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.

Here is a sample of my images from February 27 in Richmond at the Shimano North American Handmade Bicycle show.

Many of these photos were first published at Cyclocross Magazine and GamJams.

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.

Cups of paint at Vanilla's NAHBS booth.

We had so much to share from this past weekend’s handmade bike show that it took three Websites to cover it all. Along with continued coverage right here, you can also find CXHairs.com provided words, pictures and videos at our friends’ sites.

Cyclocross Magazine (www.cxmagazine.com) has a short article and gallery up from Saturday at the show.

and

Gam Jams (GamJams.net) has an article covering bikes of all stripes. There is also a cool video at GamJams showing off Serotta’s new fit tools.

Cyclocross Magazine will soon be running a video interview with one of our favorite custom frame builders, Mike Zanconato. Until then, go check out Mike’s Web site and blog at www.zanconato.com.

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.

Click on the logo for more info about the show.

Let me know your ideas. Leave a comment or shoot an e-mail using the link on the right.

Along with posts for this site, I will also be providing some content for GamJams.net and Cyclocross Magazine. As if that wasn’t enough, I will try and post some pictures to the Twitter. You can follow me in Twitterville at CXHairs.

Stay tuned …

"Carry Your Bike Around The Park 2010" Photo by Demoncats.com.

Kevin Dillard of Demoncats.com was there to capture the mayhem. You can check out his galleries here.

According to Rez, here’s how the day’s festivities went down:

Stage 1 ended up being a downhill for distance race mostly. We raced the course afterward but it ended up being mostly trudging through the snow carrying our bikes.

We improvised to make Stage 2 a Calvert St Bridge crit including a running section around the bus station. Pretty fun.

Stage 3, as expected, was the crown jewel. We rode up the 15th St hill, entered the park from a side entrance that led us to the bottom of the long stairways, and then raced down the hillside and winding stairways to the bottom. Totally sweet!

I’m sore in all new places today. Thanks to everyone who came out and made it a fun time!

She totally chopped him.

I had intended to join in the fun, carrying my bike around in the snow for a couple hours and maybe doing some helmet-cam footage, but it wasn’t to be. So instead I hung around the neighborhood and captured the locals putting on their own ‘cross race down my street. That was some good action.

Stay tuned for coverage from the rescheduled Super Bowl of Singlespeed and Cross My Heart race p/b Proteus Bikes that takes place this Saturday.

After that, we hope to have photos and video interviews from the North American Handmade Bicycle Show that takes place at the end of the month in Richmond.

Be back soon …

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.

Bicycle Dreams Tells the Story of the 2005 RAAM. Photo by Chris Milliman.

To hedge my bets, and ensure my ignorance about ultracycling events is kept in check, I recruited Adventures for the Cure’s Adam Driscoll and Patrick Blair, accomplished ‘cross racers and RAAM finishers in the two-person division, to watch and comment on the film.

Cyclocross racing is hard and, if you are doing it right, painful. It’s a redline effort for somewhere around an hour and then it’s over. RAAM, on the other hand, is more of a slow burn. Full-time steady-state efforts, day after day with little time off the bike and almost no sleep. Cyclocross is like a haymaker to the head, RAAM is 15 rounds of rabbit punches, a 45 minute break, and then fifteen more rounds. For nine straight days.

Bicycle Dreams tells a compelling story. From a technical and aesthetic standpoint the film is amazing. The shots are artfully framed and flawlessly executed. The color grading and lighting in the film are breathtaking. For this alone, the film is worth viewing.

The idea of a race across America in itself is, dare I say, epic. Finishing this event is truly an achievement only a small number of bicycle racers will accomplish. The human struggle, exhaustion, will-to-go-on and desire-to-quit is the kind of stuff compelling, edge-of-your-seat films thrive on.

Bicycle Dreams

The problem is that once you get beyond the big picture “epicness,” the actual competition is mind-numbingly dull. It’s equivalent to going out and watching an accomplished racer on a long solo training ride. This is not the Tour de France. There are no suicide breakaways, tactical chases, sprint finishes or mountain-top duels. Not to give away any plot points, but there is exactly one instance in the film in which we see a rider passed by a competitor.

To overcome the sport’s inherent lack of on-bike action, the filmmakers focus on the meta. The real drama is found in the racers’ back story, the mind-over-body struggle, and competitors’ interaction with their crew.

At the front of the race, the battle for Slovenia is being played out on the highways of the U.S. heartland. Slovenian Army soldier and multiple RAAM champion Jure Robic is challenged by Slovenian agricultural analyst Marko Baloh. Robic is a machine. His lifelong science experiment seems to be proving the efficacy of Nietzsche’s proposition “what does not destroy me makes me stronger.”

Robic and his Slovenian Army crew. Photo by Chris Milliman.

Baloh, being the perfect foil to Robic, is human. A characteristic he treats as a weakness. As the underdog, Baloh believes that he must be harder than Robic to best his countryman. He refuses to speak with his rival and does not consider them friends. Ironically, it is the hardened soldier, Robic, that comes across in the film as the more compassionate character. He explains away Baloh’s tough talk as the influence of the challenger’s team director and supporters and wishes him success in the race.

The other compelling storylines include a cast of characters straight out of the Oceans 11 franchise. There is the plucky mohawked Brit that has shattered more bones in his body than Evel Knievel and spends half the race with a seat cushion duct-taped around his neck, the lovable but irritable Frenchman who is constantly arguing with his chain-smoking crew chief, the 53-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Iowa that exudes Midwestern wholesomeness and truly loves the sport, and a Swedish veterinarian that hasn’t told her parents she is competing in the race.

For the most part the film is well-paced, but it is a tad slow in parts. The director does a nice job presenting pre-race interviews that show the competitors full of vitality and optimism. These clips are contrasted with the reality of the inhumane conditions the racers willingly endure.

Baloh rides into the sunset. Photo by Chris Milliman.

That Bicycle Dreams is not truly a “cycling movie” is probably a plus in that non-gearhead bike geeks will still be drawn into the film and the human drama that accompanies the race. Being a gearhead bike geek, however, I have a couple quibbles with parts of the film. First, we never get to learn anything about the bikes. No explanation about what gears these guys are using, the benefit of handlebar extensions or training regimens. In a couple scenes we see racers hooked up to IV bags during their rest periods. I’m assuming this is to replenish fluids and stave off dehydration. But in today’s climate, in which everything cycling-related is looked at with a jaundiced eye, if needles and IV bags show up anywhere near a cyclist, there really needs to be a good explanation of what is happening in that scene.

My only other real issue with this film is that there is a tendency not to trust the viewer. It goes without saying that what these athletes are doing is the most difficult thing they ever endured. Although it goes without saying, the filmmakers seem unsure whether we are able to comprehend that message, so we keep hearing this over and over again. These guys can’t stand up, they are emaciated, falling off their bikes from exhaustion, hallucinating, fighting with their crew. What they attempt is near impossible. Message received.

Despite these minor quibbles, Bicycle Dreams is worthwhile viewing. It is a film you can watch with a non-cycling significant other or slip into the DVD player on your next two-hour trainer session. It’s hard to whine about what hell it is to ride a trainer while watching competitors destroy themselves for nine straight days.

‘Bicycle Dreams’ Through The Eyes Of Two RAAM Finishers

Patrick Blair and Adam Driscoll are founding members of charitable organization and bike racing team, Adventures for the Cure. Along with being accomplished cyclocross racers they have also competed in the two-man division of RAAM. Driscoll and Blair are featured in their own bicycle-related documentary Adventures for the Cure:The Documentary, that tells the story of a cross-country trip on fixed-gear bicycles. You should go pick up a copy of Bicycle Dreams and the AFC movie and hold your own two-wheeled ultra-endurance film festival.

I sent Adam and Pat a copy of Bicycle Dreams and asked them to watch it and jot down their thoughts. Here is what they had to say.

Pat Blair: Having raced as a two-man team and knowing how crazy hard that is, I think that the movie portrays very well how RIDICULOUSLY hard solo RAAM is. It is not fun, it is pure H-E-Double Hockey Sticks and I think that come through in the movie very well. The movie does a great job of covering quite a few of the racers, the contrast between how each of them are handling the race both mentally and physically is pretty cool to see. It also does a great job of getting each crew’s perspective.

Anyone and everyone who is even considering doing solo RAAM should be mandated to watch this movie. Hopefully it will help them to realize exactly what they are getting into. There are very few people in the world who can both mentally and physically complete this race, and to even try is to literally take your life in your hands (or handlebars).

On the downside I think the movie lacked excitement and variety. It was hard to stay focused on what was going on while I was watching it… I got kind of bored with the whole thing. As an informative documentary the movie is very well done, as pure entertainment there is something to be desired.

Adam Driscoll: One aspect of the documentary I think they captured very well is how much mental toughness plays a HUGE part in this type of race when you race as soloist. You can physically only do so much to prepare. With doing the race twice on a team especially as a two man team I know a little bit about what those guys were facing about having to get back on the bike when you are completely exhausted. Mentally you just have to break yourself and the movie portrays this very well with Jure Robic and a few others. Something else I really liked about the movie is they showed you how important your crew play in this type of race. Jure’s team knows him well and how to get him to relax and get back on the bike after short rests. Usually people don’t understand how important it is to have a crew that knows you and knows what gets you motivated.

This movie has also sealed the deal for me not doing Solo RAAM for a long, long time. It really shows how tough you have to be to do something like this. Every time I think about doing Solo RAAM I just have to think about this documentary and think how I felt in 2 man RAAM with Pat in 2009 and that will convince me not to do it.

It was sad to see tragedy accompany the race but it just shows you how difficult and dangerous this race really is.

For more information on Bicycle Dreams visit bicycledreamsmovie.com.

January 29, 2010 (Tabor, Czech Republic) - USA Cycling is honored to announce that Louisville, Kentucky today was chosen by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s international governing body, to host the 2013 Elite Cyclo-cross World Championships and the 2012 and 2013 Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships.

2012 Worlds Forecast? 18 Degrees And Snowy This Weekend in Kentucky

This historic appointment is the first time the Cyclo-cross World Championships will be held outside of Europe in the 50 plus year history of the championships. These events will mark the first Elite Cycling World Championship of any discipline held on U.S. soil since the Track World Championships took place in Los Angeles in 2005.

“After more than a decade of working closely with American promoters and the UCI to grow our international calendar of cyclo-cross events, Louisville’s winning bid is a testament to the success of those efforts and to the extraordinary quality of ‘cross racing in the U.S.,” USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson said.

US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross (USGP) promoters, Bruce Fina and Joan Hanscom, will produce the races in partnership with the Louisville Sports Commission and USA Cycling.

“This is thrilling news,” said Fina. “We have worked for six years with the USA Cycling National Team and six years on the USGP to further develop the sport in the U.S. to the point where our riders can be competitive on the global stage. Hosting the Worlds in the U.S. is the next logical step.  We hope to see a continued increase in the number of professional cross racers in the states and hope this venue will enhance that goal.”

Louisville has hosted a stop on the USGP since 2007, as well as multiple USA Cycling Masters National Road Championships demonstrating a vibrant cycling community and tremendous local support of the championships.

“I was impressed with the vision and detail of the plans to develop the area into a cyclo-cross race venue,” said UCI technical delegate Simon Burney. “The area, terrain and surroundings lend themselves perfectly to a major race venue, and with the city of Louisville firmly behind the project the opportunity for world class events certainly looks exciting.”

Under the leadership of Mayor Jerry Abramson, Louisville is building America’s first permanent, major-city cyclo-cross facility at Eva Bandman Park, near downtown. Working with local cyclo-cross enthusiasts, Louisville Metro Government is developing a venue that can support local races and youth riding programs, while also hosting national and international races.  The course at Eva Bandman also will serve as the home to the USGP and as a year round cycling park.

“I’m so proud that Louisville is the first city outside Europe to be awarded the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships,” said Mayor Jerry Abramson. “We’re turning Louisville into one of our nation’s most bike-friendly cities by investing in bicycle infrastructure, listening to the needs of local cyclists, and hosting events that draw more attention to cycling. Our local cyclo-cross teams are among the nation’s best, and we’re developing a venue that will help them keep their competitive edge.”

The Louisville Sports Commission and the community of Louisville also voiced excitement and support of the event.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Louisville Sports Commission and the entire local community, we want to thank the UCI for awarding the World Cyclo-cross championships to Louisville,” said Karl Schmitt, Executive Director of the Louisville Sports Commission.  “We also appreciate the confidence that the USGP of Cyclo-cross and USA Cycling have in our ability to host these prestigious events.”