Schalk wins another NUE, the Smiths double up in CB, and Lea nearly top 10 in MSA

Hi all --

I'm a little strung out from now 5 weekends in a row of work.  But it's rewarding because we are on a tear.

  We started in Park City, UT, where Jeremiah returned to form with a 2nd place in the XC, and 4th in the short track.  Then to Breckenridge, where he was 1st and became the national marathon champion.  Then, he went to Windham, NY for the NMBS event where he was 3rd in the XC and 2nd in the Short Track, simultataneouly on the weekend that I was in Downieville helping Ross take the win, with Sue in 2nd.

After Downieville, it was on to Mount Snow, VT for USA National Championships.  Lea delivered with 4th in the XC, and 3rd in the short track, while JB rode out of his mind to WIN a second National Championship in the short track! 

How do you follow that?

1. Turn Jeff Schalk loose on another NUE 100 mile race, the Wilderness 101.  Watch him take the win, with Chris Eatough in 2nd, and Cheryl S. winning the women's race.
2. Host an XTERRA off road triathlon in Crested Butte, Colorado, just up the road from where Brian and Jenny Smith live.  Watch them BOTH DOMINATE !!
3. Go to Mt Ste Anne, Quebec for a World Cup, and watch Lea ride thru the pack into 11th, only 30 seconds out of the top ten.

Yeah, I been busy with the team, but really it's the riders that make it happen.  I just try and create that environment for them to thrive.  Above are Brian and Jenny, with the biggest Xterra wins of their career, on home turf in Colorado! 

I'll put up more stories and pictures as they roll in.  For now, click over to Sue's Blog to check progress on her broken leg from VT.  Give her a shout, she's love to hear from you!

Bishop earns 2nd national title in Mt Snow, VT

Well our own Jeremiah Bishop has done it again, and won a national championship.  This time, he's taken the Stars and Stripes jersey in the Short Track, just yesterday in Mount Snow, Vermont.  It makes a pretty amazing pair, the marathon title and the short track title.  All in all, it caps a fantastic month of July for the Trek-VW team, and we still have 2 weekends left to go!

Rolling out of the Windham, NY leg of the NMBS series, in which he took 3rd in the XC and 2nd in the STXC, we knew that JB had the form to do something special.  (He pulled down those rides on the same weekend that Ross was taking control of the Downieville weekend, marking the first time in Trek-Vw history that we've had podiums on both sides of the country, on the same weekend!! ).  However, we all thought that he'd be gunning for the top of the step in the XC race.

The XC race turned out to be a bummer in a couple of ways:  JB flatted out of 2nd place, and Susan Haywood crashed and broke her left leg.  She wound up having to be carried off the course, and transported for surgery that included a rod and 6 screws.  It was a really sad way to go out on her retirement weekend.  We had a party planned and everything!!  Here she is, with Lea and Steve, getting ready to call it a career on the XC scene:

 

So Saturday was a bit of a bummer, even though Lea did her best to keep things bright with a 4th place finish in the women's XC!!  Here she is rolling in for the best ride of her career to date.

Sunday was a complete turn around, as Lea roared to the hole shot in the short track, and then rode a smart tactical race to get the 3rd place in the women's race.  Then, JB got the MENS hole shot as well, giving the crowd something to cheer about, as he settled in to the lead group for a few minutes before launching a blistering attack that he maintained to the end.  Check out the stories !!! http://www.velonews.com/article/80504/compton-bishop-take-short-track-titles-at-mount-snow  on VeloNews there, and Cyclingnews here:  http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/2008/jul08/usnationals08/?id=results/usnationals0819

And be sure to stay tuned for the next few weeks as we head in to Canada for the World Cups.  At the rate we're going, they could be good ....

 

Doing it right in Downieville

The 13th Annual Downieville Classic Mountain bike race just wrapped up Sunday in Downieville, CA, a tiny mountain hamlet about an hour north-northwest of Truckee.  It's one of the more remote events I've ever attended, but it has drawn a committed crowd every year.  This year was no exception, as locals and regulars alike commented that it was bigger than ever.  They also said specifically that we picked a good year to bring Ross and Sue out for the race.  The competition was better than ever, but Ross and his Remedy 9 took on the course and competition to take the WIN in both the XC, DH, and therefore the All Mountain category.  Sue put in consistent rides to get 2nd aboard a Fuel EX.

The Downieville "All Mountain World Championships" consists of a 29 -mile point to point cross-country on Saturday, and a 17 mile downhill on Sunday.  Of course, there are all kinds of other shenanigans during the weekend, like a street party, bike jump into the river, robot dance competition, etc.  But, the real kicker is that those lucky 200 doing the All Mountain class (field is limited to 200) have to use the same bike all weekend.  The bikes are actually weighed in each morning before the race, and there's no swapping of parts allowed.  So, you have to do both the XC and the DH on a bike that can climb decently, but also can rip the rocky downhill without falling apart.

Ross's Remedy 9 was set up with full Shimano XTR, Bontrager Rythm Elite wheels, Rockshox Lyric fork and Monarch 4.2 rear shock, Bontrager Jones ACX 2.35 tires, and Bontrager RXL components.  The bike weighed 29.75 pounds each day.  We had the position set up just like his XC bikes on the trailer, and climbing he looked super comfortable, just spinning the easy gears.  He won the XC very comfortably, by over 2 minutes (setting a new course record).  The DH was more stressful, because lots of guys take it very seriously and know the course well.  But Ross stayed cool, and ripped it to win by around a minute. 

The whole weekend was one of the coolest MTB events I've ever been to.  They have the formula figured out:  one weekend, packed with fun stuff, been doing it for years, great courses, and the racing benefits the Sierra Trails Stewardship.  Basically one weekend of racing funds an entire year of trail work.  There's free food and beer after the events, the raffle is huge, people hang out for hours.  We chatted to more people this weekend than the previous 3 combined!  It was so fun, and really good for our team to be there.

It should be noted that we didn't go there with the intention of being the big team showing up to bully the locals and the reigning champion Mark Wier.  Mark and Jason, the local top guys, are fantastic riders and have been on top of that race for years, with good reason.  We just think we have great new bikes that suit this kind of race perfectly, and we also have great athletes in Ross and Sue.  We wanted to join the fun, do our best, and throw our riders in the mix.  As it happened, they did great.  But hopefully the net effect is good for everyone, in raising the bar for all the riders, drawing more attention than ever to this new format of racing, and spreading the word about the fantastic trail network in Downieville.

HUGE THANK YOU to Greg and Wayne for getting us in;  Thanks to Mike, Pam, and Brandon Lee from the West Coast Regional team for helping us out all weekend;  Thanks to Scott Marcoe for mechanic help and shuttle runs; Thanks to the town of Downieville for rolling out the welcome mat to your beautiful mountain town; thanks of course to TREK and all our sponsors for a wicked bike! 

When all you can say is, "WOW"

Sometimes there's just nothing you can say, other than, "wow!!!" Or, some similar utterance of disbelief and amazement.  Sometimes, you have to say it again, and again, and again, until you are convinced of what you have just seen or heard.

Such was the case when I learned that Jeremiah Bishop had won the US National Marathon championships last weekend in Breckenridge Colorado.  I was in the race myself, I had heard bits and snippets about his mechanical problems (broken chain, broken spokes, broken rear der).  I had even SEEN him from behind, as he was getting going again and storming back toward the front of the race.  But I sitll couldn't believe when I crossed the line and everyone told me he had won.  You HAVE to read the story for yourself here: http://www.velonews.com/article/79312/jeremiah-bishop-and-sari-anderson-win-national-marathon

Another case of WOW is upon me now, here in Downieville, CA.  This place is like no other that I have seen.  It's miles from anywhere, deep in a Sierra river valley, with no cell reception, minimal internet, one pay phone, and every store and business closes at 6pm.  We almost didn't get dinner our first night here becuase everything was closed!

The other WOW to this event is that the start list reads like a whos- who of the gravity and XC worlds combined.  Eric Carter, Brian Lopes, Myles Rockwell, Greg Herbold, Jurgen Beneke, Mark Wier, Jason Moeshler, Andreas Hestler, Chris Sheppard, and more.  Into this mix, we are entering Susan Haywood and Ross Shnell, aboard a Fuel EX carbon and a Remedy 9, respectively.  I will try and go into more detail later, but to be short, the course is about 60 minutes of downhill, with 900ft of climbing for good measure.  Lots of pedaling, and a few sections to make you test your appetite for pure, no-brakes, let it rip, SPEED.  Like nothing I've ever seen before.

Tomorrow is an XC that takes in a long climb prior to the DH ... Sunday is the DH itself.  We've done a week of testing and pre riding ... more news to come!!

Chris and Jeff take 2nd at BC BIKE RACE

The 2nd edition of the BC bike race ended Saturday in Vancouver, BC.  Sounds like it got harder by the day, but with lots of sweet singletrack.  Our boys Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough managed to hold onto 2nd place despite multiple mechanicals, some illness, and just plain hard racing.

Here's Jeff's report from Day 6:

Hey Steven/Zack -

The story of Stages 1-3 was about making a big comeback from our initial misfortune in the hayfield.  In contrast, the story of Stages 4-6 has been about damage control.  The toll of the first three days finally caught up with us.  Chris began feeling sick the night after Stage 3, and has been doing his best to plod through each day despite not feeling 100%.  Personally, I felt super-human the first four days, then paid a big price for it on Stage 5, suffering horribly and visiting a very dark place during the course of the day.  I rebounded and felt good today, but Chris fell further into the hole with his head cold. 

Timing and luck are just a few of the big challanges of this format of racing.  Trying to equalize our efforts for the best possible result has been difficult when the timing of how we've felt hasn't quite aligned.  But, teamwork has helped to minimize the damage when I was dragging more on Day 5 and Chris was dragging more on Days 4 & 6.  Bad luck has also continued to play a big role in our performance since we've been plagued by bad luck on almost every day.  I got a flat on Stage 4 and had a defective tube -- the long fix cost us maybe 4min and allowed Kona to pull away and take the yellow jersey.  We took a wrong turn on Stage 5 while Kona was ahead out of sight -- that cost us maybe 3min, and made the chances of chasing back on very difficult.

Many of the other teams have had their share of bad timing and bad luck, but we seem to be doing a good job of minimizing the damage.  Each of the last 3 days, we've lost a little more time to Kona and are somewhere around 15-20min back of first now, but we have at least been able to maintain a firm grip on second.  We'll do our best to finish out strong on Day 7!

Take care,
Jeff

Jeff Schalk's story from BC bike race

This email came in yesterday evening from Jeff Schalk.  Jeff is a regional teams rider from the East Coast, and is the powerhouse in the Jeff/Chris combo.  They've made a great team in Jeff's power, and Chris's skill and experience.

Hey Steven/Zack -

I'm avoiding making calls from Canada (very pricey) and the internet availability has been spotty.  Hopefully you've heard from Chris or Bork or have been able to follow on VeloNews and/or Cyclingnews.

Anyway, Chris and I just rode into the lead on GC today and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished.  We were 35+  min down right from the beginning due to both rear derailleurs ripping off in the hayfields right by the start of Stage 1.  Bork did a fantastic job fixing the bikes (the neutral parade lap with permission from the race director allowed us to get tech assistance).  Chris has been really strong, consistant, and determined (as always), and I've had a really strong motor to use on the fire roads at the critical times.  And now we're in 1st!

We had to really work all day to chase on Stage 1, and miraculously pulled the leaders to within 12min.  Then, a successful attack of four teams late on Stage 2 (after the leaders fell off) lopped the lead down to 2min.  Today, after losing a lead group of three teams about midway (Chris flatted), I pushed the chase group of six teams really hard to close down the leaders (about a 2-3min gap, which took about an hour to close down).  For some reason, none of the other five teams seemed too motivated to help chase even though the GC was up the road, so I dug in and did my best to shoulder a huge amount of the pulling.  We caught the breakaway at the final aid station just before the singletrack.  Chris and I gambled by not stopping for a feed and took the leaders by surprise by blowing through.  Chris and I got into the singletrack first and led it down to the finish.  Kona lost maybe 4min on us in the singletrack and MonaVie lost maybe 10min, so we're now in the yellow jerseys by 2min or so ahead of Kona.

This isn't too detailed of a report or anything, but I wanted to fill you in just in case you haven't heard much yet.  So check out the online coverage for more details.  But, at least that gives you a general idea of what has been going on.  Like I said, I'm really proud of what we've done.  Even if we aren't able to hold on all week for the win, at least we rode from dead last (+35min) into first in just 3 stages with a lot of focus, tenacity, luck, and the right combination of everything else.

I'm exhausted, but we're both excited to continue fighting!  I think the best life lesson to take from racing in general has really been learned here in the last three days.  Never give up and continue to fight -- you never know what'll happen and if you aren't able to succeed, at least go down swinging.  Its been an incredible experience, and we're not even half way. Hopefully we can pull it off.  Even if we can't, I can proudly say that we're doing our absolute best.

Take care,
Jeff