Sprint Finish at the Big Ring Ring Classic (aka the Anatomy of a Sprint?)

In the men's Pro/Cat 1 race of WORS #3, the Trek Big Ring Classic at 9 MIle Forest in Wausau, this herd of race leaders came through together lap after lap. It was a sweltering day and there was no mercy.





When it came to the end, they had still managed to stay together, which meant the long straightaway before the finish was going to become a dragstrip for the top men battling for the win.














#1 is Brian Matter (Gear Grinder), #4 is Darrin Braun (Adventure 212/Specialized), and #144 is Mark LaLonde (Gary Fisher 29er).

I just missed getting a pic of first place Abby Strigel (Trek Stores of Madison) as she crossed the finish line as the first Pro/Cat 1 woman. You can see her atop the podium below. More pics here once I have a chance to get a little sleep!

Pro/Cat 1 Women's podium.

Pro/Cat 1 Men's podium. Shots of the entire podium are online.

First Kettle Ride of the year

I missed a whole year of race reports, it seems. Uploading photos into the wee hours on Sunday nights after races had me too tired to write posts, and the week always got too busy to get around to it. It's really a shame, because I raced pretty much every weekend last year from April up to around November, between WORS, WEMS , Chequamegon, Iceman, and everything else. I had so much to say, but not the energy to hone and polish a perfect blog post after every race! I'm going to try to post a little more often this year.

I went on a fun group ride at Kettle Saturday before heading up to the Rhinelander WORS. It was my first ride there of the year! Kudos to all the hard-working trail builders who have been working on new features such as the berms. We had some people that had never been there before - it was fun seeing it through a newcomer's eyes and hearing what they had to say about it! The guys went at warp speed for the whole thing including Emma, and five of us opted for a shorter, more leisurely ride, keeping in mind we had a pregnant rider, some that were racing WORS the next day (including me), and two boys! It still wasn't easy for me though, showing me how out of shape I am this year.

It was really nice to chill out around the picnic table before everyone headed off either north to the race or back home to evening plans. It feels great to get some "green therapy" after a long, gray winter!
Rhinelander WORS race report this week, I hope.

Impersonating a mountain bike racer?

Here's an article about what can happen when you use someone else's race entry in a hard-to-get into event. These women faced impersonation charges for using someone else's entry and accepting prizes in the LT100 (Leadville). Reading it, I can't help but think of all the people that have used someone else's entry in popular regional races.

Best Race Flier Ever?

This might be the best race flier/invitation I have ever seen!

Watch this video for the HAC/NCC Gravel Metric. It's the same day as the Wausau WORS, so you have some interesting options for the day.

Twizzlers? Bacon? Fat Tire Ale? Dollars?

Twizzler handups, bacon handups, beer handups, dollar handups, what more could you want in a race video? Check out this highly entertaining video of the sand pit in Saturday's cyclocross race. This was the men's Cat 4B's,( the newbies), plus quite a few women who wanted to take part in the most fun race of the day.

Second Airing of Race Across the Sky

November 12 is the date for the second showing of Race Across the Sky. Locations to be announced.

This is great news for those of who showed up to see the movie but got sent home due to technical problems with the live feed at the theater!

It was so frustrating to buy tix way in advance and look forward to it, then sit for 20 minutes in the theater while they tried to fix the problems. If they had figured it out right before the movie, they could have told us at the door, which would have given us a chance to go to another theater during the panel discussion and possibly catch most of the movie.

Sheboygan WORS Pics

I was thinking about my bumping a tree on my second lap, falling left towards the river bank, hearing the volunteer gasp something like "oh, no", from above, and subsequently almost falling in.... and how I had so many layers on (start temp: 31 ish degrees...) I might have sunk, never to be seen again... but that didn't happen, luckily, and I spent the rest of the day taking photos at the race. It sounds like several of the rest of you went for a swim.... brrrrr!

There are two sets of photos posted from WORS #12, the Wigwam Challenge in Sheboygan yesterday, October 11.

Set 1 includes Equalizer photos from the third and fourth lap of the Elite/Comp race, podiums from the sport and citizen race, and the elite/comp starts. The awards pics didn't aren't so great due to the backlighting from the sun.

Set 2 includes the Elite (Cat 1) and Comp awards and the Raffle at the end of the day. And an awesome sequence of the WORS start line tower being tipped over and dismantled. I had never watched this before and found it kind if spellbinding in a weird sort of way.

More Trials of Danny

I'm getting ready to head up to the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, where I will not be jumping from balconies to buildings or catching air like Danny.... I am still recovering from last weekend's painful, but fun, race. If you haven't seen it, check out another inspiring trials video from Danny MacAskill. This one is actually a commercial. Luckily it doesn't really seem like one.

And, thanks to the Treadhead Cycling Team for putting on a challenging, well run, albeit painful, event last weekend: Treadfest at the Grand Geneva.

Allez, Allez!!

Ever wonder what would feel like to win a race? What it would feel like to win a big race like the Tour de France? Check out this funny prank video about winning the (fake) Tour!

And, a friend wrote a short post about his experience doing the Rapha Gentleman's Race.

Looking for Host Housing for Pro Team for Downer's Grove Aug 14-17

Chicago Area friends: I'm helping the directeur sportif of a women's pro team find host housing for the Downer's Grove race weekend August 14 -17? If you can help, email velogrrl1 at gmail dot com or leave a comment with your email for more info. I will pass along your info to them as well. They would prefer to house 6 people (4 racers and 2 staff) in the same place, but would split up the racers into groups at different houses if necessary. Even if you only have room for 2 or 3, contact me!

24/9 regrets, and the story behind the race

I just ran across a link to this newspaper interview with Kevin Eccles, post-24/9, on the WORS board, via Mountaingoat. I made the difficult decision this year not to go to 24/9. I convinced myself that it wouldn't be the best mountain bike party of the year like it has been in the past, since it was no longer Nats, and since Granny Gear had taken it over and raised the fees (which would mean a lot of people wouldn't go). I mean, you couldn't even figure out what the fees actually were without starting the registration process! So I went on hearsay, that they were very high, seeing as how they weren't easily accessible. But really, I just knew I would need a weekend at home in the middle of the long season after alternating between traveling to WORS and WEMS races in WI every single weekend!

And I did need that weekend at home. I did the Chicago Criterium, which felt like a special opportunity to me. Not having raced in Grant Park in a long time, I knew it was an opportunity that might not come around again for me. And I got to watch a pro race in downtown Chicago, not something that happens every day.

But I still felt like, as someone on the WORS board put it, I was "missing the prom". I really missed being there. Even with the controversy over the new promoter and the negative comments by people. It turns out that there would have still been many friends and acquaintances to cheer on, many of whom ended up in close, exciting battles! It may be going back on the calendar for next year, probably as a last minute decision. If you haven't read how the race started, you might enjoy the article. It tells the basics of the story, though it left me wanting more details.

TV Coverage of WORS race yesterday

If you haven't seen this yet, check out the Milwaukee TV coverage of the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic WORS race yesterday at Crystal Ridge.

A big thanks to Ty and the Alterra Team crew for putting on a great event! They did an awesome job putting on the race and even ordered up a beautiful sunny day for us to enjoy!

Tom Held's Off the Couch Blog mentions how WORS deserves more publicity than it gets.

Photos are currently being uploaded to Flickr. The set for the Alterra race is here.

I will also be uploading some pics from the pro road race at Elk Grove on Saturday after the Alterra pics are up.

Chicago Criterium

Captions soon, I hope. I can barely keep my eyes open at this point!

Eau Claire WORS - Photos from the Rock Garden Gauntlet aka Jekyll and Hyde

Mark LaLonde (Planet Bike), above, Jesse LaLonde (Gary Fisher), background left, and below pic as well, and Jason Sager (Jamis) battled it out for most of the elite race. They were always close together when they came through. Yes, the Jason Sager of "Free Jason Sager" fame, who went on to win. Mark got second and Jesse got third, I believe. Mark kept things interesting on some laps when he chose to hop off and run the hill cyclocross style. I'm pretty sure he was able to pass riders on the hill with this method. It was impressive to watch. The speed with which all three came through the rock garden was impressive, period. It was almost as if the rock garden wasn't there...

Jesse flying through the rock garden.

Up the hill!

This was Amelia's last WORS race before she and Tom (see pic below) move to Utah, where she'll be going to grad school. I wish Amelia and Tom good luck in their new life! Hopefully they'll make it back to the Midwest often!









Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! This area was the downfall of many!

By the time you read this most of the pics will be up on Flickr. The rest should be up in the next day or two.

The most interesting set is from the Rock Garden shortly before the finish. Even if you don't ride the dirt, you should check these out for an appreciation of how much coordination is involved in riding on a gauntlet of sharp and pointy rocks.

I had so much fun sitting on a log and watching the chaos and mayhem!! I was spellbound, I didn't want to leave. There was some amazing bike handling going on in that gulley! Truly, some of you were dancing on the pedals to get through that looooong rock garden, up the rocky hill, and to the left. Just making it up the hill was an accomplishment, even if you didn't make the turn.... even making it to the hill was good, in my book. It seemed like the hill was where the most people bailed or got tangled up with another rider, either just after the bottom or else the top where you had to make the turn.

The other set is of the Sport Start, the Elite/Comp start, some venue shots for the photo contest, and the Citizen Awards. Some of them are in the Photostream but not in the set yet.

I'm going to put up some of my faves here, check back later!

Ride to eat, eat to Ride

Another way to "experience" the Tour vicariously. Are you up for the challenge? If nothing else, this article about eating like a Tour de France rider will make you laugh. Cuz really, subconsciously or consciously, don't many of us ride to eat??

And this brings me to the quote of, well, the month and maybe the year!! "Cycling isn't a sport. It's more like a really, really expensive eating disorder." Velosnaps brought this gem to our attention, and isn't there a grain (or a bushel?) of truth to it?


On another note, I was hoping to go watch the Soldier Field Crit, but ended up getting sidetracked by other things. I also had the feeling it might rain, since it had been spitting much of the afternoon, was cold, and very gray. When I finally made it out for a ride, it was 8:15 and I had my lights with me so I could stay out for a while. I hadn't ridden on Sheridan in a couple of days and was surprised to see bike lanes on the newly paved section from Isabella to just past PDL. It was such a strange feeling to see them there. I think it will be a good thing. I found myself missing the fresh unstriped pavement without the distracting line, however. Then I found myself wondering if in rainy weather on the fast group rides someone could slide out on the lane stripe or on the bike logo if they make a wrong move? maybe that's not even an issue, there must have been some kind of stripe before? I wish there was a way to "suggest" the presence of a lane without having the raised stripe and the raised bike logo. It is such a treat to have that smooth pavement after the minefield that we had to ride every day before the construction! I'm splitting hairs, though...

WORS #2: a few pics from Rhinelander

It's pretty lame that I have already done about 5 mountain bike races (and, shockingly enough, 3 crits and one road race) and haven't posted a race report yet! It's not for lack of things to say, I have written plenty of posts in my head. This post will continue that reportless state, however. (The road events were an experiment, by the way, after years away from road racing.)

In the meantime, some have wondered, when hearing I was headed for the WORS race in Rhinelander last weekend, why one would drive so far for a race. In answer, I am going to put a couple of pics up that were taken for the WORS photo contest. There may be more later. I was in the feed zone for much of the elite race, so I got very few action pics. I ended up with lots of venue pics, sponsor banner pics, and candids (contest categories). Blogger is not letting me upload many pics, it keeps getting hung up, so those three will have to do for now.

I wonder if the economy has gotten so bad in the north woods that even the ticks are trying to hitch rides to the big city to look for work. That is what I had to think last night when I found a tick attached to my shoulder. I panicked and headed straight for the tweezers! At least this time I knew what it probably was. Whereas on Sunday driving home I felt what I thought was a scab on my neck under my chin. I plucked it off and looked at it ...... ewwwww, a brown bug with lots of legs!! I realized it was probably a tick and my knee-jerk reaction was to fling it away from me. A moment later I realized that was a terrible idea - now I was going to wonder where it was and if it was crawling on me for hours while driving home!! I tried leaving the door open at the rest stop for a few extra minutes, hoping it would leave. Really loud music may or may not have induced it to crawl into hiding somewhere in the car. Or, it may have been the same one that ended up on my shoulder, in which I guess I have to grudgingly appreciate its persistence. It had almost made it's way back to it's original spot on my neck. It's surprising that in years of mt. bike racing I have never gotten a tick - or at least have known about it - until now. If you went to Rhinelander, check yourself and your gear for ticks!!

Which one are you?

This link about the types of bike commuters just came my way. You'll notice the date. If you are a commuter you'll recognize many of your fellow commuters here.

My condolences to Holly K. on the sudden loss of her dad this morning.

Up Close and Personal at Paris Roubaix

This video link fell into my mailbox. It offers a brief window into the up-close craziness of Paris-Roubaix 2009! It really gives you a sense of how close the spectators are in some sections.



Here's another one with some crashes etc. out on the open road.



And, this is probably what my face is going to resemble this weekend as I take on my first mt bike race of the season. I haven't even been on my mt bike yet, at all. I did just get a little check-up at the bike shop this week, so hopefully it's good to go, even if I'm not!!

Good Luck to everyone headed out to CA for Sea Otter!! Should be super fun, whether you are racing, working, or both!

Podium Shoes

I just learned something new today. I kind of suspected something like this existed, but now I know for sure. Podium Shoes! Contador is wearing them in this photo, surrounded by, of course, podium girls.

That's a niche market, if I've ever seen one!

Can you see running to your car to change into your podium shoes at a WORS race?

By the time you read this you will have heard the news that Kettle is open for riding today! Holly is out there riding today and says that the trail are bone dry with lots of leaves and about 5 downed trees. Sounds like she's having a blast.

It's too bad that these days I am only posting about things like podium shoes. I have some deadlines and a test to study for so hopefully after that I'll be able to do a recap post of everything I haven't been writing about for the last month or so!

New Products just in time for April

Some things you might want to check out today if you haven't seen them yet.

New heated saddle line from Sidi. I think Julie is going to be one of the first ones to try a prototype. You can ask her about it.

But this is something that could be truly revolutionary. It's the inForm® Full Carbon Clavicle Upgrade. Now, if you have a mishap and break your collarbone, there will be no wondering what's holding things together. You can have the best, just like Lance.

I know that I always wondered if the surgeon should have put a titanium plate in my wrist/arm instead of a stainless steel one to hold things together while the bone graft "took" after a nasty criterium accident. It was a Sunday, though, and that's what they had in stock at the small hospital in Wisconsin. It didn't even occur to me to ask if they could use a titanium plate. And carbon, I don't think that was even in the range of possibilities. Now you can ask for your bodily repair parts by brand name, and they will match your bike parts. It's so Pro.