The one day I feel good and decide to take a flyer on the infamous ‘Crack’ ride this summer and I hit the deck. “Snap!” was what I heard. My first thought was ‘shit, that was a pretty expensive pair of Oakley Radar’s I just snapped’. But getting up I knew fairly quickly that the snapping sound was not the plastic of the sunglasses, but my clavicle. My second thought was ‘well…I guess I can take a ‘cross season off this year.’

No way.

That was mid June. By July I was still healing but already of the mindset I wanted to be back racing with my friends come the changing of the leaves. It’s what I live for! And to help me try and assemble some fitness and learn how to dig myself out of my predicament, I enlisted the help of a great friend, fellow ‘crosser and one of Boulder’s top coaches, Frank Overton. What I found in working with Frank was a person who simply ‘gets it’. Can see through the person on the other side of the table and their true needs…only a part of which is a core training plan. It’s about balance…and that as you all know…is what is sacred to me. Frank is a daddy, husband competitor and business owner and his clientele range from professional athletes, to folks like you and me who live this sport of ours and want to push to new levels. We all need our personalized level of balance…from rest to blazing intensity…from back to back racing weekends to skipping a race or two and taking the family out for a hike. I wanted to expose you all to Frank, his company FasCat Coaching and the amazing stuff he is doing with his business to bring fitness to people. And so, 5 Questions with, Frank Overton!

M&C: Tell me a bit about FasCat coaching. The services offered, clients catered to and why a coach can be a great thing (we've all heard the nightmare stories before of the militant remote coach....).

Coach Frank: Our new Performance Center gives our coaching business the infrastructure to work closer with our athletes.  We have a retail powermeter shop and an indoor cycling space with room for up to 20 bikes per class.   We have put together a world class physiological lab with the best metabolic cart and lactate analyzer – the very same equipment used in big time exercise physiology lab (Olympic Training Center, Harvard, NASA).   Not only can we tell you your VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold but we will consult with you on what those results means to your power based training.   By linking the two we give our athletes the ability to take the sport science from the lab out onto their handlebar with their powermeter to use while they are training & racing.

Frank Overton – FasCat Coaching. This is the smile I see in the rearview mirror of his scooter as he’s slaying me. Evil.

(This amazing portrait by Smashread on Flickr.)

We also have a full service biomechanics lab for bicycle fitting with former Olympian and Physical Therapist, Ann Trombley.   Ann combines 10 years of physical therapy and bicycle fitting experience for an old skool fit that uses the new skool Dartfish video motion capture system.   Our two camera video setup is displayed on a video monitor for the athlete to see how they look on the bike before, during and after the fit.  The Dartfish software allows Ann to slow down and catch subtle movements that would otherwise go undetected.  We also use the software to measure ankle, knee, and hip angles as well as tracking lateral knee movement.   

Using Dartfish software to dial in fit scientifically. It’s not just for the pros!

All the technology plus extensive  bike fitting experience puts our bike fitting up with the very best.    If you have bike riding pain on the bike you are in no better hands than a physical therapist with vast bicycle fitting experience.   If you are about to start riding your bike a lot and would like to take preventative measures against bike fit related injuries and pain, look no further.

Starting November 2^nd, we are going to launch our indoor cycling program.  It’s more than a workout – all of our classes are coach led and power based.  There’s a power based interval workout curriculum and its going to be hella fun in a group setting with music & videos.  Did I mention that all of our classes are going to be power based?   We are using state of the art CycleOps Power trainers and Indoor Cycles with wireless ANT+ sport technology that’s displayed on a Joule 3.0.    For more information please have a read through our Indoor Training information.

We also offer camps & clinics.  Next year will be our fifth year running the Boulder Summer Road Training Camp – which started out of my garage.   This past August we ran a very successful Cyclocross Camp that will be back in full force next Summer.   The feedback we got from campers was very positive and all are having great cyclocross seasons.

It’s hard to walk in these compression socks. But swing by FasCat and try ‘em after your workout!

Last but not least we have some amazing coaches that are passionate about cycling and more so helping athletes be better cyclists. Jason Hilimire has been with me since 2003.   I coached him from Sport to a Semi-Pro Mountain biker and he completed a yearlong internship with me before graduating on to be an associate coach.   Matt Rossman is an apprentice coach with FasCat that is expanding his knowledge even further in an exercise physiology graduate program at the University of Utah.

Tom Zirbel is a FasCat coach.   How cool is it that a guy who got 4^th in the 2009 World’s Time Trial can be your coach?  Like Jason, Tom learned coaching from the athlete side first.  I started working with Tom in 2004 and you know the rest.  Pro Contract > many time trial victories > overall NRC title > 2 consecutive second places at the USPRO Time Trial > and then tragedy.    While it is terrific having Tom a part of FasCat and seeing what an amazing coach he is becoming, it completely SUCKS that he is a coach for FasCat  and not out there doing what he does best.

Alison Powers is another FasCat Coach.  Like Tom and Jason she is also a former FasCat athlete (notice a theme here?).  I worked with Alison in 2007 when I was the assistant director for the US National Women’s Team.   She won the Pan American Time Trial and went on to be a US National Time Trial Champ and overall NRC title winner.   Stay tuned for a FasCat Time Trial clinic taught by two of the best!

Finally Jon Tarkington is now a FasCat Coach.  I’ve been wooing him for close to a year now.  In fact way way back in 2006 we talked about opening a performance center.    ‘Teton’ as many know him is a great guy, enthusiastic coach, exceptional leader and lover of cycling.   He comes to FasCat after a tenure as the Director of the American Cycling Association and will be spearheading several coaching projects that I am very excited about.

All in all our coaches are some of the best in the business, and athletes can come to our new performance center to meet with them, talk training & racing and benefit from their coaching expertise.

M&C: Walk us through the genesis of FasCat, Frank.

Coach Frank: I started FasCat Coaching in 2002. The goal was to coach athletes and help make them faster for the races that matter the most to them.   Since I (Frank) was big into training with power, I began using our athletes power data & performances to learn how to be a better coach.   To promote the business, I hung my hat on the internet and  wrote monthly training tips for PEZCycling News from 2003 – 2005.   I did my homework for each training tip, backed up by my own research, power data and other athletes success using those training techniques.  I developed my coaching philosophy while writing those training tips and I continue to write tips as a way to explore innovative training methodologies. 

Fast forward to May of 2004 – I was coaching enough athletes to quit my job as a molecular biologist at a little start up bio company called Bolder Biotechnology.  As a side note Bolder Biotech was developing 2^nd generation protein pharmaceuticals like EPO & Growth Hormone.  I was the guy that took the DNA, manipulated to code in a way we thought would be favorable for manufacturing and put the DNA into E. Coli for fermentation productions.   But I digress….

So from Memorial Day of 2004, I have not looked back and it has been full steam working with athletes since then.  I continued to race and analyze power data and focused 100% on the athletes I coached.  In 2006 my 2^nd daughter was born and I wanted to step up my coaching by taking on more projects that would develop my skills as a coach.  Enter the Priority Health Professional Cycling team – I coached 50% of the team on a one on one basis in 2006 including Tom Zirbel (who is now a FasCat Coach).   It went well enough that I worked for the US National Women’s Team in 2007 as the assistant director in Europe.  We did all the women’s world cups all over Europe and I worked with some very talented ladies (one of whom, Alison Powers, is also a FasCat Coach).  Both were amazing learning experiences but neither was sustainable as a career – especially one as a family man.

Frank and his training programs have taken his athletes to amazing levels.

In 2008, I turned my attention away from working with teams and focused on developing the business.   We did a 3^rd generation website with Goozmo, LLC and opened powermeter shop selling SRM, PowerTap and Quarq CinQo powermeters.   I carried little inventory and mainly placed custom orders for new FasCat Athletes that wanted to train with power and knew they needed the coaching to go along with the powermeter.   To this day we give a free month of power based coaching (with no start up fee) to every athlete that buys a powermeter from us.   Our prices do not compete with other discount retailers but the added value of coaching is a deal that can’t be beat.

Also in 2008, I took on my very first associate coach, Jason Hilimire. For years I had wanted to hire other coaches but I had never found the right one.   The coach that knew his stuff, that knew the FasCat methodology was in fact one of my very first athletes.   Way way back in 2003 I took out an ad on mtbr.com and Jason hired me.  We worked together for 4 years or so where he went from a sport class mountain bike to a semi-pro racer.   For Jason to come on board as a FasCat coach made all the sense in the world.  Jason completed a yearlong apprenticeship with me and now is one of the best mountain bike coaches I the business if you ask me.

Fast forward to 2009 where years of brainstorming a training center finally clicked.   A business plan and a detailed pro forma later & FasCat got its piece of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (aka the Stimulus Package).    By June of 2010 FasCat had its brick in mortar after a custom build out in one of the best locations in town.   I specifically choose our location to be near Boulder Cycle Sport & Amante Coffee.   So far that is our brief history and here’s to another 10 – 20 years.

Enjoy this little ditty of a typical motopacing session with Frank.

M&C: Cyclocross is a unique beast. Intensity for an hour, handling your bike under stress lap after lap, in extreme conditions. What are the key differences in a training plan that should be considered by an athlete who wants to improve their game in what may be their 2nd or 3rd season?

Coach Frank: Cyclocross is an anaerobic sport in which successful athletes have a well developed anaerobic system capable of handling over one hundred 5 – 20 second explosive power outputs in a 1 hour race.   Thus anaerobic capacity workouts are the name of the game.  “1 minuters” are great to get the party started.  I like to progress to shorter intervals at higher power outputs as the season approached.  45 seconds > 30 seconds and then Tabatas!  (20 seconds on 10 second OFF).

Timing is everything and periodization is paramount.   Anaerobic capacity work will be even better if athletes can have a hemi-powered aerobic engine.  Thus the timing – aerobic in the summer, anaerobic pre-season and specificity during the season. You can scope out some previous articles I have done here on our site, as well as on VeloNews.

M&C: Masters racers are particularly difficult students. We demand a lot as we think we're 24 years old. have a lot of dependencies infinitely more important than cycling (families, jobs, etc) and invariably are Type A(+++) personalities that simply have to see results. How do you manage to this customer type?

Coach Frank: With great care.  Actually it’s not that difficult for me because I am a Masters Athlete, I am somewhat Type A and I know what I would want from a coach and I try to deliver that to my athletes.  It’s my coaching golden rule “do unto my athletes as I would expect to be done for me”

Being a good listener and communicating helps a lot.  Advanced planning and goal setting go long way too.   Plus monitoring the master athletes’ (as with all athletes) performance and being on the same page brings out their best.

M&C: Mmmm. MotoPacing. We've all seen it before…visions of Merckx following his derny around the streets of his hometown at ungodly speeds. But specifically what are the benefits? If you can do it, why? And when?!

Coach Frank: Yes, I love motorpacing as an athlete and a coach.   There is nothing more intimate than taking an athlete out for a motorpacing session and being right there as they suffer, the grit, they struggle and as they haul ass.   As they essentially pour their heart and soul out to stay with you, their coach, sitting on the moto.   I can see if they are motivated and going to uncork a can in their races or if they are tentative and fearful of the intensity.  That’s important for understanding athletes and figuring out how to motivate them and get them to perform their best.

Frank practicing what he preaches and gets his 'cross on - here at Aspen Lodge CX October 2010

I often find that the quality of the workout goes up infinitely when I take my athletes out motorpacing. And since I like quality workouts, I am prone to take athletes out behind the moto a lot.

Physiologically athletes improve their neuromuscular power from motopacing. Think of the short bursty efforts that are required to stay 6 inches behind the moto.   Many times this is described as leg speed. By pedaling at a high cadence behind to motor, athletes are teaching their brain to fire their muscles in rapid succession at great power outputs.   Many athletes can make a lot of power, but motopacing helps them make big power FAST.  Thus motopacing is appropriately called a speed workout.

Mentally, motopacing is beneficial because it teaches athletes to “stay on the wheel” To suffer.  It’s a great carrot and with the way the draft works behind the motor – its Darwinism at its finest out there.   Just like bike racing.  It’s one of the most specific workouts that I know of and has been the secret weapon for many.    If there was a way, a place to motopace on a cross course while dismounting and remounting then I’d do it.

UPDATE! Through the keen eyes and memory of my bud in Belgium, Michel Bajorek, I received an email from the 2009 Worlds article on VeloNews with pictures shot by Jeremy Powers. Yup, Stybar behind a derny on course!

M&C OK, the most important question: Nijs or Wellens?

Coach Frank: Neither, Gully!  He was the guy that was kicking ass when I first got into cross.   When I first started racing Cat 1-2 CX races, one of my goals was to not get doubled by Gully and then if I did to stay with him.

Photography Credits Below

• Mountain Moon Photography
• Rod Yoder
• Shawn Lortie Photography

I’ve known Bill a long time. And homie speaks the truth when he says: "I pulled a Keller! I won the hole shot and hero’ed for a lap or so before imploding and getting passed by by like 10 guys…”

Or some such prose he unleashed at me before the pro event…my second race of the day.

I’m still up to my idiotic race start tactics so Bill’s words were a good reminder that I’m not nearly fit enough to even come close to playing power plays against guys who are FLYING. But alas I re-played them for all my bros to see…again…to use me as a launch pad for their smarter efforts. I’ll get smart one of these days. Let me get back to that in a sec.

This weekend was the first Colorado Cup race, 2 hours and 45 ‘glorious' minutes away out in Buena Vista CO. And, yes, it was a ‘good view’ making the drive worth it. The ‘Collegiate’ 14’ers all around us at a park adjacent to a beautiful river…thus it’s namesake: ‘Cross at the River.’

Boulder Cycle Sport was in the house for the 35A race with the previous days winner at Interlocken, Mark Wisner, in good form and an always strong Brian Hludzinski raring to race (he’d spent the whole day prior as race promoter at his Interlocken race). Our ‘ringer’ Timmy the truth Faia had a nasty crash at Interlocken the day before and needed a day to rest to come back stronger next week. We’d face the Moots duo of Michael Robson and Glen Light and a cast of other strong characters like Clay Harris, Jeff Cospolich and our State Champion Ward WB Baker.

The pre-ride showed us all that this would be a crit style race. The wind was howling and the course had essentially straight slogs into the wind, then recovering somewhat with the wind at your back. It had some interesting features like some run ups, a barrier set and a great sand pit. Yet I think they will be able to do some really interesting things with this course in the future as there is plenty to work with. A few more twists and turns and this could become a staple of the early season calendar, somewhat like Frisco has become for us. ACA racers should ensure you input opinions to the apres-race survey!

We took to the start grid, lining up from last year’s standings. The start chute, while long, apexed hard right onto the course between a gate and would present a challenge. The appropriate words by Mr. Robson to take ‘er easy as gentleman’ before the whistle blew were understood by all.

At my current state, I feel raring to go. I am hungry to lay it down…but my eyes and mind are biting off too much for me to chew these days. On the gun, I settle in nicely behind Michael and Glen as they tear into the sketchy first turn. We all make it safely as we head into the first obstacle, a rutted sketchy run up. We all pile into this obstacle and I fly up the right side over rocks and essentially run past Michael and Glen…literally laughing and doing the Simpson-esque ‘ha-ha’ laugh as I remount in front of them.

Oh shit. The wind.

The moment I remount and start to drive, I can feel the snot getting sucked back into my head with the wind howling in my face. I drive into it setting what I think is a conservative tempo. I’m looking back occasionally to see who will come by and start to work with me (pa-leeze Greg). As we are pushing the pace, a tree limb was hit by someone behind me that swung back and apparently caused a nasty crash…taking out my team mates Wisner and Brian. Arrgh! Some made it through with our group but created a huge gap. So I go harder. By the start of lap two, my ‘moto pacing’ services were done and Michael is off…off to the races basically from there all the way to the finish. Amazing. He crushed it basically from the GUN!

As the race wore on, I of course need to pay back the huge withdraw I took out to mortgage my race. I start to unravel and I proceed to get passed. And passed again. Just too worked from the early efforts and nary a moment to feel recovered. As the snotcicle started to form and my head and shoulders began to slump, I thought about the day before at Interlocken as I am trying to dig deep and I found the motivation through the absolute bravery my son showed me at his race. He is such a hard little man, doing what he can to show me he can do this. It will forever stick in my brain to never give up and I am lucky to have filmed it! If you know how deep this grass was, you’d be amazed. This is a non-trivial course for adults, for kids its murder. I saw kids weeping…

So all the lessons I need to re-learn aside, I pushed hard and I ended up taking 11th on the day. I continue to learn and working hard to evolve my skills and needs to really read races, gauge efforts and use the things I have to make me faster.

With that effort in our legs, me, The WB and Robson decide to pin up again and race the Opens. If we’re driving almost 3 hours to race, we’re going to get every pennies worth. Webber (left) and Dubba were raring to go as was another new teammate of ours, Ross Holbrook. My plan was to start smart and literally practice chase/bridge/recover/chase bridge/recover. I would use this race LITERALLY as a ‘live fire’ training ground. You just can’t mimic this in training so doing a double, even if just part of it, is huge for training and trying out new things.

I lined up at the back and the start was pandemonium. Dudes going through tape on that first sketchy apex turn, flailing around, botching run ups, wheels slamming into my helmet…so I literally throttled back. I wasn’t going to let some young whipper snapper take me out! When we settled in, my legs started feeling OK. I found Ross and practiced my first bridge and effort to get to him and then simply stop and recover. Hmm, funny how that works…and feels good! From there we started working. We had a strong Courtney Gregory from Mafia Racing with us and the three of us traded blows. 3 or 4 laps of attacking, bridging, recovering and I could honestly say it felt great. 45 minutes in, 2 to go, I’d had the perfect amount of work put in and pulled the plug. Frankly my IT bands and sciatic nerves were yelling at me loudly and I decided there was no need to go any deeper into the hole. The efforts were put in.

Anyways, fall is REALLY here in Colorado. The Aspens are blowing up and I’m REALLY looking forward to Chris Grealish’s Aspen Lodge race next weekend in Estes Park, one of our state’s most scenic areas. It’s the 2nd race in the Colorado Cup series so people will be all fired up. I’ll have family in town to come watch the spectacle as well so it’ll be a super fun day.

Finally, have a gander Rod ‘Colorado Perma-fit’ Yoder’s video from the 35’s. You’ll get an idea about the course…although it belies the strength of the wind.

2010 CX at the River 35+ from Rod Yoder on Vimeo.

I am not sure what it is…perhaps it was the gravitation of two crusty former East Coasters (which Chris and I are) which pulled us together or some other serendipitous event, but as long as I can remember ‘crossing in Colorado, I‘d always seen Chris Shotwell (the man also known as ‘Shotty’) zip around the course clad in SRAM kit on the cleanest and most progressive looking bikes. His was the first I’d seen with SRAM Force componentry before countless Pros and weekend warriors alike ‘made the leap’. Over the years he and I got to know each other…talking of our passion for ‘cross, blogging (see Chris’ blog ‘Veldrijden Colorado’ here), beer and of course finely made bicycle componentry.

Fast forward to this summer when the fine folks at SRAM/Avid outfit the Boulder Cycle Sport Ambassadors Team with their latest and greatest brakes: the Shorty Ultimates. I was fascinated with them and fell in love with their simplicity, ease of set up…and as I spoke about, their near eradication of the horrible brake chatter issues I’d been complaining about. So seeing Shotty earlier this season, I basically gushed at him with praise for Avid’s work on the product and that for what it was worth, this racer was emotionally attached to them. This is when Shotty, the completely humble guy that he is, says: “Glad you like ‘em, man. They were my project.”

And so at that moment I realized: Whoa. Here is a guy I know and trust, that I see race hard every weekend, and I know is geeked as much as I am on this sport put his CAD pencil to digital paper and designed a new braking system for all of us. That is some blog-able stuff!

So, without further adieu, let me introduce you to Chris Shotwell as we talk brakes, cross and Stybar.

OK, Shotty, let’s nerd-out and talk a little bit about these new brakes!

 

M&C: A true crosser is responsible for this amazing product....you! Tell us what inspired your design from your years of racing cyclocross?

Shotty: When Avid was producing the Tri-Align brakes back in the day, it was the canti-brake that I used exclusively for cross. It was a great stopper so we wanted to recycle a few of those Tri-Align features into the Shorty Ultimate. We've adopted the same spring preload adjustment from that brake and aimed to make toe-in adjustment and pad replacement as simple as possible. I also spent a season racing on a set of BB7 discs on a Lemond Poprad a few years back. I quickly became a convert due to amount of power and control and started making all kinds of brazen statements about how I would never switch back to rim brakes. Ultimately, weight won that debate and I went back to Shorty's. But trying to squeak as much power as possible out of a canti was definitely a goal with the Shorty Ultimate.

M&C Why aluminum for the Ultimate's application? Was magnesium or carbon contemplated? 

Shotty: Both these materials were considered but Aluminum wins the cost to weight benefit analysis every time. We forge the upright pad arm so it results in a lightweight but very rigid part. the stiffness of this part lends itself to the power and lack of chatter, this would have not been possible in some more fashionable materials.

M&C: Brake chatter has been the bane of the existence of racers and mechanics alike. What, specifically, was applied to this design to combat that behavior? 

Shotty: We wanted to tuck the caliper in as close to the fork as possible and stiffen up the vertical arm that pivots on the boss that holds the brake pad. While we may not be able to address all brake pad/rim combinations that will potentially induce the harmonics and chatter, these two ideas went a long way towards addressing this issue.

M&C: Why the variable arm positions in the Ultimate's application? Beyond heel clearance in the back, does it serve any other purpose? 

Shotty: Personal preference. There are some benefits to the wide stance such as mud clearance, yet the narrow stance nets almost a 20% increase in power over the wide stance. The original concept of this brake was a "convertible canti" where the user can set up the brake depending on course conditions and personal preference.  Wellens ran his in the wide stance primarily, Stybar chose narrow.

Avid Shorty Ultimate Instructions

View more presentations from Greg Keller.

M&C: How long did it take this project see the light of day? 

Shotty: Just over a year from prototype phase to production. The timing worked nicely for development as we were evolving the brake continually during last years cross season. Jesse Anthony was a test pilot for us and started the season on a pre-production set at CrossVegas. The concept of a adjustable stance we talked about earlier actually started  2 years ago by a co-worker. The project suffered a premature death due to a slew of reasons but we wanted to bring the concept to reality and I started the design project in the Spring of 09.

Let’s hear a little about you, man!

M&C: What is your role at SRAM? How did you come to work for the component giant? 

Shotty: My title is design engineer. I started in product development at Rockshox as an R&D tech back in 93 and travelled the globe covered in hydro fluid and tuning suspension for world cup riders. After almost 6 years of that, my wife and I decided to move from California back to Maine where she's originally from to participate in " the way life should be"(Maine's other motto). While back East, I remained in the bike industry but longed to return to a product development role and kept tabs on a close friend whom I had worked with at Rockshox prior to and then through to the SRAM acquisition. After a few years of constant pestering, a position opened up on the Avid team that I was fortunately able to fill.

M&C: While you have just created this work of speed-shaving art, tell us your thoughts on disc brakes for cyclocross. We know that weight is key and clearly stopping 'power' is not the goal in cross 'braking' (speed shaving is) but what are your thoughts as to getting a true disc brake for racing purposes?

Shotty: It's no secret that powerful brakes allow faster riding when you have the ability to properly manage that power.  I love that discs are allowed, but I think it's going to take time for the cross community to adopt this technology because weight is such an overriding factor right now. But discs have a place in the road market and It'll drive some really interesting developments with frame and wheel integration as well.

M&C: OK, here’s a personality test: Quick! Wellens or Nys? Even Nys can be seen using the Ultimate's this year, but who's your pick and why? 

Shotty: Actually, I'm going to have to go with Stybar! In the pro ranks, it takes a massive amount of faith in a product to make a wholesale switch halfway through a season. He made that switch to the Shorty Ultimate and most of the Fidea guys ( Wellens included ) were using these brakes by the conclusion of the last season. This year the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com team and Katie Compton have adopted the Ultimates.

M&C: What motivates you?

Shotty: What motivates me is the SRAM culture. There is quite a collection of some very passionate, very bright people designing bike parts for a living here. I don't see how that atmosphere and culture cannot motivate a dyed in the wool bike geek like myself.

M&C: The bike industry is obviously a passion-place for it's employees. Did you work in any other industries? 

Shotty: There are other industries? No, I've worked in bike shops from high school through college and have never deviated from that path.

M&C: Dude, you are a true racer nerd like all of us. How long have you been in this game?

Shotty:1992 was my first race while, although I didn't really start in earnest until 1995 while living in California, I was "sponsored" by Independent Fabrications and racing the Surf City Cyclocross series on a regular basis. I rode Nationals at SEATAC in 96 and have extremely fond memories of hub deep mud puddles, hypothermia, and getting lapped by the McCormack brothers.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed learning more about Shotty and the fantastic product he help inspire and bring to market.

It was a true taste of the coming of fall this weekend here in Colorado. We pinned up numbers at the Frisco Nordic Center for the annual double weekend at Frisco Cross…a traditional season-opening race for many Coloradans who are getting their season kicked off. The Aspens were blowing up and the hint of coolness in the air for the 35A race (~ 55 degrees) had me reaching for the first time this season for the Northwest Knee Warmers Embrocation (review coming soon).

I’d been feeling pretty OK. The legs turning well in training and I knew I’d only be doing 1 of the 2 days so I wanted to get some deep hurt on. And I’d accomplish that mission fo shizzel. I had my teammate Tim Faia with me who is always going well no matter the season. My plans were simple: Start hard, race hard and flow. No goals….just flow. I’m still a bit freaked about pushing the envelope. I constantly hear the sound of my collarbone breaking in my head and I’m just getting used to trusting rubber again. I had a quiver of tires with me but I ran the Hutchinson Bulldogs as they simply felt ‘right’ over this pretty brutal Colorado course. There is a ton of woodchip and rock covered terrain to deal with and I felt best on this tire.

The start was classic me, pushing the pace super high for the first lap…starting up a gigantic twisty paved climb...with a lot of matches burned early. Fast forward and I’ll get to the punchline: Took 8th place and could not stay in contact with the lead group. Timmy won brilliantly with a last lap attack over Robson and Hogan with great performances by Mr. Yoder, Clay Harris, Brian Maslach and a surging Pat Gallegos. Here’s a few minutes of the race before Mr. Yoder lays down his obscene power causing great discomfort to us all:

2010 Frisco CX 35+ (part 1) from Rod Yoder on Vimeo.

The 10K feet of altitude, slow ramp up of intensity this early season and not being smart on the gun kept me out of the nosecone of the bullet train up front, but I accomplished a massive amount of training depth which was sorely needed. I also really fell in love with bike handling again. I don’t know what it is but while not tubulars, those Bulldogs just felt…right. I’m giving them the crappy-conditions-tire award for good handling over truly bad elements.

More season building this week I am stoked for. Still taking this season literally one day at a time. One watt at a time. One corner and dismount at a time. I am so in love with it all again it makes me weepy.

…where the beer flows like wine. Or something like that.

Chris G and Joe DeP sent over some info about the Colorado Cup race being held up at the Aspen Lodge (near Estes Park...not Aspen actually) on Sunday October 17th. From the looks of it, the scenery and location look spectacular! What a new and fresh place to have a cross. Lots of pine needly forest, lake front and natural obstacles to get our hup on and around. Reminds me of a mix of the old Breck course and the course we did in Shriek-Grootlo back in Za Motherland.

Here’s some previews…

This is going to be SICK!

Here’s the deets. Note the differences in start times for your categories!

Lots and lots to report, sports fans. On the road all week for InterBike and CrossVegas, so I have a massive backlog to pump out to you! Let’s get to it…

 - Cross Vegas -

What an amazing ride with my main man and kindred spirited brother, Michael Robson. We had his F-350 (the beast known as 'Trevor') all bio-dieseled up for the 10.5 hour journey from Boulder to Vegas…packed to the rafters with more Belgian carbon fiber and Steamboat Ti than you could shake a stick at. I don’t think the radio got turned on once. For 10 hours we just geeked on bikes, racing, families, work…you name it and it was talked about. One of the truest road trips I’ve had in years…right down to the smoked jerky we consumed on the way down.

We were amped for CrossVegas and doing the Industry Wheeler’s and Dealer’s Race. After doing the Elite Race the last two years, it was time to actually ‘race’ with friends and colleagues rather than set goals to not get lapped. I will say this: Michael and I were hungry to show off Colorado racing and we truly wanted to ensure we walked away with a win for the Rocky Mountains. We headed off to the Desert Breeze Soccer Park where Cross Vegas is held each year to scope out the course and get a feel for the grass. I threw on my GoPro and captured the course as it was being prepared early Wednesday AM. You can get a feel for the course and the thickness of the grass...even though my camera is essentially pointed straight down! Sorry....

With some hot laps in our legs, we packed up and headed over to the InterBike trade show. Michael who is now product testing a boat load for VeloNews was on the prowl looking for the latest and greatest in tire, wheel and sealed cable system technology. I too had a shed-load of meetings with folks, both for my company BlipSnips, as well as for my little ‘side hobby’ in the bike industry. It was fantastic to see my friends at Ridley...especially to walk through all of the ins and outs of their new 2011 product line, provide feedback and learn more about what’s forth coming. They have literally taken 'grass roots' to heart by talking directly with guys like me who race every weekend, as hard as can be, on their equipment. They want to know what works and what doesn't. I love the relationship.

By evening, we’d fueled up our bodies and prepared for war. There would be a good selection of strong riders represented in the Wheelers and Dealers race, and I wanted to be a part of that animation. Our main man Jon Cariveau from Moots who is a staple of Front Range racing, the well known retired New England hard-man Mark McCormack, National Master’s Champ from my old home of CA, James Coats, and a cast of other razor-sharp racers, many former professionals who like to put it down in the Master’s Races in their respective regions. Game ON!

The field was massive, some 150 or more deep. we assembled into the start grid and waited for the USA Cycling folks to blow that whistle. Legs twitching…eyes focused down the start ramp it was on like Donkey Kong (as my man Dave Towle blares out at races…)

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! We’re GONE! My cleat engages and Jon C and I get right off the front almost immediately. There is a ‘parade lap’ on lap 1 to essentially string out the mass of lycra-clad humanity behind us. Jon and I are chatting all this time, essentially surveying who’s with us and to up the tempo. We trade off the first lap, on and off on the front to ensure we separate those who came to play early on. It’s only a 30 minute race,  so we will race differently tonight: all out, full gas.

Michael, who was staged roughly 5 rows back, had an INCREDIBLE charge to the front. By the first lap proper (after the parade lap), he’d passed like 60 people. When he bridged, it was like re-enforcements arriving. I told him to sit in and get his wind back.

All the while we are drilling it at the front, we’re talking, looking, surveying. McCormack is such an incredibly experienced rider, any mistakes will throw you out the back quickly.

For laps 2-3, we’re in a group of 8-10. Robson, Cariveau, McCormack, Matty P from Moots is having the ride of his life…mashing it near the front with ONE GEAR! We’re pushing the pace hard. The course this year is infinitely better. Brook Watts and crew nailed it with a WAY more flowy course (especially the back side’s climb which arced as opposed to just  going straight up the grass hill side. They injected an additional set of steps as well to keep it interesting for spectators and racer’s alike.

By the 3rd of the four laps, Jon C pours it on. The 8-10 of us string, separate and we know Jon is on a banner day. He takes Michael, Pascal Wehr (Cannondale), Mark McCormack and John Phillips (Bikesource) with him and they jet. I am paying for my earlier efforts and dangling off the tail end of the front 5. I’m frustrated but still motivated.

A freight train group of racers is coming on fast, with strong guys like Peter Smith (Embrocation Mag), George Barthel (Giant) and other hounds with their tails up in full chase. I feather my pedal stroke and recover. I flow at the front with these guys trailing, setting my own pace. On the last set of stairs, I make a final move and pin it as soon as I re-mount. It’s a LONG ass way to the finish line but I knew if I could get through the S-turns solo, I’d be good.

I am railing the grass and felt great with the tire selection and pressure. It was down right fun! Counter steering through each corner with nary a hint of a slip. I come through the final turn and drop it into the 46x12…click! click! click! and just drill it, coming in right behind the stellar Matty P (Moots) who crushed the single speeds.

It was a Colorado day for sure. We drilled it fo’ shizzel with Jon taking the “W”, Robson 4th, Matty P 7th and me 8th. It was a really great time. The racers from around the country were such class acts, it was motivating to get in shape for Nationals.

- InterBike -

For two days, I walked around the city that is InterBike. It’s like walking around the Louvre. You need a couple of days to take it all in. Honestly, nothing barked out at me as ‘the next trend’. The UCI rulings for cross (e.g., disc brakes, etc) were effectively non-existent as there simply was not enough time for companies to react from the announcement this summer. I suspect we’ll see tons of light weight cross braking goodness next year. I will however show off some of the cross sex I spied:

Team mate Allen Krughoff and Ridley USA Sales Manager Todd Schmidt talking shop.

Vanilla Cycles Speedwagon. Money.

My man Chris Jones’ custom-painted Focus.

The Wheelers and Dealers winning steed. The 16lb RSL

Tim Johnson showed me his custom Dugasts with Schwalbe file treads. Harkens back to the old Dugast Pipistrellos that Nijs hoards. Maybe even better.

True artistry in Zonconato’s bikes. 

Katie’s custom Stars-n-Bars edition Stevens.

See the entire album including my wanna-be-photog action shots from the men’s elite race here.

 - Boulder Racing No. 1 – Xilinx -

So after drilling it home for 11 hours on Friday from Vegas, my family and I re-packed and drove out to support our teammate and friend Brian Hludinski’s Boulder Racing series. The first race was at Xilinx, a favorite course for racers in the Front Range. My son raced at 8:30, drilling it again to a fine 4th place. On the pre-ride, I honestly could not believe the kids were going to make it through some of this stuff…big ditches to be hopped, sand traps, logs…a VERY technical course to say the least.

At warm up I felt pretty good even given the travel. It took me virtually no time to get the legs worked up and feel ‘light’. The pedals turned well and the tires hooked equally well. I ran Typhoons…although this was a more Rhino kind of day. A fairly classic Colorado course to contend with so you'd better have some MTB chops.

The BCS crew was in effect. Tim Faia, Mark Wisner and I were all feeling good and from the whistle, we put the hurt on the field. The start is a high speed haul up a long paved driveway leading into a ‘funnel’….a bunny hopped curb that pours into a set of windy single track. 'Be there first' is the rule.

For the first 3 laps it was a tight group. Faia went to the front and set a radically hard tempo around lap 3. Robson flowed behind me with his exceptional handling skills. I wasn't going to tow anyone to Tim so I let Michael come to the front and pull to catch him.

As we flowed into the trees in lap 4, I punched it again to flow first through and let Timmy get some more daylight. Robson and I got a laugh with him yelling “Ah, so THAT’s how it’s gonna be!” When we got to the back-side pavement after we exited the trees, he got into the drops and put such an attack in it was incredible, the Aussie track specialist he is. Tim would have to really work for it today as Michael was on a tear.

For the remainder of the race it was Michael and Tim duking hard, then me, Jeff Cospolich, Mike Hogan (the three of us pictured above) and my teamie, Mark Wisner who turned himself inside out to bridge back after tearing a hole in his new FMB’s (arrgh!). Jeff and I traded assaults, each equally balanced in our plight lap after lap. By the last lap, Jeff came to the front. We flowed on foot through this section of ditches designed to get us off the bike. When it came time to remount I bobbled, slipping a pedal…and again…and again. Grass build up n the Sidis that I had to hit off the seat stay to clear and re-engage. Jeff, the high altitude MTB’er that he is, flowed well and I could not close the gap. he taking 3rd and I holing on for 4th for the day.

The fitness is coming to the surface. I feel like a bike racer again even though I feel my clavicle after these hard efforts. It simply is reminding me to smile and be happy. I feel that level of un-comfort after these efforts that is ironically GOOD to feel…as if there is room (lots) to grow fitness.

Just as Timmy F said as we cooled down: “God I love this sport.” Seriously: what DO people do with their weekends in the ‘real’ world out there? I’ll assume they somehow feel the same things we do after racing. Or so I hope. 

By intent, I’ve kept my mouth shut. Never any pressure on them to ride…or even less, to race. In fact, quite the opposite. If there was any inspiration I tried to convey to my young’uns, it is to try EVERYTHING.

And so my boys did. Both of them gravitating towards bikes....with some baseball and rock climbing thrown in for good measure too.

Today was massive for a father and a son. Aiden, raced his first ‘cross.  A hot an dusty one in Golden…the Green Mountain Sports Race 1 of their series.

I think I was infinitely more stressed than my boy pre-race. He was just amped to get under way. We pinned him up and he and I went about doing a recon lap or two, me explaining the fine points of tire pressure and what lines to take…he, not giving a rats ass about tire pressure, call-ups, hydrating and any of the lessons I was giving up for free…but simply stating: “Dad this is AWESOME! We get to ride our BIKES on these trails???!

That was what I needed to hear. And from then on I just watched him. Smiled. Flowed.

When they sent off his wave of 8-9 year olds, I couldn't help myself. I just got on my bike a pedaled behind them. Watching him lead out, crash, then get back up and just keep going. No complaints. Just his focus ahead. He noticed a while in that I was around, and he just blurted out like a banshee:
” I…am…having…FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Reminders of why we do it.

Yet a bittersweet taste was present this AM and I felt it run deep in my soul as I rode behind him, smiling. I kept thinking back to my own father. My own one-on-one time with him, as rare as it was. I was the youngest of five and the reality is, the age disparity was simply too great for him to be active with me. He did, however, try to teach me how to throw a mean knuckle ball…his forte’. I never could get that right. Kept beaning batters sending them crying to their moms.

But alas, I thought of him and am sure he was smiling at the scene, the pride, the time being spent between father and son.

At the end of my boy’s race, it was dad’s turn. No warm up to speak of after his race ended. I was on a high watching him. I had a bud pin me up, I tightened down my shoes and got to the line. We had call ups from last year which enabled me to take a front row seat. Many of my buds were there today. My teammates, Faia and Wisner, Legg-Compton, Cospolich, Harris, Hogan, and of course Mr. Michael Robson. We lined up just like old times, and settled in for our pain-cave session.

Let me digress for a moment if you’d humor me however.

In June I sat on the couch with a snapped clavicle thinking “Oh well, maybe I can at least take picture this cross season if I can’t race.”

But today, 3 months later, I was smiling in the sun. The human body is amazing. I had no expectations for today other than to get a massive workout, feel the joy of pinning on a number again, and test our Mr. Robson’s tubeless set up he prepped for me (Mavic Ksyrium ES’ with new Hutchinson Bulldogs).

Today's course was Colorado to the core. Fast and flowy dirt trails, mixed with a wee bit of grass. They feature-ized well with a very creative stair case run-up timed nicely after a fast ingress turn into it.

Along with the tire testing, my plan for today was to literally focus on lines, technique and tire pressure. Tubeless for the first time. All executed to plan. At the whistle I feathered a bit to let a few guys like Faia and Robson move to the front and let them pull around. Mark Legg-Compton came through second lap and put it down and tore Faia and Robson with him which was too rich for my blood today. (Yes, Frank, I could feel your presence rationing-out only a few matches to me.)

GMSV Cyclocross #1 - SM35+ Open - Lap 1 from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

To the tubeless testing: Many of you have been tubeless for ages. I run them on my MTB, but the burping in cross I witnessed time and time again last year was too risky to try. This year, with Hutchinson's updated kevlar bead, things were VERY tight to get on, but super solid under my 180lbs. Roughly 34psi in the rear and 32 in the front. The feel is not the same as a tubular. Quite frankly, they aren't as supple (at all)…but really felt pretty remarkable on this radically bumpy CO course. I intentionally would dive into corners, trying out some lessons in counter steering Pete Webber walked me through this week, and they felt fantastic. Not one wash-out or any un-hooking in corners. So, I am definitely impressed with this years Bulldogs.

By mid race it settled into pretty fun pack racing. Wisner attacked our group and went to bridge ahead while I worked with a Green Mountain guy and my man Mike Hogan for the remainder of the race. Like the crafty national MTB champion he is, Mike attacked perfectly and I covered but felt myself starting to pay for it, decided to keep the change in my pocket and let him slip away. I yelled at him in the final turn ‘great race you crafty sombiotch!’. I took 7th on the day and all within the limits I set.

Picking races to focus skills on is critical…especially early season. Smarter racers than I have been doing this for their careers. Me, even 14 years on in this sport, it’s still an educational evolution. It’s GREAT to take a mental break from racing…while racing! I want to take on this season way differently this year. I want to feel fast when I want and need to feel fast. And I want to feel like I’m riding my bike every race moving forward…not licking my stem in agony. Today, I accomplished that. 

Off to Vegas this week for Interbike and Brook Watts’ Cross Vegas. Robson, Cariveau and I will represent CO in the Industry Cup. FINALLY I am thinking sensibly and get to watch the Elites with a beer, instead of racing it and making it a goal not to get lapped before 50 minutes.

Hup hup, buttercups. We're underway!

I created a little set of videos of my experiences wit the SRAM/Avid Shorty Ultimate cyclocross brake system. In a word: Sick. The video focuses on the very little muddling around I had to do to completely eliminate the significant chatter I experienced last season with different set-ups. Enjoy!

And the results...

The kind people at Bicycling Magazine added me to their October 2010 issue, an issue chock full of info about getting ready for cyclocross this season. They asked me a bunch of questions but this one blurb snuck its way to print…

Almost two years ago, Dubba and I were out on a ride, discussing all things cross (which is an every day occurrence and usually doesn’t even require a ride…) and we started talking bikes. “What brand do you think resonates with cross?” he asks. “What would you want to ride? Products that are absolutely cross-specific. No gimmicks.”

My answer was one word, two syllables:

“Ridley.”

And so, it was done. Boulder Cycle Sport engaged with QBP and the Ridley Brand and fairly quickly, ratcheted-up sales of cross bikes to passionate folks. Simply put, customers ‘got it’. They see the Ridley products and they ooze speed, agility, mud shedding…they ooze Belgium.

Last year the Boulder Cycle Sport Team rocked the X-Night, an amazing, awe inspiring piece of engineering, Internal/fully sealed cabling ensured I literally never changed my cabled the WHOLE season. The integrated seat mast kept things stuff and fast. See my posts here about the X-Night experience.

And so in this 2nd year of carrying the product, the Boulder Cycle Sport Cross Team has a yet again an amazing opportunity to race their 2011 X-Fire product. I’ve just got ‘er built up, so let me take you through the highlights:

• All carbon frame and fork, roughly 1400 grams (mine is a 58)
• Super stout 1-1/8 to 1-1/2” heat tube/FSA head set.This is a new change for the 2011 X-Fire taking on this attribute from it's sibling, the X-Night.
• Traditional seat post (31.6) versus the seat mast the X-Nights have.
• Replaceable rear drop out.

As for the grouppo, again, an amazing array of sponsors help the team with equipment to stand the absolute extremes we face during cross.

SRAM/Avid

• SRAM Red drive train including sealed RideOn cabling. We’ll be opting for 12/26 Force cassettes however due to their mud shedding abilities. 46/38 rings on the crank sets.
• Avid Ultimate Shorty brakes. These are just so flipping amazing, I will devote a post for them specifically. Stay tuned.

Ritchey:

• Bars: WCS Classic bend
• Stems: WCS 4Axis Wet black.
• Seat Posts: WCS no set back carbon single bolt.

Wheels are all personal choice for the Team, so I will use a mix of FSA RD 800 and 488’s with a blend of Dugast rubber. Mainly Typhoons but we have Rhinos as well this year for the badness should she come. And she will.

Here is the bike built up. Just about 17.5 lbs in my large/man sized bike. Enjoy. More reports as I get more saddle time and if you are my size, ask me to ride it!

Katie. She's more artist than anything. Details the bike with love.

The bike all built.

SRAM Red cockpit with Ritchey Classic bend bars.

SRAM Red cranks and my trusty Time ATAC pedals.

The engineering artworks themselves: SRAM/Avid Ultimate Shorty brakes (front)...

...and the rear brake.

K-Edge Chain watcher.

Massive mud clearence for our now '33c limit' tires (My 34 Rhinos fit just fine)

One extremely clean cockpit.