Tag: C3

2009 Races, Interview

November 13th, 2009

Tacchino ‘Cross: Dee Dee Winfield

Bill Schieken

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Winfield lining up the sausage preme.

Dee Dee Winfield (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) is one of the fast women on the national cyclocross scene. Looking at the results for 2009 she has been on the podium in her last eight races. She came into the 2009 Tacchino Ciclocross a clear favorite, and did not disappoint, taking the win seemingly with ease. In fact, Dee Dee had established such a large gap on the field that she had time for a couple packaged meat hand-ups from host team Squadra Coppi’s “Suitcase of Sausage.” 

We caught up with Dee Dee to talk about her day. 

How much time do you spend on the course before racing? 

For a 2:30 race, I usually arrive between 11 and 11:30. It takes time to get numbers, trainers set up, chat with a few people, try to make sure I am not too rushed.  

Do you walk the course? 

If it is super muddy, I may just walk the course and not ride but usually I will ride around while others are racing, check out potentially difficult areas, see how others ride those sections. I will hop on the course in between races for a few laps. 

Do any hot laps? 

One or two before the 1:30 race. 

What are you looking for during this time? 

Areas where I can make up time or where time may be made up on me due to strengths or weaknesses in my abilities. Places that may be difficult to pass or challenging in general, what line to take.  Continue reading “Tacchino ‘Cross: Dee Dee Winfield”

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October 24th, 2009

Just Because You’re Crazy Doesn’t Mean You’re Wrong

Bill Schieken

[ed. note.: Frequent masters category podium finisher Jay Morali was kind enough to pen the following column for ‘In The Crosshairs.’ Think you could do the same? Drop me a note at cxhairs@gmail.com.]

“Cyclocross is a drug! Cyclocross is addictive. It consumes you. It’s a good thing that the season is only a few months long otherwise I might not get anything accomplished around the house or at work.”
-Quote from a local cross racer
Morali
Jay Morali just might be ... a little bit crazy. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

Am I crazy? Has racing cyclocross in all this mud messed up my brain? I am only in my second season of racing cross and I have already upgraded most of my equipment. I am riding the new all-carbon Blue Norcross frame with some sweet carbon Easton EC90 Aero tubular wheels. My cyclocross bike is more expensive and lighter than my road bike! Does that make any sense? Cross is a short season and we live in an area where you never really have to get off your road bike during the winter months. Yet, I still can’t get over the fact that I am only running Shimano Ultegra shifters on the cross bike. I wonder if I can convince the wife to let me upgrade to DA?

Am I crazy? My daily schedule is based on the date and time registration opens for local MABRA and MAC races. My desk calendar has the season laid out and my iPhone provides the morning reminder. For an upcoming race, I actually cancelled an important business meeting just so I could be in front of my computer, ready to pull the trigger, as soon as the registration window opened. And tell me I am not the only person who has screamed at their monitor because a slow computer is costing you valuable starting positions! Continue reading “Just Because You’re Crazy Doesn’t Mean You’re Wrong”

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2009 Races, Interview

September 30th, 2009

Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross: Wes Schempf Interview

Bill Schieken

Weston Schempf (C3‑Athletes Serving Athletes) began the defense of his 2008 Men’s Elite MABRA Cyclocross Series championship by winning the 2009 series opener, the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross. The race benefits a college scholarship fund for Chris Sander, whose father was killed in a training accident. The late Ed Sander’s NCVC teammates put on the annual race at the Lilypons Water Gardens in Buckeystown, Maryland.

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Schempf sets the pace at the front.

Schempf, C3 teammate Andrew “Bad Andy” Wulfkuhle, and the Haymarket Bicycles duo of Joe Dombroski and Jared Nieters, established an early lead group on the muddy, rutted Lilypons course. Wulfkuhle and Nieters dropped off the pace after a couple laps leaving Schempf and Dombroski to trade blows. In the finale, Schempf was able to outgun Dombroski, who pulled out of his pedal just as he started winding up for the sprint.

Along with being the reigning MABRA champ, Schempf is also the defending MAC Cyclocross Series champ and placed third at last season’s 30-34 U.S. National Cyclocross Championship. We caught up with Wes to get his thoughts on how the Ed Sander race played out.  Continue reading “Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross: Wes Schempf Interview”

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2009 Races

September 26th, 2009

Charm City Cyclocross: The Droodle Pork* Races

Bill Schieken

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Killer Bs hit the course.

We are wrapping up coverage of the 2009 Charm City Cyclocross with the traditional ‘In The Crosshairs’ podium finisher interviews. You’ve heard what the pros had to say, now let’s hear how your fellow competitors saw the day. Thanks for reading.

What was your favorite part of the course?

Michael Yozell (VisitPA.com, First place, Men Masters Elite):C3 built a great course. I’d have to say there isn’t one particular section that was a favorite but I did think the stairs in the outer field was a nice touch, very creative and much better than the old barrier placement. The course had good flow throughout.

Adam Driscoll (Adventures For the Cure, First place, Men’s 2/3/4): My favorite part of the course was definitely the natural barrier where you have to do a 180 turn around a big tree. This was a great place where we had lots of spectators.

Robert Sheffield (Squadra Coppi/IM SAAB, First place Men’s 4): The two sets of single track around the trees on the far side of the course separated by the stairs. It was fast and really smooth.

Jonathan Seibold (Family Bike Shop/DCMTB, Second Place Masters Men 3/4): The stairs and the new swoopy section right after them. I also like the planter box around the tree. 

Chris Mayhew (JBV Coaching, Third place, Men’s 2/3/4): The planter box. I’m a big fan of natural obstacles. It feels a bit old school since they’re really high. And it’s such a natural focus point of the course with the pit and BBQ right there. It’s always the loudest part of the course. 

Lindsey Hillesheim (Squadra Coppi, Third place Women’s 3/4): All of it. Charm City has great flow with turns that are wide enough that you don’t to brake much and enough obstacles to keep it interesting and technical.   

Jay Morali (C3, Third Place Masters Men 3/4): I really liked the stairs on the back side. A nice addition to the course this year.

Jesse Leifert (Route 1 Velo/Arrow Bicycle, Third Place Men’s 4): I actually really enjoyed the whole first lap. Having never done a cross race before, the experience of riding on wet grass and dirt around trees with 125 of my fellow cyclists was a pretty cool experience. Also, having staged towards the latter third of the pack you could really see everyone getting freaked out by the proximity of everyone. I ended up following Tim Brown from Bike Rack and we passed a bunch of people for the first two laps as we tried to make our way back to the front. It was a blast.  Continue reading “Charm City Cyclocross: The Droodle Pork* Races”

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2009 Races, Interview

September 23rd, 2009

Charm City Cyclocross: Adam Myerson Interview

Bill Schieken

The interviews from this past Sunday’s Charm City Cyclocross that took place at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland, are coming in fast and furious. Because several pro riders from the elite field were kind enough to take time out of their incredibly busy schedules to share some knowledge, I am going to change the format of race interviews a bit and push a couple posts out ahead of the field. The first interview I’d like to share is with Adam Myerson. 

Adam has been a professional bike racer since 2003. He races on the road for Team Mountain Khakis and dons the kit of his coaching business, Cycle-Smart, for cyclocross season. Myerson hit the first two races in the MAC Cyclocross series days after finishing third on the road in the Texas Tough criterium, September 17. He placed second at the MAC opener, Nittany Lion Cross, September 19, and finished third in Sunday’s Charm City Cyclocross. 

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Myerson and the elite men chill before the start

I had an opportunity to ask Adam about the Charm City race. If you are new to racing, or even if you have been at it a while, give this interview a careful read. The amount of coaching, tactics, strategy and training advice stuffed into his responses to eight questions is incredible. 

Thanks for reading.  Continue reading “Charm City Cyclocross: Adam Myerson Interview”

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2009 Races

September 14th, 2009

Charm City Cyclocross Preview: Q&A With Chris Nystrom

Bill Schieken

The wait is finally over. Cyclocross season gets under way in earnest this weekend. Now is the time to pull those race shoes from the trunk of your car and scrape last December’s mud off the cleats. Time to get the skinsuit out of the mothballs, and to make sure you haven’t used the last of the embrocation.

For many in the Mid-Atlantic region, Charm City Cyclocross, which takes place September 20, is the kickoff to the CX season. charm_posterIt’s our Daytona 500. The big race right at the beginning of the season. And although it seems like this has been the case forever, the race is not that old. Born out of weekly ‘cross practices, the event has grown from a small grassroots effort in 2005, into a UCI-sanctioned event boasting fields of over 100 racers in several categories. Continue reading “Charm City Cyclocross Preview: Q&A With Chris Nystrom”

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