Top Rides, 1-5

Number 5- South Milwaukee Surprise.
Eric Young had shown some good form leading up to Superweek in mid July. However he took his racing to the next level by getting in the break of the day (with NUVO teammate Erik Hamilton) at the South Milwaukee circuit race. He rode the break strongly throughout, winning a prime and had enough in the legs for a podium finish behind the prolific Jonathan Cantwell. This was the start of Eric’s run of great rides that included Elk Grove, Gateway Cup and Indy State Crit champs all of which resulted in a place on the Bissell pro squad next SUMMER.


Number 4- Gutsy, broken but unbowed!
CvK and the Teter girls won the Little 5 but the women with the biggest target on her back was Caroline Brown. Everyone knew that she had to ride maybe 90 laps to have any chance at winning the race and many different strategies floated around how she was going to do this! Caroline lost the leaders early and often but fought back each time in gutsy fashion. The elastic finally snapped after the big Teter attack and she was lapped with about 20 laps to go. The race ended in disaster as Caroline was then crashed out, separated her shoulder. It was an ill-fitting end to a bold effort to retain Pi Phi’s title. Count them out in 2011 at your peril!

Number 3- FIJI take a lap
Men’s Little 500 was a true epic, the weather and the mid-race stoppage combined to make a fantastic spectacle for riders and viewers alike. However after early aggression by PDT and BKB, the Cutters essentially won the race twice in different ways. Firstly by taking the initiative before the stoppage and secondly by easily winning the final sprint. Unbeknowest to most, the real drama was unfolding a lap down where Fiji rode a fantastic race to take back the early lap they lost. If only they had continued to attack they might have taken the most unlikely and controversial victory in the races history. Taking a lap on this track is a supremely difficult effort even in these circumstances! Oh for the repercussions if they’d snuck away for the win!

Number 2- Sherer rocks ToAD
The increasingly fashionable Tour of America’s Dairyland was where Mike Sherer made his second big breakthrough of the year (a few days after Tour de Grove). In this arduous 10-day omnium Sherer finished 5th overall after battling various Pro squads throughout the event. Consistency was the name of the day and the overall result was a tale of two (double points) road races. At the Circuit America RR Sherer claimed 5th place to put himself in the leaders jersey. A few days later, with exhaustion setting in, he failed to place in the Greenbush RR that put paid for this overall chances. For the most part Sherer battled solo against better-represented teams and it will be interesting to see what he can achieve when he is the protected rider with Kelly Benefits.

Tour of America's Dairyland: Day 5 - Road To America from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

Number 1- Points Race Champ
IU Cycling and Eric Young already had had a great Collegiate track champs as the final event began, the Men’s Points race. Young was racing solo against a very strong Marian team (with three young PROs) but was absolutely undaunted as he completed dominated the event. He saw the danger of an early move, jumped across to it and then worked with 4 other guys to lap the field all the while taking the necessary points to assure himself of the win. Ever the champion, Young took the final sprint of the day to cap a great race where he single handedly took apart the best US collegiate racers.

Mars and Venus

Nothing too surprising here but certainly highlights a lesson needing to be learnt by Little 500 coaches. This video makes it clear that, even at the highest level, a Women's cycling team needs to be treated very differently from a Men's team.

Top Ten 'Rides' of 2010

This is my list of top ‘rides’ by Bloomington racers for 2010 (not races but 'rides within races'- if it was 'Top-Race' list then Mens L5 would win easily!) . Of course it is a little biased toward Little 500 and also the races I attended but there are a few outside of those parameters. As even I’ll have forgotten plenty so comment on any omissions or disagreement.

Number 10- The PDT Pincer
The 2010 Men’s Miss N’ Out was a seemingly straightforward win by PDTs Steve Sharp and also gave evidence that Phi Delta Theta were going to be a force in the 2010 Little 500 (they ultimately finished 2nd). My favorite moment came in the 2nd round where PDTs Chris West and Nick Sovinski were battling favored Adam Mercer (Psi Phi) for 2 places in the semi-final. Coming out of turn 4 on the final lap, Mercer was caught in the PDT pincer as West went wide and Sovinski undercut and eliminate the perplexed Phi Psi! It was a sweet move where teammates worked together to ensure their mutual qualification!

Number 9- 20.38
Ryan Shanahan is characterized by speed so we can become a little blase toward it. Regardless, the highlight of the evening Forest 10-mile TT in 2010 was Ryan’s 20.38 where he smashed the previous record by a huge 25sec. There were large number of participants this year and especially encouraging was the high number of female riders. However Shanahan remains a class above all-comers.

Number 8- CvK ‘Team’ Pursuit.
Caitlin Van Kooten was as dominant as any rider has ever been in Little 500 series events in 2010. This was demonstrated most completely in Team Pursuit where, in both qualification and in the final, she pulled her team the entire way to victory. Her teammates sat limpet-like on her wheel whilst CvK rode with metronomic consistency to crush all who challenged her. CvK topped the year off with a victory for Teter in L5 and it’d be a fool that bet against them again this year.

Number 7- USGP Top 11
At the moment, Ryan Knapp is in Belgium battling both the weather and the worlds very best cyclocross riders! Back at the start of the season, the first stop on the USGP circuit was in Madison WI, where Ryan got arguably his top result of the year. 11^th place against the Nations best as well as some of the top Euro’s was an indicator that Ryan was looking at his best season yet. Look for Ryan to build on his Euro experience next season!

Number 6- NRC Podium
Mike Sherer had a great road season and his first big breakthrough came in the NRC Tour de Grove in St Louis where in a torrential thunderstorm he won the bunch kick for the final spot on the podium. Joining him in 1^st and 2^nd were two PROs from Kelly Benefits, the team to which Mike has graduated in 2011.

Tour De Grove from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

Change coming to BVN.

With some sadness from me, change will be coming to your friendly local cycling forum. I'll be leaving town at the end of February for pastures old yet new.
I think BVN has turned into a great resource and therefore I'd like to see it continue onwards and upwards and I'll be looking to pass it on to ensure that occurs! At the moment my 'vision' would be to have a small group of people contributing information and opinion about all that is fantastic about the cycling community in Bloomington and the wider Midwest. If anyone has thoughts on it or wants to get involved then please email your ideas!

Collegiate Champs in the Midwest - time for IU to step up!

The championship schedule for 2011 events was released by USA Cycling yesterday and for the racers here at IU it is friendly reading. Three championship events will be held within a 6hr drive of IU so hopefully there'll be good IU representation in all events. Lets assess-
May 6-8 Road Nationals- Madison WI- The IU team has a real chance to make some good noise at this event. The 'A' squad will be rejuvenated after a down year in 2010. The Mens 'A' team of Young, Catanzaro, Shei, Dewart, West, Kiel et al should qualify with plenty to spare (even if Regionals are the same weekend as Little 500). Eric Young can beat any collegiate athlete in a sprint so if the team can focus on bringing him to the last 200m in good position, IU could land a road title or two. The Midwest season will offer perfect opportunity to practice these skills.
Track Champs- September 15-17th Indianapolis. After last years great success, IU should be able to put forward another strong team performance in this close-to-home event. We might lack the individual excellence of Eric Young in 2011 but as a team IU has the talent to compete for top 3 in the team omnium. There is racing ALL through the summer at Major Taylor Velodrome so get involved. If you want any further advice about track bikes or track racing contact me or Eric (egy@indiana.edu) or Chris West (westc@umail.iu.edu) who will help you out.
Cyclocross- Jan 4-8 2012 Madison WI. Cyclocross is huge in the US these days and the Midwest is a hotbed of action with an excellent autumn series. With Nationals just a shortish drive away I'd hope some IU students get interested in riding. It's a lot of fun and is an enormous help for Little 500- it keeps you fit through the winter and massively improves your bike handling skills. Of IU students, this year only the Kiel brothers and Ashton Wischmeier raced Cyclocross and the Kiels are graduating this year. If anyone is planning on getting involved and want some advice then please contact me, Ryan Kiel (rpkiel@umail.iu.edu) or Ashton (wischmeiera@gmail.com).
The ease of travel to these championship events gives IU an opportunity to be a real force in Collegiate Cycling. Little 500 develops the talent on campus, people just need to get out of their comfort zone and explore other avenues of competition!

Christmas Camp!

As I'm going to be in town all Christmas break I'm looking to kick start my 2011 riding by getting in some consistent steady miles. I'll be aiming to be at the Scholars Inn Bakehouse at Noon everyday from Friday onward to do 2-3hr of riding. All are welcome as it'll be steady going. Weather permitting, I probably won't ride if it's below 25F or if it's slick. Come on out and ride, it's better than riding the trainer!

Preliminary 2011 Road schedule

This is a preliminary schedule so don't take it as gospel. IN/KY 2011 Preliminary road schedule.

Something to train for...

As winter starts to bite the schedule for the wildly successful Indoor TT series at Marian University has been released! I expect a strong Bloomington contingent to put in some solid times! Maybe they should start a Little 5 division for riders to throw down an early marker!

From Marian coach Dean Peterson-
MARIAN INDOOR TT SERIES
Marian's indoor TT series powered by Zipp and SRAM starts in less than a month. We are working to register at least 100 people for each of the five days. Please join us and encourage your friends to do the same. Register here http://www.truesport.com/register/events/flyer.asp?ID=1389.
POWER BOOSTER
We have almost filled 6 Power Booster classes for the January 6 week session (we still have 4 slots open for M/W 6:15-7:15 a.m. class). As a result, we have added a lunch class that runs on T/Th 11:45-12:45. We have heard from some of you that this would work better in your schedules. If so, sign up here and share this information with your friends. http://www.truesport.com/register/events/marian/index.html
Last year the 6 week Power Booster session yielded an average 9% power increase across 54 participants. The classes are designed to boost your power, not by blowing your VO2 into overdrive in January, but by increasing your pedal stroke efficiency and working below and a little above your LT power so that you come into the spring with much better cycling specific fitness and have something to build upon through August.
Come join us for these classes and indoor TT's. If you have a group of 6-8 people that would like to arrange an alternative class time beyond those already offered, please email me directly to discuss this possibility.
Thanks for supporting Marian University Cycling!
Dean A. Peterson I Marian University
Teacher of Education I Cycling Coach
dpeterson@marian.edu

Knapp in Belgium!

Ryan Knapp is picking up his blogging pace as he settles into European way of life. There's lots of snow on mainland Europe at the moment, the ideal time to ride your first World Cup Cyclocross race on sunday! You can check out the racing on Cyclingfans.com, where they'll be links to relevant coverage- action starts at 8.30am ET. These are the biggest races in the world and it'll be cool to have a local representing the USA!
Patisserie (or whatever the Flemish word for it is!)

Rule Changes

With all the chat/BS about the Cat1/2 rule change below, it struck me that I have no clear idea how rule changes are made in Little 500? In recent times these rules have been attempted/ succeeded-
1. Current Cat1/2 rule (allowing Hans to ride in 2006). As I recall this came from Riders Council (of which Hans was a member..nice work Sir!)
2. Alumni Coach rule (banning them and starting student coaches). This seemed to come from high up in IUF and was nothing to do with IUSF. Obviously it was withdrawn at the last minute leaving a significant amount of egg of IUSFs face.
3. Women's Gear Change rule (changes Women's gear to 46*20 instead of the Mens 46*18). Not sure where this came from but if I recall it was Rob Rhamys idea (then race director- although I may be wrong about that).

Therefore I don't really know how rules are changed and wonder whether there should be a defined method of changing rules. I'm sure plenty of people have insight on this topic so please discuss.

cx nats

Visit cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

Biking Banker

Article on Chris Kroll in the HT Instride Magazine. Living the working life, eating well and competition!

NUVO cycling

Indianapolis racing team NUVO-Cultural Trail have a cocky press-release to announce their 2011 roster. It's pretty solid with additions Joe Kukolla, Drew Otte, Neal Forbes and Jeff Schroetlin. They will undoubtedly miss the Erik Hamilton (riding for Panther), Clayton Feldman (riding for Scholars Inn Bakehouse) and Eric Young (no-one seems to know who he is riding for....). Im gonna predict they WILL NOT win the Bloomington GP- to be renamed n 2011 as the Scholars Inn Bakehouse Cycling Festival.

All the news that's fit to print?

IDSnews keeping us up to date with the Cutters recovery
Cutters recovering and riding again!

corridor where?

Name that corridor!

Scholars Inn Bakehouse Team- join today!

Time is short for those people wishing to join the new team! There'll be VERY limited opportunities to join after Christmas as there'll be limited clothing available. The expertise and guidance that can be provided by experienced team-members can be invaluable in your development as a rider so if you're wanted to get involved with a exciting new project then navigate here to download the application form, either send it to the stated address or bring it over to me in MY359 on campus. If you have any questions then please ask. Big thanks to Aaron Pilling for putting the finishing touches on the almost-complete jersey/shorts.

RC

Big News! L5 Riders Council have their jackets in and they actually look pretty nice. Not long until they can impress the rookies with those jackets at rookie week. LEss than 10weeks until rookie week and a little over 4 months until Teter and Cutters win again.
Garmin-style
Try to guess whose jersey this is?

Graduation!

Word on the street is that soon-to-be returning Bloomington resident Mike Sherer has graduated from the Verizon Wireless to the legit Pro squad Kelly Benefits. They announced his name in this Cycling News press release so it's a done deal. With Guy East leaving the team I was worried that Bloomington would be without a Kelly Pro! Maybe we'll be a two-Pro town come the spring as well...... Exciting times and big congratulations to Mike!

Glencoe Grand Prix: Mike Sherer Gets His Win from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

OVCX Finale

See below the report written for OVCX from the weekend's races. Very strong performances from locals Ryan Kiel, Fred Rose, Liz Cobb and Adam Rodkey.
After 15 races in the OVCX schedule the overall results sees successful seasons by Fred Rose who won the 35+ series, Liz Cobb (2nd in 3/4women), Ryan Kiel (3rd in Cat3), Andy Messer (3rd 35+), Zach Edwards, Adam Rodkey, Eric Hamilton and Ryan Knapp (all in top ten Elite men). Nice work Bloomington dudes! What remains in the cross season is to watch USA nationals on cyclingdirt and keep up with Ryan Knapp's exciting trip to Belgium!

OVCX Weekend Finale
After a season of dirt tracks and dust, winter finally engulfed the OVCX series as it headed for the final weekend of action in Indianapolis. Saturday evening saw 6inches of snow fall on the inaugural venue at Fort Harrison on the east side of the city. This did predictable damage to the course so when the Cat4 towed the line at 10.30 their bikes were already covered in a sloppy mess of snow, dirt and ice. Conditions did not improve throughout the day which necessitated Elite riders having to rapidly remember their pit skills as bike changes every few laps was the order of the day. Sundays race was the Indiana State champs and OVCX series finale at the classic Brookside Park course featuring the 44 steps of pain! Conditions were colder but a little firmer under wheel but the entire weekend pleased those lovers of old school cyclocross who say ‘dirt helps the hurt’!
Mitchell Kersting (Bobs Red Mill) prevailed on both days in the Elite Mens race but his wins came in very different manners. Saturday saw Kersting attack from the gun and was solo for the entire hour. His team-mate Rob Kendall, Josh Johnson (DRT Consulting) and Drew Dillman (Redzone) battled for the lower steps on the podium before Dillman came out on top. The sloppy conditions will well prepare Dillman for his stint with the US Euro Camp in Belgium over Christmas. On Sunday Kersting bided his time in a lead group with Johnson and Kendall who alternatively applied the pressure on for the entire race. On the final lap Kersting made his move going shoulder to shoulder with Johnson at the top of the stairs to quickly claim a decisive margin. Youngster Johnson held on for 2nd and first Indiana rider ahead of Kendall, Weston Luzzader (NUVO) and Steve Swecker (Lindsey Wilson College).
Adam Rodkey at Ft Ben (photo by Chris Jones)
It was also a tale of two races in the Womens Elite race even though Nikki Dallaire (Alderfer Bergen) won out on both days of the weekend. On Saturday Amanda Virosko (Shamrock Cycles) had Dallaire on the ropes and facing a rare defeat when her seat-post snapped, forcing a disappointingly premature end to her race. Dallaire was then able to roll it in for the win ahead of Becca Finley (Marian University) and Bridget Donovan (Trek Bicycle Store). Normal service was resumed at Brookside where Dallaire took the hole–shot off the long concrete section and was never headed. Virosko was a very strong second finish demonstrating the strength that was thwarted by bad luck the day before. Finley finished third in her penultimate weekend as a Marian racer as she’ll head out to Bend next weekend for Collegiate Nationals.
The Elite Masters saw a dominant win for Fred Rose (Bikereg.com) on Saturday and a equally impressive ride by Eric Anderson (NUVO) on Sunday. Anderson avoided the worse conditions on Saturday so arrived fresh to do battle for the Indiana State title at Brookside and after riding with Eric Fagerberg (Papa Johns) for the opening couple of laps dispatched his rival by repeated accelerations on the deceptively tricky uphill asphalt section.
Arguably the most enduring battle of the weekend was between Ray Smith (Humana) and Jason Monk (Main Street Velo) in the Cat3 Open race. They were locked together throughout Saturdays race and after slip-sliding down the final treacherous descent Smith won a tight finale after Monk seemed under-geared or (as was common) had pedal issues in the sprint. Smith again prevailed on Sunday where he took the lead earlier in the final lap to have a more comfortably winning margin.
Other double weekend winners included Nolan McQueen (Cat 4), Cooper Ambjorn (Womens 3/4) and Nick Dietrich (Junior 17/18). A fun if chill weekend was enjoyed by all who participated and was a fitting send-off to another remarkably successful OVCX series!
Liz Cobb having fun (photo by Chris Jones)

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse

The roster for the Scholars Inn Bakehouse Team is rapidly forming but we are still encouraging Women, Cat3,4,5s to apply for the team! It's going to be an exciting year for racing and cycling development in the Bloomington bike community and we want all dedicated racers to be involved! On the Women's side we have budgeted for riders who commit to racing to receive some clothing and support with race entries up to a pre-set level. Similar will occur with selected Cat3 racers. Cat4 and CAt5 racers will have to opportunity for the usual discounted clothing (as will all categories) and the ability to upgrade to the Cat3 squad following sporting success! The rosters that we have are looking to be competitive in all race categories thus representing Bloomington and the Scholars Inn in the best possible manner!
Download the application form from the team website (in development) and return it by post or bring it over to me at Myers Hall 359. Deadline is December 15th so get on it!

VO2 Max testing

Dear cyclists,
My name is Christopher Beck and I am a Masters student in Exercise Physiology in the department of Kinesiology in the School of HPER. I am conducting a research study that requires the participation of trained cyclists, and would like to invite you to participate in a research project. The eligibility criteria for the study include being a trained, male cyclist between 18 – 30 years of age and with no existence of heart, respiratory, or kidney disease as determined by the completion of a standard medical questionnaire.
What is the study? There is evidence that glucose can restore performance during endurance events, yet not much research has been conducted on fatigue during repeated, high-intensity, short-duration cycling. Glucose ingestion has been shown to induce increased glycolytic enzyme activity and skeletal muscle acidocis. Many studies have tested endurance events, but this study aims to look at the effect of glucose during high-intensity cycling.

This study involves six visits, consisting of a VO2max test, a familiarization session and four visits consisting of three, 4-km time trials on a Veltron cycle ergometer that creates resistance and measures power. One visit will be a VO2max test, one will be a familiarization test (~30min/session) and four will be exercise sessions (~1.5hr/session) over a period of 5-6 weeks. You will be required to wear a heart rate monitor in order to collect heart rate during the study. Six blood samples of 5ml (1 teaspoon) totaling 30ml (6 teaspoons) will be collected during each of the four exercise sessions and 120ml (4 oz.) will be collected over the course of the study. Participants will schedule a day and time one week apart that they can test over the duration of the study. Scheduling will begin the first week of classes and will continue enrollment until all visit times are filled.

This research project is completely voluntary, and you can decide not to participate or withdraw from the study at any time. The benefits of participation in this study will be VO2max data, power data and 6 intense training sessions directly transferable to road cycling and Little 500. I appreciate you taking the time to consider participating in this study. If you would like more information then please do not hesitate to ask. Your participation in this study would be appreciated.
For more information, please contact Christopher Beck at cpbeck@indiana.edu or (812) 855-4632. If you know of anyone that maybe interested in participating please feel free to forward this e-mail to him.

Thank you,
Christopher

2011 L5 bike tease

Coming soon to a dusty bike room near you...

cross

Don't worry roadies and L5ers, cross season is almost over! Rookie week is in 10 weeks and all will be right it the Bloomington bike community.

Jingle Cross Sunday-2010 from Keith Walberg on Vimeo.

Indiana Cross Champs

The Indy cyclocross weekend is here culminating in the State Cross champs at the excellent Brookside Park venue on sunday. Saturday sees a new venue at Fort Harrison on the East side of Indy and there will seemingly be a fun day of racing with Indy car driver Tomas Scheckter as an official starter! Online reg has already closed but you should still come out and battle for the state champs!

B-line Trail

The B-line trail is growing with some rapidity and is now paved all the way to Winslow/ Country Club and is a pretty nice development! The impressive bridge crossing Grimes is all but finished as well giving bikers an easy route out of town to the south. Thanks to Bloomington Hospital as the primary sponsor. When added to the Clear Creek Trail, Bloomington has a good path network and will be developing it's own set of 'pathaletes' to challenge those on the Monon Trail in Indy!
Path- with side sandy portions to give a 'cyclocross' workout
Bridge to be finished
Golden Gate II?

Knapp on the up!

Ryan Knapp been performing well in cross races around the country that featured two UCI podiums in North Carolina two weekends ago.
This has resulted in a major step in his racing development with the announcement that Ryan will be joining the US Euro Cyclocross Camp in Belgian over the holidays. He'l be racing twice or thrice a week against the best in the world (Nys, Stybar et al) and getting his ass kicked all over the mud of those Flanders fields! However it'll be a fantastic experience that will hugely help Ryan's cyclocross development. My biggest surprise was that fresh-faced Knapp is 27yo! Shocker!!

Gravel Grovel recap

If you haven't ridden the Gravel Grovel then you should, that is all. It's a real fun event that can be taken as a race or a ride....I favored the former whilst sitting on the start line but after tackling the first gravel hill and getting spat out the back of the group I started to reassess my options. Around 60 riders hit the tricky Combs road section together but on the single track bike handling abilities sorted the wheat from the chaff. I was initially feeling good but as Combs road went on I kept drifting back as the 40+ riders barged their way past. On the first hill I was pleased that I rode most of it but on the downhill I had the brakes in a death grip and was passed by many many MTBers! It was more of the same until I emerged from Combs down in the lower half of the field. At that point my back was killing me and the legs felt heavy and was wondering whether I'd be able to finish! However after hooking up with JP (Krol) we established a steady tempo that in the early going meant we were past by more than we passed. However by the Tower-Ridge road turnaround the legs were feeling Ok and we rolled it pretty good for the remaining 40miles, picking off dudes who didn't take the time to feed where opportunities presented themselves. It was fun to ride it with a chum as an end of season challenge but it may be a while before I'm ready to race!
JP enjoying, GP in panic Up at the front of the race there was a solid group of guys who would not be out of place at the front of an NRC crit. Inaugural winner Jake Rytlewski rocked up on an MTB this year ('my cross bike is broken') but it didn't stop the Kenda Pro putting the hammer down in his usual style on the first hill.
At the Tower Road turnaround there was a group of approx 10 riders in the mix and it would seem from the pictures that the majority of the group stayed together until the return on Combs Road where Jake once again was putting on the pressure ahead of Dan Campbell (Panther), Chad B (Kenda), John Grant and Kevin Atkinson (Texas Roadhouse), 40+ winner Keith Lucas (Schellers) and Brian Gavette (ZIPP). Results and report are here and it seems the pressure from Jake told as he rode away for the victory ahead of Atkinson and Campbell.
The final attack? Ahead of Campbell, Atkinson, Lucas, Grant, Birdman, Gavette There was a family double in the single speed and Womens race where Jacob and Amanda Virosko prevailed.
Ride of the day must have come from Chris West who muscled his way around on his little 5 bike. Not sure how he did that, especially in much a good time- chapeau sir!
Photos by Debbie Baker

Celebrate Womens Little500

Seems like a pretty cool event and someone has been busy putting together a nice website.

Womens Little 500 Event and Facebook Page

Carbon fail

This didn't end well....
from http://www.fyxomatosis.com
where you can also find this fantastic page of photos of classic bikes and pretty girls. Ideal!

Scholars Inn Launch Photos

Check out photos of cyclists not in Spandex!

Gravel Grovel Recon

I rolled out to the Deam Wilderness to check out the Gravel Grovel course this AM. The gravel roads are in good shape and pretty easy to ride.
However when you hit 'Combs Road' things are a little different. It's no road I have even seem and is more like MTB single track. The outward uphill is just rideable on a cross bike and the following descent isn't too bad. The problem is there are logs and rocks all over the place so care is needed! On the way back after 50+miles the inward climb will be very tough to ride. The descent is particularly treacherous as it's all wet leaves covering logs/rocks. Erik Hamilton crashed whilst training the other day (separated shoulder) and I would expect more of the same on Saturday.
Combs 'Road'
Final climb is steep
Granted I have terrible form and am a -insert feline euphemism here- when riding off road but with a little extra rain the final descent will be real tricky! If I was too ride a Little 500 bike I'd lose more rubber off of my shoes than my tires as there's gonna be a LOT of walking!
BTW for an assesment of the 2009 race from the winner check out Jake's blog.

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse Launch Party

Last nights launch party at the Bakehouse was a great success with more than 50 people showing up to take advantage of Scholars Inn generosity (see IDS article here). There was real enthusiasm for the project and how the team might develop over the coming year. If you wish to join the team at any level then please fill out an application form that was be found here. We will soon be contacting further riders for the Elite squads and hope to finalize all the rosters by December 15th and get the clothing order submitted soon after that. Thanks again to all who attended.
Lyle Feigenbaum raises a glass to Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse
The atmosphere was jovial!
photos by Keri Malinowski

Cycling Artist

In a surprising move to me as in a world where art and sport don't often mix, local hardman Ryan Shanahan has a debut art show on friday evening between 5-8pm at the Blueline studio at the junction of Walnut and 6th. Check it out.

Gravel Grovel 2010

Saturday 27th November is the Gravel Grovel starting at the Story Inn. The organizers are expecting over 200 riders and there is NO day of registration so get on it. The organizers are also putting on a special deal for Little 500 riders-

GRAVEL GROVEL OFFERS LITTLE 500 SPECIAL

The Gravel Grovel, which is being held the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2010 at 10am, is pleased to announce a special deal for all IU Little 500 riders. Visit www.truesport.com and go to the Gravel Grovel registration page. There is a category up for Little 500 riders for the special low price of $5.00. You will race/ride along with the singlespeed division of the Gravel Grovel. You must ride a Little 5 bike (hand brakes will be allowed and are encouraged) and have your student ID with you when you pick up your number. If you can manage to finish the entire course, we will give you your $5.00 back. The money that is left from those that cannot finish the entire course will be given to the first Little 500 rider to complete the entire course. A reasonable cutoff time at the last time past the fire tower on Tower Ridge Road will be enforced for eligibility. Get your teammates, training partners, rivals, and new recruits together for this great opportunity to kick off your winter training in a truly epic way.

Here is a map of the route (which is 95% correct). Some details to follow from the organizer next week.

OVCX Domination

Big weekend for Bloomington at the OVCX race in Columbus last sunday. Results here but the Bloomington highlights-
Elite Men
1st- Ryan Knapp (Bikereg)
2nd- Erik Hamilton (Bikereg)

Masters
1st- Fred Rose (Bikereg)

Cat 3
1st- Matthew Kiel (Lily Gray Goat)
4th Ryan Kiel (Lily Gray Goat)

This coming weekend the OVCX goes all the way to Lexington but there are two localish races on saturday
Backyard Cross

Down the hill and to Grandmother's house we go! Cyclocross- Terra Haute

Gun Club

Artsy Gun Club cross...which weirdly is actual speed for yours-truly in the cat4 race!

Gun Club CX from Doug Carraway on Vimeo.

IUCC Clothing Sale

IUCC want to gain some revenue for the upcoming road and track seasons by selling the old inventory. We have items from the past three designs with a variety of items available that are shown below. The LS jerseys from last year are fleece lined and could definitely be wore to race in the spring. Category A riders cannot wear these items in races (they have to where 2011 design) but all other categories can race in jerseys from any year. Anyone who wishes to buy an item need email me at geraint.parry75@gmail.com and I will tell you how we’ll do it. I will also deal with people ordering from outside of Bloomington and will add estimated postage to your order. Please read the information below to avoid stupid questions.

All styles/designs have the same price.
SS Jersey- $25
LS Jersey- $35
Shorts- $25
Vest- $15
Indiana Cycling T-shirt- $5
Gloves- $5

What’s available-

T-shirts- LOTS
Gloves- LOTS

White design
SS Jersey- 9 XL, 11 XXL
Shorts (not bib)- 1 XS, 2 L, 5 XL

Dark Red design
LS Jersey- 2 S, 3M
Bibshorts- 2 XL
Vest- 3 XS, 4 S
Light Red Design
LS Jersey (fleece)- 12 M, 5 L
Vest- 1XS

Iceman

This is pretty cool from the Iceman MTB race over the weekend where ex-bloomingtonite Issac Neff took a solid 15th place. It really does look like a crit the whole time- hard work!
IceMan Video

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse Launch Party

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse will be having launch party on Wednesday November 17th at 8pm at the Scholars Inn Bakehouse (125 N College Ave). Further details of the team can be found here. In short we are putting together a small elite team, a slightly larger Cat 3 squad and will welcome as many Women and Cat4/5 riders who are willing to dedicate themselves to racing and representing the team in an respectable appropriate manner.
Therefore we would like to invite people to hear our vision for the team and meet similarly minded individuals. If you want to attend then please contact a member of the leadership team and we will put you on the guest list.

Yours,
Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse

Lyle Feigenbaum k.feigenbaum@comcast.net
Tom Saccone sacconetom@yahoo.com
Geraint Parry geraint.parry75@gmail.com
Aaron Pilling adpilling@gmail.com

IUCC rides

Friday slow social ride at 3.30pm from Sample Gates.
Sunday 10am from Sample Gates. This is for both sexes and will split into guys and gals out on the road. This is intended to be a quality training ride so if you get dropped make sure you know the way home. For details contact Rachel (refullme@indiana.edu) or Ren-jay (reshei@umail.iu.edu).

Abuse of a blog

So I'm gonna ask a favor for you readers out there. Please go to

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=10100326643196279&oid=38574956052

and 'like' the video. Thanks!

Gun Club II

Registration for the Gun Club closes tonight at 11:59 p.m.
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=11872

For those of you who have never come to this race before, the Gun Club is located on the east side of Cincinnati just off I-275. There is a gas station at the exit with easy on and off access. If you want to go off site to warm up for your race the Gun Club is only about a mile from the Little Miami Bike Trail. Simply ride out to Wards Corner Rd., turn right, then go about 400 meters to the trail.

30+ people rode the new course last night to great review. A new section features a short bridge crossing then the "riders choice" where you can choose to go low and through the creek, or high with a technical turn then quickly crossing the creek perpendicularly. We plan to have the course set, taped, and open to ride early Saturday afternoon. Probably worth a look if you can make it out to preview the new section. The course is a departure from the grass tracks we've had for the past few weekends. It is a mix of technical and power with sand, gravel, and soft ground. Laps are approximately 1.7 miles. Young Juniors (10-12) and Tan-dumbs will do an abbreviated course with lower barriers.

Cooking has already begun. New this year are breakfast items including muffins, breakfast burritos, pumpkin bread, and of course coffee. Lunch will feature all of your grill favorites with some vegetarian selection as well, pasta salad, a few kinds of chili, and snack foods.

We are at 200+ preregistered and will probably get 50 more between now and race day. Parking is tight but manageable. Please follow the instructions of our parking crew so we can all get in and park efficiently.

We've got timing chips, Geraint Parry on the mic, a marching band, a $500 mid-day Montgomery Cyclery raffle, product sampling from Vitamin Water, great merchandise prizes for all non-cash categories with product from Enzo's ButtonHole, Kenda Tires, Pearl Izumi, DeFeet socks, and Montgomery Cyclery, an "everybody gets a prize" kids race/ride at 12:50 p.m. plus those famous 20 gauge shotgun starts.

Make sure to double check the schedule to confirm when you race and set your clock back 1 hour Saturday night - Daylight Savings Time ends!!

I do appreciate the time, money, and dedication it takes to come and race these things so thank you in advance. Find me day of if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on how to make it a better experience for you.

See you on Sunday,

John Gatch
cell - 513.659.8041

Gun Club Cross- Sun 7th Nov.

The most fun you can have a a cross race. Shotgun start, drumline, beer vendor, home-made food and bike racing. Register before tomorrow evening on BikeReg.

Podium For Real

Ryan Knapp (Bikereg.com) snagged his first UCI podium last week out east at Beacon cross...and I'm talking about a legit top 3 finish not one of those 'everyones-a-winner-5-person-podiums-. Nice work by Knapp who had a bit of bad luck in the recent UCI events in Cincy and Louisville but is now clearly coming round to form as the cross season enters its final month. Race Report from Podium Insight and podium picture from Cyclingnews.com

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse

Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse supported by Team Tortuga will hit the roads of the Midwest in 2011 with the aim of excellence in performance and community involvement. Owner of the Scholars Inn properties, Lyle Feigenbaum, has pledged to support the new team, which will be administered by the well-established organization skills of Team Tortuga. Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse will have the goal of not only being competitive in all disciplines of cycling but importantly placing themselves in a central position in the vibrant local cycling community. Feigenbaum states that ‘we aim to place this team at the center of the Bloomington cycling community, using it as a vehicle to bring businesses, charities and individuals to support all the fantastic benefits that cycling can bring’. Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse has already began to develope a relationship with the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington that will lead to squad members supporting different BGC events.

The centerpiece of the road cycling season in Bloomington will be the re-titled ‘Scholars Inn Bakehouse Cycling Festival’ that will occur in high summer on Kirkwood Avenue, combining top quality criteriums, kids events and a race expo.

Details of the composition of Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse are still to be determined but they expect to support an invited small team of Elite Category 2 racers as well as a slightly larger invited squad of Intermediate Category 3 riders. In addition we will develop a Women’s Squad (primarily supported by the Oliver Winery) as well as encouraging applications from Category 4 and 5 riders who wish to represent the team in a professional manner as they aim to rise up through the categories by working together to achieve TEAM success.

Look out for an announcement of a ‘Press-Release-Party’ to introduce ‘Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse’ to the community. Riders and supporters of interest will receive invitations but the event will be open to everyone who has a serious ambition to race for the team. It’ll be a great time!

MWCCC and OVCX

Totally forgot about this but it's the Regional Collegiate Cyclocross champs tomorrow in Purdue. There's a good chance that Ryan Kiel might come home with the W in Mens A as has been riding well as season. His main competition will likely come from Marian (surprise) or Lindsey Wilson who also have some good guys. There is an open event as well later in the afternoon. The OVCX is back in Lousiville this weekend and likely be the first race in a while without any National calibur riders in attendance. Expect Erik Hamilton to defend his high overall position in the Elite Mens event.

Race across the Sky 2010

Coming the AMC East side on thursday 4th Nov at 8.30pm. It's a little steep at $12.50 but probably worth the money. Go see Levi smash Lance's time into the dirt. TdF finisher > Best US Marathon MTBer. Also look out for Zach Trogdon throwing down for Bloomington!

Race Across The Sky 2010 from Citizen Pictures on Vimeo.

IUCC Call Out Meeting

This Thursday at 7pm at Wilcox House. Come and hear what the plans are for the coming year. President Rachel (Fullmer) has been working hard to put things in position so that the team is registered with IU and ready to order clothing as soon as possible. See you there.

Fall series

Results are here. I didn't see anything but the cyclocarnage so others are better qualified to judge what went on and hopefully that can be reflected in the comments. It appears CRU cycling have quite the young phenom in Kris Zee who won Street Sprints and strongly contributed to the 2nd place finish in the cyclocross. Could there be a new rising power in L5, powered by HIM upstairs? Climb Trial winner Rex Rafferty has clearly been training hard over the summer but will be ineligible for BKB in 2011 as he is a transfer from Air Force.
No surprise on the ladies side with Teter, DG and Wing-it looking good. The DG-Kelseys inparticular showed some good balliness after Kelsey P broke a chain and crashed to the track hard. Kelsey K raced to Wilcox, picked up a new bike and got back in the game! Good work!
That's all I have....

j-pow

J-Pow is the nicest guy in bike racing and it's all genuine. Nice beer handup by a soon to be lapped dude at the 9m00 mark. Frankly the course at Gloucester looks like a pos compared to the UCI3 or Bloomingcross!

"Behind The Barriers" Episode 4 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

Fall Series Crazy

The IUSF website now has PDFs for all the weekends event and there are a ton of riders competing! Good for the health of the race.
All the strongest ladies teams are repping (even Kappa) and I'd wager my money on Balchan, Dickman and (of course) CvK competing for the Ws. No Cutters, PDTs or FIJIs on the Mens side of the docket but GGC, BKB, DTD and Sigchiwoegler have strong representation out there. Coudright and Dewart will battle it out for the Sprints, Morrow and Half for the Climb TT and the Cyclocross- Half and Kiel for GGC will win. As ever I enjoy getting it all wrong.

USGP this weekend

If you go and watch 1 cyclocross race this year then take a trip to Louisville on Saturday to check out the USGP C1 race. Best guys and gals in the country and some of the some highly ranked riders in the world atm (Ryan Knapp at 58th!!). The race is at the made for cyclocross Eva Bandman Park. I'll be driving done to watch the afternoon races if anyone wishes to come down.
The Course on the river in Lville

CX Worlds

5.30pm at the Tailgate fields.

Any other group rides going on on Wednesday? Let us know.

Bloomingcross report/ Vid

Report on Podium Insight

Bloomingcross 2010 from CinéCinnati on Vimeo.

Fall Cycling Series

Register on the IUSF website. It's coming up this weekend and is the true test of autumnal form! An added wrinkle this year is that the winning team ca choose their qual time next spring- I like the innovation!

The details-

Street Sprints - Friday, October 22, N Jordan Ave 3-6pm
To determine the fastest male and female Little 500 rider on campus, students will drag race 200 meters down Jordan Ave. The Street Sprints are set up in a tournament style bracket format with the fastest riders moving on until only one remains the champion.

Climb Trial - Sunday, October 24, Bill Armstrong Stadium 9am-1pm
Riders Council has designed a new event for the Fall Cycling Series that combines an uphill time trial with a 2 lap time trial on the track - all to be ridden on a Little 500 bike.

Cyclocross - Sunday, October 24, Bill Armstrong Stadium 3:30 W/4:30 M
What is commonly referred to as an obstacle course on bikes, cyclocross is made even more interesting with a Little 500 spin. Hay bales, stairs, and obstacles are combined with this two person relay event on and around the Little 500 track.

Race, ride out, spectate, drink a beer

Bloomingcross is tomorrow. Schedule of events is here. Come on out to race OR call in on the way home from a ride OR come spectate and grab some food and a beer from the 'Big Woods Brewing'. Will be a great day for it. Elite races start at 2.20pm.

View Larger Map

BloomingCross

Sign up online TODAY!!

Retro-Styling

Aaron Hubbell has some brand new but retro NUVO-Bacardi kit for sale for anyone looking for some cheap good quality clothing.
He will have all these items at the Bloomingcross race this Sunday if anyone is interested in purchasing:

Castelli Bacardi jerseys, all size S, mix of new and used, $20 - $30 each
Castelli Bacardi skinsuits, all size M, mix of new and used, $25 - $40 each
Castelli Bacardi armwarmers, M and L, all new, $10 each

Champion NUVO-Cultural Trail jerseys, all M, all new, $30 each
Champion NUVO-Cultural Trail skinsuits, all M, all new, $40 each
Champion NUVO-Cultural Trail tech polo, all M, all new, $15 each

You can contact him at hubbell3@gmail.com

Picture of Sweet Sonne riding the NUVO-Bacardi kit in question

Media on the crash

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=77652

Channel 13 News story

Video Link

Cutter Eric seriously injured (but not that one)

It hasn't rained in Bloomington in forever, the roads are oily and todays rain brought down lots of leaves. A team of four Little 5ers were very unfortunately hit by a car riding on south 446 north of the lake. They happened to be Cutters and the social media has gone a little haywire! Eric Brodell, one of the their rookies (who already has a pet name- Skeeter) has suffered a serious leg injury while Eric Young and Michael Schroeder were hit but not seriously hurt. The HT has the developing story. I have no knowledge more than that but it appears a consequence of (maybe) driving too fast on slick roads and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The comments on the HT article indicate that plenty of people have noticed that the roads were dangerous today. I hope everyone gets well soon as I would do if it were the 'Cutters' or 'Hoosier Climber' and this story makes everyone slow down just a touch.
Photos below from the HT- thanks to Tom Schwoegler for sending them.
Personal experience says that if you hit a car make sure that it never gets driven again.

Sad Scene

Bike shop challenge- who can fix it?