cute.

Some would argue L5-fluff pieces and gossip could have truly blown this blog up. Well for all those folks, see this little story in the IDS....It DOES have a bike in the picture #slownewstime By the way if anyone new wants to contribute to this blog please let me know. All welcome and fresh ideas needed!

GG

Best/ worst/ certainly most fun race of the year is this Saturday! Yes the Gravel Grovel!
New start point this year but looking at the map the out-and-back crazy section to Story is still in play and looks like there might be the added interest of two-way traffic on the single-track section! Crash-tastic!

Still time to register so get over to the website for a cheaper entry! The price has gone up but this is turning into a proper event so well worth it!
So who will win? Difficult to set the odds from this distance and with an incomplete field but...

Knapp 10/1fav. Top CXer finally gets to ride!
Shanahan 11/1. Flatted out last year, looking for revenge!
Jacob 18/1- the wildcard, could lose years on the technical stuff but has the engine to make up for it.
Forbes 18/1. Good CX form and an MTB background
19/1 Hauber. Don't know him but TX Roadhouse usually don't have chump riders on the team.
Salla 20/1. Excellent MTBer and always fit.
Gavette 25/1. Been up there in the past
Fowler 30/1. Solid.
Chartier 40/1- Is he racing or drinking his way around the course?

Notice the long odds- it's a crap-shoot (even King Eric flatted twice last year!).
But really, I have no clue. Please inform us all in the comments...
Only 2 ladies? No-one on a L5-bike? Good..that's some crazy shit (Chris West)

A Rainy Weekend of 'Cross

After a two month hiatus, "real 'cross weather" returned this weekend and provided two days of slippery racing in Indiana and beyond. Saturday's ICX race at Major Taylor Velodrome saw intermittent rain on a very twisty course which resulted in many corner slide-outs, if not full epic mudfest conditions. It was also saw the possible invention of short track cyclocross racing, with all classes ending up with at least two more laps than would normally be expected and elite men's lap times well under five minutes.

Will Sorg took ninth place in the men's Cat 4 Open, while Ashton Wischmeier represented IU in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference championships, taking sixteenth in the men's A division. Second place finishes were recorded by Don Galligher in the men's Elite 35+ race and Lindsay Rodkey in the women's Cat 3/4 Open race.



Sunday's OVCX race in Lexington, KY followed Saturday's rain with more downpours, resulting in full sloshy mud conditions by the afternoon races. Lindsay Rodkey took the women's Cat 4 Open victory and second place overall in the wave of Cat 4 women and junior girls. Bikereg.com teammates Liz Cobb and Sarah Fredrickson took sixth and seventh place in the elite women's wave, with Sarah taking the Cat 3 women's win. Finally, Andy Messer and Fred Rose once again placed back-to-back in third and fourth in the elite men's wave, and each took their respective masters category win.



Further abroad, Ryan Knapp competed in two days of UCI racing at the North Carolina Grand Prix where he took eighth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday.

Regional cyclocross racing will come to a pause for the Thanksgiving weekend, but those who are still itching to race can sign up to traverse "mother nature's cyclocross course" at the third annual SRAM Gravel Grovel, which will be starting at the Maumee Boy Scout Camp this year instead of the Story Inn.

in case you were missing it....

#thevoice that is ;) #egotrip

USGP Derby City Cup

Fans and racers got to experience the highest level of American cyclocross racing over the weekend just a couple of hours south of Bloomington at the USGP Derby City Cup in Louisville. Dry, windy conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures made for fun spectating and racing.

Fred Rose proved that he is more than just fast local masters racer, placing third both days against top 45+ men from around the country. These performances were enough to prompt some Masters Worlds pre-game analysis from The Best Bike Blog Ever and indicate that Fred will probably not be spending the month of December enjoying tasty beverages from the OVCX Series Champion beer stein that he has already secured.


Andy Messer and Adam Rodkey also got to see a chance to see how they might fair on the Masters Worlds starting grid in January. Andy took ninth on Saturday and eighth on Sunday in the Elite 35+ race, and Adam took tenth in Saturday's Cat 2/3 race. Sarah Fredrickson represented Bloomington in the women's Cat 3/4 race, taking seventh place both days.


Results from the weekend's races can be found here.

This weekend will see more action at Major Taylor Velodrome with the sixth race of the ICX series being held in conjunction with the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference championships. Registration for the ICX categories can be found at Truesport.com, and the collegiate race flyer can be found on the MWCCC website. Hopefully we will see some IUCCC riders competing in the collegiate categories.

Sunday will be the penultimate race of the OVCX series, Commonwealth Eye Surgery Promotion Cross, in Lexington, KY. Preregistration for all the races closes on Thursday evening.

Thanks to Chris Jones and Shamrock Cycles for photos.

Late edit:To be honest, the hooliganism probably outdid the racing this weekend, so without further comment, here is the sequel to "Best Barriers Ever".

Off season...

...always has one of these stories.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoogerland-beaten-2-1-by-unforgettable
Give Johnny a break, he's been drinking it up so isn't on good form. I'd call that nag back for a rematch in the summer!

Maybe sometime similar should happen in Bloomington- can the top L5 racer beat 'Honda Accord dude' in a Le Mans-style match sprint from Dunn to the gates?

Cincy UCI 3 Very Brief Report

Results and pictures for the Cincy UCI 3 Festival were a bit delayed, so we'll just go with a brief report and move on to the weekend ahead. Fred Rose and Andy Messer cracked the top 10 in the elite master's race all three days, Sarah Fredrickson got second in the Cat 3 women on Saturday and Sunday, Lindsay Rodkey was first in the Cat 4 women on Sunday, Adam Rodkey took eighth in Sunday's Cat 2/3 race, Elizabeth Cobb made her UCI Elite Women's debut, and Ryan Knapp returned to the region and picked up a couple of UCI points on Saturday and Sunday.


Full results from the Cincy UCI 3.

This weekend will be the USGP of Cyclocross Derby City Cup in Louisville, KY. Registration closes tonight at 10 p.m.

Team SIB as feeder...

..for NUVO which is now tied to Bissell PROcycling. Catanzaro and Depasse made the leap this year. Will you be next? Contact Tom Saccone for information about getting on Team Scholars Inn Bakehouse sacconetom@yahoo.com

This is good news for Indiana Road racing, should improve the general level.
http://www.nuvo.net/CyclingBlog/archives/2011/11/02/big-news-for-nuvo-cycling

Times are changin' at Womens L5

The new race director makes his first big change with the announcement that the 2012 Womens Little 500 will run under the lights at 7.30pm. I assume the strategy is to get some more spectators through the turnstyles and running the race under the lights will really add to the atmosphere. It will certainly be more raucous with the students having the chance to drink all day before the event and hopefully the flood-lights will be good enough prevent any increased danger. I imagine it'll be a lot of fun, look for Teter to take the chequered flag at around 9pm!
Below is an image of the 2012 race bikes. It has a classic feel to it.