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