It's been a long time...

Photo by Chris. Tim is so fast, the little girl in the back ground can't believe it.

Did I ever mention cyclocross is fun? I am having a blast racing this year. Xterra was fun during the summer, but that was more of an individual thing. Cyclocross is so awesome because you don’t have to travel very far and you can race with all your friends. The team support from Iron Cycles has been fantastic. Best season ever.

The race promoters designed another challenging and fun course at the Indian Hills Golf Course. To add to the fun, the prize purse was the largest and deepest in Chi Cross history.

Iron Cycles wasn’t operating at full strength because Derrick was on an off week (he still came out to cheer rocking a Mohawk), Sofia hosted a party and partied too much the night before, and Brandon and Matt had to hold it down at the shop.

Larson and I started the day off in the 30+ race. I overcame a second to last row start and an early crash into a down rider in the sand pit to latch onto the first chase group with Walid, Gatto, Heck, and Whipple. I attacked early on the last lap and held off the chase to take 7th and felt that was a successful race.

Next, Chip held it down in the cat 3 race beating more people than he usually beats. It looks like he won’t be our sole representative in the cat 3’s next week because Larson and Brandon are applying for their upgrade soon.

In the Ladies 4 race Katie had her best finish of the season in 8th and solidified her spot in the top 10 in the series.

In the 1/2/3 race, in what was possibly the biggest and most competitive 1/2/3 race in Chicross history, Tim took the fourth place spot for the second week in a row. I overcame a couple crashes and moved up into the top 20, finishing 14th overall. Tim is now solidly in 3rd place in the series and it looks like he is only getting better.

Russ looked like the strongest rider in the 4a race, but he was undermined by a crash and a mechanical. He ended up 4th when he was outsprinted by a mountain biker (c’mon Russ) and Larson had his best race of the season and held down the 13th place spot in Matt Daniel’s absence.

Katie raced again in the 4b race and beat more boys than she did last week.

Matt, Katie, RUSS, Tim and I took advantage of the deep payouts and brought home some prize money. Everyone looks like they are getting stronger as we head into the last few races of the season.

The next day Russ, Michael Young (XXX Racing) and I headed up to Janesville for a WCA CX race. On a mountain bike type course Russ took second in the cat 4 race and I took second in the 30+ race.

It’s been a long time since I actually had a profitable weekend racing my bike. I took home prize money that exceeded my entry fee in every race I did. Unfortunately it doesn’t even cover half of the cost of the new Dugast Ryno’s I bought this week. Oh well, that’s bike racing. We really just do it because it’s fun.

Iron Cycles rider of the week - Tim Yuska

I nominate Tim the IC rider of the week for the Northbrook race. Tim has been killing it all year and he pulled out his best finish ever in the 1/2's with a 4th place finish. This makes him the number 3 ranked rider in the Chicross series.

I remember when I used to beat him all the time, now he's at a higher level and one of the best cyclocrossers in the Chicagoland area.

Tim got Iron Cycles a little press, prominently featured in a bunch of pictures in the following article:

http://www.triblocal.com/Northbrook/Detail_View/view.html?type=photos&action=detail&sub_id=116477

Maybe Tim will write a race report. (hint, hint)

In other race related news, I just have to say Chi Cross rocks and I think this was a really fun course. Before the race I read on the chicrosscup web site how they were going to change the course and they had all these rules we had to follow regarding our behaviour. I thought this would be a really lame venue, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

The course was challenging with a good mix of off camber turns and open power sections and the fans were just as rowdy as ever. Everywhere on the course I could hear someone cheering my name. That keeps me motivated because then I know I can't soft pedal and look weak anywhere on the course.

My favorite moments of the day:

1) Spectacular crashes in the sandpit. Luckily the sand was soft and I don't think anyone hurt themselves too bad.

2) The little Half Acre dude trying to get up the hill in the junior race. He was so persistent, he wouldn't let the hill defeat him.

Liz took a great series of pictures here titled Determination:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tippingpointphoto/sets/72157622640358739/

3) In the 4b race, in the battle for last finisher of the day, the race came down to racer number 441 (Rodrigo?) and Flannel Mike (a.k.a. BC) riding wheel to wheel. At the sand pit the crowd was so loud cheering them on to the finish, it was insane. Glory is not just for the victors. A great finish to a great day.

Iron Cycles rider of the week - Russ Kuryk

I'm anointing Russ the Iron Cycles rider of the week. Ever since I convinced Russ to buy a cyclocross bike earlier this year, I've never seen anyone pursue the sport so passionately. I took him under my wing and taught him everything he knows :-) This week he took his first win in dominating fashion in epic conditions. Here is his race report:

First Win...

So, I have never won a race in my life, ever. This bewilderment totally took me by a surprise. Especially from being sore all week and missing on training. Could it be because it was the Halloween weekend and my competition partied the night before? I guess I will find out next week.

It was a fairly chilly day with some sun rays. The course was the first muddy course at the Chicago Cyclocross Cup (CCC) series this year. It included fairly challenging climbs and a bunch of technical sections with somewhat sharp rocks, 2x4’s in the ground, single track in the woods, and mud dips.

Tim Yuska

Photo by Liz Farina Markel, Tipping Point Photography, Chicago, ILhttp://www.tippingpointphoto.com/

Warm up

This was my first time racing in the mud. During the first lap I went slow because I didn’t want to get myself or my bike dirty. The second lap was a bit faster but still fairly slow as I tried to learn the course. I still couldn’t believe I was getting dirty before my actual race. A thought kept coming up, “What if my bike gets too muddy and something will go wrong in my actual race?“ But I kept pre-riding. At one point Scott McLaughlin from SRAM passed me. I tried to keep up but no avail.

There was a pretty slippery and muddy section right after the woods that I could not ride and had to dismount to get though. I was not happy. I think I pre-rode that section about ten times to gain enough confidence where I wouldn’t have to get off my bike. I was still not comfortable. I managed to pre-ride 2 more laps prior to Men's 1/2/3 race.

The Race

So before I jump into race specifics, I’ll briefly mention nutrition. I have been playing with different types of nutrition for the past 5 races. Last week it was a disaster for me. I read an article in triathlon magazine which mentioned that caffeine could boost performance. I believe it recommended to consume 3-7mg of caffeine per kg of body weight. And what happened? I went overboard. I’ve had so much caffeine that my heart felt like it was going to explode. I finished the race my heart felt like it continued to race, without me. That definitely scared me. So this time I only had 100mg of caffeine (1 ZYM Catapult Berry tablet mixed with water) prior to the race, instead of – I don’t even want to mention!

On to the race. The whistle fired and the race went on. About five or six riders charged to the front and I tried to stay behind them. I think it was the $20 prime for the winner of the first lap that caused such furiousness. Then I don’t know how but I managed to pass one rider at a time. After the first lap I passed the last two riders and I was in the lead. Apparently I tried too hard because towards the end of the second lap someone yelled out to relax because I had over 10 second lead. I couldn’t believe it. I kept telling myself to take it easy and slow down so I wouldn't fall or do something silly. Which has been the case in the past where I was in the lead. This time the mud was on my side.

On the final lap I started lapping other riders. Right before the slippery climb I dropped my chain, not sure how, but managed to get on the bike and without running up the climb. I passed some more along the way, said “Hi” to super girl, and on to the finish. Then I watched the officials while they flipped the lap counter. I won? Really? I still couldn't believe it.

Russ Kuryk
Photo by Nikki Cyp

Prior to the race someone asked me if I was a “mudder.” I didn’t know what it meant but after they described it, I answered, “no.” This is my first cross season and I have never raced in the mud. Apparently I enjoyed the mud so much that I suppose I could now consider myself as one. :)

There are four more wonderful CCC races left in the season, and Jingle Cross. Some of the team members will race Jingle Cross during the Thanksgiving weekend, three days in a row. I’m not sure what to think of Jingle Cross, but future will tell.

Russ

Mountain Bike Equipment Review

Last weekend I was competing in the Xterra World Championship. I knew that the course has a lot of climbing so I wanted to get some new components to make my bike lighter. I also knew there would be a lot of cool bikes there since it is a World Championship, so I wanted to make my bike much more cooler than it already is.

So before I shipped out to Hawaii I went to Brandon and threw some ideas off him and we came up with some ways to make my Titus Fireline 29 both lighter and more cool. Below is the back story / review of the upgrades.

Thompson Elite X4 stem and Alpha Q X Roc flat bar handlebar

I broke my stem at Xterra Nationals and needed to replace it. However I discovered they no longer make stems in the old 25.4 standard and all stems and handlebars now come in the OS standard 31.8. Therefore I needed to replace both my stem and handlebar. Looking for the best combination of weight, price and what is pretty to look at, I chose the Alpha Q X Roc Handlebar and Thompson Elite X4 stem.

The Alpha Q X Roc has a nice shiny finish and is quite light compared to my old aluminum bar. I can’t say I noticed any difference in the handling characteristics of carbon vs. aluminum bar, but then again, if you are looking for a performance upgrade, a handlebar is probably the last thing you’ll upgrade. It is light and that is why I like it.

The Thompson Elite X4 stem is really pretty to look at. They machined away all the extra metal not necessary to the function of the stem. The X4 is also simplified compared to the old Thompson Elite stem with the elimination of the insertable steerer tube clamp set. It is also much lighter. Again, I notice no difference in the handling characteristics of the 25.4 clamp vs. the 31.8 OS clamp. I don’t know why the industry changed the standard. I guess it was to make everyone buy more stems and handlebars. However, the X4 stem is light and does what it is supposed to do, so that is why I like it.

Total weight saving gained from the new parts is at least 100 grams. Nice, every gram counts.

Fizik Tundra saddle with carbon rails

The Tundra is Fizik’s new mountain bike saddle. The surface is much flatter than the Arionne and the Gobi. Therefore it took a few rides to get used to it. Once I got used to it I liked it. I cannot ride a saddle that is hard or has too much padding. In my opinion they got the texture right for this saddle. It is firm but not hard.

I was skeptical of the carbon rails on this saddle. I questioned whether or not the rails could handle the pounding of a hard mountain bike race. Well, this saddle has been tested on two of the hardest Xterra courses in the country and in multiple cyclocross races (when a saddle is this expensive, you swap it out to whichever bike you happen to be riding at the time). It stood up to the test and is still structurally sound.

The most impressive thing about this saddle is the weight. It is like a bag of feathers, so light at 203 grams. My Fizik Gobi weighs in at over 250 g. Weight weenies who are hard on their equipment will want to get this saddle.

Time ATAC XS Titan Carbon pedals

I’ve been riding Time ATAC pedals for years. All my shoes have cleats that match these pedals so these are the pedals I run on all my bikes. I really like the redesign of these pedals that they did a couple years ago. The new design allows more space for better mud clearance. They are now much better at clipping in in mud than the older models and each clip in feels more precise.

The Time ATAC Titan pedal is the top of the line pedal and it has performed flawlessly in the most demanding conditions in both mountain biking and cyclocross. The clipping in is so easy I really believe these pedals have improved my cyclocross remounts.

Total claimed weight savings of the ATAC Titan pedal vs. the ATAC XS Carbon is 68 grams.

SRAM XX 42-28 crank set with SRAM Red ceramic bearings bottom bracket

I was over geared running a 1 X 9 at a mountain bike course with lots of climbing like Xterra Nationals in Ogden UT. I needed more range to climb steep mountains. When Brandon told me his shipmentment of XX came in I told him I had to have one of the cranksets.

The range of a 42-28 paired with a 12-34 cassette gave me all the range I needed to climb the steepest, loosest climbs I could find in Maui. I don’t know why it took so long to come out with cranks with this chainring combo. As far as I’m concerned, triples are now outdated.

Performance wise, this is the most impressive of the upgrades. Even though I set it up with a X.0 9 speed shifter and a XT front derailleur the performance of this crank set shines like a star in the drive train. It was a pain to set it up like this just right, but once dialed in, the shifting was effortless. You can shift under load with no problems. The chain moves from small ring to big ring so quickly, I can’t even remove my thumb from the shifter before the chain has caught on the big chainring.

If small details like this are impressive to you, you will want to get this crankset even if you are still running 9 speed. However, I cannot wait to get the rest of the XX group because I am sure it will impress even more.