Start to plan those holidays. The final version of the Manitoba combined Road-Cyclocross-Mountain Bike Calendar is posted.
Here
Please Note:
We have a ITT, Mountain, Cross, and Road series. People are knocking themselves out to put on races. I really hope people appreciate all the effort this takes.
We are back at Flacon Lake in the spring. I have never race there that early, but I would guess it will quiet wet, making the already difficult course SUPER technical.
Reach-The-Beach and Morden Back-40 are back due to popular demand!
Mountain Provincials are being hosted by the awesome Junk Yard Dogs on the best course in the province. All hail Birch!
Muddy H20 (not a race ;) has a completely different format for 2009.
Looks like Go-Long-Go-Strong will be the chant of the summer. There are more Enduro events then I can ever remember.
Sandilands is back but not until the very end of the summer
1st Cross Race is August 16th!
Menno Cross was so good it is now official and a Cup Race.
Provincial Cross is at Fort Whyte. I imagine it must be the best venue in the province to be moved from the Belgian Club.
This should be a summer to remember.
Keep the rubber down, and ride your bike!
Sunday, 1 February, 2009
Energy bar – health alert
Our records show that you bought an energy bar from MEC that is affected by a health hazard alert that was recently issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). As you may know, a wide variety of products made with peanuts supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America are currently being recalled by North American manufacturers for possible Salmonella contamination.
New information has just come to light that the recall dates have been expanded to include all Peanut Corporation of America products made from January 1, 2007 onward.
Please check the CFIA's website for the most current information on affected items:
The only items sold by MEC that are affected by CFIA's health alert are:
4007-588 – CLIF® BAR Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
4006-069 – CLIF BAR Crunchy Peanut Butter
5005-989 – CLIF® BAR Peanut Toffee Buzz®
5017-984 – CLIF Builder's Peanut Butter
4013-141 – LUNA Nutz Over Chocolate
5011-078 – NATURE'S PATH PEANUT BUTTER ENERGY BAR
Mountain Equipment Co-op
New information has just come to light that the recall dates have been expanded to include all Peanut Corporation of America products made from January 1, 2007 onward.
Please check the CFIA's website for the most current information on affected items:
The only items sold by MEC that are affected by CFIA's health alert are:
4007-588 – CLIF® BAR Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
4006-069 – CLIF BAR Crunchy Peanut Butter
5005-989 – CLIF® BAR Peanut Toffee Buzz®
5017-984 – CLIF Builder's Peanut Butter
4013-141 – LUNA Nutz Over Chocolate
5011-078 – NATURE'S PATH PEANUT BUTTER ENERGY BAR
Mountain Equipment Co-op
Why isn’t cyclocross an Olympic event?
It seems to me that it would be the perfect way for cycling to get into the Winter Olympics. It has a huge fan base in Europe and no one would disagree that it’s growing here in the States. How come the UCI doesn’t push for it?
Dear Shona,
You’ve hit upon two questions that have bothered me for a long, long time, so we appreciate your letter.
Olympics question: To start, there is one major, major urdle in that the Winter Olympics requires that included sports are normally contested on snow and/or ice. While many of us who have been to Canadian nationals in Edmonton or the 1999 worlds in Poprad, Slovakia, know that 'cross can be contested on ice and snow, it doesn't have to be.
Let's assume that 'cross gets over that issue and the sport is presented as either a Summer event or it is introduced as some snowy version of 'cross that ensures that it makes it into the Winter Games. Even if 'cross fans got past that problem, they would still face the problem of getting a new discipline introduced to the Games. The International Olympic Committee has some pretty stringent requirements for the introduction of new sports. Both the Summer and Winter Games have established upper limits on the number of events that can be included.
Olympics question: To start, there is one major, major urdle in that the Winter Olympics requires that included sports are normally contested on snow and/or ice. While many of us who have been to Canadian nationals in Edmonton or the 1999 worlds in Poprad, Slovakia, know that 'cross can be contested on ice and snow, it doesn't have to be.
Let's assume that 'cross gets over that issue and the sport is presented as either a Summer event or it is introduced as some snowy version of 'cross that ensures that it makes it into the Winter Games. Even if 'cross fans got past that problem, they would still face the problem of getting a new discipline introduced to the Games. The International Olympic Committee has some pretty stringent requirements for the introduction of new sports. Both the Summer and Winter Games have established upper limits on the number of events that can be included.
IOC president Jacques Rogge has made it clear that the organization’s policy generally dictates that if a new event is to be included in the Games, an existing sport needs to drop out.
“For every novelty, we will need to give up a discipline,” Rogge said in 2004. “Nothing can be added.”
We’ve seen that occur in the past, with the elimination of some track events — the women’s 500-meter time trial, among others — in favor of the inclusion of BMX in Beijing. BMX is a good example of a sport being added by allowing the affected governing body to shuffle its deck and change the type of disciplines contested within its own number of allocated slots.
As we know, cycling doesn’t have any Winter Olympic slots to play with. The inclusion of cyclocross in the Winter Olympics’ schedule would, therefore, have to come about by heavy lobbying on the part of the UCI, not only to introduce a new sport, but to eliminate some other governing body’s allocation.
Now folks, here in Canada we’ve just finished watching what some would define as the longest presidential campaign in history. But as far as politics goes, you ain’t seen nuthin’ until you try to keep track of the goings on in the Lausanne headquarters of the IOC. Indeed, if you want a look at the inner workings of that august organization, I would recommend a good read in Vyv Simsom’s 1992 exposé, The Lords of the Rings: Power, Money and Drugs in the Modern Olympics. It’s full of amazing stories, some of which would make even Machiavelli blush. I believe it’s out of print now, but you should be able to track down a used copy on eBay or Amazon.
That said, cycling does have at least one major player in the upper halls of power at the IOC in former UCI president Hein Verbruggen. Verbruggen, fresh off of his chairmanship of the Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games, has considerable pull in the IOC. Just don’t expect that he’ll be cashing in any of his political capital to push the cause of cyclocross.
Back when he was president of the UCI, we would often ask him about the Olympic prospects of the discipline, usually when we were watching events at the world ‘cross championships with him. He didn’t seem all that receptive.
Verbruggen argues that ‘cross is still too geo-centric to fit in the “global strategy” of advancing all aspects of the sport.
“It’s often dominated by riders from one or two countries,” he said right after another top-five Belgian sweep in Monopoli, Italy, in 2003. “It has increasing appeal in the U.S, maybe Canada, but it’s essentially limited to a few European countries: Belgium being the first, with the Netherlands, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. It really isn’t a global sport, now is it?”
A sound argument, we concede, but we do have an equally sound one-word response: Curling?
“For every novelty, we will need to give up a discipline,” Rogge said in 2004. “Nothing can be added.”
We’ve seen that occur in the past, with the elimination of some track events — the women’s 500-meter time trial, among others — in favor of the inclusion of BMX in Beijing. BMX is a good example of a sport being added by allowing the affected governing body to shuffle its deck and change the type of disciplines contested within its own number of allocated slots.
As we know, cycling doesn’t have any Winter Olympic slots to play with. The inclusion of cyclocross in the Winter Olympics’ schedule would, therefore, have to come about by heavy lobbying on the part of the UCI, not only to introduce a new sport, but to eliminate some other governing body’s allocation.
Now folks, here in Canada we’ve just finished watching what some would define as the longest presidential campaign in history. But as far as politics goes, you ain’t seen nuthin’ until you try to keep track of the goings on in the Lausanne headquarters of the IOC. Indeed, if you want a look at the inner workings of that august organization, I would recommend a good read in Vyv Simsom’s 1992 exposé, The Lords of the Rings: Power, Money and Drugs in the Modern Olympics. It’s full of amazing stories, some of which would make even Machiavelli blush. I believe it’s out of print now, but you should be able to track down a used copy on eBay or Amazon.
That said, cycling does have at least one major player in the upper halls of power at the IOC in former UCI president Hein Verbruggen. Verbruggen, fresh off of his chairmanship of the Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games, has considerable pull in the IOC. Just don’t expect that he’ll be cashing in any of his political capital to push the cause of cyclocross.
Back when he was president of the UCI, we would often ask him about the Olympic prospects of the discipline, usually when we were watching events at the world ‘cross championships with him. He didn’t seem all that receptive.
Verbruggen argues that ‘cross is still too geo-centric to fit in the “global strategy” of advancing all aspects of the sport.
“It’s often dominated by riders from one or two countries,” he said right after another top-five Belgian sweep in Monopoli, Italy, in 2003. “It has increasing appeal in the U.S, maybe Canada, but it’s essentially limited to a few European countries: Belgium being the first, with the Netherlands, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. It really isn’t a global sport, now is it?”
A sound argument, we concede, but we do have an equally sound one-word response: Curling?
Cross As A Winter Olympics Sport
It is undeniable that the dramatic growth of cyclocross continues in the United States and countries around the world. Yet many riders have expressed the dissatisfaction with the lack of support provided by governing bodies, and it’s often blamed on cyclocross’ non-Olympic status. Olympic sports are what attract dollars, from both the U.S. Olympic Committee and from private donors. Yet the sport’s growth is helping to fund those very governing bodies.
What can cyclocrossers do to change that? You can:
1. Lobby your governing body for more support of ‘cross
2. Encourage more private funding earmarked for ‘cross
What can cyclocrossers do to change that? You can:
1. Lobby your governing body for more support of ‘cross
2. Encourage more private funding earmarked for ‘cross
3. Hope and pray that ‘cross becomes an Olympic sport
Cyclo-cross as Olympic sport?
Could cyclo-cross become an Olympic sport? The Dutch newspaper Telegraaf reported Thursday that a group of supporters of the idea have been busy working to make it happen. Members of the Italian cycling are reportedly working together with the International Olympic Committee and the UCI to make it happen
Diego Vollaro of the Italian federation told the paper that cyclo-cross could start as a demonstration sport as early as the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February of next year. The sport had previously lost out on becoming part of the Games because the athletes involved were mainly from Europe and the Games, and the event requires more international participation. But that has changed in recent years with Canada, the USA, Japan and even Zimbabwe fielding riders in elite competitions.
Another rule could prove more of a stumbling block. The winter Games require a sport take place on ice or snow, but according to the report, that rule is under consideration.
"Next week the board and I will discuss it," said UCI executive board member Joop Atsma. "If there is only a small chance of success, it would be wonderful."
Adding cyclo-cross to the Games would help fuel the Olympic dreams of riders who make the sport their primary goal of the year. Riders like Sven Nys, who devoted extra time to mountain biking in order to be eligible to compete in the Games, or American Katie Compton, who does not pursue track, road or mountain bike racing at the Olympic level.
"I think that would be great," Compton told Cyclingnews. "They have BMX in there now so why not 'cross too?"
From Here
Diego Vollaro of the Italian federation told the paper that cyclo-cross could start as a demonstration sport as early as the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February of next year. The sport had previously lost out on becoming part of the Games because the athletes involved were mainly from Europe and the Games, and the event requires more international participation. But that has changed in recent years with Canada, the USA, Japan and even Zimbabwe fielding riders in elite competitions.
Another rule could prove more of a stumbling block. The winter Games require a sport take place on ice or snow, but according to the report, that rule is under consideration.
"Next week the board and I will discuss it," said UCI executive board member Joop Atsma. "If there is only a small chance of success, it would be wonderful."
Adding cyclo-cross to the Games would help fuel the Olympic dreams of riders who make the sport their primary goal of the year. Riders like Sven Nys, who devoted extra time to mountain biking in order to be eligible to compete in the Games, or American Katie Compton, who does not pursue track, road or mountain bike racing at the Olympic level.
"I think that would be great," Compton told Cyclingnews. "They have BMX in there now so why not 'cross too?"
From Here
Cyclocross World Championships: Updates
The men are off to race for 60 minutes (~ 10 laps) on this very fast course. The sun is out but it is still cold (for Europe that is)
Early in the 1st lap it is a long, long line of riders and setting a stiff pace at the front are the favourites. By the 1/2 way point gaps are starting to already open up at the back are riders not able to match the pace. Lap 1 completed in a time of 6 min 50 seconds.
Lap 2 Niels Albert (Belgium) attacks just after the start of the lap and is being chased by Steve Chainel (France). Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) is at the front of the chasers.. still a long line of 20+ riders
Sven Nys , Sven Vanthourenhout (correction) (Belgium) and Stybar are bridging up. Boom is nowhere to be seen. Lap 2 completed in 6:04
Derrick St John and Aaron Schooler are at the back, well back off the pace.
Lap 3 Boom has a mechanical problem, but can't afford to stop until the pits and laps' end. Stybar is leading the chase with Nys on his wheel.
Lap 4 Lap completed in a time of 6:02. Albert still away with Stybar chasing at 10 seconds. Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout are caught by a large chase group at 30 seconds. Boom gets a new bike, but is having trouble getting back up to speed. Bart Wellens (Belgium) has jumped off the front and is attmpting to bridge up to Stybar
Lap 5 8:55am EST - Still Albert, with Stybar chasing at 11 seconds, Wellens at 26 seconds and the group at 37 seconds. At lap end the Cnucks are sitting 55th for St. John and 59th for Schooler.
Lap 6 Albert still leading with Stybar slowly reeling him inand the entire Belgian contingent being led by Nys, is at the front of the chase group, time trialing up to the leaders. Wellens is caught. Boom and the Dutch squad are nowhere to be seen.
Lap 7 9:08am EST - 4 to go. As he hits the line, Albert has 11 seconds on Stybar. The bunch ~ 10 with 4 (or 5) Belgians (Nys, Wellens, Vantornout), 2 French and 1 Dutch (?) is at 57 seconds back.
Lap 2 Niels Albert (Belgium) attacks just after the start of the lap and is being chased by Steve Chainel (France). Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) is at the front of the chasers.. still a long line of 20+ riders
Sven Nys , Sven Vanthourenhout (correction) (Belgium) and Stybar are bridging up. Boom is nowhere to be seen. Lap 2 completed in 6:04
Derrick St John and Aaron Schooler are at the back, well back off the pace.
Lap 3 Boom has a mechanical problem, but can't afford to stop until the pits and laps' end. Stybar is leading the chase with Nys on his wheel.
Lap 4 Lap completed in a time of 6:02. Albert still away with Stybar chasing at 10 seconds. Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout are caught by a large chase group at 30 seconds. Boom gets a new bike, but is having trouble getting back up to speed. Bart Wellens (Belgium) has jumped off the front and is attmpting to bridge up to Stybar
Lap 5 8:55am EST - Still Albert, with Stybar chasing at 11 seconds, Wellens at 26 seconds and the group at 37 seconds. At lap end the Cnucks are sitting 55th for St. John and 59th for Schooler.
Lap 6 Albert still leading with Stybar slowly reeling him inand the entire Belgian contingent being led by Nys, is at the front of the chase group, time trialing up to the leaders. Wellens is caught. Boom and the Dutch squad are nowhere to be seen.
Lap 7 9:08am EST - 4 to go. As he hits the line, Albert has 11 seconds on Stybar. The bunch ~ 10 with 4 (or 5) Belgians (Nys, Wellens, Vantornout), 2 French and 1 Dutch (?) is at 57 seconds back.
St. John has broken his chain and is running to the pit
Halfway through the lap, Nys has attacked the chase group and gone clear. Stbar has Albert in his sights as the approach the end of the lap.
Lap 8 9:16am EST - As they start the lap the gap from Albert to Stybar is 14 seconds. Nys at 51 seconds and group at 57 seconds
Lap 10 1 to go. Albert (6:15) , Stybar at 19 seconds, Nys still 3rd but well back, then a large gap to the chasers
1 Canadians has been lapped.
Final
Unofficial
1 Niels Albert (Belgium), 1:02:24
Halfway through the lap, Nys has attacked the chase group and gone clear. Stbar has Albert in his sights as the approach the end of the lap.
Lap 8 9:16am EST - As they start the lap the gap from Albert to Stybar is 14 seconds. Nys at 51 seconds and group at 57 seconds
Lap 10 1 to go. Albert (6:15) , Stybar at 19 seconds, Nys still 3rd but well back, then a large gap to the chasers
1 Canadians has been lapped.
Final
Unofficial
1 Niels Albert (Belgium), 1:02:24
2 Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic), at 0:21
3 Sven Nys (Belgium), 0:38
4 Bart Wellens (Belgium)
35 Jeremy Powers (United States Of America)
52 Jonathan Page (United States Of America)
54 Derrick St John (Canada)
56 Aaron Schooler (Canada)
DNF Ryan Trebon (United States Of America)
35 Jeremy Powers (United States Of America)
52 Jonathan Page (United States Of America)
54 Derrick St John (Canada)
56 Aaron Schooler (Canada)
DNF Ryan Trebon (United States Of America)
---
Women's report
It may not have been the strongest rider who won the women's title at the Cyclo-cross Worlds, but it was certainly the smartest. Marianne Vos gave host Netherlands their second title of these championships when she out kicked defending title holder Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) and American Katie Compton to win. Wendy Simms was Canada's top finisher in 18th, followed by Natasha Elliot in 21st and Pepper Harlton in 31st.
Race Notes:- The crowd has gotten so large, that the officials have taken the unprecedented step of closing the transfer points from the inside to the outside of the course
It may not have been the strongest rider who won the women's title at the Cyclo-cross Worlds, but it was certainly the smartest. Marianne Vos gave host Netherlands their second title of these championships when she out kicked defending title holder Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) and American Katie Compton to win. Wendy Simms was Canada's top finisher in 18th, followed by Natasha Elliot in 21st and Pepper Harlton in 31st.
Race Notes:- The crowd has gotten so large, that the officials have taken the unprecedented step of closing the transfer points from the inside to the outside of the course
1 Marianne Vos Netherlands
3 Katherine Compton United States Of America
13 Georgia Gould United States Of America
18 Wendy Simms Canada
21 Natasha Elliott Canada
31 Pepper Harlton Canada
U23 men report
Germany decided to follow the Dutch example of the Junior Men this morning, and finish 1-2 in the 50 minute Espoir race this afternoon. Philipp Walsleben wasn't quite as dominant as Tijmen Eising in the morning, but he still pulled off a convincing win after attacking at the halfway mark of the 8 lap race. His compatriot Christoph Pfingsten won the sprint for second ahead of Poland's Pawel Szczepaniak. Once again, cyclo-cross superpower Belgium was shut out of the medals, with favoured Quentin Bertholet weeping after crossing the line in sixth place. Canada had one finisher - Andrew Thomas, in 47th, with Brian Robinson (53rd) and Kyle Fry (55th) both caught by the leaders on lap seven.
Race Notes:
- Thomas was disappointed with his 47th place: "I was going for something in the top-30, but there was a big crash right by the pit zone, and I went down, and by the time I got going, I was last. At that point, there was nothing that I could do but just try and pick people off. I'm pretty pleased with how I was riding, and I think without the crash I could have been in the 30s."
- Belgium has now been completely shut out of the medals for the first day of competition, an event which no one can remember having happened before. That it should happen just after the Belgian sports minister announced that cyclo-cross would lose government funding since it isn't an Olympic sport is a double blow to the cycling federation.
UCI President Pat McQuaid was interviewed on local TV about the withdrawal of funding. He commented: "we only just heard about it over the internet, so I can't really say anything at this point. We will sit down with the [Belgian] federation to discuss a response ... but it should also be pointed out, that if only Olympic sports were funded, there would be only 28 sports in the world that received funding, and this would certainly not support the social aspect of sport."
3 Katherine Compton United States Of America
13 Georgia Gould United States Of America
18 Wendy Simms Canada
21 Natasha Elliott Canada
31 Pepper Harlton Canada
U23 men report
Germany decided to follow the Dutch example of the Junior Men this morning, and finish 1-2 in the 50 minute Espoir race this afternoon. Philipp Walsleben wasn't quite as dominant as Tijmen Eising in the morning, but he still pulled off a convincing win after attacking at the halfway mark of the 8 lap race. His compatriot Christoph Pfingsten won the sprint for second ahead of Poland's Pawel Szczepaniak. Once again, cyclo-cross superpower Belgium was shut out of the medals, with favoured Quentin Bertholet weeping after crossing the line in sixth place. Canada had one finisher - Andrew Thomas, in 47th, with Brian Robinson (53rd) and Kyle Fry (55th) both caught by the leaders on lap seven.
Race Notes:
- Thomas was disappointed with his 47th place: "I was going for something in the top-30, but there was a big crash right by the pit zone, and I went down, and by the time I got going, I was last. At that point, there was nothing that I could do but just try and pick people off. I'm pretty pleased with how I was riding, and I think without the crash I could have been in the 30s."
- Belgium has now been completely shut out of the medals for the first day of competition, an event which no one can remember having happened before. That it should happen just after the Belgian sports minister announced that cyclo-cross would lose government funding since it isn't an Olympic sport is a double blow to the cycling federation.
UCI President Pat McQuaid was interviewed on local TV about the withdrawal of funding. He commented: "we only just heard about it over the internet, so I can't really say anything at this point. We will sit down with the [Belgian] federation to discuss a response ... but it should also be pointed out, that if only Olympic sports were funded, there would be only 28 sports in the world that received funding, and this would certainly not support the social aspect of sport."
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