HumanPoweredTransport

Cross Chicks

So what’s up with the ladies?  Well, on the home front we’ve got a lot of the girls being selective about which series they target, or which races from the circuit that they want to cherry pick.  One of those two ways to play it seems to be the choice most top female crossers are making.  Cost of travel, level of competition and points on the line will dictate the season, with a heavy emphasis on the financial strain.  Economics will play a roll in the men’s camp too regarding race schedules, but as ever the money is always bigger for the boys so they can go to more events.  The women will target their base at local skirmishes, with a few of the big names in contention for a podium at Worlds in January.  The ladies to watch:  the always dominant Allison Dunlap, Canadian Olympian Lynne Bessette, Kona clumper Rachel Lloyd and reigning National Champ Katie Compton.  The Velo Bella organization is again solid this year as the leading women’s supporter among the teams; the Bella’s will be a force.  Indy Fab and Richard Sachs always front great female riders, and there could be plenty of upsetters in the big races when some of the regional hotshoes decide to travel for UCI points.  Certainly Dunlap, Bessette and Ann Knapp will be racing at Worlds, where they all have done well.  They will face off against the perennial champions; current World number one Laurence Leboucher and multiple rainbow racer Hanka Kupfernagel.  With them will be a thundering pack lead by Daphny Vandenbrand and her Dutch compatriots.

Midnight With The Five n'Dime

Midnight Ridazz Heavy Metal Ride, a loosely translated report:

Heavy Metal was the theme at last week’s Midnight Ridazz ride.  We wuz metal lemme tell ya.  An odd two hundred strong and rolling in an unfortunately strung out pack.  Traffic was disrupted, motorists got irate and downright evil, fun was had, fixed gears skidded, metal was played and sung.  The fuzz hung in the air and at alarmingly frequent intersections.  They let it roll, but they wuz watchin’.  The whole mob stopped and congregated at the corner of Los Feliz and Hyperion, filling the block.  It was beautiful.  It was upsetting to couples on dates and parking attendants and people trying to get home to dinner.  Commencing the roll-out with a hearty ‘RIDAZZZZ’ the pack bombed Los Feliz to the river where we scooted a dogleg right to the bike path, out of sight and smell of bacon.  We snaked along and out at Fletcher heading East.  Now it was really spread thin, like a Peloton after a shattering attack at the front.  No one was waiting much ‘cause there was beer and AC/DC cover bands to shout with ahead.  Folks wanted to get their party on.  In small bunches we helped each other into Eagle Rock and over to the All Star Lanes for the gathering.  We pulled up to hundreds of bikes in the parking lot – more than cars.  Beautiful.   Some tall rogue and his wingman kept up a steady stream of instigation where ever they went, at the bar, in the lot, on the lanes but no one was biting.  Suckers.  You don’t wanna mess with bikers.  Even those of us without chops and hogs.  Lucky for them our kind of bikers are too smart for that shit.  There was far too much merriment in the air to pay these dimebags a nickel of attention.  Sommerset cranked in on a tallbike carrying a full paper mache Flying V with matching hair and handlebar stash.  Other ridazz came as drum kits, goth freeks, s&m freeks, angels, racers, messengers and themselves.  The true heshers did ride, no doubt.  Our crew rocked a variety of styles.  Vontz and his graceful lady came as ninja headbangers, but their just-back-from-Burningman-glowstick bikes kinda blurred the look.  AV’s lumberjack racing pal rocked his daily riding gear.  TT3 cruised on the Twisted Sister tip, fishnets and tall leather boots.  Yummy.  Being an unprepared mofo, I made do with fistfuls of skull rings, faux leather moto jacket and red-lens goggles on an old school helmet.  It's fun to make believe.  Whatever. Back then our metal was punk metal anyway, we never dressed up to go thrash to it. The AC/DC cover band and three beers were short and sweet so we rolled home with a friendly bunch ‘round midnight.   TT3 enforced the no-night-cap-at-the-local-tap rule, which I was ever so grateful for when the alarm shot off at 5am.

Eurocross

The sport of cyclocross is newly emerging from the underground in American cycling, but in Europe, it has been a staple winter event for decades.  Over the years, few Americans have braved the rigors of Belgian winter punishment.  And when it’s not the Flemish, it’s the Nordic, Slavic, Basque and Swiss-Italians doing the ass kicking.  Racing overseas is not for the weak hearted or faintly willed.  It takes mastery of race tactics and a highly difficult to achieve level of comfort being in a foreign environment for months. In recent times there have been two brave souls who made a mark over the pond.  Back in ’99 a lad named Tim Johnson took 3rd in the U23 World Title in cyclocross at a horribly cold event in Propad, Poland.  An amazing feat, the winner that year was an emerging talent named Bart Wellens.  Tim moved over to race exclusively on the road, but this year is mounting a comeback to the sport that made his name.  He’ll have stiff competition on the domestic circuits with many local pros seeming to really come on form in the past two seasons, this could be a breakout year for cross here.  Unfortunately, Tim’s not planning to do much contesting in Europe this year.  Who is?  Jon Page is, again.  The man has made it as a solo operation in Europe for four straight seasons.  His wife used to be his pit crew.  He’s only returned to US soil to race and win Nationals three years running.  2004 was his strongest in the European theater; one wonders how much better he could have been were it not for a string of mechanicals mid-season last year.  This could be Jon’s time to shine.  His big competition at the last Nat’s was Ryan Trebon, and Tree Farm is planning a full course of Euro-mud bogging this year, as are Jeremy Powers & Matt Kelly.  Trebon is a big and powerful rider, while Powers is an experienced multidiciplinarian with experience in Europe.  Little was currently available about Kelly at press time, but he's a well traveled racer with great European race creds, as a Junior. How they survive living and traveling a full Euro circuit, not just how they race against the big pros, will play a large part in their results overall.  All three have done camps and brief trips overseas, but never a full season.  Pagey has years of time across the globe to gain wisdom, experience and support.  Don’t expect these guys to help each other out in the big bad arena of high-dollar cyclocross – they’ll all be after the wins.   Among the Euro’s, Page is piping Commeyne, Nys  and Wellens, but it’s gonna be a free for all from the gun with many U23 and Junior racers moving up to the Pro ranks and many wizened vets looking for a break through year.  Look for doping control to play a major roll in the season. On the women’s side, well that remains to be seen as none of the local girls have announced a substantial European campaign.  The domestic womens race action will certainly be as hot as the men’s and there's a good chance for US women representing on the podium in this year's World's event.   North American ladies have been riding in the top 10 at World Champion events since they first let the girls play for the globe in 1999.

Cross Hatched

Hey kids it's cyclocross season here in So Cal.  The overall series started today with the first race in Brad House's long-standing Urban Cyclocross.  There's plenty of races this year, though kicking it off in the mild sunny weather of September seems a bit un-cross-like.  It's a bit un-crossy here to begin with, so c'est la vie.  When the rains come as they did last year, conditions become more 'traditional'.  Unfortunately team Squadra Obscura has been woefully slack in the cx training realm, preferring to pedal around on the fixie bmx rig and blowing off the much needed practice of running, dismount/remounts and generally riding the odd goat that is a cyclocross rig.  Needless to say, we are not at the sacred grounds today, racing hell for leather around senor House's circut.  Instead we send our best to the regulars from the comfort of HQ.  Results and occasional race reports will be posted throughout the season. 
Other States kicked of the season in September as well, with Seattle hosting the year's first race on the 9th with the Alaska and Kentucky series races starting last Sunday.  Most other States follow through into October with starting dates to thier respective series'.  Iron Cross is in November - that one is the beast, 100 kilometers of cross pain in the hill country of Pennsylvania (the average race is a 1.5k circut with under 15 laps). 
The first big pro race for UCI points is the Tailwind Series on the 24th in Michigan.  Super Cross starts in October, as do the other big-time race series,  US Grand Prix, The Verge Mid-Atlantic and New England Series'.  Nationals will be this December up in balmy Rhode Island.  Tim Johnson is back racing this year, so the pro ranks could see an upsetter in the mix.  Last year's women's champ Katie Compton is a contender again this year in UCI and Series' points. 
The Euro-circut jumps off in October as well, and will be contested by a number of North Americans this year, lead by 3 time National Champ and European veteran Jonathan Page, who apparently is going to rock a pink stars-n-stripes kit this year. Pagey's been winning domestic road races in his wind up to Europe so it could be a great season for him if he can keep his health and avoid the mechanicals that plagued him last year.  Europe races into February, while our domestic series' tend to end around January at the latest.  Should be a bangin' year around the globe for Cross as it's popularity continues to grow, especially in North America.

No Ego (Bigger Than The King's)

What the hell is Lance thinking?  Remember when Jordan decided to play baseball? - this is about that dumb.  Obviously all that talk about caring for his kids and missing them was a load of crap.  Hey Cheryl, ever wonder why wifey #1 split?  It's not about the bike - it is the bike.

On Site

This guy is, and has been, reporting from the ground (actually an office tower) in N.O. since Katrina hit.  He's apparently well trained and a good writer.  The site has links to webcam and still image galleries culled by the blogger and his team.  If you want some first-hand intel, I'd say this is the raw-form best place to get it:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Be Useful

If you are in search of ways to help out in the wake of Katrina - here's some links and info.  We'll try to update this as more info becomes avail.  If this does not apply to you, but you know people with the skills that fit the bill, PLEASE direct them to this list or to the repsective links below:

There are plenty of things that can be done beyond giving money and blood.

FCC is calling on computer and communications tech companies and contractors to help restore radio and telecom so that rescue, recovery and security can be coordinated.  If you have skills in these areas, check the following link for more information.

http://www.part-15.org/emergencyrelief/katrina.html

Medical personel, security operators, disaster relief workers, engineers and other experts are being solicited and coordinated at the following locations.  You must have prior certification and/or field experience, military training or other civil service qualifications so serious applicants only please:

Western Great Basin Coordination Center
Reno, Nevada 1-800-633-6097

Southwest Area Coordination Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico 505-842-3473

Southern California Coordination Center
Riverside, California 951-276-6725

Southern Area Coordination Center
Atlanta, Georgia 1-800-959-9181

Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center
Lakewood, Colorado 303-445-4300

Northwest Area Coordination Center
Portland, Oregon 503-808-2720

Nothern Rockies Coordination Center
Missoula, Montana 406-329-4880

Northern California Coordination Center
Redding, California 530-226-2800

Eastern Great Basin Coordination Center
Salt Lake, Utah 1-800-844-5497

Eastern Area Coordination Center
Fort Snelling, Minnesota 1-800-247-1247x7300

Alaska Interagency Coordination Center
Ft. Wainwright, Alaska 907-356-5680

National Interagency Coordination Center
Boise, Idaho 208-387-5400

Animals, both domestic and livestock are in need of rescue and relocation as well - help is being offered through the following sources:

http://www.hsus.org/

http://animalrescuefoundation.org/

http://www.nsalamerica.org/

Specific requests for medical personel are going out - here's one via e-mail:

Subject: Requesting Katrina Help From Medical Professionals
Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 14:36:39 -0000

Our FL office has asked us to contact you regarding fulfillment needs for one of his clients, supporting 4 hospitals in hurricane-stricken Louisiana.

The hospitals are seeking the following:
· 4 pediatric temporary pharmacists. Pharmacists MUST be pediatric acute care hospital oriented/experienced.
· Pharmacists (can be Staff Pharmacists or PharmDs)
· RN's
· Rad Techs
· Med Techs

Please note, at this time, they are accepting candidates who are and who are not licensed in Mississippi or Louisiana.

The durations of time that each hospital would need people to work is at this point unknown but expectation is for several months. They are primarily looking for individuals that are flexible and willing to be deployed to locations based on need. For example, the client is deploying people to the Astrodome in Houston as people are moved from the Superdome. The situation is fluid as the needs are being identified.

Pay rates are unknown at this time and the VP has said that "the hospitals will pay what it takes to get this accomplished." If the candidte would require something special in the way of additional funding for food/lodging, they would need to know that upfront.

If you would be interested in any of these "per diem" positions, please contact me - 877/906-6051

Please answer the following questions:
· In what state are you licensed?
· What is the type of license?
· Within any of the disaster site locations, do you already have housing arranged for yourself or will that need to be set up for you?
· Does you have a specific city/state where you wish to go or are you open to going anywhere the Katrina disaster if effecting patient care?