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

Park City POWER, and BC = Beyond Crazy!!

Two major events kicked off this weekend June 28.  After a 6 week layoff, the NMBS series returned to Park City, UT, while the BC Bike Race kicked off in Canada with a star studded field.  In Park City, we were STOKED that Jeremiah Bishop returned to his old self, nearly winning the cross country and then going on to lead the short track for a few laps on the way to finishing 4th.  At the same time, Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough teamed up to take on the BC race, suffering a major mechanical 3 minutes into stage one, but charging back into 3rd place!

The only reports that I know from BC are what we read on cyclingnews.com, but I did get a phone call from our mechanic Steve Borkoski.  He relayed the tale to me:  the stage one start loop took riders through a field of mowed grass, which instantly wrapped into the cogs and rear derailleurs of riders.  Within 3 minutes of the start, Chris Eatough, the man who NEVER has mechanicals, had ripped the rear der right off his bike.  Bork set to work with chain replacement, der replacement, and pushed his rider back into the race, only to have Jeff's bike do the exact same same thing!  So, again, der and chain and spoke replacement ... forcing our guys to start the race 18 minutes or so off the back. 

What are a couple of Trek-VW hundred mile racers to do, but put the hammer down, and finish 3rd?  only 12 minutes out of the lead ... we'll see what happens next!

While those shenanigans played out, we had Jeremiah quietly line up near the mid-point of Saturday's XC field, and then blast up the hills to take the lead at the halfway point.  Bummer that cramps took over, but considering it's his best result in months, we're super happy all the way around!!

Then today, Ross got the holeshot in the STXC only to get clobbered in turn 1 by a crash.  He wasn't hurt, but his bike took a shot to the rear derailleur and he was hobbled the rest of the race.  But, again from the back, Jeremiah raced up into the lead to challenge for the win.  A near-flat and crash scare dropped him to 4th, while Ross clawed his way up to 5th.  2 guys on the podium!

   

Stay tuned for more news from BC!

Lea Davison -- top 20 at UCI World Championships

What is 19th place female at the UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Val Di Sole, Italy?

It's top twenty, at the biggest race of the year.  It's 2nd American female, out of 6 USA riders that competed.  It's beating seasoned international riders, like Mary McConneloug, Willow Koerber, and Kiara Bisaro.  It's coming into your 4th European race of your LIFE, and quietly overcoming obstacles of start position, inexperience, youth, and unfamiliar surroundings. 

Congratulations Lea, you've clearly earned your position as a top USA female mountain biker, and you can bet that you'll be seeing the start line of world cups and world championships for years to come now.  Thanks for being such a determined and good natured asset to our program!

Lea Davison, 19th at Worlds!  Happy Days!

A study in contrast -- bikes for every purpose

One guy we've not been chatting up enough lately is Ross Schnell.  Normally that guy can let his legs do the talking, and silence all critics.  And if his legs don't speak loudly enough, often the costumes do!  Everyone remember the Rad Ross taking double jumps at the Snowmass 2006 short track?  And of course, last year at the Deer Valley short track, he rocked the retro-Trek old-school full-body skinsuit.  What better way to turn heads and make people smile?

unfortunately, this skinsuit must not have had good mojo, because this was where Ross crashed and tore his MCL, ending his 2006 season.

Since then he's been gradually returning to top form, recently taking 6th at the Teva Mountain games and 2nd at the Mountain States Cup race at Angel Fire, NM.  Those two races were quite different in terms of the course.  Angel Fire features a long, rugged descent, while the Teva course this year featured lots of service road and fast climbing. 

Ross used a Fuel EX 9.9 for the Angel Fire race, fitted with a heavy-duty long travel fork, big Bontrager Rythm wheels, and a single chainring with an MRP guide.  Despite the burly build on this otherwise mild trail bike, it only weighed 25 lbs!!  To me, it's a testament to the versatility of this bike that it can be built for heavy XC racing, or light DH.  (it's also going to be the weapon of choice for Downieville in a few weeks!).

Now, flipping the coin to the other side of the course-style, we have the bike put together for Teva Games.  We expected Teva to take in miles of service road, given that Vail was under snowpack for much of the spring and into summer.  Indeed, the course featured much service road, but also just enough singletrack to warrant the use of a proper Elite 9.9 hardtail.  But for the sake of arguement, check out the Trek X0-2 that Ross built for mountain biking.  This thing would be SICK for hillclimb races, fast short tracks, and the like.  It's built with Bontrager Race XXX lite carbon clincher wheels, a single chainring, XTR v-brakes, and it must have weighed about 15 lbs.  Note that the frame and Bontrager Satellite fork have clearance for the Bontrager Jones XDX 29-er MTB tire (1.8 width).

Generally I'm not a fan of franken-bike projects, but you have to respect the effort.  Having the right tool for the job helps a lot.  And it speaks to the incredible versatility of the Trek bikes that we can adapt them to suit our purposes, whatever the course may demand.

Mr & Mrs Smith light up the Xterra scene once more

There's just no stopping our multi-sport powerhouse duo of Brian and Jenny Smith.  Not heat, nor water, nor 11th hour late-arrival travel visas!

A few months back, Brian Smith got an invite for an all-expenses paid trip to BRAZIL for the new Xterra there this year.  Of course he accepted, although this meant skipping the Richmond, VA round.  However, travel info was spotty going in, and obtaining the required travel visa turned out to be nearly a deal-breaker.  His visa application went to the wrong office, and in classic US red-tape form, he was told to simply wait for it to show up.  So he waited, and waited, and finally had to leave for the Alabama Xterra.  Things were looking grim until a friend posted at the mailbox in Gunnison phoned with good news, the DAY BEFORE HE WAS TO LEAVE.  One FedEx early next day shipment (and $126) later, and Brian was on the plane to Brazil.

How stressful is THAT?  Not stressful enough to keep him off the podium!  There doesn't seem to be anything stopping these two ... because while he's stepping off the plane and onto the podium in Brazil, Jenny is taking down the legends of endurace athletics, in 2nd place at the Richmond event!  Yes, that's none other than Shonny Vanlandingham on the 3rd step of that star-studded podium.

Full stories can be found on Xterraplanet.com and Jenny's Blog.  And, here's Jenny's exuberant email to me!

"Hi Everyone.

I was 2nd yesterday in the East Championship event. I am very excited it was a best case scenario for me. The swim was wild, held in the James river we basically swam over rocks, and rubble as areas where ridiculously shallow. It was crazy and very important to keep a sense of humour rather than allow frustration. I held my own well with the other women and entered the bike with a group including Shonny Vanlandingham. It was great. Shonny and I rode together for a long while reeling in racers in front of us. I put in a gap and exited the bike in 2nd for the run. The run was long 11km and fast, and it suits me. At 5km to go I was caught by Shonny again and stuck with her. It came down to a  push on my part with about a km to go which I held for a 6 second advantage at the line. I was psyched.

Brian was in Brazil for XTERRA Brazil where he was 3rd! I haven't heard from him yet, which means its probably going very well.

Cheers
Jenny Smith"


wheresbrianandjennysmith.blogspot.com

Wrapping the World Cups, Teva, and more...

So much going on the last few weekends, it's hard to know where to start ...

World Cup campaigners Susan Haywood, Jeremiah Bishop, Lea Davison, and mechanic Steve Borkoski were in Andorra (May 29- June 3) then Scotland (June 4-8) trying to make up some ground on the Olympic selection front.  Tough conditions and some bad luck have put Sue and JB all but out of contention, but not without a fight.  And Sue has the bruises to show for it!  Check her BLOG for the full story!

Meanwhile, relative World Cup rookie Lea Davison continues her rise to power, finishing 24th in Andorra and 20th in Fort William.  There are World Cup vets that have a hard time hitting the top 20, and here's Lefty doing it after 2 tries.  GO GIRL !!

Jeremiah Bishop is gonna have one last chance to make the Olympic team, by going to the UCI world Champs next week.  Lea's going along as well.  Good luck to them!  One last hop across the pond, then it's all domestic for the rest of the year.

Speaking of domestic, we had Ross, Caitlyn, and the Colorado Regional team at Teva Mountain Games , in Vail, CO.  This event is quite a happening, with multiple outdoor sports, music, and lots of people.  Ross was 6th against a field much stronger than usual.

 

THanks to Nick Martin, Andrew Shepherd, Bruce and Tomarra Muhlfeld, and the others who helped out so much around the trailer.  Happily, me and Dusty BOTH got to race as well, in the men's expert class.  I won, and Dusty was 6th, on a bike without any gears except ONE!!   How does he do it?

Two Treks on Top in the NUE Series

Trek-VW is once again dominating the NUE 100 mile race series so far this year.  Powerhouse regional teams rider Jeff Schalk is turning his focus to these events, and the rest of the endurance community is now turned on its collective head.  Jeff rides with the East Coast region, managed by Steven Hoover, and after struggling to find his focus on the NMBS series of XC races, he's found a happy home on the NUE circuit.

Of course, Trek-VW already had Chris Eatough plugged in to the 100 mile endurance format, so now we have a lethal dose of pure, American-built Top Fuel race bikes punishing these courses into submission.  And with record numbers of racers coming out for these all-day epics, we are certainly happy with the marketing exposure.

At the start of the season, there was a lot of talk about Floyd Landis making a return to mountain bike racing on the NUE series.  Some had called for a boycott of the series, in a punitive gesture to the series for accepting his entries despite his questionable past.  However, on the Trek-VW program, we decided that the only way to keep a positive (pun intended!) spin on things was to simply show up with our best game, and keep winning the series.  That's exactly what we have done.

Any worries of intra-team rivalry?  I asked Chris about that yesterday, and while he admitted that Jeff has become very savvy about racing to his strenths and putting Chris in trouble on certain portions of the course, he also said, "that's racing, and if Jeff is better than he deserves to win."  Both Chris and Jeff are class riders and would never compromise each others race ... but both are competitive and you can see it in the Mohican 100 results!  Jeff in 1st, Chris in 2nd by less than 2 minutes ... and next rider down is 11 minutes off the pace!

Thanks to Bob Myers for the photos!  Be sure and check out the full Mohican 100 story on cyclingnews.  Full NUE info and standings are here. 

Lea-ps and bounds

Yes, that is me trying to make a clever headline.  It's LEA that is making leaps and bounds with her racing career!  She finished a career best 24th at the UCI world cup XCO in Andorra (a soverign country surrounded by Spain in the Pyrranees).  Amazing!  We sent her over on a gamble, to get some experience with racing the Euros on their own turf, and she goes TOP 25 after starting in the last rows.  Fantastic, way to go Lea!!

Sue crashed a couple of times, and threatened to send me a picture of her black and blue backside.  I trust you Sue, I'm sure it's bad..  Sounds like the conditions were slippy and wet for the women's race, but she still made some progress on the Olympic side.

JB also improved, moving from a start postion in the 80s to finish 41st.  It's a long road but he's never giving up!

On this side of the Atlantic, we had Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough go 1-2 at the Mohican 100.  Those guys made the selection, and then Jeff attacked just near the end to take the lead by a slim 2 minutes.  Nice going guys!

Ross had the weekend off, but last weekend he was raging down in Angel Fire, NM at the Mountain States Cup race.  He and Jay Henry had a close battle on this high-elevation course, with Jay just taking Ross by the last descent.  Ross is coming back from a few weeks off the bike and was racing a tricked-out Fuel EX 9.5 with a Revelation fork.  Wow!!

Hot temps, fast action

One more quick post about the Santa Ynez NMBS event the other weekend.... yes, we have been over the fact that it was HOT but I can't stress enough how taxing that can be.  I found myself exhausted fully 5 days later, STILL feeling like I hadn't recovered.

But it gave me an excuse to keep thinking about the weekend and uncover some repressed memories.  Like the women's XC feed zone, lap one ...

Each lap was about 11 miles long, so there were 2 feed zones.  I chose to put myself in the remote feed zone, which involved driving a cooler full of bottles around to the back side of the course, then hiking up a small hill and standing by until riders passed through to take fresh water.

In the women's race, I was feeding for Sue, Lea, Mical, Jenny, and also Subaru-Fisher athlete Heather Irmiger.  5 riders to feed is not too big a deal, it's kind of a lot, but managable in most situations.  However because I was alone I was also taking care of the tech zone, and any bike problems that might arise for those 5 riders.  I had a pair of wheels and some tools spread out on the other side of the course, ready for action (but not really expecting it, given the non-rocky course).

So what happens on the first lap?  ALL FIVE RIDERS SHOW UP WITHIN ARMS REACH OF EACH OTHER!  I have 5 bottles, each marked for separate riders, and they roll through so close together that I can hardly pass up the bottles fast enough, let alone give correct bottles to correct riders.  And the best part?  Heather is calling out, "I need a wheel, I have a flat!  Do you have a rear wheel?" 

I wave Heather over to where the wheels are, I finish with giving out the bottles to the Trek-VW riders, then dash across the course to do a wheel change for Heather.  It takes about 10 seconds, I give her her fresh water bottle, and she's off.  The whole episode was probably 30 seconds start to finish, but it sure felt slow.  And, remarkably, in all my years working with teams, it's the first on-course wheel change I have ever done. 

Anyways, here's a cool picture that might convey the heat, and the riders croaking weakly for water ...

It's California Trek-VW regional rider Tim Olson, photographed by Michael Viertel.  By the way, the CA region had a great race with all their riders in the top 20!  I guess it pays to be local...

Brian Smith 3rd at Temecula XTERRA !!

MORE good news on the Trek-VW racing team!!   Our resident hard guy, Mr Brian Smith, picked up the 2008 Xterra season right where he left off last year:  3rd place!!  it's another great podium result for the man who is not afraid to tackle any challenge.  Check out a story here:  http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2181

Ladies night at NMBS #3!

Saturday and Sunday marked the third round of the NMBS series, and we made the trip to Santa Ynez, Calif. for the event.  It's kind of a ways out of our way to get back there after Sea Otter and other stuff, but it turned out to be worth the trip.  Our women's team absolutely lit it up to get 3 out of the 5 spots on the XC podium.  Then in the Super-D, our team torch bearer Susan Haywood took a classy WIN in the style of days past, when she was Super-D National Champion.  Love it!!!

Boys had a tougher go of it, with Ross still recovering from health issues after Sea Otter.  He was 9th in the XC, but our regional teams powerhouse Jeff Schalk had a career best 7th. 

HEAT was the order of the day(s) for the whole weekend.  I have not worked inside an oven or iron smelter, but I imagine that is what it's like.  Each day, we used more than 150lbs of ice and 20 gallons of water to keep coolers stocked, riders cool, and staff on their feet. 

In fact, the leader of the women's race Georgia Gould collapsed less than 2 miles from the finish with heat stroke.  She came out OK but it was scary.  Our mechanic Dusty Labarr is her husband, so he went to the hospital with her.  That left me to do all the post-race bike work.  It was a lot of work, but Mike Lee and his Calif. Trek-VW regional team guys helped a ton!  Thanks guys!!  In some ways it was kind of fun to do the bike work, I miss that sometimes after wrenching for 3 years.

More pics on the way, but here are some from Sue!  Also check out her blog, she says it best:  http://susanhaywood.blogspot.com/

Micheaux State Forest, PA ...a contrast to Madrid!

Trek-VW East Coast Regional team spent the Madrid weekend (May 3-4) on a completely different type of course... Manager Steven Hoover took care of our boys Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk as they dominated a course that is famous for rocks, roots, and legendary technical challenges !!  His report is from last week:

Trek VW scores again!

  The Michaux Endurance series kicked off May 4th with the Maximus. With over 110 riders signed up for the fifty miler and dryer than expected weather we knew it was going to be a fast race.  Michaux is and has always been a single lap format, one big lap.  Some say this is Mountain Bike racing in the raw.  The course is legendary for its mud, rocks, water crossings, logs and a fair amount of climbing and did I mention rocks.  Tight twisty single-track with fast rock strewn descents that people love to hate.

   Unlike the previous week there was not much drama, Chris set a fast pace right from the gun, Jeff chased but never closed the gap.  Behind them having a flat or not having a flat dictated the order. Several fast riders were knocked off the podium by the rocks.  In the Women's race Cheryl put her home court advantage to work and never looked back, winning with a twenty-five minute advantage. Tim Mes sersmith, last years winner led for over half the race before Roger eased past him, eventually gapping Tim by five minutes.

Results for the day: Flying thru the 50 miles in just under 4 hours was Chris Eatough followed by Jeff Schalk in 2nd and Jon Gdowik in 4th, giving Trek VW three of the top five spots in the Senior Men’s category.  Cheryl Sornson came 1st in women's, In the Masters category it was Roger Masse 1st and Tim Messersmith 2nd.

 

  Our bikes performed flawlessly.  Trek, Volkswagen, Shimano, RockShox, Bontrager, JBL, and Cyto Sport we couldn't do it without you.  Thanks!

The only incident of the day happened to me.  Since all of our Team riders decided to run the fifty milers it left me with some spare time while they were out on course.  I decided to take my new Remedy out on the twenty-five mile course.  About an hour in I got a huge cut in the rear tire while submerged in a mud pit, thinking it was glass from the looks of the cut.  After fixing my flat I settled in to a nice pace, cruising in with a top ten finish and a big smile on my face.  Some might think it crazy to ride a six-inch travel bike in a cross-country race but that’s just because they haven't been on a Remedy in the mountains of Michaux State Forest.  I will wager that there will be several Remedy's at the Dark Hollow, the next stop in the Michaux Endurance Series

Enjoy the day,

Steven

Photo Gallery: UCI #3, Madrid Race Day

Sven Martin followed the team on race day, while Colin Meagher snapped some shots of Canadian Trek rider Emily Batty.

Photo Gallery: UCI #3, Madrid Training Day

Sven Martin met up with the Trek/VW team again in Madrid, Spain to capture more UCI racing.

Mach 10 in Madrid!

Reports from the 3rd round of the UCI World Cup are filtering in .. and by all accounts it was scorching fast!  The course is situated in a park just near to downtown Madrid, somewhat similar to Central Park in New York.  It's smooth, fast, and non-technical.  A few short sharp climbs punctuate the lap, but most describe the pace as like that of a short track here in the USA -- just constant high-speed pedaling and blazing intensity.

A course like this demands the proper set up for speed.  We on the Trek-VW team are lucky to start off on the right foot with the Elite 9.9 hardtail bike.  The OCLV carbon frame was made for just this kind of race!  Next comes the Bontrager Jones XR Team tires.  This is a new tire for 2008, one that we have been asking for since 2005.  It's basically a Jones XR, in 2.0 size, with the knobs at 1/2 height.  It is blisteringly fast on a smooth, firm surface.  (In fact, Lea took down 1st place at the Sea Otter short track on just this same tire!!).  Of course, you have to have a RockShox SID World Cup to complete the package, light and supple to handle brake bumps, yet with firm lockout for the stand-up-and-sprint out of every corner.

Sue was 4th American across the line, in 41st.  Jeremiah was 4th American, in 80th.  Both are still in recovery mode after the punishment of Cape Epic.  We're still hoping to spring them into the Olympic selection with 2 World Cups plus World Championships still to go.  No matter what the placings, the enthusiastic crowd is always exciting!

We've got some race photos coming, but in the mean time check out Sue and Emily lookin' good at the tent, and these below from Germany:

Jeremiah and Team Dolphin-TREK rider Alban Lakata

Me and ace mechanic Steve Borkoski at the Dolphin-TREK tent

While you were away ... we were in Fruita!

As you know we have so many double booked weekends it is almost silly!  But the bright side is that we get to reach more people than ever.  The other weekend while Sue and Jeremiah were racing the World Cup in Offenburg, Germany, our domestic team stopped in Fruita, Colorado for the Fat Tire Fest.  There is no racing at this event, only a ton of good fun!

Fruita is on the western edge of Colorado, situated perfectly for our team trailer to stop, set up, and talk shop with the riders in attendance.  We had Ross lead a group ride or two, while Dusty and Shep did bike work and chatted with consumers.  No real hardcore mission, just a chance to interact with the guys and gals keeping our sport alive and healthy.  Trek's Ride the Best demo tour had a rep on hand to loan out some bikes, and our mechanics did a little work on some consumer bikes.  All in all, a good time!

Report from Offenburg World Cup

By now I'm sure you've seen or heard the stories from the 2nd round of the UCI World Cup in Offenburg, Germany.  After rain in the early part of the week, things dried up nicely on race day, and full fields of men and women attacked the course in search of speed and superiority.  The dry weather was welcome after rain last year turned the race into a slippy quagmire.

Our own Susan Haywood was 31st, building on her start position of 37th, and maintaining her spot as the 3rd American female in the World Cup overall standings.  So, she's basically right in the running for a possible Olympic bid!  The first selection criterion is top two Americans in the World Cup overall, so if she moves up just a few spots in the next few races, she's there!

Jeremiah Bishop on the other hand is struggling, and we all feel bad for him.  His lifelong dream is the Olympics, and he was OH so close in 2004.  This year was supposed to be about total focus, and I've seen his training data: he's focused all right!  But somewhere along the line this spring, between training, Cape Epic, and traveling, he's really tired.  We were all hoping that he'd come out of the Cape Epic with huge form, but it's turning out that he's just really zapped for strength.  A huge miscalculation somewhere along the line...

On the other hand, it's not as if things are living up to recent standards.  Most of the American men are suffering in Europe -- Todd Wells and Adam Craig being the notable exceptions.  Those guys must have stepped it up a BIG notch over the winter.  It's great for them!  But on the other hand JHK and Sam Schultz are not up to speed yet, so JB is not alone.   Racing in Europe is exceptionally hard.  There's just no way to understate the level.

I didn't come away with photos or video of my own, but here's something from Jeremiah's wife Erin:

Jeremiah Bishop's "Tunes to Ride By"

Biking, music, the environment: three things we all love.

Jeremiah Bishop and long-time Trek/Volkswagen Racing Team sponsor JBL are teaming up for an exciting

project: "Tunes to Ride By."

Now, in its third volume, "Tunes to Ride By" is turning its attention toward the environment. Mountain bikers are invited to share favorite songs, enter for a chance to win great products from JBL, and download rider-created playlists - all in support of worthy organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council and the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA).

For more information and to enter, check out the Tunes page at www.jeremiahbishop.com

The Grey Daze in Germany ...waiting on a World Cup

Well, I dropped my camera about 2 feet the other day, in Houffalize, and now it will not turn on.  Awesome.  It's pretty much what you want to have happen, while in Europe, for 5 days, between races, with no particular team related duty that can be performed other than blogging.  Yeah, it's just fine that I can't post any photos or lifestyle stories now.  Sheesh.

I guess when it rains, it pours, although the rain here is more like 200% humidity.  It doesn't so much pelt the ground as saturate the air and earth simultaneously.  We were walking the course the other day, and some German riders rolled up to look at the same section we were looking at, and one of the women was like, "Hey the forecast for Sunday is dry, so I think it will dry up by then."  And I was like, yes, it must be nice to be high all the time.  I should try that ...

No, seriously, all is not as bad as I like to make it sound.  I just had to catch you up on the last 3 days, which were in fact as gray and dreary as I've ever seen Europe.  Today actually is sunny, dry, and nice ... perhaps mild optimism is not so out of line as I thought.  I'm at a cafe/bar with free and fast internet -- something you would have thought was ubiquitous in Germany, but is not.  Sue rode the course and came back with only a few mud splatters, not nearly the 4" gunk layer we expected.  SO, despite the fact that we are here on business, the business of racing, things are going better by the day as it dries up, warms up, and we get to know the local layout.

We drove to Germany on Monday, slotted in to the Gasthaus Renate Meier in Ebersweier, and since then have been just kind of in limbo waiting for the racing to go off.  We don't have internet at our house, hence the daily visit to the cafe.  English language TV is limited to CNN and BBC, so I know as much about world news as I could care to ...and I'm almost finished with my one book.  It's about the slowest my life has moved in 3 years.  But, you know, I'll take it!  And now that the sun is shining, things are looking up!  Riders are training, bikes are tight, and all is well.  We picked up credentials today, tomorrow is registration, Saturday is managers meeting, and Sunday is GAME THE HECK ON!!!

wish us luck and continued blue skies!

Sea Otter vs Houffalize World Cup

With so many double-booked weekends this year, I should put some thought into a way of tabulating overall scores for each team at each separate venue.  For example, this past weekend we had Lea and Ross out at Sea Otter, competing in the Super D, Short Track, and Cross Country.  While this was going on, I've been in Houffalize, Belgium for the first round of World Cups, escorting Sue and Jeremiah through the weekend XC race.

If the events at Sea Otter are to guage, I would say Ross and Lea's team won the weekend!!   Lea won both the Super D and the Short Track, both first time wins for her.  The short track at Sea Otter is HUGE, because the crowds are great and all the Trek and VW people are attending.   She went on to take 5th in the XC.  Meanwhile Ross was 4th in the STXC, but faded in the XC to 25th place.

On the flip side, Sue and Jeremiah struggled over here in Belgium.  The weather was typical -- rain and gray made the course a slippy mess.  And the racing was typical -- over-full fields of rabid Euro mountain bikers elbowed their way around the course.  But the results here were not what we hoped:  JB in 77th, and Sue in 36th.  This on a day when other top Americans were riding just fine, in the top 20.

So as I say, cheers to the other team for pulling down some results for the weekend!!

We're off to Offenburg, Germany for the next World Cup, and hoping for better things.  No photos, sorry, my camera took a dive and won't turn on.  I'll try and borrow some during the week.

so what ELSE have we been up to?

At the same time Cape Epic riders were sending plumes of red dust skyward, we had the other half of our team in southern California and the desert Southwest, tackling the first 2 rounds of the NMBS series.  From my perspective it was a challenge to have 2 events running at the same time, but on the other hand, it will be a neccessary situation for this whole season.  I'm trying to wring the most out of our program, and that's going to mean MANY double booked weekends.  It means I'm doing everything twice!

But despite that challenge, we had great success in our first 2 domestic races.  Competing were Ross and Lea, and staffing were me, Dusty, and new guy Shep.  At the first round in Fontana, we were pleased to see a busy venue and a boost in attendance from last year.  The course was a little shorter, but the same fast urban singletrack. 

Lea kicked off the XC with 8th place, a solid top 10 to start the year.  Ross was stunned by the level and came in 16th, but made up for it the next day with the most exciting short track we've seen in years, landing on the podium in 4th.  Lea was right in there too on her short track, taking 8th again ... while our Canadian Mical Dyck was 4th.  So it was great to be in the mix on the first weekend!

From Fontana we drove across to Arizona, with a 2 night stop in Sedona.  The riding was part of the goal, but we also had committed to a school visit.  As it happens there is a great k-12 mountain bike league in AZ, and we stopped in on Scott Keller's group in Sedona.  The riders did a short ride with the kids, and we had a great time!

 

Finally getting down to business in Fountain Hills, site of NMBS #2, we pulled down a few more sweet results.  Lea broke through to the top 5 for the first time, taking 5th on the short track.  Ross was ultra consistent, just inside the top ten in all 3 events for the weekend, and taking 5th on the weekend overall.  Lea was 4th on the weekend overall.  For me and the team, it was a real breakthrough because it means our up and coming riders are now UP and consistently in the top 5.  That's what we need!

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Eight

Photos By Sven Martin

Stage 8: "No flies on ME, mate!"

Yesterday saw the final stage in the Absa Cape pic 9 day race. Before the dust settles and event is just a memory in my 2008 season I want to share how happy I felt during the final 62km.

I pretty much drifted to the bottom and back over the final 3 and a half days of the Cape Epic stage race. At 115km of the 146 km stage 5,  I (as Sue ( my partner ) aptly said died 1000 deaths) and sucked wheels home to our third stage victory. That night I started getting sick and by stage 6 had a sinus infection. It was okay though we backed it off a bit and still rode strong to 2nd place on the day. Day 7 however was brutal for me. My respiratory infection had gone into my bronchials and I felt really grotty. So I counted down the kms all 91 of them knowing that all that mattered was the finish of the stage. I was a mess at the end but thats part of it eh?

Day 8 dawned and with it the last day. What a ride. It was what I came for and its is my drug of choice. The utter confidence of knowing I can do it. The absolute knowledge that 'its all good'. I was so happy. As I was riding I was thanking everything in my head. K'ms didn't matter, Terrain didn't matter, Riding a bike was fun and  I was loving it. Sign me up again. I want more.

I'm so thankful forthis experience. It was awesome!

The Trek/VW ladies ( Sue and I ) finished 2nd overall. The men ( Chris and Jeramiah) 11th. It was a great investment on the part of our team to send us here and it has paid enormous dividends in terms of PR, press, media and exposure. These events suit and need more top tier womens teams and it is great that Trek/VW and Trek/ Dolphin have invested in this event.

Following suit I wish to thank Steve and Laura (our mechanic and Soigner) as their respective role's where vital. Our bikes and equipment where basically problem free. We used the new 08 SID forks on our bikes here and I was very impressed. I have used Rockshox forksfor quite a few years now and in my opinion the  08 SID is by far the best crosscountry fork. Solid and dependable. I probably locked it out on average once a day only if it was a pavement climb otherwise I didn't give its function a second thought.

Happy riding
Jennifer smith

Stage Seven: Darkest Hour, Greatest Moment

Jeremiah Bishop reporting in from Stage Seven of the 2008 Cape Epic

Standing amid pre-race music and a predawn marine layer of clouds were just 900 of the 1200 riders who signed up for the hardest and longest event in the history of the Cape Epic. 

“Udo,” I called out from within the start box. “Which race is harder, this one or the Tour de France?” I asked with a smile.

In a thick German accent, Udo Boelts, a veteran of more than 10 Tours replied, “It is about the same. The Tour is longer, but this… in this you have no recovery, no smooth spinning and descents on which you can eat, drink and recover. This race, it is always go, go, go!”

Somehow, I suspected that might be the answer to my question. The Cape Epic is like the Tour without the chatty laughing from the peleton or occasional neutral pee breaks. At the stage finishes of the Cape Epic, you’ll never see sparkling clean bikes and fresh faced riders. And you’d better bet your ass that the riders in this race are suffering from the beating that close to 1000 kilometers of prehistoric red dust, sand and volcanic rock can dish out on your hands, feet and tail.

This morning was tough at the Trek team camp. Jenny, who is in second place on our women’s team, was sick and wore a look of dread on her face. I asked how she was doing. “Not good,” she said, holding back tears. I knew she was not only sick, but also run down. Who isn’t run down at this point? I know I am. Sleep deprivation, aching muscles, the hardship of brutal five-hour stages, the best competitors in the world; these things add up. I wasn’t much feeling like putting my raw ass on a bike’s seat for one more day, but I didn’t share this. Instead, I said, “I’m proud of you. There’s only one more short day after this! We’re almost done!”

During our race today, Chris and I fought to make the lead group. I helped Chris keep up with the pace on the steepest sections. We were riding close, always communicating and putting in a super-focused effort to make the jump to the lead group for the high-speed dirt roads that always links the jeep track trails. After Feed Zone One, we rode toward the tail of the leading group with Bart Brentjens and Alban Lakata of the Dolphin-Trek team. Apparently, Alban was another rider facing sickness. He was lagging badly behind Bart; Bart was too far ahead to help, so he just would look back with a puzzled expression. Alban looked green and his head hung in a strange way but he fought to continue and did!

In the second half of the race, Chris too was hurting. However, unlike Bart, I sensed my teammate’s condition and stuck as close as possible. Since I was feeling very good today, I pushed Chris to keep us in that top group.

With 10 kilometers to go, we were caught by four riders of the ETTO-Hoydahl teams (ETTO-Hoydahl has three teams in the race). Rune Hoydahl, the many-time World Cup winner was in the group. Nearing the finish, as they continued to work together, we suffered like dogs to stay with them. We raced down the last dusty dirt road to the finish, teeth gritting in the dust, not able to see anything. We were in the zone.

We put on some nice moves to beat the second ETTO-Hoydahl team for tenth place in the stage. After the race, I thought of our day and I knew we had ridden not only as well as we could, but most importantly, we rode though the toughest part of the Cape Epic as team and found our greatest moment from our worst.

We hope tomorrow will be a smooth and short stage to the finish.

Thanks for reading,

Jeremiah Bishop
Trek Volkswagen

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Seven

Pics by Sven Martin

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Six

Photos by Sven Martin

 

Chris checks in: trying not to crack!

Just when I thought we had seen it all here at the Cape Epic, the brutal race course found a new way to punish us.  The killer of todays stage was a 15km long flat wide road near the end of the 130km stage.  Sounds like a nice way to get to the finish, right?  We thought so, but this was the worst road I have ever ridden on a bike.  Deep sand, constant jackhammering braking bumps, and a strong headwind made forward progress very tough, and our close to broken bodies scream in pain.  For the fifth day in a row, I crossed the finish line and collapsed.  We just missed out on our new daily goal of a top ten finish, but there was nothing more that I could give.

The Trek/VW ladies team of Sue Haywood and Jenny Smith raced over the same course and conditions for over 6 hours, and no doubt encountered their own trials and tribulations along the way to finish 2nd on the day in the women's race.  As I pounded water, Coke, and recover drink in finish area, the question on my mind was one that I have contemplated often this week,
"is this the hardest mountain bike race I have ever done?"

It's not easy to answer.  I have raced over a dozen 24 hour solos on all kinds of courses, in all kinds of conditions.  I have also raced the Transalp, and the BC Bike Race, which have similar formats to the Cape Epic.  I have raced in freezing rain, and searing heat.  I have raced when very sick, and I have raced with injuries.  At this moment, I feel that the Cape Epic tops them all in terms of toughness.  Maybe my viewpoint is skewed because I'm in the middle of the race, and the most recent pain often stings more than the more distant ones, but I really don't think I've ever suffered more intensely than this, and for a longer duration.

24 hour solos include riding through the night, sleep deprivation and often disorientation, but the course is on a loop, and one more lap always seems reasonable.  Cape Epic is point to point, 9 days in a row, over all kinds of terrain, the nature of which is mostly unknown to us as we head out each day.  The level of competition is much higher and deeper than any other endurance race in the world.  Cross country and marathon world champions, olympic gold medalists, marathon and stage race specialists, and super fit, motivated South Africans with intimate knowledge of the course.  This makes the pace relentless.   My teammate, Jeremiah Bishop, and I are constantly amazed how little rest and recovery time we are finding in the 5 to 6 hour stages.  It is full throttle almost the whole time.

As I mentioned earlier, the course is brutal, and always changing.  One day the toughest part is the long, steep, rocky, climbs, then next day it's sand dunes that are almost unrideable, and another day it's windswept dirt roads that force us to lean diagnoally into the wind to stay upright.

The timing of the race is also a factor.  Starting in March, this is my first race of the year.  Where I live in Maryland, we are just coming out of winter.  After travelling for 2 or 3 days, we find ourselves racing across South Africa in 100 degree heat, with 1200 mountain bikers, many of whom are peaking for this prestigous event.  I never consider myself an early season peaker and always seem to struggle in my first few races of the year.  No chance to warm up into this one.  Every day has been a fight.  I have been at my maximum and beyond every day, spending by far more time in the red zone than I have at any other race.  Then we wake up at 5am the next day to do it all over again.

Maybe I should wait until the race is over and I've had a relaxation period before I decide on an answer to my question.  But I don't think it's going to get any easier.  With 2 days to go, I know the answer already.  The Cape Epic is the toughest mountain bike race I have ever done............yet.

Stage Five: another victory for Trek-VW women!

Stage 5 of the Absa Cape Epic was described as easy and flat by most people.  Looking at the profile cards that they give out to each team, it did indeed look easier than the last two days.  It only had 1850 meters of climbing down from 2300meters.  But it was 146km!

Well it was anything but easy.  The starts are coming earlier and earlier each day, not actually, but it seems like it.   Plus, there is no such thing as an easy start here at the epic.  Even though today was mostly a downhill start, it can be very nerve racking riding around on the road with 1200 mountainbikers.  There is always some kind of crash.  My friend Allan lost his partner Hillary and he continues to race, but he is obligated to start at the back of the pack.  He said that there are 5kms of riders it seems.  I can't wait to see some of the pictures from the starts.

My legs were not great again at the start.  Its hard with absolutely no warm-up and fatigued legs.  So, I was suprised to find ourselves riding with Pia and Alison again today.  Jenny seemed to be doing much better than me, but later she said she was in the pain cave as well.  There were all these big rollers on a bumpy gravel road.  It was pretty hard to just sit in and get the draft.  But we managed.  We were able to get to the first aid station with a decent group.  We are getting much faster at those, which helps to minimize work down the road.

Then to  my great suprise, there was some cool mountainbiking today.  We turned off the gravel on to dirt double track.  This dirt then turned to sand.  I got caught behind a very dramatic crash when a guy did a high speed sand wobble.  His bike bounced two times and he totally taco-ed his wheel.  Then another guy banged into me.  To make up for it, I made him and his teammate tow me back to the group.
The sand riding was actually really fun for me.  It was a nice change of terrain.  And for a change I was riding it pretty easily.  I usually am to heavy on the front wheel and end up messing up.  Maybe all that sand riding at team camp in Moab helped.  Alison got her first flat for the day.  She had a sidewall tear, so it wasn't a quick change, but they caught us right before the second feed zone.

The best thing about the sand riding was the view of the ocean.  It was so magnificent!  Gosh, how I wanted to go for a swim! .  Swimming was not on the agenda, though.  On the agenda, was hanging on the Rocky Mountain Girls wheels on the rough double track.  It was nice riding.  The only hard part was that the body was so tenderized that  the rough stuff, felt like a jackhammer.

Alison got flat number two...thats a bit unlucky.  It seems like when you flat once, the chance of flatting again always goes up.  We kept our regular pace.  Then back out on a miserable gravel road, we wanted to get to the last aid station before them.   As I looked back, I rubbed Jenny's wheel and nearly had a bad wreck.  A saddle in the butt and a tire scrape on the knee was about it.

We  regrouped and dug deep again to stay with the Rocky girls(Rockettes??)  Jenny had already died a thousand deaths, but kept digging.  18km from the finish, Alison flatted again.  That is really unlucky!  So we gave it a go in the wind and went for a stage win.  We could feel them breathing down our necks.  Did I mention how hard the finishes are here at the Epic?  The finishes are brutal.  They have massive head winds and are really long.

Anyway, we won the stage by 2 minutes.  That doesn't put a dent in the GC, but we opened the door when opportunity knocked.
-Posted by Susan Haywood

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Five

Photos by Sven Martin

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Four

Photos by Sven Martin

Reality and heat set in ... Cape Epic gets down to business

Yesterday's stage one was the first big stages of the Cape Epic, and it held up to its promise to be one beast-of-a-stage. The route covered three thousand-plus meters of climbing through dense, subtropical rainforest. The front of the race started out wicked fast, and even Bulls rider Karl Platt said the pace was like the blistering start of a cross-country World Cup. At Cape Epic, the difference is we still had 100 kilometers left to race!

Now though, reality is setting in. Some riders are facing the fact that in a rugged mountain bike race with 120-kilometer stages, they cannot race at all-out speeds day after day. I had some idea of what we would face; I have competed in La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Trans Alp and several other stage races.

Today we awoke before dark and headed to the breakfast tent, where riders from South Africa and from around the world were fueling up for the toughest stage ever in the Cape Epic's history. Some racers were already in riding gear, some wearing pajama pants, t-shirts and Crocs; some spoke German, some Italian, some Russian and even others many different styles of English. Common to all were bleary eyes and weary faces. Perhaps they were dreading the hardest day of the Cape Epic, or maybe the realization of seven more days of racing on noodle-legs, sore butts and raw feet was beginning to sink in.

As promised, today's stage was hot and tough. The route featured 3,000 meters of climbing in 137 kilometers to the hot Karu Desert of the South African interior. The start was frenzied and fast. The dusty dirt road and chaos reminded me of Paris Roubaix.

After the start, many of the teams who were overly ambitious in yesterday's stage hit the bottom of their reserves and began to slip backwards in the standings. In time, Chris and I moved up into a solid top-10 position.

We settled into a good grove after jumping on with former Telekom stars Udo Bolts and Carsten Bresser. However, soon they flatted, leaving us to continue our own for mile after mile of marble-strewn jeep track that made its way through the sagebrush.

We too hit some trouble as the temperatures soared into the 90s [degrees Fahrenheit - ed.] with the hot sun beating down on us. On one mountaintop, I looked around to take in the 360-degree view. Jagged brown peaks rimed the distant skyline. Vast expanses of rolling desert hills were with scattered with rocks and little life.

The last feed zone was located at the 100-kilometer mark. This was not too far from the finish. We grabbed two bottles and continued on the hour-long jeep road climb. The loose terrain required us, and all racers, to do some serious hiking with our bikes. We were out of water by the summit, but with only a 10-kilometer false flat to the finish we knew we'd make it without much trouble.

Eventually, our bike computers rolled over 130 kilometers and all I could see ahead was desert dotted with a few small outbuildings. At this realization, we quickly went from happily zipping down what we thought was the home stretch to worried and thinking "Oh my god, we're thirsty." Dry mouthed and getting dizzy, I mumbled with discontent, "You said the stage was 130 kilometers." Then we saw a sign that read seven kilometers to go. Our hearts sank. It seemed those last kilometers to the finish ticked by so slowly.

Now that we are re-hydrated and rested up, it's almost a funny story to look back on. But, at the time, we were really worried.

You never know what challenges you'll face in an adventure such as the Cape Epic, and that is something that holds true for each and every rider and team; from front runners to those whose goal is simply to cross the finish line in Lourensford.

Enjoying the adventure!
Jeremiah Bishop
Trek-VW Racing Team

Photo Gallery: Absa Cape Epic, Stage Two

Sven Martin reports with his daily photo gallery.