Congregation,

I recently was able to spend some time with Ali “socks” Goulet. Ali finished 12th in the elite nationals in Kansas City last year. He is the real deal. Ali races the Utah CX circuit. Without question, Ali is one of the most inspiring riders out there givn’r every weekend. He is definitely a crowd favorite. The guy leaves it ALL on the table - every single race. Mad handling skills - including barrier hoping, and a powerful engine that keeps him in the race. Additionally, Ali is great for the sport of cyclocross. For the last few years, he has put on a Ridley Skills clinic with local CX’ers Kathy Sherwin of VeloBella and Bart Gillespie of Mona-Vie Cannondale. He also helps with local cx clinics helping coach and mentor other cx racers. Folks…Ali is BIG RING.

The bio: I was born in Vermont, started cycling when I was 14, got a road bike at 15 and started racing, primarily mountain bikes.

My early cycling highlights were winning a World Cup in Vail as a junior expert and beating our local pro in a hill climb at age 16.

I put the bike away when I was 18 an perused snowboarding, one of my snow highlights, being voted #5 in SnowBoarder magazines top 20 riders of the year for 2000. After ten years off the bike I found the love again and was soon racing in Utah’s Icup and NORBA NMBS, In three years I worked my way up from expert to pro on a national level, winning an expert national title and the Utah state title along the way.

COTBR:  So tell us, have you accepted THE BIG RING as your personal savior?

Ali:  I believe in myself, only I can truly save myself, with that being said, I do feel The Big Ring has much to offer and everyone should observe the ten commandments of the Big Ring.

COTBR:  Who are you riding for this year?

Ali:  For the past two seasons I’ve been on the Ridley Factory Team, this year I also have Easton components to thank for making my ride light and sexy… oh and Challenge tires to give me grip.

COTBR:  So…what’s with the socks Ali. Is this your trademark?

Ali:  One cold race day I put on some snowboard socks, not to start a trend but just for warmth. Gardie Jackson, one of our series announcers started calling me Socks and so the nickname was born..In a sense it is my trademark…for cold days. On warm days I wear regular socks..Lately JonBear and I joke that my new nickname is Fat Daddy Socks, you figure it out.

COTBR:  So did you have a good cx off season since your last race in Kansas City?  How do you spend your cx off season?

Ali:  Recently I’ve used road racing as my prep for cross, after years of racing mountain bikes I find road racing to be very refreshing, I enjoy the tactics and being able to hurt face to face with your opponent,  I still ride my mountain bike though.

COTBR:  So, how is your cx season going so far?

Ali:  Ridley is off to a great start, Bjorn Selander placed 3rd at the MadCross UCI behind Page and some Planet Bike guy. Dayna Dueter and Dave Cole just scored their best results in the UCS, 1st and second respectively. I held down 2nd last weekend in Heber and Jennie Wade held off a Cat2 roadie for 4th in the A’s so things are rolling.

COTBR:  You seem to have an “all or nothing” approach to races. Tell us about that.

Ali:  Simply put, you’re not Big Ring if don’t use the Big Ring. How can you know what you’re capable of if you’ve never been over the limit? I recommend everyone try leading a lap or two of their respective class, push your limits and see what happens. You just can’t win from the back in cross..sure you can move up if people have problems but if the front guys are rolling, its over.

When I first started racing A’s I raced like I do now - only I would fade hard or drop out, people would tell me not to start so fast and that it hurt me. Really my problem was burn out from racing MTB’s into September with no downtime before cross. I adjusted my racing program and since then I’ve made good on those fast starts with fast finishes. I’m constantly trying to improve my racing tactics but I’m not going to sit back and hope for a good race, I’m going to make it happen.

COTBR:  What races outside of Utah are you targeting this year?

I’m looking at the Boulder Cup UCI and Nationals. My wife and I just had a beautiful baby boy www.EthanBazGoulet.blogspot.com , throw in our three dogs and it’s just not possible to justify much travel this season. I am super focused on Nats though, I would like a Masters national title and I want to better my Elite result from last year.

COTBR:  So what accomplishment on the bike are you most proud of? - Off the bike?

Ali:  It would have to be my Elite Nationals result from last season, off the bike its my family, my beautiful supportive wife Joanna and bundle of joy Ethan. Snowboarding and Cycling accomplishments make for great memories but in the end that stuff if for the Ego, the family is for the heart and trumps everything else.

COTBR:  Tell us something that most probably don’t know about you…

I danced ballet as a wolf in the Nutcracker when I was 7 and I’m a French-Jew-Mexican.

COTBR:  Thanks for your time Ali. Do you have any parting words of advice to the readers of Church of the Big Ring and Cyclocross Republic?

Nothing is achieved without risk so go for what you desire or you’ll always wonder “what if” and remember, if you’re hurting the other guys are too so keep it in the Big Ring!

COTBR:  I told you guys, Ali is the real deal! Watch for him to have a great Nationals ride this year. We are all behind him here at the Big Ring!

pictures courtesy of Forrest Gladding.

Greetings from San Francisco,

After a weekend of  watching Great youtube video fresh from the homeland.

Photos from Super Prestige

I love this guys feeds and i am starting to learn flemish…. But I digress. I made the 2 hour pilgramage to the bay to mix it up in the fog. Finally some real cross weather and temperature. The group at www.pilarcitos.com/2008Cross.htm laid out a a pretty cool course. Let’s take a lap, a short start/ finish straight bends right into a the outfield of a softball diamond then takes an imediate left for a nice 25 foot vertical run up . Head right at the top for a short soft flat straight capped with a left hand up hill chicane. Continue up for 50 feet of asphalt then veer right dropping into mountain bike like decent. A high speed left sets you up for some side hill work, after negotiating the goat path, a right sends you for some more DH. Now the fun starts, a lefthhand hairpin aims you right back up the face of a climb. The good part is that it is pavement with a lazy switchback back onto the dirt 3/4 the way up. After peaking the 120 ft Alp you get to snake down through the woods to the first obstacle (see picture of log). Note the log is followed by a small 4′ foot drop. A little more decending into a saddle, then at the top a lazy left puts us on a fire road . Get ready, another drop, this one is a 6 footer with a 90 degree right at the bottom. A slow left followed by a slower right sends us back through the supper soft flat at the to of the run up. A fast pavement section drops onto a second baseball diamond following the thrid base line to home. Hang a left to the pitching rubber then a right back to homebase then left out the first base line. Sweep left through the outfield then hair pin back right following the warning track. The second barrier set a 4 pack, slows you down, setting up a left hair pin back through the start finish.With a big city you get a big turn out, 53 riders lined up to contest the 35+ B’s, the rest of the fields were equally large. Now for my race, for those of you that know me hills are not my friend. So, I was really concerned with the climbs. As it turned out that was the least of my concerns. The course as laid out was cool to look at but, to ride was an entirely different story. Let’s just say I have riden smoother cow trails in vernal. With out suspension I went with low pressure tubbies. I lined up in the second row got my usual good start things were good untill the climb, for the first four laps i would loose 4 spots on that dreaded mountain. Then something great happened I was finally holding my own then flatted at the top????. Not wanting to destroy my ksyrium rear wheel I gingerily followed the course to make my way down to the start finish to make a change. Back on the course ready to hammer the final lap only to be shut down and told I was lapped while making the switch. Here is the kicker how did I end up??? Good question. I was DQed for cutting the course so I have no idea. My fault for not using the designated pit area. By the way it was missing the “official pit” sign. Promoters please do us and yourself a favor let people know if there are strict pit rules and areas at sign up. And don’t cop out with an anouncement at the start when every one is lined up and ready to race. Would you really hold a start for a rider to move wheels or a bike to the corrrect area? Any way this race didn’t really matter to me because I am only doing one more “training race” in ths series. I know not very big ring but Cross in the Capitol City goes through January. Happy Trails!Brother Robert,

Missoula was a rocking with “big ringness” this past week, so here we go on the week’s report. Let’s get it started with the Wednesday night race here in town. I headed on over to get a quick ride of the course in before everyone heads out. A fast course with a whole bunch of straight-aways, and two tricky little climbs. If you approach them right, they are rideable, but get stuck behind some folks, or be in the wrong gear, and you better be ready to walk. With a quick 3, 2, 1, the gang is off, and by the first 180-degree turn, I busted my ass up to the top spot. Not surprisingly by the start of the next lap a group of five picks me up, and I have no clue what is going to happen. On the second lap, the second climb spreads our group of six out by a bit, and someone decides to take a flyer, and grabs a good five-second gap. The leftover five head through the barriers, and I figure we’ll pull this dude back in no time. Well, whoever was at the front decided they didn’t want to chase, and no one seemed to wanted move to the front, put in an effort and get the leader. Having been pulled back by groups in the past, I want to try and return the favor, so I surge around the four guys ahead of me, telling them that if anyone wants to try and get this guy to grab my wheel. No one can join and I wind up in no mans land for the next five laps. Not strong enough to catch the leader, but stronger than the group of four guys who can’t seem to get their stuff together. Oh well, I wound up playing the role of the bridesmaid, picked up some cookies, and cracked a beer.

The big ringness continued that night when I went to see Henry Rollins on his spoken word tour. If Henry raced bikes instead of making tunes, documentaries, and filming a TV show, I’m sure he’d race cross, probably on a singlespeed. Yeah this has nothing to do with bikes, but guess what, the three hour performance was phenomenal. He talked about three documentaries he had just filmed, all of which involved people helping out others because it was the right thing to do. Kind of like telling people spreading the good word of cross and cycling in general. Granted all of the situations he spoke of, were real world situations where at times lives were at stake, but still you can take away the idea of trying to help others, no matter how big or small. It’s a good thing to do, so I ask all readers to go out and try to spread the good word of cross, singlespeeding, and even that silly fad they call road racing. Okay, I’ve safely gotten down from my high horse, and will get back to the bike racing.

Saturday was Missoula’s own Rolling Thunder, which without a doubt is biggest cross race I have done to date. Every aspect of a great cross race was there, rowdy spectators, a ridiculous course, a beer tent, and a deep field showed up. So right off the bat, a big three cheers for Mr. Montana Cyclocross Shaun Radley for putting a great race and making a wonderful course. The course included a section of some tight S-turns, two trips through some speed sucking gravel, a long chunk of a BMX track, and one of the most awkward runups I’ve ever seen. If you are searching for a cross course where you can’t wipe a giant smile off your face, this was it. For the B’s race Shaun added the nice touch of doing a call up based on points from the state series. We went off, and the start was crazy, and as usual Vanderwood grabbed the lead, and it seemed like he would continue his winning streak. A group of four got off the front, and I made my way to fifth place, and hoped I would be able to make my way up to the lead group. On the fourth lap I received some extra support in the form of a shot of Jagermeister, which put a nice fire in my belly. However, it wasn’t enough to make my way up to the leaders, and wound up in fifth place on the day.

With my race over, I went into super fan mode, filling my messenger bag with some booze, which I planned to allow all racers to share in. The field for the women’s race was huge, and more spectators showed up to cheer them on. The crew from Missoula Bicycle Works had camped out over by the BMX section, were grilling up brats, toasting drinks, and heckling like pros. The girls were looking fast on the course, which wasn’t surprising because a Kona Major Jake frame and fork were up for grabs. Big props go out to Kelly Grove for being the only lady to take a shot while racing. In the end cross newcomer Amy (forgive me for not remembering her last name) took the big win. The sun began to set, the lights went on, and the big boys started to warm up. Make no mistake, this was a deep field, everyone had a serious face during warm-ups, and whoever would take home the complete Felt cross bike was going to have to earn it the hard way. Two out of staters that made the trip included mountain bike pro and Missoula native Sam Schultz, and Sam Krieg.

When the gun went off, the boys hit the gas, and took off down the long straightaway surrounded by cheering fans. Missoula’s dominant force Bob Presta grabbed the holeshot and held his lead around the baseball field. In the BMX section Sam Schultz immediately became the crowd favorite by grabbing some sick air over the set of doubles. Sam’s outfit which consisted of swimming trunks, and an 80’s vest combined with taking a Jager shot mid-lap also resulted in him receiving some of the loudest cheers all night. The most impressive thing about the Men’s A race was just how fast these guys were going even though they were racing at night, and some of the more technical sections could have used better lighting. In the end Sam Krieg took the big victory in a very impressive fashion, and was greeted by the spectators like the champion he is. All in all Rolling Thunder, is a GREAT race, and you should make some plans to get up to the Big Sky next year. That’s all I got this week, get out there and ride, that’s what I’m about to do.

Brother Andrew,

As I wait for starters pistol
I know what I have to do
I ask the strength for the hole shot
may my tubbies hold tight and true
May I carry my speed through the barriers
and leave the corners with a gap

Should I end the day with victory
or watch the winner ride away
I will honor my rivals efforts
and toast them over Chimay

53:11

Montana Cyclocross by Brother Andrew

Here we go again, three races to report on this week, so buckle up for the ride. Wednesday night in Missoula this time of year means cross racing down at fort Missoula. Mr. Montana Cyclocross Shaun Radley was in charge of designing the course this week, and chose to incorporate “the pit of despair” in this week’s course. Having never ridden this section course before, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this “pit.” Well, there is nothing like descending a slope comprised of softball-sized boulders to keep you on your toes. While descending the most common sound that I could hear was the “clank” of the boulders bouncing off of downtubes and chainstays. My main concern was not having a boulder bounce into the stitches, which have been residing in my shin for the past week and a half. Lady luck must have been smiling down on me because my shins avoided damage. In the Men’s A race Bob Presta continued his streak of dominance taking his third win in as many weeks. As for me I was part of the lead group of four heading into the last half. However, I stumbled heading over the final barrier/runup section and lost touch with the leaders, and settled for fourth place.

Friday night was the annual tradition of the beer mile and beer 2 mile, where the combination of athletic events and alcohol came together in complete harmony. Here’s the deal for the beer mile, drink a beer, run a quarter mile, drink another beer run another quarter mile, repeat until you have drank four beers and ran one mile. Since running is not my strong suit I drank and cheered, waiting for the beer 2 mile. For the beer 2 mile, grab a bike, drink a beer, ride a half a mile, just keep that up until you have consumed four beers, and pedaled two miles. Nothing like the pedaling a fixie as fast as you can while a whole bunch of beer is sloshing around in your stomach. The other two aspects that made things enjoyable were 1.) coming to a stop on the fixie to drink the next beer and 2.) having flash pictures taken while riding around a corner, and enjoying the temporary blindness and associated white spots from the flash. In the end I wound up playing the role of bridesmaid with my second place finish.

Saturday and Sunday were scheduled to be the Big Sky and Bozeman for some good old fashioned Montana Cross. All week long the weather reports said that we could expect weather in the mid 20’s and some snow. As the weekend got closer, weather reports said Bozeman might be getting a foot of snow. Friday night I packed four types of gloves, three different hats, two thermal shirts, and every other piece of warm clothing I had in preparation for the two races. During the drive on Saturday, the snow was falling, and the thermometer never read above 30 degrees. We pulled up to the race venue, and sure enough it was cold, windy, and snowing. I counted my lucky stars when I discovered that the bathrooms were heated, providing a pleasant area to change. The course consisted of a long gravel straightaway right into a headwind, some short steep climbs, a section full of woodchips, and plenty of 180 degree turns.

The race started and I had the worst start of my life, but after two laps I managed to pull myself up into fifth place. I spent the next three laps battling with Downtown Joel Brown, and some dude on a mountain bike. With five laps to go I managed to pull away in third place, and hold that until the end. By the time the big boys went off more snow was falling, and it was starting to stick to the course, making for unpleasant conditions. Many of the Missoulians had mechanical issues ranging from flats to a broken seat. In the end Frank Gonzalez of Helena took the big win, and racers gathered for delicious Belgian waffles cooked up by some wonderful volunteers. Everyone left to grab some food and hope that the snow might stop falling sometime soon before Sunday’s race. The snow kept falling and by about 7:00, the city of Bozeman was worried about the race tearing up the local park, resulting in a cancellation of the race. I would have enjoyed racing in the snow, but I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with the frozen toes, and a wind burned face. Until next weekend, keep riding, and keep smiling.

Brother Andrew,

Big Ring: Nys
Not Big Ring: Schumacher

Big Ring: Riding clean.
Not Big Ring: Riding on DOPE.

Big Ring: Danny Pate throwing down at 24Hours of Moab
Not Big Ring: My lap times (The Rev) at 24Hours of Moab

Big Ring: Daniel Craig as Bond 007.
Not Big Ring: Pierce Brosnan as Bond 007.

Congregation,
Let’s hear your thoughts on what is, and isn’t BIG RING.

The faithful in the 801 were rewarded with some good old Belgian style conditions. The Gods said “We shall open the skies and bathe the righteous in the goodness”, and oh yes it was good.

Utah Cyclocross - Draper, Utah

Link to Photo Album

AZ Cyclocross Series from Brother Lee

This past Saturday was the second race if the AZ Cyclocross Series. The race course was a complete polar opposite to the gravel, goat-heads, pine trees and altitude of last week’s race in Payson. This week’s race was in at Freestone Park, located in the town of Gilbert. The terrain consisted mostly of rolling grass hills, with a long clay path section, as well as a short section through a parking lot.

This week’s race course was long and tough. Lap times for my category were about five and a half minutes. The start/finish line was located in the bottom of a large water catch basin and that left only one way to go…up! After charging off the start line, the course led into a series of three very tight uphill switchbacks. As the race went on, the top section of this hill turned into a wheel eating, speed killing sponge. At the top of the hill the course made a 90 degree left turn onto a short section of clay path and then back onto grass again along the side of a hill. It was in this grass section that the first set of two barriers was encountered. At the end of this grass section was a tight right turn with a short climb and then a left turn back onto the clay path. I deemed the second section of clay path “The SHOCKER” because it ran underneath some high voltage power lines, and if you were unfortunate enough to touch a metal part of you bike, you got a highly motivation shock to that part of your body. It was as if the gods of ‘cross were telling you to RIDE FASTER! Anyway, after “The Shocker” there was another unique feature of the course, a concrete, half pipe-like water drainage feature. From there, there was a short down hill into a sandy 90 degree right and up a steep hill and then right back down the hill because of a hairpin turn at the top. From the hairpin, it was another short grass section and then into a parking lot with a wide, sweeping 180 degree turn, the up onto the sidewalk and back onto the grass. The second set of two barriers was in this section. The course then continued along the side and into a tight left turn and then down the hill and through the start/finish area.

As I predicted last week, because of this race’s location in the Phoenix Metro area, the fields were much larger. My race (Cat 4) was again combined with the masters 35+ and that made my race consisted of about 20 racers. Overall, all of the fields were larger, the women’s open category contained around 10 racers, and the men’s open contained around 20.

This week, the gods were not smiling upon me. I finished in 11th place…last in my category, but not last overall. I tried to blame me poor finish on my heavy mountain bike that I’m still rocking in the ‘cross races, but as Brother Armstrong says, “It’s not about the bike.” It just wasn’t my day. The gods were smiling on my teammate Niko. He was forced to DNF last race because of three flat tires. This race, he finished 2nd, while riding the only single speed in the field.

Anyway, that’s it for this week’s race report. My club is presenting next week’s race, so if any of you Brothers and Sisters are in AZ, you should come out.

Hail Eddy!!!

Brother Lee,

Montana Cyclocross by Brother Andrew

Another weekend, another Montana Cyclocross race in the books. This time the car was packed for a two day, three stage race weekend in Helena. The cyclocross omnium was the brainchild of one Geoff Procter. If you don’t know who Geoff Procter is, he’s the guy who has put together the European Winter cross camps. During the winter the top cross racers from the US, head on over to Belgium to race cross, and have one hell of an experience. Geoff puts the camp together, and on top of that he’s an English teacher, a father, and one hell of a cross racer. Geoff’s the type of guy who makes anyone feel like they aren’t doing enough. He put together this weekends race with a 1.5 miles hill climb time trail on Saturday, a cross race with sweet singletrack on Sunday morning, and a 20 minute dirt crit at a high school track Sunday afternoon. Race all the events, collect points, and at the end of the crit, the top guys and gals would be recognized. In the words of Henry Rollins, “Get Some, Go Again!”

The hill climb was half gravel road with some super steep sections, and half singletrack with two runups. For good measure a set of barriers were set up in the middle of the course, ya know, just to keep you on your toes. In true cross fashion, the gods decided to keep everyone nice and damp with rain at random times. All of the racers were sent off in 30 second intervals, and when my name was called I rolled up the line, clipped in, and set off for ten minutes of pure hell. My thirty-second man, was my buddy Cory who served as an excellent “carrot on a stick”. The entire time I kept pushing myself to try and make up as much time on Cory. In the end Bozeman’s John Curry set the course on fire, beating everyone by over a minute. I managed to pull off second for the B’s and even posted a time faster than a couple of the A’s. The Missoula crew then headed out for some tasty eats, then off to someone’s parents house, were I put my best liver forward to finish off the leftover beer in the growlers.

Time to wake up Sunday morning, chomp down some food, and warm the body up with coffee. Head off to the race venue, where the cloud cover makes it cold enough to require arm and knee warmers while getting warmed up. The course is nothing short of spectacular. This is the part of Helena where the best mountain bike trails are, and Geoff has incorporated them into the course. The course had two tough runups, two climbs where you better have your A game to ride all the way up them, barriers, and a rough gradual singletrack climb. This was the best cross course I have ridden so far, and I think it will be the yardstick by which I measure all cross course in the future.

My race was set to go off at 10:30, and due to my own stupidity I was waiting at the wrong side of the course for the start. It wasn’t until a fellow racer asked me if I was racing with the big boys, then told me the start was on the other side of the lake. I rode over as fast as I could, going the wrong direction of the course. When the start line came into view, I could see everyone lined up, and the officials, started yelling at me for being on the course. I get off the course, wait for all the racers to start, then head off behind them. Great, three seconds into the race, and I’m already dead last. I spend the next fifty minutes suffering, passing as many people as I could to work my way up to fifth in the end. Despite my blunder with the start, I was excited by the fact that I had been able to work my way up through the field as well as I had. While watching the fast guys race, I thought to myself that I would do everything I could to make up for the mistake in the crit.

The crit seemed plain and simple, four left turns around a quarter mile dirt track, cross the line first after twenty minutes was done and you’re the big cheese. To make things interesting, there was a terrible headwind for half of the lap, and tactics would play a factor. Things got exciting off the bat, when a racer went over the handlebars on his first pedal stroke. I had a bad start, and wound up in sixth position. After a few laps I made my way up to the front, and tried to make something happen. Turns out the only thing that happened was my legs were blown, and I fell from the main group faster than Corey Haim’s career deteriorated in the late 80’s. Like everyone else, I suffer like a dog for the remaining time, and am overjoyed when I finished my final lap. In the end I managed to collect enough points for second place in the omnium. All and all the weekend was great fun, and I highly recommend the omnium format for cross races. Finally, I ask all followers of the church of the big ring to send good karma and positive vibes towards one of the ultimate female big ringers out there, Heather Holmes. She’s been out of commission for some time now with a mangled wrist, and is missing out on the joys of cross. Get well Holmes, and until next weekend, keep it in the big ring.

Brother Andrew,

Santa Rosa, CA from Brother Fritz

This weekend marked the first event of a five race series in the Wine Country, north of San FranPsycho, CA. CX has always been huge around here, we’ve always had to drive, till a man named Los and his band of Monkeys stepped up to the plate, and threw together a race last winter. It was a success, and this year, they got the greenlight from the City of Santa Rosa to host 5 races in 5 parks all winter long.

Last year there was some unnecessary complaynin about the height of our non-regulation barriers, so this year we went to the UCI book and built us some 40cm regulation pieces of art and engineering. Only one guy, Brian Astell (Lost Coast Brewery) could stay on the bike and do the hop, and only chose to do so a few times. Check out the crowd reaction…

We went to sleep Friday night under the first rain of the season, and woke up to a fresh inch rainfall, making a few slick corners and lots of spills. The course was set up in a downtown park, and totaled about 1 mile of switchbacks, straight-aways, and some short, steep, and slick hike a bikes. Some single-track lines and a little bit of pavement. All around a great course, and good feedback from the riders.

Josh Snead (Rock Lobster) rode away from the field early to take the A’s, with Astell 2nd and Chris Brown (NorCal Bikesport/ Specialized) in 3rd, and Andrew Brooks (Inglis/ Retrotec) in 4th.
The day rounded out with a kids race, live music all day, a beer garden and valet bike parking from the local Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. A good time was had by all, next race is Nov 1st, see www.bikemonkey.net for details. See you all there!!!

Brother Fritz,

Thank you Brothers for your testimony. We are still seeking others to testify, Portland, Boston, Boulder? Come on you are suposed to have a big scene, lets hear about it. For more pictures check out the Flickr gallery.

53:11

The Rev

Brothers and Sisters I trust your cross season is off to a good start.  Here in the 801 we have the first official race of our series tomorrow.  Forecast calls for a cool wet windy day.  In other words perfect!  If you are in the 801 track down The Rev and get you official Big Ring cowbell.

We will have them in our soon to be completed store front.

Our friends over at Cycleto have a great video interview of World TT Bronze Medalist Brother Zabriskie.  Check it out HERE

Go forth and conquer Brothers and Sisters.  Cross Season is short so make the most of it.

53:11

From our Field Correspondent, Brother Andrew:

Alright ladies and gents I got two cross race reports here for ya, so get ready to enjoy. First things first, due to a phenomenal response to Moose Cross (an my above par write up), the gang from Victor have set up two more races this season. Head over to moosecross.blogspot.com and get the details. Additionally the Rolling Thunder Cross Race will be held in Missoula on October 18. It will not disappoint, and I have plenty of couch space. Now onto the race reports. My apologies if they seem short, I start a new job tomorrow and have a bunch of stuff to get ready.

Autumn up here in the Big Sky means shorter days, colder temperatures, an increase of drinking, and the start of Missoula’s Wednesday Night Cross Series. This Wednesday marked the first of five races here, so I headed down to the Fort, slapped my twenty bucks down in the table, and knew I had five solid races to look forward to. Let me say one thing right off the bat, the folks in Missoula take the local cross race SERIOUSLY!!! The course had a little bit of everything, barriers, paved roads, gravel roads, a trip through a barn, railroad ties to hop over, two large mounds of dirt serving at the run ups, and for good measure a bumpy field which if ridden incorrectly could destroy your taint. It seemed like everyone in town who owned a cross bike showed up to race, and everyone was juiced up to get racing. As for my race I hopped off the front right from the get go, and let the suffering begin. Halfway through I was picked off by a couple guys, and got into survival mode. Only one scare happened when Downtown JB took a digger in front of me going into the barriers forcing me to hop over the barriers, JB, and his bike. I hopped away with some minor cuts and finished in third, which was good enough to earn me a six-pack of beer.

Sunday brought the start of the state series, with the first race over in Butte. Sunny skies and temps in the 70’s doesn’t seem like cross weather, but I’ll take the good weather while it lasts. The race venue had the wonderful backdrop of the continental divide and one of the largest superfund sites in the country, it don’t get much prettier than that. The course was divided into two sections, the bumpy part and the not bumpy part. The bumpy part had you wishing that your headset was nice and tight (mine wasn’t), and also included the run up, where if you didn’t like a long steep run up, you might as well turn your car around and head home. The flat part included a lovely ride through a beach volleyball court with some nice deep sand, tight turns, barriers, and some tall grass which seemed to just sap everyone’s speed.

The races all went off smoothly and at the end, anyone who raced agreed that they felt like throwing up. Mid race one racer told me that he wanted either a beer or a gun to ease the suffering. I managed my way to another third place, good enough for some gas money and some congratulations. After the race, the Missoula crew headed to town for burgers and beer, which were enjoyed by all. I must say that I’ve officially been bitten by the cross bug, similarly to the punk rock bug which bit me back in the seventh grade. Never has feeling like absolute shit felt so rewarding, Wednesday nights and the weekend can’t come quick enough. That’s all I have for now, until next weekend when we have the Helena Omnium, three races over two days!

From our Field Correspondent, Brother Lee:

First off, here’s a little backgound information about myself. I am a 23 year old senior at Arizona State University, majoring in design management. I am the captain of the ASU Cycling and Triathlon Club’s mountain bike team. I primarily race mountain bikes, but found a passion for the great sport of cyclocross last year when I tried a few races. In every race and/or ride I do, I have devil horns on my helmet. This makes me quite recognizeable wherever I may be. Anyway, I think that’s enough about me, onto the race…The first race of the AZ Cross series was yesterday in Payson. The course was long, approximately 1.5miles, and very technical. It was made up mostly of very loose decomposed granite, with a few of sand traps, and one mud pit. The course included two sections of barriers, one of which was on a steep, and very loose run up. The course was also littered with tube killing goat heads and as a result, many racers were plagued with flat tires. The weather conditions were nice by Arizona standards: clear, dry, sunny, and temperatures in the mid 80s (which we consider to be cool, as most of the racers had come up from the Phoenix area).

The race started off with a hard, uphill charge through a parking lot and into a tight 90 degree right hand turn. Then it was onto the dirt! The course went on through a small wash, then up a hill with some tight twists and turns. The course then straightened out for the first set of barriers, which admittedly are not my forte. After the barriers, it was up a sort incline, then down the steep other side and into a 180 degree turn the led to the first run up, which included a barrier and the bottom as well as the top. After the run up we flew down the side of the hill and through a wash and then onto the longest straight away of the course. After the straight away, there was a very loose 90 degree right hand turn and then a downhill into a sandy wash with a sweeping, and very loose, up hill left hand turn into the trees. The section through the trees was tight singletrack. The section through the trees led to a short, rocky up hill followed my more twists and turns and then a long downhill. At the end of the downhill was another large sand pit with a s sharp 90 degree left at the its end. The section led into another straight away, this particular straight away contained the one mud pit on the course. After the mud pit, there was quick left hand into the parking lot and onto another lap.

I raced in the men’s catagory 4, which was also combined with the men’s 35+ and junior catagories, bringing the total count of racers to about 15. The Arizona cyclocross races allow for riders to ride both cyclocross and mountain bikes (as long as they don’t have bar ends, disc brakes are fine). So I rode my full suspension Titus Racer-X (I have a cyclocross bike on order, but it has yet to arrive). This bike was both a blessing and a curse for the race. It was a blessing in the facts that I was running 2.1 inch wide tubeless tires, so the goat heads were not a problem for me. I was also able to glide through the sand pits and have grip in the loose turns. The bike was a curse in the fact that it weighs approximately 27 pounds, so lifting that over the barriers is quite tiresome. It is also a bit slow in acceleration when compared the the proper cross bikes that I was racing against. Through all of this, I was able to place 4th in my catagory of 6. My teammate racing in his first race ever and also on a mountain bike, place 5th right behind me. My other teammate, Niko, was forced to DNF because of 3 mechicals. Maybe to gods will smile upon him next race, as he was leading when his mechicals occured.

Hail Eddy,

-Brother Lee