Evan Weinman (left) and Ben Berend take to the podium after the Morgul Bismarck Road Race

The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Cycling Team notched up several great results during the Morgul Bismarck road race over Memorial Day weekend.  Even took the win in the junior men 15-16, with Ben pulling down the 3rd slot.

Great racing by this crew of kids from Steamboat Springs!

Congrats!

GrassMoots racer David Gensch from Glenwood Springs, Colorado writes in with a wrap up of the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde……he writes:

“You know where we are going, right?” asks Don my duo race partner for the weekend.  After missing the turn to Placerville our tired eyes read the sign, 146 miles to Grand Junction and we realize that we blew it.  A circuitous detour tacks on two hours and hits the restart button on the continual game of Froger that we have been playing with various forms of wildlife since dark.  We arrive at the fairgrounds venue at 2:30a.m. and sack out.

It does not matter how late I go to bed, I will never be able to sleep in after being properly trained by my children.  We awake to a perfect Colorado day.  The morning comes slow involving coffee, racer check in, coffee and….. some coffee and then we pre ride the course.  This is the fourth time my wheels have hit the dirt since breaking my arm just over seven weeks ago and my smile is huge.  The riding here is fantastic and there are many words to describe Phil’s World, but they are all punctuated with, grown men and women will giggle like little school children.  The 16.5 mile ride is a buff, twisty, fast pump track of a race course with splashes of technical bliss.  As if my smile can get any bigger.  The fairgrounds fill up as the cool air settles the hot dusty day and we all enjoy some local Ska beer.

Morning comes quick and the mood is electric with the cumulative notion of what’s to come.  A Le Mans style run starts the race off and Don peddles out on our first lap.  Waiting in the exchange tent and watching most of the field come in, my mind teeter totters on mechanical or wreck, mechanical or wreck?  Double flats within a half mile….one tube, one air cartridge.  You do the math.  The day starts out pleasant but gets warm quick.  Even with the limited passing spots everybody seems to play well with each other and the vibe is great.

Working into my third lap my atrophied arm muscles become quite prevalent and the very active “good line” becomes harder to follow.  Something my road and trainer miles don’t replicate.  Don digs deep for a hot lap in the afternoon sun, no pun intended, and comes in shortly after the cut off time so our race is finished.  We finished in the top half of a large stacked duo field.  Not what we were hoping for but a great day on our bikes.

Ska Brewing came down from Durango to help sponsor the event and put down some laps.  What a great group of people.  Dave, Arlo, and many friends, you guys rock.  Tim from Zia Taqueria filled the hungry bellies of at least 50 people with the finest after race food I have ever eaten.  The event volunteers and staff were amazing and the race was very well organized.  My Mooto X YBB never fails to amaze me as this bike is pure joy.  Thanks Moots.  Rising early the next morning in the dark to get home for Mothers day we silently say good bye to all and flip over the perpetual hour glass till next years race.

David Gensch

Grass Moots Rider

Patrick ready to roll on the Mooto X Ybb..

Patrick Wilder is our GrassMoots racer based out of Portland, Oregon.  I swear if he got a cut he’d bleed the colors of Moots.  He’s dedicated to the bike, good times and knowing that sharing rides with someone special is better than a result.  I’m posting his short but very well written account of his favorite race.  No “PRO” treatment needed…this is “PRO” all the way…he writes:

“Sorry for the delay on this.  I’ve not been able to get some good thoughts onto paper  about this race.   Nothing spectacular for a write up other than a few pictures I thought I’d send along.  Maybe after your afternoon coffee you can PRO it up a bit.  Just no wise cracks about the long tube from my camelback!!”

Patrick and his dad…..best trail buds…..

Words-

Lemurian Classic- A homecoming

It’s no secret that the Lemurian Classic is my favorite race.   It’s held minutes away from my parent’s home in the town I grew up forging a love of riding bikes, Redding, CA.

No great result to post, no play by play commentary- just a fantastic weekend of representing the Moots kit and riding with my favorite trail partner- My dad.

~Patrick

Smile or grimace?…..some of both I’m sure…..

Time lapse of Fruita 18 hours….

GrassMoots racer Andrew Carney is based out of Fort Collins Colorado….he takes his bike racing pretty serious, but not too serious.  This past weekend he and his girl friend Sarah crushed the duo catagory during the 18 hour race.  Andrew says the race was close for many laps, with only one minute seperating the top 3…in the end they lapped 2nd place. Not bad at all!

Andrew and a "recovery" drink post-18 hours

Andrew is also very active in the local Fort Collins short track series, which takes place on the ground of the New Belgium Brewery.  This last week they had 350+ racers……and of course, they might of had a beer or two afterwards!

Fort Collins Short Track.....braaaaap!

Kelly rails a corner during the Front Range 60

So much good racing starting to happen it’s hard to keep up.  Over this past weekend we had the Front Range 60 going down on the front range of Colorado and on the Pacific side of the divide in Frutia, Colorado we had the 18 Hours of Frutia spinning laps at the Highline State Park course.  Moots was well represented at both events.

Back to the first of the events……on the front range of Colorado we had our Steamboat local GrassMoots racer Kelly Boniface take the start of the FR 60.  What she would later call a “redemption race”.  Redemption in a way where she rode flawlessly with zero mechanicals this weekend.  The week prior she kicked off her racing season with an 11th place overall at the Whiskey 50 in Prescott, Arizona against a stacked pro field.  She did that with a flat that took her out of the top 5 spots in the race.  This week she put all the pieces together and would not be denied her 2nd win two years running at the FR 60!

Kelly is onboard a new Mooto X RSL that she calls a “rocket”…..I think the bike helps, but in my book it’s more about the motor…..but I’m sure racing a sub-22 pound rig doesn’t hurt one bit.

Nice work Kelly! We are proud to have you flying the Moots flag!

The kasseien (cobbles) await each rider.

Our European GrassMoots warrior Dan Seaton, takes in the Ronde for the rest of us….he writes about traffic jams on bikes and saddle sores….

“Last weekend my friend David and I and 20,000 of our closest friends all saddled up and headed out for a ride on the Ronde van Vlaanderen — that’s the Tour of Flanders for the English speaking — course.  We chose the 150km ride, which, while shorter than the whole 260 km loop the pros do, didn’t require a crack-of-dawn trip to Brugge, which neither of us wanted to do. More to the point, 150 km of hard riding, much of it on kasseien — cobbles– and many steep, cobbled climbs seemed like more than enough pain to satisfy us.

I’ve been in Belgium for three years, but between the weather and schedule constrains, I never tackled this ride, so I really had no idea what to expect.  I decided to ride my Psychlo-X, swapping my out knobby ‘cross tubulars for some road tires that seemed up to the task of almost 100 miles of very rough roads, and was not disappointed.  The bike’s ultra stable geometry combined with the slightly higher handlebar position and lower gearing I use for ‘cross meant I felt comfortable on the roughest sections and could keep pedaling up steep hills that everybody else had to walk.

Mountain bikes, road bikes and cross bikes used to tackle Flanders…

I’ve been in Belgium for three years, but between the weather and schedule constrains, I never tackled this ride, so I really had no idea what to expect.  I decided to ride my Psychlo-X, swapping my out knobby ‘cross tubulars for some road tires that seemed up to the task of almost 100 miles of very rough roads, and was not disappointed.  The bike’s ultra stable geometry combined with the slightly higher handlebar position and lower gearing I use for ‘cross meant I felt comfortable on the roughest sections and could keep pedaling up steep hills that everybody else had to walk.

A quick aside: if I could only have one Moots to use for everything, this bike would be it.  It’s such a pleasure to ride and is equally great in hub deep muddy fields and twisty mountain roads.  It’s such a great all-around bike, I really love it.

Dan was all smiles at this point……

Anyway, the weather was spectacular, the spring Flemish countryside that the route wound through was gorgeous, and the huge numbers of people out on course kept us inspired and entertained.  It was awesome to test my legs on the same storied climbs as the pros: the infamously steep, slippery, and narrow Koppenberg; the Muur, where Fabian Cancellara unleashed a blistering attack to shed Tom Boonen in the 2010 edition of the race.  And it was equally fun to power through the long flat cobbled sections: the secret is to keep the speed up and the gear as high as possible.  The faster you can go, the more the bike floats over the cobbles and the less you get bounced around uncomfortably.

The one drawback to riding on incredibly narrow roads in such a huge group is that traffic can be a problem.  We waited in line for probably 20 minutes to have our chance at the Koppenberg climb, and on several other climbs careless bike handlers could quickly find themselves on the ground when someone up the road bobbled. While many people were struggling just to keep moving forward, I felt great and climbed easily, passing huge numbers of people on most of the hills thanks to the more sensible gearing on my ‘cross bike.

Traffic jam leading into the Koppenberg….nice time to chat…

If you ever decide to try this ride for yourself, a compact crank is definitely worthwhile.  In dry conditions the empty Koppenberg is no problem with standard road gearing, but if it’s wet, or if someone stalls in front of you and you have to put a foot down, getting going again without a compact is all but impossible.

Out on the road, the Moots was a hit. Tons of people pulled alongside to ask about the bike or just say, “Go Moots!”  The encouragement was really welcome, and it was cool to chat with so many people from so many places who had come to tackle this famous course.

In the end, our relatively mellow pace brought us across the line in Ninove in about six hours, wrapping up one of the most fun days on the bike I’ve had in a long time.  But the fun wasn’t over, as Sunday we headed back out to Oudenaarde to see the real Ronde van Vlaanderen with our American friends Jonathan and Cori and their kids.

The PROS take on the Koppenberg…..

The winding loop meant that we were able to see it a couple of times, once in town, once on the Koppenberg, before heading back to town to watch the finish at the Ronde van Vlaanderen museum.  We cheered for Ted King of Liquigas, who I used to race occasionally when we lived in New Hampshire, and took in the scene, which is like one, huge, 260 km long party for Flanders.  And it didn’t hurt that it was one of the most exciting finishes in years.

Hunt leads a small group…..

The cobbled fun didn’t end there, though. This being Belgium, it’s been impossible to escape from the cobblestones, and I managed to find myself pedaling at least one long section of them on every one of my rides this week.  It’s a good thing my Moots is so damn comfortable, otherwise I think my, um, saddle region might have given up the ghost by now!

South East GrassMoots racer Thad Hoffman writes in about Death Marches and experience…two things that seem to go hand in hand…

Experience.

I’d wager that for many of us mountain bikers, our first mountain bike race is a story of horrible conditions, limited fitness and skill, an old bike. Maybe we did surprisingly well or perhaps suffered miserably through to the end. Either way, despite the suffering, we were instantly hooked. Soon we started spending more and more of our available free time riding, which we justified by referring to it as “training”.  We searched for more local races to give purpose to our training and ever growing bike/gear purchases.

As we gained experience and new friends, someone would encourage you to try this new race out in whereverland because it promised to be “epic”. It’s real racing, not like this little local stuff. These trails weren’t manicured, they weren’t 8 mile loops, there was little support, and best yet,  “you could die out there!”  And like lemmings we jumped in with both feet.

Afterward our time not “training” was spent searching for the next best thing until we had a year’s worth of races stacked into our “calendars” giving more purpose to our training, purchases, and time spent lallygagging about in bike shops. We gained knowledge, experience, and a larger group of cycling friends from which to gleam even more knowledge of “epic” events.

Then we brought more friends to these races and the attendance grows and the experience changes. Some of it due to our ever changing fitness and skill levels, some due to the added depth of really talented riders changing our perspective of a “good finish time”. For whatever reasons, things change and we end up longing for that first time, new race experience or opting out of the race scene altogether to “get back to the fun”. The ebb and flow.

I’ve been through that circle many times throughout the years and have watched others make the loop as well. Recently my love of gravel grinding, mountain biking, and adventure racing came together in a single event and I’ve discovered a whole new world of possibilities.

The Sub9 produced Death March wasn’t your typical marked course gravel race. It offered the racer pavement, gravel, singletrack, and everything in-between, including closed bridges, locked gates, and swaying towers. The objective is to get to the 5 mandatory check-points and back before any other team. Along the way were 5 other additional check-points that offered up bonus time, which meant you don’t necessarily have to be the first team back to win. You get a map, a time limit, and a partner.

Not being local and completely new to the area, the Death March offered us “foreigners” more of a navigational and logistical challenge. Landmarks such as creeks, bridges, and the Sun became more critical to us as it offered other metrics by which to better discern the rudimentary map. As such, I came away with a clearer, more intimate mental map of the area than I would have hammering head down, following a marked course. Enhancing the experience.

The best aspect of the race format though, is the two person team. Fitness and speed don’t really matter. Abilities of navigation, openness to adventure, and the willingness to go the distance trump all. I not only got the new and unknown race experience, I got something worlds better. I got memories and the experience of riding alongside a good friend I would normally never get to race alongside. The adventure into the unknown was shared and relished.

No podium finish can touch it. As the years go by, results are often forgotten. The trail conditions, the depth of competition, weather, all the little details that made those podiums special give way to only a list of names long forgotten other than the racers checking last year’s lap times in preparation for their race.

No the Death March has given me something better. A unique and unforgettable experience of racing alongside a dear friend and inspiration for a new chapter in my cycling life.

GrassMoots racer Collin Huston checks in from New Hampshire as his spring gets “rolling”…..it is spring right? He writes…..

Despite the fact that mother nature played a nasty April Fools joke on all of us New Englanders today to the tune of 5 inches of snow it is getting to be about time to reflect on the past winter’s training. I’ll be racing my first race in a week, the Yale Lux et Velocitas-a collegiate race weekend, and am going through my head with questions of my readiness. “Did I train enough?” “Will I still know how to get around the peloton?” “Am I going to get blown out of the water?”

Despite this being the sixth time these questions have come up I still need to take some time to think things over and reflect on my training. Result: It has been a great winter! This isn’t too say that I’ve logged more miles than ever before (I haven’t) or that my power has increased ten-fold but this winter has been an absolute blast. I took time with my training this winter to do things on that bike that were fun. I had a great time out on the snowmobile trails on my cross bike.. I did lots of miles on these trails including many night rides and enjoyed every one of them.

The second aspect of my winter was a hastily arranged trip to Arizona to visit a friend and ride bikes without tights or jackets. Thanks to a voluntary layover last fall I had two free tickets and after a long trainer session decided to put one to use for spring break(tough life I know). This trip was exactly what I needed to get me pumped about racing again. Partly because I had a brand new Vamoots CR to test out!

The trip was great, riding and relaxing everyday; a lot like the trip I did last summer to visit Moots in Steamboat. At the end of the trip we did one of the local climbs-South Mountain, I was able to find my pain cave rhythm and remember that satisfying hammer feeling that makes bike racing so awesome. On the way down I put my new bike through its paces and it excelled with flying colors. This new bike is awesome!

I am not usually one to notice to the handling of a bike, clearly I have never ridden a bike like this one. On every switchback and bend the front end took my input and effortlessly begged me to push it further. The balance of stability and responsiveness is something that I have never experienced before and I am in love. Of course performance isn’t everything, this bike looks killer with the color matched Moots carbon fork and the gorgeous Ti welds. I’m still waiting on a new seatpost before I take some glamor shots; this bike needs to be showed off in its ultimate beauty.

Dan Seaton muscles through the heavy Belgian  mud…..

 Our European based GrassMoots Racer Dan Seaton checks in during his off season from his year-round home in Belgium…..he’s resting, looking forward to a sportif’ and healing from a 6 month season of banging around the Belgian cross circuit.  He writes….

It’s been a little over a month since I wrapped up my ‘cross season at a small race in Pontaury, about an hour south of Brussels. It was the first time I’ve extended my season all the way through to February, and unfortunately, the results were disappointing, coming on the heels of one of a toughest months of racing I ever had in January. At the time, the end of ’cross felt like a relief, but now that spring has found its way to Belgium, and I’ve had some time to decompress and get off the bike for a while, I’m excited to be back on my bike again.

January started off well for me, with a solid result in the first race of the year with a top fifteen finish on an impossibly muddy course in Waregem,a race that I would include on the list of my best of the season. But a week later I found myself sidelined by a flu that seemed to be making the rounds on all levels of the cyclocross scene. The same flu cost Sven Nys a chance at an eighth Belgian National title, tore through the ranks of the cyclocross press corps, and wiped out a sizable chunk of the Masters field I race against. I managed to get back on the bike for one last Flemish Cyclocross Cup race, in Langemark (where they once fought some of the most devastating battles of the First World War). Coming off a week of flu, I was definitely not 100%, but I held my own in the mud and, I hoped, reacquainted my body with the rigors of racing again. Getting that race in despite recovering from the flu was important, since the next week I headed out to Mol for the Masters World Championships. I felt strong, and, although I knew a great result was out of the question, I thought I could improve on last year’s result significantly, and was aiming for a finish in the 30′s (out of some 50 starters). Unfortunately, someone rode right into me just meters after the start, and he and I and another rider spent the first 30 seconds of the race untangling ourselves, so I started about 500 meters behind the rest of the race. I managed to chase back into the race and even move up some by the beginning of the second lap. But that early trouble was costly, especially on a course as fast as the one in Mol, and by the end of my race, I was paying for the huge effort of getting back into the race on the first lap. I wound up a disappointing 44th; not a completely embarrassing result, but far from what I think I was capable of. You can read a little bit of what I thought about the course and competition here:

http://www.cxmagazine.com/2011-lee-waldman-masters-worlds-interview

With a whole host of Americans making the trip over to Belgium for Worlds, one upside was that I had a great time chatting with many of the guys after the race. Among the many we met was Steve Tilford, who lives in my wife’s hometown of Topeka, Kansas, also rides a titanium bike from Steamboat, made the podium in the men’s 50-55 race, and may have been the World Champion had the race been just one lap longer.

In the end, the season had its ups and downs. Not everything was perfect. The end of the season was especially hard, but I also had some of the best results of my life in there, more than once managing to beat guys who in past years would have been well ahead of me. The highlight was November, where the weather was mostly miserable, and I managed to come up with a number of good races, including what may have been the best of my life on a frozen course in Drongen-Baarle.

Belgian winter’s just can’t compare to the spectacular snowy seasons I spent in New Hampshire before making the trip to Europe, and it’s always a welcome change of pace to head for the hills after six months of rainy, muddy suffering in the Belgian fields.

 And now I’m back in home in Brussels, where you can tell it’s spring both by the beautiful weather and the reappearance of big European pro teams for the classics. My batteries are recharged, most of the nagging injuries from ’cross are healed up, and I’m getting ready for my next little adventure, the Tour of Flanders sportive ride. The annual ride, held the day before the Elite Flanders race, attracts thousands of riders and offers a chance to tackle many of the storied climbs — the Koppenberg, the Muur — of Belgian cycling history. I’ll have a full report of how the Moots handles some of the toughest cobbles in the world in a couple of weeks.

 

A Moots racer from Australia tackles The James Williamson Enduro Challenge this past weekend.  Typically a 24 hour racer, Clayton hammered out the 4 hour race and pulled down an 8th place in a super competitive field. Love the way the colors of the new Moots kit look in this photo. Clayton races for Cycling Edge based in South Melbourne.