Someplace is Here... Sometime is Now

All Crossed Up!

2009-10-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've been wicked busy getting my new Cyclocross site, and accompanying blog up and running. Come check out the CycloCross Build blog!Rather than reposting the slew of articles I have over there, here are some highlights from September. Come visit the 'cross site, check out the Forum and Profile pages, and if you want the best cyclocross training plan in the business, we've got you covered.Stormin

CocoRosie

2009-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Goddammit. I've been wanting to see CocoRosie play live for, like, evah. Turns out they're in Boston the week before I get there and in Portland right after I leave. sigh...For now, I'll have to make do with this new-to-me album which, somehow, I've never heard. Found it streaming for free though! 30second embeds below, click through for the whole shebang.The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Portlandia

2009-08-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ronde 2009Find more Bike Rides in Portland, Oregon

Recovery Techniques Straight from US National Championships

2009-08-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm fresh off an intense block of competition which featured 8 races in a little over two weeks, culminating with the US Elite Road and Time Trial Championships. Two days into the racing-excursion and I'd already logged about 16 hours of travel time in the team van, had done a National Road Calendar criterium in Boise, got heat exhaustion and spent most of the night throwing up, and was en route

When the Bad Days Come...

2009-07-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Four days into the Cascade Classic we were faced with the 84-mile Cascade Lakes Road Race. It finishes with a long slog of a climb up to Mt Bachelor -- but it was the beginning of the race that had me worried. We'd climb the first 15 miles, right from the starting gun. Tough starts like this have never been my forte and after three hard days of racing, I wasn't sure what I'd be able to muster. I

BH Global Concept Review: Time Trial By Fire!

2009-07-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

(Added Note: The new ride also got a photo and a mention in Oregon Cycling Action!)I got the "Pro treatment" this week. My team manager built up a brand new BH Global Concept time trial bike and brought it out to the Cascade Cycling Classic for me to race this week. This is the just-released 2010 model, revised to meet the now more strictly enforced UCI standards. The AG2R French Pro Tour team

World-Class July Stage Race... In Oregon!?

2009-07-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

It's late July - which means there's a big stage race well underway. An assortment of World and National champions, Grand Tour winners, and a fresh crop of up-and-coming talent leaving everything they have out on the roads. Today features a crucial, hilly time trial, followed by a mountainous road race, and finishing up with a circuit race on Sunday.Sound familiar? Well, it aint the Tour de

Dehydration, Heat Exhaustion... and Starting a Stage Race!?

2009-07-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

The final racing block of my season is off to a rocky start. After building my fitness for the past several weeks, including a trip to California for the Death Ride, my team headed to Idaho for the Boise Twilight Criterium. An 8-hour drive to 3,000' elevation to downtown Boise where, despite the 8:30pm start time, the temperatures hovered over 100 degrees. Just as CLUB member Ellen recently

The Mid-Season Cleanse

2009-07-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

In order to improve, it's necessary to frequently mix up your body's regimen. This is true both in training - that's what H.I.T. (high intensity training) sessions are all about - as well as nutrition. Cyclo-CLUB's (the cycling membership I work for) Fatloss BOOTCAMP throws a curve ball to your metabolism and carefully targets your body fat as fuel, but if you were to follow this regimen on a

Pedro's Ethik Review: Small Things Matter

2009-06-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

My bag, in black. It's also available with a Pedro's flower print for those feeling ostentatious!Pedro's USA is a company well-known for respecting the environment. They became famous for their tire levers and watter bottle cages made from recycled milk bottles and currently offer a vegetable-derived chain lube known as Chainj (pronounced "change"). Rather than a typical "cradle to grave approach

Race Aftermath: Adventure, Wonderment, and... Near Disaster?

2009-06-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was that guy. You know, the idiot that you read about who gets into a situation way over his head and you're left wondering, "How the hell could anyone be so friggin' stupid?" Yeah, well, what started out as a nice spring ride through Oregon's Cascade mountains was followed up

Me vs Gila Monster

2009-05-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

I wanted to quit so badly. The first few miles were hard - they felt as horrible as the crit the day before... And this was to be the grueling, mountainous 106-mile "queen stage." Things were not starting well. As we rolled out in the early morning and the pace quickened, all I wanted to do was to turn around and slink back to bed. My goal for

Suffering On In Silver City: Gila Time Trial and Crit

2009-05-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

The body's a tough thing to figure out. You may nail your training preparation and feel like you've done everything right – but your performance on the bike sometimes doesn't cooperate. My best guess is that my time here at altitude, after living at sea level for the past year, is taking its full effect. Prevailing theory says that an athlete's third day up high is the

Images from the Gila Time Trial

2009-05-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

John and Gay Fayhee of Silver City have opened up their home to my teammate Emiliano and me for the week of the Tour of the Gila. They're incredibly welcoming and hospitable but, more importantly, just really cool and fun to hang out with. I met John when I was in town both to compete in the race and to cover the event for Mountain Flyer magazine two years ago. My editor arranged for the host

Surviving Stage Two: Inner Loop Road Race

2009-05-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

Stringing it out up the first climb There are two big related stories about this week's Tour of the Gila stage race. One is the amazing coverage that media outlets are giving to a U.S. based bicycle race. When Sports Illustrated, ESPN, the New York Times, and pretty much every mainstream news publication is

One Day Down and Degrees of "Good"

2009-05-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

There was a quote from Astana's Chris Horner about two weeks ago when the rumor mill started flying about him attending the Tour of the Gila with teammates Lance Armsrtong and Levi Leipheimer. It looks like VeloNews has since re-edited the interview, so I'll paraphrase. Horner thought that the Gila would be an ideal warm-up for the Giro d'Italia

Lining Up with Lance, Landis, Leipheimer, and Horner

2009-05-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

D-Day, or perhaps G-Day (for the Tour of the Gila start), is upon us. Tomorrow kicks off five spectacular, grueling days of hills, altitude, wind, for what's always a star-studded peloton. The funky town of Silver City, an eclectic blend of blue collar, hippie, outdoorsy folks, and artists is overrun with lycra for a week. It's a wonderful place, revered by hardcore roadies both for the quality

Gila Sufferfest 2009

2009-05-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Just wrapped up the Tour of the Gila, back home and recovering. Below is an excerpt of the post I did for Oregon Cycling Action:SILVER CITY, New Mexico -- This year's Tour of the Gila was a bit of a homecoming for me. Although I've never lived in Silver City, I spent the better part of the past seven years split between Taos and Albuquerque, New Mexico, before arriving in Portland this past fall.

Bike Race Travel and Paper Cup Conundrums

2009-04-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

I don't count airline travel, Starbucks, or disposable to-go cups among my favorite things in life. Today I got to experience all three...Ten Speed Drive, the team I race for, makes a concerted effort to lessen its environmental impact. But, the facts of trying to run an elite bike racing team and the associated travel - often by air - can throw a wrench in those good intentions.The time

Cherry Blossom Classic Podium

2009-04-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

REPRINTED from Ten Speed Drive Website:(See Also: Velo News recaps Cherry Blossom; Video coverage of the Crit finale here.) After Josh Liberles recently emerged from the Redlands Bicycle Classic battered and bruised (literally - he t-boned a car during the road race and snapped his bike) he climbed on board his backup rig, a cyclocross bike, for the Cherry Blossom Classic stage race weekend. The

"Do Something Different" for Earth Day

2009-04-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Earth Day coming up on Wednesday, April 22nd, my team, Ten Speed Drive, is promoting their Earth Day Challenge entitled Do Something Different. The premise is simple enough: Perform one action above and beyond your normal behavior that benefits the earth in some way. Take the Ten Speed Drive slogan to heart and make a step to “Kick the CO2 Habit.”Visit the team website for more info

Improving Through "Failures"

2009-04-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Goal-setting is an important facet of cycling. We're all looking to improve, go faster, drop the competition on climbs. Documenting performance targets – whether it's holding a certain power level in training or getting a result in a specific event – is a great way to keep us focused on concrete outcomes.Goals should be difficult, but possible, to attain – that's what gives value to any success.

Gettin' Sqivvy With It

2009-04-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Tired of being exposed to the elements while you're warming up for an event or, perhaps, to prying eyes when you're changing pre- or post-ride? The handy new Sqivvy has you covered -- literally.When folded down, the Sqivvy looks like a large folding car window shade and works in much the same fashion. It's about the size of a bicycle wheel compacted and "pops up" to 6' tall with a 4' x 4'

An Exercise in Humility...

2009-03-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

Mid-March typically signifies the start of racing in earnest, in one form or another. A few prior local events serve as tune-ups, then come the bigger stage races. 2009 is no exception for my team -- in fact, we're taking on the biggest races of our lives. First up was the three-day San Dimas Stage Race in southern California. Although not part of the National Racing Calendar as it has been in

Back to Business... Game On!

2009-03-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Mixing in lots of breaks... except for the ones that stick!Hard to believe but here it is already the beginning of March and I have four races under my belt. These are "early season" prep races, mind you, but some of this season's target events are only a couple of weeks away.Three road races and a time trial down, with a whole slew more still to come over the next six months. More than anything