So, Richard Groovy Groenendaal has had a busy month. His lady gave birth to their second baby, has announced his new team and lastly indicated he'll be working with a frame builder on some projects.

More importantly, our man indicated that his priorities are racing at the SP's, GVA's but more importantly the WK's. Further, he called out the rising scope of American 'cross and that the Euro's must come and hit teh WK here.

On CycloCross Info he says:

Now I can drive my own program. Thus my preference goes to Superprestige , GvA - and the World Cups. The World Cup belongs in America too. I think that we're obliged. Racing the World Cups in Europe has brought us all a lot of money. Now the sport is getting its feet on the ground in America and we can not be absent there any longer.

I am stoked Mr. G put some props out to US 'cross. The 3 silvers at Worlds this year must have been a wake up call. I'll be routing for him if we actually get the WK to come to Providence.

Who's thinking cyclocross! I am! I am! In fact, I never stop thinking about it. I just watched the 2000 Worlds again for the zillionth time last night. Love watching Groovy-daal work the mud. In other words, I watch and study 'cross as an obsession. Rewinding again and again and again to see how Ik Sven takes a line with insanely low tire pressure in the Dugasts; *or* how Erwin ports the bike Belgie style, finessing the bike on to his shoulder and arm around the head tube in such syncopation you need to see it in slow motion; *or* how De Clercq stutter steps his muddy climbs to conserve energy.

It's all in the details and that's where cross races are won and lost.

So, what makes a cross rider great? Technical savvy. I love putting pain to roadies who fumble through 'cross courses like a deer trying to walk across ice. 'Cross, if you haven't figured it out yet, is a game of not only sheer maintenance of power but also of utter grace. The power keeps you at the front but the grace ensures it is damn near impossible to bridge to you.

Technical savvy off the bike is what makes the best cross riders the best. And to be specific, it's the barriers that above all are the bottleneck and gating factor (no pun intended) to those desiring a podium spot. When you can flow effortlessly through the barriers and reduce all amounts of friction through your transition and get back on the bike fluidly, folks without those same skills fumble, waste energy and when they finally remount and get going again, they have to add those additional watts of power to get back on your wheel. Compound that wattage expenditure over the course of 60 minutes and those without your barrier skills have burned WAY too many matches.

So, how do you get better? Practice, dummy. And to practice you need barriers. Back in the day, we used to drive our cars to a schoolyard and pull out wooden boards we'd made. That is retarded, and this will enable you to be mobile by bike, carry 'em in a back pack and have LOTS of barriers as well to set up multiples. So in my quest to make American 'crossers LOOK way better than our stereotypical bumbling selves, behold my secret plans.

What do you need?

For 4 complete barriers you need

• 16 22" sections of 1/2" PVC tubing (for the top bars).
  
• 16 18" sections of same 1/2" PVC tubing (for the legs). NOTE: you may want to go as high as 19" for a bit more height on the leg tubes. The 18" tubes are high but just slightly lower than the UCI height.
  
• 8 3-way joins for 1/2 tubing (buy extra 'cause they break)
• 12 2-way joins for 1/2 tubing (buy extra 'cause they break too)

This is what the 2 and 3 way sections look like (the 2 way on the left, 3 way on the right). You can find them near the PVC tube section in your hardware store.

I drafted up a little diagram for y'all in Visio to show you how this stuff fits together:

When you get them all cut up, throw some stickers on the long top sections. This makes it SUPER easy when you get to your course site and pull 'em out of your back pack to know which are the top and which are the leg tubes. They all fit nicely into a backpack as follows:

And when you are at your site, set 'em up (takes about 2 minutes) and begin your practicing to dominate the competition! RM'ers training using the port-o-barriers in action:

Shittily translated by yours truly from CycloCross.Info

"The Second Flanders Indoor Cyclo Cross has moved to Hasselt after a successful first edition in the Malines Nekkerhal. The 2nd Flanders Indoor Cyclo Cross in on Thursday 31 January 2008, but will move to the Ethias sand in Hasselt, and will remain there the next 3 years per the organizing crew Promocycling negotiated. The concept started last yere where the racers do two 20 minute heats will remain."

I spoke briefly to Chris G about this and we have all it takes to do it here in the Denver Boulder area. There is an NBL league that does this already and we could get some RAD things going on here I am sure. 20 minute heats would be sweet as would a Le Mans start. True story: One year at a DFL, they did the Le Mans start thing. I won the running hole shot but ALL the bikes were laid out in front of us. I did a flying leap over what seemed like two bikes only to land square on some dudes wheel. Sorry dude. Yeah it was a training race but it's urban jungle cross man.

I think this would be a marvel concept to add in some barriers etc in a tight format. Advantage to the skilled guys who have had some gate crashing experience (moi). I'll have to do me some thinkin' on this.

What a week in cycling. I love our sport.

• QuickStep employees found with hoards of banned substances
• Frankie "The EPO was for my Dog" VandyB tries to off himself
• Flandis gets schooled by Shonny (right on!) but the real news is why the F he's even racing.
• And the piece de resistance: A local Boulder-area cycling CLUB has rumors of 3 of their CAT 4's (that is category 4 as in beginner) using HGH and talking about it....HA! (and I am not joking here). And yes, while I don't want to be at the center of the local sewing circle, I just had to vent this as I about shit myself when I heard it.
  

List of NYT cycling articles here)

OK, I promised I wouldn't politic or posture on this blog, but it's too hard now. What kind of pricks will I be lining up with who are so obsessed with themselves and their egos that they'd dope in the 35 Opens (or Cat 4's as it were...) against a bunch of other worker-bee/dad types. Fast worker be/dad types but COME ON! We're talking about dudes who are out there to let the rage out from their real lives like job pressures, family....whatever....and are there for the total joy of competing weekend in and out doing the best they can (hopefully on bread and water) and not trying to get an edge on a bunch of other old farts for the glory of winning a 24 pack of Gu and some bull shit schwag.

Hang 'em all.

Cheaters suck. You retards should go re-think your pathetic lives.

3:15 and 4,600 feet of climbing on the MTB early this AM. All that before work. Love life. The WB, Bobby Mounts, Longman and Fryda essentially did this MTB Epic again...only this time with beau coup single track of the silent secret kind. We chopped off all that Gold Hill/ Sunshine dirt road slog nonsense as the WB had the keys to the secret Gnome forest of tight singletrack at 9,300 feet. Yum.

Za Plan is helping me out considerably as week by week the climbing (and power/weight) is become so clear and demonstrably better. Smiles. rest up, then go again.

No pics today. Sorry. No time to stop and click this AM. We were rolling.

Bummer! Was looking forward to it this week but I guess it cranks up in a few weeks (e.g. mid June)...or so the Teton Forum poster says. Going to do the pro class again this year to get some speed going on in these worked over legs and try out some new things I am toying with race-wise. Maybe a bit too early for such intensity but these are SO much fun it's maddening.

Nice light spin today early AM to soak in the beauty of the Republic before the work day commenced and pulls you under. All is SO good though these days. I look at these old posts of sickness and insanity and I just remember that I am now, finally, here in the place I wanted to be.

Note Erik's SRM. ET is a tank of a powerhouse. Great photos of interesting things from this photographer can me found at P. Edward Squidersons Flikr site here.

Sunday. Last day of the training week. Time to let the muscles rest. After yesterday's throw downs and climbing fest, I finished up the week needing some final climbing with Flagstaff and Sunshine Canyon with a dip down into Gold Hill, then turn around and bomb back down to home. It is sick living at the apex of all these great training routes.

Surprisingly the legs felt fairly fresh and the power was basically there on both big efforts. The KEY was yesterday's wade into a freezing Boulder creek. It was an unbelievable recuperation and I recommend it to everyone after along hard ride. It's like therapy. Well it is, I hear.

Happy work week everyone. 7 months to Belgie.

Vanlandingham, who won the women's race ahead of Katie Compton (Spike Shooter), said Landis jokingly told her not to make him look too bad on the final lap.

"I'd always heard he was a great technical rider, so when I caught him on the climb I hoped he would stay with me so I could watch him go down the descent and see his skills," she said. "But I didn't see him again."