I 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!
"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)."
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Crash recovery
Josh 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.
If its especially muddy then you need to wipe the worst off the hand you landed on, unclog your shifters and straighten your helmet.
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.
So I would suggest a quick check-list as follows:
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...
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?
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.
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.
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!
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.
But to Josh who posted the question, its definitely not just you!
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.
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.
Josh, hope that helps.
If its especially muddy then you need to wipe the worst off the hand you landed on, unclog your shifters and straighten your helmet.
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.
So I would suggest a quick check-list as follows:
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...
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?
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.
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.
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!
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.
But to Josh who posted the question, its definitely not just you!
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.
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.
Josh, hope that helps.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Fit 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Finally if people are getting past you during the section, its likely to be technique at race-speed which is letting you down.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Finally if people are getting past you during the section, its likely to be technique at race-speed which is letting you down.
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...
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Actual '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"!
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.....
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.
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!
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.....
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.
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!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Excel Sports Cross Vegas
Cyclocross... Las Vegas.... Sunshine.... Beer....... Four of my favourite things, I just had to find a reason to go and check it out.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 www.crossvegas.com, and more importantly make it a date next year, you wont be disappointed.
As it was Vegas it would be a shame to leave it without some awards, so....
Top 3 must-have 'Cross frames from the show: BMC, Time, Kuota.
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....
Top 3 friendliest people on stands at the show: Andrew Herrick, Crank Bros. Danielle Vidinich, Sock Guy. Dave Griebling, Squirt lube.
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.
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.
Best use of orange: Those Maxxis Boys on new Litespeed bikes with custom paintjobs and orange tyres.
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?!
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 www.crossvegas.com, and more importantly make it a date next year, you wont be disappointed.
As it was Vegas it would be a shame to leave it without some awards, so....
Top 3 must-have 'Cross frames from the show: BMC, Time, Kuota.
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....
Top 3 friendliest people on stands at the show: Andrew Herrick, Crank Bros. Danielle Vidinich, Sock Guy. Dave Griebling, Squirt lube.
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.
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.
Best use of orange: Those Maxxis Boys on new Litespeed bikes with custom paintjobs and orange tyres.
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?!
Sorry 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!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Interviewed!
Check out this Q&A interview with Isle of Islay cycling blogger, Brian Palmer. Brief excerpt below.
which side of the bike would you prefer to be on - riding or coaching/mechanic?
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.
don't you get a bit fed up with all the mud, particularly in the uk?
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.
given that we have endless amounts of mud and crap weather in the uk, why do you think the belgians are so much better?
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.
which side of the bike would you prefer to be on - riding or coaching/mechanic?
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.
don't you get a bit fed up with all the mud, particularly in the uk?
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.
given that we have endless amounts of mud and crap weather in the uk, why do you think the belgians are so much better?
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.
and the americans?
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 keepĂspectators 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.
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?
I'm targeting the American audience!
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