Recap: Cyclocross Season and Nationals

Well the cyclocross season is over and I miss it tremendously. I never would’ve thought that after three months, I would have become so attached to the sport and want to continue so bad. The atmosphere, the racers, the courses, all of it was new and exciting and so refreshing to be around  -even in single digits!

I started my season on Halloween in Boulder, Colo. at a race that Katie Compton was in.  The outcome?  She lapped me with one lap to go. I finished my season with Nationals in Bend, Oregon on December 13th and Katie was there again and she didn’t lap me this time! In my mind I think that is a huge gain in skills and confidence, she is only the best in the WORLD :)

After Nationals, I flew back to my home town of Vicksburg, Miss. If you’ve never been to the South you should definitely check out Vicksburg.  It is famous for being a critical point in the Civil War;  it has amazing art shops, wonderful downtown Washington St., a perfect coffee shop downtown, wonderful food and amazing bed and breakfasts in antebellum homes. Anyway, while I was home I got to talk to 5th and 6th graders about cycling, the importance of staying healthy and eating right, they really enjoyed the talk as did I!

For New Year’s my biggest treat was to be able to reveal that I’ve officially signed a pro road contract with Team VBF! I’m so excited! We are sponsored by Vera Bradley and we will be racing to bring awareness to breast cancer! So be sure to follow along with our winning season! I will do my best to update Pretty Tough as well :)

I accomplished my goal before I thought I would. In April of this past year (2009), I quit my job of five years, moved out West and said, “OK, I’ll give myself two years of trying to become a professional and if it doesn’t work I will get a job”!  Well I accomplished my goal sooner than I thought, YAHOOOOOO!

So you know what time it is now? Time to set more goals, higher! I would tell you, my biggest, shoot for the moon goal? Make it to the Olympics! How amazing would that be! To be able to represent my country?! WOW! But for this year my goal is to do whatever I can to make my team successful and to win races in the USA! So again, I will try to keep everyone up to date! For random thoughts from me, check out my blog too!

laurenthall.blogspot.com

See y’all later!

Mississippi River Project: Out and back

(Ed. Note: Artist (and good friend) Eve Beglarian is paddling, biking and hiking the length of the Mississippi River in search of musical inspiration. This is one in a series of journal entries.)

After nearly two months of continuous travel in the company of other people, I am seriously ALONE for the first time. Tonight this campsite (Wildcat Den State Park) is completely empty, I am the only person here, the only person within at least a couple of miles, I imagine. It’s a lot different from being alone on my land in Vermont, not just because my neighbor Mike isn’t within hailing distance, but also because this place itself, the land itself, is not familiar territory. I am really beginning to understand the sheer immensity of the country in a way that I never have before, and in my mood today, it’s somehow a bit oppressive. All these towns, all these houses, all these lives being lived out in these places I had never even thought about, let alone visited; all these factories and roads and bridges and railroads. And the river itself going on and on.

I biked to Davenport and back today, forty miles round trip: no bike path past the city limits, so most of the ride was on Route 22 with cars and trucks lumbering by, and south of Davenport the riverside is really industrial, a huge limestone quarry (it had a sign out front saying hopefully: ”Quarry Beautification,“ but I couldn’t see the results,) many factories, knots of railroads. The road past the quarry was muddy with accidental cement made from the combination of limestone dust and the morning’s rain, it coated the underside of my bike, my legs, the tires. And the road has been pockmarked, perhaps to make it less slippery for cars and trucks, but it was a drag to bike on.

I get to thinking how everything has its price. You want cement, you have to tear holes in the bluffs to get limestone. You want steel, you dig a pit nearly the size of the Grand Canyon up in Hibbing to get the iron you need. You want to use the Mississippi to move goods, you have to constantly dredge a nine-foot channel and build dams and locks and all that stuff. Perhaps we could have done things differently, perhaps we still can do them differently, but I do realize that even my relatively green, relatively low-impact life is unthinkable without cement plants and dams and brutal quarries hidden in out-of-the-way places. I read somewhere that there are only 2500 acres of real prairie left. Can that really be possible? Maybe just in the state of Iowa? Still, it seems unimaginably low.

Going in to Davenport, I climbed the hill a bit and rode Sixth Street over to the cafe at River Music Experience, passing through a poor part of town, past a group of people lined up for free lunch, and many abandoned houses, some of which had once been mansions. The inhabited houses in the neighborhood were painted in bright colors and had excellent gardens, as if to counteract the orphaned sadness of the abandoned ones. It made me want to buy and fix up one of the lost houses, just to tip the scales a bit further towards vitality.

The museum at River Music Experience was mostly a series of kiosks with information that could just as well be on a website, but they seem to give lessons there, and the concert hall is probably cool, and the cafe downstairs is great, so it was a fine halfway point to the day. The trip home was a slog, though. I don’t really like doing out and back routes in general: they feel artificial and sort of pointless, because they are. And going past the factories a second time was even more disheartening. But once I was past the big plants, there was a bit of a climb and suddenly the river was spread out below me, and I could coast down for the last couple of miles, down to the riverside, blessedly free of factories, just green and birds and a house now and again, and the road and the river, and I was filled suddenly with the most amazing joy, and gratitude for being given joy after a day not so full of it. (Plato is right, for sure! (see Philebus))

Doing this whole trip alone would be unimaginable for me. While I enjoy my self-sufficiency, I am really glad I am not doing the rest of the trip this way: it brings out my dark side almost immediately. Caroline Walker is driving down from Chicago for a few days and will be arriving tomorrow. I am glad for that, and I’m saving the sights of Muscatine so I can discover them with her.

Eve Beglarian’s River Blog

Spin Cycle: The newest bike trends

Bike culture has become more and more pervasive. Now that commuting via bike and fixed gear cycling have become practically mainstream, what’s next in the two-wheeled world?

Synchronized Cycling: Dancing with your bike was lionized way back in 1986 when Kevin Bacon and his pals so gracefully twirled their two-wheelers in Quicksilver. And while similar stunts performed by those who didn’t star in cult classics can be found on YouTube, nothing quite mesmerizes like the synchronized cycling performed in this video of two German high school girls.

Footdown: The goal of this cycling game is quite simply to pedal around a demarcated perimeter (typically a circle) for as long as possible without putting your foot down. As players are eliminated, they stand around the remaining contestants, making a smaller, and thus more difficult, area in which to ride as the game progresses. Bike messengers in the ’80s would often play, but lately the game has been surfacing at community rides and events.

Goldsprints: (Note: meant for those 21+) While the concept of spinning while drinking goes back to 1997 when Zurich brewery owner and cyclist Adrien Weber named the event after his beer brand (Gold Sprint), people really have gone off to the races this summer with the help of an official sponsor, 42 Below.  The vodka brand has been holding competitions in bars from coast to coast where riders’ progress on stationary bikes  is tracked and projected on large screens so that even the laziest imbibers can soak up the action.

(thanks to Trend Central)

Cyclists keep coming back for more

(Ed. Note: Cyclist Kim Geist is a member of the Pretty Tough Team)

I think cyclists are one of the most interesting types of athletes in the world.  This is because not only is skill very important to the cyclist’s success, but it is vital that he or she must be in the absolute best physical shape one can be at the time of the big event.  It is not like other sports where a good majority of the time is spent in “practice.”

I will admit I am prejudiced, but most of our American stick and ball sports have their athletes spend their time “practicing” how to dribble the ball more efficiently, how to scan the field for the open teammate, or how to implement the best new formation.  Cycling is not without its practice, but it rarely comes in a controlled environment.  A cyclist never says he or she is going to “practice.”  Cyclists go to “training.”

Cyclists definitely have to acquire skills like the ability to place a front wheel just inches away from another cyclist’s back wheel, the ability to change gears properly with varying terrain and speed, and the ability to make the best decision on during which part of the race it is smartest to spend energy.  It is just that these skills, unlike typical American sports, simply can’t make the whole game.

Unless the cyclist is fit enough to maintain the pace of the other cyclists whom he or she is racing with, skills acquired during “practice” will never help the cyclist to win the race.  So, right off the bat, being a good cyclist becomes almost all about training and the “practice” becomes all about covering up where training is lacking!  We cyclists ride in the draft behind another rider and shift gears at certain times – we use our skills – to make riding as easy as possible until the moment comes in a race when we can use the strong points of our fitness to make the right move at the right time and to win.

It did not take me long to figure out why many people call cycling the hardest sport in the world.  It is all about the question:  just how hard can you push yourself?  And, if a cyclist can answer that question in training, competing becomes just another day in the saddle.

Finding an answer to that question was the point of my latest venture.  I recently returned home from a national training camp held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  There were six of us female cyclists invited.  We each had different goals we were working towards for the near future such as competing in the road world championships or the elite national track championships (that’s me), but our common goal was to push each other as hard as possible in training in order to bring out the best in each of us individually.  The group was perfect for the task; among the resumes of the riders were an Olympic gold medal and multiple world championship and world cup medals.  We obviously were a group of competitive women!

So, needless to say, I can describe our week together as training.  Was there practice of the nuances of team pursuit, an event that requires pure precision in exchanging in and out of the draft of other riders to cover a distance of three kilometers as fast as possible?  Sure there was.  But it was done at mock speed.  The quickest way to learn the finer points of the event is to make a mistake when you are already on the rivet physically.  Mess up and it is curtains.  You won’t make that mistake twice!

It helped to be at the training center where the athletic lifestyle is on center stage and all the external stresses of life are already taken care of.  Comfortable and convenient housing, tasty and healthy food (there are labeled nutrition facts for everything) and a great medical and recovery staff make concentrating on the training as easy as it can be.

Then after a week of training that would leave most people in bed for the week after, we cyclists ask, “When’s the next camp?”  We keep coming back for more.

You can follow me at my next major race, the elite national track championships at the ADT Event Center at the Home Depot Center in Carson (Los Angeles), CA September 30-October 4.  Then, yes, I will be back for more at the next national training camp in October.

www.kimgeist.com

Cincinnati Cyclocross Festival offers $10,000 women’s prize

It’s tough to make a living as a professional athlete. Even tougher when you’re female.

So it comes as good news that organizers of Cincinnati UCI3 Cyclocross Festival are offering an unprecedented $10,000 women’s prize purse for the three-day UCI event on October 9-11.  The $10,000 in prize money for the weekend will be just a portion of the nearly $27,000 in published prize money for the weekend of races.

“I think it’s awesome that the Cincinnati weekend has so much prize money for the women,” says five-time U.S. cyclocross champion Katie Compton, who has already committed to the event.  “I think it’s the only weekend of my cross season where I have the potential to cover travel expenses and actually make money.  That’s one of the reasons why I continue to come back to Ohio for the three-race weekend.  Not only are the courses super fun and the promoters, racers and spectators awesome; but the prize money is the best all year for women.  We have to continue to support the races that pay the women and continue to fight for equal pay out.  Just looking at the C1 prize list for women compared to men makes me angry.  It’s just not right that the women make $250 for a win when the men’s winner makes over $2,000.  It costs us the same amount of money to get to the races and we work just as hard and we should be equally rewarded.”

Compton will also be hosting a special women’s-only cyclocross clinic in Cincinnati on the Wednesday prior to the Festival.  It’s a unique opportunity for women of all ages and abilities to learn the sport from the most accomplished cyclocross racer in American history.  “I want to encourage women to come out and learn new things, or get a refresher on skills they already have,” said Compton of her goals for the clinic.  “A little practice in the early season always helps.”  Joining Compton in teaching the clinic will be Compton’s husband and mechanic, Mark Legg-Compton.  Junior women will receive a 47% discount when they register for the Katie Compton Clinic through the Cincinnati International Cyclocross Festival registration page on BikeReg.com.

Pretty cool!

Athlete Blog: Cierra Smith

(Editors Note: Fourteen year old Cierra Smith is a Pretty Tough mountain biker.  On July 16-19, 2009 Cierra joined thousands of professional and amateur racers who came to battle it out on world-class terrain at the USA Cycling National Championships)

Hi Everyone. I have been very busy this last month preparing for the U.S. Nationals in Granby, Colorado. I’ve been riding my bike as much as possible and working on all aspects of my riding.

Getting to the Nationals took two  long days of driving from Nevada, but once we were there I was extremely excited to get up on the mountain and learn the course. I had heard from some friends that the course was pretty tough and technical with rock gardens and big jumps which  made me a little nervous.  I feel I can take on anything technical because I train on hard rocky trails.  I know I can jump pretty good but wondering  exactly how big the jumps were going to be was getting inside my head and making me a bit panicked.

On Friday morning I was anxious to start practice with my teammates and see how technical the course really was.  My practice was not until  later in the day so my Dad and I went to register first.  In all my competitions this year I’ve raced in sport and expert classes, but because my racing age is only 14  I was not able to race up which meant I had to race in the junior category.  I was disappointed but wasn’t about to let that ruin my weekend.

When twelve o’clock rolled around I was all ready for practice and headed up to the trail which appeared to be built very well. It was a mix of a lot of different elements. At first it had loose dirt and rocks which transitioned into rock waterfall that led to the woods.  After coming out of the woods you came into an open area with jumps and berms. I was feeling really awesome on the course and was really confident.

Saturday morning I got to the hill and took one practice run before the race. I went up to the top of the hill with some of my friends and was waiting for the race to begin.  At this point I became extremely nervous. When it was my turn, I lined up and met my competition.  I was surprised to see there was only one other girl in my class.  Before a race I always go into my own world to focus and concentrate and this race was no different.

Once the race started, I had a awesome run. I ended up passing my competition and knew immediately I had won.  When I got down to the bottom I was overcome with happiness. I was so glad to win back my title. Standing on the podium and wearing the National Champion jersey and medal was one of the best days of my life and I hope to repeat it next year.

Thank you to all my sponsors for supporting me this year. I couldn’t have won without your help!

BMX Worlds are going LIVE on the internet!

The IMBXFF World Championships 2009, aka the BMX Worlds presented by Rockstar, will be coming to you LIVE for the first time in it’s 25 year history, courtesy of Freecaster.tv.

Freecaster.tv and their partners, Braun Shavers and Nike 6.0, will be bringing you all the action direct from the Cologne Jugendpark from July 11th – 12th. The LIVE webcasts will offer BMX fans a rare opportunity to watch the contests as they unfold in Park, Dirt, Vert, Miniramp and Flatland. With over 300 participants from about 40 nations competing to be crowned “World Champion”, there promises to be an epic battle in every discipline.

“This is the perfect way to celebrate our 25th anniversary” declares an enthusiastic Stephan Prantl, Chief Coordinator of the BMX Worlds “We always have great attendance onsite, and people always check-out our highlights after the event, but to suddenly be able to offer the excitement of LIVE contests to everyone via the internet is a massive leap forward for us”.

“We always strive to make the BMX Masters better every year, in an effort to keep the contest fresh for the riders and their sponsors” adds Robert Möller, the Partnership Manager “Having a LIVE feed from the event adds a new dimension for everyone involved. The riders have an opportunity to increase their exposure amongst a larger audience, whilst the brands benefit from increased reach of the event in a very innovative and high quality way”.

“The BMX Worlds will mark another first for Freecaster.tv too” announced Raymond Dulieu, CEO and Founder of Freecaster.tv. “We have been managing LIVE web casts for nearly 2 years now, but this is the first time we will be responsible for the entire TV production of an event, from the cameras and cameramen, right through to the end product appearing on computer screens around the globe. These are exciting times and we look forward to delivering a great show”

Direct Link: http://freecaster.tv/live/bmx/1007939/bmx-worlds-09-live-webcast

Tune in to the BMX Masters LIVE

Saturday July 11 GMT+2

* 16:45 – 17:00 Studio
* 17:00 – 18:30 Flatland Pro Finals
* 18:30 – 19:30 Studio
* 19:30 – 20:30 Miniramp Pro Finals
* 21:00 – 22:00 Dirt Pro Finals

Sunday July 12 GMT+2

* 13:00 – 13:30 Studio
* 13:30 – 14:30 Park Pro Finals
* 14:30 – 16:00 Studio
* 16:00 – 17:00 Vert Pro Finals
* 17:00 – 17:30 Studio

BFF: Bicycle Film Festival

What do you get when you combine the worldwide cycling community (and some devoted sponsors) with movies, parties, musical performances and art exhibits ? You get The Bicycle Film Festival – an annual event that celebrates all things bicycle.

The 9th Bicycle Film Festival returns this summer and organizers don’t plan to leave anyone out. From tall bike jousting, track bikes, BMX, alleycats, critical mass, bike polo, cycling to recumbent, they’re into all styles of bikes and biking.

The mission is to bring together all aspects of bicycling to advocate its ability to transport us in many ways.

The fest kicks off this weekend in New York where, for the next four days, festival-goers will be burdened with the task of picking and choosing which one of the many events they want to go to.

Bikes Rock at the South Street Seaport where there will be bands, parades, street games and more.  The Joy Ride is a cycling odyssey between four Soho galleries where riders view a specially curated multimedia exhibit inspired by the bicycle.

Each day will also feature different viewings of film shorts about the bicycle. Subjects range from building bikes to celebrating bikes to bike journeys. There will be a few world premieres of feature length films, including ‘Where Are You Go,’ about the world’s longest bike race around Africa, ‘I Love My Bicycle: The Story of FBM Bikes,’ chronicling the 15 year reign of a beloved DIY bike apparel company, and ‘The Third Wheel,’ about the Pedicab industry.

The BFF is going on around the nation and in Japan, Australia, and Europe so be sure to check out the site for updated info and must-see exhibits in your city!

Check out the trailer for this year’s festival:

Go out and play

Today – Saturday June 13 – is National Get Outdoors Day

What’s that mean? It means it’s time to get off your butt, step away from the computer, and go outside!

National Get Outdoors Day (GO Day) was established to encourage healthy, active outdoor fun at sites across the nation.

No organized activities near you? No excuse. You can still get out for a hike, a game of golf or tennis, a run or a bike ride.

In fact, I’m headed out with some friends right now!

Florida State Championship race report

The 2009 Florida State Championship was hosted on May 16th in the City of Sarasota. The track was fast and somewhat technical, making for some great racing! The Championship race is the biggest state race in the nation and we had just under 200 motos hitting the charts.

The girl classes were on fire and leading the packs in the mains were Elite Woman, Mariana Pajon, amateur riders, Kinley Buelvas, Lauren Lanzilotta, Lauren Whitlow, Emily Tatum, Stephanie Lajoie, Rachelle Youtzy, Bianca Dean, Kaitlyn Sheehan, Kathleen Jenkins, Aryanna Wilfork, and Melissa Gremal. There were many other pretty tough girls that were sweeping their classes and placed an awesome 2nd place in their mains.

Our very own Pretty Tough rider Sarah Gross was one of those girls. She is #2 in the State of Florida on both her 20 inch and 24 inch bicycles. Sarah says, “I plan on training the entire summer so I could hopefully take home a top 5 plate at the NBL Grand Nationals this year in September.”

Along with her state awards, Sarah received a special Presidents Cup award for placing 1st for our Florida team at the 2008 Presidents Cup that was held back in December. Only a handful of girls had the honor of receiving this award.

Final results for the 2009 Florida State BMX Championships can be found on www.floridabmx.com

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