Offering a hand to old friend Stu Thorne, quite by coincidence, I ended up fingering Jaime Driscoll’s spare in the pit for the duration of his opportunistic win. Jaime’s an esteemed cross camp alum and it was an honor to be giving him the word on this side of the Atlantic after so many apprenticing campaigns on the euro side.

Katie looked super, as did the horsepower in the men’s chase group. Good September signs.

In the beginning, in the end, it’s still all about the energy. For the riders, the personnel, the supporters.

As the Euro Cross Camp website takes 2009-2010 shape, I want to iterate camp selection details to all those in the asking mode:

1. Races. November UCI races with highest priority going to NACT Boulder weekend and USGP Mercer weekend. Other UCI races. Then regional, local non-UCI races. Roster firm by Thanksgiving.

2. Communication. Keep the lines open. Keep me abreast of your intentions, results, situations, injuries. I would like to again take 16-18 riders with a mixture of juniors, U-23’s and elites. Elite Men should be in the top 100 on the most current UCI ranking. Again, no set/predetermined number for any one category.

3. Key Camp 7 Dates

18-25 November Camp Roster Finalized
04 December Kalmthout WC Entry Deadline (for Elites)
11 December Zolder WC Entry Deadline
12,13 December US Nationals
16, 17, 18 December Option 1 Departure Days from US to Belgium
19 December Local Race
20 December WC Kalmthout (Elite WC only; but probably a non-WC race for Juniors, U-23 also; or local race)
22 December Option 2 Departure Day from US to Belgium
26 December Zolder WC
27 December Diegem SuperPrestige
29 December Loenhout GVA
1 January Baal GVA
1 January Roubaix WC Entry Deadline
2 January St Niklaas
3 January Option 1 Departure Day from Belgium to US
3 January Tervuren or St Michelgestel
4 January Option 2 Departure Day from Belgium to US
8 January Hoogerheide WC Entry Deadline

4. Note: USAC 2010 World Championship Document up at USAC website.

Volition,

GP

Say you’re at a junior 15, 16 bike race in the tiny hamlet of Ooike, West Flanders as I was yesterday. And say you’ve got a wonderful network of USA support crew spread across Europe at the ready.  Well, presto, in the space of an hour, not only are our strong results pinned about (national junior 15, 16 champ David Kessler finishing 3rd), but streaming in is “news” that USA House alum Tyler Farrar has just won in Hamburg, that USA U-23 Danny Holloway is 2nd in the final stage of Zamora Tour in Spain, and junior Nathan Brown is 3rd in a one-day outside of Antwerp.  Takes a bit of suspense out of the dinner talk once we’re back at the House.  Thank goodness for time zones. They’re about the only thing keeping things fresh anymore.  We can’t know that another alum John Murphy takes the US Pro Crit until it happens. Which, if you’re in Europe, is after dinner.

CX-related, I took the guys to look-see the Waregem City Challenge urban mountain bike race on the way home from Ooike.   Erwin V had extended the invitation the night before on the phone, if we had time. Well, we had a half hour and it was on the way home, so we checked it.  You got to hand it to the Belgies. 1.2 km circuit smack in the middle of the square.   Pavement, sections through wood chips, gravel, a tank of water, a whupped fly-over, the inside of a trailer truck, and around the church. Leffes and Jupiler flowing freely. Very sizable crowd.  We weren’t able to stay for the finale, but Erwin took the 20 minute race over teammate Ben Berden.  Good legs, he told me. Erwin heads to Germany for training camp on Wednesday. Fidea are currently at altitude in Saint Moritz.  Sven is at the Tour of Limousin and Niels has been tearing it up all summer.  I recently asked Christian Heule how much road racing he’d done this summer.  His answer: 35 races with 4 stage races. The homework is being done.

Both Christian and Erwin will be state-side in September.  And the game will be on. Which it pretty much is year-round here in Flanders.  Check these numbers out.  For the weekend that just ended, Belgium saw separate venues for 17 U-23/Elite races; 8 junior races; 16 nieuwelingen (15-16 yr old) races, 5 aspirant races (10-14).  Oh and they had their national time trial championships on Saturday as well.  Junior ‘cross stud Sean De Bie was 3rd in the junior national time trial Saturday and won a kermesse on Sunday.  Last Sunday, he was 6th at the World Junior RR in Moscow.  Rumor has it he’s done with ‘cross.  Too much at stake on the road now.  No matter.  Rumor also has it that his younger brother, Mike, is better.  We shall see.

The Eneco Tour comes practically to our doorstep on Tuesday and Wednesday, just north in Ardooie. We’re hoping to say hey to Tyler Farrar and the Garmin crew.  More than a few of those guys have been through the USA U-23 program.

Connectivity.

That’s the scene I witnessed–with pride–this week (July 29-August 2, 2009) at the USA National Road Championships in Bend, OR. Being able to watch, witness, and visit with so many good young riders whom I’ve had a chance to work with in cyclocross is extremely rewarding. Hearing announcer Dave Towle mention over and over the word “cyclocross” in his commentating is a coup for all of us who believe in the power of  the discipline of cyclocross in the overall development of young American bike racers.

Have a look at what some Euro Cross Camp and World CX Team riders did this week in Bend:

U-23 RR: 1. Alex Howes (Garmin); 8. Bjorn Selander (Livestrong); 15. Danny Summerhill (Garmin); 18. Toby Marzot (Mtn Khakis).
U-23 TT: 2. Bjorn Selander (Livestrong); 22. Will Dugan (CCB); 44. Danny Summerhill (Garmin); 56. Andrew Llewellyn (Texas Roadhouse).
U-23 Crit: 1. Alex Howes (Garmin); 3. Bjorn Selander (Livestrong); Danny Summerhill (Garmin); Will Dugan (CCB).

Jr RR: 17. Chris Wallace (Mercy Cycling); 20. Morgan Ryan (Major Motion); 41. Luke Keough (CL Noonan); 46. Ian Terry (Hagens Berman).
Jr TT: 8. Luke Keough (CL Noonan); 10. Chris Wallace (Mercy Cycling); 42. Morgan Ryan (Major Motion).
Jr. Crit: 2. Morgan Ryan (Major Motion); 4. Luke Keough (CL Noonan); 21. Ian Terry (Hagens Berman); 22. Chris Wallace (Mercy Cycling).

And, though not all the Euros were there, both Zach McDonald (Classic Cycles) and Eric Emsky (Rad Racing) rode strongly in the two MTB World Cups in Canada this past week as well.

And how about Gavin Mannion (Hottubes) named to the junior worlds road team headed to Moscow this week? Did you catch his result today in Liege la Gleize stage race? 13th overall I think.

What “seasons” these “cyclocross” guys are having? Can you see the edges blurring? For the younger guys who haven’t yet “chosen” one discipline over another–it’s all good.

It’s really a pleasure to be able to visit with these young riders I know well from another part of the season. To share that bond, to talk to them about their plans and hopes. To see a guy like Will Dugan trying to bring back the break in the crit today, you see that same fire, that same focus. After all, it’s all bike racing.

Finally, while I didn’t get the opportunity to have old friend and Nationals Promoter Brad Ross himself give me the tour, USAC’s Events Director Tom Vinson was kind enough to walk me through the upcoming 2009 Nationals CX parcours. Brad’s got a corker of a course laid out. It’s going to have plenty of dimension and pop. It’s gonna be good. But isn’t it always? Make your reservations now.

All right. Enough said. I depart tomorrow with this year’s Junior 15, 16 Team to Izegem for indoctrination into the rhythms of Belgian road racing. I did the same the summer of 2007 and those kids are rocking the roads now as juniors with two in Moscow this week for junior worlds–Jacob Rathe and Ian Boswell.

It goes and it comes.

Keep it tuned here for some pre-season euro cyclocross scuttle.
GP

Danny Summerhill, Clif Bar Racing:  ”We…said our thank yous and goodbyes to all the mechanics and staff. If it wasn’t for them, none of what we have accomplished in the past two weeks would have ever been possible.“

Danny Summerhill in Loenhoet taking a 14th place finish.

Photo Courtesy Cycling-Pics.be 

Zach McDonald, Classic Cycles, Bainbridge Island, WA:  ”Like every rider who comes the camp, I wanted to come away from the camp with new skills and abilities. Since I had not raced yet I wanted to get an early jump on that train by learning how to foot-plant one of the cruiser bikes. After close to half an hour of work, I was getting some satisfactory results.”

Zach McDonald rounding the corner on his way to an impressive 6th place in Loenhout.

Photo Courtesy Cycling-Pics.be 

Matt Shriver, Jittery Joe’s:  ”There is nothing like being completely gassed on a climb or through a run up and sucking in the cigarette smoke. While we are racing, everyone is drinking and smoking watching you in pain. We are completely flat out, gasping for oxygen, trying to keep the legs turning and we’re inhaling some nasty, expired, Belgian cigarette smoke mixed with partially digested beer.”

Matt Shriver ripping it up at Diegem placing 31st.

Photo Courtesy Cycling-Pics.be 

Manny Goguen, Minuteman Racing:  ”Right around 6pm we hear the famous dinner call. Everyone heads down, grabs a plate, serves themselves and sits. The table is huge! It sits 10 on each side so we usually have multiple conversations going on. If we wanted to have just one, we would have to play telephone to get it from one end to the other. After dinner we all pitch in to clean up.”

Manny Goguen on the race course taking 34th on the day at Diegem.  

Photo Courtesy Cycling-Pics.be 

Elite Men

1 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team                 56.13

2 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Projob Cycling Team

3 Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus                  0.17

4 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) KDL-Trans                       0.27

5 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus            0.59

12 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona                               1.52

21 Jeremy Powers (USA) Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale 3.37

22 Daniel Summerhill (USA) Felt-VMG U23 Cycling Team

24 James Driscoll (USA) Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale  3.52

32 Matt Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe’s                     5.14

35 Brian Matter (USA) Team Geargrinders

38 William Dugan (USA) Richard Sachs                    1 lap

39 Jeremy Ferguson (USA) Giant Strawberries

41 Andrew Llewellyn (USA) Better Cycling Of Louisville

42 David Hackworthy (USA) Ridley

Junior Men

1 Valentijn Van De Velde (Bel)                           39.30

2 Cody Kaiser (USA)                                       0.15

3 Xandro Meurisse (Bel)                                   0.23

4 Gavin J Mannion (USA)

5 Gerry Druyts (Bel)

6 Eric Emsky (USA)                                        0.45

13 Joseph Dombrowski (USA)

16 Manny Goguren (USA)                                    2.40

22 Ryan Morgan (USA)                                      4.35

An incredible campaign with some super good results. Especially in the juniors. Yesterday in Sint Nikaas, watching Cody the Kaiser ride to 2nd, Gavin Mannion to 4th, and Eric tearing up to 6th, I thought to myself, geesh…if our guys could spend a season here, learning better the riders and the nuances to the racing here, they could be a dominant force. Nonetheless, yesterday’s results and seeing Zach McD up on the podium in Baal the day before are nice endnotes to the camp. It was also cool to see yesterday 12 American riders in the elite/U-23 field in Sint Niklaas (Trebon, Powers, Driscoll, Baker, Shriver, Matter, Llewellyn, Ferguson, Summerhill, Hackworthy, Dugan, and Cameron).

We had a great restaurant steak and frites dinner last night (a camp tradition) and I thanked all the riders and staff for being “on it” for two great weeks. We were very fortunate to have no injuries (especially with the super fast, frozen tracks during this year’s camp) or illnesses. Success.

Time for rest and recovery and then the final run-up to Worlds in Hoogerheide. If you have a spare minute, have a quick read of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. The chapter “10,000 hours” speaks well of a concept I’ve been chewing on for many years. Doing time.

Thanks for following along for the ride,
Geoff

A sweet pair of Colnago Cross Bikes waiting to go to battle with Sven Nys.  Photo Courtesy of Cody Kaiser.

Vervecken’s mount for the day all shined up and ready to go.  Photo Courtesy of Cody Kaiser.  

Junior Men

1 Corné Van Kessel (Ned) 39.55

2 Zach McDonald (USA) 0.14             

3 Sean De Bie (Bel) Kon. Balen B.C. V.Z.W. 0.21                     

4 Vinnie Braet (Bel) Cyclingteam Oost-West 0.28                  

5 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Mez Team Belgium 0.37

14 Cody Kaiser (USA) 3.31

18 Cody Cox (USA) 4.15

19 Joseph Dombrowski (USA) 4.22

20 Morgan Ryan (USA) 4.30                                           

Elite Men

1 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 57.51

2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 0.09         

3 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 0.25        

4 Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus                               

5 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Sunweb Projob         

25 Brian Matter USA) 4.35

26 Troy Wells (USA)                                                  

27 Roger Hammond (GBr)

U-23 Men

1 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus                                          

2 Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team                                      

3 Lubomír Petruš (Cze) Empella Czech Team                                         

4 Jan Denuwelaere (Bel) Rendementhypo Cycling Team                                

5 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) AA Drinks Cycling Team

15 Bjorn Selander (USA)

27 Jeremy Ferguson (USA)