Tuesday, September 30, 2008

What's Olds is New

The penultimate race of the USA Crits Series took place on the streets of San Francisco with the San Francisco Twilight Criterium on September 13th. For most, like women’s winner, Shelley Olds, it was the last big crit of the season.

In celebration of Shelley’s birthday today, and to bring a modicum of joy on what has ended up as a nightmare of a day, below is a firsthand account of perhaps the biggest victory in her short cycling career.


"The last big race of the season turned out to be a huge success for our PROMAN Racing Team. With most of the top teams in America represented, it was sure to be a fast and animated race.

The race started off with some serious hole-shot action as PROMAN’s cyclocross phenom, Rachel Lloyd (inset), quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field from the opening whistle. The field was forced to chase, which kept the race fast and strung out on the streets behind us. With Rachel off the front, the rest of us maintained position at the front, waiting for the counter. When Rachel was reeled back in, Megan launched a vicious attack that was so perfectly timed no one else could react. She opened another impressive gap and once again PROMAN was in control of the race.

A serious chase was instigated by the Aaron's, Webcor, and Cheerwine squads who wanted a piece of the action. When Megan was caught, Kat Carroll (Aaron’s Women’s Professional Cycling) tried to get away and I was on her wheel immediately. We didn't get far from the field this first time, but I could tell Kat was looking for a break and I was not going to let her go anywhere without me. A few more attacks came and went. Eventually, we had established a small break away just off the front of the main field. The break included my teammate Rachel and I, Karla Kinglsey (Easton), Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital), Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), Christine Thorburn (Webcor), and the aforementioned Kat Carroll.

It was a great break.

We started working together and driving the break hard to get away from the field. In the process, Rachel dropped back to the field, which ultimately benefited us. With two riders of the same team in a break, many of the teams back in the field (despite their representation in the break), sometimes feel obligated to chase. The next to go was Karla Kingsley. She was dropped from the group after a couple of accelerations by Kat, who was clearly looking for a solo break.

After Kat’s first attempt, the break dwindled down to 5 and she waited for the perfect moment to hit us again. When she did, there was no reaction from the break to chase. She opened up a gap that took her out of sight in less than a lap.

Pretty impressive.

Those of us remaining in the break looked at each other for a while before Christine Thorburn decided she was going to bring back Kat. Since it was in my best interest to bring her back as well, I started working with Christine, sharing pulls with her up the hardest parts of the course. I had to be careful though, because the two other riders in our break were incredibly strong as well and clearly sitting on, waiting for the right moment to attack Christine and I. Working together for about 3-4 laps helped bring down the gap and we could see Kat again in the distance. As we closed in on her up the climb, Christine hit it full throttle, giving Kat absolutely no chance of reintegrating with the break.

With about 8 laps to go and Aaron's no longer having a rider up the road, the chase was on. Kat’s teammate, Meredith Miller, got to the front and single-handedly brought us back with 4 laps to go. At this point, I was questioning my ability to win. Having been in the break all day I expected to be swarmed over on a counter from the field. However, luck was on my side as the powerhouse known as Christine Thorburn stayed right at the front and drilled it for 3 more laps. This kept me in perfect position with the field strung out behind us and no chance of a swarm and late attack by the field.

With one-to-go coming through the start/finish, Webcor's Karen Brem attacked with their sprinter Gina Grain on her wheel. They led through turn 1 and 2 and then the reaction came from Aaron's, who led out for Erica Allar. I was stuck on the Aaron's train and took the ride until halfway up the climb when Laura Van Gilder launched her final attack and bid for the line right to my left. I caught her wheel and buried myself to stay on it as she took me out of the final turn and into the closing 200m. With the headwind worst on the finish straightaway, I knew I should wait as long as I could and let her take me as far as possible. With maybe 100m to go I left her wheel and came around her for the win.

Megan finished up in the top 10 in 9th place overall, with Melodie not far behind in 14th. What a day for PROMAN all around. From the start to the finish, everyone did their part to bring home the win. Huge thanks to Tim, Lorraine, Tracey, Julia, Kristina, Eric, and Dario and Abby for being there to cheer us on and take care of us on and off the bike. I especially want to thank my man Rob and our manager Niki for doing an impeccable job on the radios. They kept me so focused the entire race and I don't think I could have done it without them. Thanks to Project Sport's Ryan Dawkins for the hard work, to Cyclist Village's Jim Fryer for the media attention, and to Richard Fries for kick ass commentary. Thanks to my teammates for racing their butts off and controlling the race to allow me to ride for the win."

Photos: Tim Brennan

National Team Rider Shelley Olds' Bike Stolen Two Days Before National Championships in Preparation for World Cup


Grave misfortune has struck within the PROMAN Women’s Professional Cycling Team and UCI Professional Track Team. Shelley Olds discovered this morning that her bike was stolen from her car in Gilroy, California. Her car was parked in a driveway near the Eagle Creek Golf Course.

“I love that bike,” explained Olds, shaking her head in disbelief. “You work hard to get yourself set up on a bike, then you get used to it and grow to appreciate everything about it. It wouldn’t be quite the tragedy it is if not for Track National Championships just two days away. I don’t know yet what I’ll do. We hope to recover the bicycle and I am offering a reward”

Bike Specs (see above photo):
  • BMC Trackmaster
  • 47cm Carbon frame
  • Cane Creek 50mm Carbon wheels
  • White Ritchey Syncros stem
  • 38cm FSA Bars
  • Dura Ace 165mm cranks
  • Gold Izumi Chain
“This is especially painful since one of the most important races of Shelley’s career is just two days away,” explained Nicola Cranmer, General Manager of PROMAN Women’s Professional Cycling Team. “But it’s also a terrible misfortune because BMC had the frame flown in from Switzerland especially for Track Nationals and the UCI World Cups and all of our sponsors have been so generous in their support of our team, and our staff has worked so hard to get all of Shelley’s equipment dialed in and has maintained it so that it has worked flawlessly over the past two years.”

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Shelley’s bike, please contact Nicola Cranmer at 415.246.8791 or email. The team is happy to support efforts by the police to pursue perpetrators, but will also gladly recover the bike, no questions asked. A reward is being offered.

Photo: Ken Conley

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Team Type 1’s Chadwick Ready For World Road Race

Varese, Italy — Glen Chadwick will continue his already impressive season by representing Team Type 1 in Sunday’s World Road Race Championship in Varese, Italy.

The 161-mile (260 km) race will be streamed on Universalsports.com beginning at 6:50 a.m. EST/3:50 a.m. PST.

Chadwick said he is not sure what to expect in the prestigious one-day race that rewards the winner with the honor of wearing a rainbow-striped jersey for a year. He will ride in support of New Zealand national road champion Julian Dean.

“I think it will all depend on my recovery,” he said. “There will be no specific training involved – just rest and recovery.”

Chadwick has endured a roller-coaster ride of emotions this season. The highs include his participation in the Summer Olympics in Beijing, overall victory at the Vuelta Mexico earlier this month, two stage wins and the overall title at the Tour of Arkansas in May, the King of the Mountain title at the Tour de Beauce in June and a second King of the Mountaisn crown at the Tour of Utah in August.

Few could have imagined the 31-year-old would accomplish so much considering he was hospitalized for several weeks in February, suffering from Epstein-Barr virus in his spine. The illness causes mononucleosis and is potentially fatal.

If that wasn’t enough, Chadwick’s then-two-year-old daughter, Jade, contracted Staphylococcus virus in her spine last October and was in and out of the hospital until late December. Keeping the family afloat in this difficult time was Chadwick’s wife, Isabelle, who balanced a full-time job while sleeping most nights next to Jade or Glen in the hospital.

“It’s been a tough 12 months physically – and even more mentally,” Chadwick said. “Especially with my little girl being sick nearly 12 months ago. She's my absolute world and to go through what she had to deal with really pushed me on in Mexico. The final stage, the Scott-American Beef team really threw everything at me and when I was alone up front with them and they kept attacking me, I just kept telling myself that this was for Jade.”

Sunday’s 15-lap race on an up-and-down course includes two long climbs – something that will certainly favor Chadwick’s strengths, said New Zealand Coach Jacques Landry.

“The main job for Glen is to support Julian over the first four hours of the race, and ensure he gets all the drinks and nutrition he needs,” Landry said. “He did that job fantastically well in Beijing. From that point if he lasts then great, but Julian is quite capable of looking after himself from there.”

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Colorado Premier Training Partners with CPP Leader in Aerodynamic Consulting and Wind Engineering

Fort Collins, CO - Colorado Premier Training is proud to announce its partnership with CPP, wind engineer consultants, to bring the best aerodynamic services to sport.

Founded 27 years ago by the pioneers of their field, CPP is a world leader in understanding the effects of wind near the earth's surface. CPP maintains a staff of 95, including more than 35 scientists and engineers, 12 of whom hold PhDs.

“CPP delivers quality and professionalism in every aspect of their business and settles for nothing less than the best. We’re pleased that they recognize the expertise that Colorado Premier Training has to offer and we realize that to be the best at aerodynamic consulting we need to have the support staff at hand. The opportunity is priceless and this partnership will bring CPT’s aerodynamic consulting and wind tunnel testing to new heights,” state Steve Owens, CEO, Colorado Premier Training.

The collaboration of Colorado Premier Training’s world class coaching services and CPP’s advanced wind tunnel testing, computer simulations, and technical analyses creates a new level of aerodynamic expertise previously unavailable in the world of professional cycling.

"We are proud and excited to add our knowledge and resources to CPT’s internationally recognized expertise in cycling aerodynamics,” said Dr. Roy Denoon, Vice President of CPP and former national time trial champion and coach.

CPT wind tunnel testing services are available today. Please call CPT to schedule: (970) 672-4780.

The Late Professor JF Scott to be Inducted to Mountain Bike Hall of Fame at Interbike

Las Vegas, Nevada - Bill Savage of Mountain Bike movie Klunkerz fame has put together a short tribute film for the late Prof. J.F. Scott's induction into the MTB Hall of Fame on Sept. 24th during InterBike. Professor Scott, or 'Finley' to his friends, was a fascinating man and a tireless advocate of all things cycling. "I hope you'll be able to attend so we may honor this amazing man who was taken from us far too soon," says Savage.

Way Ahead of His Time

To get an idea of how far ahead Prof. Scott was, take a look at the images below. The 'Cow-Trailing' bicycle drawing, completed in 1953, basically outlines the carbon fiber cross country bikes that wouldn't come along for another 40 years...and check out that parts spec! This illustration was found on his property by Vance Sprock of the Cupertino Bike Shop, after Finley's passing.

The second image is that of his 'Woodsie' bike, completed in 1953 while he was attending Reed College in Oregon. Flat bars, multiple gears, good breaks, fat-tires...it had all the elements that the pioneering KLUNKERZ of Marin County wouldn't discover for another 20 years.


First Mountain Bike Investor
Prof. Scott was also the first investor in the first mountain bike company in the world, cleverly called MountainBikes. "It's high-time John Finley Scott was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame," continues Savage, "I hope to see you at The Sands Expo Center, Casanova Room 503, on Wed. 8/24 at 6:00 pm for his induction along with the other deserving inductees."

Bikes for Kids Fundraising Events Raise $10,000 to Purchase Bikes for Children in Utah

Derek Parra, sponsors and University of Utah and Brigham Young University cycling enthusiasts helped this non-profit achieve fundraising success with its Dinner Auction and Red vs. Blue Time Trial.


SALT LAKE CITY - Bikes for Kids Utah, a non-profit 501(C)3 organization that annually provides 1,000 new bicycles to underprivileged Utah children, today announced the combined fundraising efforts of its annual Dinner Auction and time trial event raised $10,000.

"Bikes for Kids Utah had, yet again, a successful year," said Debbie Reid, founder of Bikes for Kids Utah. "Whether it was through donating items for the auction, purchasing seats at the dinner or riding in the time trial up Traverse Ridge, we are so grateful to all the community members who came out and supported our efforts to provide new bikes for Utah children."

Bikes for Kids Utah Dinner Auction
The Bikes for Kids Utah Dinner Auction was held at La Caille on Wednesday, September 17. The fundraiser had dozens of items for the 180 guests to bid on, including a weekend getaway at Snowbird Resort, dinner and brunch at La Caille, a private bike ride with Eric Heiden and a session of speed skating at the Olympic Oval with Derek Parra.

Parra, the first-ever Mexican American to win a medal in the Olympic Winter Games, spoke at the Dinner Auction about the confidence cycling gave him to pursue skating and the positive influence it can be in the life of a child who has the opportunity to own a bike.

"Whether it is confidence on skates, or confidence on a bike, learning something new gives kids the opportunity to be challenged and have personal success," Parra said after he reflected on the confidence-building experiences he had on his bike as he was riding to his skating training sessions.

Parra continued, "I promised my daughter that I would buy her a new bike as soon as she learned to ride her first bike without the training wheels. The first time she got on that new bike, she rode it from Draper to Taylorsville without falling, a three hour ride. It really hit me that her first cycling experiences are preparing her to live a confident and successful life."

Red vs. Blue Time Trial
To raise funds for Bikes for Kids, close to 80 cycling club and team members, alumni and fans of Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Utah (Utah) gathered at Traverse Ridge for a three-mile hillclimb time trial with an elevation gain of more than 1,300 feet and 10 percent to 12 percent grades in some locations.

According to Millisecond Sports Timing, which averaged the top 10 speeds of each university's official cyclists, Utah cycling team won the team race with an average time of 18 minutes, 39 seconds. BYU's club followed with an average time of 20 minutes, 13 seconds.

However, when including the schools' fans and alumni in the average, BYU finished the race in 22 minutes, 4 seconds and Utah finished in 22 minutes, 21 seconds.

The Utah cycling team was awarded a $1,000 cash prize to help with its future racing efforts and BYU was awarded the O.C. Tanner Cup for the fastest overall time, including fans.

"As a cycling club, it was exciting to race against the team from the University of Utah," said Patrick Davis, president of the Y Cycling Club. "We even had tryouts to select the 10 fastest members for the race."

Joel Hsia, University of Utah cycling team president, was excited about his team's success and the cycling support the event generated.

"For the majority of the team members, it was their first time on the course," Hsia said. "It was great to have a change of scenery and exciting to race the BYU riders. This event really demonstrated the strength cycling has in Utah."

Michael Romero of the Bad Ass Coffee Co. racing team faced Traverse Road as confidently as he hopes the Bikes for Kids recipients will approach the opportunity to own a bike. "Hello hills!" Romero said to introduce himself to his cycling challenge for the day. "My name is Michael. I'm here to conquer you."

Romero started building his cycling confidence as a child. "I first learned how to ride on a bike that probably cost around 50 bucks," Romero said, "If I can give a kid a new bike, helmet and lock for that same price, I want to donate what I can to make that happen."

The next Bikes for Kids Utah event will be the annual bike giveaway scheduled to take place on May 30, 2009.

Schwinn and Toshiba Collaborate to Dramatically Alter the Electric Bike Market

Worldwide collaboration between two of the most recognizable brands on the planet will allow riders to recharge their Schwinn Tailwind eBikes in 30 minutes through a standard electrical outlet, one-eighth (1/8th) the time of competing electric bikes (or less)

BETHEL, Conn. - Schwinn Bicycles, America's most recognized bicycle brand, today announced a strategic collaboration with Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) that is expected to dramatically alter the electric bicycle landscape in the United States and around the world. Schwinn Bicycles is part of the Cannondale Sports Group Division of Dorel Industries (TSX: DII.B, DII.A).

Schwinn has incorporated Toshiba's new Super Charge ion Battery (SCiB) technology into the Schwinn Tailwind, a brand new electric bike to be formally unveiled today in Las Vegas to bicycle dealers attending the annual Interbike International Bicycle Expo, the largest bicycle trade industry event in North America. The Tailwind will also be showcased tonight from 6 to 9:30 p.m. (EDT) at the ShowStoppers media-only reception being held at the Millennium Hotel on Times Square in New York City at 44th and Broadway.

Toshiba's SCiB power technology will enable Tailwind owners to recharge their eBike in 30 minutes through a standard electrical outlet (or as little as five to seven minutes through a commercial charger). By comparison, it takes four hours or longer to fully recharge the battery of virtually any other eBike in use today through a standard electrical outlet, allowing riders to recharge their Tailwind eBike in one-eighth (1/8th) the time of other electric bikes.

In addition, Tailwind owners can expect to see an industry leading 2,000 recharge lifecycles with the eBike versus the industry standard of 1,000 charges before needing to replace the battery. Tailwind riders will find that they can ride 25 to 30 miles per charge (depending upon such factors as temperature, rider weight and terrain). The Tailwind also comes with a 20,000-mile or two-year limited warranty.

"We are very pleased to supply our first SCiB product to such a well-known and respected company as Schwinn Bicycles and its parent company, Dorel Industries," said Shoshi Kawatsu, General Manager, Super Charge Battery Div. of Toshiba's Transmission Distribution & Industrial System Company. "Schwinn is one of the most recognized bicycle brands in the world, and we are happy to provide Tailwind owners with our innovative SCiB technology."

The Growing Market for Electric Bikes
According to the Electric Bikes Worldwide Report, 2008 Update, 20.8 million eBikes were sold worldwide in 2007, a total expected to show only modest worldwide growth in 2009 to 21.6 million units. However, eBikes represent the fastest-growing bicycle category within the U.S., Europe and a number of other regions.

For example, U.S. eBike sales are projected to hit 220,000 units in 2009, a two-year increase of 83 percent from 2007 U.S. eBike sales of 120,000 units. Projections for Europe are even more robust, with eBike sales in Europe expected to hit 750,000 units in 2009 a three-fold increase versus 2007 sales of 250,000 eBikes in Europe.

Schwinn has six models currently available for purchase in its electric bicycle line, with the Tailwind expected to arrive in dealer stores in early 2009. Each Schwinn electric bike is a so-called eBike hybrid and can be ridden in either motor-assist mode or as a conventional bike. In addition, all Schwinn eBike models (including the Tailwind) utilize a removable battery pack built into stylishly designed rear bike rack systems, allowing riders to detach the battery for recharging.

"We believe the convergence of environmental concerns, economic factors and proven health benefits are making everyday bike-riding a reality for more and more Americans," said Bruno Maier, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cannondale Sports Group. "Industry research and our own data tell us that electric bikes are a dramatically growing phenomenon within the U.S., and we intend to be a serious contender within the eBike category, particularly in this country.

"For this reason, we are honored to partner with Toshiba, a world leader in battery and power technology. We are confident that deploying Toshiba's breakthrough, fast-charging SCiB technology for the first time ever in our new Tailwind eBike will thrust Schwinn to the forefront of the electric bike marketplace."

With a suggested retail price of $3,199.99(US), the Schwinn Tailwind will arrive in dealer stores in early 2009 with four sizes for standard frames (S, M, L, XL) and three sizes for step-thru frames (S, M, L). For more information about the Tailwind, please visit www.electricschwinnbikes.com/tailwind or www.schwinnelectricbikes.com for more information about Schwinn's other eBike models.

Interbike 2008 Kicks Off with OutDoor Demo in Bootleg Canyon

Retail attendees demo manufacturers' latest bikes and accessories on extensive trail network, BMX track and closed road loop


BOULDER CITY, Nevada
- North American and International bicycle retailers visited Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nevada Monday as part of the 2008 Interbike OutDoor Demo (the first day of the two-day event.) The OutDoor Demo kicked off a week-long trade show, conference and exposition full of cycling-related product demonstrations, launches, seminars, clinics, advocacy outreach and networking.

The Outdoor Demo's expo area includes more than 64,000 net-sold, square-feet of booth space and provides valuable interaction time for manufacturers with retailers and retailers with the product.

"Our booth was literally slammed all day with retailers specifically checking out our gravity bikes," said Chris Conroy, president of Yeti Cycles. "Because of the great shuttle services and the trails at Outdoor Demo, our retailers have a unique chance to test the heavy- duty downhill bikes that they would not at any other venue. I loved looking up throughout the day and seeing every one of our 60 demo bikes out on the trails."

Retailers from all over North America and several international retailers got the chance to test bikes and accessories before making crucial buying decisions for the upcoming year. This year, in addition to the new products and technology for mountain, road, BMX and recumbent bikes, retailers noticed a new focus on urban, commuter and electric bikes.

"In our store, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of requests for commuter and electric bikes this summer," said Richard Marquis, a retailer from Javelina Cycles in Phoenix, AR. "After spending a day at Demo, it is good to see that the exhibiting manufactures understand our need for urban style bikes that are not just targeted at enthusiast riders. Our staff had a very productive day demoing several bikes."

"The first day of OutDoor Demo was busier than last year," said Lance Camisasca, Interbike industry consultant. "We are very happy with how things are going so far and look forward to another busy day at the OutDoor Demo."

The OutDoor Demo was held in Bootleg Canyon on Monday and Tuesday, September 22-23 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The indoor portion of the show, the International Bicycle Expo, runs Wednesday through Friday, September 24-26 at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Key sponsors of the 2008 Interbike OutDoor include:
  • Cervélo - Road Demo Loop Start House
  • Fox Racing Shox - Suspension Tuning Support
  • GUsports - Official Energy Gel
  • Hutchinson Tires - Tour of Lake Mead sponsor
  • Mavic - Road Demo Loop Tech Support
  • Park Tool - Rider Cooling Station
  • Pedro's - Bike Wash and Environmental Sustainability
  • PowerBar - Official Energy Food
  • Save Our Soles - Schwag Bag Contributor
For more information about Interbike, please visit www.interbike.com.

Photo: Leonard Basobas

Conant & Upshaw Withstand the Heat to Take Chicago Cyclocross Cup #1

By Imelda March

Not exactly cross weather for Race #1 of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup; however, that did not stop 288 racers from coming to frolic in the warm, sunny and 73 Fahrenheit temperature day.

The race course did not disappoint as it kept experienced and amateurs alike on their “pedals” through a twisty, flat and fast cross course.

Elite Men
The boys from Evanston’s Pony Shop came out in full force and made it look easy out there. These guys will be the one to chase down in this years campaign. Together, the winner Brian Conant (Pony Shop) and Luca Lenzi (Pony Shop) managed to fend off 3rd place finisher Scott McLaughlin (Sram).

Elite Women
June Upshaw was conspicuously missing from this year’s road campaign and showed dominance in her first day out at Chicago’s season opener. She overtook 2nd place finisher Rebecca Much (xXx Racing AthletiCo) for the win followed by Holly Klug (Killjoy) in third place.

Prior to the race I caught up with June and she said, “I love this course”. With this you can surmise that she arrived early and studied every knick and cranny of the course.

Events abound in this year’s series, as the series continues with racing on Sunday, October 5 with round two of the Chicago Cyclo-cross Cup in DeKalb, Illinois. After the weekend of racing, nationally recognized nutritionist Monique Ryan, MS, RD, LDN will be presenting her HIGH OCTANE FUEL FOR CYCLOCROSS on Tuesday, October 7. Further information about the series can be found by visiting www.chicrosscup.com.

Photo: Amy Dykema

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Team Type 1 Wins Overall And Team Title At Vuelta Mexico


Mexico City, MexicoGlen Chadwick won the Vuelta Mexico Saturday and Team Type 1 captured the team classification, earning the first-year squad two its most impressive accomplishments of the season.

Chadwick’s victory was his fifth of the year and the 40th overall for Team Type 1. The New Zealander never relinquished the lead after pulling on the leader’s yellow jersey after the second stage of the eight-day, 705-mile (1,136 km) race that has been a fixture on the international race calendar since 1948.

“I did not have big personal expectations coming to the Vuelta,” Chadwick said. “This is Moises' (Aldape's) national tour and I knew we had a strong team here to help him, so on the first stage I just took a chance and really went into the break to protect our team ambitions.

“It turned out to be the decisive move of the week, and Moises became my undying lieutenant. Sometimes you have to accept a little good luck."

Chadwick held onto a two-second advantage over Mexico’s Arquimedes Lam (Tecos-UAG all the way through Saturday’s final stage. Italian Ivan Fanelli (Cinelli-OPD) was third, 37 seconds behind.

Team Type 1 placed three riders in the top 15 – Chadwick, Ian MacGregor (13th) and Aldape (15th) – on the way to winning its second team classification at a stage race outside the United States. The squad also won the team title at the Tour de Beauce in Canada in June after finishing third as a team at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T in April.

“The Scott-American Beef and Tecos teams gave us a run all week,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said. “Scott had an experienced ProTour team here with an excellent stage racing squad that was being led by a multiple tour stage winner. They threw down on us in a big way and the boys held up.”

Team Type 1’s other finishers were Valeriy Kobzarenko (63rd), Chris Jones (86th) and Fabio Calabria (93rd). Matt Wilson was lost to illness on the fourth stage.

Chadwick’s victory caps a season in which he also won two stages and the overall title at the Tour of Arkansas, was the King of the Mountain jersey winner at the Tour de Beauce and the Tour of Utah and he earned a spot on New Zealand’s Olympic and world road race championship teams.

Those accomplishments are remarkable considering the 31-year-old was hospitalized for several weeks in February after doctors discovered he had the Epstein-Barr virus in his spine. The virus causes mononucleosis and Chadwick apparently had been showing effects of the disease since last December without knowing it.

"I really want to thank the lads for their effort all week,” Chadwick said. “This is an incredible accomplishment for Team Type 1 and I think it proves we are one of the best teams in North America, and that's a message I hope everyone hears."

Team Type 1 was founded in 2004 by racers Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming obstacles often associated with the condition. Calabria is one of four riders on the team’s pro squad who have Type 1 diabetes.

“Diabetes is an epidemic disease in the Latin American population and it’s great we have this win as a platform to raise awareness for diabetes management,” Beamon said.

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Team Type 1 Keeps Chadwick In Yellow In Mexico


Morelia, MexicoGlen Chadwick of Team Type 1 survived the toughest day of the Vuelta Mexico on Wednesday to hold onto the overall lead with three stages remaining.

The 93-mile (150 km) race included three categorized climbs, which shattered the 140-strong field and saw only 35 riders together at the finish in Morelia. Jose Benites (Scott-American Beef) won the sprint over Ivan Fanelli (Cinelli-OPD) and Ignazio Sarabia (Extremadura).

But the bigger story was the teamwork by Team Type 1 to get Chadwick to the finish unscathed, despite the loss of Matt Wilson to illness.

“The boys were under attack immediately and although Matt started, we knew we didn't have him today and there would be a good chance he would not finish,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said.

Over the first climb, a four-man break slipped off the front, but Team Type 1 kept the gap within five minutes with Moises Aldape, Chris Jones and Valeriy Kobzarenko riding tempo. Three more riders bridged to the leaders on the second climb, but Chadwick’s lead remained safe.

“The guys kept the pressure on for the 25 kilometers of rolling into the final climb and then the Scott-American Beef guys came up to help,” Beamon said.

The torrid pace ripped apart what was left of the field and hauled back all but one of the seven leaders. The main field – now reduced to about three dozen – regrouped on the fast descent and Chadwick had survived another day in the yellow jersey. The New Zealand Olympian has held the race lead since the second day of the eight-stage, 749-mile (1,206 km) race.

Though not highlighted in the results, Beamon said the hard work put in by Team Type 1’s Fabio Calabria – the only rider with Type 1 diabetes in the race – has not gone unnoticed.

“At the end of the stage, Glen, Ian and Moises were in the front group and Fabio was in the next group with Jones and Kobzarenko behind,” Beamon said. “(At the finish) Ian said, ‘How about that Fabio, he's a warrior?’ and Chady said, ‘That guy needs to get a bonus . . . he was incredible today. Bringing us bottles all day, then he gets a flat and comes back to the front, and then he's drilling it on the descent before the final climb. What a hard guy!’”

Wednesday’s finish in Morelia was the site of two grenade attacks on Monday that ripped through the crowded center of the colonial town during a national holiday. Beamon said the city is now under heavy security.

“Military helicopters and federal troops with shouldered M-16s are cruising on the back of trucks and jeeps,” he said. “The irony is that this is the most beautiful city we have been in so far.”

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Hundreds Turn Out To Meet Rock Racing At Harrods


London — Rock Racing fans of all ages – and even Harrods Owner Mohammed Al-Fayed himself – turned out to meet the pro cycling team at a special engagement at the renowned store in the heart of London this past Monday.

Hundreds of people turned out at Harrods to meet Rock Racing’s six riders who competed in the Tour of Britain. Rahsaan Bahati, Santiago Botero, Tyler Hamilton, Victor Hugo Peña, Fred Rodriguez and Oscar Sevilla signed autographs and posed for pictures.


Fans also purchased official Rock Racing merchandise, including the team’s exclusive line of “London Rocks” green-and-gold uniforms.

Al-Fayed’s visit to Rock Racing’s special appearance and display area on the fifth floor was one of the highlights of the event – as was the presence Rock & Republic President Andrea Bernholtz. She greeted the team and congratulated them on their three top 10 finishes at the Tour of Britain.

Harrods will continue to carry the new line of Rock Racing “London Rocks” sports apparel for men, women and children through the month.

Photos: Vero Image

Friday, September 12, 2008

Peña Scores Rock Racing’s Second Top Five Finish


Dalby Forest, England — For the second straight day, a Rock Racing rider figured prominently in a long breakaway at the Tour of Britain. But the difference Thursday on Stage 5 was the end result.

Victor Hugo Peña earned Rock Racing its second top five finish with fourth place in a challenging 102-mile (164 km) race from Hull to Dalby Forest that finished with back-to-back-to-back categorized climbs in the final 17 miles (27 km).

On the opening stage in London, Rahsaan Bahati scored a fifth-place finish for Rock Racing in a field sprint.

It was on the final climb to the finish Thursday that Peña – a former Tour de France yellow jersey wearer – made his move, attacking his four breakaway companions with less than a mile to go. His valiant effort to solo away followed a monumental chase after he had been dropped on each of the two previous climbs.

“I closed a 30-second gap to (Danilo) Di Luca and (Matthew) Goss and caught up to them with five kilometers (3.1 miles) to go,” Peña said. “At the end, I played my game and did what I thought to win.”

But 500 meters from the finish, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) powered his way back to Peña and passed the Colombian climber on the steep pitch to the line to secure his second straight stage victory.

“At the moment I attacked, I was thinking I could win,” Peña said, “but he (Hagen) was really strong.”


Hagen, who was also part of a day-long breakaway on Stage 4, bridged across a 12-second gap with Peña at the 24-mile mark after Team Columbia worked hard to reduce a minute’s lead to an original breakaway trio of Goss, Di Luca and Travis Meyer (South Australia.com).

Once together, the five in front stretched their lead to as many as six minutes before the Agritubel team worked to reduce the margin. Later, Team Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H30 assisted in the chase.

Rock Racing’s Fred Rodriguez, who was part of an earlier breakaway, said covering moves has become the team’s game plan after the disappointment of Stage 3 on Tuesday. On that rainy, crash-filled afternoon, all but 23 of 91 riders finished in a group more than 13 minutes behind the leaders – effectively ending Rock Racing's hopes for the overall classification.

“It’s a big gamble on what break is going to work, so we cover as many as we can,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not so interested in being in (a break) myself as I am covering them so I can help out my teammates.”

Friday’s Stage 6 figures to be another challenging day in the saddle. Two Category 3 climbs come in the first half of the 96-mile (154 km) race. What follows is a jaunt through twisting, up-and-down coastal roads as the course heads north to its finish in Newcastle Gateshead.

Photos: Vero Image

On Tap...

Act Three
The final Act of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana begins this weekend with the tortuous ascent and mountain top finish of the Alto de L'Angliru. Last used in 2002, L'Argliru pitches up at a 23% grade in several locations. It will be no easy task to say the least.

A quick glance at the General Classification show Euskaltel's Egoi Martinez with a narrow lead on the dangerous pair from Astana, American Levi Leipheimer and Spaniard Alberto Contador. Although there are still hundreds of kilometers to go until Madrid, and with all due respect to Martinez and the rest of the field, but this race is Astana's to lose.

General Classification After Stage 12
1 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
5 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia
6 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre
10 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

Stage Recap - Stage 1| Stage 2| Stage 3| Stage 4 | Stage 5| Stage 6| Stage 7| Stage 8| Stage 9| Stage 10| Stage 11| Stage 12

Schedule
Stage 13 - September 13 San Vicente de la Barquera - Alto de L'Angliru (199 km)
Stage 14 - September 14 Oviedo - E. E. Fuentes de Invierno (158 km)
Stage 15 - September 15 Cudillero – Ponferrada (198 km)
Stage 16 - September 16 Ponferrada – Zamora (185 km)
Stage 17 - September 17 Zamora – Valladolid (160 km)
Stage 18 - September 18 Valladolid - Las Rozas (179 km)
Stage 19 - September 19 Las Rozas – Segovia (161 km)
Stage 20 - September 20 La Granja de San Ildefonso - Alto de Navacerrada ITT (16 km)
Stage 21 - September 21 San Sebastián de los Reyes – Madrid (110 km)

Rolling in the USA
The Tour of Missouri concludes this weekend. Buttressed by his win in the Stage 3 Individual time Trial, Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) leads Team Columbia's Michael Rogers by a scant 18 seconds. But barring any major catastrophes, Vande Velde should walk away with the 2008 title.

Stage Recap - Stage 1| Stage 2| Stage 3| Stage 4| Stage 5

Schedule
Stage 6 - Saturday, September 13
Hermann to St. Charles , road race (110 mi / 177 km)
Stage 7 - Sunday, September 14
St. Louis , circuit race (75 mi / 120.68 km)

Fast & Hard
The penultimate race of USA Crits Series also takes place this weekend with the debut of the San Francisco Twilight Criterium tomorrow, September 13th. It should be a pair of fast and exciting races as the top two in both the women's and men's individual points standings and in the women's team competition will look to garner as many points as possible heading into Las Vegas. And don't look now, but our friends on first-year team Vanderkitten Racing are on the prowl.

Women’s Overall Standings:
1 Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine Cycling) - 1358 pts
2 Jennifer Wilson (Vanderkitten Racing) - 1333
3 Taitt Sato (ValueAct Capital Cycling Team) - 1043

Men’s Overall Standings:
1 Yosvany Falcon (TOSHIBA-Santo p/b Herbalife) - 1489 pts
2 Adam Myerson (Time Pro Cycling) - 1425
3 Mark Hekman (TOSHIBA-Santo p/b Herbalife) - 1329

Women's Team Standings:

1 Vanderkitten Racing - 3354
2 Cheerwine Cycling - 3314

Right Here, Right Now
For other races in select areas of the country, scroll through the listings below.

09/12/2008

Folsom Cyclebration Time Trial
Folsom, CA

09/13/2008
Pine Grove Furnace Masters PA TT
Gardners, PA
Apple Festival RR
Montrose, PA
Asheville Grand Prix
Asheville, NC
SCNCA Elite Track Cycling Championships
Encino, CA
Elite Track State Championships
San Jose, CA
Alan/Infirmary Mound CX Race
Granville, OH
San Francisco Twilight Criterium
San Francisco, CA
Folsom Challenge Criterium
Folsom, CA
The Climbers Trophy
Salt Lake City, UT
Bear Creek Cyclocross Weekend
Macungie, PA

09/14/2008
Arizona State Time Trial Championship 2008
Picacho, AZ
End of Summer Crit
Ft Lee, VA
Historic Downtown Wake Forest Criterium
Wake Forest, NC
Cyclesport Cyclo-Cross
Loveland, OH
Two Bridges Circuit Race
Folsom, CA
Yuasa Battery's Right From the Start Criterium
Laureldale, PA


For results and photos of some of the races above, click through to Truesport.com .


Up The Road
09/20/2008
Henleyville Road Race
Corning, CA
Nittany Lion Cross
Foglesville, PA
2008 Huntington Bicycle Challenge
Huntington, IN
Buckeye Criterium in Verrado
Buckeye, AZ
Everest Challenge Stage Race
Bishop, CA
Cherry Roubaix
Traverse City, MI

09/21/2008
Sierra Nevada Chico Downtown Criterium
Chico, CA
Ohio State Road Racing Championships
Waynesville, OH
Jackson Park Cyclocross
Chicago, IL
Sacramento Cyclocross #2
Sacramento, CA
ING Direct Capial Criterium powered by CycleLife
Washington, DC
Muckenthaler Cyclocross
Fullerton, CA

Botero Powers Stage 4 Breakaway At Tour Of Britain


Stoke-on-Trent, England — Rock Racing’s Santiago Botero did the lion’s share of the work to ensure his breakaway would successfully stay in front to the finish Wednesday at the Tour of Britain.

But when it came time came to contest Stage 4’s uphill sprint on a narrow winding road through the streets of Stoke-on-Trent, Botero felt the efforts of contributing so much to the escape.

“I told the other guys in the break that we should keep it rolling to stay away for the win,” Botero said. “Unfortunately, when we got to the last kilometer, my legs weren’t that good because I had expended so much power in the breakaway.”

In the end, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) snatched the victory from Giairo Ermeti (LPR Brakes-Ballan) by rapidly closing a large gap in the final 150 meters and sneaking through the tight, twisting finish. Boasson Hagen was part of Botero’s 10-rider break that went away over the first king of the mountain sprint during the 95-mile (152 km) race. Botero and several others in the break were swallowed up in the closing moments.

With the help of teammate Victor Hugo Peña, Botero bridged a gap to join a group of riders who had escaped the 91-strong peloton after only 12 miles (19 km). Joining Botero in the break were several others with plenty of horsepower, including team leaders David Millar (Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30) and Stuart O’Grady (CSC-Saxo Bank).

But the 10 in front never gained more than a two-minute advantage and, despite having to chase back from a flat tire in the final six miles, Romain Feillu (Agritubel) hung onto the overall lead. Oscar Sevilla was Rock Racing’s best finisher on the day in 15th place.

Botero said he peaked for the Summer Olympic Games, where he finished seventh in the road race and 25th in the time trial for Colombia. Then he took 10 days off the bike.

“So at this moment, I’m not in the best shape,” he said. “But I will keep trying to win a stage for the next couple of days.”

Photo:
Vero Image

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ritchey Design Unveils Superlogic Carbon Road Wheelset at Interbike 2008

Ritchey introduces its first high-end carbon wheel set, incorporating exclusive Lew Racing rim technology

SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- Ritchey Design, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality road and mountain bike components, today announced it will debut the Superlogic Carbon Road Wheelset, the company's latest wheel design, at the 2008 Interbike Expo, being held September 24-26, 2008, in Las Vegas.

The Superlogic Carbon road wheelset marks Ritchey's first move into the high-end carbon wheel category and includes patented pending, exclusive rim technology from Lew Racing.

"The technology behind the Superlogic Carbon road wheels is a result of two companies who are historically known for innovation and proven performance," said Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Ritchey. "Between the Ritchey World Championship Series (WCS) front and rear hubs and the patented carbon lay-up process on the Lew rims, the end customer gets the perfect balance between weight, fatigue resistance and ride quality."

The new Ritchey Design Superlogic road wheelset consists of Ritchey's WCS cold-forged hubs laced with DT Swiss bladed spokes mated to uni-directional, high-modulus carbon fiber/boron rims. The rims are manufactured using Lew Racing's proprietary DEX-LCM molding process, which combines premium quality, 100-percent high-modulus carbon fiber and fatigue resisting boron to produce very light weight, exceptionally strong, yet compliant rims.

Superlogic Wheelset Specifications
  • Rims - Exclusive uni-directional, 100 percent high-modulus carbon mixed with boron
  • Rear Hub - WCS V4 (24-hole, cold forged, precision bearings, alloy freehub body)
  • Front Hub - WCS V3 (20-hole, cold forged, precision bearings, round flanges)
  • Skewers - New WCS model, new aero shape with high-force closure cam action
  • Spokes - DT Swiss bladed (Radial front, 2-cross rear)
  • Nipples - Alloy ball nosed nipples with NYLOK BLUE PATCH™ threads
  • Assembly - Handbuilt at Ritchey Design California
  • Estimated Weight - Sub 1,100 grams
  • Available - January 2009
  • MSRP - $2,800/set (Tubulars), $4,300/set (Clinchers) 2009 Superlogic Carbon
Road Wheelset is the result of an exclusive partnership between Ritchey Design and Lew Racing for 2009.

"We consider our relationship with Ritchey an opportunity to work with one of the most respected names in cycling," said Paul Lew, founder and president of Lew Corporation. "Working together is a great opportunity for both companies and the ultimate winner is the cyclist."

The Superlogic Carbon road wheelset will be on display at the Ritchey booth (#3325) during the indoor portion of the Interbike Expo.

Media who are interested in setting an appointment to interview Steve Parke from Ritchey Design or Paul Lew from Lew Racing are encouraged to contact Chip Smith at 801.523.3730 or csmith@soarcomm.com.

Rock Racing Weathers Crashes At Tour Of Britain


Burnham-on-Sea, England — For all but a handful of riders, the third stage of the Tour of Britain was certainly one to forget – Rock Racing included.

The team’s troubles on Tuesday included an early race crash in the rain that took down Tyler Hamilton and Oscar Sevilla, a number of bike changes for Hamilton as he chased back, and the retirement from the race by U.S. criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati.

By day’s end, all but 23 of the 91 riders found themselves out of contention for the overall as the peloton finished more than 13 minutes Frenchman Emilien Berges (Agritubel), who soloed to victory to win the 115-mile (185.7 km) race.

Hamilton chalked up the misfortune to bad luck. A deep gash on his left arm required three stitches while Sevilla also had to be attended to by race medics for severe road rash on his right hip.

“A week or so ago, I was winning the U.S. road race and things couldn’t have been going better,” Hamilton said. “Today, I had to ride a neutral bike for a time that was too big and then the next bike had its chain snap on a climb. That’s bike racing. Your luck can change just like that.”

Sevilla, Hamilton and Rock Racing’s other three riders finished 13:02 in arrears on the longest stage of the eight-day race. In the overall classification, Sevilla is now the team’s best-placed rider in 32nd, 13:09 behind.

Bahati was one of three riders who did not finish Tuesday’s stage. However, he will remain with the team through the remainder of the race and be a part of Monday afternoon’s special appearance and autograph signing at Harrods in London.

Photo: Vero Image

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

He's Baaccckkk! - Vanity Fair's Web Exclusive


From Douglas Brinkley:
“Look,” he insists, “I plan on holding a press conference [saying] I never cheated. I won seven Tour de Frances, fair and square. I’m going back...

Another obstacle Armstrong faces is having his Tour attempt written off as another Brett Favre–ean resurrection. Second—or third or fourth—acts aren’t all that interesting anymore in America. But he insists this is different, since he will get no salary for the 2009 season (although his speaking fees and endorsement deals clearly won’t suffer). “Everybody in cycling has a team and takes a team salary,” he says. “I am essentially racing for free. No salary. No bonus. Nothing on the line.… This one’s on the house. And you know what? At the end of the day, I don’t need money.… Not only will I be fine, my kids will be fine, my grandkids will be fine...”

While it all sounds rather lofty, it’s really the small stuff that Armstrong’s starting to sweat. He has begun a regimen of “epic workouts.” Because he needs curvy mountain roads to train on (Austin only has hills), he’ll be spending a lot of time in the Rockies and Solvang, California, in the coming months. “I’m doing a bunch of core stuff, power stuff in the gym,” he says. “Just constantly changing shit up.” While Armstrong’s exact strategy remains sketchy, he might race in the Amgen Tour of California in February, and the Giro d’Italia in May.
READ More...

Photo: Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair (1999)

More: Shane Stokes (Cyclingnews.com) - Armstrong Confirms Return

Bonnie Ford Weighs in on Lance

In her latest article for ESPN.com, Bonnie D. Ford, who covers tennis and Olympic sports for the site, ponders what Lance Armstrong has to gain if the rumors of his return are true?

Could you imagine the spectacle at the 2009 Tour de France? What would it look like if both Lance AND the exiled Floyd Landis, whose ban for doping expires in January, return to the professional peloton next year?

That explosion you just heard in the background are the collective heads of Grand Tour organizers.

From ESPN.com:
If what VeloNews.com reported first is true and Armstrong plans to break the news in the monthly magazine Vanity Fair, some may find the name of the outlet fitting.

Confusion reigned as the rumors -- still unconfirmed by any of the principals -- bloomed like algae on the surface of the mainstream media. What in the world could be motivating him? It couldn't be money, and it couldn't be titles. Could it be ego? Altruism, in the form of increased revenue for cancer research? Boredom? Enough with the tabloid headlines and the blondes, already? The need to respond in a different way, to the doping innuendo that never dies, even though Armstrong never tested positive, and stirs afresh every time some ex-teammate gets caught?
READ More...

Rock's Sevilla and Rodriguez Well Placed at Tour Of Britain


Newbury, England — Rock Racing moved two riders into the top 12 at the Tour of Britain Monday despite suffering two flat tires and having nearly the entire team get caught up in a crash.

Spaniard Oscar Sevilla is 10th, seven seconds off the lead, and American Fred Rodriguez is 12th, eight seconds behind. In all, 84 riders – including five of six from Rock Racing – are within 10 seconds of overall leader Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes).

The flurry of action on Stage 2 happened within the last six miles of the 90-mile (145 km) race from Milton Keynes to Newbury. Sevilla was the unfortunate victim of the majority of unluckiness. The Spaniard first suffered a flat tire on the final categorized climb of the day, but quickly received help from teammate Victor Hugo Peña, who gave up his bicycle.

But after chasing back and shepherding teammate Rahsaan Bahati into position for the final sprint, Sevilla punctured again as a massive pile-up occurred inside the final two miles, splitting the field.

“Everything was fine the entire race until we got to the last couple miles,” Sevilla said. “Then it all fell apart.”

Because Sevilla’s mishap occurred in the last 1.8 miles (3 km), officials credited him – and the majority of the peloton who were stopped as a result of a rider hitting a median – with the same time as the group they were riding in when the crash occurred.

Up ahead, Matthew Goss (CSC - Saxo Bank) won the stage over a pair of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 riders: New Zealand national champion Julian Dean and Australian Chris Sutton. Rodriguez was the only Rock Racing rider to make the 20-strong lead group that finished about 15 seconds ahead of the pack (that was later given the same finishing time).

Earlier in the race, Sevilla showed his strength as part of a five-man break that escaped on the first King of the Mountain climb. He won the sprint to take maximum mountain points before his group was caught.

Peña’s unselfish act to help Sevilla ended up costing him valuable spots in the overall classification. After getting a new bicycle, the Colombian was inadvertently led off course and eventually came in more than 13 minutes after the leaders. But by finishing within the time cut, he will start Tuesday’s third stage of the eight-day race.

Photo: Vero Image

Monday, September 08, 2008

TRIPLE Exclusive: An Interview with Kristin Armstrong, Part II

Lessons Learned
The latest Velonews covergirl and guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show began her cycling career as most American women have, later in life. Kristin Armstrong’s cycling career arc, however, was anything but typical of most American women. Rather than compete exclusively in the United States, Kristin made the jump to Europe early on.

In retrospect, it was a decision that would warrant little argument. Numerous stage wins, general classification victories, a World Championship, and now an Olympic gold medal highlight her palmares, and by racing in Europe Kristin was afforded a perspective few American women cyclists rarely achieve. But, maintaining a full or partial European schedule each of her 7 years in the women’s peloton has not always been easy for the 35-year old.

In Part II of my interview with Kristin Armstrong, who has raced for the likes of T-Mobile Women’s Professional team, TEAm Lipton and Cervelo-Lifeforce, we discuss the state of Women’s Cycling, the differences of racing in Europe, and we even tackle the frequently asked Armstrong question.

Granny's 30 (G): Riders like yourself, Christine Thorburn, and Amber Neben have been at the top of the sport for a while, but have largely gone unnoticed by the general American public, except during Olympic years. What is appealing about women's cycling, objectively? What is appealing about women's cycling relative to men's cycling?

Kristin Armstrong (KA): What I have learned about the sport of cycling is that you have to love it to do it because you’re not going to retire off of it.

What’s really appealing about women’s cycling in America? If you took a poll in the women’s peloton, I would bet you that 90% of the women have college degrees, and a lot of them have Masters. Christine is a doctor. The women’s peloton is very well educated.

So here are these girls racing these bikes for nothing, so the question is, why? I think it goes back to having the passion. I think once an athlete always an athlete and once you have a competitive nature about you, in general, it’s hard to let go. Whether you’re going to take it into medicine or take it into sport, the competitive drive never really leaves.

I think the other thing that’s interesting about the women’s peloton is that if you ask what their background is most have played college sports, and a lot of times have come off of injury and have gotten on a bike. A lot of us start post college in our mid 20’s unlike in Europe where they start 10 years before that. And when they start riding a lot of them have full time jobs and are taking vacation days to get by. All of a sudden it becomes so addictive because you’re out there with a bunch of women just like yourself, well educated, taking your vacation days, not making any real money, but we’re having a blast. And that’s US cycling.

Now to take it to the next level you’re going to have to do what I’ve done, and what Amber’s done. You’re going to have to go to Europe and race against the best. It’s a big compromise especially for family. If you think about it, we’re probably in our mid 20's and we don’t really become successful until we’re close to 30, and by that time a lot of women are married. It’s hard. All of a sudden you want to take it to the next level, and you’re asked to live in Europe for the next 6 months without your husband or your boyfriend. It’s not the easiest life that’s for sure. And I think to take it to that next level, which is taking it and living in Europe, taking that big step obviously you’re saying, 'OK you know what, its not about work anymore and taking those vacation days its about I want to do well at Worlds or want to go to the Olympic games.' It’s also very cost-prohibitive for most Americans to make that jump...because in Europe...if you don’t think you get paid in America you certainly don’t get paid in Europe. The way the Europeans work, most girls get paid by their federation; their country pays them. Essentially the federations say go represent our country, race on whatever trade team you want, and here’s your money. So you don’t really make you’re money on trade teams. Europeans make money through their country’s federation. There’s not a lot of money for women in cycling in Europe either.

I didn’t realize that until I was on a European team. Granted there are some teams where you can make good money, but there are only about three or four of those teams. And for those three or four teams you have to be pretty good to race for them. If you’re looking to test the waters or want to get some experience, and you’re American, you are probably going to be doing it for free. Most of the teams will put you up in a team house. But other than your cost of living, you’re going to be pay some money out of your own pocket, and probably more so with the conversion of the dollar to Euro these days.

Before the Olympics, there’s always been a part of me that’s wanted to write a book about Women’s cycling because there isn’t one out there and I think there’s a lot to be said.

G: What do you think should change in women's cycling to get people more interested and excited about it?

KA: I think it doesn’t happen overnight, that's for sure. As the first gold medalist since 1984, I think cycling needs to ride that wave right now, because people are excited. If people are looking at me in my hometown, then every woman that races against me in the peloton is as well. I can tell you, every one of them now believes that they can do it. When I go to a Cascade or Nature Valley and they race against me, the girls that are say 30 seconds from me at the races are all of a sudden saying 'I’m 30 seconds from gold I mean why can’t I do this.' Whenever a peer of yours is racing in the same field as you and wins something at that level you can’t help but think maybe I can do that I’ve been with Kristin before at the finish line.

So I think USA Cycling really needs to ride this wave and start looking at growing the sport. It’s a tough one because cycling is such an endurance sport. I don’t think it’s the worst thing ever to start when you’re in your twenties. You’re not burnt out, you’re going to stick around and most of the best cyclists are in their 30s. If you look at the UCI rankings most of the girls who are riding very well are in their 30s. But you kind of have to get that bug out and start. US Cycling is doing a lot now with camps in different towns or different regions, but I think a great place, and I’m not sure how much it’s been hit, is camps for people that are involved in other sports. Why not put on camps for high school kids that are cross-country runners, because those are the some of the best cyclists.

I didn’t know that you could race your bike until after college. I didn’t know anything about cycling except that I rode my bike from class to class or to my friend’s house. But here I am an athlete, I ran, I played soccer, I swam and people are riding their bikes and racing them? I had never seen a bike race.

I think if I’m saying that, a lot of other people are saying that as well. I think that with some education there are real possibilities at the high school and college level, but more so at the college level, to bring people into cycling. In high school you just kind of go with it, you belong to a sport and you’re lettering and there is a very social part. With cycling, a lot of people will steer away because you can’t letter, and lettering is still cool and it’s very important for scholarships and other stuff. But there are a lot of people like myself. I was a runner and a soccer player living in Okinawa, Japan and I didn’t have recruiters coming in to recruit me for sports. So how many kids out there and planning to go to college are super stud athletes but don’t have a chance because they come from some podunk town and no one comes to watch them? You know they still have an engine and they know how to compete, so why not get them into cycling. If the sport just waits around for people I don’t think its going to change.

It’s tough though because of the whole part about getting sponsors and people out to watch women’s cycling. I think the only way that women can really work it is that we have to work our way more into these big grand tours that the men have like the Tour de Georgia, Tour of Utah, and Tour of California. How much does it really cost to add a women’s race to those high profile races. If its eight days make ours four, just put us in there. Because the minute we’re in a big tour like that a sponsor like Webcor might want to spend 20 grand more for their women’s team because they’re going to have a bigger presence in these races with the men. But we haven’t been included in any of those.

Cascade we actually raced the same distance as the men this year which was really neat so that was big step. At Nature Valley the great thing was that the entry for women this year were close to equaling the men. The field was close to closed out. I think Nature Valley had about 140 to 150 women out, it was unbelievable.

So there are women out there racing there bikes but unfortunately a team like Aaron’s [Women’s Professional Cycling] is folding this year. It’s the saddest thing ever because that team was by far the best team on the calendar this year. The way the girls worked together reminded me a lot of [TEAm] Lipton. It wasn’t that they had the strongest riders on paper; it was that Carmen [D'Aluisio] put a great group of people together. And now they won’t be able to race their bikes. It was fun to race with them.

And now I hear that Advil-Chapstick is gone. Every year it seems like Cheerwine is up in the air. I haven’t heard and I don’t know what Webcor plans are, because their leader Christine is considering retirement. But it shouldn’t be a big deal because the person that funds them has been behind Christine these past 8 years that he’s really been involved in cycling. It’s the end of that 4-year build out and that’s when sponsors start backing out. [Team] TIBCO is going to continue strong, which is nice. They’re just going to need someone to compete against. Maybe [Team] Columbia will race a little more in the US next year.

[Update: At the time of our conversation, Cheerwine's financial sponsor, Anne Bolyea, had not made a decision as to the status of the team for the 2009 season. She has since decided to take a one-year hiatus. In addition, Team TIBCO recently signed three Aaron's stalwarts, Kat Carroll, Meredith Miller, and Julie Beveridge for 2009.]

G: You were diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) when you were at the height of your triathlon career. Were you experiencing symptoms prior to diagnosis and like most of us just shrug them off as a part of the pain and suffering of training and competing?

KA: Yeah, definitely. When I was a runner and competing in triathlons I was having pains in my hip and just treating it as an injury. I would ice it and take anti-inflammatories, but it just wouldn’t go away. I finally went into my doctor and we did x-rays and had an MRI and diagnosed it as osteoarthritis. At that point I stopped doing anything that was impactful to my hip joints.

You know I had to quit triathlons, I continued to be active and worked in advertising agency here, and just continued my career there.

G: As OA is a degenerative condition, labeled more as a disease for the aged, how did you feel being diagnosed at the age of 27? What are some of the more popular misconceptions about having OA and managing the condition that you have had to deal with?

KA: Unless you have a specific injury or a disease, I think a lot of people don’t quite understand. I think a lot of people put arthritis in the same category. There’s a real difference from someone whose joints swell, that’s probably rheumatoid arthritis, than what I have. There are all these different levels and just like anything else in life unless you’re working in a certain place or in certain sport, or unless you’re diagnosed with something you really don’t start researching it until you have it, unless you’re a doctor. I became a lot more educated on this arthritis thing when I was diagnosed with it, but basically OA is a degenerative disease, which is definitely something that you’re not going to be able to stop because it’s going to be ongoing, but there are certain things you can do to slow down the progression.

The first day I was told that I had OA, I thought it was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me; I was done. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t run so my life was over. But because I’m a competitive person, I wasn’t going to let anything slow me down and I turned it around and made it a positive. Obviously it put me on a different path, which was cycling. Cycling is not impactful. Its just like when you are injured, have a knee surgery or something, there are so many things that you can still do, you just have to find that other passion that’s out there.

Some of the things that I have done is to take glucosamine chondroitin and go to yoga, which really opened up my hips. Because cycling is a repetitive front to back motion you never go side to side with your legs, the muscles and joints are really going to protect themselves when you have arthritis. So continually working on opening things up helps to alleviate pain.

I was Vioxx for a few years, until they took it off the market. Once they took it off the market I was determined to change the way I do things and live without prescription medication.


G: Racing against the likes of a Laura Van Gilder, do you envision yourself racing for another decade?

KA: Absolutely not. In fact, the longest you’ll see me is one more year. I’m still making my decision in the next few days on what path I’m going to take. What really makes me excited now is to continue to give back to the sport. At this point, I feel like I’ve reached all my goals. A goal I do want to attain is the World Championships in 2 weeks. I would love to end my European campaign with the World Championship stripes on my back. But everything else that I have in my mind right now is to continue working with and having my little camps for women cyclists. Giving specific time trial camps because I never had that when I was riding. What I’ve learned over the last 6 or 7 years, I would love to teach people. I still have a lot to share with people and especially within the US.

That’s how I get excited now. I feel like I’ve done everything I can, and what I wanted to do. I know that people like Laura and Tina [Pic] are having a great time racing their bikes and that’s important. I think its great for the US girls because now you have people like Brooke Miller and Kat Carroll coming up and winning. Tina and Laura have been role models within the peloton and they’ve brought these girls’ level up. Everyone wants to beat Tina or Laura in a sprint. So they are doing a lot for the sport itself by continuing to ride, but I just want to do it in a different way by putting on camps and maybe helping teams by teaching them how to race and race tactics. You know just being there where the sport needs me.

I also want to start a family too. Joe has always been there for me and he’s supportive of whatever I want to do, but there’s something about getting back to a normal life, which sounds really nice to me.

G: You’ve raced on different teams throughout the years, some which had a full or partial European schedule. What are the differences between racing in the US and abroad?

KA: There are three things that I think about right away. One is the technical aspect of racing on European streets. The streets are about a quarter of the size, so getting 200 girls on a small street becomes a lot about positioning whereas in America you’re on a highway. Sometimes you can move around whenever you want. If you want to move to the front you find a lane and move up to the front. That’s probably the hardest thing.

The second is when you’re going really fast and in crosswinds, like at Nature Valley, and you’re putting everyone in the gutter and you look back and there’s like 15 of you left, in Europe there are still 40 of you left. The depth is just amazing. In comparison, there are maybe 25 girls on one level and then you start having 25 girls on a different level in America. In Europe if there’s a race that starts with 200, definitely 175 of the girls are on the same level.

The other big difference cracks me up [laughs] when I race in America. When you’re racing in Europe you have an inch between handlebars. Racing in America, if you get within an inch of girl's handlebars they’re going to make a drastic move and come over on you. It’s very tight in the European peloton. If you were to stand, kind of like to stretch or something, in a European peloton, you’re going to hit somebody if you move your bike maybe like 2 inches. In America, people yell at you if you get in their little bubble. You always have to remember that if your wheel is in front, you have the right of way because if someone hits your wheel from behind, you’re going down. So number one is that you don’t want to cross any wheel in front of you in Europe because if someone stands up you’re going down, they’re not.

G: What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?

KA: Everyone knows I drink a lot of Diet Coke, so…I drink chocolate milk after races as my recovery drink, and you won't ever find me without a peanut butter sandwich in my bag at races or without a jar of peanut butter when I am heading to Europe.

G: Is it frustrating when people either introduce you or interview you and mention that you have no relation to Lance Armstrong or that you are not his former wife?

KA: Yeah it’s pretty funny because when I went on the Today show I still had those guys asking me. Now it’s become kind of a joke, and it’s not really an interview unless someone ask me the question. I was on a bike ride the other day and one of my buddies suggested that Lance and I go on the Jay Leno show to set the record straight. He thought that both of us could go together and someone from the Jay Leno show could dress up as the other Kristin Armstrong. Make it a funny little skit…its perfect timing.

To be honest, if I had to pick somebody to be related to in sport, who’s better than Lance Armstrong with what he’s done for the sport and with his cancer foundation?

It’s funny because when there’s something written about me in Velonews or Cyclingnews, the headline isn’t "the other" Armstrong; its Armstrong wins another race. With Lance in retirement, everyone I know goes to those sites because they think Lance is racing again. The media use it to their advantage as well, but I think it’s become a formality that you have to ask that question. One day I’ll have the opportunity to sit down with Lance and chat and laugh about it.

Kristin currently makes her home in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Joe Savola. She continues to give back to the sports that have given her such success. She is a dedicated swimming instructor and coach, serves as an ambassador to the YMCA of Boise, and tries to provide support and inspiration to the millions of Americans who suffer from arthritis.

Kristin was recently featured on the cover of Velonews and appeared on a special Oprah Winfrey Show filmed in Chicago’s famed Grant Park with approximately 150 other Olympians. The show aired on Monday, September 8th.

Photos: Courtesy of Kristin Armstrong (first, fifth); Leonard Basobas (second through fourth)

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

What's Olds is New

The penultimate race of the USA Crits Series took place on the streets of San Francisco with the San Francisco Twilight Criterium on September 13th. For most, like women’s winner, Shelley Olds, it was the last big crit of the season.

In celebration of Shelley’s birthday today, and to bring a modicum of joy on what has ended up as a nightmare of a day, below is a firsthand account of perhaps the biggest victory in her short cycling career.


"The last big race of the season turned out to be a huge success for our PROMAN Racing Team. With most of the top teams in America represented, it was sure to be a fast and animated race.

The race started off with some serious hole-shot action as PROMAN’s cyclocross phenom, Rachel Lloyd (inset), quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field from the opening whistle. The field was forced to chase, which kept the race fast and strung out on the streets behind us. With Rachel off the front, the rest of us maintained position at the front, waiting for the counter. When Rachel was reeled back in, Megan launched a vicious attack that was so perfectly timed no one else could react. She opened another impressive gap and once again PROMAN was in control of the race.

A serious chase was instigated by the Aaron's, Webcor, and Cheerwine squads who wanted a piece of the action. When Megan was caught, Kat Carroll (Aaron’s Women’s Professional Cycling) tried to get away and I was on her wheel immediately. We didn't get far from the field this first time, but I could tell Kat was looking for a break and I was not going to let her go anywhere without me. A few more attacks came and went. Eventually, we had established a small break away just off the front of the main field. The break included my teammate Rachel and I, Karla Kinglsey (Easton), Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital), Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), Christine Thorburn (Webcor), and the aforementioned Kat Carroll.

It was a great break.

We started working together and driving the break hard to get away from the field. In the process, Rachel dropped back to the field, which ultimately benefited us. With two riders of the same team in a break, many of the teams back in the field (despite their representation in the break), sometimes feel obligated to chase. The next to go was Karla Kingsley. She was dropped from the group after a couple of accelerations by Kat, who was clearly looking for a solo break.

After Kat’s first attempt, the break dwindled down to 5 and she waited for the perfect moment to hit us again. When she did, there was no reaction from the break to chase. She opened up a gap that took her out of sight in less than a lap.

Pretty impressive.

Those of us remaining in the break looked at each other for a while before Christine Thorburn decided she was going to bring back Kat. Since it was in my best interest to bring her back as well, I started working with Christine, sharing pulls with her up the hardest parts of the course. I had to be careful though, because the two other riders in our break were incredibly strong as well and clearly sitting on, waiting for the right moment to attack Christine and I. Working together for about 3-4 laps helped bring down the gap and we could see Kat again in the distance. As we closed in on her up the climb, Christine hit it full throttle, giving Kat absolutely no chance of reintegrating with the break.

With about 8 laps to go and Aaron's no longer having a rider up the road, the chase was on. Kat’s teammate, Meredith Miller, got to the front and single-handedly brought us back with 4 laps to go. At this point, I was questioning my ability to win. Having been in the break all day I expected to be swarmed over on a counter from the field. However, luck was on my side as the powerhouse known as Christine Thorburn stayed right at the front and drilled it for 3 more laps. This kept me in perfect position with the field strung out behind us and no chance of a swarm and late attack by the field.

With one-to-go coming through the start/finish, Webcor's Karen Brem attacked with their sprinter Gina Grain on her wheel. They led through turn 1 and 2 and then the reaction came from Aaron's, who led out for Erica Allar. I was stuck on the Aaron's train and took the ride until halfway up the climb when Laura Van Gilder launched her final attack and bid for the line right to my left. I caught her wheel and buried myself to stay on it as she took me out of the final turn and into the closing 200m. With the headwind worst on the finish straightaway, I knew I should wait as long as I could and let her take me as far as possible. With maybe 100m to go I left her wheel and came around her for the win.

Megan finished up in the top 10 in 9th place overall, with Melodie not far behind in 14th. What a day for PROMAN all around. From the start to the finish, everyone did their part to bring home the win. Huge thanks to Tim, Lorraine, Tracey, Julia, Kristina, Eric, and Dario and Abby for being there to cheer us on and take care of us on and off the bike. I especially want to thank my man Rob and our manager Niki for doing an impeccable job on the radios. They kept me so focused the entire race and I don't think I could have done it without them. Thanks to Project Sport's Ryan Dawkins for the hard work, to Cyclist Village's Jim Fryer for the media attention, and to Richard Fries for kick ass commentary. Thanks to my teammates for racing their butts off and controlling the race to allow me to ride for the win."

Photos: Tim Brennan

National Team Rider Shelley Olds' Bike Stolen Two Days Before National Championships in Preparation for World Cup


Grave misfortune has struck within the PROMAN Women’s Professional Cycling Team and UCI Professional Track Team. Shelley Olds discovered this morning that her bike was stolen from her car in Gilroy, California. Her car was parked in a driveway near the Eagle Creek Golf Course.

“I love that bike,” explained Olds, shaking her head in disbelief. “You work hard to get yourself set up on a bike, then you get used to it and grow to appreciate everything about it. It wouldn’t be quite the tragedy it is if not for Track National Championships just two days away. I don’t know yet what I’ll do. We hope to recover the bicycle and I am offering a reward”

Bike Specs (see above photo):
  • BMC Trackmaster
  • 47cm Carbon frame
  • Cane Creek 50mm Carbon wheels
  • White Ritchey Syncros stem
  • 38cm FSA Bars
  • Dura Ace 165mm cranks
  • Gold Izumi Chain
“This is especially painful since one of the most important races of Shelley’s career is just two days away,” explained Nicola Cranmer, General Manager of PROMAN Women’s Professional Cycling Team. “But it’s also a terrible misfortune because BMC had the frame flown in from Switzerland especially for Track Nationals and the UCI World Cups and all of our sponsors have been so generous in their support of our team, and our staff has worked so hard to get all of Shelley’s equipment dialed in and has maintained it so that it has worked flawlessly over the past two years.”

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Shelley’s bike, please contact Nicola Cranmer at 415.246.8791 or email. The team is happy to support efforts by the police to pursue perpetrators, but will also gladly recover the bike, no questions asked. A reward is being offered.

Photo: Ken Conley

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Team Type 1’s Chadwick Ready For World Road Race

Varese, Italy — Glen Chadwick will continue his already impressive season by representing Team Type 1 in Sunday’s World Road Race Championship in Varese, Italy.

The 161-mile (260 km) race will be streamed on Universalsports.com beginning at 6:50 a.m. EST/3:50 a.m. PST.

Chadwick said he is not sure what to expect in the prestigious one-day race that rewards the winner with the honor of wearing a rainbow-striped jersey for a year. He will ride in support of New Zealand national road champion Julian Dean.

“I think it will all depend on my recovery,” he said. “There will be no specific training involved – just rest and recovery.”

Chadwick has endured a roller-coaster ride of emotions this season. The highs include his participation in the Summer Olympics in Beijing, overall victory at the Vuelta Mexico earlier this month, two stage wins and the overall title at the Tour of Arkansas in May, the King of the Mountain title at the Tour de Beauce in June and a second King of the Mountaisn crown at the Tour of Utah in August.

Few could have imagined the 31-year-old would accomplish so much considering he was hospitalized for several weeks in February, suffering from Epstein-Barr virus in his spine. The illness causes mononucleosis and is potentially fatal.

If that wasn’t enough, Chadwick’s then-two-year-old daughter, Jade, contracted Staphylococcus virus in her spine last October and was in and out of the hospital until late December. Keeping the family afloat in this difficult time was Chadwick’s wife, Isabelle, who balanced a full-time job while sleeping most nights next to Jade or Glen in the hospital.

“It’s been a tough 12 months physically – and even more mentally,” Chadwick said. “Especially with my little girl being sick nearly 12 months ago. She's my absolute world and to go through what she had to deal with really pushed me on in Mexico. The final stage, the Scott-American Beef team really threw everything at me and when I was alone up front with them and they kept attacking me, I just kept telling myself that this was for Jade.”

Sunday’s 15-lap race on an up-and-down course includes two long climbs – something that will certainly favor Chadwick’s strengths, said New Zealand Coach Jacques Landry.

“The main job for Glen is to support Julian over the first four hours of the race, and ensure he gets all the drinks and nutrition he needs,” Landry said. “He did that job fantastically well in Beijing. From that point if he lasts then great, but Julian is quite capable of looking after himself from there.”

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Colorado Premier Training Partners with CPP Leader in Aerodynamic Consulting and Wind Engineering

Fort Collins, CO - Colorado Premier Training is proud to announce its partnership with CPP, wind engineer consultants, to bring the best aerodynamic services to sport.

Founded 27 years ago by the pioneers of their field, CPP is a world leader in understanding the effects of wind near the earth's surface. CPP maintains a staff of 95, including more than 35 scientists and engineers, 12 of whom hold PhDs.

“CPP delivers quality and professionalism in every aspect of their business and settles for nothing less than the best. We’re pleased that they recognize the expertise that Colorado Premier Training has to offer and we realize that to be the best at aerodynamic consulting we need to have the support staff at hand. The opportunity is priceless and this partnership will bring CPT’s aerodynamic consulting and wind tunnel testing to new heights,” state Steve Owens, CEO, Colorado Premier Training.

The collaboration of Colorado Premier Training’s world class coaching services and CPP’s advanced wind tunnel testing, computer simulations, and technical analyses creates a new level of aerodynamic expertise previously unavailable in the world of professional cycling.

"We are proud and excited to add our knowledge and resources to CPT’s internationally recognized expertise in cycling aerodynamics,” said Dr. Roy Denoon, Vice President of CPP and former national time trial champion and coach.

CPT wind tunnel testing services are available today. Please call CPT to schedule: (970) 672-4780.

The Late Professor JF Scott to be Inducted to Mountain Bike Hall of Fame at Interbike

Las Vegas, Nevada - Bill Savage of Mountain Bike movie Klunkerz fame has put together a short tribute film for the late Prof. J.F. Scott's induction into the MTB Hall of Fame on Sept. 24th during InterBike. Professor Scott, or 'Finley' to his friends, was a fascinating man and a tireless advocate of all things cycling. "I hope you'll be able to attend so we may honor this amazing man who was taken from us far too soon," says Savage.

Way Ahead of His Time

To get an idea of how far ahead Prof. Scott was, take a look at the images below. The 'Cow-Trailing' bicycle drawing, completed in 1953, basically outlines the carbon fiber cross country bikes that wouldn't come along for another 40 years...and check out that parts spec! This illustration was found on his property by Vance Sprock of the Cupertino Bike Shop, after Finley's passing.

The second image is that of his 'Woodsie' bike, completed in 1953 while he was attending Reed College in Oregon. Flat bars, multiple gears, good breaks, fat-tires...it had all the elements that the pioneering KLUNKERZ of Marin County wouldn't discover for another 20 years.


First Mountain Bike Investor
Prof. Scott was also the first investor in the first mountain bike company in the world, cleverly called MountainBikes. "It's high-time John Finley Scott was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame," continues Savage, "I hope to see you at The Sands Expo Center, Casanova Room 503, on Wed. 8/24 at 6:00 pm for his induction along with the other deserving inductees."

Bikes for Kids Fundraising Events Raise $10,000 to Purchase Bikes for Children in Utah

Derek Parra, sponsors and University of Utah and Brigham Young University cycling enthusiasts helped this non-profit achieve fundraising success with its Dinner Auction and Red vs. Blue Time Trial.


SALT LAKE CITY - Bikes for Kids Utah, a non-profit 501(C)3 organization that annually provides 1,000 new bicycles to underprivileged Utah children, today announced the combined fundraising efforts of its annual Dinner Auction and time trial event raised $10,000.

"Bikes for Kids Utah had, yet again, a successful year," said Debbie Reid, founder of Bikes for Kids Utah. "Whether it was through donating items for the auction, purchasing seats at the dinner or riding in the time trial up Traverse Ridge, we are so grateful to all the community members who came out and supported our efforts to provide new bikes for Utah children."

Bikes for Kids Utah Dinner Auction
The Bikes for Kids Utah Dinner Auction was held at La Caille on Wednesday, September 17. The fundraiser had dozens of items for the 180 guests to bid on, including a weekend getaway at Snowbird Resort, dinner and brunch at La Caille, a private bike ride with Eric Heiden and a session of speed skating at the Olympic Oval with Derek Parra.

Parra, the first-ever Mexican American to win a medal in the Olympic Winter Games, spoke at the Dinner Auction about the confidence cycling gave him to pursue skating and the positive influence it can be in the life of a child who has the opportunity to own a bike.

"Whether it is confidence on skates, or confidence on a bike, learning something new gives kids the opportunity to be challenged and have personal success," Parra said after he reflected on the confidence-building experiences he had on his bike as he was riding to his skating training sessions.

Parra continued, "I promised my daughter that I would buy her a new bike as soon as she learned to ride her first bike without the training wheels. The first time she got on that new bike, she rode it from Draper to Taylorsville without falling, a three hour ride. It really hit me that her first cycling experiences are preparing her to live a confident and successful life."

Red vs. Blue Time Trial
To raise funds for Bikes for Kids, close to 80 cycling club and team members, alumni and fans of Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Utah (Utah) gathered at Traverse Ridge for a three-mile hillclimb time trial with an elevation gain of more than 1,300 feet and 10 percent to 12 percent grades in some locations.

According to Millisecond Sports Timing, which averaged the top 10 speeds of each university's official cyclists, Utah cycling team won the team race with an average time of 18 minutes, 39 seconds. BYU's club followed with an average time of 20 minutes, 13 seconds.

However, when including the schools' fans and alumni in the average, BYU finished the race in 22 minutes, 4 seconds and Utah finished in 22 minutes, 21 seconds.

The Utah cycling team was awarded a $1,000 cash prize to help with its future racing efforts and BYU was awarded the O.C. Tanner Cup for the fastest overall time, including fans.

"As a cycling club, it was exciting to race against the team from the University of Utah," said Patrick Davis, president of the Y Cycling Club. "We even had tryouts to select the 10 fastest members for the race."

Joel Hsia, University of Utah cycling team president, was excited about his team's success and the cycling support the event generated.

"For the majority of the team members, it was their first time on the course," Hsia said. "It was great to have a change of scenery and exciting to race the BYU riders. This event really demonstrated the strength cycling has in Utah."

Michael Romero of the Bad Ass Coffee Co. racing team faced Traverse Road as confidently as he hopes the Bikes for Kids recipients will approach the opportunity to own a bike. "Hello hills!" Romero said to introduce himself to his cycling challenge for the day. "My name is Michael. I'm here to conquer you."

Romero started building his cycling confidence as a child. "I first learned how to ride on a bike that probably cost around 50 bucks," Romero said, "If I can give a kid a new bike, helmet and lock for that same price, I want to donate what I can to make that happen."

The next Bikes for Kids Utah event will be the annual bike giveaway scheduled to take place on May 30, 2009.

Schwinn and Toshiba Collaborate to Dramatically Alter the Electric Bike Market

Worldwide collaboration between two of the most recognizable brands on the planet will allow riders to recharge their Schwinn Tailwind eBikes in 30 minutes through a standard electrical outlet, one-eighth (1/8th) the time of competing electric bikes (or less)

BETHEL, Conn. - Schwinn Bicycles, America's most recognized bicycle brand, today announced a strategic collaboration with Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) that is expected to dramatically alter the electric bicycle landscape in the United States and around the world. Schwinn Bicycles is part of the Cannondale Sports Group Division of Dorel Industries (TSX: DII.B, DII.A).

Schwinn has incorporated Toshiba's new Super Charge ion Battery (SCiB) technology into the Schwinn Tailwind, a brand new electric bike to be formally unveiled today in Las Vegas to bicycle dealers attending the annual Interbike International Bicycle Expo, the largest bicycle trade industry event in North America. The Tailwind will also be showcased tonight from 6 to 9:30 p.m. (EDT) at the ShowStoppers media-only reception being held at the Millennium Hotel on Times Square in New York City at 44th and Broadway.

Toshiba's SCiB power technology will enable Tailwind owners to recharge their eBike in 30 minutes through a standard electrical outlet (or as little as five to seven minutes through a commercial charger). By comparison, it takes four hours or longer to fully recharge the battery of virtually any other eBike in use today through a standard electrical outlet, allowing riders to recharge their Tailwind eBike in one-eighth (1/8th) the time of other electric bikes.

In addition, Tailwind owners can expect to see an industry leading 2,000 recharge lifecycles with the eBike versus the industry standard of 1,000 charges before needing to replace the battery. Tailwind riders will find that they can ride 25 to 30 miles per charge (depending upon such factors as temperature, rider weight and terrain). The Tailwind also comes with a 20,000-mile or two-year limited warranty.

"We are very pleased to supply our first SCiB product to such a well-known and respected company as Schwinn Bicycles and its parent company, Dorel Industries," said Shoshi Kawatsu, General Manager, Super Charge Battery Div. of Toshiba's Transmission Distribution & Industrial System Company. "Schwinn is one of the most recognized bicycle brands in the world, and we are happy to provide Tailwind owners with our innovative SCiB technology."

The Growing Market for Electric Bikes
According to the Electric Bikes Worldwide Report, 2008 Update, 20.8 million eBikes were sold worldwide in 2007, a total expected to show only modest worldwide growth in 2009 to 21.6 million units. However, eBikes represent the fastest-growing bicycle category within the U.S., Europe and a number of other regions.

For example, U.S. eBike sales are projected to hit 220,000 units in 2009, a two-year increase of 83 percent from 2007 U.S. eBike sales of 120,000 units. Projections for Europe are even more robust, with eBike sales in Europe expected to hit 750,000 units in 2009 a three-fold increase versus 2007 sales of 250,000 eBikes in Europe.

Schwinn has six models currently available for purchase in its electric bicycle line, with the Tailwind expected to arrive in dealer stores in early 2009. Each Schwinn electric bike is a so-called eBike hybrid and can be ridden in either motor-assist mode or as a conventional bike. In addition, all Schwinn eBike models (including the Tailwind) utilize a removable battery pack built into stylishly designed rear bike rack systems, allowing riders to detach the battery for recharging.

"We believe the convergence of environmental concerns, economic factors and proven health benefits are making everyday bike-riding a reality for more and more Americans," said Bruno Maier, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cannondale Sports Group. "Industry research and our own data tell us that electric bikes are a dramatically growing phenomenon within the U.S., and we intend to be a serious contender within the eBike category, particularly in this country.

"For this reason, we are honored to partner with Toshiba, a world leader in battery and power technology. We are confident that deploying Toshiba's breakthrough, fast-charging SCiB technology for the first time ever in our new Tailwind eBike will thrust Schwinn to the forefront of the electric bike marketplace."

With a suggested retail price of $3,199.99(US), the Schwinn Tailwind will arrive in dealer stores in early 2009 with four sizes for standard frames (S, M, L, XL) and three sizes for step-thru frames (S, M, L). For more information about the Tailwind, please visit www.electricschwinnbikes.com/tailwind or www.schwinnelectricbikes.com for more information about Schwinn's other eBike models.

Interbike 2008 Kicks Off with OutDoor Demo in Bootleg Canyon

Retail attendees demo manufacturers' latest bikes and accessories on extensive trail network, BMX track and closed road loop


BOULDER CITY, Nevada
- North American and International bicycle retailers visited Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nevada Monday as part of the 2008 Interbike OutDoor Demo (the first day of the two-day event.) The OutDoor Demo kicked off a week-long trade show, conference and exposition full of cycling-related product demonstrations, launches, seminars, clinics, advocacy outreach and networking.

The Outdoor Demo's expo area includes more than 64,000 net-sold, square-feet of booth space and provides valuable interaction time for manufacturers with retailers and retailers with the product.

"Our booth was literally slammed all day with retailers specifically checking out our gravity bikes," said Chris Conroy, president of Yeti Cycles. "Because of the great shuttle services and the trails at Outdoor Demo, our retailers have a unique chance to test the heavy- duty downhill bikes that they would not at any other venue. I loved looking up throughout the day and seeing every one of our 60 demo bikes out on the trails."

Retailers from all over North America and several international retailers got the chance to test bikes and accessories before making crucial buying decisions for the upcoming year. This year, in addition to the new products and technology for mountain, road, BMX and recumbent bikes, retailers noticed a new focus on urban, commuter and electric bikes.

"In our store, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of requests for commuter and electric bikes this summer," said Richard Marquis, a retailer from Javelina Cycles in Phoenix, AR. "After spending a day at Demo, it is good to see that the exhibiting manufactures understand our need for urban style bikes that are not just targeted at enthusiast riders. Our staff had a very productive day demoing several bikes."

"The first day of OutDoor Demo was busier than last year," said Lance Camisasca, Interbike industry consultant. "We are very happy with how things are going so far and look forward to another busy day at the OutDoor Demo."

The OutDoor Demo was held in Bootleg Canyon on Monday and Tuesday, September 22-23 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The indoor portion of the show, the International Bicycle Expo, runs Wednesday through Friday, September 24-26 at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Key sponsors of the 2008 Interbike OutDoor include:
  • Cervélo - Road Demo Loop Start House
  • Fox Racing Shox - Suspension Tuning Support
  • GUsports - Official Energy Gel
  • Hutchinson Tires - Tour of Lake Mead sponsor
  • Mavic - Road Demo Loop Tech Support
  • Park Tool - Rider Cooling Station
  • Pedro's - Bike Wash and Environmental Sustainability
  • PowerBar - Official Energy Food
  • Save Our Soles - Schwag Bag Contributor
For more information about Interbike, please visit www.interbike.com.

Photo: Leonard Basobas

Conant & Upshaw Withstand the Heat to Take Chicago Cyclocross Cup #1

By Imelda March

Not exactly cross weather for Race #1 of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup; however, that did not stop 288 racers from coming to frolic in the warm, sunny and 73 Fahrenheit temperature day.

The race course did not disappoint as it kept experienced and amateurs alike on their “pedals” through a twisty, flat and fast cross course.

Elite Men
The boys from Evanston’s Pony Shop came out in full force and made it look easy out there. These guys will be the one to chase down in this years campaign. Together, the winner Brian Conant (Pony Shop) and Luca Lenzi (Pony Shop) managed to fend off 3rd place finisher Scott McLaughlin (Sram).

Elite Women
June Upshaw was conspicuously missing from this year’s road campaign and showed dominance in her first day out at Chicago’s season opener. She overtook 2nd place finisher Rebecca Much (xXx Racing AthletiCo) for the win followed by Holly Klug (Killjoy) in third place.

Prior to the race I caught up with June and she said, “I love this course”. With this you can surmise that she arrived early and studied every knick and cranny of the course.

Events abound in this year’s series, as the series continues with racing on Sunday, October 5 with round two of the Chicago Cyclo-cross Cup in DeKalb, Illinois. After the weekend of racing, nationally recognized nutritionist Monique Ryan, MS, RD, LDN will be presenting her HIGH OCTANE FUEL FOR CYCLOCROSS on Tuesday, October 7. Further information about the series can be found by visiting www.chicrosscup.com.

Photo: Amy Dykema

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Team Type 1 Wins Overall And Team Title At Vuelta Mexico


Mexico City, MexicoGlen Chadwick won the Vuelta Mexico Saturday and Team Type 1 captured the team classification, earning the first-year squad two its most impressive accomplishments of the season.

Chadwick’s victory was his fifth of the year and the 40th overall for Team Type 1. The New Zealander never relinquished the lead after pulling on the leader’s yellow jersey after the second stage of the eight-day, 705-mile (1,136 km) race that has been a fixture on the international race calendar since 1948.

“I did not have big personal expectations coming to the Vuelta,” Chadwick said. “This is Moises' (Aldape's) national tour and I knew we had a strong team here to help him, so on the first stage I just took a chance and really went into the break to protect our team ambitions.

“It turned out to be the decisive move of the week, and Moises became my undying lieutenant. Sometimes you have to accept a little good luck."

Chadwick held onto a two-second advantage over Mexico’s Arquimedes Lam (Tecos-UAG all the way through Saturday’s final stage. Italian Ivan Fanelli (Cinelli-OPD) was third, 37 seconds behind.

Team Type 1 placed three riders in the top 15 – Chadwick, Ian MacGregor (13th) and Aldape (15th) – on the way to winning its second team classification at a stage race outside the United States. The squad also won the team title at the Tour de Beauce in Canada in June after finishing third as a team at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T in April.

“The Scott-American Beef and Tecos teams gave us a run all week,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said. “Scott had an experienced ProTour team here with an excellent stage racing squad that was being led by a multiple tour stage winner. They threw down on us in a big way and the boys held up.”

Team Type 1’s other finishers were Valeriy Kobzarenko (63rd), Chris Jones (86th) and Fabio Calabria (93rd). Matt Wilson was lost to illness on the fourth stage.

Chadwick’s victory caps a season in which he also won two stages and the overall title at the Tour of Arkansas, was the King of the Mountain jersey winner at the Tour de Beauce and the Tour of Utah and he earned a spot on New Zealand’s Olympic and world road race championship teams.

Those accomplishments are remarkable considering the 31-year-old was hospitalized for several weeks in February after doctors discovered he had the Epstein-Barr virus in his spine. The virus causes mononucleosis and Chadwick apparently had been showing effects of the disease since last December without knowing it.

"I really want to thank the lads for their effort all week,” Chadwick said. “This is an incredible accomplishment for Team Type 1 and I think it proves we are one of the best teams in North America, and that's a message I hope everyone hears."

Team Type 1 was founded in 2004 by racers Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming obstacles often associated with the condition. Calabria is one of four riders on the team’s pro squad who have Type 1 diabetes.

“Diabetes is an epidemic disease in the Latin American population and it’s great we have this win as a platform to raise awareness for diabetes management,” Beamon said.

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Team Type 1 Keeps Chadwick In Yellow In Mexico


Morelia, MexicoGlen Chadwick of Team Type 1 survived the toughest day of the Vuelta Mexico on Wednesday to hold onto the overall lead with three stages remaining.

The 93-mile (150 km) race included three categorized climbs, which shattered the 140-strong field and saw only 35 riders together at the finish in Morelia. Jose Benites (Scott-American Beef) won the sprint over Ivan Fanelli (Cinelli-OPD) and Ignazio Sarabia (Extremadura).

But the bigger story was the teamwork by Team Type 1 to get Chadwick to the finish unscathed, despite the loss of Matt Wilson to illness.

“The boys were under attack immediately and although Matt started, we knew we didn't have him today and there would be a good chance he would not finish,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said.

Over the first climb, a four-man break slipped off the front, but Team Type 1 kept the gap within five minutes with Moises Aldape, Chris Jones and Valeriy Kobzarenko riding tempo. Three more riders bridged to the leaders on the second climb, but Chadwick’s lead remained safe.

“The guys kept the pressure on for the 25 kilometers of rolling into the final climb and then the Scott-American Beef guys came up to help,” Beamon said.

The torrid pace ripped apart what was left of the field and hauled back all but one of the seven leaders. The main field – now reduced to about three dozen – regrouped on the fast descent and Chadwick had survived another day in the yellow jersey. The New Zealand Olympian has held the race lead since the second day of the eight-stage, 749-mile (1,206 km) race.

Though not highlighted in the results, Beamon said the hard work put in by Team Type 1’s Fabio Calabria – the only rider with Type 1 diabetes in the race – has not gone unnoticed.

“At the end of the stage, Glen, Ian and Moises were in the front group and Fabio was in the next group with Jones and Kobzarenko behind,” Beamon said. “(At the finish) Ian said, ‘How about that Fabio, he's a warrior?’ and Chady said, ‘That guy needs to get a bonus . . . he was incredible today. Bringing us bottles all day, then he gets a flat and comes back to the front, and then he's drilling it on the descent before the final climb. What a hard guy!’”

Wednesday’s finish in Morelia was the site of two grenade attacks on Monday that ripped through the crowded center of the colonial town during a national holiday. Beamon said the city is now under heavy security.

“Military helicopters and federal troops with shouldered M-16s are cruising on the back of trucks and jeeps,” he said. “The irony is that this is the most beautiful city we have been in so far.”

Photo: Courtesy Team Type 1

Hundreds Turn Out To Meet Rock Racing At Harrods


London — Rock Racing fans of all ages – and even Harrods Owner Mohammed Al-Fayed himself – turned out to meet the pro cycling team at a special engagement at the renowned store in the heart of London this past Monday.

Hundreds of people turned out at Harrods to meet Rock Racing’s six riders who competed in the Tour of Britain. Rahsaan Bahati, Santiago Botero, Tyler Hamilton, Victor Hugo Peña, Fred Rodriguez and Oscar Sevilla signed autographs and posed for pictures.


Fans also purchased official Rock Racing merchandise, including the team’s exclusive line of “London Rocks” green-and-gold uniforms.

Al-Fayed’s visit to Rock Racing’s special appearance and display area on the fifth floor was one of the highlights of the event – as was the presence Rock & Republic President Andrea Bernholtz. She greeted the team and congratulated them on their three top 10 finishes at the Tour of Britain.

Harrods will continue to carry the new line of Rock Racing “London Rocks” sports apparel for men, women and children through the month.

Photos: Vero Image

Friday, September 12, 2008

Peña Scores Rock Racing’s Second Top Five Finish


Dalby Forest, England — For the second straight day, a Rock Racing rider figured prominently in a long breakaway at the Tour of Britain. But the difference Thursday on Stage 5 was the end result.

Victor Hugo Peña earned Rock Racing its second top five finish with fourth place in a challenging 102-mile (164 km) race from Hull to Dalby Forest that finished with back-to-back-to-back categorized climbs in the final 17 miles (27 km).

On the opening stage in London, Rahsaan Bahati scored a fifth-place finish for Rock Racing in a field sprint.

It was on the final climb to the finish Thursday that Peña – a former Tour de France yellow jersey wearer – made his move, attacking his four breakaway companions with less than a mile to go. His valiant effort to solo away followed a monumental chase after he had been dropped on each of the two previous climbs.

“I closed a 30-second gap to (Danilo) Di Luca and (Matthew) Goss and caught up to them with five kilometers (3.1 miles) to go,” Peña said. “At the end, I played my game and did what I thought to win.”

But 500 meters from the finish, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) powered his way back to Peña and passed the Colombian climber on the steep pitch to the line to secure his second straight stage victory.

“At the moment I attacked, I was thinking I could win,” Peña said, “but he (Hagen) was really strong.”


Hagen, who was also part of a day-long breakaway on Stage 4, bridged across a 12-second gap with Peña at the 24-mile mark after Team Columbia worked hard to reduce a minute’s lead to an original breakaway trio of Goss, Di Luca and Travis Meyer (South Australia.com).

Once together, the five in front stretched their lead to as many as six minutes before the Agritubel team worked to reduce the margin. Later, Team Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H30 assisted in the chase.

Rock Racing’s Fred Rodriguez, who was part of an earlier breakaway, said covering moves has become the team’s game plan after the disappointment of Stage 3 on Tuesday. On that rainy, crash-filled afternoon, all but 23 of 91 riders finished in a group more than 13 minutes behind the leaders – effectively ending Rock Racing's hopes for the overall classification.

“It’s a big gamble on what break is going to work, so we cover as many as we can,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not so interested in being in (a break) myself as I am covering them so I can help out my teammates.”

Friday’s Stage 6 figures to be another challenging day in the saddle. Two Category 3 climbs come in the first half of the 96-mile (154 km) race. What follows is a jaunt through twisting, up-and-down coastal roads as the course heads north to its finish in Newcastle Gateshead.

Photos: Vero Image

On Tap...

Act Three
The final Act of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana begins this weekend with the tortuous ascent and mountain top finish of the Alto de L'Angliru. Last used in 2002, L'Argliru pitches up at a 23% grade in several locations. It will be no easy task to say the least.

A quick glance at the General Classification show Euskaltel's Egoi Martinez with a narrow lead on the dangerous pair from Astana, American Levi Leipheimer and Spaniard Alberto Contador. Although there are still hundreds of kilometers to go until Madrid, and with all due respect to Martinez and the rest of the field, but this race is Astana's to lose.

General Classification After Stage 12
1 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
5 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia
6 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre
10 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

Stage Recap - Stage 1| Stage 2| Stage 3| Stage 4 | Stage 5| Stage 6| Stage 7| Stage 8| Stage 9| Stage 10| Stage 11| Stage 12

Schedule
Stage 13 - September 13 San Vicente de la Barquera - Alto de L'Angliru (199 km)
Stage 14 - September 14 Oviedo - E. E. Fuentes de Invierno (158 km)
Stage 15 - September 15 Cudillero – Ponferrada (198 km)
Stage 16 - September 16 Ponferrada – Zamora (185 km)
Stage 17 - September 17 Zamora – Valladolid (160 km)
Stage 18 - September 18 Valladolid - Las Rozas (179 km)
Stage 19 - September 19 Las Rozas – Segovia (161 km)
Stage 20 - September 20 La Granja de San Ildefonso - Alto de Navacerrada ITT (16 km)
Stage 21 - September 21 San Sebastián de los Reyes – Madrid (110 km)

Rolling in the USA
The Tour of Missouri concludes this weekend. Buttressed by his win in the Stage 3 Individual time Trial, Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) leads Team Columbia's Michael Rogers by a scant 18 seconds. But barring any major catastrophes, Vande Velde should walk away with the 2008 title.

Stage Recap - Stage 1| Stage 2| Stage 3| Stage 4| Stage 5

Schedule
Stage 6 - Saturday, September 13
Hermann to St. Charles , road race (110 mi / 177 km)
Stage 7 - Sunday, September 14
St. Louis , circuit race (75 mi / 120.68 km)

Fast & Hard
The penultimate race of USA Crits Series also takes place this weekend with the debut of the San Francisco Twilight Criterium tomorrow, September 13th. It should be a pair of fast and exciting races as the top two in both the women's and men's individual points standings and in the women's team competition will look to garner as many points as possible heading into Las Vegas. And don't look now, but our friends on first-year team Vanderkitten Racing are on the prowl.

Women’s Overall Standings:
1 Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine Cycling) - 1358 pts
2 Jennifer Wilson (Vanderkitten Racing) - 1333
3 Taitt Sato (ValueAct Capital Cycling Team) - 1043

Men’s Overall Standings:
1 Yosvany Falcon (TOSHIBA-Santo p/b Herbalife) - 1489 pts
2 Adam Myerson (Time Pro Cycling) - 1425
3 Mark Hekman (TOSHIBA-Santo p/b Herbalife) - 1329

Women's Team Standings:

1 Vanderkitten Racing - 3354
2 Cheerwine Cycling - 3314

Right Here, Right Now
For other races in select areas of the country, scroll through the listings below.

09/12/2008

Folsom Cyclebration Time Trial
Folsom, CA

09/13/2008
Pine Grove Furnace Masters PA TT
Gardners, PA
Apple Festival RR
Montrose, PA
Asheville Grand Prix
Asheville, NC
SCNCA Elite Track Cycling Championships
Encino, CA
Elite Track State Championships
San Jose, CA
Alan/Infirmary Mound CX Race
Granville, OH
San Francisco Twilight Criterium
San Francisco, CA
Folsom Challenge Criterium
Folsom, CA
The Climbers Trophy
Salt Lake City, UT
Bear Creek Cyclocross Weekend
Macungie, PA

09/14/2008
Arizona State Time Trial Championship 2008
Picacho, AZ
End of Summer Crit
Ft Lee, VA
Historic Downtown Wake Forest Criterium
Wake Forest, NC
Cyclesport Cyclo-Cross
Loveland, OH
Two Bridges Circuit Race
Folsom, CA
Yuasa Battery's Right From the Start Criterium
Laureldale, PA


For results and photos of some of the races above, click through to Truesport.com .


Up The Road
09/20/2008
Henleyville Road Race
Corning, CA
Nittany Lion Cross
Foglesville, PA
2008 Huntington Bicycle Challenge
Huntington, IN
Buckeye Criterium in Verrado
Buckeye, AZ
Everest Challenge Stage Race
Bishop, CA
Cherry Roubaix
Traverse City, MI

09/21/2008
Sierra Nevada Chico Downtown Criterium
Chico, CA
Ohio State Road Racing Championships
Waynesville, OH
Jackson Park Cyclocross
Chicago, IL
Sacramento Cyclocross #2
Sacramento, CA
ING Direct Capial Criterium powered by CycleLife
Washington, DC
Muckenthaler Cyclocross
Fullerton, CA

Botero Powers Stage 4 Breakaway At Tour Of Britain


Stoke-on-Trent, England — Rock Racing’s Santiago Botero did the lion’s share of the work to ensure his breakaway would successfully stay in front to the finish Wednesday at the Tour of Britain.

But when it came time came to contest Stage 4’s uphill sprint on a narrow winding road through the streets of Stoke-on-Trent, Botero felt the efforts of contributing so much to the escape.

“I told the other guys in the break that we should keep it rolling to stay away for the win,” Botero said. “Unfortunately, when we got to the last kilometer, my legs weren’t that good because I had expended so much power in the breakaway.”

In the end, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) snatched the victory from Giairo Ermeti (LPR Brakes-Ballan) by rapidly closing a large gap in the final 150 meters and sneaking through the tight, twisting finish. Boasson Hagen was part of Botero’s 10-rider break that went away over the first king of the mountain sprint during the 95-mile (152 km) race. Botero and several others in the break were swallowed up in the closing moments.

With the help of teammate Victor Hugo Peña, Botero bridged a gap to join a group of riders who had escaped the 91-strong peloton after only 12 miles (19 km). Joining Botero in the break were several others with plenty of horsepower, including team leaders David Millar (Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30) and Stuart O’Grady (CSC-Saxo Bank).

But the 10 in front never gained more than a two-minute advantage and, despite having to chase back from a flat tire in the final six miles, Romain Feillu (Agritubel) hung onto the overall lead. Oscar Sevilla was Rock Racing’s best finisher on the day in 15th place.

Botero said he peaked for the Summer Olympic Games, where he finished seventh in the road race and 25th in the time trial for Colombia. Then he took 10 days off the bike.

“So at this moment, I’m not in the best shape,” he said. “But I will keep trying to win a stage for the next couple of days.”

Photo:
Vero Image

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ritchey Design Unveils Superlogic Carbon Road Wheelset at Interbike 2008

Ritchey introduces its first high-end carbon wheel set, incorporating exclusive Lew Racing rim technology

SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- Ritchey Design, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality road and mountain bike components, today announced it will debut the Superlogic Carbon Road Wheelset, the company's latest wheel design, at the 2008 Interbike Expo, being held September 24-26, 2008, in Las Vegas.

The Superlogic Carbon road wheelset marks Ritchey's first move into the high-end carbon wheel category and includes patented pending, exclusive rim technology from Lew Racing.

"The technology behind the Superlogic Carbon road wheels is a result of two companies who are historically known for innovation and proven performance," said Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Ritchey. "Between the Ritchey World Championship Series (WCS) front and rear hubs and the patented carbon lay-up process on the Lew rims, the end customer gets the perfect balance between weight, fatigue resistance and ride quality."

The new Ritchey Design Superlogic road wheelset consists of Ritchey's WCS cold-forged hubs laced with DT Swiss bladed spokes mated to uni-directional, high-modulus carbon fiber/boron rims. The rims are manufactured using Lew Racing's proprietary DEX-LCM molding process, which combines premium quality, 100-percent high-modulus carbon fiber and fatigue resisting boron to produce very light weight, exceptionally strong, yet compliant rims.

Superlogic Wheelset Specifications
  • Rims - Exclusive uni-directional, 100 percent high-modulus carbon mixed with boron
  • Rear Hub - WCS V4 (24-hole, cold forged, precision bearings, alloy freehub body)
  • Front Hub - WCS V3 (20-hole, cold forged, precision bearings, round flanges)
  • Skewers - New WCS model, new aero shape with high-force closure cam action
  • Spokes - DT Swiss bladed (Radial front, 2-cross rear)
  • Nipples - Alloy ball nosed nipples with NYLOK BLUE PATCH™ threads
  • Assembly - Handbuilt at Ritchey Design California
  • Estimated Weight - Sub 1,100 grams
  • Available - January 2009
  • MSRP - $2,800/set (Tubulars), $4,300/set (Clinchers) 2009 Superlogic Carbon
Road Wheelset is the result of an exclusive partnership between Ritchey Design and Lew Racing for 2009.

"We consider our relationship with Ritchey an opportunity to work with one of the most respected names in cycling," said Paul Lew, founder and president of Lew Corporation. "Working together is a great opportunity for both companies and the ultimate winner is the cyclist."

The Superlogic Carbon road wheelset will be on display at the Ritchey booth (#3325) during the indoor portion of the Interbike Expo.

Media who are interested in setting an appointment to interview Steve Parke from Ritchey Design or Paul Lew from Lew Racing are encouraged to contact Chip Smith at 801.523.3730 or csmith@soarcomm.com.

Rock Racing Weathers Crashes At Tour Of Britain


Burnham-on-Sea, England — For all but a handful of riders, the third stage of the Tour of Britain was certainly one to forget – Rock Racing included.

The team’s troubles on Tuesday included an early race crash in the rain that took down Tyler Hamilton and Oscar Sevilla, a number of bike changes for Hamilton as he chased back, and the retirement from the race by U.S. criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati.

By day’s end, all but 23 of the 91 riders found themselves out of contention for the overall as the peloton finished more than 13 minutes Frenchman Emilien Berges (Agritubel), who soloed to victory to win the 115-mile (185.7 km) race.

Hamilton chalked up the misfortune to bad luck. A deep gash on his left arm required three stitches while Sevilla also had to be attended to by race medics for severe road rash on his right hip.

“A week or so ago, I was winning the U.S. road race and things couldn’t have been going better,” Hamilton said. “Today, I had to ride a neutral bike for a time that was too big and then the next bike had its chain snap on a climb. That’s bike racing. Your luck can change just like that.”

Sevilla, Hamilton and Rock Racing’s other three riders finished 13:02 in arrears on the longest stage of the eight-day race. In the overall classification, Sevilla is now the team’s best-placed rider in 32nd, 13:09 behind.

Bahati was one of three riders who did not finish Tuesday’s stage. However, he will remain with the team through the remainder of the race and be a part of Monday afternoon’s special appearance and autograph signing at Harrods in London.

Photo: Vero Image

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

He's Baaccckkk! - Vanity Fair's Web Exclusive


From Douglas Brinkley:
“Look,” he insists, “I plan on holding a press conference [saying] I never cheated. I won seven Tour de Frances, fair and square. I’m going back...

Another obstacle Armstrong faces is having his Tour attempt written off as another Brett Favre–ean resurrection. Second—or third or fourth—acts aren’t all that interesting anymore in America. But he insists this is different, since he will get no salary for the 2009 season (although his speaking fees and endorsement deals clearly won’t suffer). “Everybody in cycling has a team and takes a team salary,” he says. “I am essentially racing for free. No salary. No bonus. Nothing on the line.… This one’s on the house. And you know what? At the end of the day, I don’t need money.… Not only will I be fine, my kids will be fine, my grandkids will be fine...”

While it all sounds rather lofty, it’s really the small stuff that Armstrong’s starting to sweat. He has begun a regimen of “epic workouts.” Because he needs curvy mountain roads to train on (Austin only has hills), he’ll be spending a lot of time in the Rockies and Solvang, California, in the coming months. “I’m doing a bunch of core stuff, power stuff in the gym,” he says. “Just constantly changing shit up.” While Armstrong’s exact strategy remains sketchy, he might race in the Amgen Tour of California in February, and the Giro d’Italia in May.
READ More...

Photo: Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair (1999)

More: Shane Stokes (Cyclingnews.com) - Armstrong Confirms Return

Bonnie Ford Weighs in on Lance

In her latest article for ESPN.com, Bonnie D. Ford, who covers tennis and Olympic sports for the site, ponders what Lance Armstrong has to gain if the rumors of his return are true?

Could you imagine the spectacle at the 2009 Tour de France? What would it look like if both Lance AND the exiled Floyd Landis, whose ban for doping expires in January, return to the professional peloton next year?

That explosion you just heard in the background are the collective heads of Grand Tour organizers.

From ESPN.com:
If what VeloNews.com reported first is true and Armstrong plans to break the news in the monthly magazine Vanity Fair, some may find the name of the outlet fitting.

Confusion reigned as the rumors -- still unconfirmed by any of the principals -- bloomed like algae on the surface of the mainstream media. What in the world could be motivating him? It couldn't be money, and it couldn't be titles. Could it be ego? Altruism, in the form of increased revenue for cancer research? Boredom? Enough with the tabloid headlines and the blondes, already? The need to respond in a different way, to the doping innuendo that never dies, even though Armstrong never tested positive, and stirs afresh every time some ex-teammate gets caught?
READ More...

Rock's Sevilla and Rodriguez Well Placed at Tour Of Britain


Newbury, England — Rock Racing moved two riders into the top 12 at the Tour of Britain Monday despite suffering two flat tires and having nearly the entire team get caught up in a crash.

Spaniard Oscar Sevilla is 10th, seven seconds off the lead, and American Fred Rodriguez is 12th, eight seconds behind. In all, 84 riders – including five of six from Rock Racing – are within 10 seconds of overall leader Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes).

The flurry of action on Stage 2 happened within the last six miles of the 90-mile (145 km) race from Milton Keynes to Newbury. Sevilla was the unfortunate victim of the majority of unluckiness. The Spaniard first suffered a flat tire on the final categorized climb of the day, but quickly received help from teammate Victor Hugo Peña, who gave up his bicycle.

But after chasing back and shepherding teammate Rahsaan Bahati into position for the final sprint, Sevilla punctured again as a massive pile-up occurred inside the final two miles, splitting the field.

“Everything was fine the entire race until we got to the last couple miles,” Sevilla said. “Then it all fell apart.”

Because Sevilla’s mishap occurred in the last 1.8 miles (3 km), officials credited him – and the majority of the peloton who were stopped as a result of a rider hitting a median – with the same time as the group they were riding in when the crash occurred.

Up ahead, Matthew Goss (CSC - Saxo Bank) won the stage over a pair of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 riders: New Zealand national champion Julian Dean and Australian Chris Sutton. Rodriguez was the only Rock Racing rider to make the 20-strong lead group that finished about 15 seconds ahead of the pack (that was later given the same finishing time).

Earlier in the race, Sevilla showed his strength as part of a five-man break that escaped on the first King of the Mountain climb. He won the sprint to take maximum mountain points before his group was caught.

Peña’s unselfish act to help Sevilla ended up costing him valuable spots in the overall classification. After getting a new bicycle, the Colombian was inadvertently led off course and eventually came in more than 13 minutes after the leaders. But by finishing within the time cut, he will start Tuesday’s third stage of the eight-day race.

Photo: Vero Image

Monday, September 08, 2008

TRIPLE Exclusive: An Interview with Kristin Armstrong, Part II

Lessons Learned
The latest Velonews covergirl and guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show began her cycling career as most American women have, later in life. Kristin Armstrong’s cycling career arc, however, was anything but typical of most American women. Rather than compete exclusively in the United States, Kristin made the jump to Europe early on.

In retrospect, it was a decision that would warrant little argument. Numerous stage wins, general classification victories, a World Championship, and now an Olympic gold medal highlight her palmares, and by racing in Europe Kristin was afforded a perspective few American women cyclists rarely achieve. But, maintaining a full or partial European schedule each of her 7 years in the women’s peloton has not always been easy for the 35-year old.

In Part II of my interview with Kristin Armstrong, who has raced for the likes of T-Mobile Women’s Professional team, TEAm Lipton and Cervelo-Lifeforce, we discuss the state of Women’s Cycling, the differences of racing in Europe, and we even tackle the frequently asked Armstrong question.

Granny's 30 (G): Riders like yourself, Christine Thorburn, and Amber Neben have been at the top of the sport for a while, but have largely gone unnoticed by the general American public, except during Olympic years. What is appealing about women's cycling, objectively? What is appealing about women's cycling relative to men's cycling?

Kristin Armstrong (KA): What I have learned about the sport of cycling is that you have to love it to do it because you’re not going to retire off of it.

What’s really appealing about women’s cycling in America? If you took a poll in the women’s peloton, I would bet you that 90% of the women have college degrees, and a lot of them have Masters. Christine is a doctor. The women’s peloton is very well educated.

So here are these girls racing these bikes for nothing, so the question is, why? I think it goes back to having the passion. I think once an athlete always an athlete and once you have a competitive nature about you, in general, it’s hard to let go. Whether you’re going to take it into medicine or take it into sport, the competitive drive never really leaves.

I think the other thing that’s interesting about the women’s peloton is that if you ask what their background is most have played college sports, and a lot of times have come off of injury and have gotten on a bike. A lot of us start post college in our mid 20’s unlike in Europe where they start 10 years before that. And when they start riding a lot of them have full time jobs and are taking vacation days to get by. All of a sudden it becomes so addictive because you’re out there with a bunch of women just like yourself, well educated, taking your vacation days, not making any real money, but we’re having a blast. And that’s US cycling.

Now to take it to the next level you’re going to have to do what I’ve done, and what Amber’s done. You’re going to have to go to Europe and race against the best. It’s a big compromise especially for family. If you think about it, we’re probably in our mid 20's and we don’t really become successful until we’re close to 30, and by that time a lot of women are married. It’s hard. All of a sudden you want to take it to the next level, and you’re asked to live in Europe for the next 6 months without your husband or your boyfriend. It’s not the easiest life that’s for sure. And I think to take it to that next level, which is taking it and living in Europe, taking that big step obviously you’re saying, 'OK you know what, its not about work anymore and taking those vacation days its about I want to do well at Worlds or want to go to the Olympic games.' It’s also very cost-prohibitive for most Americans to make that jump...because in Europe...if you don’t think you get paid in America you certainly don’t get paid in Europe. The way the Europeans work, most girls get paid by their federation; their country pays them. Essentially the federations say go represent our country, race on whatever trade team you want, and here’s your money. So you don’t really make you’re money on trade teams. Europeans make money through their country’s federation. There’s not a lot of money for women in cycling in Europe either.

I didn’t realize that until I was on a European team. Granted there are some teams where you can make good money, but there are only about three or four of those teams. And for those three or four teams you have to be pretty good to race for them. If you’re looking to test the waters or want to get some experience, and you’re American, you are probably going to be doing it for free. Most of the teams will put you up in a team house. But other than your cost of living, you’re going to be pay some money out of your own pocket, and probably more so with the conversion of the dollar to Euro these days.

Before the Olympics, there’s always been a part of me that’s wanted to write a book about Women’s cycling because there isn’t one out there and I think there’s a lot to be said.

G: What do you think should change in women's cycling to get people more interested and excited about it?

KA: I think it doesn’t happen overnight, that's for sure. As the first gold medalist since 1984, I think cycling needs to ride that wave right now, because people are excited. If people are looking at me in my hometown, then every woman that races against me in the peloton is as well. I can tell you, every one of them now believes that they can do it. When I go to a Cascade or Nature Valley and they race against me, the girls that are say 30 seconds from me at the races are all of a sudden saying 'I’m 30 seconds from gold I mean why can’t I do this.' Whenever a peer of yours is racing in the same field as you and wins something at that level you can’t help but think maybe I can do that I’ve been with Kristin before at the finish line.

So I think USA Cycling really needs to ride this wave and start looking at growing the sport. It’s a tough one because cycling is such an endurance sport. I don’t think it’s the worst thing ever to start when you’re in your twenties. You’re not burnt out, you’re going to stick around and most of the best cyclists are in their 30s. If you look at the UCI rankings most of the girls who are riding very well are in their 30s. But you kind of have to get that bug out and start. US Cycling is doing a lot now with camps in different towns or different regions, but I think a great place, and I’m not sure how much it’s been hit, is camps for people that are involved in other sports. Why not put on camps for high school kids that are cross-country runners, because those are the some of the best cyclists.

I didn’t know that you could race your bike until after college. I didn’t know anything about cycling except that I rode my bike from class to class or to my friend’s house. But here I am an athlete, I ran, I played soccer, I swam and people are riding their bikes and racing them? I had never seen a bike race.

I think if I’m saying that, a lot of other people are saying that as well. I think that with some education there are real possibilities at the high school and college level, but more so at the college level, to bring people into cycling. In high school you just kind of go with it, you belong to a sport and you’re lettering and there is a very social part. With cycling, a lot of people will steer away because you can’t letter, and lettering is still cool and it’s very important for scholarships and other stuff. But there are a lot of people like myself. I was a runner and a soccer player living in Okinawa, Japan and I didn’t have recruiters coming in to recruit me for sports. So how many kids out there and planning to go to college are super stud athletes but don’t have a chance because they come from some podunk town and no one comes to watch them? You know they still have an engine and they know how to compete, so why not get them into cycling. If the sport just waits around for people I don’t think its going to change.

It’s tough though because of the whole part about getting sponsors and people out to watch women’s cycling. I think the only way that women can really work it is that we have to work our way more into these big grand tours that the men have like the Tour de Georgia, Tour of Utah, and Tour of California. How much does it really cost to add a women’s race to those high profile races. If its eight days make ours four, just put us in there. Because the minute we’re in a big tour like that a sponsor like Webcor might want to spend 20 grand more for their women’s team because they’re going to have a bigger presence in these races with the men. But we haven’t been included in any of those.

Cascade we actually raced the same distance as the men this year which was really neat so that was big step. At Nature Valley the great thing was that the entry for women this year were close to equaling the men. The field was close to closed out. I think Nature Valley had about 140 to 150 women out, it was unbelievable.

So there are women out there racing there bikes but unfortunately a team like Aaron’s [Women’s Professional Cycling] is folding this year. It’s the saddest thing ever because that team was by far the best team on the calendar this year. The way the girls worked together reminded me a lot of [TEAm] Lipton. It wasn’t that they had the strongest riders on paper; it was that Carmen [D'Aluisio] put a great group of people together. And now they won’t be able to race their bikes. It was fun to race with them.

And now I hear that Advil-Chapstick is gone. Every year it seems like Cheerwine is up in the air. I haven’t heard and I don’t know what Webcor plans are, because their leader Christine is considering retirement. But it shouldn’t be a big deal because the person that funds them has been behind Christine these past 8 years that he’s really been involved in cycling. It’s the end of that 4-year build out and that’s when sponsors start backing out. [Team] TIBCO is going to continue strong, which is nice. They’re just going to need someone to compete against. Maybe [Team] Columbia will race a little more in the US next year.

[Update: At the time of our conversation, Cheerwine's financial sponsor, Anne Bolyea, had not made a decision as to the status of the team for the 2009 season. She has since decided to take a one-year hiatus. In addition, Team TIBCO recently signed three Aaron's stalwarts, Kat Carroll, Meredith Miller, and Julie Beveridge for 2009.]

G: You were diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) when you were at the height of your triathlon career. Were you experiencing symptoms prior to diagnosis and like most of us just shrug them off as a part of the pain and suffering of training and competing?

KA: Yeah, definitely. When I was a runner and competing in triathlons I was having pains in my hip and just treating it as an injury. I would ice it and take anti-inflammatories, but it just wouldn’t go away. I finally went into my doctor and we did x-rays and had an MRI and diagnosed it as osteoarthritis. At that point I stopped doing anything that was impactful to my hip joints.

You know I had to quit triathlons, I continued to be active and worked in advertising agency here, and just continued my career there.

G: As OA is a degenerative condition, labeled more as a disease for the aged, how did you feel being diagnosed at the age of 27? What are some of the more popular misconceptions about having OA and managing the condition that you have had to deal with?

KA: Unless you have a specific injury or a disease, I think a lot of people don’t quite understand. I think a lot of people put arthritis in the same category. There’s a real difference from someone whose joints swell, that’s probably rheumatoid arthritis, than what I have. There are all these different levels and just like anything else in life unless you’re working in a certain place or in certain sport, or unless you’re diagnosed with something you really don’t start researching it until you have it, unless you’re a doctor. I became a lot more educated on this arthritis thing when I was diagnosed with it, but basically OA is a degenerative disease, which is definitely something that you’re not going to be able to stop because it’s going to be ongoing, but there are certain things you can do to slow down the progression.

The first day I was told that I had OA, I thought it was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me; I was done. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t run so my life was over. But because I’m a competitive person, I wasn’t going to let anything slow me down and I turned it around and made it a positive. Obviously it put me on a different path, which was cycling. Cycling is not impactful. Its just like when you are injured, have a knee surgery or something, there are so many things that you can still do, you just have to find that other passion that’s out there.

Some of the things that I have done is to take glucosamine chondroitin and go to yoga, which really opened up my hips. Because cycling is a repetitive front to back motion you never go side to side with your legs, the muscles and joints are really going to protect themselves when you have arthritis. So continually working on opening things up helps to alleviate pain.

I was Vioxx for a few years, until they took it off the market. Once they took it off the market I was determined to change the way I do things and live without prescription medication.


G: Racing against the likes of a Laura Van Gilder, do you envision yourself racing for another decade?

KA: Absolutely not. In fact, the longest you’ll see me is one more year. I’m still making my decision in the next few days on what path I’m going to take. What really makes me excited now is to continue to give back to the sport. At this point, I feel like I’ve reached all my goals. A goal I do want to attain is the World Championships in 2 weeks. I would love to end my European campaign with the World Championship stripes on my back. But everything else that I have in my mind right now is to continue working with and having my little camps for women cyclists. Giving specific time trial camps because I never had that when I was riding. What I’ve learned over the last 6 or 7 years, I would love to teach people. I still have a lot to share with people and especially within the US.

That’s how I get excited now. I feel like I’ve done everything I can, and what I wanted to do. I know that people like Laura and Tina [Pic] are having a great time racing their bikes and that’s important. I think its great for the US girls because now you have people like Brooke Miller and Kat Carroll coming up and winning. Tina and Laura have been role models within the peloton and they’ve brought these girls’ level up. Everyone wants to beat Tina or Laura in a sprint. So they are doing a lot for the sport itself by continuing to ride, but I just want to do it in a different way by putting on camps and maybe helping teams by teaching them how to race and race tactics. You know just being there where the sport needs me.

I also want to start a family too. Joe has always been there for me and he’s supportive of whatever I want to do, but there’s something about getting back to a normal life, which sounds really nice to me.

G: You’ve raced on different teams throughout the years, some which had a full or partial European schedule. What are the differences between racing in the US and abroad?

KA: There are three things that I think about right away. One is the technical aspect of racing on European streets. The streets are about a quarter of the size, so getting 200 girls on a small street becomes a lot about positioning whereas in America you’re on a highway. Sometimes you can move around whenever you want. If you want to move to the front you find a lane and move up to the front. That’s probably the hardest thing.

The second is when you’re going really fast and in crosswinds, like at Nature Valley, and you’re putting everyone in the gutter and you look back and there’s like 15 of you left, in Europe there are still 40 of you left. The depth is just amazing. In comparison, there are maybe 25 girls on one level and then you start having 25 girls on a different level in America. In Europe if there’s a race that starts with 200, definitely 175 of the girls are on the same level.

The other big difference cracks me up [laughs] when I race in America. When you’re racing in Europe you have an inch between handlebars. Racing in America, if you get within an inch of girl's handlebars they’re going to make a drastic move and come over on you. It’s very tight in the European peloton. If you were to stand, kind of like to stretch or something, in a European peloton, you’re going to hit somebody if you move your bike maybe like 2 inches. In America, people yell at you if you get in their little bubble. You always have to remember that if your wheel is in front, you have the right of way because if someone hits your wheel from behind, you’re going down. So number one is that you don’t want to cross any wheel in front of you in Europe because if someone stands up you’re going down, they’re not.

G: What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?

KA: Everyone knows I drink a lot of Diet Coke, so…I drink chocolate milk after races as my recovery drink, and you won't ever find me without a peanut butter sandwich in my bag at races or without a jar of peanut butter when I am heading to Europe.

G: Is it frustrating when people either introduce you or interview you and mention that you have no relation to Lance Armstrong or that you are not his former wife?

KA: Yeah it’s pretty funny because when I went on the Today show I still had those guys asking me. Now it’s become kind of a joke, and it’s not really an interview unless someone ask me the question. I was on a bike ride the other day and one of my buddies suggested that Lance and I go on the Jay Leno show to set the record straight. He thought that both of us could go together and someone from the Jay Leno show could dress up as the other Kristin Armstrong. Make it a funny little skit…its perfect timing.

To be honest, if I had to pick somebody to be related to in sport, who’s better than Lance Armstrong with what he’s done for the sport and with his cancer foundation?

It’s funny because when there’s something written about me in Velonews or Cyclingnews, the headline isn’t "the other" Armstrong; its Armstrong wins another race. With Lance in retirement, everyone I know goes to those sites because they think Lance is racing again. The media use it to their advantage as well, but I think it’s become a formality that you have to ask that question. One day I’ll have the opportunity to sit down with Lance and chat and laugh about it.

Kristin currently makes her home in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Joe Savola. She continues to give back to the sports that have given her such success. She is a dedicated swimming instructor and coach, serves as an ambassador to the YMCA of Boise, and tries to provide support and inspiration to the millions of Americans who suffer from arthritis.

Kristin was recently featured on the cover of Velonews and appeared on a special Oprah Winfrey Show filmed in Chicago’s famed Grant Park with approximately 150 other Olympians. The show aired on Monday, September 8th.

Photos: Courtesy of Kristin Armstrong (first, fifth); Leonard Basobas (second through fourth)