Spooky Cross

Halloween ushers in the start of Midwest Collegiate CX racing and there might be some scarily bad bike-handling at Spooky Cross in West Lafayette over the weekend! Saturday has a full slate of collegiate and USAC racing whilst Sunday just has collegiate races. Start your build up to Collegiate Nationals here!! There are a lot of cross bikes buzzing around Bloomington so hopefully some IU riders will ride them in anger this weekend!

The Gun Club!

Arguably the most fun OVCX race of the season takes place on sunday in Cincinnati! The Gun club Cross has it all- a challenging course, shotguns, beer and a double sand pit! Register online before 11.45p this evening. It'll be the ideal way to blow out the Halloween-night cobwebs!

Cross News

CX Wednesday Worlds- It'll be a soggy one at the tailgate fields so hopefully the rain has washed away the glass in the grass! 5.30pm at the Gates, 6pm at the Tailgate Fields.

USGP- A small group of Bloomington riders made the trip away from the Hilly to the big CX races saturday and sunday in Louisville. Andy Messer and Fred Rose put up strong showings in the Masters race, Scott Catanzaro and Ryan Preske continued to improve in the cat 4s whilst the Kiel brothers continue to find their form for Collegiate CX in the Cat2/3 races. The biggest surprise that Erik Hamilton only won ONE race at the weekend! I can only imagine a mechanical issue stopped Erik following up his saturday Cat 2/3win in the sunday race!

@BloomingtonRide

From Ren-jay-
There is a new Bloomington Ride Twitter! This is a resource for people to
find rides to go on, hopefully every day of the week. It's BloomingtonRide (link is
http://twitter.com/BloomingtonRide) and we'll be using it to post ride info. Furthermore Riders Council finalized a fall riding schedule with Rookie Rides leaving Mon/Wed at 12:15pm,
Tuesday at 12:00pm (noon) and Thursday at 12:30pm all leaving from the Wilcox House. Matt Neibler has agreed to lead a Wednesday ride (IUCC) that will be a fast paced group ride (similar to Wed. Worlds) leaving from Sample Gates at 4:00pm. There is also an IUCC Social Ride Fridays at 3:30pm from Sample Gates and a Sunday group ride at 12:00pm (noon) from Sample Gates.

Fall Classic

The Tour of Lombardy may be past but with the later date, chill temperatures and potentially slick roads the upcoming Hilly Hundred may take on the stature of a Fall Classic. Therefore as a primer for those heading out we'll take a peek inside the Tortuga Team Car and hear the advice the riders will be receiving as they head out on the road.
A- Pay Attention in the Feed Zone. The course to this point is pretty vanilla so there will be a big group together. This is a real danger zone with recumbulators stopping in the middle of the road and newly beclipped riders falling over. The ride can't be won here but it can be lost, pay attention of errant riders and surprise attacks.
B- Solisberry Hill, stay left. The first major rendezvous and the winning break often will slip away here (as it did last year with Rose, Palmer and others). Beware of Joe Slows tipping over so stay left for safety!
C- The 5 bitches. The hardest portion of the ride with relentless climbing. Sit in the wheels and save energy.
D- Lunch. Usually a lull in the action but some riders might make like Lance-at-Leadville move and cruise through the stop so be vigilant.
E- Cemetery Hill. After a long portion of rollers the tight turn into a steepish uphill can cause havoc to tired riders. The constant false flats following the initial ramp can sting!
F- Watertower hill- the launch pad. Just 2 miles from the finish this is the classic attack point. Go hard at the base to get away solo or attack over the top to prise a small group away to contest the finish
G- Finishing drag. A fast drop off the water tower turns into a long grind up toward the school. Don't jump too early and leave your effort on the road.
Gilbert giving his impression on your author on the Watertower...maybe!

Hilly Hundred

This weekend is the annual clown-show that is the Hilly Hundred! 1000s of riders rolling on weird and wonderful bikes around the roads us Bloomingtonites ride on all the time! From PROs to Joe Slows (on a recumbent) all forms of cycling-life take part!
Last year a huge group rolled out from Bloomington both mornings and it'd be great to do that again. Therefore after a few consultations the plan appears to be to meet at Soma at 9am on both mornings before riding out to intercept the route after which people can find their own pace! The weather will be a little chill but as ever it'll be a fun time!

Cross Wednesday Worlds

5.30p at the Sample Gates, prepare to return to the tailgate fields! Should be fun!

Tuesday ride- 4pm

I'm going to roll out at 4pm to ride out east to Helmsberg then loop back to North shore via a couple of dirt road climbs that I haven't ridden before. I'll be leaving at 4pm from the Samples Gates so email me if you want to join. Expect 2.5hrs at a steady pace- Geraint.

Cyclocross Clinic- 10/22

If you a cyclocross rider of any ability and want to get better then you need to go to this clinic at the MTV velodrome on Thursday 22nd Oct. Two of the nations best CX riders will be giving out tips and they are both great guys so I'm sure it'll be a very useful event.

Race across the Sky

The documentary about the Leadville 100 MTB race is coming to Bloomington on Thursday 22nd at 8pm and is showing at the Kerasotes East theatre. I'm sure it'll be a fun event and for sure will be a big Lance love-in (I guess there won't be much doping talk) so if you like the sound of that then go along. Details here.

Cyclefit

From Randi Cox-

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be teaching an eight-week CycleFit class called Little 500 Power Training. It begins tomorrow and goes ever Tuesday from 6:45pm to 7:45pm.

The spin bikes at the SRSC have cadence, power, and heart rate, all great tools for getting the best workout possible. This class would be beneficial to students training for Little5 and for anyone who takes riding seriously.

Here is the schedule and more information... http://www.iurecsports.org/cycle_fit_fall . If you’re interested, stop by the Member Services Desk at the SRSC to sign up. Please email me at randikcox@gmail.com or call Member Services at 855-7772 if you have any questions

BloomingCross

Great day of racing out at Twin Lakes. Could have used a few more spectators but I suppose it was the day after homecoming, a successful football game and Little 500 teams had some 16mph riding to do! Ryan Kiel played the role of IUCC President by being the sole IU representative at the races. Thanks to Ryan and Andy for all their hard work organizing the event.
Truesport Race report
BVN race report-
The inaugural BloomingCross cyclo-cross race was held in near perfect autumnal conditions at the Twin Lakes Sports Complex in Bloomington on Sunday 18th October. The race also marked the first event in the fall-long Indiana Cyclo-cross series. Racing continued from mid-morning to late-afternoon with a series of categorized races in which Cat 4 racers represent beginners while Cat 1 racers are experienced national caliber performers. The early races were dominated by the Louisville-based junior Red Zone team with Andrew Dillman, Luke Haley and John Francisco winning the Category 3, Cat 4 and Junior races respectively. Later in the morning Pam Loebig, local resident and Little 500 race director, prevailed in the Womens Category 3/4 race. Adam Rodkey continued his recent strong performances with a solid 3rd place in the Cat3 race. Ryan Shanahan took off the TT-helmet and rolled almost bare-chested to a victory in the Cat 4 masters race!
Pam on the way to victory
The morning dew had burnt off as the Elite riders took to the course with first blood in these highly competitive races going to Bloomington resident Fred Rose who was the Elite Masters champion. One of the title sponsors for BloomingCross is the Direct Result Training (DRT) coaching service and so it was appropriate that one of the DRT sponsored riders, Nicole Borem was the victor in the Elite Womens race. She got the better of Cincinnati based Amanda Mackey who was one of the many racers who traveled to Bloomington from across state lines.
The final event of the day was elite men’s race that played out as a battle between two riders with differing cyclo-cross pedigrees. Experienced Mitchell Kersting (Bob Red Mill) took an early lead and although never headed was pushed throughout the race by cyclo-cross neophyte Erik Hamilton. Erik, who rides for the NUVO-Cultural Trail Team, is a growing talent for whom a big win is surely just around the corner! Local DRT racers Andy Messer and Zach Edwards both finished within the top ten.
Zach Edwards sprinting at the start of the Cat1/2 race.
Andy Messer rolled in 7th
Hamilton tearing it up for 2nd!

Bloomington Tweeters

So BVN is finally trying to put together a list of Bloomington bike tweeters so if you ride and tweet and let me know and @bloomingtonvelo will follow you. We're all about the bike community here! Remember to come on out to the OVCX race on Sunday, it'll be a blast. BTW am trying to work out a forum function for the blog.

OVCX Bloomington- Sunday 18th.

Cross Wednesday Worlds will head over to the Twin lakes Complex on 2nd street to further bed in the route. 5.30p at the Samples Gates.

Sunday is the Ohio Valley Cyclocross race in Bloomington. This is a BIG event with likely 300+ riders coming into town to race CX. Please come out to race or spectate or even better to help out with the event. If you can help out with set-up or marshaling I'm sure organizers Andy Messer and Ryan Knapp will be pleased to hear from you at bloomingcross@gmail.com. Pre-registration ends on friday evening at 10pm and will save you $10. Race Flyer here.

True Hilly Hundred- Oct 17th

This coming Saturday (17th) is the True Hilly Hundred, a 100mile ride organized by Kenda pro Jake Rytlewski. This is an awesome ride that takes in many gravel roads in Morgan, Monroe and Brown county that you don't know are there! It's super hilly but run off at a steady pace with regroupings. We plan to leave Soma in Bloomington at 10.30am to meet up with Jake and the guys who start from Martinsville at the top of the Hindustan hill. Last year we cut out early for about 90miles and as the route is always no more than 20miles from Bloomington people can cut out early if they are feeling the distance. Come on out and ride as it's a really fun time- btw bring at least 2 tubes. Email me for further details.

Who's next?

So bad luck happens in 3s and in the spring that was certainly the case when Cox, Meyers and Shei all broke collarbones. So the question now is who's next? After riding really well all weekend at the UCI3 series of CX races both Mike Sherer and Ryan Knapp broke collarbones within 30minutes of each other! Sherer hit a barrier and went down whilst Knapp wrecked in the final sprint. He did get off the floor and finish the race in a Daryl Impey-esque moment but it was a really disappointing end to a great weekend of CX for Bloomington residents (see Truesport for details). Caitlin Coar caught the moment of impact and the aftermath of Ryan's wreck.

Track Results

BVN wasn't present so doesn't have much to add about the 'Day at the Track' aside from mentioning the the results for the cyclocross and time trials (Men, Womens) are posted.

It's a shame that Scott Catanzaro is a grad student because he would be the man to lift Delta-Chi back to relevance! If anyone has any insight then please comment below.

Day at the Track

Sunday sees the conclusion of the IUSF Fall Cycling series with the 'Day at the track' featuring morning Cyclocross and an afternoon 10 lap TT of the track! It really should be a great day for spectating. Look for teams to put down some significant early markers, especially in the time trial.
Street Sprint Results are published here.

The Breakdown

Wanna ride up to 100miles on the (sure to be sloppy) trails of Brown county this sunday? Well check out the Brown County Breakdown!

Bike Time Midwest Cross

The OVCX gets big time this coming weekend with the UCI3 series of cyclocross races in Cincinnati this friday to sunday. Over 1100 riders are registered so it'll be a huge weekend of racing. Each day has a C2 UCI race with plenty of sort-after UCI points on offer. The best CX women in the world, Katie Compton will be riding whilst Jeremy Powers and Ryan Trebon headline the Mens event. There'll be plenty of Bloomington interest so look out for Knapp, Sherer, Neff, Messer, Hamilton, Rose and Rodkey,amongst others to look for success against high quality fields. BVN will be announcing each days races and giving Bloomington-centric updates on the poorly used twitter feed. Sign up today- www.twitter.com/bloomingtonvelo

Cross Wednesday Worlds

It's the only Worlds in town these days! 5.30pm at the Gates and then out at the Twin Lakes complex to help bed in the OVCX race route!

Rose (left) and Rodkey get at it. Photo- Brian Drummy

Street Sprints

The first leg of the fall cycling series was held in beautiful autumnal conditions. Battling over a challenging uphill course the sprints failed to generate much excitement amongst the few gathered spectators. This was likely due to the clear superiority of the eventually winners, Matt Neilber (DTD) and Caithlin Van Kooten (Teter). New DTD pledge and ex-TMTer James Coudright huffed, puffed and looked good giving Neibler a run for his money that bodes well for the reloading of last years L5 second place team. Highlight of the day were some of the clothing options with Adam Bailey (JJs) rocking the tri-suit and an unknown rider (to me at least) riding in denim and progressing well through the bracket! That guy needs to get with a team and some shorts! Neibler is clearly in great form and it would have been interesting if the watching Eric Young had been riding inside of spectating!
Results to follow when they get published!

IUDM Torch Ride- Oct 10th

From Erin Axley- Ride from Indianapolis to Bloomington For the Kids this Saturday, October 10! Transportation to Indianapolis for you and your bike is provided, along with lunch . This ride is sponsored by Indiana University Dance Marathon and benefits Riley Hospital for Children. This is a fun social ride that goes toward a great cause. Register here: www.helpmakemiracles.org/event/torchride
We will be leaving Bloomington at 7:00am and the start
of the ride is at 9:00am. We will be using this route to make our way back down
to Bloomington: http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=550125242069063427.
The cost for participation will be $30, which includes lunch.
If you have any questions please e-mail Erin Axley at eaxley@indiana.edu.

FYI this is a great fun ride and this year the route is going to be intersting to ride- last year it was a little chaotic riding along SR135 with 5miles of cars backed up behind the riders!

Bton Domination

The OVCX #2 was again a showing of how dominant the Bloomington Cross scene has become. Wins and top positions were as common as L5 race-faces. World ranked No62 rider Ryan Knapp (BikeReg.com) took it down to the local level to take the win in the Cat1/2 race whilst Erik Hamilton had an eventful yet successful first attempt at cross. His excellent form from the road season has clearly carried over to the dirt. Andy Messer finished just ahead of Erik in 5th place. Elsewhere Fred Rose (BikeReg.com) took the V in the master 35+ race. Adam Rodkey jumped on the podium in the Cat3 race, even though i think he looks better in blue and green! Adam's teammate Wes Harris took a solid 4th in the Cat4 45+ race whilst in her first cross race Lauren Half came in 5th in the Cat 3/ 4 race, learning to go hard away from the L5 track (perhaps more students should be lacing them up and racing some cross!).

Fred Rose giving it the full gas (photo- Tom Moran)

Elsewhere, in Dekalb IL Mike Sherer took his third win of the year whilst Pam Loebig snared another top 5 position in the Womens 1/2/3 race. Things are bubbling up nicely for a big showdown in the BloomingCross OVCX race on Oct 18th!

OVCX #2

Round two of the OVCX series takes place on Sunday in at Fishermans Park in Louisville. Apparently it's a hill course and sounds like they have a fun event. Look for plenty of Bloomingtonites to make some noise in the Pro1/2, Masters, Cat 3 and womens races! Details here!

WW- finale

Six laps of the 446 circuit was all that remained at the years end of the WWs! It was almost laps too far for young Matt Neibler as he almost got splatted by a 60mph boy-racer out on 446. Fortunately that was the only worrisome moment as the rest of the group kept it safe throughout and I only had to shout at a couple of people to ‘pull through’ instead of sitting limpet-like in 2nd wheel.
After a steady warm up pace-line lap the speed picked up to leave about 15 riders in contention for the ‘win’. Apologies for missing anyone but riders Mercer, O’ Hara, Neibler, Naegeli, Quay, Bortz, Templeman, Golas, and mighty Team Phi Delt (Burnworth, West, Kain, Sovinski, Blackwell) kept the pace pretty high with no breaks able to squeeze away from the group. On the final lap over the top of the ‘rise’ a promising duo of Templeman and Golas snuck away. The rest of the group was waiting and watching allowing Naegeli to jump across to make a trio up front with a few seconds lead going into the top corner. The impetus of the break was compromised when Templeman decided he’d had enough and turned for home! Naegeli tried to go it along but was run down with a few turns to go. There was some confusion before Team PDT took the reins with Burnworth tapping the hip taking Kain and West toward the front. Finally it was a drag race between Mercer and West with the Phi Psi Mercer taking the win. Look for West to get some revenge on Monday at the street sprints! It was a satisfying end to the year’s efforts so we’ll see you all next year the week or so after daylight saving starts!

Toughest Ride in the Midwest?

That's what they say over at the Brown County Hills Challenge. It's on Saturday in Nashville so go and check it out. BVN rode it once and it was cramp-tastic second time up Bear-Wallow after 96 miles! Ouch!

MWCCC MTB

The Midwest Collegiate MTB season has been bubbling under through the fall with not much interest to us folks in Bloomington. It's the Midwest Regionals Champs this weekend over in Columbia MO. The IU flag has been flown by new IU student Emily Benson who has placed well and even won a couple of races in Purdue a few weeks ago. Good luck to Emily out in MO and maybe some other people might be motivated to make the trip!

Bike for Sale

These are two killer deals from Myron Lewis, a rider for Team Tortuga. Contact him at mlewis@tm.net

1. I am selling my TT bike that is in excellent condition and am unloading for $1,250. I also have a TT helmet that I will include for an extra $100. Specialized Transition Comp Tie trial bike with Vision TT Bars, Specialized TT seat, Thompson seat post, Shimano Ultegra breaks, Shimano Ultegra front detailer, Shimano Dura-ace (DA) shifters, DA 11-23 cassette, DA rear detailer and DA TT crank with 54/42 chain rings-175 length for more power and speed. The wheels are Mavic Cosmic Elite (high profile rim), continental tires. Frame size is a 56 so is a good fit for a rider 5'9--6'1". This bike could be pieced out for a profit. It would also be a great deal for someone interested in picking up some time.
2. I am also selling my 2007 Zipp 404s for $1,500 with tires, wheel bag, Dura-ace cassette (11-25) and an extra tubular tire. Great Deal.