Photos From Saturday at USGP Bend

Posted on December 15, 2011 by josh| Leave a comment

Three teammates and I loaded up our bikes, piled into the car, and headed out from Seattle last Friday headed for Bend, Oregon for the last stop of the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross. Saturday’s pro races were spectacular. Katerina Nash took an early and decisive lead in the women’s race, but the battle for second between Nicole Duke, Meredith Miller, and Teal Stetson-Lee was fierce to the last corner. In the men’s race, Tim Johnson raced Jeremy Powers way off the front with a form he hasn’t shown all season long. Third place was a toss up between a chase group filled with people like Geoff Kabush, Chris Jones, Danny Summerhill and Ben Berden.

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Adam McGrath: Cyclocross’ Wanderlusting, Micro-Farming Homesteader, Part 1

Posted on December 13, 2011 by josh| 1 Comment


Photo via Van Dessel Sports.

Adam McGrath’s story begins like that of the typical professional cyclist. Fast junior with promising natural talent rises to the pro ranks, travels the national racing circuit and makes a few forays into the European scene. From there, however, it takes a sharp turn towards unique. Nomadic travels around the world, the formation of strong philosophies on injustice and inequality, and homesteading on a small piece of property out on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula took precedent over racing. In part 1 of 2, Adam talks about his early exposure to cyclocross growing up in Boulder, CO, his path to professional racing, and his motivation to see the world.

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Marc Vettori: The Past, Present, and Future of American Cyclocross

Posted on November 15, 2011 by josh| 3 Comments


Marc in his element. Photo from NYC Velo.

Marc Vettori loves cyclocross. Known to some as Fat Marc thanks to his blog, he’s been racing cross for well over a decade, promotes one of the mid-Atlantic’s longest running cross races, helps run the Delaware Cyclocross Coalition of Delaware (which has in turn helped foster rising cross stars such as Jeff Bahnson and Sam O’Keefe), and more. It’s probably no surprise then that we talked cyclocross, and more specifically the “punk rock” days of cross, the impact of popularity and money, and where the sport’s going in the future.

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Bikepacking the Wilds of Canada

Posted on November 11, 2011 by josh| 2 Comments

Last summer, professional mountain biker Matt Hunter took a small backpack with camping and fishing gear, an HD video camera, his mountain bike, and little else; loaded into a float plane; and set off by himself for a two-day, point-to-point trail ride through the Canadian wilderness. The short video he produced shows off an adventure most of us only dream of: spectacular trail riding across stunning landscapes, dinner caught in an alpine lake and cooked over an open fire, a close (but not too close) encounter with grizzlies in a mountain meadow.

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Paul Rozelle’s 24-hour, pre-PBP, fixed-gear, Mont Ventoux ride

Posted on November 9, 2011 by josh| 16 Comments


Paul Rozelle on one of four ascents of Mont Ventoux. Photo from Picasa.

Mont Ventoux is one of cycling’s great monuments. The highest peak in Provence, it’s been featured 18 times in the history of the Tour de France and the source of high drama and tragedy. Every year, the mountain draws huge numbers of recreational cyclists wanting to test themselves on the climb and connect with a tangible piece of cycling history. This year, Paul Rozelle joined those ranks and tackled the mountain as well.

Rozelle is an American randonneur. He traveled to France this summer to ride Paris-Brest-Paris and decided to take a side trip to Mont Ventoux three days before the start of PBP. Rather than simply ride it once, Rozelle rode each of the three roads and the unpaved fire road that lead to the summit in order to earn a medal that the Club des Cinglés du Mont Ventoux awards for doing so. Adding to the extraordinary difficulty, Rozelle rode the whole thing on the only bike he’d brought for PBP, his fixed gear. Three days after completing the Mont Ventoux challenge, Rozelle went on to ride PBP in 80:01!

Rozelle wrote a great ride report on a randonneuring Google Groups listserv about his experience on Ventoux. He graciously gave me permission to republish the story here along with some photos he took that day. The report is long, so I’ve added links below to the start of each “chapter” to help you navigate and/or pick up where you left off if you don’t read it all in one sitting. Enjoy!

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Posted in Everything Else, Randonneuring

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