Rather than post a growing list of events that have been cancelled thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic take this as an reminder that EVERY SINGLE CYCLING EVENT that you were looking forward to riding, racing, watching live, or streaming online has been cancelled.
And while many event promoters have optimistically moved their events forward a few months, we’re going to guess that there will no mass start events going down for at least a year. Time to figure something else out. . . TTcross? TTmtb? TTcrit? TTgravel? Maybe? If anyone is hosting any solo racing events, please let us know. In the mean time we’ll be here tickling our keyboards.
On the Thursday evening before the Elite racers took to the battered course in Lakewood, Washington, I stood in the Trek Store in Tacoma with about 50 cross fans, also in town for the 2019 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships. And, like them, I was listening intently as Katie Compton, the fifteen-time (consecutive) National Champion and the most decorated American cyclocrosser ever, addressed my spontaneous question (“Should cyclocross be in the Winter Olympics?”) with all the sincerity and thoroughness of a PhD candidate defending her thesis.
I honestly didn’t mean to provoke such a detailed response—her live interview with Cyclocross Radio podcaster Bill Schieken had concluded (you can hear the whole thing right here) and the rest of the crowd awkwardly hesitated when he invited questions from the audience. So, I opened my big fat mouth.
Part of their discussion covered the lack of sponsorship for cyclocross racers and races. So, a little Olympic coverage, it seemed to me, could change that. And, gee, wouldn’t it be cool to have just one bike race in the Winter Games?
Cyclocross doesn’t need the Olympics, she said. It thrives on a participant fan base, and that distinguishes American cyclocross from the European sort. And we Yanks deserve to make cyclocross our own. That seemed to be the theme of the evening.
The Olympics would bring in a less committed fan base, she continued, and that would change the nature of cross events and culture. We can grow it, organically, and continue to build it from a solid base. We’ve been doing great, so far. And she should know, she’s been National F’n Champ fifteen times! On Sunday she’d be defending her title and going for number sixteen. Unbelievable.
The crew at Gravelstoke.com have compiled an amazing list of the 12 most influential gravel races of 2020. From the looks of the schedule it’s enough to keep even the hungriest gravel racer well fed all year around.
Sure, Dirty Kanza is on there, so is the Rock Cobbler and the Belgian Waffle Ride, but there are nine more that you might not have heard of. Click the link for the entire list. Read the whole thing, because they’ve also listed 29 other rides that look just as good.
San Diego County, California’s summer grass-roots mountain bike race season kicks into gear on Thursday May 9, 2019 with the the opening round of the seven-event QnD Summer Series.
There are a couple fun changes for this year that will add even more excitement to the mix. . . The expert men category will have to contend wit the “dude, where’s my car” loop, which is certain impact the dynamic of the race, and we’ve also added a drop bar category to the schedule for all those that want to tackle our course on some skinny tires.
Races go down every Thursday night at the Lake Hodges Boat Ramp parking lot. Registration opens at 4 PM, kids race is at 5:15, and racers roll at 6 PM. Register ahead and you can show up at the last minute. We were just out on the “Dude, where’s my car” loop and it will offer some serious, single track climbing action. For all the official details, please click the link.
The news from Sea Otter 2019 has been storming in for hours, but here’s something we’ve been waiting for. Tasco today announced the release of their new Recon Ultralite gloves. Here’s what they’re saying about it.
Welcome to your new favorite Ultra minimalist performance love with all the features you need for your day in the saddle. When you want to wear a glove, yet fell like you aren’t — the Recon Ultralite glove is what you’ll reach for. These gloves are engineered to be the lightest glove on the market today without sacrificing the quality and fit that you have come to expect from Tasco.
The Recons feature durable nylon top of hand, conductive threads on index finger and thumb for working your phone without shedding your gloves, silicone grip on palm and fingers, a microfiber thumb patch, a seamless single layer “Tacti-cool” palm, and fitted “o-prene” cuff enclosure. All this for $38 a pair. Sounds just like our next pair of gloves. For all the official details on the Recon, please click the link.
When the Garmin HRM Run strap that came with our fenix 5 watch finally failed, we went back to the first heart rate strap that we’d ever worn and it reminded us how nice it is to have something that feels good, and works. Here are a few of the reasons we’re happy to have returned to Wahoo.
Soft, velvety elastic strap that is snug without being too tight.
Front snap closure. Know how cool front closure bras are? How easy they are to open and close? That’s how nice it is using Wahoo’s front snap closure. It connects the circuit and straps it up all at once. No fiddling with a side clip and then sliding into place. No label that’s constantly folded over and scratching up your ribs.
Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity. This HRM will connect to nearly everything — watches, phones, bike computers…and really what else is there. Use it on the bike with a Garmin 520 for a ride and then pair it up with a smartphone for jogs and hikes. It really is that easy.
Flashing lights to let you know it’s on. This may not seem that important but once something goes wrong it can be difficult to figure out who is to blame in the Bluetooth or ANT+ circle jerk. When the battery is dead the lights won’t flash. Duh. Simple but effective.
Price. Who can complain about $50 bucks. Sure, it doesn’t have built in stride metrics, but who runs anyway and if you do, well, maybe you need a different strap.
If you’d like to join us in HRM heart rate strap comfort, click the link and grab one for yourself.
As if bicycle retailing in general can get any worse Emerald Expositions, owners of among other things the Interbike and Outdoor Retailer trade shows announced on December 6, 2018 that they were canning the 2019 Interbike show in Reno.
Instead, the company will research alternative plans for 2020 and beyond, including the opportunity to launch events featuring bicycling and bike-related components within or alongside its various successful, multi-sport trade show franchises.
In other words, until Emerald Expositions figures out how to save their flagging business all bets are off. Likely, Interbike will be thrown in with one of the Outdoor Retailer/SIA Snow Shows in Denver, Colorado. This on the heels of their President and CEO David Loechner announcing a rather immediate departure from the company on November 1, 2018 doesn’t seem suggest that bright a future for the company nor trade shows in general. Follow the jump for the official word from Emerald.
Second to the silky smoothness we get from a well waxed chain, we love the smell of Wend Wax. Rubbing it on our chains is like getting the fresh blasting breeze of speed. But now, our olfactory isn’t the only sense getting tickled. Nope. Wend Wax is serving up their rub-on chain lube in six new day-glo shades of visual bling: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and pink.
“Our mission at WEND is to follow suit with the legacy of Wax Research—which means we’re all about creating unconventional formulas that work along with bringing products to market that no one has ever created before,” says company co-founder Ryan Dahl. “This collection isn’t just big for us at WEND, it’s exciting for the entire cycling community and we’re happy to introduce something unique and fun that works even better than it looks.”
Isn’t it about time you got waxed in matchy-matchy colors? We think so. Click here to buy some or follow the jump for all the official details.
Yes, it happens every year and every year we say it’s the last year, and every year Sockguy comes through with another slew of rad Halloween socks that creep us out in just the right ways. Load up. These are the perfect socks for Spookycross.
This looks to be the most current SoCalCross schedule for fall 2017. You ready? Cross is here. We’d suggest that you click the link for more info, but we’re pretty confident that the SoCalCross website hasn’t been updated since last year. But go ahead and click the link to see if anything has changed since December 2016. Otherwise, click link below for the SoCalCross Facebook page.
As if bicycle retailing in general can get any worse Emerald Expositions, owners of among other things the Interbike and Outdoor Retailer trade shows announced on December 6, 2018 that they were canning the 2019 Interbike show in Reno.
