I am sure everyone has heard the news about Jonathan Page missing a doping control. As anyone who has followed this site knows I am no friend of the doper. I am also no fan of USADA or WADA and they way they treat athletes. It seems to me that if it was made known that there were chaperons for this event then a lot of the blame falls on them for Page not being notified. I don’t know Page personally but from what I do know he is a pro’s pro and the last person anyone would every think is a doper. It sounds like he had his own back up notification system in pace and due to a perfect storm of events even that broke down.

For a view of this nightmare from someone who has lived it, go read what Sager has to say about this. I agree that at this point the public should has no idea what is going on until a final judgment has been made. It is a chicken shit USADA move that only can harm what until now is a sterling reputation of a pioneering American cyclist. Say what you want about Page not winning National’s or whatever, but the fact is he is hard as nails. He jumped in the deep end and has forged a career in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. He lives and breathes ‘cross every day racing the hardest races against the hardest men from September to February. Not the 4 week Euro Cross camp that most Americans do.

Total Bullshit!

53:11

Another Cross season has come and gone. I hope it was everything you hoped it would be. I ended my season at the National Cyclocross Championships in Kansas City. Until this year I have never finished lower than 11th at National’s. I ended that streak with a 22nd place this year. Not what I was hoping for but, I know I left it all on the track. The thing about Masters racing is, at the end of the day there is 1 dude that is happy and 130 dudes who say they should have won. Maybe next year.

Now on to the good. I got to meet Brother Wilson Lee who has been keeping you all up to date on ‘cross Arizona style. Look for more reports from him as the MTB season starts in Jan. Hopefully I can make it down and do my best to not hit cholla and get an early season tanline. The Pro races were off the hook. Katie Compton is probably the most dominant cyclist I have seen since the heyday of Juli Furtado. She just owns cross right now. Big Ringer Rachel Lloyd did us all proud with a sweet 3rd place in what she says will be her last cross nats. Maybe we can get some comments from her on that?

On the mens side Ryan Trebon pushed the Biggest Ring of them all. I know he has a lot of haters out there but when the big man is on he is unstoppable. He is an all or nothing type of racer. I really hope he can hold the good form and get some good rides in on the other side of the pond. Jamie Driscoll was the revelation of the weekend. He went with Josh Anthony’s attack early on and I figured he would come back and not be seen at the front again. Man, I was way off. He kept Trebon honest and help off Page for a inspired 2nd place in his 1st Elite season. Well played Brother!

Gotta give a shout to my homeboys Ali Goulet and Sam Kreig. They pushed the Big Ring to 2nd and 4th in the Master 30-34 race. If you ever run into either one be sure to say hi, they are 2 of the most approachable down to earth pro’s you will ever meet.

This winter in addition to our normal regimine of base miles, Chimay, and skiing, we will be deep in our secret underground lab working on new products to add to the Big Ring catalog.

53:11

There are roadies, there are MT Bikers. In Mt Biking there are downhillers and XC riders. There is not much cross pollination between the groups. There are the gifted few who can seamlessly make the transition. Throw cyclocross in there and Rachel Lloyd arguably does it better than anyone. If it has two wheels then most likely she can ride it faster than you. She was kind enough to take some time out of her prep for Cyclocross Nationals and answer a few questions for us.

COTBR: Have you accepted The Big Ring as your personal savior?

Rachel Lloyd: I’ll have to do some more research before I can accept the big ring as my savior…

COTBR: Have you tried the socks yet? Folks are reporting an extra 20 watts from them!

RL: I have tried the socks they are awsome, definately 20 more watts, thanks!

COTBR: You seem to thrive in nasty conditions. Are will you be doing a snow dance for Kansas City?

RL: I have definately been doing the snow dance for Kansas, but it looks like it will be fairly warm and windy… we’ll see!

COTBR: What does your Euro campaign look like this year?

RL: his years Euro campain: I will fly to Belgium on Monday after Nat’s and will race the last four world cup races. Nommay France Dec. 21, then Zolder Belgium Dec. 26 with some local races to follow (I still need to figure these out) Then Jan 18 in Roubaix France, and Jan 25 in Milan Italy. I hope to make the national team and race the World Champs Jan 31-Feb 1 in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands. That’s my plan, I am stickin to it!

COTBR: Clinchers or tubulars?

RL: I am on tubies now-a-days, I ride Challenge tubulars and Williams carbon wheels. (they are awesome!)

COTBR: Any advice to ladies out there who may be thinking about giving ‘cross a go but are a little intimidated?

RL: Intimidated, shmintimidated, just give it a shot it’s just bike racing. There are categories for everyone out there, local races are usually very low key and fun, so get out there and give ‘cross a shot!

COTBR: You “chicked” like 90% of the field (including yours truely, I tried to hang on the DH but soon felt how Custer must have felt shortly after saying “What Indians?”) at Downieville this year. What is your best story about guys who can’t handle getting their ass whooped by a girl?

RL: I’ll have to get back to you with a good story about dudes going slow…

Thanks again. See ya in Kansas City!

53×11,
The Rev

Bobart is going to be a guest columnist on both Planet Quirky and The Church of the Big Ring.

I ride with Bob frequently and he is prone to spouting out some very bizarre diatribes. For instance, when discussing Floyd Landis and his heroic effort to retake the lead in the Tour de France, it was reported that he took, no joke, a total of 70 water bottles (480 ml each) from the car to keep himself cool and hydrated. Well, Bobart has his own opinion on that. He says he never drinks water during exercise.

Bobart was kind enough to contribute these pictures from the Shoreline Trail last night.

Let me first start off with a little story about the day before the AZ Cyclocross State Championships. On Friday, on my way to work, I made a stop at the bank and made a cash withdrawal of $40 with twenty of it in one dollar bills. This got me a funny look from the teller and the question of “Are you going to use these at a strip club?” To which my response was, “No! I’m going to a cyclocross race!” They gave me some new and very crisp bills…sweet! So that’s dollar bills off of the checklist for the race. Next thing was one my way home from work. I dropped by my favorite liquor store looking for a twelve pack of PBR cans, they only had thirty packs…that was an easy decision. I’ve already got duct tape in my toolbox. Those three items: dollar bills, PBR, and duct tape equal my idea of some fun for the final race of the series. I’ll come back to this stuff later.

The state championship race was held at Crossroads Park located in Gilbert. As usual, I arrived at the race venue early in order to help set up and/or design parts of the course. This course featured more elevation change than previous races because the start/finish line was located in the bottom of a bowl. From the start, the course went up onto the lower side of the bowl and then dropped off the lip to a couple of tight 180s on the top and bottom of the bowl. After that, the course ran along the top of the bowl again, with some quick chicanes around some tree that were easily straight-lined, and then into a 90 degree turn down into the bottom of the bowl. This flat section contained the first set of two barriers. From there it was into a couple of tight twists and then a short straightaway followed by a sweeping 90 degree turn. After the turn, it was over a narrow, wooden footbridge and up a steep, approximately 20 yard long, dirt hill to a canal bank. The canal bank section was long and flat and allowed you to get into your drops and hammer! From the canal, the course dropped all the way down to the bottom of the bowl and then back up and down a total of three times. After the third climb up the bowl, coming down, about halfway down, there were two off camber 90 degree turns with the second leading into the one run-up on the course that consisted of two barriers. After clearing the barriers, the course turned and went back about halfway down the hill before climbing back up to the top of the bowl. From the top of the bowl there was a 90 degree right hand turn that set you blasting down the side and into a sweeping left hand turn that was bordered on one side by a lake which if you weren’t careful, you could end up in. The course continued through a very tight section of twists and turns through some trees and then it was back onto the start/finish straightaway.

As usual, I lined up for the start of the Cat 4 race which was combined with the masters 35+ race (with my 20 extra watts giving Church of the Big Ring socks on of course). The race length was 35 minutes. At the sound of the word “Go!” we were off. The total field size for both classes was around 25-30 riders. I started off near the back of the pack but quickly worked my way into the middle by the time we made it through the first section of barriers. After blasting through the canal sections and down the first hill repeat, I was shifting and dropped my chain…expletives ensued while I fixed it. After fixing it, I was off again, but now somewhere near the back. I dropped my chain again in the same place on the next lap…more expletives as well as me telling myself to stop shifting under load. OK, problem diagnosed and fixed next lap, no more dropped chains, adrenaline pumping, I’m flying. I was feeling the best yet this season in this race. At the start of the final lap, I caught my teammate Niko. But along the canal sections, while I was blasting along, passing some slower riders, this unfortunately for me helped him bridge the gap that I had created and he was back on my wheel through the hill repeats. He passed my back after the run-up barriers and I chased but he had me, as he was faster through the tight stuff than I. In the end, I ended up in 10th place and completely dead energy wise. In, as one of my fellow competitors said was total Big Ring style, I puked after my race. I gave everything to that race…including my breakfast.

So now back to the list of items collected the day before the race (twenty $1 bills, PBR cans, and duct tap). Before my race, I prepared for the debauchery to ensue later in the day by taping about ten of the dollar bills to PBR cans and putting them into my backpack along with my Church of the Big Ring Cowbell (20 decibels louder other cowbells), the flexi tone, bull horn, roll of duct tape, more PBR cans, and the rest of the $1 bills. In the barrier sections for course, I set the PBR/$1 bill cans on top of the barriers. Dollar bills were also taped to the barriers as well as overhanging trees along the course. These were quite distracting for the racers, as they caused a few stumbles through the barriers. I also did straight up beer hand-ups to racers that were willing. In the end, much fun was had by all and many cheers were received for the hand-ups and/or debauchery.

So that’s it for the 2008 AZ Cyclocross Series! Next weekend I’m off to Kansas City for nationals. I’ll be racing in the Collegiate Division I race on Sunday for Arizona State University. Current weather reports for race time are calling for a 30% chance of a “light wintry mix” and a high of 33 degrees. This sounds like great ‘cross weather and will be quite a change for me as I am used to racing in clear skies and highs in the 70s and 80s. If any of the Brothers and Sisters of the Church of the Big Ring are there, please come cheer and/or heckle me (I’ll have devil horns on my helmet and should be fairly easy to pick out)!

-Brother Lee

Big Ring Brothers and Sisters,

Please share your tales of Big Ring.  Let us know what BIG RING attitudes and/or actions you witnessed over the last week.

-Brother Lee