Beth Mason facing conditions she did not find in Iraq. Photo by Eloy Anzola.

A year ago we published an interview with licensed physical therapist, certified bike fitter, and Cat 1 road and cyclocross racer Beth Mason. If you haven’t read it, take a couple minutes and do that now. Although Beth currently lives in West Point, New York, she has strong ties to the Mid-Atlantic racing community. During the cyclocross season Beth will make it out to several MABRA and MAC races and periodically sets up shop in Northern Virginia for several days of bike fittings. 

In addition to being a top-notch physical therapist and bike fitter, Beth also holds another job: U.S. Army officer. Maj. Beth Mason has spent most of 2010 serving a tour in Iraq. Now safely back in the states, she is restarting her fitting business with a four day stint in the Mid-Atlantic. 

As of today, she still has a couple slots available for an in-depth session that, according to Beth’s website, includes the following: 

“A detailed history, flexibility assessment, and static and dynamic positioning. Dynamic positioning will include the integration of the state-of-the-art Retul motion capture system for bike fitting—you have to see it to believe it! At the end of the fitting session the client will be provided with documents detailing their position, and their optimal bike position. Special emphasis is always placed on the foot/pedal interface, with respect to cleat adjustment, and wedging and shimming when necessary.” 

If you suffer from aches and pains on the bike or want to make sure you’re riding efficiently, do yourself a favor and contact Beth for scheduling or questions. She can be reached at bethbikes1@gmail.com or 410-562-4776. 

I caught up with Beth recently to ask her about her tour of Iraq and what it was like to ride a cyclocross bike in the desert. 

Thanks for reading. 

Many readers know you as a bike fitter and Cat1 racer. They may not know that you are also an officer in the U.S. Army and recently returned home from a tour in Iraq. Welcome home and we are glad you made it back safely. I know that before you left one of your goals was to keep as much bike fitness as possible. This seemed like an ambitious challenge that I’d like to have you walk us through.  

What cycling gear did you have shipped to Iraq? 

I had my Blue CXC cyclocross bike with Ksyrium wheels and Hutchinson Bulldog tubeless tires, a Cyclops Fluid trainer, a trainer tire, a floor pump and an inadequate stockpile of inner tubes. I quickly went through all of my tubes and had to call in favors from across the globe. I was sent sealant, tubes, tire irons, CO2 cartridges … I felt the love! 

Describe your accommodations and if storing bikes, trainers, etc. was an issue. 

I had my own Containerized Housing Unit (CHU), which was about the size of a tractor trailer box. Initially I stored my equipment and bike inside and really had no issues. Eventually, however, I was able to move my things to a “bike CHU” that I shared with the senior enlisted soldier who had a mountain bike and some equipment. 

Tell us about your ride schedule and what kind of terrain you faced. 

Initially after building up my bike, and stabilizing my tires with a tubeless system, I was riding consistently twice daily: once during our two hour lunch break, and then immediately after work. At that point, I was riding about 200 miles per week. This was challenging, because the base we were operating on was extremely small, and I was only able to ride out about 3 miles, and then would have to turn around. It was always the same out and back route with small variability, and the terrain was cement-like dirt and trap rock. There was a road (dirt with some black top) to travel on, but if you chose to travel the road, you chose to eat the dirt spat out by the passing vehicles. The alternative option was the trap rock fire road – better for the long term emphysema options, worse on the tubes if you were running them. 

Any challenges as far as kitting up for rides? Were you able to wear a jersey and cycling shoes or were you on your rig in BDUs and boots? 

I was relegated to wearing the Army Physical Fitness Uniform, which includes a gray t-shirt and black shorts, white socks (no logos, thank you very much), and a yellow reflective belt. I was able to wear my cycling shoes.

BDUs are obsolete, I believe we phased out around 2008. ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) are what we wear now (not on our bikes, thank God). 

I’m guessing a lot of race bikes don’t make it in theater. What was the reaction of your fellow soldiers?

I don’t think anyone really had any idea that my bike was anything better than a Huffy, or that I was anything more than a recreational rider. 

Any funny ride or bike-related stories you can share?

Crashing is always funny, right?

If you can do handstand pushups, this is a piece of cake. Photo by Sterling Natalia McKittrick.

There was the time I was at the 3 mile turn-around point, which happens to be at a Ugandan compound, complete with Ugandan guards. I smiled, and did my high speed 180, but my tire pressure was low and I washed out. The next thing I knew, I was impaled on a number of very sharp rocks and was bleeding from my left hip and my left elbow. The Ugandan guard was running toward me, obviously concerned…ironically yelling “sorry!”. Of course I was just pissed off, and I got up as quickly as I could, ensured my chain was on, and ran a few steps before mounting the bike and riding away, blood running down my leg and arm. 

You were introduced to CrossFit while in Iraq. Can you tell us what that is all about?

CrossFit is an exercise regimen that delivers fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. It was a way for me to work on something new and different, which I needed while I was overseas. 

It seems like CrossFit involves a lot of upper-body work that is going to have most cyclists running in the other direction. Do you think this will benefit your cycling? If so, how?

After being home for awhile, and riding a bit … I’d have to say no. But I’m working to get that back. I might need to scale back on the pull ups and the handstand pushups. 

You’ve been back in the states a couple weeks. How’s the bike fitness compared to when you shipped out? 

This is pretty anti-climactic … horrible. The extra upper body muscle, plus a few extra pounds of body fat, factor in some stress…I can arm wrestle ya! 

From time to time you take your bike fitting business on the road. You are scheduled to be in the D.C. area June 26 through June 30. If folks wanted to make an appointment during that time do you still have slots available? If so, what is the best way to get in touch with you? 

I do still have some availability. I can be reached at bethbikes1@gmail.com or 410-562-4776 for scheduling or questions.

Rosaryville State Park

For those of you out there that race ‘cross first and foremost, this time of year is typically referred to as the offseason. Many ‘crossers are racing on the road to keep sharp but others are just starting to come out of hibernation to pack on the base miles. For me, it has always been a combination of the two. Lots of saddle time on the road with the occasional “who cares” race thrown in for good measure.

Little did I know there was a whole other world of cyclists out there that do it a little differently. You may have heard about these people. They ride around on bikes with fat tires and squishy forks. They call these contraptions “mountain bikes.” From what I understand, folks have been riding and racing these “mountain bikes” for quite some time and having “fun” while they do it. Intrigued but unconvinced this was no more than mythology and old wives’ tales, I set out to learn more.

Now this whole “dirt riding” concept isn’t completely foreign. I spend plenty of time “off road” on my bike in the fall and winter. Granted that riding is on a well-groomed cyclocross course in which there are usually clean smooth lines that spare my supple yet fragile tubular casings from too much wear and tear. Rarely are there the roots, divots and rocks that seem commonplace on the trails these mountain bikers or “MTBers” like to ride.

I was intrigued by it all but a little concerned as well. Egged on by teammates that partake in this “MTB” scene and claim to have “fun,” I got myself a bike. It has 700c wheels on it. The same as my ‘cross bike. That left me more at ease. But then I was told that I was supposed to call the wheels 29ers. That got me feeling a little uneasy again.

I have now ridden this rig, conveniently named the “Rig,” a handful of times and there’s no denying it, the “mountain bike” is “fun.” Dare I say “a blast.” You can get a great workout at threshold, work on the handling skills and break up the monotony of the road. That being said, I still don’t understand why you need a visor on your helmet if you are riding in the woods while wearing sunglasses. So much to learn.

I guess you can call this my MTB conversion story. For kicks, I strapped on the helmet cam for today’s ride and below is my video testimonial. Set to a song about having a well-stocked pantry. This, of course, has nothing to do with mountain biking, but what can I say, riding makes me hungry.

Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post this video because without anybody else in the frame it seemed like it could get a little boring. It is definitely not a CX race vid. In fact, Mrs. CXHairs watched for about ten seconds, and then mockingly said “look … around that bend … it’s … more trees.”

Understandably, after that exchange I was even more concerned about the boredom factor so I also showed the video to Jim, The Unholy Roleur, a lifelong MTB guy. He liked it and thought it would be interesting for all the fat tire folk out west to see what the East Coast terrain was like this time of year. Jim also mocked me for riding a mountain bike like a roadie. For now, I’m going to take that as a compliment.

Here’s the video, roadie skeelz and all. It was shot at Rosaryville State Park in Maryland. Home of the 2010 Tacchino Ciclocross. Thanks for watching.

What is something you saw a newbie do that made you think “I really need to have a friendly word with that guy.” This could have been in a race or in the parking lot or waiting in line to register, etc.

URBAN CROSS.

STEVE FIFE: I see people roll to the start line cold all the time, and think it would really be helpful for them to know the benefit of a good warm up.

Technique. Tire Pressure. Layering. All are important in CX.

JULIE KULIECZA: I think I am still a newbie so if someone sees me doing something dumb please tell me. Pumping tires up to more than 50 psi. I did say something and they thanked me.

LINDSAY BAYER: I AM that newbie. People are always kindly pointing things out like, “Your number is on backwards,” or “You’re on the wrong type of bicycle” or “You should lay off the brakes in those turns.”

NOAH BELL: A guy ran through a ridable sand pit every lap and on the last lap a guy rode past him and he lost a podium spot.

CJ CONGROVE: I am a noob. I didn’t wear my kit to the podium. Maybe someone needs to have a word with me.

TECH CROSS.

MICHAEL SEEK: Don’t remount the bike right after the barrier at the bottom of a run-up and waste a huge amount of time trying to ride the hill instead of just remounting at the top.

ANDY MCKEEGAN: I don’t know if he was a noob but the same guy continually attacked so hard that he exploded. His attacks were hard enough that I didn’t bother chasing, but another minute or two later on he’d be slumming and I’d blaze by him.

CHRISTOPHER DALE: Try not to wear a ridiculous amount of clothes during the race. It may be extremely cold but you can’t race in tons of clothing.

MABRA CHAMPIONSHIP.

JOE LILLIBRIDGE: Helped a few people in the parking lot running either really high pressure or running too low. Something so easy as tire pressure can really make or break your race as far as handling.

MELANIE SWARTZ: I felt like the newbie for not embracing the conditions and saying “Now this is ‘cross.”

BETSY SHOGREN: Umm, I guess my only advice in these conditions is to do whatever you can to stay warm and dry before the race. I looked like the Michelin man out there, but I didn’t care because I started the race with feeling in my extremities, unlike a lot of competitors.

Gunnar Shogren: Not impressed by your cold-weather machismo.

MARK BROADWATER: I’m a newbie, this is my first full season doing cross!! I’m only getting through with the advice of my teammates, they are the best! Some of the advice I have been given is try to focus on riding the course smooth and focus on your start.

GUNNAR SHOGREN: Why are you in shorts? Aren’t you freezing? You’re not, well I hate you.

FATMARC VETTORI: Just warning everyone that when races are muddy and you open the port-o-let to not be startled by what you see on the floor, just a warning it’s just mud.

TACCHINO CICLOCROSS.

STEPHEN CUMMINGS: I really hate seeing people ride around without helmets. There was a kids’ race, and we are who they see and try to emulate. We all know that we probably won’t crash riding to registration, but it is a time when we are most visible.

MATT PARSE: If you can’t ride in the mud and slippery conditions don’t go out in front because when you fall in creates a huge pile.

GREG FABER: Some dude went WAY too hard on the first lap and got to first place but halfway through the lap he faded and was dropped. Valiant effort I suppose, but all for naught.

JIM CARLSON: I saw someone slow down drastically after the barriers in order to get back on their bike. You need to keep running and even accelerate before leaping back on. You’ll have plenty of time after you hit the seat to look down and get you feet onto the pedals.

LINDSEY HILLESHEIM: I remember seeing a Cat 4 guy at Granogue stick out his outside foot AND had his inside foot down when he went around a tight turn .

CAPITAL CROSS.

KRISTOPHER AUER: Always hit the line with a good attitude. You don’t need a smile on your face but be excited to race. Aim for the finish line.

MARK BROADWATER: Listen to your coach, it’s no coincidence that you do well when you listen.

JOE LILLIBRIDGE: Other than fitness, work on keeping speed through corners, over barriers, and dismounts/remounts. Those few seconds saved through each add up as your race goes on, and if you’re off the front it’s really important to ride smooth and remount fast.

Cyclocross: Beard friendly bike racing.

STEVE RISKUS: Get to races more than an hour early and stay and watch how the more experienced racers ride the same course after your done.

KAREN TOURIAN: Above all, make sure you’re having fun. It takes practice and experience to feel like you know what you’re doing, but cross is about the most fun you can have on a bike, even when you don’t know what you’re doing. The race scene is great-I’ve met a ton of very cool and fun people through racing.

NORMAN BRACH: Have fun. Give back to the sport. Don’t be one of the few dishrags who show up, race and go home, but still find time to complain about something that they think could have been done better.

ANDREW WULFKUHLE: Ask questions and learn as much as possible about the sport, gear, training, everything because cross is a sport of inches. The racers who makes the least mistakes wins.

ARLEY KEMMERER: Its super fun, the people are really laid back and more than willing to help out a new rider, so don’t be afraid to ask! The more the merrier!

BETHLEHEM CUP.

WAYNE BRAY: Ride so hard that you completely blow up to get to know how it feels…then you’re ready to go race ‘cross.

JUSTIN LINDINE: I’ve found that it’s really important to recover in cross racing. If you race both days of the weekend that’s a lot of intensity work. Make sure you’re not doing too much intensity overall or you will burn out before the end of the season. Also, work on skills….those are precious seconds dismounting, remounting and running.

Chris Mayhew Addressing The 'Campers'

I had the opportunity to track down the coaches and a handful of the attendees from the clinic to get their thoughts on what they expected to get from the day and how it panned out. If you are new to cyclocross or even if you have been racing for a year or two, take a look at the responses and consider making a clinic part of your preseason routine. Here’s what the ‘campers’ had to say about their day: 

Who do you ride for, what is your current city of residence and racing level?

Lindsey Hillesheim: Squadra Coppi, Arlington, Virginia. Cat 3 in cross. This will be my third season racing cross.

Chuck Kyle: Renaissance Racing out of Kansas City, Kansas. Current residence, Alexandria, Va. Road CAT 4, Cross – Bs and Masters 40+ This will be my second season racing Cross. But I have been racing road since the late ’90s.

Richard Murby: Richard Murby from Wales, UK riding for District Velocity Racing p.b. The Bike Rack and living in Washington, D.C. Just started my first season of road racing this year. Prior to this upcoming season I’ve done two cross’ races – more than enough to get my completely hooked!

Lawrence Sterrett: Currently unattached and I live in Alexandria, Va. I did my first crit last month and I’m a new to Cyclocross. I’ve been riding since 2005, but just in the last four months really stepping up to race.

What did you hope to get out of the clinic and did it meet your expectations?

Chuck Kyle: I wanted to get the real scoop on ‘cross technique. Everything you read suggests, “well it is just personal preference.” The interesting thing with personal preference is that you have to have a baseline. My personal preference would be to ride some type of Suzuki and just avoid the barriers, but since this is not an option, I would like to learn from someone who has been doing this a long time, like Jeremy Powers, use that as my baseline and THEN I will begin to develop my own personal preference. This clinic definitely gave me a “correct enough” version of how to manage the bike with technique, now it is my turn to practice, practice, practice and develop my own way.

Richard Murby: I’d developed my technique, such as it was, mainly by watching YouTube video.

Richard Murby mastering the 180-degree turn into the barriers

So my main goal was for someone to look at what I was doing and set me straight! Mainly the dismount/remount was my main area of concern. The camp more than met my expectations. I’d expected some feedback but nothing like the level I got from JPOW and the coaches (Fatmarc in particular was amazing).

Lindsey Hillesheim: I haven’t really been on my ‘cross bike much since last December, so I was really looking forward to spending an entire day getting reacquainted with the bike, dismounting/remounting, barriers, etc.

Lawrence Sterrett: I wanted to learn the proper techniques of bike handling in cyclocross. Since I’m new to the sport, I didn’t have any bad habits to break. The clinic was great and really surpassed my expectations. That’s all I talked about at work today.

What was your highlight?

Lindsey Hillesheim: Some of the master men at the clinic smoking Jeremy Powers on a practice run up. No really, it was cool to see so many beginners being taught the basics with humor, patience, and practical advice by one of the best American racers. It really emphasized how grass roots this sport still is in the U.S.—which, for me personally, is a great thing to see.

Lawrence Sterrett: I would have to say getting to eat lunch with Jeremy Powers. He’s a down to earth guy. Not many pro athletes really take the time and just hang out like he did with the attendees of the clinic. That says a lot about a person.

Richard Murby: Getting the time to do loads of repeats over the barriers and get instant feedback after every set. I’d need to race three years to hit that many barriers.

Chuck Kyle: I think it was the way that Jeremy Powers conducted himself. He was so laid back, not pretentious, just down to earth. He made himself SO approachable by anyone, no matter the skill level, to answer and demonstrate all things cross. This raised the level of the camp far higher than I expected.

Give me one thing you learned?

Richard Murby: The time to attack is when it gets hard.

Lawrence Sterrett: With practice and repetition, you become better over time. Good starts will help carry through the race.

Chuck Kyle: How to get on the damn bike, without stopping and looking like a roadie mounting up before a crit.

Lindsey Hillesheim: I’m not giving away any of Chris Mayhew’s (dirty) tricks—I paid for them after all and I plan to use them! Jeremy Powers definitely gave me some things to think about, although I think I’ll hold off on running around with five pound weights on my ankles, while carrying my bike to simulate muddy runs until my skill level justifies it! But his broader point that you need to train like you race is a good one. For example, I suck at run-ups. I do practice them … without my bike. When do you run anywhere in cross without your bike? And when I get to the top, I’m gassed and can’t get on my bike with any grace whatsoever. But again, I don’t practice that. So you know, maybe I should practice run-ups by running up a hill, carrying or pushing my bike, and then getting back on it quickly. It’s totally obvious, but nonetheless it never occurred to me. It sort of opened my mind to think a little more creatively about my training.

Any other thoughts on the day?

Chuck Kyle: Just a great venue and hopefully there will be one next year and those who attended this year get the “early call up,” sticking with the culture of cross, so that I am guaranteed an opportunity to go again.

Lindsey Hillesheim: Cross season is an intense 3 months—you race against, cheer for, and a drink a beer with the same people every weekend. It breeds a sort compatriotism amongst crossers. But then you don’t see them for nine months! So the clinic was also a chance to catch with old friends as well as meet some new ‘crossers who will soon be assimilated, er, enculturated.

Richard Murby: Probably the best money I’ve spent on cycling in a long time!

Lawrence Sterrett: It was a good event; really worth the money I spent to attend the clinic. I plan on attending the clinic next year if I’m not deployed.

Along with the attendees, I also chatted with the coaches about the day. Here’s what they had to say:

What were your expectations for the clinic and were you satisfied?

JPow sharing an important lesson about remounts

Jeremy Powers: Everyone learned something which was my number one goal with this camp. The other coaches and I really made our best effort to get everyone nailing the techniques the correct ways. We hit on the fundamentals of cyclocross so all the participants had the tools to get a result in their upcoming competitions. In our mock-up race I ripped section to section reminding each rider of the right techniques and I watched everything come together. For me, it was awesome! I love growing the discipline of cyclocross and being able to give back to it. Watching people get the same excitement out of it as I do just puts a smile on my face every time.

Dan Tille delivers some knowledge

Dan Tille: My expectations were pretty high. I started working on this clinic back in March and had it built up pretty high in my mind. The fact that everything went smoothly from start to finish and that we had 40 people who came in as one type of ‘cross racer and left better than they came! Between everyone who helped out with the clinic to make it happen and all of the enthusiastic participants, I was very satisfied with the weekend.

Chris Mayhew: My primary goal in anything like this is not to embarrass the guy whose name is on my jersey. After that I like to keep the attendees happy. I think I accomplished both of those. Other than that I didn’t have a lot of expectations. I knew all the presenters were going to be great to work with and from that would flow a good experience, whatever shape it took.

Fatmarc Vettori: I had hoped to come down and share some of my experiences, help folks learn from the mistakes and bad habits I formed, and had to break over the years. The clinic had some really solid teachers, I was honored and a little nervous working with such a strong group. Selfishly, I also hoped that I could pick up a few things from my fellow clinicians and campers. I was totally satisfied, the clinic was super fun, the campers were awesome, I was really proud of what we were able to accomplish.

What was your highlight?

Jeremy Powers: Best part of the clinic was watching some of the people who came on Friday night to talk at the Bike Doctor in Waldorf and then turn those talks into hands on instructions. Then watching everything become reality on Saturday at the camp. I felt like I watched people transform into good cyclocross’rs in a period of 24-hrs and it felt great to be part of.

Fatmarc Vettori: The entire day!! Seriously I was bouncing off the walls since I was brought in to help work the clinic. Cross is such a passion for me and to be able to share that love with other folks was pretty awesome. The audience was hungry to learn, and getting better right before our eyes. That was great. I worked with the new racer group most of the day, I was super proud of how they progressed. At the end when we were all groups were together you couldn’t differentiate between who had been racing cross for years, and who was brand new as we watched everyone going through the barriers. I was pretty proud of that. Rusty, who tag-teamed with our group, was fun to work with as well.

Also during the session on off-camber riding, I got to chase JPOW through the tight off-camber stuff which was super fun. On the second pass I tried to inside him on a 180, and he slammed the door on me hard. That was really funny. That was fun.

Chris Mayhew: I don’t know that there was “a” highlight. From the first phone call in January till the moment I drove away it was an enjoyable experience. I love my job and events like these are really the icing on the cake for me.

Dan Tille: Highlight for me was either the run up practice or the barrier drills with everyone as a group. Seeing everyone put everything that we had taught all throughout the morning together during the drills was AWESOME!

Any other thoughts?

Chris Mayhew: If we could run the exact same program next year I would be completely happy. I hope everyone got something out of it and I hope people do some laps with me during the season.

The custom noodle on JPow's bike is PRO.

Fatmarc Vettori: What a great day, I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. I look forward to seeing the folks out at the races. The MAC and MABRA series are going to be better than ever this year, and of course Granogue and Charm City Cross races are shaping up to top tier as always well. I am excited to see the campers out at the races and apply some of what they learned during the camp.

I am very grateful to all the folks that have helped me learn cross over the years: Rick Mihills, Greg Ferguson, Kelly Cline, Tom McDaniel, Mike Yozell, Chris Mayhew, and of course my current team director Kris Auer. I was stoked to be able to continue to pass down that knowledge to folks. I hope that in a couple of years the campers are passing the information to yet another crop of cross racers.

Dan Tille: I can’t thank all of the other coaches and Jeremy enough! I have been bouncing off the walls all summer waiting for the clinic to happen!

Planning to run the clinic next year?

Dan Tille: Oh you know it! I am already looking forward to putting on next year’s clinic and thinking about to how to make it better…although I am not sure how, having JPow as an instructor as a clinic is going to be hard to beat!

Fatmarc Vettori: I would expect so, I’m counting down for next year already!!!

Chris Mayhew: Absolutely. We had a good team this year and every year we learn something. Hopefully it will make for an even better experience next year.