for a bicycle at 152 miles per hour. That is some very serious speed. Howard competed in 3 Olympics, 68, 72, 76. He is a former 4-time U.S. National Road Cycling champion (1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975) and won the 1981 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. Quite the resume....

Surely Tom & Alex Simpson are getting fired up for the B.A.S.P. Series starting on October 4. With the NCNCA Districts taking place at Golden Gate Park at the end of November, Cyclocross in the Bay Area will be quality stuff all year long.

Carmen D'Aluisio To Lead Special Cross Clinic In Fresno Oct. 4

Pinnacle Training Systems of Fresno has announced that Carmen D'Aluisio, who is one of Northern California's most outstanding Cyclocross racers ever, will be the lead instructor for a special Cyclocross clinic on Oct 4.

Limited to 15 people, the clinic will cover such Cyclocross related skills as mounts, dismounts, shouldering your bicycle, starts, then finishing off with a simulated race & de-brief to test new skills learned.

I highly recommend any aspiring Cross racer to take advantage of this opportunity to learn tips and Cyclocross related techniques from Carmen D'Aluisio. Working with D'Aluisio is a golden chance to improve all aspects of your skills with guidance from a World Class level coach and athlete.


More info on this Pinnacle Training Systems Clinic can be found here...

http://pinnacletrainingsystems.com/home/

Flyer...

D'Aluisio has raced on the highest level in Cyclocross and is a accomplished personal coach and team director....

NCNCA B.A.R.- Best All Around Rider Rankings Start Now!~

The Best All Around Rider Rankings for NCNCA Cyclocross start at CCCX #1 This Sunday 9/20/09. Every Cross race thereafter listed on the NCNCA calendar will be entitled to be included in the BAR point totals for 2009. It is mandatory for promoters to post results online in a timely manner. Taleo Racing Team is assisting in keeping score for the season long points race. New for 2009 will be that most divisions run by the major series in Northern California will be included in the Best All Around Rider (BAR) rankings.


Rich Maile, seen here winning the Men's 45+ "A" division NCNCA District Cross title in 2008 at Manzanita Park, posted the highest point total ever recorded during the 2001 season for any Cross division when B.A.R. rankings were kept from 2000- 2003- an amazing 692 B.A.R. points in one season....


Past BAR rankings have only kept tally for the Elite divisions. For 2009 we will track points in the common categories used for such races as B.A.S.P., Sacramento Cross Series, Surf City, CCCX, CXSR, LARDP, Sagebrush, & the Homegrown Fresno Series.


Here is a example of the divisions that will be tracked and calculated for the Best All Around Rider awards...


BAR CYCLOCROSS CATEGORIES:

Elite Men
Elite Women
Master Men 35+ A
Master Men 45+ A
Master Women 35+
Master Women 45+
Single Speed A
Single Speed B
Category B Men
Category B Women
Master Men 35+ B
Master Men 45+ B
Master Men 55+
Category C Men
Category C Women
Junior 15-18
Junior 10-14
Junior Women


Hopefully riders who place high in the final rankings in the "C" & "B' categories will upgrade immediately into the "A" divisions.


Past B.A.R. rankings were run in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.


B.A.R. rankings really are a great way to distinguish who rides well during the entire season of races.


Justin Robinson was maybe the most consistent Elite Men's racer during the 4 year run of B.A.R. standings. Robinson made top 3 in the Senior Men's rankings all 4 years. Robinson was the overall winner in 2002 and 2003. John Funke was also very consistent in the Elite Men's standing placing top 3 in both the 2002 & 2003 season long rankings. Ben Jacques-Maynes was the 2000 season B.A.R. champion. While the 2001 Elite Men's B.A.R. winner was Justin Morgan.



For the Elite Women Sarah Kerlin & Stella Carey are racers who still compete now at the Elite level that had a solid impact in the B.A.R. rankings from 2000- 2003. Kerlin was 2nd overall by a mere one point in 2000 B.A.R. . And Carey was 3rd in 2000, then won the overall in 2001. Other B.A.R. winners for the Elite Women's division were 2000- Shelly Whisenhant, 2002- Hillary Daniels, & 2003- Rachael Lloyd.


Master Men 35+ Men had Mark Howland as the most consistent rider during the 4 year run. Howland was the winner in 2002, and placed in the top 3 overall in 2 other seasons. Keith DeFiebre tasted 2nd place twice in the rankings- the 2002 season behind Howland, and the 2001 season behind Rich Maile. The 2001 year was a special one for Rich Maile as he was the overall B.A.R. winner for Master Men 35+ and posted the highest point total ever recorded in the 4 years the scores were kept- an amazing 642 points. This shows how truly incredible Maile was week after week during the 2001 season to gather 642 B.A.R. points. This is a record that may never be broken in "A" division racing! Year long winners in the Master 35+ division besides Howland and Maile were James Coats in 2000, and Rob Meighan in 2003.


Junior division overall B.A.R. winners were 2000- John Higelund, 2001- Steven Cozza- who today rides for Pro Tour Road Team Garmin-Slipstream, 2002- Daniel Dye, & 2003- Adam Switters- who now excels on the Road Race scene.


B.A.R. rankings basically do not show who wins each and every race. However, it does show which riders consistently place high in the standings for each and every race they take part in.


Good Luck to all the racers in all the divisions for the 2009 B.A.R. rankings.


A special thanks goes out to Joe Miller of the Taleo Race Team for his expertise in the computation of results and point totals for all the divisions.


Taleo Racing- http://www.taleoracing.com/


BAR divisional champions will be recognized at seasons end.

Report corrections http://us.mc311.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=joecrosstime@yahoo.com taleoracing.com

Fine print on point structure:

Points are awarded 20 deep in events with more than 20 finishers, as follows: 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 .


Points are awarded to all finishers in events with less than 10 as follows: 10th=1point, 9th=2, 3,4,5,6,7,9,11,14


NOTE(S) TO PROMOTERS:
Promoters--event/ad requirements: In order for a race to qualify for BAR points, categories must be picked separately, and the race announcement must advertise that categories will be picked separately.

The categories may be run together (for example, women can be run with B's or masters) but each group must be picked separately.


For previous years B.A.R. rankings look here....


http://www.ncnca.org/cyclocross/2003/cxpoints.html

Surf City CX Info Page- Alive & Kickin!

Yes! The Surf City Series is back. Their web page is up and running with schedule info and locations for some of the races to come. It is going to be good stuff for sure, as the Surf City is the oldest Cyclocross Series in the U.S.A. It has the most history, and now more historical rides will take place. Yes! The Surf City Series is back~


Thomas Frischknecht pulled off a amazing ride at the Monterey Bay Academy in 1996. I was there.......were you???
The main man! Jeff Clark....

Cameron Falconer, can he be considered old school?....

"Legend" Larry Hibbard....

Jackson Stewart under the giant Redwood trees.....

David Gill will make sure good times will be had by all....

Here is the link to all the info that is Surf City Cx Series version 2009....

http://www.cyclo-x.com/

Barbara Howe Inks Vandekitten Sponsorship for 2009 Cross

Pro cyclist Barbara Howe today announced a partnership with Vanderkitten Clothing for the 2010 cyclocross season. A veteran national team member with World Championship experience, Howe will compete on Ibis Cycles’ new Hakkalügi carbon cyclocross bike with forks supplied by Alpha Q. Vanderkitten Racing adds support from current sponsors SRAM, Spinergy, Tifosi Optics, SDG, Profile Designs, Lazer Helmets and KickBrix Energy Gummies. Based in Berkeley, California, Howe will compete in a diverse array of U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclocross and UCI events in the U.S., beginning with Cross Vegas in Las Vegas, NV on September 23, 2009. Joining Howe for the 2010 season will be Shannon Holden of Spokane, Washington, and Haley Beann of Menlo Park, California.


Barbara Howe, one of Northern California's best Cyclocross competitors....
Thanks to Tim Gasperak for the excellent photo of Barbara Howe. Tim Gasperak's outstanding work can be seen at this link..... http://gasperak.com/


“I’m really excited to have Barb racing with Vanderkitten for 2010,” said Dave Verrecchia, owner and founder of Vanderkitten. “She’s not only a great competitor, but she’s also an ambassador who actively promotes cycling and women in sport."

In addition to racing, Howe teaches several cyclocross clinics each year, and maintains a popular blog on CyclingNews.com. Her unique insight into women’s cycling led her to work with Vanderkitten to design a signature line of cyclocross clothing produced by Hot Shoppe Designs which will be available for purchase via Vanderkitten.com this fall.“Vanderkitten is a great fit,” said Howe. “I’m excited to race this year and represent a brand that is such a great supporter of women in cycling.”About VanderkittenFounded in 2005, Vanderkitten is a performance-driven, casual apparel and cycling wear company for women based in Berkeley, CA. The company will soon launch its all new 2010 line of clothing, made in Italy. For more information, visit http://vanderkitten.com/

About Barbara HoweBarbara Howe is a seven year veteran of women’s professional cycling. In 2005 and 2006, Howe represented the United States at Cyclocross World Championships, and she has excelled in road and mountain biking with top finishes at races such as the Nevada City Bicycle Classic and Tour du Grand Montréal. Howe recently recovered from a ruptured achilles tendon sustained while racing in Belgium in late 2007.

For more information, visit http://barbarahowe.com.SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Barbara Howe Partners Joins Vanderkitten Clothing for the 2009/2010 Cyclocross Season", url: "http://cxmagazine.com/barbara-howe-partners-joins-vanderkitten-clothing-20092010-cyclocross-season" });ShareThis

CX Magazine Keeps Pumping Out Info

CX Magazine makes for some great reading, and their web page puts out all sorts of quality info pertaining to all that is Cyclocross. I do recommend you keep a eye on their web page to keep updated with the quality information the boys at CX Magazine produce!

Here is the link to the gold mine of knowledge..... http://cxmagazine.com/



Cross is for all ages and all sizes of riders, and there is nothing like some neutral support.....

Brock Dickie Knows- Cross Keeps You Active

Established racers like Brock Dickie know Cyclocross can be called the most intense style of bike racing. Pack riding, bike handling skills, sprinting, endurance, race tactics, time trialing, climbing, descending- it seems that all aspects of bike racing come to the fore in Cyclocross. If you want to improve as a bike racer, Cyclocross racing is the advanced course to achieve your Masters degree.

Brock Dickie has possibly the best finishing move of all. Don't try this at home.....

Here are some of Active.com's reasons to race Cyclocross. I have to agree with all of them....

1. A mental break from road or mountain bike racing. Many riders begin racing their “normal” cycling season in March or April, with a few beginning in January and February. By the time September rolls around, some riders are tired of their normal training and racing routine. A new training routine and race challenge can keep riders motivated and fit right up to the holiday season

2. A physical change. Yes, I know that 'cross includes cycling, but it is a different type of cycling than road racing, time trialing, criteriums or mountain bike racing. If you have been primarily doing cycling-only workouts, a change of activity can be the adjustment you need to take your body to a new level of fitness

3. Ease into running. Because cyclocross includes short segments of running, an athlete that is primarily cycling can begin limited run-training and do well in the sport. Additionally, if the cyclist wants to continue more running after the season, 'cross is a nice start to a running program that includes more distance

4. A whole body workout. Jumping off your bike, lifting it up and getting yourself over various obstacles is going to require core strength and upper-body strength that is much more demanding than required in road racing

5. A balance challenge. Similar to mountain biking, 'cross racing requires balance. You need balance to ride on muddy trails, to run over obstacles with your bike on your shoulder and to quickly remount. Body awareness and balance are critical for short-term athletic performance as well as long-term health. Loss of balance is one cause of falling and broken bones in aging adults

6. Achieving fitness outside of the frontal plane. Particularly in road riding, most of the body motion is forward, with hips, knees and ankles aligned. There is very limited stimulus of adduction (movement of limbs toward the centerline of the body) and abduction (movement of limbs away from the centerline of the body).

Getting on and off the bike, running side to side, jumping over obstacles and doing all of the other motions necessary to complete a 'cross race stimulates more muscles than does typical road racing. Mountain bike racers enjoy more overall body fitness than roadies, but in most cases 'cross racing requires more running and jumping than a typical mountain bike race.

By giving more fitness to multiple muscles—often the supporting muscles—this fitness can help prevent injury. When properly blended into a training program, this cross-training can increase primary-sport fitness

7. High-intensity training. Because 'cross races are so short, athletes who have focused on long-distance events can reduce volume and increase speed. Additionally, racers that have typically not had the time to train for long-distance events can shine in the shorter races

8. New equipment. For you equipment junkies out there, a different sport is perfect justification to purchase some new sport-specific equipment. Though you could use your mountain or road bike for 'cross racing, a 'cross-specific bike set-up would be better

Cyclocross bikes usually have lightweight frames to make them easy to carry over obstacles. The frame has wider stays to provide clearance for wide, knobby tires and mud that is picked up from the course. Traditional road brakes are replaced by cantilever brakes for better stopping power. The frame's bottom bracket is higher for additional clearance over obstacles and for pedaling around corners

9. Fun. All of the items previously mentioned add up to fun. It’s fun to do something different, shorter and 10-year-oldish. Doing a 'cross-type race can make you feel like a kid again, and there are certainly advantages to doing that

Go to Active.com for more reading....

http://www.active.com/cycling/

Blog Spot Highlight- D.P.'s A40 Racing

David Pederson is in the "Blog" spotlight with his A40 Racing Blog. The A40 Cyclocross Team is a wild bunch who race Cross from Sept.- Jan. Having at it in the dry conditions at the beginning of the season and the mud routes which end Nor-Cal's Cross campaign. The A40 Blog makes for good reading...

Have a look......

http://altezza40racing.blogspot.com/


The team says hello to everyone in their own unique way.....
A40 mastermind, David Pederson.....

Ben Dodge & Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club to Host Cross Clinic's

Ben Dodge & the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club will be hosting 2 Wednesday afternoon Cross clinic's on 9/23 and 9/30 starting at 6 p.m. at Santa Teresa Park...

Ben Dodge in muddy conditions demonstrating perfect form and technique over the boards.....

Ben has worked with riders of all skill levels in past clinic's, and it will for sure be a great time for all. His instruction is top notch and these instructional sessions will truly be informative, and awesomely fun!

Please contact Ben for more info at ben.dodge@gmail.com

Sterling CX TX Series starts up next Tuesday Sept. 8

Matt McNamara of Sterling Sports Group will host a Cyclocross training Series starting Tuesday Sept. 8 and will continue for 6 weeks. Here is the info...

Sterling CX TX Series starts up next Tuesday at 6pm - join us for the first of our 6 weekly training sessions.These are more than just a fun ride on 'cross bikes, these are focused workouts designed to address your training and racing needs.We'll teach you the technical and physiological tools you'll need to have your best CX season ever.

Week 1 - Mounts & Dismounts
Week 2 - Barriers & Hills
Week 3 - Technical Riding
Week 4 - Hills
Week 5 - Intervals
Week 6 - Practice Race

You can pick and choose your attendance ($30/ea) or join us for the whole burrito ($120). We'll meet at various locations around the South Peninsula (Cupertino Jr High, Fremont Older, Arastradero, etc). There is no clinic the week of September 22nd ('Cross Vegas!). Full details will be sent upon registration. You can sign up online at www.sterlingwins. com .

Feel free to fire off any questions to me - info at sterling wins dot com. Matt McNamaraSterling Sports Group

Liza Rachetto in action....

It all looks like fun!

Go here for more info.....

http://www.sterlingwins.com/

Bay Area Super Prestige Series Web Site Fired Up!

Tom & Alex Simpson have re-worked their BASP web site and filled it with updated info on all 5 races of the series. Their race locations are set, with standout events like the "Night Race" at Sierra Point, NCNCA Districts at BASP #4 in San Fran's epicenter Golden Gate Park, and the BASP Series final at Coyote Point. Please visit the updated BASP website to see what's in store from Tom & Alex for 2009...

Gabe Keck demonstrates "Beach Cross" BASP style.....

Here is the link to the Bay Area Super Presitge Series updated web site. The cover photo of this years BASP web page is of Glen Rawlinson from team A40 being spurned on by the always big crowds at the "Night Race" at Sierra Point. A cool photo of Glenn Rawlinson and the crowds I must say.

link...

http://www.pilarcitos.com/2009CrossLaunch.htm