OVCX 2012 Schedule: Ohio Valley to Worlds

Series Art by James Billiter

With the UCI Elite and Masters World Championships coming to Louisville Jan/Feb 2013, organizers of the 9th Annual Zipp OVCX Series are proud to announce an exciting, expanded schedule for 2012.  (See schedule below or at OVCX.com.)

This year's OVCX encompasses 13 events that tour through the cyclocross scenes of Indianapolis, Bloomington, Dayton, Lexington, Cincinnati and Louisville.  Kicking off September 16th, this year’s OVCX series begins with Huber's Apple Cross in Starlight, IN - just north of Louisville. The series winds up 3 months later in mid-December with the series finale at the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis.


The schedule offers pockets for area USGP events and a great springboard for those with aspirations for the Chicago CX Cup, Nationals, Kings Invitational and Worlds in January.  Those dates also listed below.

The Cincy3 Cyclocross Festival makes its return to the OVCX series with Devou Park, Harbin Park, and the new Saturday night Elite/Pro races under the lights at Kings CX.  8 other venues link the cities of Dayton and Cincinnati in Ohio, Indianapolis and Bloomington in Indiana, and Louisville and Lexington in Kentucky.  The geographic layout of the series puts most venues within an easy two hour drive for most participants. 

Racers Battle the Mud at Kings CX Cincinnati

The 2012 series aims to be more work, family and travel friendly.  (See video at right or click here.)  Aside from the Cincy3 weekend, participants will see only one race per weekend on the schedule.  As in previous years, your best seven races count toward the series overall title making it easy to compete and have fun.  The OVCX series is committed to being a vehicle in developing young talent and will again offer numerous categories for juniors aged 10 to 18 and an under 19 category in elite races.  Chip timing will be again at each event to provide quick results and submission to USA Cycling for national ranking points.  Full series rules and categories will be posted to OVCX.com by mid-June.

So get your gear and cowbells warmed up and ready - we're in for a season to remember!

2012 OVCX Calendar:

Date:       Venue                                         Location                     

Sept 16    Huber's Apple Cross (NEW!)       Louisville       

Sept 30    St. Mary’s Cyclocross                  Indianapolis

Oct 7       Midwest Outdoor Exp. (Gearfest) Dayton                       

Oct 14     Gun Club Cross                            Cincinnati                   

Oct 21     Bloomingcross                              Bloomington  

Oct 28     Storm the Greens                          Louisville                   

Nov 2      Cincy3 (Devou, Kings, Harbin)     Cincinnati                   

Nov 18    Promotion Cross                           Lexington                   

Nov 25    Brookside Cup                              Indianapolis               

Dec 9      Buckingham Financial John Bryan   Dayton           

Dec 16    Major Taylor Velodrome (NEW)   Indianapolis    


NON OVCX Dates To Note:
Sept 8    Lionhearts CX                                Cincinnati
Sept 15  Hubers Apple CX Day 1                Louisville
Sept 22  USGP Madison Day 1                   Madison, WI
Sept 23  USGP Madison Day 2                   Madison, WI
Nov 10  USGP Louisville Day 1                   Louisville
Nov 11  USGP Louisville Day 2                   Louisville
Jan 5      Chicago CX Cup Day 1                 Chicago, IL
Jan 6      Chicago CX Cup Day 2                 Chicago, IL
1/10-13 National Championships                 Madison, WI
Jan 26    Kings CX Invitational UCI             Cincinnati
1/30-2/3 World Championships                   Louisville

In Heaven There Is No Clipless Pedals

…or spandex cycling shorts for that matter. I just returned from a week in Whistler, BC the home of the Nordic events of the 2010 Winter Olympics based in Vancouver. I have the Quatchi souvenir Olympic lunch box to prove it. We and maybe three other people were the only cyclists without platform pedals, baggy shorts and more suspension on our rental car than our bikes.

While expensive, Whistler is Heaven, not only in the sense of gorgeous freshwater mountain lakes surrounded by lush glaciated peaks fed by a network of great bike trails and paths, but also in the sense of pretty much any sport that that has ever graced the cover of Outside Magazine you can do in Whistler. Hiking, mountain climbing, bouldering, zip lining, eco-touring, kayaking, bungee jumping, canoeing, sky-gliding, horseback riding, ATVing, or skiing, you name it and you can do it in Whistler. While Breckenridge and Park City continue to draw more summer vacationers each time I visit, they are still only a notch above ghost town when compared to Whistler. The only difference between having a beer at the base of Whistler Mountain in September and January is the temperature and those coming down the hill in September have big bombing downhill bikes rather than ski’s and snowboards. The place was packed with people and bikes! However, I have a love-hate relationship with cycling in Whistler.

We love taking summer vacations to ski-areas more or less for the great cycling and off-peak rates. Whistler is a bit different than say a Breckenridge or a Park City. Whistler, at about 2100 feet above sea level, doesn’t have the altitude to make a fit person get a head rush climbing the stairs to the post office. If you want to travel from a low lying city like Cincinnati and go out for a five hour hike or ride or paddle in the mountains the minute you get off the plane, Whistler is the place no Sherpa or acclimatizing necessary. My big problem with Whistler is the mountain biking.

Yes. I have an issue with mountain biking in Whistler.

The issue is that the trails in Whistler are marked with easy, intermediate and expert signs when they should be marked with cartoon pictures of testicles: one small nut for easy and three huge ones for expert. I’m not talking about the downhill mountain bike park. When you put your bike up on a ski lift and are surrounded by people with full face helmets, body armor, and enough suspension to make a Hummer jealous, you know what you’re getting yourself into and you better have a big nut sack. Believe me, there were plenty of dudes wearing casts walking, hobbling or wheeling their chairs through Whistler Village to prove it. I’m talking about Whistler’s general single track trails around town, what you might call cross country trails. The Whistler Valley trail maps may try to deceive you with a variety of expert, intermediate (sign above says it all) and easy trails. There are really only two types of unpaved trails in Whistler: awkward rooty and rocky with varying degrees of drop offs or wood structures or silky smooth crushed gravel easy trails and fire roads.

Durango, Breckenridge, Park City, Pisgah, Tsali, you name it they’re all packed with what I’d call great cross country mountain bike trails. Trails that usually start out with a nice long climb and level out on some sort of ridgeline trail that traverses the mountain side. When I laid the Whistler map across the coffee table, I eyed the Intermediate (blue) Rainbow Sproat trail and a drip of drool plopped on the map. It appeared as I described above. However detailed, topo maps don’t show endless rock gardens, drop offs and the density of 4 inch tree roots per mile. While the double/single track climb was fine, when I got to the actual Rainbow Sproat Trail, it was an unrelenting exercise at maneuvering through the obstacles: rocks and roots and surprise drops. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the challenge. I cleaned most of it on a sweet XT equipped rented Rocky Mountain Element from Summit Bikes. Even though the switchbacks were fun and the scenic payoff at Rainbow Falls was breathtaking, I really didn’t enjoy the riding itself.

I have daydreams about the Peaks Trail in Breckenridge and the Mid-Mountain Trail in Park City. Just like Whistler, the climbs are tough and so are the various drops, rocks and roots. Unlike Whistler, the technical sections of other mountain town trails are broken up between long stretches of flowing single track. Single track that makes you say woo-hoo as you whiz through hours and miles of forests and meadows. Whistler single track is all tough and technical. By the time I rode the intermediate ranked Rainbow Sproat, Cut Yer Bars, the tight single track at Long Lake Park and watching my wife wreck on a trail called Blueberry…I didn’t dare tackle any expert trails (photo of Comfotably Numb trail junction in Long Lake Park) without a bigger bike and more protective gear.

Whistler trails, more specifically the intermediate and expert ones, all require expert technical ability. The only discernable difference I could see between expert and intermediate trails was the size of the dropoffs or how high the wooden bridges were. Twenty meters into any intermediate trail and I soon realized why so many people were wearing body armor and baggy shorts, had platform pedals and their saddle lowered on trails outside of the ski lift area. That’s cool, if you know what you’re getting yourself into. So, now you know what you’re getting yourself into. There's no middle ground in Whistler. It's body armor or basically bike path.

Till I vacationed in Whistler, I never saw the need for more than 100mm of front suspension or to lower my saddle or wear body armor or to go with platform pedals. Although from time to time I’d prefer a full suspension XC bike, I’d take my Niner Air 9 hard tail to Breckenridge, Park City, Durango, Moab, Pisgah, Tsali or dark West Virginia single track in a heart beat. My Niner in Whistler would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Whistler made me realize my favorite mountain biking combines the free flowing beauty of Whistler’s “easy” trails with the occasional challenge of Whistlers rocks, roots and drop-offs. It's just that In Whistler, you can't have both at the same time.

Facebook Friday: What's New On Your Cyclocross Bike This Season?

As the Tour Peloton makes it’s way toward the Alps, cyclocross is on the brain. I’ve done my last road race. Sure there’s a mountain bike race or two sprinkled between now and late September, but those are for fun. The Cyclocross pre-season is here, and it’s almost as fun as the races. Registration is open for the first few OVCX races. Friends are talking about swapping good parts from the road bike to the CX rig. Bottom brackets seat post tubes are being cleaned. I sold my trusty Jamis Nova pit bike to finance some upgrades on the IF Planet X, namely an Easton EC90-X carbon fork. My Jamis Xenith’s Sram Red drivetrain has migrated to the Planet X with a new chain. The new $69 Vittoria file tread tubulars are getting glued to the tubular Zipp 404’s. In addition, the CX bike will see some new cables, brake pads and bar tape. I'm hoping the bike will tip the scales at a scant 17.5 pounds. I talked to Mitch at BioWheels bike shop in Cincinnati the other day and they said sales of cross stuff is way ahead of last year. I distinctively remember there being quite a few CX bikes on the floor a few weeks ago, now it looks like they might have to order a few more.

With that, it’s Facebook Friday on The Best Bike Blog Ever. On Thursday’s I post a question to my bike crazed Facebook friends and on Friday’s we post the answers here. If you’d like to join the fun, send a request via the Facebook link on the right of page.

Today’s question is: What’s new on the CX rig this season?

Duane: Lesseee....Felt just recalled the fork on my CX bike. Not sure what that's all about yet. Assuming I have a bike to ride, I'm hoping to convert it from Shimano 9-speed to SRAM Rival. I love the SRAM stuff. I just haven't resolved the funding issue yet. That and some really squishy Octto bar tape.

Amanda: The Redline Conquest Pro unless someone wants to help me out with a lighter rig? Maybe just some tubulars and fast wheels?

Eric: A cyclocross bike. I have the pedals.

Shannon: Meet the new rig, same as the old rig: '06 Bianchi Cross-Concept/Ultegra/candies. Raced 5x. A bike for me to grow into.

Jaden: New Redline Conquest Team frameset- check. Hopefully some tubular wheels and tires to come.

Justin: a flat handlebar and some nice fat tires. I mean straight, not flat. None of this drop bar nonsense.

Ryan: Complete component overhaul, going from Ultegra 9-Speed with Avid Shorty brakes to SRAM Rival 10 Speed, and TRP brakes, also will be rolling on some bullet proof Mavic CXP30 tubulars with the old style TUFO tubulars unless it is real nasty out.

B-jet: Everything! The plan is Seven Ti Mudhoney frame, Dura Ace 7800, Tubulars, TRP Cantis.

OVCX @ NATS

I wish I was there to see Morgan Webb’s face when his daughter Eden stood on the podium with a Silver Medal. (Photo: The little medalist herself with daddy pictured left from Velonews-how sweet is that!) What happened to Anna Jean from Louisville? Seems like a tough break for one of the fastest women in the OVCX. I hope Karen got the “look I’m in front of Ned” photo when her husband BioWheel’s Doug Hamilton was lapped by cycling hero Ned Overend. So many stories. But I have to admit, sleeping in on Sunday morning might have been worth missing Nat's.

I guarantee this list of OVCX racers at CX Nationals is not complete, mainly because I swear I saw Ryan Lindsey from Zepher/Cycledots yesterday but even upon a double check he remains buried in a list of bib numbers. Sorry bud. I was pretty CX-eyed by the time I got to the day 4 results. It was especially tough to figure out who is actually from the Ohio Valley area in the Collegiate Results. If you don’t see somebody you know, send an email or view full results from the 2008 Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City on the USA Cycling Website here or at the KC Cross Nationals website.

PHOTO: a familiar mullet-#2237 and a familiar Texas Roadhouse jersey #355 in the U23 race from VeloNews.

B Women
1 2276 BOREM, Nicole Warsaw, IN DRT Racing 00:44:40.00
DNS 2265 LEWIS SROKA, Julie N. Royalton, OH Lake Effect Cycling

B Men 30-39
2 2088 MESSER, Andy Columbus, IN DRT Racing 00:42:54.00
17 2015 MYERS, Ryan fort Wayne, IN NA 00:45:51.00

B Men 40+
14 1749 SROKA, Rudy N. Royalton, OH Lake Effect Cycling Team + ST
26 1741 HEPPNER, Blaine Louisville, KY Bike Clicks/Team Louisville

35 1745 COLLINS, Joe Louisville, KY Team Louisville + ST
38 1723 CRAFT, Jeffrey Madison, OH Lake Effect Cycling Team + ST

Junior Girls 10-12
2 1637 WEBB, Eden Louisville, KY Red Zone Cycling 00:38:53.00
8 1638 HALEY, Frances-Jane Louisville, KY Red Zone Cycling 00:48:02.00

Junior Girls 13-14
4 1290 MOSSMAN, Hannah Cincinnati, OH One Call Now 00:31:58.00

Junior Girls 15-16
7 934 MORRIS, Colleen Cincinnati, OH One Call Now 00:32:11.00

Junior Girls 17-18
5 940 MORRIS, Michelle Cincinnati, OH One Call Now 00:30:28.00

Masters Women 45-49
12 1602 LEWIS SROKA, Julie N. Royalton, OH Lake Effect Cycling Team 00:46:27.00

Masters Women 30-34
DNF 1577 DALLAIRE, AnnaJean Louisvile, KY SoBe-Cannondale

Masters Men 35-39
29 1140 MESSER, Andy Columbus, IN DRT Racing 00:48:51.00
44 1039 MYERS, Ryan fort Wayne, IN NA 00:50:28.00

Masters Men 40-44
26 1257 WEBB, Morgan Louisville, KY Barbisol 00:48:36.00
35 1235 HEPPNER, Blaine Louisville, KY Bike Clicks/Team Louisville 00:49:52.00

Masters Men 45-49
7 1302 SHOGREN, gunnar Morgantown, WV SoBe Cannondale 00:47:43.00
9 1313 CARD, JONATHAN SYLVANIA, OH SATURN OF TOLEDO 00:48:31.00
25 1411 FAGERBERG, Erik LOUISVILLE, KY Calistoga Racing Team 00:51:07.00
45 1332 MANDROLA, john louisville, KY Calistoga Racing Team 00:53:51.00
59 1377 COLLINS, Joe Louisville, KY Team Louisville + 1 Lap Down
70 1388 OTTING, mike cincinnati, OH Mercyhealthplex/7hills Racing + 1 Lap Down

Masters Men 50-54
14 829 CRAFT, Jeffrey Madison, OH Lake Effect Cycling Team 00:50:10.00
28 851 SROKA, Rudy N. Royalton, OH Lake Effect Cycling Team 00:52:44.00
44 835 TOLER, Richard Dayton, OH Team Kreitler Rollers + 1 Lap Down
56 861 HAMILTON, Doug Fairborn, OH BioWheels Racing/Reese-Campbel + 2 Laps

Under 23 Women
8 408 BENSON, Emily Medina, OH DRT Racing + 1 Lap Down

Under 23 Men (may be some discrpency between KC results & USA Cycling)
19 Clayton Omer 53:28.0 344 Calistoga Racing Team
26 322 LLEWELLYN, Andrew Louisville, KY Calistoga Racing Team 00:55:02.00
37 334 EDWARDS, ZACHARY FORT WAYNE, IN DRT RACING + 2 Laps Down

DI Collegiate Men
5 Mike Sherer IU
7 Kip Spaude Lindsey Wilson
8 Issac Neff IU
12 Clayton Omer Lindsey Wilson

Elite Men
51 Ryan Knapp BikeReg.com

Elite Women
35 Betsy Shogren Sobe Cannondale

I Know Someone Who's Lucky

I passed up entering the holiday Mercedes raffle at Kenwood Mall the other day. Besides smelling like a sulfurous telemarketing junk mail scam, I’m not a very lucky man. While I may disagree when I feel the leather driver’s seat hug my buns, nature knows that I’d be a tool in a convertible Mercedes. My wife, on the other cleat, has been blessed with beauty, a knack for numbers and the ability to attract unexpected fortunes to herself…nearly a luck savant.

While she has yet to be on TV accepting an oversized check with an overabundance of zeros or answering the Publishers Clearing House knock on the door with her hair in curlers while wearing fuzzy slippers, she matched 4 of 6 numbers in the lottery once and scratched her way to numerous tiny fortunes. She always brings home the bacon at race raffles. She’s cleaned house at the Six Hours of Power and Dirty Divas women’s mountain biking clinic raffles by purchasing 25 dollars worth of tickets and winning on nearly every single one. I think the only thing I’ve won in the past ten years has been an IF water bottle and a fat measuring scale that I have yet to figure out how to operate, which I blame for having 2 pack abs. The only luck I’ve had was her saying “yes” when I asked her to marry me.

This is precisely why I asked her to send me good karma for yesterday’s end of season raffle for the OVCX. If you don’t have good luck yourself, it’s completely okay in the world of luck to know someone who’s lucky. If it’s your spouse, that brings even more luck. That’s why James Bond has his babe du jour kiss the dice at the craps table. It works.

After the last race yesterday, the racers gathered in the park building for season awards and the raffle. This is no ordinary sock and water bottle raffle. There was big stuff up for grabs: a custom Shamrock CX frame, a Jamis Supernova frameset, two Redline frames, Chris King goodies and a set of drool worthy all-carbon cyclocross specific Zipp 404 wheels. Only the people who entered at least ten of the 13 races qualified. While I didn’t see the list of the names, I estimate there was only 50-60 people vying for the goods, pretty good odds to win something sweet. However, I totally expected to go home cold, smelly, dirty, sore and lighter in the wallet and parts department than I arrived.

On race day mornings, my wife usually sends me off with a kiss, the phrase “kick some ass,” and a wink. I told you I was lucky to have married her. Yesterday, we skipped the “kick some ass” and she said "good luck winning the wheels." I had been talking about them all season. While I had some success on the bike this season, the raffle stewed in the back of my head and made the missteps of bad days on the bike seem worth while. At the race yesterday I had a wheel/tire issue, ended up grabbing the pit bike on lap 2 and did not kick any ass. Oh well, there was still the raffle. I smiled. It was just fun to race on snow in 15 degree weather. Besides, at a party the night before, I had jokingly told people who thought I was a buffoon for racing in cold snowy weather that I was just going for the raffle.

With the Elite races over and the car packed, I grabbed a snack, my cell phone and went inside for the raffle. When I sat down with my teammates, I saw I had a text message waiting. Here’s what it said:

From: My Wife
“Here’s a good luck wish for the raffle! How was your race”
Xxoo

My reply:
Thanks for the vibes finished 12 had an issue with rear wheel on lap 1 had 2 switch 2 pit bike phil took 2nd raffle is starting now xoxo

And here’s the message I sent just minutes later with the photo above:
“I won the zipps omg!”

PS: Welcome new follower Joel. Thanks for reading. If you'd like to become a follower, see link on top right of page below the cycling news.

Sunday Mornings

The sun is doing it’s best to burn the frost off my windshield and the fog from the Ohio River Valley. Like a human coco bean radiator, I take another sip off coffee and unzip my jacket. There’s always an interesting story Sunday morning’s on NPR. Today, I think it’s an interview with a producer from a TV cop drama, but I missed the beginning where they mentioned the show. He’s actually been to real murder scenes and I laugh when he reiterates the fact that saying “c’mon, shoot me” is about the dumbest thing you can say if someone in real life points a gun at you. I’m halfway through an Odwalla Bar and about a half hour from today’s cyclocross race venue.

Just this past Saturday, my wife and I were spinning and watching the “Pure Sweet Hell” video. Some CX nut from Portland was saying how cross is sort of masochistic. My wife quipped with a smart-assed raised eyebrow, “is that why you like it?!” Caught off guard by her subtle humor, I spurted out something like, “no, I like it because it’s short and really hard.” I chucked inside and we kept spinning. As the yuk wore off, I started to think of why I like cyclocross.

I do like it because it’s short and hard. While I do like racing bikes in general, I’ve never been completely fond of the all-day long endurance mountain bike races. I don’t get excited for the Mohican 100 and Pisgah Death March like I do for cyclocross. Every form of racing is hard in its own right, but for some reason I prefer the red-line racing over the “oh god I hope I can endure this beating for another 4 hours” variety.

But, cyclocross is more than that. It’s the little intricacies, most of the time nothing to do with the actual bike riding, all rolled up into one package that keeps me coming back every weekend. It’s trying to quietly stuff a cowbell in the pocket of my backpack without waking up my wife. It’s loading up the bikes on a chilly November morning and seeing my neighbor tip-toe out to grab his newspaper in his underwear and suddenly realize that someone spotted him in his boxers. It’s feeling compelled to make a sign of the cross midway through evening hill repeats in Mount Adams as I rest and take in the vista overlooking the Ohio River Valley from the gate of the Holy Cross-Immaculata Church.