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.

Sean Callahan of Team Pegasus races at Northbrook. Photo by Josh Radlein.

Our friendly Internet overlords at Google make that a little bit easier today with the roll out of “Bike There” on Google Maps. “Bicycling” is now an option on the “Get Directions” tab at maps.google.com. Good stuff.

Along with the Bike There reveal we are also bringing a little grassroots ‘cross video goodness to your computer monitors, today. Heather Jurewicz of Johnny Sprockets put together a great highlight reel from the 2009 Chicago Cyclocross Cup series. The Chi Cross Cup was started in 2004 as a grass roots effort by folks that wanted to race ‘cross in their neighborhood. Yes, that’s all it takes. The series has grown ten races and features hard racing and a party atmosphere. But don’t just take my word for it, check out the film.

Thanks for watching.

Click on image to learn more about Sylvan Cycles

 It’s so crazy it just might work. Sylvan Cycles specializes in using sustainable materials to build bicycles that “rival or surpass conventional frame materials for performance.” We met up with Sylvan co-founder John Fabel at the 2010 Shimano North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Virginia, to talk wood bikes and how they would hold up on a ‘cross course. 

Sylvan’s featured bike at the show was their adventure model, a sharp looking ride crafted to excel in adventure and randonneur events. This does not mean, however, that the model would hold you back at your local ‘cross throw down. And talk about turning some heads. And I’ll bet for few extra bucks, the boys at Sylvan will get out their wood burning kit and etch your name on the top tube. 

Sylvan Cycles cares about building quality bikes and also about getting people to out and riding no matter what they throw their leg over. Hence their by line, “using bicycles to go places.” Learn more about the company by visiting it online at www.sylvancycles.com. 

Here’s the interview. Thanks for watching.

Sampson builds components suited for 'cross.

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show took place February 26-28 in Richmond, Virginia. Started in 2005 with around 30 booths and 700 visitors, NAHBS has grown into an event featuring over 150 exhibitors and 7000 attendees. The craftsmanship of the bikes, components, accessories and clothing on display at the show is top notch. I’m sure by now most people have seen photos of the shiny bits that commanded everyone’s attention. I have some, too, and will get them posted soon.

Our mission at this show was to find some interesting cross-specific stories for CXHairs. Along with photos, I conducted a fair number of video interviews. The first is with Eric Sampson, president of Sampson Bicycles & Components, based in Denver, Colorado. Sampson designs and builds components that rival the big boys. His shifters and drivetrain components feature precision operation, competitive weights and a damn nice price-point.

I asked Eric how Sampson’s Stratics group holds up to the rigors of cyclocross. Here’s what he had to say.

Thanks for watching. Later this week we will feature interviews from Mike Zanconato, and Sylvan Bicycles‘ John Fabel.

Snow? That's not snow. The pits at Capital Cross.

Proteus Bikes’ Super Bowl of Singlespeed may have been pushed back a week but that does not mean there will be no cyclocross racing in the Nation’s Capital this Sunday. Tim Rugg (Battley Harley/Sonoma) and Justin “Rez” Resnick (District Velocity/The Bike Rack) are not going to let the forecasted 36 to 360 inches of snow stop them from racing.

Before we get the details of what these guys have planned, I have to say I’m a little worried that Rez is spearheading this effort. As we saw way back in September, slippery surfaces are not always his forte. For those that may have missed it, here’s a recap.

And now for deets on this Sunday courtesy of Tim and Rez:

WOOH SNOW CROSS!! Spread the word, this is gonna be AAAAWESOME.

We could use some extra orange sport cones to set up the courses so please bring some if you have them!

Newbies, spectators, hecklers, snowball throwers, and photographers welcome!

Route: here

Schedule:
09:45am – Optional breakfast at Open City Cafe.

11:00am – Meet-up at Rock Creek Park exercise area, set up course, do preview lap.
Stage 1 – Rock Creek Park exercise area start at 11:30 SHARP.
Race TBD laps until 11:55 or so.

12:15pm – Meet-up at Calvert St Bridge park, set up course, do preview lap.
Stage 2 – Calvert St Bridge park at 12:30 SHARP.
Race TBD laps until 12:55 or so.

2:15pm – Meet-up at City Bikes to ride over to Malcolm X Park.
2:30pm – Meet-up at Malcolm X, set up course, do preview lap.
Race TBD laps until 3 or so.

Carraway at DCCX

Race #2 of the NCCX Winter ‘Cross series took place January 10 in Mooresville, North Carolina. Chris Carraway (NCVC) once again strapped on the CXHairs.com helmet-cam and had a cracker of a race. Until he didn’t.

Chris gives a great view of what it is like to be at the front of the field for most of the race. An ill-timed mechanical spells doom for young Chris and a guaranteed top five finish is replaced by a DNF. Because, as we all know, nothing is guaranteed in ‘cross.

Included in the video are the first three laps of the race and then the final half lap that includes the mechanical. It’s hard to tell when the race jumps from third lap to last lap. But if you keep an eye on the two lead riders at about the 12 minute mark, they magically disappear. That’s when it happens.

Music for this installment is by request and features Richmond, Virginia  hardcore  legends Four Walls Falling and the cute and lovable Misfits.

Although the 4WF boys have long since called it quits, you can still get their debut LP, Culture Shock, from Jade Tree Records. It may be the best music you never heard. Perfect for those rollers sessions in the basement.

Here’s the video. Thanks for watching.

We also caught up with Route1Velo’s Thori Wolfe who traveled from DC to NC for the weekend’s races. Before getting to the video, here is Thori’s race report of how things played out at the front of the Masters 45+ field: 

Wolfe At The Front of the Salisbury Field. Photo by Demoncats Photography. www.Demoncats.com

“Somewhere into the second or third week of undisciplined gluttony following Capitol Cross and the end of the ‘cross season, my R1V teammate Danny Koniowsky suggested the North Carolina Winter Cross Series. I was starting to feel like a slug, so I checked the calendar and Google map and decided to commit to at least the first weekend. I made the trek last weekend and wasn’t disappointed with the trip. Both races on Saturday and Sunday were low key, local races with relatively small fields and some very talented racers still willing to get out in the 20 degree temps when the only other ‘cross racers taking the discipline seriously live in Northern Europe and are named Nys, Albert, and Stybar. The accents were heavy Carolina. The juxtaposition of Ridley bikes, tubulars on carbon rims, and the southern accents you might otherwise expect at a NASCAR event was pretty awesome. It reminded me of surfing in Cape Cod with a bunch of dudes with heavy Massachusetts accents wave sliding on long boards. In both cases, seemingly incongruous, but it didn’t matter once they got down to what they were there to do. 

Jay Morali Stringing Out The Chasers. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

Saturday’s race was held in a community park nestled up against a pine grove, which added some dimension to your standard taped-off-municipal-park affair. Fast and flat, the ground was frozen with the low temperatures and a fairly steady wind. I raced B Masters 45+. The race coordinators allowed the 35s to go out first with about a 45 second interval start to ahead of my group (the 45s), then followed by the 55s. No need for call-ups, so I jumped up front for the start and off we went. I got settled in with a group of 5 and stayed there for the rest of the race. Two or three teammates from a local road racing club, and a singleton from Inland Construction were controlling the pace, which I was able to handle for a couple laps. Eventually, I was starting to feel the lack of training, and the preceding day’s drive, Negra Modelos and crappy Mexie food and got gapped after we passed a 35 in the single-tracky wooded section. I finished that race 5th and felt pretty good about getting back out and racing after a month off without any serious riding except some sketchy mountain bike rides in the ice and snow. As an aside, Danny (R1V) and Chris (NCVC) showed up, as did C3 stalwarts Jay Morali (C3) and Kevin Dillard (C3). Jay did well in the 35s getting a third place in that race. Not sure how the other MABRA guys did that day. A couple of the local racers commented that they were happy to see some of us from DC down there to support their series. 

Carraway Assumes Helmet-Cam Duties for NCCX. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

Sunday’s race was held in Mooresville (race city USA according to the race schwag). It was based around some playing fields, a gravelly parking lot and a short, windy (wine-dee, not win-dee), pine needle-strewn section with one long stretch of stairs as a run up. The same crowd was there from the previous day. The course was relatively short, but with more elevation change from the prior day’s race, plus a long stair run-up. Away we went again, the same five or so guys got joined up in a small pace line and things were moving along pretty comfortably – I felt better this time out after getting out and racing the day before. I knew who the ringers were and figured the only variable was how I was going after getting one race under my belt. About half way around the first lap the Inland racer that was looking very solid the previous day rolled one of his high-end tubulars off his higher-end carbon rims. One less guy to worry about. Then just before the end of the first lap the other ringer (the winner the day before) flatted. Two less guys to worry about. At that point I went around with a small, but steady gap between me and the two front-runners – both of whom beat me the day before. Stayed that way until the end, but I wasn’t able to completely close the gap to 2d place. The group of 35s that started in front of us actually were a factor (again) as you would have to execute some kind of sketchy maneuver to pass while staying in contact with the group you were racing. Seemed to hit me at a bad time both days, but not enough to swing the whole race, so not a big deal. Ended up third on Sunday and feeling better because of the preceding day’s warm up/race. Also there was no mud, and therefore, no chain suck or similar mechanicals I seemed to suffer during the last couple MABRA races. So despite the cold, I certainly welcomed the dry, fast conditions. 

This is a pretty cool series. I won’t be doing the five-plus hour drive down again this time around, but it was fun, well-organized and definitely worth at least one weekend’s worth of travel.” 

Danny Koniowsky Showing Off Some PRO Embro Technique. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

And now for the video. No soundtrack except for the extremely loud wind. My suggestion would be to fire up the iTunes, locate your favorite 20 minute playlist, sit back and enjoy the first several laps of the Salisbury race. Watch at the beginning of video for the late entrance of Danny K. He explains what happened here. The way he starts as a speck on the horizon made me think of this. 

Video for race #2 should be up later in the week.  For now, here is race #1 from Salisbury.

Thanks for watching.

The Finishing Stretch. Photo: Anthony Skorochod

The Bilenky Cycle Works Urban Junkyard Cyclocross took place Sunday, December 20 in Philadelphia, Pa. In year’s past the biggest obstacles in this race were hulls of rotting cars, rusting detritus and an oil-slicked race surface. The cars and detritus remained this year, the race is in a junkyard after all, but the oil was replaced by snow. This meant that the crash total remained about the same but road rash was not as big a problem. Racers also had to keep alert for the well-aimed snowball.

Your CXHairs Camera Crew Hard At Work.

The course features a sweet jump into a pond of sofa cushions, a dumpster fly-over and a quick trip through a tractor-trailer. Ryan Dudek (TOMS Shoes p/b KindHuman Sports) strapped on the CXHairs helmet-cam for the five-lap race. He not only gets some great footage but also hangs on for third place in the ‘B’ race (as far as we know).

For more photos of this race and many others from the 2009 cyclocross season, check out Anthony Skorochod’s CyclingCaptured.com.

I am playing around with different video hosting options. This should allow for longer videos without degrading the quality. However, it also means, you won’t be able to find the footage on You Tube. So if you want to show your friends the race, send them here.

As always, if the video isn’t streaming fast enough, click on the HD button to turn HD off. Thanks for watching.

Masters 3/4 Field. Photo by Jen Franko.

Early morning ice and a layer of fresh snow turned to mud and slop as the day progressed. Conditions that make for a fun day of racing but not ideal for filming. 

The helmet-cam made it about 15 seconds into the race before getting tagged with a small glob of mud. The rear-view camera, surprisingly, fares a little better. For a couple minutes, at least.

Music this week is by Blackie Knight. Sadly, I believe they have disbanded. But the tracks rock. So go to the MySpace page and tell them to get the band back together.

Thanks for watching.

Mud and the MABRA 'Cross finale go hand in hand.

The MABRA ‘Cross Championship took place November 29, 2009, at Taneytown Memorial Park, Taneytown, Md. Under sunny skies and warm temperatures, racers faced a course of varied conditions. Fast asphalt, gravel and grass sections funneled riders into muddy bogs. Some ridable and others, not so much.

The video captures the first ten minutes of the masters 3/4 group from the helmet-cam and the seat-stay camera. The helmet-cam video angle is a little more severe than usual. This is the result of what could be described as a wardrobe malfunction but more accurately was an ill-advised wardrobe decision. I almost always wear a CXHairs.com cycling cap under my helmet (if you want one, e-mail me at cxhairs@gmail.com). On most occasions said cycling cap faces forward. On this day, I wore it backwards. This pushed my helmet forward a centimeter or so and lowered the horizon on the video.

Music this week is courtesy of Paper+Plastick. This label has a slew of fantastic artists. Three are featured here: Failers’ Union, Rehasher and The AKAs. Please go to paperandplastick.com to discover even more great material. If you like what you hear, buy an LP or download some tracks to keep you motivated on the trainer this winter.

Thanks for watching.