Press – Page 26 – Seven Cycles

Triathlete Magazine: A Cyclocross Bike May Be Just the Answer to Break Monotony

by Roch Frey/Multisports.com

You’ve ridden every road within a 50-mile radius of your home so many times you know every crack in the pavement. Does the mere thought of doing the same old rides make you nauseous?

Are you starting to see the dirt roads along the way and wonder where they go as you fantasize about hills not yet climbed and rednecks not yet encountered? Granted, some of you are so obsessed with specificity of training (and not getting dirty) that you’ve never considered anything beyond two skinny tires and smooth tarmac. But if you are starting to feel bored to tears by routes that were once exciting, it’s time for you to “cross” over.

Many triathletes own a mountain bike and in the off-season — or very early season — they actually use it, but only if it’s not too close to their sacred triathlon season. There seems to be an underlying assumption that it’s OK to go off-road, but only if it’s not during serious training time.

“No sir, we sure don’t want mountain bike riding to ruin the upcoming tri-season! What if we’re not on our aerobars by January? Maybe we’ll grow hair on our legs and start enjoying a little dirt coating on our two front teeth. Maybe we’ll start laughing during rides and forget to wear our heart rate monitor (the horror)! Surely, we’ll miss out on some crucial neuromuscular development.”

Wrong!

The perfect alternative

Mountain biking is a perfect alternative to your rides on the road and is good for your head — not to mention those bike-handling skills. Have you ever stood on a corner at an Ironman race and watched the participants try to negotiate a 90-degree turn on their bikes?

If NASCAR fans only knew how close a crash was to happening 2,000 times at any Ironman bike course turn (4,000 times for a two-loop course), they’d leave their television sets and set up bleachers and a beer tent. Memo to all of you: When going around a corner, keep your inside pedal (the one closest to the apex of the turn) up! Phew! You’re scaring me to death.

“But,” you say, “I don’t like fat tires. They go too slow and I don’t need the suspension because I’m not going to risk crashing on technical, rooty, rocky terrain. I want something I can cover some ground on. I’m sticking to graded dirt roads.”

Meet the bike

Funny you should bring that up, because have I got the bike for you: Meet the cyclocross bike, or ‘cross bike or CX as it’s sometimes called. You’ve probably seen one — you know, it looks like a standard road bike but with fatter tires and those funky center pull brakes.

Cyclocross racing is enjoying some healthy growth and CX bikes are back in the limelight. The racing is fun, but, more importantly, this is a bike that can go anywhere, anytime, in any conditions. It’s the perfect addition to a triathlete’s two-wheeled arsenal.

You’re thinking, ‘OK, Roch. You explain to my people (family, spouse, etc.) that I need to purchase yet another bike. I can barely get an entry fee without a General Accounting Office fact-finding mission. Now I’m going to get another bike? You could have told me about this before Christmas!’

The fact is you’re going to ride this bike all year long — not just in the off-season — and you do have a birthday coming up, don’t you?

Again, this isn’t just about riding off-road for a change of pace and then, once the pre-season arrives, going back to the tri-bike full time.

Riding once a week on your tri-bike is an important early season practice. It will allow you to gradually adapt to the flexibility needed for the aero position and the specific recruitment of time-trialing muscle groups. If you’re set up well on your ‘cross bike there’s no reason you can’t use it for all other rides.

Then, once the race season arrives, 90 percent of your rides should be back on your tri bike for the training specificity of the aero position. That still leaves you one ride each week where you can swap out the aero bars and road rage for the peace and quiet of those exploratory backcountry rides on your ‘cross bike.

This is also a great way to justify the purchase of a new bike as you will use it year-round, and it offers the ideal mental break from the normal road cycling training grind. “Honey, it’s a justifiable expenditure. I need it. Roch said.” Leave that last part out; but the rest should work.

Is a ‘cross bike truly as good as riding a road or tri bike on the road? Let’s see. The fatter tires give you some bite and suspension when off-road, but once they’re back on the pavement they roll almost as fast as the skinny 19-22-millimeter tires on road bikes.

This is the key: you don’t feel as if you are sacrificing your fitness on a ‘cross bike, yet you still have the ability to head off-road and liven up your training. Riding on rough or dirt/gravel roads also builds bike-handling skills.

Improve your handling skills

Most triathletes (yes, even you) get into the sport of triathlon without first developing cornering, descending and braking skills — not to mention bike etiquette such as holding your line, pointing out debris and obstacles in a group, etc. Hitting the dirt forces you to build technical proficiency. This is true of mountain biking, too, but the trails may be intimidating to beginners and even some veteran triathletes.

Yes, one could use a mountain bike on the rolling backcountry gravel roads, but again, the thought, “It doesn’t feel like my tri bike, therefore it must not be doing me any good” tends to wander into the mind of the obsessive, compulsive, I-have-to-be-going-at-least-18-mph triathlete. Of course, it’s not true, but on a ‘cross bike you don’t tend to have this thought.

A little too cold outside to hit the road? Take the ‘cross bike out and hit the trails. Your speed will be slower than on the roads, reducing the wind chill and allowing you to last longer and feel like you are getting a “more specific” training session.

Peter Reid has been using his ‘cross bike for years. “From March to September I ride it once a week,” Reid says. “I do this awesome 100-mile loop all on fire roads. Riding those roads really makes me strong due to the constant rolling resistance. You never seem to get a break. Right now my ‘cross bike is converted to a full-on winter bike. It weighs a bit more but I can put some major fenders on it compared to a tri or standard road bike.”

Aside from building bike-handling skills and affording you the joy of getting on some dirt, you can also use the ‘cross bike on pavement in the rain, as its bigger tires give you more traction. You also save your beloved tri bike and its fancy components from the bad weather.

Change is good. While training should be specific, the key to longevity in any sport is variety. Throwing in some ‘cross riding year-round will keep you fresh mentally and add some fun to your cycling. Come July, it’s been five or six months of toiling on the tri bike and suddenly you find that those long Saturday rides are not as inviting.

Switch it up! Get the ‘cross bike out and ride a completely different loop. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself riding around a muddy circuit in November, dismounting and mounting your trusty steed in one smooth motion like a seasoned Euro, and you’ll wonder why you were so hesitant to try a ‘cross bike.

You know what they say? Once you’ve ‘crossed over you’ll never go back.

Roch Frey coaches all levels and ages of multi-sport athletes from beginner to professional athletes including Heather Fuhr, 1997 Ironman Hawaii Champion and Peter Reid, 1998 and 2000 Ironman Hawaii Champion.

Seven Named to National Team… Again

We’re please to announce that team Kenda-Seven riders Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick have been selected to the U.S. National team to compete in the World Champions on August 31 in Livigno, Italy. This is Mary’s third trip to the Worlds and Mike’s second. Mary is currently the top-ranked American in the World.

From all of us at Seven Cycles, best of luck Mary and Mike!

Mike and Mary Tour Colorado

Team Kenda-Seven racers Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick write in from the road. Their recent adventures in Colorado included some racing, some training, and some inspiring words for some young aspiring cyclists.

Mid-summer in the remote, high-elevation regions of Colorado is beautiful beyond description. Incredible Aspen-lined trails, 14,000-foot snow capped mountains, secluded hot springs on raging rivers. And, of course, overfull campgrounds teeming with vehicles that dwarf even our 40 feet of van and trailer. The summer population outnumbers the actual Colorado residents by more than double, resulting clogs at every inch of recreational space each weekend. This leaves us thankful for the quieter weekdays, which allow us some time to experience the open space—or at least find an open campsite.

Snowmass is a destination winter resort town near Aspen that boasts some really great skiing and some sweet high-elevation (8500 feet at the base) mountain bike trails, as well. The NORBA race venue seemed to fill the entire town. It was hectic and cramped, so Mary and I instinctively ended up 40 or so miles away, camping down a quiet dead end canyon road to keep us from getting caught up in the chaos.

The racecourse was set up in the typical alpine style: one steep long climb at the outset and a fast technical descent to the finish. And it was long, with each lap taking around 40 minutes to complete. Mary and I rode a lap the day before the race, but she decided that it would be best to sit this one out, since a huge effort at this elevation with the extra dusty conditions could set her back from her recent recovery from bronchitis—and there was still plenty of race season ahead of her.

Race day was hot and dry. The 100+ men’s field went off at 3:00pm creating an enormous cloud of dust. The opening climb seemed endless: 30+ minutes of struggling even in one of the smaller gears, keeping the throttle pinned just to creep upward and stay on the wheel of the sweaty dude in font of you. The long descent to the finish brought some relief, as we railed down twisty off-camber singletrack through beautiful Aspen groves and the occasional mountain stream.

I was surprised to see the cloud cover start to roll in during the second of three laps, but there was no mistaking the cooling effect and the rain drops as they started to fall. This was without question a good thing, given the intense heat and dust. As I summited the huge climb for the final time and dove into the dark singletrack descent, the rain had started to fall in force and made things a little trickier. It took a bit more effort and a little less speed to navigate; but after the severity of the climbs that were behind me, it was still really enjoyable.

I managed to pass a few key riders on the final climb and was able hold them off on the descent to collect an 11th place finish. I was stoked to cross the line and be done for the day—especially since I noticed that the cloud cover was turning from gray to black. A stiff wind-driven rain began to pelt the large crowd that had gathered for the finish. Lightening striped the sky as thunder boomed in unison. Spectators struggled to wait for their riders to come across the line, determined to tough it out and feel a little of the pain that the riders go through. But the stone hard ice-cube size hail changed those hardy fans (and myself) into scurrying rats diving for the closest shelter. Hats off to those who struggled in and finished in that mess. Racing is always a bit painful, but I know firsthand that this one was over the top.

Mary and I spent almost a week in Basalt, CO before we knew it. Our quiet campground was surrounded by incredible roads and trails that kept us from thinking about much else. We found ourselves climbing thousands of feet on 2-hour singletracks, turning around at the top and descending for a fun-filled hour back to the trailhead. I tried in vain to do some “easy spins” on the road bike, only to be lured into a 5-hour epic to summit a 12,000′ pass. It was just irresistible.

Our next move was towards Telluride, CO to contest an Inter Mountain State Cup Series race. Telluride had already played a part of both our pasts in some way. Mary learned to snowboard here, and it is where I spent a winter working a nighttime sales job to support an advanced snowboarding habit. Summer in Telluride was a first for both of us, and we were both struck by how incredible this town is. As real estate prices clearly indicate, many others feel the same way.

The racecourse began out of a mountain village at a literally breath taking 9,500′, then climbed fiercely for 800′ or so through a mix of painfully steep fire roads and beautiful traversing singletrack. There was no more than 1k of flat riding on the entire course and just a fraction of it at the top of the climb before we were sent down a beautiful rugged 2.5km switchback descent to the finish. Mary and I raced at the same time and we both really enjoyed the course and the well-planned venue. The promoters (Cycle Syndicate) really put on a good show for everyone.

Mary was psyched to be back racing and didn’t bother to hold back from throwing down a big effort at the start. This resulted in her dropping the entire women’s field and launched her solidly into the expert men, who had started 2 minutes prior. Mary took advantage of the men’s field to hone her race tactics, using her climbing skills to pass as many of them as possible to get a clear, dust-free shot at the descent. Mary finished her three laps with a six-minute lead on the closest woman and an unofficial fifth position in the expert men’s field. She was stoked to be back to her racing ways and seemed better off overall from her short mid-season break.

I was wondering how my big week of training would affect my race form and was thinking twice about my decision to go so big as I saw some familiar Colorado tough guys at the start. I was treating this as a training race—and good training it was. I followed a big attack that started at the gun and lasted all the way through the long climb to the top. Ouch! On the second of four laps, I had settled into a more comfortable third position. I saw throughout the race that I could make a lot of time on the second place guy on the difficult final descent. It seemed that what I needed to do to beat him was hang on to within 20 seconds at the top of the final climb. It’s really more my style to push it throughout the entire race, but the elevation was forcing me to be more strategic. I used as little energy as possible on the final climb and made my attack on the descent, quickly finding the wheel of second place through the thick dust. As I applied the pressure looking for a place to pass on the impossibly narrow trail, he frantically picked up the pace, took a bad line, and kissed the ground in one of the soft corners just 1km from the finish. I was able to cruise through to a second place finish on the day.

Mary and I took some extra time for a bit of fun to the highly attended kids’ race that was taking place a few hours after our finish. Mary led out a group of 12 girls ranging in age from 3 to 12 and even more widely spread in ability. It was beautiful to see the affect that she had on them. The girls loved that someone so personable was out there, and the parents were even more stoked to have their kids racing with an Olympian. Mary had a rewarding autograph session after the race with the majority of the kid racers and their families. She’s genuinely stoked to inspire people—especially kids—to get out and ride their bikes.

My experience leading out the 10 or so little boys’ race was an equally cool experience. It felt really good to give a little something back to the sport that has given us so much.

We were able to squeeze in a fun ride the next day out of Telluride that started with free gondola ride up past 10, 000 feet. Telluride is the only town in the states that offers a free year-round gondola service that you can use for commuting from town to the mountain village or just to get in some easy vert on the mountain. We ended up on a 2.5-hour ride mostly downhill on remote single track. For us, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Mary and I are now driving from Colorado and across to southwestern Utah to stop # 6 on the NORBA National circuit in Brianhead, UT. We are really enjoying this segment of our trip, but are also looking forward to heading back to Europe in three weeks to contest the World Championships in Livigno, Italy and the final round of the world cup series in Fort William, Scotland.

All the Best!

Mike and Mary

Newsweek: Shifting Gears

by Dana Gordon

Elium Race

You may never get to don the maillot jaune of a Tour de France winner, but you can share one thing with cycling’s elite: a custom-made bicycle. Massachusetts-based Seven Cycles makes racers, mountain bikes and even tandems from ultralight titanium and carbon fiber, but its best-sellers are comfortable, distance-friendly road bikes. Company founder Rob Vandermark was a metal sculptor before turning his blowtorch to bike frames, and Seven’s attention to craftsmanship shows in such details as hand-selected tubing, hand-welding and a zealous regard for fit. The company sells worldwide and will exhibit at the EUROBIKE trade show this fall in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Leaving the peleton behind on a Seven isn’t cheap, however. Prices start at $3,000 for a basic steel-framed model and climb to an Alpine $12,000 for a fully tricked-out version of the Elium Race.

Team Seven Pro mountain bike racers Mike Broderick and Mary McConneloug write to us from the road

Team Kenda-Seven racers Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick Report on a Successful Bid at Canada’s Mont St. Anne World Cup

Mont St. Anne, Canada is a familiar and favorite place of Mary’s and mine to spend some time and race the bikes during the summer. This year’s late June mountain bike trip turned out to be one of the best to date. Although it was a bit difficult to pry ourselves away from the awesome trails and Mary’s family in Fairfax, CA, (where we spent our first week home from Europe), we hitched up our trailer and made the drive across the spring green desert of Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah. We managed our first high elevation ride along the way, stopping in Truckee, California where we sampled a bit of the fun and fast Emigrant Trail, which was the heavily traveled route of many early settlers who passed through the Sierra Nevada mountains on their way to California.

Mary and I decided forgo the previous week’s NORBA National Series race in Deer Valley, Utah and take a rest week so we could be more prepared for our goal of racing well at the World Cup events. We flew from Salt Lake to Montreal, Canada, rented a mini van and drove the three hours east through Quebec City to Mont St. Anne.

This is a four-season resort town, which specializes in skiing and mountain biking and hosts World Cup events in both sports. The multitude of condos situated at the base of the green mountain is a clear indication that this is a serious recreational outlet, drawing tourists from far and wide to this French speaking community.

The mountain itself is a steep 2000 feet of jutting rock and black dirt rising up from the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The mountain is covered with a mix of open grassy slopes and dark forest, riddled with rooty east coast single track. The XC racecourse incorporates 5 km of the lower trails that continually switch back on themselves. This is a great place to have a bike race: challenging and fun for the racers and equally good for the large number of Canadian fans who come to watch.

Mary’s Race

Mary’s claim of “not having a perfect race” was hard to believe, since she ended up on the podium in 5th place. In order to get to the tight single track with the top of the field, she burned some candles and, as a result, her technical descending skills were compromised on the first challenging, rocky downhill; she took an uncharacteristic spill and had to get off and run down part of the fast descent.

She did not get hurt or lose many spots, but any crash definitely distracts the focus, and it can be difficult to find the inner rhythm that we strive for in racing. Mary managed to stay in the top 7 for the first 3 of 5 laps. Slowly and steadily, she regained her composure and settled in—charging up the short steep climbs and threading her bike down the dark rooty maze in the woods.

Mary rode on with determination and steadily closed in on and passed German, Ivonne Kraft to take over 6th position. On the 4th lap, Mary caught up to the fading Irina Kalentieva of Russia and moved into 5th place. Mary rode steady and had a clean ride for the remainder of the race, finishing 5th on the day. She is psyched to have three World Cup podium finishes in a row, and the confidence that goes with the consistent finishes on three very different courses that cover the spectrum of what makes cross-country mountain bike racing so difficult.

Mary rushed home to quickly shower and gather her podium ware before the awards ceremony, which she almost missed. She received flowers and kisses and gleefully sprayed champagne with the other women celebrating another great day of mountain bike racing. Her five minutes of glory were over all too soon as she rushed back to the condo to get her recovery drink and then head back to the feed zone to handle the critical logistics of being in my feed zone.

Mike’s Race

It was a welcomed first to start in the second row of a World Cup race. I was called to the line in 19th position due to my overall ranking from the early season overseas. I took the last spot on the second row and just tried to relax and enjoy the experience of being staged with the top guys. I tried to ignore the searing heat as I stood out in the open sun crammed together with all these warmed up athletes, but there was no missing the puddle of sweat that was accumulating in the dust at my feet. As the start pistol fired, I managed to swing around the right of the mass and lock into a comfortable 5th to 10th place for the first mile of the dodgy start loop. I was happy to be with the front group of 15 as we cleared the first decisive climb and dropped into the technical single track, since this is where things get strung out and where the first selection of the race is made.

My game plan was to ride somewhat conservatively, since this is the type of course that can really wreak havoc on the equipment. I saw plenty of evidence of this on race day: guys flying over the bars in front of me, others drifting backwards with mud caked to their helmets or on the side of the course repairing some damaged component. It took a lot of focus to safely negotiate this incredible twisty course, and because of this, the six laps (2 hours) seemed to pass by really fast. Nonetheless, I was starting to feel the pangs of leg cramps on the last big climb. Fortunately, the dark woods were waiting at the top and my pains were put aside as I enjoyed the course’s technical challenges. I was really happy to finish 18th: my best World Cup finish to date.

We celebrated Mary’s 34th birthday in a laid back cross-country racer fashion the night before the race. Someday we will have a proper party—maybe when Mary turns 45. Still, we enjoyed being able to spend some time with my mom who came to share the condo with us for the weekend and with our friends Ritchie and Jenny from Ireland. It was a luxury to be able to entertain in a condo rather than the usual cramped camper trailer or RV.

We are now in Heber City, Utah staying with our friends Kathy and Chris Sherwin for a few days before setting off to find a high mountain to park the trailer on. We are looking to get in a bit of altitude acclimation before the 6th and highest elevation World Cup in Angle Fire, New Mexico on July 10th.

Thanks for all the support and interest in what we are doing.

All the best!

Mike and Mary