Cyclocross mania!

Crosselent! Crosstastic! Holy cantilever brakes Batman!

The last Race of the Cross on the Rock series is on Tomorrow at Shawnigan School. We'll be heading up there en masse. Frankencross will have the great company of four Treks. Justin, Mitch and Andrew ride XO-1's and Shayne rides a bitchin XO-2. I put an old 8-speed bar end shifter that I found in the Dungeon on Frankencross, so hopefully I'll have a bit more speed on the straightaways and a little lower gear for the climbs. We'll be bringing the Van up there and will set up a tent and some chairs so feel free to come visit and have a beer or two!
In the meantime check out some vids to get all hyped up for tomorrow!

"...For example, asking the roadies if they have put on a few pounds because they are looking a bit tubby." -Bwahahaha

I saw this interview on Cyclocross Magazine's website and I'm publishing it here in it's entirety. Bad breach of publishing rights but hey, at least I'm advertising their magazine right? Geoff Kabush rocks!

"This is what you’ve all been waiting for from Pro Cyclocross Rumors and Rumblings: this season’s transfer whale. Last year it was Sven Nys and Erwin Vervecken, this year, an Italian makes the first major splash in the transfer market. Also, take a chance to get to know Canadian Cyclocross Champion Geoff Kabush of Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain. All that and much more!

Geoff Kabush has won some of the biggest bicycle races the world has to offer. Just this past season he reached a pinnacle in his career by winning the Bromont Mountain Bike World Cup in Bromont, Canada. Kabush’s World Cup victory stands alongside numerous cyclocross victories, including multiple Canadian National Cyclocross titles. Kabush, who rides for Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain, has been a consistent podium threat this year in the sport’s major events, and has been for some time now. Kabush will look to the podium once more this season at the Stanley Portland Cup, the final stop on the USGP tour, on December fifth and sixth, where he will draw his season to a close, hopefully with a win.

I had a chance to chat with Kabush this week, and we’ve got that interview for you today. What’s your favorite race of this season been so far? What about of all time?

Favorite cyclocross race…probably Granogue for the course, Portland for the atmosphere. I love the technical speed on the hills in Granogue; kind of getting tired of fairly flat and soft courses. I can’t wait to hear the drums beating in Portland. That really gets me fired up to pound it out in the mud. Favorite race so far this year is probably the Planet Bike Cup in Wisconsin. It was a really well laid out course, I just wish we got a few more thundershowers during our race and not on the ride home.

2) You’ve just won a big race, what’s your ultimate post-race meal?

Ultimate post race meal after a win…It would probably start off with a nice Belgian beer right after the race; maybe some pumpkin pie or something salty. Then I would go get cleaned up and meet up with everyone at a relaxed restaurant for some good grub….probably something saucy, maybe a gourmet burger, with more drinks, and a simple, maybe, chocolate desert. I say a relaxed restaurant because after a race the engine is usually still burning and I start sweating bullets when the food goes in. Once I get really soaked, I like to slick my hair sideways like Freddy Mercury. I have actually had some good sweat-offs with TJ.

3) What’s your biggest career achievement to date?

In my cycling career it would have to be winning the MTB World Cup this year up in Bromont. On the cyclocross bicycle I guess it would have to be winning the Gloucester GP back in 2004. It has been a bit too long since I have won one, so I hope to change that in Portland.

4) If you could be anything besides a bike racer, what would it be?

I am a big sports fan so if I couldn’t be a bike racer I probably would have chased another sport….maybe soccer, or ping-pong. Maybe poker: the pay-outs seem to be higher.

5) How did you get your start in cyclocross? What’s been your biggest influence?

I think I did some of my first cyclocross races down in Seattle with a couple friends, Pinner [Andrew Pinfold] and Carter Hovey. That was in ‘97 when the SuperCups were going off. There was a lot of excitement around the races so it left a little bit of an impression. I started getting into it again about five year later with my teammate Peter Wedge; he was one of the original godfathers of Canadian cyclocross who stuck it out in Europe so I learned a lot off him.

6) What was your first bike?

First real cyclocross bike was a Yellow “Jake the Snake”

7) If you could win one race, which would it be?

I would really like to win a USGP in Portland. I really love hanging out there, drinking coffee at Albina, breakfast at Gravy, and I love the atmosphere at the races. I will have a lot of family and friends coming down from Canada as well so it would be nice to win in front of them.

8) Who do you consider your biggest rival?

Based on this year it seems like every race I do I seem to be battling it out with Chris Jones. I wouldn’t really say we are rivals though as we are both just fighting together trying to get to the front. I don’t really know Chris well enough yet to truly heckle him like a rival. My biggest rival, or the guy I like to trash talk the most, would probably be Treboohoo. I like to give a fist to the neck before the race or ask him if I can borrow his brain…because I am building an idiot. It is mostly in good fun but I have one strategy I am not going to reveal until I beat him again; probably in Portland. Hopefully he doesn’t cry.

9) Who is your biggest idol?

Idol is a pretty strong word. I don’t know if I have a bike racing idol. There are guys I really looked up to as role models when I was younger….Dave Wiens, Jonny T, Shandro, and I would like to emulate T-Brown or Ned Overend after bike racing is finished. I am impressed by guys that can reach the top of the sport and still enjoy themselves. I am impressed by Sven Nys’s cyclocross riding but then he kept sitting on my wheel at MTB Worlds so I had to abuse him verbally. Also he was wearing tight jeans and a cowboy hat around after so I can’t call him an idol. I was really into basketball when I was younger, so I was pretty inspired by Steve Nash who, like me, was a relatively short white guy from Vancouver Island. He went on to achieve great things against the odds by working incredibly hard.

10) Got any crazy pre-race rituals?

Before a cyclocross race I like to have some good coffee while trying to come up with a few heckles to use on the start line to break up those awkward competitive silences. For example, asking the roadies if they have put on a few pounds because they are looking a bit tubby."

Cross!!!

Cyclocross has sucked us all in to it's massive (muddy beerstained) gravitational pull. Everybody is pretty much riding a cross bike these days in the store and making it out to cross practice and/or races. The great thing about cross racing is that it is short, and therefore good for us slobs. Also, the cross races here on the Island tend to be pretty technical, which is nice for us mountain bikers. What we lack in speed and endurance we can sort of make up for by not falling off our bikes. This is not a foolproof strategy however as some of us sometimes have a bit of a hard time not flying over the bars and into the bush, or in some other way separate ourselves from our bikes in a spectacular manner. But that's another story all together.
What I was going to write about today was our excellent Remembrance day cross ride. Since we all had the day off we decided to go for a cross ride at the Dump. We decided to ride blue bubble wrap and off we went. In about the first km we had two flats, and we were beginning to think that our supply of tubes would not be enough for our ride. But higher tire pressures and careful riding only made for one more flat for the rest of the ride. We soon found out that trail riding on cross bikes is quite a bit trickier then on the full-suspension rigs we usually ride. Cantilever brakes and narrow tires make for an odd fit in the mountain bike park. But man was it ever fun! Every little obstacle is challenging and we had a few epic bails. Most of us crashed a few times and at the end I had a sore knee, Justin had a sore hand, Andrew was bloodied up and Shayne was really feeling his injuries that he is still recovering from. The only one to escape relatively unscathed was Mitch. Even so, we all made it out and back to the parking lot after a two and a half hour ride, and we all had a blast. We'll definitely be heading out again soon. Cross you bastards!

Cross you bastard! Cross!

Cross season is undoubtedly upon us, and all over the net you see reports of races in cities in North America and Europe. Generally it seems that Cyclocross is making a big comeback in North America and this is certainly very exciting. We here in the southwestern corner of Canada have our share of cross nuts and currently there are two series on the go on Vancouver Island. One is the official and sanctioned Cross on the rock series and the other is dubbed as the Victoria Cross Club and is an impromptu cross "practice"(read race) in a somewhat surprise location every week in Victoria.

wed nighters pics:

justin killing it on the XO-1

Shayne cornering and ducking under some branches

Frankencross and owner playing in the sand

Mitch airing out the XO

Geoff Kabush showed up for one of the rases

Mitch, Andrew and Halldor pose for the camera

The cross on the rock series is very official, at least on the surface, but the attitude and overall feel of the races is definitely very characteristic of Vancouver Island. You can race what you want, be it mountain bike or whatever and everybody is friendly and laid back. This makes for a great race experience for everybody, especially new racers. I have yet to hear a negative word from anyone at these races, even though and justly so, sandbagging is frowned upon. The race courses are always tough but fun at the same time. I think we have it good here in the west as we get to race a lot on singletrack in the woods. This gives guys like me, with a mountain bike background and poor conditioning a chance to give the fitter roadies a run for the money. It also makes for beautiful scenery, that can be enjoyed both as a racer and spectator.

The Vic X club races are a bit of a different beast.
They're held in a different location every week and the location is only issued to the racers on race day. This makes for interesting races, but since it's only half sanctioned (racers have to sign a waiver if they don't have a race licence from Cycling BC) sometimes "races" get shut down before they're over, or in last weeks case, before they start. This can be frustrating and you have to wonder how hard it would be to just get a permit to hold those races. However, knowing that in Canada, bureaucracy is a national sport in the same way that rioting is in France, perhaps it would not be that simple. Nevertheless, the races that I've attended have all been great for racers and spectators alike, and the fact that the organizers can show up a half an hour before the race starts and set up the course has to say something about how awesome cross racing is. It's so deliciously simple! Cross is the cycling world's soccer. Like soccer, it can be played/raced anywhere and with minimal equipment, although the great majority of racers are ridiculously decked out in full kits and very expensive bikes. But what you really need is some course marking tape, racers on bikes and a place to race. The last item is probably the most difficult to come by in this day and age.
I've raced two races in the Cross on the rock series, and three in the Vic X club series. It's been great so far and there is almost a month and a half to go. Frankencross has held up so far which is somewhat surpricing but very exciting at the same time.
Fall is great, and Cross is tasty like blood!

Victoria 'Cross Fun.

Cyclo-Cross has to be fun... It couldn't possibly not be fun.
Lets review why:

1. You get to ride your bike. (this is always fun)
2. You ride a bike that is rigid, has drop bars and has skinny tires over rocks and roots,
through sand, grass and mud. This is sometimes sketchy. Sketchy is usually fun.
3. Those hilarious outfits.
4. On occasion you will be called upon to jump off your bike and jump over some
silly obstacles, or run up a set of stairs in your cleated shoes, carrying your bike.
This is quite ridiculous, and thus quite enjoyable.
5. Your legs and lungs will hurt. And that makes beer taste even better.

Shayne through the woods.

Justin Through the Field.

Justin lays the power down up a hill and puts

some distance between himself and his pursuers.

S.A. into the light...

Post race chill.

VXC rides/races every Wedensday night for the next while. Drop by the shop to get some info and come out and ride.

"Underground" Cyclo Cross

Me and Mitch made it out to the Semi unofficial but at the same time very official cx race last Wednesday. These race series are hosted by Trek Victoria and even though they are pretty casually organized, you are required to have a racing licence or pay for a licence and club fee to enter. This time the race was held in the proximity of The Commonwealth centre. Close to 50 people showed up and then made their way down to the course which had been put up behind a school nearby. Then everybody rode a practice lap and then got ready for the start. Well, everybody except for me. I had done some minor changes to my bike before the race and one of these was to go to a smaller cog in the back for a slightly heavier ratio than the one I use on the mountain. I did not shorten the chain, thinking the chain tensioner would handle the extra chain slack. As I found out, this was not the case. And so I resorted to shifting the tensioner from pulling down to pulling up. The chain was so long that this only made things worse, so half the way through my first lap (other racer's 2nd lap) I switched it back again. Surprisingly it seemed fine after that. Mitch did better than I did and he finished somewhere in the upper region of the group. The racecourse was not overly technical, but it was long and hard. So even though I raced one lap fewer than everybody else I got a good workout out of it and had a blast. We'll be sure to turn out for the rest of the races in the next few weeks. Again CX has proven itself to be an excellent form of racing even if slightly excruciating!
See pictures at Jamies Flickr account