It’s Veterans Day. I could care what your political tendencies are, I just know there are dudes and dudettes out there thousands of miles away who’d rather be crossing with us on weekends, versus standing post with an M4 or walking down a street where they have know idea what lurks around a corner. Like Lance Corporal Norton here below. Read my ‘5 Questions’ article by clicking the picture below…and take 5 minutes to remember why we get to do the things we can do so freely in our country. Hup!

Well, it certainly came today. Winter is showing her face to us all….or at least the potential for what is brewing in the clouds swirling above Boulder. An ice-fog covered the town this morning as the hard men and women converged on Vics…all wondering who would show given the artic temperatures. If you didn’t show, it’s your ‘tell’ that cross may not be your bag. Or at least we try to think that quietly to ourselves, shivering in the cold as we envision those who aren't there, rolling around in their footie PJ’s, still in their cozy warm beds as we try to get the feeling back in fingers and toes.

For the first time in a few weeks I ‘crossed. I can not tell you the joy I had railing the trails with my family of hardened compatriots. Each week since I hit the deck and re-injured my shoulder, I’ve been a slave to the PT and truly worked on another skill that I typically lack: Patience. It paid off by not rushing back into racing and everything felt really good thankfully. In fact, I decided to truly keep conservative at ‘Worlds this AM and slowed my tempo down to not risk anything…especially after Dubba pulled me aside and re-enforced with me “…not to crash. Get your practice on and get back to racing.” It was super fun and the last few weeks of long epics really made me feel fresh and ‘want it.’

This weekend, USGP’s. It will be epic. And I will race my bike. It’s time to go.

What are you doing this Thursday night?? Please help us imbibe Belgian gold and salivate over Ridley carbon fiber. The Ridley head honchos are in town to see how we operate, so come in and talk about product with them! More importantly, for a suggested $5 donation, you get to help out the Clif Bar Junior ‘Cross program!

Thursday, November 11th at 6PM - North Boulder Store.

Hold it…hold it. Arrgh. My hand comes back down to my side after holding the ‘heavy’ bottle of shampoo in the shower…doing the PT work Ann Trombley prescribed for me to get this shoulder back to a state of respectable performance.

A shampoo bottle? ‘That ain’t heavy’  you may think. But it might as well have been an anchor for an oil tanker. Each day since Blue Sky Xilinx and the crash is the same thing: work the legs on my road bike until I am mentally satisfied they will carry me fast when I get back to racing followed by a shower and the shampoo bottle ‘workout’ to get the fascia around this sholder joint all nice and strong again.

The days now have turned into weeks and I am feeling infinitely better. My mobility is back and now pushing that shampoo bottle high above my head. Each day anticipating my return to the sport and back to having fun with my boys. Very rarely do you get an opportunity during the middle of a cross season to do base mile epics to throttle up the volume, but I recognized the silver lining this ‘downtime’ has brought and put in mile…after mile…after mile in the freezing morning air. On my own in the mountains or behind the bzzzzzzzzz of Frank’s moto. It was sweet pain. I finished up a great week of ‘soul’ riding with a cross epic…railing my Ridley over some of my favorite single track all the while my focus is on Ft. Fun. Weak starting position but I will be smiling wide to just be in the game again.

Cross Racing Week 7 was still fun however even if I wasn’t pinning a number on. I simply can’t stay away. All my friends are here! My good bud Aaron Bouplon and the Rocky Mounts team put on their annual race, Schoolyard Cross, at the Boulder Reservoir this year. It looked like a delectable course, yet another new variation on the now ‘staple’ of venues here in town. Aaron asked if I would pair up with ne of my favorite people in cycling, Dave Towle to co-announce the Open Women's and Men’s race. What an UNBELIEVABLE time and so much fun! I have an infinitely greater respect for what these professional MC’s do to keep the conversation moving the whole time. Dave simply knows EVERYBODY. He’s got this amazing repository of data in his head, calling out random facts on just about anyone who crosses his view. We had a blast and I was honored that Dave would let a hack like me take hold of a mic with him.

The weather is coming in, here in Colorado. It’s about time. The tire pressures will drop in syncopation with the falling mercury and wetter conditions. We’ll all get our chance to Sven-out on our favorite courses with the first dumping of cold rain and snow…just like today’s race in Ronse. Epic.

Hup diggity, buttercups. The snoticicles will be pouring from your noses soon.

This is why we live here. Any why places like Elks are so special to us. My boy Jamie Kripke has been afflicted by the ‘cross bug this season. Seeing the culture, community and beauty of it all, he used his Jedi photography skills to make this vignette for us all to remember.

Wednesday Morning, Boulder from jamie kripke on Vimeo.

What happened to killer hole in the wall coffee joints? You’d walk in and almost feel a bit scared of the avant-garde looking clientele who clearly owned the place. You’d sheepishly approach the counter, order your drip…embarrassed to ask for a to-go cup…and immediately feel intimidated as you look around at the patrons seemingly eye-balling you as if you’re “not cool enough to hang, so git on out.” But alas, the patrons could realistically give a shit about you as they did their own thing…more truthfully immersed in their own espressos.

To solve this problem we, as a society, simply evolved and sterilized that culture and made it all vanilla: we made Starbucks. Every store the same. All the coffee the same bland ‘middle of the road’ blend. All the same crap compact discs at the point of sale to buy along with your 3,000 calorie ‘coffee milkshake.’

Mmmm. Comfort. And you don't have to feel intimidated!

The analog here of course is ‘cross. All the courses I see now are radically fast grass crits. Long straights, a few turns, maybe a steep hill. Very few ‘problems’ for racers to solve…and demonstrate their all-around skill. After reading Ryan’s post about the current state of Swiss cross (and the origin of why we ring cowbells at a ‘cross), I watched and was mesmerized a video he linked to of the 1988 Worlds held in Hägendorf Switzerland.

These are the conditions I dream of. These are the athletes that should dominate. These are the skilled riders that shine. 25c tires. Heavy bikes. Toe clips. Running. Sliding. Turning. Climbing. Sprinting.

A proper ‘cross. 

Click on the @08:32 Marker to take you to the ‘real’ meat, or enjoy from the beginning.

My good bud and master’s racing compatriot Michael Robson assembled a great article on VeloNews walking through us all through his experiences with various sealed cable systems, their merits, installation tips, etc. I highly recommend having a look-see at his write up as the weather is quickly changing and before we all know it we’ll be knee deep in the good stuff: mud. You best hope you have great shifting performance before then!

The Boulder Cycle Sport Ambassadors Team has some great sponsors including Gore who have us all on their new RideOn Sealed Low Friction Brake and Shifting Cable System. I wanted to walk you through this system and some of the installation ‘upgrades’ we have done to ensure optimal performance in the worst of conditions.

For those of you that do not have the time, skills or some of the equipment involved (and are local to Boulder area), Boulder Cycle Sport has the installation of this system completely dialed. Contact BCS for details and pricing. I opted to walk you through in photos of how one of Boulder Cycle Sport’s finest mechanics, Steve ‘Shelpy’ Shelp, dialed in my Ridley X-Night with this new cable system.

The new Gore RideOn sealed system includes almost everything you’ll need…except for the heat-shrinkable seals which will be talked about below. The system’s marquee features are its continual sealing along the entire length of the cable, making the action silky smooth (frictionless) as well as the GRUB™ Seals to prevent virtually anything from contaminating the sealing and degrading the cables performance.

A heat gun and heat shrink tubing (which can be picked up at most good hardware stores) was used in Boulder Cycle Sport’s installation as an ‘additional’ method of sealing insurance.

Shelpy is drilling out the cable stops so that he may run one continuous piece of housing from the top tube straight through to the derailleur. Note: when this is done, you will be using more of the housing than is provided with the RideOn kit. We used an additional piece of housing from another non-RideOn kit for the front derailleur…literally boring it out so that it would accommodate the thicker width of the sealed housing of the RideOn cables. Be advised.

Another view of Shelpy’s handiwork…carefully boring out the stops.

Shelpy’s den. Cleaner than a surgeons operating room.

The finished result. A super tight cockpit.

Note the heat shrunk wrappers right at the beginning of the ferrules to prevent any possibility of dirt entering the ‘system’. 

You can see the front brake cable exit the stop and it’s 'sealed ‘casing’ extending all the way to the base of the hanger…where a grub seal has been placed to prevent any contamination.

Another view of the heat shrunk wrapping at all stops.

The cable ends are topped with RideOn’s own stops to protect from fraying and elongating the life of the cable itself.

Shelpy’s handiwork included thoughtful touches like the zip tie you see here to ensure the cable end does not flop around. This will also allow me enough cable should I re-position the Avid brake arms to their ‘wide’ position.

A view of the fully sealed front derailleur cable around the spindle, its grub seal and cable end.

The rear brake where you can see the sealed housing and grub seal in tandem.

A view of the continuous cable Shelpy installed straight through the bored out cable stops.

A close up of how this stop looks with the cable running through it.

Finally, the rear derailleur with the sealed cable poking out...completely sealed from end to end (Note: grub seal has been placed at the exit of the cable since taking this pic.)

Come spend an evening with 4x Danish National Champion and ‘Boulder Transplant’ Joachim Parbo for his skills clinic and a talk on bicycling advocacy.

Skills Clinic Information:

When: Tuesday, November 2.  4:30 to 6pm 

Where: Meet at Vic’s Espresso, 4770 Table Mesa Dr 

Cross Clinic Fee: $30 US - pay on site

More Info / RSVP: 720 343 9943

Topics Covered:

• Drills for faster turning, remounting

• Personalized advice for each participant, correcting errors

• How to read a ‘cross course and invest your efforts

Cycling Advocacy Information:

“There are no accidents.” A theme that my Amy taught me on the first night we met, 13 Halloweens ago. And it’s a theme that I’ve wanted to kick, then embrace….then kick again throughout the last decade as I’ve struggled with its meaning.

But alas there are no accidents. And I am embracing it. Last week’s mishap and my current rehab are what they are: a focus on really what’s going on around me which only helps to enhance the appreciation and love I have for my sport. So I used that focus with great intensity Saturday as my son donned a number for the family at the Colorado Cross Classic at the Boulder Reservoir.

Aiden suited up and was so excited. The course promoters put the Junior races deeper into the day at a time when tons of fans would be around. It made these little kids feel exceptionally PRO as fans and racers alike all crowded the tape to cheer them on.

Of course, I was a crazy man, running with my camera from one end of the course to the other, pulling “OJ Simpsons” to get to the opposite side of the course to take pics. Upon the start, I lost sight of the mini-peloton until I see Aiden barreling down the single track towards the beach for the first time.

“I’M OUT FRONT! I’M OUT FRONT” he screams as he sees me and I yell back “YES YOU ARE!! Now just keep going forward!! Don’t look back!!”

He listens to me as a gaggle of other kids come barreling in to the beach section hot on his heels. Aiden Seamus and I have spent a lot of time together nerding-out in the local parks practicing cross. And when Aiden hit the sand, I could see ALL those skills come to life. He remembered! He instinctively jumped off, and pushed the bike through the sand, running like a gazelle. It was amazing to watch. And yes, as you see below, Aiden is a ‘dirty-side’ remounter, Kevin Pauwels style…

He pushed himself ALL the way to the end. Little  strongmen like Peter Doorn and Vin Hludinski making him work hard for it the whole time.

Aiden came across the line in 1st place, his first ever victory and he was so blown away as Dave ‘the voice Towle was screaming his name. It was absolutely PRO. Everything done for the Juniors as would be done for the Masters and Pro events. Dave just made it all ‘very real’ that this was a bike race…and an important one for these little athletes at that.

As they finished, Aiden and his friends all got together and hugged. They quickly turned their attention to the Coke they got…a treat for going so hard out there. After hearing about the race, our good friend Tim Johnson rolled over to the kids and said congrats to them all. Amazing act of class as he spent time with them all and asked them about their races. Aiden was floored when he realized who he was…confused with Tim’s VeloNews jersey donned for a special photo shoot as he knows Tim as the “guy with the American Flag uniform.”

Dave then called up all the early race podium finishers, Junior Men 8/9 included. He called them all out one by one to take their step. It was an unbelievable moment as ALL these people assembled to cheer them on. We taught the boys to shake hands with each other to congratulate their efforts, and finally were asked to put arms up. Look at the expression on Aiden’s face. This is true accomplishment. This is, I hope, a moment he never forgets and creates a foundation for his confidence for the rest of his life…

I used my son’s successes on Saturday to fuel my own fire. I am so excited to get back into the fray in the next few weeks with my boys, focusing on doing everything Ann Trombley, Olympic athlete and amazing PT working with FasCat Coaching, tells me to do to get back to health and a strong shoulder. I spent 4 blissful and rare hours training in the mountains on skinny tires…seeing snow for the first time at 9K feet and just climbing…and climbing…and climbing. Injecting some rare mid season base into my legs and making them hurt entirely differently than in a cross. I was envisioning being smooth. Being fast. Being competitive again.

I can’t wait.

I was asked to provide some thoughts to Daily Camera reporter Jenn Fields for her 'Field Notes' column in Boulder's Daily Camera newspaper. It touches on so many of the core things about why I love 'cross the way I do...and new as you see Jenn is a new member to the 'Church of Cross.' 

"Don't run away from failure. Obsess over what could be around the corner. Your win is around the corner, or your definition of a perfect race is right around the corner. And that's something really great to obsess in."

Read more:Field Notes: The good kind of obsession - Boulder Daily Camerahttp://www.dailycamera.com/get-out/ci_16487471#ixzz142UpPhXl
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