New Parts for the LeMond

So it has taken recent Tour de France coverage to get me posting again. Unfortunately I am not nearly informed enough to report on the Tour so I will instead inform you how I have been upgrading my LeMond Poprad during this cyclocross off season.

New used Xero Lite XR-200 wheels on the bike.

I’ve been riding these wheels for a while now my fork shutter has been majorly reduced as well as a more overall secure feeling to the bike while in a full sprint down a gravel road.

While the wheels may have saved a little weight and made the LeMond easier to control my new Fizik Tundra 2 saddle has been a real improvement comfort. While it is a “mountain bike saddle” it is perfect if you’re constantly all over the seat like someone racing cross.

New Fizik Tundra 2 saddle in white of course!

The saddle again.

After purchasing the saddle I had so much white on the bike I just couldn’t stop, so I purchased a pair of IRD Crossfire tires from Tree Fort Bikes.

White saddle, white bar tape and white tires.

My first package ended up getting lost by the U.S. Postal Service so Tree Fort sent me another set for no charge (GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!). The tires work very well on gravel, haven’t had a chance to get them muddy yet.

Rear wheel with IRD Crossfire tire in white.

Tread of the IRD Crossfire works well on gravel.

Lastly I needed to add some performance to the equation, thus cutting weight. I did that will a FSA Carbon Pro Team Issue crankset weighing in at 562g according to Weight Weenies which should have cut off considerable weight from my old aluminum crankset.

FSA Carbon Pro Team Issue 172.5mm crankset running 48t-38t gearing.

I hope to have some more training updates and interesting news for my readers soon. I’ll leave you with some bike art I saw the other day.

Functional bike art?

More bike art.

My Apologies and Excuses

I am sorry I haven’t been keeping this blog up-to-date not just for my (small) readership but for myself. As an aspiring public relations professional writing is a major part of my career and this blog was my outlet for a point there. I hope to get back to updating this blog at least once a week. So what have I been up to?

The UW Oshkosh Public Relation Student Society of America chapter has been my life for the past couple of months. I was a member of our chapter’s Bateman Case Study Competition team and with the client being Childhood Obesity (obviously fighting it). Our campaign was very successful reach almost everyone in our community including a front page (above the fold) newspaper story in the Oshkosh Northwestern. We partnered with:

• Oaklawn Elementary (basically the poorest school in Oshkosh)
• Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh after school program
• Oshkosh Community YMCA after school program
• Oshkosh Area United Way
• Local Kwik Trips

Besides the Bateman competition our PRSSA chapter also competes in the National Organ Donation Awareness Campaign competition put on by Rowan University. For the past 17 years (since the beginning of the competition) the UW Oshkosh chapter has place in the top four in the nation. Last year I headed our Minute to Give It campaign that earned us 2^nd place. This year we’re stepping it up a notch and adding zombies.

Check out our Facebook page for Saving Lives: Dead or Alive. I’ll add more about the event after we have it tomorrow.

As for cyclocross, not to much new other than figuring out how I’m going to be upgrading my LeMond for this season, SRAM maybe? I am also looking at mountain bikes or a new cross bike. Lastly, I’ll make sure to keep the blog updated more often but it won’t just be cycling information anymore it’ll be everything from public relations to cycling to social media.

Stay in the draft and wait for your move.

The Final Day of #CXnats from a Wisconsinite’s (& Boxing?) Perspective

For my second time at the U.S. Cyclocross National Championships it was an amazing experience. I went to Verona, Wis. with a few objectives:

1. Conduct interviews with Paul and Chris both riders for November Bicycles (whom I have a public relations internship with currently)
2. Watch some awesome cyclocross races including the Women’s and Men’s Elite National Championship races
3. Pass out my business cards to as many marketing, public relations, and brand managers in the cycling industry as I could.

After arriving, I got down to business conducting interviews with Paul and Chris. I was able to watch Chris’s race and it’s a good thing I’m not a colligate bicycle racer, my university would disown me. After Chris’s race the Elite Women were up.

Katie Compton destroyed from the start and by the end of the race had over a three-minute lead. The race was truly for second place between Kaitlin Antonneau and her teammate Nicole Duke; it was a hard fought race by both ladies but in the end Antonneau was able to break away and secure the second tier on the podium. Congrats Katie Compton on your 8^th straight Elite Women’s Cyclocross National Championship and props to Kaitlin Antonneau for delivering an outstanding Cyclocross National Championships for the future of U.S. women’s cyclocross. Shout out to Maureen Bruno Roy for being my favorite women’s racer of the 2011-2012 cyclocross race.

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Finally, on to prize-fight, the Men’s Elite Cyclocross National Championship, the contenders were Jeremy Powers v. Ryan Trebon v. Tim Johnson v. Jonathan Page and man did it start like a heavyweight bout. The first lap Trebon started out of his corner with fists of fury blasting off the front the pack. Eventually Trebon was hit back by the group thanks to Chris Jones and others bringing him back. As the laps (or rounds) stacked up it was Trebon soon to be heckled by blows delivered by Jeremy Powers. Powers’ relentless attacks eventually allowed him to break loose from the pack and gain his first-ever Elite Cyclocross National Championship. Congrats J-Pow and props to Zach McDonald for his 4^th place finish and U-23 Men’s National Cyclocross Championship Jersey.

Jeremy Powers on his last lap heading towards his first Elite Men's Cyclocross National Championship win.

Oh, I was able to give out my business cards to a whole bunch of cycling industry folk including Colt from cyclingdirt.org, the guys from Ride Blue, Ian from HED Cycling, Maria from Ridley Bikes and Michael Zellman from SRAM. Hopefully I’ll land a job with one of these people soon. Now that I’m all inspired I will begin training for next year!

Day 1, #CXnats from a Wisconsinite’s Perspective

First I must explain something about Wisconsinite’s, were known for a few things: The Green Bay Packers (of course), cold weather, and of course beer drinking.

Now on to the story, met up with my buddy Travis and we were on to the Cyclocross National Championships that are actually in Verona, Wis. not Madison as every other cycling news organization and blog keeps reporting. The two-hour drive was on, jamming out to whatever the radio decided to bless us with.

So we arrived in Verona, but not at the Nationals course, seriously we had no clue where it was. We drove around for almost an hour looking for the course and then final I used usacycling.org’s course maps to find a road to through in the GPS to get us there.

Once we arrived we did what any good Wisconsinite does when arriving in a new place, had a beer. Leinenkugel’s Winter Sampler was our 12 pack of choice for the event. While enjoying our beverages we watched the Single Speed Women’s National Championship race.

Let me just say if I could bike as fast Kari Studley with the 8 speeds on my LeMond Poprad I would be ecstatic, wow is she fast, she had it won from the start. If I remember right she won by almost a half lap or like three minutes, it was a huge gap. Congrats Kari on your National Champion Jersey.

I'm on the way far left with Travis to my right. Congrats Aaron Bradford! Photo by cxmagazine.com

A totally different race was the Men’s Single Speed National Championship. Aaron Bradford and J.T. Fountain slugged it out the entire race until the last lap when Bradford was able take the lead and hold on till the finish (FYI – the picnic table near the end of the lap right after the barriers is a great place to watch the races). But the real star of the Men’s single speed race was Jona, this little kid that had no fear in lining up next to the big gears of the older riders and just kicking it.

Jona who kicked it against the big gear boys. Photo by cxmagazine.com

Overall it was a great time, Travis and I were able to check out some of the vendors that were setup and even got free cowbells from Shimano, sweet I know. See you Sunday (aka tomorrow) at the Cyclocross National Championships.

Recap of My Season, The Holidays & Plans for Next Year

Okay, so my first cyclocross season was hindered by my busy schedule. I was able to race two races in the WCA Crank Daddy’s Cyclocross Series, the first at the Cross of the Domes and the second, one of the last of the season, at Silver Lake.

My first race was a new experience for me, as it was my first cyclocrossrace ever. I really struggled through that race but I finished, which made me happy. The second race however I went in with a new mindset. Starting near the back of the pack I figured I could keep a little more in the reserves versus trying to stay with the pack the first lap.

Tricky hairpin... at least for me

After letting the pack go I could see who my real competition was and it turns out there was only two people I passed the whole race, placing 25 out of 27. I felt 100 times better than I did in my first race and I could actually feel riding everyday to class and around town benefiting me. Anyone got cheap and easy training plans?

But past that I am quite disappointed I wasn’t able to ride more races or train at least but all that changes this coming year. Cassie and I received a dual trainer (elliptical and stationary bicycle in one) from my parents for Christmas.

New Media, the Elite Women of Cyclocross and Equality

Who can name three female Elite Cyclocross racers?

1. Katie Compton
2. Katerina Nash
3. Amy Dombroskci

Okay so maybe I have an unfair advantage as I am addicted to cyclingdirt.org’s Who’s #1? Cyclocross Rankings. The point I’m trying to make here is that cyclocross does not face the same gap between coverage of male and female competitors like many other mainstream sports, like basketball. Can you name three female professional basketball players?

I believe a large part of how these women have become know, besides their amazing cyclocross abilities, is new media. Both Dombroski and Compton maintain a blog about their careers and are quite active on Twitter. I’ve even personally chatted with Dombroski on Twitter about a story she wrote about her sponsors a while ago.

Many believe that the male sex will always be the covered group when it comes to sports. Well that’s not the case in cyclocross. We offer equal rights for all (like on of those cheesey radio hiring ads) here in cyclocross from amateur to Elite Pro from man to woman.

In conclusion cyclocross isn’t a mainstream sport therefore it does not face the diversity issue quite as harshly when it comes to the media reporting on men’s and women’s racing.

Can you think of any other diverse groups in cyclocross or just cycling?

The Uniqueness of Cyclocross

Cyclocross has things that other forms of cycling don’t, including hecklers, barriers, drunken fans, a course great for spectators to watch, and some of the most interesting hand-ups ever. While some of these things can be found in traditional cycling cyclocross takes it to the next level.

First would be the hecklers, while I’ve never experienced them first had I assume they would be quite an interesting experience. Just imagine so crazy guy screaming at you or just making fun of you while you’re trying to ride as fast as you can and concentrate while you’re on your bike.

So who’s up for heckling some guys in tight shorts? (See how easy it is!) What’s your best heckle?

Next are the barriers, which are unique to cyclocross. Barriers are usually made of wood and UCI regulates barriers to be 40 cm high. Usually they’re placed in barriers with only one set per course. Pros can “bunny hop” them if there is a enough room and if they can carry enough speed into them. Otherwise the traditional way of crossing the barriers is dismounting and carrying you’re bike over them.

Traditional Way of Crossing Barriers by Dismounting

Bunny Hopping Barriers

Last put not least there are the drunken fans and interesting hand-ups in cyclocross. While the drunken fans are present in almost every sport around the world, what cyclocross fans do when they’re drunk is unique. There has been everything for $1 hand-ups to beer hand-ups. So what is the most obnoxious thing that could be handed-up successfully?

Cyclocross is truly unique.