tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37049726426900461642024-03-13T19:29:08.414+00:00Cross AdviceCross Advice is Simon Burney's blog devoted to the sport of cyclocross.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-50605646478605911812008-10-06T22:38:00.002+01:002008-10-06T22:41:53.075+01:00New Site!This site is no longer active, but you can follow my blog and find other 'Cross related goodies and nonsense at <a href="http://www.cyclocross-stuff.com/">www.cyclocross-stuff.com</a>. Should be up and running by middle of October.<br />Thanks for reading and have a great winter!<br />Simon.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com268tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-68018110145746809922007-12-17T12:35:00.000+00:002007-12-17T12:44:56.762+00:00National Champ!Congratulations to 'cross book cover-boy and technique role-model Tim Johnson for his outstanding win at the US National Champs yesterday!<br />Don't bother reading the section on how to ride icy ruts in the book, just get some footage of Tim floating across the surface while all around him floundered, and keep watching it until you've got it mastered...<br />Top 10 at Worlds??Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-33382176493606684662007-12-11T19:41:00.000+00:002007-12-11T19:44:53.354+00:00A Book Trailer?<object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R_-ElCKKfwY&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R_-ElCKKfwY&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-69063433780488505782007-12-07T15:20:00.000+00:002007-12-07T16:02:24.711+00:00Top 10 tips.Brooke Hoyer suggested on a post a few weeks ago that after Portland I should come up with a top 10 list of things that I noticed from that weekend, which would help the lower category racers improve, so here goes:<br /><br />1. Keep dry and warm. In weather like that experienced in Portland, its vital that you keep as warm and dry as possible, before and during the race. In the race dry is impossible so it has to be wet but warm, otherwise you will simply freeze and stop fuctioning. Read about Lynne Bessette falling in one of the deep puddles? She froze and had to stop.<br />For your pre-ride use as many layers as you think appropriate and top it off with rain jacket and pants, and overshoes. Plus always something under your crash hat...<br />Then as soon as you are done with the pre-ride take all the wet stuff off and replace with dry. Don't start the race with anything that is wet and cold from that pre-ride, which means dry gloves, socks, shoes, base layers and skinsuit/bibs, jersey. I appreciate this means a lot of kit, so put it on your christmas wish-list!<br />I saw riders warming up in shorts, racing in t shirts, wearing cotton gloves... the list is a long one, and its so uncomfortable. Watch the Pro's; Trebon in full legs, Wells and Craig in waterproof gilets over their skinsuits, cotton caps under crash hats.<br /><br />2. Line selection. A lot of riders I saw were riding with their heads down looking at the few feet in front of them only and had no "big picture" view of the course, which was changing every lap due to the extreme conditions. Look in front every few seconds and make a fast decision about which line to take; watch other riders in front and if they stall switch lines, don't follow them blindly.<br /><br />3. Shortest is not always fastest. The racing line around a corner in bad conditions is not always the fastest. It is the line which gets the most traffic so becomes the most cut up and rutted, and because its the tight line it means you can't pedal round it, but because its slow you can't freewheel, so you stall. Go very wide, its likely to be less used, so firmer, and on a sweeping arc you can continue pedalling.<br /><br />4. Keep your bike clean. When its very muddy and sticking to your bike, like saturday at Portland, you need to keep your bike clean especially if you only have one and can't take advantage of a bike change in the pits. On saturday Adam Craig was going off his racing line to ride through a deep puddle on the start/finish road section to clean his bike. Ride through standing water where possible and consider running slow, muddy sections which although rideable, will add mud to your bike. A down-side of modern lightweight componentry, especially derailleurs, is they only have a limited ability to function when clogged with mud. Watch the World Cup from Spain on cycling.tv and see the race leader snap his derailleur and have to run a road section, then see Bart Wellens lose 2nd spot on the last lap with the same problem. Todd Wells did it at Portland... You have to pay for your stuff so look after it, even during the race!<br /><br />5. Dismount early. On saturday at Portland there was a barely rideable climb, and too many people tried to ride as far up it as they could then stopped, unclipped, slid back a foot or two, struggled to get off and then had to start pushing or running from a dead stop. Great entertainment for the crowd but bad news for your finishing position. Its not a sign of weakness to dismount early.Remember, momentum is your best friend.<br /><br />6. Carry don't push. Way too many people were pushing their bikes instead of carrying them, and that mud was thick.<br /><br />7. Tyre pressure. 80% of the tyres I pushed were too hard! If you run tubulars and don't have a pressure gauge stand over the wheel with both hands on the tyre and put all your body weight through them. If you bounce hard you should just feel the rim. Do the same on the front but let a bit more out as you dont have so much body weight over your front wheel but this is the one that washes out when its slippy. If you use clinchers then you need to do the same but they should feel harder (if you feel the rim its too soft). Clinchers "fold under" when too soft which tubs don't, you also risk pinch flats with a soft clincher.<br /><br />8. Think ahead, change gear. A lot of people were approaching an obstacle (hurdles, hill, corner) and not changing into the gear they would need to exit it, so way over-geared. In mud you have to be on top of the gear so if you slide off a line you don't lose speed or time getting back on it. Think ahead, change gear more often.<br /><br />9. Be a stalker. Warm up behind a Pro; see which lines they use, which gear they are in, when they dismount. They will be faster and stronger than you but usually on early pre-ride laps they are going easy just checking it all out. You will learn a lot, I guarantee!<br /><br />10. Learn from your mistakes. Think about your race when it is done and you are back home, warm and dry. Think about where you lost time, where you were good, and learn from the experience for the next weekend.<br /><br />11. Go to the after race party! Hang out, enjoy yourself; you are doing a great sport with like-minded people, have fun and don't take it too seriously.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-66528870336400056562007-12-07T15:02:00.001+00:002007-12-07T15:20:10.272+00:00HornerNormally I would have mentioned Chris Horner in the post about the Portland weekend, but he deserves his own space and title.<br />Now we know that Chris Horner likes 'cross racing, his name pops up in results most weekends pretty soon after Lombardy has been and gone, and I hear he is relatively local to Portland, but to see him splashing round anonymously mid-pack on saturday at the USGP gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, that after all the crap associated with ProTour road racing in recent months, here was a guy who definitely loved bike racing in whatever form, and didn't have a problem getting his arse kicked; no ego on show, no attitude.<br />Even better, he then showed up on sunday, but to spectate! I'm sorry, I cannot see any of his peers standing in mid-calf deep mud being battered by the elements, trying to keep an umbrella from turning inside out, watching a bike race.<br /><br />If you are a road racer (doubtful, why would you be reading a 'cross blog?!), take a leaf from Mr Horner's book and widen your horizons with other disciplines, if you are a 'cross rider with little interest in the road, well make Chris the guy you follow during the summer; he deserves your support, he is a cyclist who has never forgotten why he does this sport, and personally I salute him.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-6578507716068892602007-12-07T13:52:00.000+00:002007-12-07T15:02:09.248+00:00A Brit in PortlandRight before we start, lets get something clear here. Never in the history of British weather has it ever rained so hard, for so long, as it did in Portland last week, and if one more person had said to me "bet it feels like home huh?!" they would have a 34mm mud tread tyre inserted down aforementioned throat. I don't know about all those nice bike shops selling custom 'cross bikes, they should start knocking up a few arks and getting the animals together...<br /><br />But back to the racing. This was the final two rounds of the USGP series, a series that has elevated American cyclocross to be competitive on the world stage, and which should be given massive credit for promoting and popularising the discipline, and raising the level at the sharp end. Bruce Fina and team, take a bow.<br /><br />Alongside this were the supporting races comprised of the masses who take part in the Cross Crusade series every week in Portland and surrounding districts, and its pretty clear they do enjoy a 'cross race in these parts; I'm probably preaching to the converted here as most American followers have seen the pictures and read the reports, but for any stray Brits reading this you've got to check them out (cyclingnews.com, velonews.com etc); fancy dress, beer, waffles, girls (and guys sadly..) in hot tubs, tech areas with proper teams doing it right and putting on a show, merchandising, and more damn cowbells than in the whole of Switzerland. And good racing....<br /><br />But its a risky business, putting two days of racing back-to-back on the same course with only a few daylight hours to make repairs and small changes. So racing started 8.30am on saturday morning just as first light had arrived. (I need to tweak the pre-riding/course inspection section of 4th Edition cyclocross to include how to do a course inspection in the dark and which lights work best), and there were virtually no breaks from then until the Elite Men finished at just after 4pm, just as it was going dark again. Repeat on Sunday.<br />I'm not sure how many riders raced and trained on the course on saturday but I'll guess at 400, and in constant wet and mud that makes for some pretty deep ruts and not a whole lot of grass left. All it needed was for Sunday to start drying out and it would have been one sticky running race; thank God for more rain so it kept the mud runny and the course all rideable!<br />Then there was the wind; too strong for banners on the barriers, and snapping or pulling the wooden stakes out of the ground that held up the marking tape, it also trashed a few easy-up tents and Kona discovered that a team tent isn't quite as stable as a Trebon in high wind.<br /><br />The racing was good, but if you put 60 Elite guys or girls together its rare you get bad racing; the difference and uniqueness of this event (and from what I've read, countless others like it across the States) is the crowd support. I'll be honest here, if I hadn't travelled across a few time zones for quite a few hours to be there I would have been tempted to stay indoors, I mean you wouldn't throw the dog out in that weather would you? But if it did put anyone off, it didn't show. I guess Portland people are quite used to crappy weather and still going out to play in it, and they made it a special weekend for a visiting foreigner. I've been to hundreds of races in Belgium, Holland, Switzerland etc, and for the most part the atmosphere at those events is good, with large knowledgeable crowds, but given the choice between Igorre World Cup in Spain or USGP in Portland, I'm glad I chose the latter.<br /><br />And then there was the after-race party... I reckon I could get Steve Peat and the other hard-partying Brit Downhillers to move over to 'cross if they knew they could get to play out all night after they had raced. The warehouse party was a nice way to end a series, but the follow-up at "Dantes" downtown was memorable! Too bad no cell phones were allowed which meant no photos, as no-one believes me when I tell them about the fire eating strippers, acrobat girl tying herself up in the curtains and the pole dancer doing push-ups with her feet by her ears. It was also good to see two of the Elite podium men, Trebon and Wells, out having fun and not being paranoid about staying out past 10pm and having a beer; there is life outside of bike racing, please pass the message onto your Euro colleagues.<br /><br />To everyone who made my trip over so enjoyable, thanks.. I'll be back and will try and bring more with me!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-6899236754504714912007-12-07T13:41:00.000+00:002007-12-07T13:52:06.550+00:00New York TimesSo cyclocross made the hallowed pages of the New York Times recently, check it out at <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/travel/escapes/30cyclo.html">http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/travel/escapes/30cyclo.html</a> A pretty good article that to a total 'cross virgin nicely describes what it's all about; although I'm not so sure about the "cross between BMX and road biking", I think I'd replace BMX with mountain bike, but thats being picky about an article in a major broadsheet that can only be positive! Maybe they will follow it up with a report on the National Championships?Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-39431020980016698502007-10-25T15:18:00.000+01:002007-10-25T15:28:41.962+01:00MudI was looking for something mud-related on Google and came across this list of descriptions for the various types of the stuff you love to ride through; some I've never heard of and some that should definitely make it into race reports! ("Vervecken launched his race winning attack in the last section of clart whilst Wellens, held up by an earlier crash in the slabber by the brook, was cheered to the line by the vast crowd who stood in the stabble to cheer their man home.."). Classic, a whole new vocabulary!<br /><br />"Sludge, muck, slush, rile, slut, slime, bog, stabble (mud made by footprints), marsh, swill, ooze, slip, morass, slunk (a muddy or marshy place), mere, pulk, swamp, cay, blash, baygall, quag, quagmire, sump, slosh, sludge, squash, wichert (white, chalky mud, Bucks.), sleech (mud deposited by a river), clart, fen, humus, slough, bauger, slabber, warp (a moist bed of alluvial sediment), mush, chaitia (dried mud), gumbo, slumgullion (a muddy deposit in a mining sluice, US), slop, wallow, squad (dial., soft mud), slurry (thin mud or cement), parafango (a mixture of mud and paraffin), sludder, stodge (thick, tenacious mud), quicksand, schlich, slake (mud left by the tide), soss (a slop, Sc), cloam (potter’s mud), sinkhole, gunk, goo, clay, slob[Ir], palus, mire, slather (thin mud, Yorks.), sewerage (street mud), adobe (dried mud), limus, silt, loam, smirch, clag (mud entangled with wool on sheep)."Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-36638065820394299512007-10-24T12:53:00.000+01:002007-10-24T14:03:43.837+01:00Crash recoveryJosh posted a comment asking why it takes a lap or two to get going again after a tumble during a race; and its true, it always seems to be the way, you slide off and can't get back into the groove. I think most of it is due to the fact that the tumble takes your focus off your attention to racing as hard and as fast as you can. Even if its a simple slide, you still need to remount, sort your unshipped chain or change gear if your levers hit the ground and shifted gear without you asking, you always spend a moment deciding if your bars, levers or saddle have moved, and if it was a slightly harder hit for sure you start riding cautiously before you decide if nothing hurts.<br />If its especially muddy then you need to wipe the worst off the hand you landed on, unclog your shifters and straighten your helmet.<br /><br />I think most of the key to quick recovery is dealing with all of the above as quickly and as calmly as possible, then without panicking and trying to over extend yourself, simply concentrating on getting back into the race. This takes practise, or rather experience, as experience gives you a pretty automatic feel of what is right or wrong both with your bike and your body. If you are just starting off 'cross racing then your bike feels weird anyway if you ride it in mud when you normally ride on the road so it might take a while to realise something moved during the tumble.<br /><br />So I would suggest a quick check-list as follows:<br />You find yourself on the floor; did it hurt when you landed? Does it hurt as you jump back up and grab your bike? Delay decision on pain unless it is severe until you are back riding...<br /><br />Pick bike up and run a few steps to get up to speed to remount. As you take these steps look at chain first. If its off, stop and put it back on. Quick decision... can you get chain back into a gear that means you can ride the next section or will you jump on just to jump straight back off and run it, as you cant get your feet in or are overgeared?<br /><br />If chain is on, quick glance at saddle and bars. Are they both pointing in the direction they were when you started the race?! If not, stop and straighten with a quick slap to the front of the saddle or front wheel between knees as you twist the bars straight.<br /><br />If the above are all good to go, and you've checked this out in the space of four running steps only, then on you get. Once back on and riding then its a very fast pain diagnosis. Your pain threshold, the importance of the event, and also the appearance of a significant amount of blood (which can leak from you without too much pain, especially when its cold) will make the decision for you on whether to continue, and if so if its going to take a while to get back up to speeed or not.<br /><br />If all seems fine then focus. You slipped off and lost 15 seconds and 4 places. If it was your fault give yourself a mental slap and dont repeat the error. If it was someone elses fault, maybe they dived under you going into a corner and took you out, then go get back past them!<br /><br />Finally, consider if its worth changing bikes next time past the pits; did you slide off because your tyres were too hard, if your bars twisted they might need tightening, your pedal and shifter on the side you landed might be full of dirt.<br /><br />But to Josh who posted the question, its definitely not just you!<br /> I mentioned this incident in the 'Cross book but its worth repeating it here as its a great example of how people react differently to a problem. At this years World Championships a crash took out Nys and Wellens whilst they were both in the lead; a TV quad bike flicked a traffic cone marking the TV bike lane out into the course and one of them hit it and they both came down. They both got up and sorted themselves out although Wellens was obviously having trouble and initially he lost the most time and ended up back in the teens. But he got his focus back, the bit between his teeth, and you could see the fire in his eyes as he moved forward, moved forward, until he ended up 4th. It was only as he crossed the line that the pain took over and later it transpired he had fractured his wrist. On the other hand Nys went the other way; the crash wasn't his fault and you could tell looking at him he was pissed of that it had happened and was thinking about it. A second crash that was his fault happened a lap later and it looked like he was going to launch his bike into the crowd and crawl off somewhere to feel sorry for himself, but I think he reminded himself he was at a home-country Worlds and had to finish, but there was no focus or fight.<br /><br />I think it shows that it is a different scenario for every rider, and each will deal with it in the way that most matches their character.<br /><br />Josh, hope that helps.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-70972470464793167992007-10-23T11:17:00.000+01:002007-10-23T11:56:42.491+01:00Fit but not fast?I've got a friend who recently moved from Los Angeles to Portland, an unashamed bikerace-mad follower of all that is great and good about anything slightly related to high quality racing in any discipline. He raced BMX as a youngster, worked for some of the worlds finest professional mountain bike teams, and what he doesn't know about Pro Tour road racing and the guys who do it, well even with big writing you could get it on the back of a stamp.<br />But he's never done cyclocross. He reads about it, knows more about Sven Nys than Mrs Nys does and is probably a member of the fan club, but until he moved to Portland he hadn't actually lined up for a race. So I sent him a bike over (he needed something that would score him good euro points...), he trained like a demon... and got his ass kicked.<br /><br />Now my friend is a fit guy; he trains hard and with a coaching background he knows what he is doing. He takes good care of himself, does his split session days, rests properly, works on his technical skills on a 'cross circuit, and I'll be impressed if the majority of the people that beat him at his first couple of races are anywhere close to having the physical condition and focus that he has.<br /><br />But he is losing time during the 40 minutes that his category race for and he is frustrated, so we had a chat on the phone after last weekends race and the majority of the chat focussed on what we ended up calling the "transition" sections of the course, as it appears this is where he is struggling.<br />We termed these transition sections as anywhere on the course that you have to lose speed, so a set of hurdles, a run-up, a set of consecutive tight slow corners, anywhere that breaks your rythm, forces you to brake, or naturally loses you speed. Now the actual 'cross technique might be very good in that he is lined up for corners correctly, he picks his bike up for the hurdles, can shoulder it fast for the run-ups, but its the section immediately after that where he is not getting back up to speed quickly enough that is losing him time. If you approach a set of hurdles at 25kph and exit them at 18kph then you need to get back to 25kph as quickly as you can, the same goes for a corner or a run-up or even a section into a headwind. Get back to your optimum speed pronto.<br />Now although some of this is a fitness related issue in that you need to accelerate hard out of the saddle for a few revs to pick the speed back up and that takes some specific training, its more about realising that you need to do it. Its easy to wait a couple of revs after a section or a remount before you launch yourself off your chair and into action but that will be a second or two lost, and if you figure that on a typical lap there are probably a minimum of five of these transition sections then 10 seconds a lap turns into a minute in a six lap race.<br />So if you are training hard and dont think that your race results quite match your level of fitness spend some time thinking about where you lose time, especially where people nip past you. If its before these sections then its probably technique (late braking, correct line), the need for more recovery (trying to get a couple of breaths in freewheeling before the corner/sandpit/run-up), fear (approaching hurdles too fast gotta scrub some speed off), or simply not concentrating.<br />If its after a section then see above; come out of of it and hit it hard to get back up to speed, only then can you sit on a wheel and get a quick recovery.<br />Finally if people are getting past you during the section, its likely to be technique at race-speed which is letting you down.<br /><br />It'll be interesting if my friend starts to move up the result list without necessarily getting any fitter but simply by using his fitness in a different way and mentally tuning in to where and when he needs to use the big efforts. I'll keep you posted...Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-72928127857197798502007-10-20T14:13:00.000+01:002007-10-20T14:28:03.125+01:00Actual 'Cross advice.So the web/blog address is cyclocrossadvice.com, and it was created, I'll shamelessly admit, to create some traffic and therefore 'cross book sales, but also to expand on any of the subjects covered in the book if any readers wanted more information; or as we call it in the heady world of book writing, "advice"!<br /><br />Now I do appreciate that the actual amount of advice in the first few posts I have made since VeloPress created the blogsite for me, has been limited. More of an opportunity for me to scribble a few lines about anything 'cross related at the time really, and to be honest I'm not really into offering advice where its not needed, soooo.....<br /><br />Ask some questions. Give me some ideas. Is there anything in the book that doesn't make sense or you want extra information about? Did you race at the weekend and can't figure a part of the whole experience out? Did you watch a vid of a race and are confused at to what went on? If you didn't read the book yet, not a problem... ask away and I'll do my best to "do exactly what it says on the tin" and give some 'cross advice.<br /><br />And if I don't get any takers for the advice then I'll just happily carry on writing about anything 'cross from my perspective until I realise that no-one is reading it and spend the time doing something a lot more constructive instead, like riding my bike!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-90657814362263903852007-10-19T16:08:00.000+01:002007-10-19T17:13:42.998+01:00Excel Sports Cross VegasCyclocross... Las Vegas.... Sunshine.... Beer....... Four of my favourite things, I just had to find a reason to go and check it out.<br />Those very nice people at VeloPress tempted me with some book promo opportunities if I made it, I was looking for work and there was no knowing who I might bump into at the bike show, I had some airmiles that were about to expire, and, well it was a 'cross race and I didn't need a reason or excuse.<br /><br />The race rocked! Even though I was jet lagged to hell and a 9pm start felt like the middle of the night after just 24hrs in that timezone, some beers woke me up I couldn't fail to be impressed by the effort and enthusiasm that had obviously gone into the event by Brook Watts, Chris Grealish, and the rest of the fella's involved. The course was just right; hard enough to ensure the right guy and gal won, especially with grass that felt (and looked) like riding on velcro, but fast and flowing enough that groups stayed together and the winner, certainly in the mens race, wasn't decided until the last few minutes of the race.<br />The majority of the crowd looked like they appreciated an opportunity to get out of the show halls, off the stands answering the same dumb questions, and get some fresh air away from the strip. Cow bells rang (they would have been "cyclo cross book" cowbells if they had arrived in time...), beer was spilt on the course in an attempt to make slippery beer-mud puddles (what a waste), tv cameras swung around on gantries, Elvis looked like a regular fat guy in a sparkly suit (Gary Fisher looked way-cooler), Dave and Richard race-announced like their lives depended on it, and the right Man and Woman won. It was great, and worth a week of my life on planes and in a 'lagged fuzz to be able to say I was there.<br />As for the book promo and work opportunity excuses to be in Vegas, well I'm sure if I'd been given a table and a box of books I could have sold a few, and a planned chat with the announcers at the race never quite materialised so that fell flat on its ass, and although I didn't get offered the job of my dreams at the show I did meet a lot of old friends and colleagues I hadn't seen for years, and I got to laugh at carbon 'Cross bikes complete with bottle cage bosses that were cable routed for top-pull front derailleurs that don't exist.... (see below).<br />Check out the amateur footage on utube and look for airtimes and dates for upcoming proper television coverage on Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network by logging onto <a href="http://www.crossvegas.com/">www.crossvegas.com</a>, and more importantly make it a date next year, you wont be disappointed.<br /><br />As it was Vegas it would be a shame to leave it without some awards, so....<br /><br />Top 3 must-have 'Cross frames from the show: BMC, Time, Kuota.<br />Special award for building a frame without thinking hard enough: Ernesto Colnago who couldn't find anyone on the stand to explain how the front derailleur on the C50 could work without a pulley wheel behind the seat tube or a top-pull mech. Oh dear....<br /><br />Top 3 friendliest people on stands at the show: Andrew Herrick, Crank Bros. Danielle Vidinich, Sock Guy. Dave Griebling, Squirt lube.<br />Special award for looking good but not realising that looking good and being freindly aren't the same thing: the Italian lady on the Campagnolo stand who's name I didn't get as the show pass with her name on clashed with her shoes so she didn't wear it.<br /><br />Top ride at the race: Matt Toulouse; held up in the crash on the pavement first lap, but never gave up and was going as fast as the front group.<br /><br />Best use of orange: Those Maxxis Boys on new Litespeed bikes with custom paintjobs and orange tyres.<br /><br />Can anybody out there tell me why....? Barry Wicks can put the hurt on the best that America has to offer as well as anyone who has bothered to go over there from Europe, and be a great team mate to Ryan T, but loses time on the above and looks like a duck out of water if he tries to race in Europe? Is it like Guiness which tastes different in Ireland to America? Its the same thing but stick it on a plane for a few hours and something undefinable happens to it?!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-24410651874779218832007-10-19T16:03:00.000+01:002007-10-19T16:08:17.316+01:00Sorry its been a while...Apologies for the lack of new posts recently! I moved house after Maribor mountain bike World Cup and the two-day switch on of the phone line turned into a four week epic with roads dug up, exchanges re-wired and new routers purchased! Anyway, I'm back, just in time for the opening 'Cross World Cup of the year at Kalmthout on sunday so the season officially starts this weekend. Dont forget you can catch the action on cycling.tv/uci.tv ... enjoy!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-4887868662371968882007-10-17T17:44:00.000+01:002007-10-17T17:57:37.293+01:00Interviewed!Check out this <a href="http://www.ileach.co.uk/post/burney.html">Q&A interview</a> with Isle of Islay cycling blogger, Brian Palmer. Brief excerpt below.<br /><br /><em>which side of the bike would you prefer to be on - riding or coaching/mechanic?</em><br />There is no reason why you can't do all of it; I've always tried to ride, even though I was forced to quit racing after I bust my knee up badly in a crash. I still love riding my bike but equally I have loved mechanicing, managing and coaching. Again, over the period of time I have been involved things change and people come and go, and whilst a few years ago I would be passionate about mechanicing for someone, or coaching a certain rider, as the riders move on or change teams and my own job changed then its only when you look back that you realise how it has evolved.<br /><br /><em>don't you get a bit fed up with all the mud, particularly in the uk?</em><br />Never! I get fed up in the winter when there is a dry spell and there isn't much mud! Mud makes it so much fun, its like being a kid having an excuse to go play in the dirt, get filthy, slide around... mud is the reason I love the sport.<br /><br /><em>given that we have endless amounts of mud and crap weather in the uk, why do you think the belgians are so much better?</em><br />Well its nothing to do with mud or the weather, thats for sure. Its the snowball effect that comes when a sport is popular with the people to point that they will go and pay to watch it, then television picks up on its popularity and televises the vast majority of the races, a high percentage on live broadcast. With regular television comes sponsorship for the events and the teams and riders. Riders become "personalities", teams fight to employ the best ones, riders can earn a living racing so they dont need to work and can train full-time, and because there is so much money to be made and such a lot of races available then the level rises.<br /><p><em>and the americans?</em><br />The Americans have always been pretty crap, down there with the Brits for years and years, but in the last five years or so a few individuals with some vision have realised that its a discipline of the sport that actually Americans could promote very well in their own country and at the same time it has that historic traditional feel to it that Yanks love, so they get really excited about finding out about it and coming to deepest darkest Europe to find a hallowed race they have read about for years, and then they can actually race it. Its not like reading about Paris-Roubaix then finding out you need to be on a Pro Tour road team to compete in it. If you have an Elite American racing license and you want to come and race the Super Prestige in Overijse, which is a real classic, then suddenly you can find yourself on the start line. Americans are great at promotion and Cross fits well with a sport that benefits from a bit of effort and promotion. It doesn't need roads to be closed or Highway Patrol to look after it, its short enough to keepÊspectators interested, its relatievely cheap to promote and it ties in with a lot of Americans discovering cycling as a way to keep in shape, to follow the sport thanks to Lance Armstrong being a household name, and Cross is the next bit of it to move onto.</p> <p><em>since you are the mountain bike and cyclo cross coach for british cycling, isn't it unusual that your book is published by velopress in colorado?</em><br />I'm targeting the American audience!</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-8175564353491754642007-09-18T10:44:00.000+01:002007-09-18T10:48:28.074+01:003 Peaks cancelled.The 3 Peaks, the worlds toughest cyclo cross, and due to be held 30th September in Yorkshire has been cancelled due to a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the south of England.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/">www.britishcycling.org.uk</a> for more info on why, and what happens to your entry if you had entered.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-897037313759793492007-09-18T08:59:00.000+01:002007-09-18T10:44:26.185+01:00The race to get in The Race.I was in Slovenia last weekend, at the final round of the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Maribor. Last World Cup of the season and plenty of goodbyes being said to riders and team staff alike who head back home for the winter, until we all meet up to do it again next spring.<br />For some of the American team staff, a trip back over to Europe for 'Cross Worlds each January is a good time to catch up again if they make the cut for a place on the US 'Cross Team staff or if they simply come over to support their trade-team rider who made National Team, but its pretty normal for a mechanic or two who has been working the mountain bike scene all summer to get the call.<br /><br />What I didn't realise until last weekend was quite how many staff pull a bike out, dust it down, and toe the line themselves during the winter, or quite how seriously the business of entering the US National Championships has to be taken!<br /><br />Compare the business of entering the British Nationals and the American Nationals.<br /><br /> British: Entries close three weeks before the race. Entries must be sent on a paper form in the mail. On-line registration? 'Fraid not... Two and a half weeks before the race the co-ordinator for the entries scans the list and notes all the "names" that have been racing all year but who haven't entered yet, picks up the phone and "reminds" them that entries closed four days ago, how about getting the form in the post?! Rider duly slaps himself, apologises profusely, waits a few more days then sends off a half-completed form and an incorrectly filled out cheque. Elite Mens field usually manages to scrape 100 entries, the big field is the Veteran Men with around 150 across two age groups. Total number of entries for the weekend? Around 350-400.<br /><br />American: Entries open on-line around 13 weeks before the race; at 1.01am Eastern US time on saturday 15th September to be exact. When you enter determines where you line up on the start grid.<br /><br />And I know this how?! I know this because at 7.01am Central European Time on saturday, while most of America slept, a small huddle of mechanics, soigneurs and team managers were wiping sleep out of their eyes and staring intently at laptops in a wi-fi hotspot in a hotel lobby, hoping their registration would result in a front-row start sometime in mid December!<br /><br />By 7.03am the Masters 35-39 already had 70 entries. Yes, thats 70 entries in two minutes! Matt Opperman, Chief Wrench of Subaru-Gary Fisher, was delighted. Used to working in a calm way under pressure he had got in there fast, 27th to be precise. From 27th you can almost see the front!<br /><br />For Waldek, the Team Manager of the Luna Chix, it wasn't such a great start as he entered the wrong category and had to do it all again! Too many years in denial of how old he really is, I reckon....<br /><br />Someone told me that there were 3,500 entries or thereabouts for last years US Nationals; that is some race entry, and from what I saw in a Slovenian hotel lobby at the weekend the fact that guys and girls are organised and keen enough to be on the ball to enter a race 13 weeks in advance, goes to show what a small boom the sport is undergoing Stateside.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-82562086879010865002007-09-01T18:47:00.000+01:002007-09-01T19:17:54.405+01:00September 1st. You ready?!Its september 1st and the 'cross season starts here!<br /><br />Yesterday it was still august; to all intents and purposes still summer and a way off worrying too much about 'cross and whether your bikes have arrived or were even built, and certainly too early (as its still summer...) to start practising rusty techniques that you haven't needed since last january, provided of course you carried on racing after the New Year holidays. Lets be honest, 'cross training in shorts and a short sleeved jersey, with a bottle in your back pocket and sunblock on your nose, just feels wrong. We all know the best sessions are those when it takes a while to warm your hands up, are always better when its grey and damp, with soft grippy ground under your wheels, and not on hand-jarring solid earth vaguely supporting yellow parched grass. Those are the days you bought a nice road bike for.<br /><br />But today all that has changed. September is the start of autumn, the first races are this month and to be honest if your bikes are not sorted by now, well what the hell have you been doing all summer?<br />Personally its the time of year when I decide that the bikes I built last year and didn't use can probably be sold. Well its soooo last years colour scheme after all.<br /><br />So where are you at with your season preparations? If you've bought the new book, well page 41 should be a little grubby by now, you should be looking just like Tim on page 71, and left on a table the book should open itself at pages 108 and 109. If you have'nt bought the book yet, well there's time... its only september 1st, you are excused.<br /><br />Last years bikes, or new for this season? Got everything you need? New clothing arrived and looking good? First races entered and travel plans made? Sorry to persist, but its not yesterday anymore... its september now. If you are American just 26 days to the Excel Sports CrossVegas and eight weeks 'til the first US Grand Prix weekend in Kentucky. If you are a Brit its five weeks until the first Trophy round in Wales and if you are Euro 'cross whippet just six weeks until the first starters gun of the World Cup.<br />So... between 26 days and eight weeks, better get on it!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-7348489188558921912007-08-28T18:03:00.000+01:002007-08-28T18:12:56.226+01:00A Short History of Cyclocross<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="">Time for a short history lesson. Back in the day, there was a French army private by the name of Daniel Gousseau who used to accompany his horse-riding general around the French forests on his bike. He enjoyed this so much that he started inviting his friends along, and as we all know, when friends get together the competitive juices start flowing. Once they figured out how they could beat the horse, they started racing each other around the woods, and lo and behold, cyclocross racing had been invented.</span><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="">Now this was early on in the 1900s, and for a while, this style of cycling remained an underground activity practiced by just a few cyclists in disjointed areas of France, but as the word spread, races became more abundant and organized. The first French national championship competition—organized by Gousseau—was in 1902. In 1910, Tour de France winner Octave Lapize credited his Tour win to his off-season racing off-road, and it suddenly became useful as well as fun to race ’cross. The Tour connection continued at the first-ever cyclocross World Championships held in Paris in 1950, won by 1947 Tour de France winner Jean Robic. And in 2004, Lance Armstrong raced a bit of ’cross to keep himself occupied during the off-season, causing a few others to check out the ’cross scene.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style=""><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->History lesson over!</span></p>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704972642690046164.post-54961933023121093162007-08-17T20:50:00.000+01:002007-08-17T22:17:32.042+01:00Welcome to Cross Advice!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Welcome to Cross Advice, Simon Burney's blog devoted to the sport of cyclocross and his book, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.velogear.com/prodinfo.asp?number=VP+CC3">Cyclocross Training and Technique, 3rd Ed.</a></span><br /><br />Simon's book is available now at VeloGear.com and will be available in early September at North American bookstores and bike shops and in early October in U.K. bookstores and bike shops. </span>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15161370371689387149noreply@blogger.com3