Here’s an off-season cross-training activity for those of you in need of a new adventure this winter. It is already on my life time ‘to do’ list. Check out this madness.

http://vimeo.com/1778399

~JDS

Last weekend I was privileged to watch the athletes I coach and some pretty amazing male and female cyclists tear up the incredible courses at the USGP of Cyclo-cross here in my home town or Portland, OR. I haven’t witnessed a better course to date, as it was a very UCI/Euro style course that had absolutely everything in it including: 

• Muddy sections
• Puddles (I mean lakes)
• Off cambered riding
• Barriers (but only 1 set and only two, no horrible six-packs here)
• Moguls
• Lots of u-turns
• Single track
• Whoopty do’s (sp?)
• And of course, the awesome fans that show up to cheer and jeer at ‘cross races

While some of the big names were missing, as some opted to stay local since Nat’s are coming up in KC this weekend, the race brought out a top notch fields, especially in the other categories, oddly, or not so oddly enough. Many of the top 20 riders in the men’s B’s could easily place in the top 15 of a typical local A’s race.   Of course our boy, ‘Tree Farm’ Trebon was there, all 27 feet of him, as were Tim Johnson, the Wells brothers, Jeremy Powers, Erik Tonkin, Chris Sheppard and other top dawgs in the men’s CX field. The local favorite women Sue Butler, Rhonda Mazza, Wendy Williams and Emily Van Meter were in attendance and some of the heaviest hitting ladies showed including Georgia Gould, Rachel Lloyd, Katarina Nash and Wendy Simms along with the rest of the National caliber women’s field.�
The battles were epic and I was treated to quite a clinic of how to race and especially how to handle your bike in all conditions. The top men and women were incredibly fast through every section. I don’t know if they ever hit their brakes. There was a pretty big difference btw many of the top finishers and the rest of the field when it came to how they got through the technical sections.  I won’t bore you by repeating the results and the drama of the races as there are plenty of web sites that document it far better than I could. Check them out below and are sure to check back here for another report on this weekend’s Nationals in Kansas City.

• OBRA (Amateur Results) - http://www.obra.org/
• Cycling News (Results, Photos and Stories)
  http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2008/dec08/portland2_08/defaultDay
• Velo News (Video, Results, Photos and Stories) -
  http://www.velonews.com/article/85706/trebon-takes-usgp-final-tim-johnson-and-katarina-nash-win
• PDX Cross (Incredible Photos) - http://pdxcross.com/
• Cyclo-Cross Magazine(Live Coverage, Stories, Photos) http://cxmagazine.com/live-coverage-of-usgp-portland-day-2

~JDS

Check out the full story on the OBRA Cyclo-Cross State Championship race on Pro Cycling News here:

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=13756

~JDS

Check out the awesome videos of each of the 2008 ‘Cross Crusade races by the folks at Crank My Chain.  

http://crankmychain.com/

~JDS

Check out the incredible photography of this season’s ‘cross races and last week’s state championships by the gang at PDX ‘Cross. 

http://pdxcross.com/

~JDS

Last weekend new mom and S & M pro, Rhonda Mazza comes back from behind to win the final ‘Cross Crusade race and OBRA State Championship in the women’s A field.

After Rhonda got off to a fast start and an early lead, local crushers and River City pros Weny Williams and Emily Van Meter caught up to and passed her to take the lead. With the mental toughness of a seasoned vet, Rhonda turned herself inside out to catch the leading ladies and get enough of a gap through the mud pit to take the win, with a running finish.

Fellow Endurofit team member, Anne Linton finished an excellent go at her first season of ‘cross with a 3rd place finish to take 2nd over all in the series.

Way to go ladies! We’re proud of you and celebrate your success! Now it’s on the USGP and nationals. We wish you the best of luck!

You can check out the full story here on Pro Cycling News:

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=13756

~JDS

Check out the great write up on Endurofit athlete, Flo Liebowitz.  

http://blog.orbike.com/archives/2008/11/racer-profile-flo-leibowitz.php

~JDS

Check out the prelimary version of the newly released 2009 OBRA racing calendar at the link to Kenji’s web site below.

http://tinyurl.com/5orykg

~JDS

Check out a great article from the NY Times on flexibility training. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?em

~JDS

Check out this video from last week’s race at Barton Park. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUfcrjUZD0c&fmt=6

Enjoy!

~JDS