The team kit is looking good.

spent some weekend time putting together a bag-of-barriers. Two barriers, ready to go.
bike is ready. legs arent.

I don’t know if cheap and light go together in the same sentence after smoking my checkbook for the pieces of the 2007 CX bike. We’ll see how light the KHS frame is, but with a Ritchey Carbon Fork, Ultegra Rear Derail & Right Shifter, Truvativ Carbon Single Ring Setup, TRP Top Mounts and Calipers, 1460 gr Protocols, and light Ritchey everything else… it should be in the “light” category. As for “cheap,” I don’t know if that’s possible in bike racing. I’m stoked to build the new bike though – just waiting for a convergence of UPS, FedEx, and Uncle Sam before I put my new pit crew mechanics to work…

Training has been mainly running at the h.s. track with 4 yr-old Jude… the kid is something special. When he can run 12 laps at 4… I had to force myself back into racing just to keep up with him. Proud Father, yes. Ideal cross training, no. Gotta practice that getting on and off thing. – Rocket

scotth

How did you spend your Friday evening? Having a nice dinner out, going to a movie or play or concert? A nice stroll on one of the last nice evenings of the summer?

Me, I got my partner-in-crime to leash the dogs up and join me down at our neighborhood park while I worked on dismount/remount skills. Great thing is, it covered three needs all at once: practice CX skills, walk/run the poochies, and time together (well, sort of…). She’s great when it comes to cross season–she supports my racing habit (even when it gets a bit pricy) because she’s seen me when I was laid up with an injury a few years back and knows how ugly life can be like when I’m not riding and racing. Maybe not your idea of a Friday night out, but it was just what I wanted and needed today, and I plan to be faster and smoother than you over the barriers this year.

It was the first day we’ve seen sun in a week and it felt good to get out and finally test out the new Tufo tubulars. Hard to tell how nice they’ll really be, since I didn’t do any high-speed stuff, but I can tell they accelerate quickly. That may have more to do with the Mavic Ksyrium ES wheels they’re glued on. Tuesday night will be the first real test—more on that later.

andy

shoot me a PM
jaredmroy(at)hotmail.com
if you are interested in any cross support or advice this year. I’m working on a “mini” team this year with hopes of a full-blown team next year. Your current team kits will be OK to wear, but you may be required to wear a T-shirt at the races, hat, socks and some sweatbands. And, you’ll be required to race 10+ cross races and blog about your training and racing at
www.crossniacs.com

I have bike, parts and a few other sponsors lined up.

Crossniacs, I am going on this trip and YOU need to go with me.

 Wah

Koppenberg Cross Week w/ Jonathan Page

The mere word Koppenberg churns up visions of cycling classics, nestled in the heartland of Belgium cycling, the Koppenberg stands tall as a cycling icon. Join us and cyclocross icon Jonathan Page for this unique opportunity to be part of our cyclo-cross trip to Belgium. During our stay in Belgium, we will go for rides around legendary areas and visit museums and monuments to cycling, while having two opportunities to take part in Belgian cyclo-cross events. The first will be the Koppenberg Cross where we will pre-ride with Jonathan Page and then have dinner with Jonathan and his family. Two days later at the Vlaamse Houtlandcross we will pre-ride again w/ Jonathan. Master riders will have the chance to race in each of these events, experiencing first-hand European cross. Everyone on hand will have the chance to hang out with Jonathan and other top crossers in the World.

This trip is a must for any hard-core cyclist and is sure to be a great time. Groups are limited, so don’t hesitate.

Includes:

• Airport transportation on arrival- and departure day.
• Accommodations
• Breakfast each morning with a big variety of Belgian specialties and pastry
• Dinner in different local restaurants
• Dinner with the Page family
• Coaching and training rides in and around legendary areas in Belgium
• Pre-ride w/ Jonathan Page
• The possibility for the masters to do master races
• Support from technical staff
• Bikes will be maintained by professional mechanics, supported rides
• Site-seeing tours
• A visit to the Tour of Flanders Bike Museum
• Transportation to the cyclo-cross races (free entries and VIP treatment at some of the races.)

October 28 – arrive & pick up at Brussells International Airport, drive to Ronse and put together bikes; evening meet & greet, dinner

October 29 –ride around Ronse approx 2hrs, will work on dismounting, mounting & bunny-hop skills

October 30 – ride around Roubaix 3hr, work on cornering skills and picking lines, talk about energy management; trip to the spa for sauna treatments

October 31 – pre-ride Koppenberg course w/ Jonathan Page, talk about skills learned and race strategy; dinner w/ Jonathan Page

November 1 – Koppenberg Cross; warm-up ride, final race prep, race, cool-down and recovery

November 2 – analyze prior days race, ride around Vlaamse course w/ Jonathan Page, talk race strategy, prep bikes

November 3 – Vlaamse Houtlandcross, pre race ride, final race prep, race, cool down, wash and pack bikes; evening dinner and camp summary

November 4 – drop off at Brussells International Airport

. . . so I’m thinkin’ I need some high intensity training to get ready for CX racing. I decide to take a Spin class on my lunch break today. The instructor walks in, starts the music – game on. We went straight into standing hill climbs mixed with seated sprints. I spent the next 60 minutes in a combination of intervals, ladders, etc. 40 minutes in zone 3 and 20 minutes zone 4 (above AT). Basically, a real ass kicking!

erics