2014 Root 66 Official Schedule

Posted on January 20, 2014 by aa

The Root 66 XC Race Series has finalized their schedule for 2014. The schedule is as follows:

2014 ROOT 66 SERIES – OFFICIAL SCHEDULE

  • April 13th – Hop Brook Dam, Middlebury CT
  • April 19th – Lung Challenge, Location TBA, MA
  • April 27th – Fat Tire Classic, Winding Trails, Farmington CT
  • May 3rd – Wrath of the Boneyard, Meriden CT
  • May 18th – Bikers Edge Winsted Woods, Winsted CT
  • May 25th – Coyote Hill Classic, W. Fairlee VT
  • June 1st – Domnarski Farm, Weare MA
  • June 15th – Pat’s Peak MTB Festival, Henniker NH
  • June 22nd – Hodges Village Dam, Oxford MA
  • July 6th – Bike for Bovines, Stonewall Farm, Keene, NH
  • July 13th – Barn Burner, Walpole MA (NE Regional Champs)
  • August 10th – Race the World, Windham NY
  • August 17th – Millstone Grind, Barre VT**
  • August 24th – West Hill Goes Old School, Putney VT
  • Sept. 7th – Landmine Classic, Series Finals, Hingham MA**
  • Sept. 14th – Freetown 50 (and 25), Freetown MA**

** 3 race Marathon Series, must race all 3 events to compete for Leaders Jersey

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2015-16 Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships

Posted on January 8, 2014 by aa

The 2015 and 2016 USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships are slated to be in Columbia County, Ga., just outside Augusta. The 2015 competition will mark the first time this stand-alone event will be held east of the Mississippi River. The great expanse of trails in Wildwood Park in Appling, Ga., will serve as the setting of one of the more grueling mountain bike national championships.

“The Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau is honored to have been selected to host the 2015 and 2016 USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships,” said Randy DuTeau, the executive director of the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The event will be based out of Wildwood Park in Appling, Georgia, and held in conjunction with the Wildwood Outdoor Festival along the shores of Clarks Hill Lake. Having hosted the IMBA World Summit in 2010, and being designated a bronze level IMBA Ride Center in 2012, our region has become a true destination for mountain biking. We are certain the national championship participants will appreciate our trails and warm southern hospitality when they visit Columbia County for the nationals.”

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USA Cycling announces the 2014 Professional Cross-Country Tour calendar

Posted on December 28, 2013 by aa

Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 26, 2013) — USA Cycling on Thursday announced the seven races that will comprise the 2014 USA Cycling Professional Cross-Country Tour (Pro XCT) calendar. At the end of the seven races, the top five men and women riders will be awarded an equal share of USA Cycling’s $15,000 prize purse. This marks the first time USA Cycling has offered a prize purse to the winners of the Pro XCT.

The Pro XCT calendar, which enters its sixth year in 2014, will feature the premier domestic cross-country mountain bike races and crown the top professional male, female and team as calculated by season-long standings. The calendar boasts a stellar lineup of races with high level UCI categories.

The 2014 Pro XCT calendar will feature six great returning events and one new one. Returning events are Bonelli Park, Fontana City, Mellow Johnny’s Classic, that are part of the newly created — USA Cycling US Cup Series presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group, and the Missoula XC the Subaru Cup and the Specialized Catamount Classic. The Colorado Springs event is new for 2014, and also a stop on the USA Cycling US Cup Series presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group…

Read the full story here–>> USA Cycling announces the 2014 Professional Cross-Country Tour calendar – USA Cycling.

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Hammer Nutrition Sponsorship

Posted on December 17, 2013 by aa

Hammer Nutrition - Endurance Fuels and Supplements

Well, the 2014 race season is shaping up to be a good one. A few day ago I received sponsorship notification from Duro Tires, and today I found this in my email from Hammer Nutrition:

“We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for Hammer Nutrition sponsorship for the 2014 season! You are among a very select group of athletes and we’re excited to be supporting you this upcoming year.”

I’ve raced the last two years with Hammer Nutrition’s USA Cycling club team, and now I will receive the support of their sponsorship program too. Thank you Hammer Nutrition…I look forward to another great year with Hammer Nutrition!

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Duro Tires Back for 2014

Posted on December 16, 2013 by aa
Duro Tire

The tires I’ll be riding

Duro Tires has returned for another year, continuing their sponsorship through 2014. 2013 was my first season with Duro, and I absolutely love the product. I have been racing mountain bike on the Duro Miner 29er tire. It’s an awesome tire and I’ll continue to use it. With this continued sponsorship, I’ll try some of Duro’s other tires too, but keeping the Miner as my mainstay tire for the bulk of the season.

Thanks Duro for the continued support! #DuroTire #TeamRocketSauce

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SRAM Road Hydraulic Brake Recall – STOP USE IMMEDIATELY

Posted on December 13, 2013 by aa

UPDATE: SRAM Road Hydraulic Brake Recall – STOP USE IMMEDIATELY

On November 4th SRAM identified and announced a technical issue with respect to a narrow production range of its RED 22 and S-700 Hydraulic Road Brakes. At that time, it was described as a performance and safety concern with no reported failures in the field.

It has recently come to our attention that during last weekend’s Cyclocross racing in the US, in sub freezing temperatures, several failures were reported. In these conditions the master cylinder seals failed to hold pressure resulting in abrupt loss of brake power, and an inability to stop the bike. These failures are related to product that is outside the originally stated date code range and unrelated to the original failure mode. No injuries have been reported to date.

As a result of this new finding, SRAM requests that anyone who has a bike equipped with SRAM Hydraulic Disc or Hydraulic Rim Brakes stop using the bike immediately. All products shipped to date, and currently in the market or in inventory will be recalled.

Further, we are asking our Bike Brand customers, OE factories, Distributors and Dealers to cease all sales and shipments of SRAM RED 22 and S-700 Hydraulic Road Brakes. A total of approximately 19,000 brake systems have been shipped to date into the global market.

Quarantine efforts currently underway with Factories, Bike Brands, and Distributors will be broadened to include all Dealers with inventory on bikes, or as Aftermarket product. Additional information related to timing and replacement of product will be forthcoming.

As originally announced we have reported this issue to the US CPSC and will be cooperating with the agency to announce a Safety Recall. We will also be contacting and working closely with appropriate like agencies in Europe and globally.

SRAM engineering and manufacturing is committed to the highest Quality standards. On behalf of all employees at SRAM we apologize for the business disruption to our customers business and to the individuals who have placed their trust in our products.

via SRAM Road Hydraulic Brake Recall – STOP USE IMMEDIATELY | SRAM.

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Dear Motorist…

Posted on December 10, 2013 by aa

Dear Motorist,
Please take the pledge to share the road,
Thank you.

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2013 Season Recap

Posted on December 4, 2013 by aa

The 2013 race season has come to a close for me, and overall, it was a very satisfying season. I had some great results, some good results and some so-so results. The highlights of my season was finishing 2nd overall, in category, in the New York State MTB Series. This included three podiums with one win. And the other highlight came in min-June at the Wilmington-Whiteface 50K. Although I didn’t podium at Whiteface, I finished 4th in age category, only 1.5 seconds off the podium. That was actually a big surprise for me. I knew I rode mostly well, but I didn’t think I rode 4th place well. I think that my mindset might have improved after that race. The final highlight for 2013 was a second place finish at the annual Darkness @ 909 Night MTB Race. I love the trails at 909 and add night riding, this is just such a fun race. I also had a handful of mid-pack mountain bike finishes and so-so cyclocross finishes.

Hot Summer NightsWith my cyclocross results, I’m mostly ok with it. Although I love cyclcross, I have always said that just because I love it doesn’t mean I’m good at it. I’m proficient in the skills of cyclocross, but it’s so much of a different animal for me. I kind of find it hard to adjust to “cyclocross fitness” compared to “mountain bike fitness”.

The “lowlight” of my season was a ruptured tendon in my middle finger on my left hand. I injured the finger during my 3rd place finish at the SOS Singletrack Challenge (NYS MTB Series). As I look back at that race, I think that was the difference for me between second and third in that race. While the injury kept me out of only one mountain bike race, it certainly did affect my cyclocross racing. I had to wear a splint to heal the tendon and reattach it to the bone. This greatly affected the use of my hand, and I pretty much couldn’t use the left STI lever on my cyclocross bike. I tried, but after a few ‘cross races of struggling with it, and having some very close calls, I decided to build up a fully rigid 29er to race ‘cross. Sure the bike was almost 10 lbs heavier, but using a flat bar with MTB brake lever worked for me while a drop bar and STI lever did not. I wanted to keep racing, so this was the way to do it.

Again, overall I am very pleased with my 2013 race season. I’m continuing to ride and train through the winter and I’ll be ready for 2014. And, the tendon in my finger has reattached to the bone. While I still don’t have full range of motion with my finger, it no longer affects my cycling.

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30 Minute Workouts For Your Indoor Taining

Posted on November 28, 2013 by aa

If you are like me, riding the trainer/exercise bike or running on the treadmill is like watching golf without Tiger and Phil. You can do it, but it really isn’t fun.

I do try to ride through the winter, but every year it gets harder. So, while I try to ride outside as much as I can, I often find myself on the trainer/exercise bike or the treadmill. I know the workout isn’t going to last long, so I try to get the most of my indoors workouts. I came across this article from Outside Magazine, and some of it is very similar to what I do now. I did tweaked my current workouts a bit to follow some of these a little more closely.

30-Minute Holiday Workouts.

Traveling and time-crunched? Sneak in these 30-minute workouts to maintain your cardiovascular fitness, strength, and sanity this holiday season.

“A 30-minute workout can be a great way to mentally take the pressure off of feeling like you are working out,” says your coach, Gina Kehr, a former pro triathlete with five top-10 finishes at the Ironman World Championship, and a coach for Endurance Corner and Stanford University’s Triathlon team. “With limited time, it is good to make it count.” Below, Kehr shares seven triathlon-inspired workouts designed to do just that.

Read the full article and get the workouts here–>> 30-Minute Holiday Workouts | Endurance | OutsideOnline.com.

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USA Cycling announces new single domestic racing license

Posted on November 27, 2013 by aa

USA Cycling has announced their new domestic license. The new domestic license is one license that covers road/track/cyclocross/mountain bike. All disciplines except BMX. Below is the letter from Steve Johnson that was sent to all USA Cycling members.

USA Cycling

Dear USA Cycling Member,

It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us and another year is swiftly coming to a close. With the cyclo-cross season now in full swing, the calendar will soon be turning to 2014 and the Cyclo-cross National Championships in Boulder in early January will signal the start of another exciting year of domestic and international racing. Hopefully your goals are as ambitious as ours for the coming year!

The future is indeed looking bright for USA Cycling as we pursue our vision of making the U.S. the most successful country in the world of competitive cycling and our mission of achieving sustained success in international cycling competition while growing competitive cycling in America.

In the past year we have launched two very important and innovative programs: the USA Cycling RaceClean™ and SafeSport programs will help ensure a level playing field across all racing categories, while also fostering a safe training and racing environment for all of our members. I hope you will join me in embracing and supporting these critical programs that will help shape the future of cycling in the United States. To learn more about the USA Cycling RaceClean™ and SafeSport programs visit the USA Cycling website: www.usacycling.org.

In addition to new programs, we have also added several valuable partners to our member benefits portfolio, including Strava and Bonk Breaker, and continue to work with our many longstanding partners to provide you with additional tangible membership benefits. For example, Volkswagen, a top-tier sponsor of USA Cycling, is now offering all USAC members $500 off of the dealer invoice price of a new Volkswagen! To learn more about this and other great member benefit deals, visit the Member Benefits page on our website HERE.

I am also pleased to announce that, beginning in 2014, USA Cycling will consolidate domestic road, track, cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing licenses into a single domestic racing license that will now allow you to compete in any cycling discipline (except BMX). The move to a one-license model replaces the discipline-specific licenses for road, track, cyclo-cross and mountain bike, and will simplify and streamline the licensing process as well as the on-site event registration and check-in process. The new license model also means that you will no longer need to purchase an additional license or a one-day license in order to compete across disciplines (a one-day trial membership is still required for non-members).

The cost of the new annual domestic racing license will be $70 and will represent a savings for our many members who held multiple-discipline licenses in the past. It will also be the first change in license fees implemented by USA Cycling in 10 years.

For non-members, the cost of a one-day trial membership for road, track and cyclo-cross will increase to $15 in 2014. The cost of a one-day trial membership for mountain bike will increase to $10 and will be required for anyone without an annual license who wishes to enter Cat 2 and 3 mountain bike races. The cost of a one-day trial membership can be applied toward the purchase of an annual license. For a complete list of 2014 license fees click HERE.

Feedback from a recent USA Cycling membership survey revealed that many of you currently enjoy riding in several different disciplines, and the majority of you would like to race in multiple disciplines. As a result, this move to one license better reflects the makeup of our current cycling community that is multi-disciplined and not as compartmentalized as in the past. We also believe this change will encourage more of you to try new events and enjoy the thrill of racing even more.

And remember, your USA Cycling membership is more than just a license to race. As a member, you also enjoy all of these benefits as well:

The chance to participate in over 3,100 competitive and non-competitive events that take place year-round at the local, regional, and national levels

A new and improved national results and rankings system that allows you to predict race winners and also track the results of your top rivals and prey

The opportunity to race for a national title at one of 17 USA Cycling National Championship events in 2014!

Access to over 2,800 cycling clubs and 34 Local Associations to guide you and answer questions about cycling in your area

Quality insurance coverage in case you’re injured at a USA Cycling-sanctioned event

Great benefits from our Member Benefits Providers, including discounts on gear, accessories, training tools, travel and much more.

Access to USA Cycling\’s athlete development programs that provide opportunities at training camps and eventually, international racing, World Championships and the Olympic Games!

As a final reminder, all riders must have a 2014 USA Cycling annual license to compete in any championship race at the Cyclo-cross National Championships. 2014 licenses will go on sale on Dec. 1 and you may register for the event prior to Dec. 1 ONLY if you have a 2013 annual racing license. If you don\’t have a 2013 annual racing license, you can register after purchasing your 2014 license on Dec 1.

I look forward to seeing many more of you out on the race courses in 2014, taking full advantage of the new single domestic racing license and giving a new discipline or two a try. It should be an exciting year ahead!

Sincerely,

Steve Johnson
President & CEO
USA Cycling

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