This is the brand new Crossroads paint scheme, in deep coral and bone, two new stock colors for 2012/13. Find this and all our updated paint schemes in our paint gallery.
Current Work – Deep Coral and Bone Axiom SLX
Category: Articles
Midnight Ride of Cyclocross
Last night Jake and I left work a bit early and headed west to Lancaster to compete in the Midnight Ride of Cyclocross. This fast and fun mid-week race is in its second season and after hearing the rave reviews from last year I put it on my calendar as “can’t miss.” The Midnight Ride follows a similar course to November’s MRC race, but in the reverse direction. Since it’s still September, the course was dry and fast and the reverse direction offers less climbing and off camber turning than it’s November counterpart. Announcer Richard Fries was on hand for the event, which always makes things more exciting, and as he repeated multiple times throughout the evening, this race is the kickoff to what is now known in New England cross as “Holy Week.”
Racing as a beginner amateur and working at Seven, I’m in a great position for success. I have friendly relationships with some top Pro racers who have raced on the very same courses that I now compete on and they willingly offer up advice on things like tire selection. I ran into Mike Broderick and Mary McConneloug at Cross-Vegas last week and Mike gave me some tips on what to run for the Holy Week races. I heeded his advice and it paid off in spades. The treads that I had chosen were fast on the gravel and pavement and hooked up just well enough in the grass and loose loamy corners that I was able to walk that fine line that exists between speed and control. Line selection, not tire selection, would be the only fault in my race.
I’ve raced enough at this point that I am starting to get first row call-up and for this race I lined up one spot from the outside with a clear view of the first turn a few hundred yards ahead. At the whistle I jumped out in front and my first four of five pedal strokes put me out in front with a fair gap on the field. I had taken the hole shot, and it was suddenly my race to lose.
Having never been in this position before in any sort of bike race, I did my best to stay calm and just rode my ass off. From what I’ve been told I actually put a sizable gap on the field and held it until my worst case scenario presented itself – a crash in a hard 180 degree turn on loose gravel. I got up faster than imaginable and got back on the bike, but after a couple more turns I lost the lead.
As we wove through the course and over the barriers I held onto second position for dear life and started to hear Richard announcing that the 14-year-old in the group was gaining on the leaders. I held second place for about a lap until the leader missed a turn in the woodchips and slid out – I was back in front. For the next two laps I led this group of men and boys through the twists and turns of the Midnight Ride course and listened to Richard’ words about what it might mean to our egos to lose to a 14 year old.
He also seemed to give Jake’s single-speed a shout out every time he passed through the start finish area. When I finally saw the lead slip away for good, it was a newbie to cross, not a kid whose brothers have been notorious for cleaning up in the men’s field as juniors, who took it away from me. I kept fighting and rode most of the last three laps in the 5th position and watched another young and new-to-cross racer, who had fought from the back row past about 65 other riders to take the lead with two to go.
When he went by the leaders he rode off in front with ease at a pace that none of us could match. I was cooked, and hanging on by a thread, dry mouth, blurred vision, etc., when I heard a friend yell “Joe! Hurt!” Oh, yeah, I thought, this is not supposed to be easy, you have to hurt to win, there are no two ways about it. I kicked it back in but unknowingly was making it easy for the rider behind me. He was drafting me around the course and saving energy for a move in the last grass section before the pavement to the finish.
I feared if I let him around me so that we could work together that I would not be able to hang on, so my best bet was to keep him behind. It seemed to work, but in the end he made a move and went around me just as we came up on that speedy young teen who had finally run out of gas with just a few turns to go.
The result of these place changes left me squarely in 5th place, another top 5 finish in what has been a great start to my season. A few more like this and the heckles along the course, hopefully, will be encouraging me to “cat up” into the 3’s, a place where many a family man can spend the bulk of his bike racing career.
Post-race, Jake and I grabbed a beer and heckled some friends as they suffered much in the same way that we just had, and then cheered on Mo Bruno Roy as she rocketed around this drag strip with apparent ease. I picked up some tire tips from her husband and pit crew, Matt Roy, and he showed me some new treads that they are trying out for this season. It’s good to be an amateur, it’s great to get the inside line on tech tips from the pros, and it’s amazing to have the opportunity to ride and race on a bike that is just like the pros race yet uniquely built for me.
– Joe W.
Image: Matt Pacocha, Bike Radar.
622 SLX – Red Decals
Another 622 SLX headed for a frame box. This time with red decals. Is red really faster?
Shop Ride – Dog Days
This morning’s shop ride started as so many rides start: a handful of riders spinning idly around a parking lot, getting ready. Settling helmets and adjusting gloves and stuffing pockets. Stopping to re-strap shoes. Riding off without water bottles. Going back for water bottles.
And then without saying much of anything we are off, all together, and climbing up the first too-steep hill with our early morning legs. The humidity of late summer blankets everything. Our New England, pine-rich woods feel like a rain forest, and before we’ve crested that first rise we’re all in a hard sweat.
All this heat and moisture are having prodigious effect on the plant life, and many of our regular trails are grown thick at the edges. Thorns rip at our arms. We take extra care to stay in the center line, despite the dew-moist stones that would put us off.
These are the ‘dog days‘ of summer, the hottest, steamiest time of the year. You start warm and finish wrung out. But you’re always glad you rode. Always.
Team Kenda Seven No Tubes at 2012 USA Cycling MTB CC National Championships!
Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick took the 2012 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho by storm last weekend!
On Saturday, July 7, Mary raced to a podium finish taking the 5th position in the Women’s Pro Cross Country race. Later in the afternoon Mike put in a solid performance finishing 17thoverall in the Men’s Pro Cross Country field. On Sunday morning, Mike raced to a 12th place finish in the Pro Men’s Super D and returned in the afternoon to take 19th place in the Pro Men’s Short Track Cross Country race. Mary raced in Sunday afternoon’s Women’s Pro Short Track Cross Country field and took a podium spot and bronze medal in her race!
Here is what Mary had to say about the races in sunny, parched Idaho:
“It is high and super dry out here with little chance of badly needed precipitation. The XC course consists of a single steep fire road climb that sorts everything out before dropping us into a no passing single track descent. It makes for some hard racing at this altitude but it was a good weekend and we are both stoked to be healthy and fit!”
At Nationals, Cycling Dirt interviewed Mike about his IMX SL 29er. Mike raced all of three races on this bike, and we are happy to hear he’s satisfied with its performance.