Sunweb-Projob Team

As of January 1 there will be a third powerhouse Cyclocross team in Belgium aiming to give Rabobank and Fidea a run for their money. The new Sunweb-Projob team will have Vanthourenhout, Verstraeten, Willemsens and Vannoppen if he can get his head straight.

Nice looking uniforms and if those are real, they're spectacular.

Thanksgiving Break

I thought about going to the VA State Champs race on Sunday over in Virginia Beach but let it go. I think it was probably the right decision. Needed to recharge the batteries some. I took it easy most of last week, all the way thru Thanksgiving day. Then did some good training over the weekend, couple of hours each day with some intervals. Now it's all taper thru nationals. Hopefully, I can find my way back into the top 10 at the two remaining NC cross series races. Nationals should be a blast, it can't be any worse than last year.

Running is over for me. I made it pretty late into the season. Running disgusts me, so I find it a chore just to go out and do 15 or 20 minutes during the week. I had intentions to put in a run over the weekend but it didn't happen.

I guess this is the time of year when living in the south comes into it's own. We're still having temps in the high 60s during the day. I've got to admit, I've become a real pussy about riding in the cold. My lower limit now is about 35 - 40 degrees. Shouldn't be too many days down here all winter where it doesn't get above 40 degrees during the day.

Hendersonville UCI Races

We made the long trek out to the western part of the state for a double race weekend. I'd heard nothing but good things about these races and they didn't disappoint. Two of the best courses I've ever ridden, they had just about everything you look for in a cross course. They're a haul to get to but well worth it. But first...

Work related stuff in Durham provided a good excuse to make the trip out on Friday. So we're heading thru the Durham area on the highway at about 10am, not in the city but just outside it, when I see what at first looks like a dog up ahead on a grassy embankment. I slow in case it decides to come out into the road. As we get closer I realize it's not a dog, and certainly looks like a wolf! It may have been a coyote but if it was, it was one well-fed coyote. I have no idea how this guy got there in what is one of the more heavily populated areas of the state. I'm thinking someone's pet got out.

Anyway we finally got to Hendersonville about 5:30 and settled in. Hendersonville is about a half hour south of Asheville. I was still feeling the lingering affects of the cold that ruined me for the better part of a week so I was curious how Saturday would go. Too hard to describe the course as it constantly twisted and turned, lots of off camber stuff, a couple of long pavement sections, two run-ups, a descent on single track in the woods, and some wet areas with a touch of mud. It had it all. Good mix of hard sections (but none long enough that they became burdensome) and recovery sections. I had a good start but I was either rusty from the cold or just cool-downed too much on the line and couldn't get going. I just kept losing places the whole first lap before I got motoring on the second. I recovered OK and started looking for the wheels of overtaking riders to go forward. Ended up getting a good tow when the 45+ leader came by, and then a lap or two later Fred Wittwer came by and I got another good tow on the pavement section. Didn't feel great but I think ended up around 15th.

I liked Sunday's course even better. Some parts of the course were the same, some were reversed, and a few new sections added. Better for me as the single track descent was now a climb and in general fewer places to touch the brakes. And for the first time I felt like the cold was completely gone, I think Saturday blew the last of it out of my system. Again I had a decent start and was probably in the top 10 off the pavement, went backwards some on the first lap but nothing like the day before. Ended up racing my nemesis. This is the 3rd race that I've ended up going shoulder to shoulder with this guy for the last several laps of the race and like everytime before he beat me again. This time it was the "wall" that did me in. The wall came right at the end of the lap. It was iffy for me to make it up it riding, probably didn't make it a third of the time. I botched it coming to the end of the penultimate lap and he was gone. I chased hard for about the 1st half of the last lap but I wasn't catching him, so I shut it down and took it easy. Might just have squeaked into the top 10. Saw some other Mid-Atlantic folks. We ended up parked next to Melanie Swartz and Judd Milne both days. Judd did the Masters races also and had solid top-10s both days. I think Melanie podiumed on Saturday, not sure about Sunday.

Other than Olivia getting sick on Saturday it was good trip, got to see Jenny's dad and his wife who live out that way. They came to the race on Saturday. Sunday was Atticus' 4th birthday which we had celebrated last week when my parents were down visiting. I think with the gifts from Jenny's dad he took in quite a haul. We got him a bike which he is riding lots. I saw a picture of Nys' 4-year old kid riding a bike that had been fitted with regular road handlebars and shifters. I'm thinking that might be good project to put together for Atticus' b-day or Christmas next year.

NC State Champs

So much for the best laid plans. After two weeks of hard training, last week was the first week of reduced volume and intensity in the hopes of producing a peak for the state championship race on Sunday and this coming week's double header UCI races out in Hendersonville. Instead of a peak I ended up in a valley thanks to a cold. I started feeling it early last week and it just got worse and worse. Perhaps against better judgement I drove over to Pinehurst for the race on Sunday morning. I'm a mudder and driving thru rain on the way there got my hopes up. Unfortunately, the sky cleared as I got closer to Pinehurst and they appeared to only have received a little rain.

Very nice venue at Sandhills Community College with a good parcours that consisted of three distinct sections that each made up about a third of the course. A tarmac section with the start/finish area in it went thru a parking lot and onto a wide path. This made up the beginning and end of each lap. After coming off the tarmac and short stint in the grass the course went into the pine forest on dirt/sand double track. A lot like the Beacon race in NJ but with elevation changes. A descent thru some deep sand gave me fits all day before turning and ploughing into a sand hill that forced a dismount and loooong run-up, one more sandy descent and a short climb brought you out of the woods. The last section of the course was all grass field riding with a few turns to keep things interesting and the planks. The long tarmac section and grass fields were conducive to group riding especially as a strong wind was blowing.

Anyway, hopped-up on cold meds, red bull and a double expresso gu I had hopes that the cold wouldn't affect me too much. I had another pretty good start and survived the first time thru the sand in the woods and was at the back of the front group of about 15 at the end of lap 1. Although I already has my suspicions that things weren't going to go well. I just couldn't get on it out of the corners in the field resulting in me getting gapped. On top of that I sucked ass, bad on the sandy descents. I think I left my balls at home along with my legs. I was hesitant all day rather than just ploughing into the deep sand. By lap 2 I was going backwards. It was killing me as I kept seeing guys in front of me that I've been beating. Finally ended up riding with a guy the final 3 laps but he would school me thru the sand and get a gap that I'd have to close once we got into the field section. Last time thru the woods he crushed the descents and was gone. Truth be told by that point I didn't even care, I just wanted to get it over with. Luckily no one was too close behind so I could spin in the final part of the race. I think if I managed to get into the top 15 I was lucky. Now just gotta hope this mess clears up so I can at least enjoy next week's races.

North Carolina's Koppenberg Race

So there wasn't a historic cobbled climb that has featured in some of the biggest bike races of the last century, there wasn't even a cobbled climb, but this race was something like the Koppenberg cross race. It was mostly uphill or downhill so I got the climbing I was after.

The course had a couple hundred meters of road that was slightly up hill until you took a right and then did a short climb to the high point of the course and turned into the fields. For some reason they didn't start us on the road. I'm a traditionalist, if you have a suitable road why not start the race on it like a cross race is suppose to start? They probably had their reasons. Instead they started us a couple hundred meters futher back just past the finish line towards the top of the climb. Anyway, after the road section the course mostly went downhill thru pretty bumpy grass fields. There was a nice little dirt road section that led into some steps they had cut into a hill, forcing a dismount. More downhill, some sweeping turns where you could lose time. A very fast descent into some mulch and then you were at the bottom of the course and did some flat riding along a creek for a minute or two. Just a hint of mud in some spots. The planks were in this section. Then you came to the piece de resistance of the course. A very steep hill that was just rideable. The steepest parts were at the bottom, so it put you into the red immediately and then it just kept going up, albeit not quite as steep. The finish line was in the middle of the climb where it leveled off a bit, then you hit the start line and climbed some more until you got somthing of a respite as you dropped downhill a bit and hit the road section.

My game plan was to pace myself. Only really place to catch some draft was the short slightly uphill road section before it really kicked up and I didn't think it would be wise to hit the hill at the end of lap 1 totally in the red from trying to keep up. I still had a good start and was well placed as we went into the fields, but lost time and places on the fast downhills, probably riding just outside the top 10 when we hit the hill for the first time at the end of lap 1. My strategy seemed to work as I was able to ride the hill while other guys had to dismount. My pacing was still good coming to the end of lap 2 as I caught and passed 3 riders on the long uphill. End of Lap 3 on the climb I dug deep as I saw two guys up in front of me, one of whom I know regularly beats me. I just caught onto the closer rider coming off the road at the top of the course. The guy dropped me like a bad habit on the descending portion of the course. He probably was 50 meters ahead by the bottom flat part, but I told myself not to worry I had caught him the previous lap on the climb and the other guy was still just in front of him. So up the hill for the 4th time we went and this guy just took off, he left me in the dust, caught the guy in front of us and dropped him. He was long gone by the time we finally reached the end of the road section and the top of the course. And I was starting to not go well, as the other fellow had pulled away from me also. Laps 5 & 6 were uneventful, just got passed by the front couple of 45+ guys. Again I got on one of their wheels at the top as we turned off the road and he schooled me thru the turns on the downhill section. This race certainly showed me where my relative weakness is, I pretty much lost time to anyone who was around me on the technical sections. Then again, I already knew that's not my strong suite. Unfortunately I don't have the power to compensate. Didn't stick around for results, I think I was just inside the top-10, maybe 8th. All in all, I felt pretty good for the end of 2 week training block, including a metric century on Saturday. Now I start taking it easy for the next couple of weeks and tapering for the state champs next week and then the double UCI weekend in two weeks. If this works as planned should be able to squeeze a bit more power out of the legs.

I can see why Lance went to Boone back in the day to do some training. Looks like really good riding around there. Next week is the state champs race in Pinehurst with double points on offer.

Nijs masters the Koppenberg

Nijs has stomped his authority on the Koppenberg race again this year. If you've never seen this race make a point to do so. Very nice parcours that takes in the cobbled lower slopes of the famous Koppenberg climb of Ronde fame. It is a course where there is no place to hide, a riders' power is put to the test on the steep uphill grades and their skills are put to the test on the steep, off-camber downhills. Yesterday's race did not disappoint as a week of wet weather finally has created proper cross conditions in Belgium. A surprise rain storm just prior to the start of the elite race apparently caused quite a bit of consternation (see exhibit A) on the opening laps as the course was much more slippy than expected and riders had too much air in their tires or even the wrong treads.













(Exhibit A)

The Frenchman John Gadret in his first serious cross outing of the year displayed the climbing prowess on the Koppenberg that was on show in the Giro this year before he was felled by a broken collarbone. He ended up 3rd on the day after looking like a possible winner in the first half of the race. It wasn't until the 2nd half of the race that Nijs went to work and once again distanced all his rivals. For the 3rd year running all indications are that Njis will yet again "Merckx" the rest of the elite cyclocross riders. Wellens had his own Merckxian year 4 seasons ago but has not been able to clearly elevate himself above the rest of the top runners since. Meanwhile the young guns continue to impress as Simunek Jr took a tactical win at the Tabor WC and Kevin Pauwels took a fine second to Nijs at the St. Michielsgestel Race, not to mention Alberts and Stybar continuing their impressive riding. At the other end of the spectrum Groenendaal isn't done yet, taking the 2nd step on the podium at the Koppenberg race and a third at his home town race of St. Michielsgestel. Another rider who has hit the big time after showing up on the radar last year for the first time in Klaas Vantornout. Meanwhile two of the Belgian stalwarts, Commeyne and Vannoppen, have not lifted their form following off years last season. In fact, Vannoppen who a few years ago was really one of the top riders has slipped even further this year and is nothing more than pack fodder. Something must be seriously wrong with him. At an age when he should be reaching his peak, he's no longer worthy of a professional contract. On the US front, Page has yet to return from his dislocated shoulder/torn rotator cuff injury.

Nijs riding alone on the Koppenberg.















Our little pill party here in NC is heading out to the mountains surrounding Boone this weekend. I've decided to go. For some masochistic reason I'm hoping for a race that features some real climbing.