OK - so this blog is a long time in coming... look for more back dated updates over the next week... but overall the support I received for the Bikes Belong TJROW was incredible - with tons of help help I was able to reach my fund raising goal of $2500 for Bikes Belong and help to raise over $100,000 for Bikes Belong. The ride was an awesome experience and was a success for the whole group. The opportunity to ride with athletes as diverse as World Champions, National Champions, bike commuters, pro triathletes, bloggers, writers, event directors and CEOs was unique.
To properly put the ride into perspective here are some of the over 40 news stories that came out of the ride ::
Hopefully you were able to follow updates on Twitter and Facebook through the hashtag #tjrow and the Bikes Belong & Tim Johnson Ride on Washington Facebook pages. For a quick look check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/BikesBelong and http://www.facebook.com/TJROW
For a more complete coverage of the event and the goals behind it please take a look at the three articles I wrote for the triathlon website Slowtwitch
Finally here's a collection of photos from the ride, please feel free to use any of them or let me know if there are specific photos you are looking for and I can get them from my collection or another photographer :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21959824@N04/sets/72157629304189326/
Please let me know if I can supply you with any additional information about the ride, the National Bikes Summit or bicycle advocacy in general.
Riding beside the Potomac river through Washington DC
Rollin' out of Hartford on a chilly morning
Butch from SRAM and Zipp keeps everything running smooth
Cold start to a long day in the saddle
They aren't yak leather but damn these are some comfortable shoes
Lot of PowerTaps lined up on this ride - Watt was everyone was counting?
Thank you again and I look forward to starting the process for next year's ride and National Bike Summit with you continued support.
I modified my bike route map in advance of the construction!
The power of public opinion is often lost in this world of talking heads, congressional committee meetings, online news, presidential candidate debates and the omni-present flow of information to every possible device. It is with this backdrop that I present to you the simple public meeting – an open forum – that anyone can attend and thanks to the TV show Parks and Rec we all have an opinion of already…
On Wednesday night I went to a public meeting to discuss the city plan to transform 10th and 11th street in San Jose from 3 car lanes on each street (both are one-way streets) to two car lanes and two bike lanes on each street for a 2.7 mile stretch from Keyes to Hedding. Here’s a link to the 10th street MAP. This isn’t a major re-design, it doesn’t involve a lot of actual building or moving of earth, the bike lane will not be separated from traffic by anything more than paint – but this is still a major accomplishment in a city with a huge demand on planning and building resources.
What struck me as especially relevant about this project is that in attendance at this public meeting (starting at 6pm on a Wednesday) were five city officials including the Director of Transportation Hans Larsen, Deputy Director Manuel Pineda, City Bike / Ped Program Coordinator John Brazil and two design engineers. For two 2.7 mile bike lanes the Director of Transportation came out to the meeting.
Once the meeting began – it really did seem like something from Parks and Rec… except there was no ranting and raving “concerned citizens” and the city officials did an exceptional job of listening to public concerns and answering questions.
In presenting the project Deputy Director Pineda referenced two city reports that anyone living in San Jose should read:
The San Jose Bike Plan 2020 – a plan to build the cycling infrastructure of the city over the next 10 years.
The Envision San Jose 2040 – a general plan to guide policy framework for decision making for the future of the city.
And a study that has helped them frame the developments needed in San Jose and beyond. The South County Circulation Study – used to determine the best way to help decrease gridlock and improve areas for all transportation mode share.
This is not the most riviting of power point presentations... but it gets the job done
So if you think you can’t make any difference in your community – go to one of these meetings. Call you local municipal representative, ask for something you want done. It’s not going to happen overnight – but if you don’t ask, it probably never will.
Join your local bicycle coalition. Find out when there is a public meeting. Get to know the people in your town who can help make decisions. And ASK for things to help improve your riding experience and the riding experience of people in your town!
I love this video - it's simple, straight forward and with no pretention (ok a little pretention since it's a fixie bike shop)...
I especially like the way they lay all the parts out before the build begins. I want that. everytime. this is the way a bike should get built - every part should be thought through. and ultimately the parts might not be the best, the most expensive, the coolest color... but what will happen is every part will have been considered based on price, need, utility, visual excitement, and ultimately what makes us happy.
"you can't hammer a nail over the internet, you can't be a butcher over the internet, you can't be a barber over the internet and you can't be a bike mechanic over the internet. you have to do it with your hands. it's something that can't be replaced"
At first I thought why are they building such a simple bike, no Chris King, no White Industries Hubs, no carbon, no tri-spoke and i realized this isn't about what coolest, it's about what works the best for every user.
The internet isn't going away. The largest parts distributor in the country just announced today they were creating new ways for customers to purchase off the internet, but announced it in a way that included local dealers. Check out QBP's new program here: Buy Local Buy Now. It's a big of a gamble - attacking internet retailers like Chain Reaction and Wiggles by launching your own internet purchase solution. But it's out there. Trek has a version of this option. They are both fighting internet shopping with... of all things... internet shopping. Brands that still focus on a physical location for distribution are trying to give customers a compelling reason to come into the store. Service, information, technology know-how, local knowledge, trail development, advocacy, these are the new tools in the price-war.
Can the independent bike shop survive? Carlton Reid over at Bike Biz talked about this issue today. Are things that different from when this ad came out in 1897?
In the end we all want to have the bike we like the most... So think about every part of your bike next time you buy one, or build one from your own parts, or swap for one, or visit your local bike shop. We make 100s of choices everyday. Make sure the ones you make about your bike help promote cycling.
The Republican-controlled House endorsed a plan Thursday to vastly expand oil and gas drilling off the nation’s coasts to help pay for a $260 billion transportation bill. This bill contains provisions on opening up drilling in ANWR, fast-tracking approval for the Keystone XL pipeline and would open the eastern Gulf of Mexico off Florida and areas off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling. The Senate is expected to reject this and the White House has threatened to veto it anyway
Thursday
House Speaker John Boehner says Transportation Bill will have some changes
The House GOP’s $260 billion transportation and infrastructure bill is facing a revamp, but Speaker John Boehner made it clear Thursday where he’s going for more votes. And it’s not to Democrats. Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested to reporters he’s not fishing for Democrats to support the bill and will instead tweak the legislation in an effort to woo more Republicans.
Wednesday
Boehner delays the vote on the Transportation Bill in the House
Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Wednesday morning that it was "more important that we do it right than that we do it fast" in explaining his decision, a clear signal GOP leaders lack the votes to win approval of the package.
Boxer sees ‘no path forward’ on Senate Transportation Bill
"Right now, there is no path forward," Boxer said even as she vowed to continue pushing for a clean vote on the transportation proposal. Boxer said that the bill has been held up by "ridiculously unrelated amendments."
Tuesday
White House Threatens to Veto the House Transportation Bill
“Because this bill jeopardizes safety, weakens environmental and labor protections, and fails to make the investments needed to strengthen the nation’s roads, bridges, rail, and transit systems, the president’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto this legislation,” read the White House’s statement of administration policy.
House Republicans are splitting up their mammoth transportation and energy bill in an effort to overcome rising GOP and conservative think tank discontent with the measure.
Since the package has run into reluctant Republican lawmakers and a unified Democratic front, leaders decided to let members vote separately on the transportation, energy and pension provisions that would later be recombined into a single bill. The five-year, $260 billion proposal has drawn friendly fire for a variety of reasons: Conservatives have challenged the price tag and some of the funding mechanisms, while moderate Republicans don’t like the idea of including oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nearly 300 amendments were filed to the Rules Committee.
Monday
Obama releases proposed Transportation plan for $476 billion over six years
The White House budget released today proposes $476 billion over six years for surface transportation, and the president calls for an immediate $50 billion infusion in spending this year. It also increases a transportation lending program by four fold while reducing funding for airport grants. “This transportation budget is fully paid for,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on a conference call with reporters. “This is real money.”
Chairman Mica doesn't want the Feds to pay to include cycling or walking in Transportation projects
Last week the House Transportation Bill - H.R. 7 The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act – made it’s way out of committee after only four days of discussion. The proposed legislation strips all dedicated funding for cycling and walking from the federal budget and eliminates two key infrastructure programs that support cycling – Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. An amendment to the bill presented by two Republican members of the committee (Petri R-WI and Johnson R-IL) failed to restore funding during the mark-up period.
Now the bill passes to the full House of Representatives for debate before a final vote expected in late March / early April. The floor debate is scheduled to start next week and will certainly continue for the month of February.
Meanwhile over in the Senate the Committee on the Environment and Public Works continue to work on their version of a proposed Transportation Bill MAP-21. The America Bikes coalition expressed concern when the bill was proposed about the cuts to dedicated funding to biking and walking and concern about the ability of states to opt out of these programs and funnel all money to highway construction. One key part of MAP-21 is that Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails programs are all combined into one funding source called “Additional Activities”.
This week Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Cochran (R-MS) introduced an amendment to the Senate Transportation Bill that increases local involvement in decisions and allows funding to go to local governments. The main benefit of the Cardin-Cochran Amendment is that it maintains state and local government access to the Additional Activities funding.
So what does this mean for cycling advocates and more important everyday cyclists who want safe streets and improved access to bikes? It means less money available for our local governments to work with to improve our local infrastructure. It means less Safe Routes to School funding to continue to improve the options for our kids to walk or bike to school. It means cutting dedicated Bike & Ped staff from state DOTs.
Today more then ever we need to voice our support for programs that maintain funding to cycling project and we need to voice our concern about programs that do not. To send a message to your Senators and your House Member please use this League of American Bicyclists Action Alert.
Neither of these bills are done deals yet and our elected representatives need to know that their constituents care about these issues. This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican issue, it’s a public safety and transportation use issue. For perspective the National Household Travel Survey and the Federal Highway Administration data makes this issue clear. In 2011 cycling and walking represented 12% of all trips in the United States. Biking and Walking accidents represented 14% of all transportation fatalities. Yet Biking and Walking projects received only 1.6% of federal transportation funding.
This isn’t an issue of choosing highway funding over bike and walking funding. It’s an issue of proving support and safe transportation options for all users.
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To find out more about current cycling issues please visit the Bike League Blog
To offer support and get updats on issues please sign the peopleforbikes.org pledge
To help Ian raise money for Bikes Belong please give $5 at Ian’s Pledge Page
Today the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee starting discussion on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the new Transportation Bill designed to cover all federal transportation funding for the next five year. You can read it HERE if you have time for 847 pages… or you can read the assessment of League of American Bicyclists HERE.
As we discussed in yesterday’s POST there are some major problems in this bill for the people who work on developing cycling and walking infrastructure in this country. Two of the biggest programs that fund biking and walking projects :: Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School :: have been eliminated. This is not good news to anyone who hopes for improved bike facilities or who want to bike or walk to school or work.
Today Rep Tom Petri (R-WI) introduced an amendment to re-instate funding for Transportation Enhancements (TE) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS). It was co-sponsored by Rep Timothy Johnson (R-IL) and Rep Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) and presented to the whole committee. Take a look here at what Rep Peter DeFazio said today about this bill.
Are you as shocked as I am? The statement starts with the confirmation that when asked WHO HAD READ THIS BILL – not a single member raised their hands. I would like to quote him “Not even the chairman has read the bill”. He’s angry and he should be.
After another strong statement from Rep. DeFazio about Safe Routes to School:
What happened after this passionate statement? The committee voted 29-27 against the amendment. Against a strong partisan environment in congress today three Republican members voted for the amendment. Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) and his colleagues Timothy Johnson (R-IL), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) are the first step in making the commitment to keep cycling as a component of transportation as a bi-partisan issue. Thank you.
If the statements coming out of congress today aren’t shocking enough to you – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today It’s the worst transportation bill I’ve ever seen during 35 years of public service.” You can read his whole interview with POLITICO HERE. Some other juicy quotes include “This is the most partisan transportation bill I have ever seen”, and “… it is also the most anti-safety bill I Have ever seen. It hollows out our No. 1 priority, which is safety…”
What is the next step here? The Transportation Committee will vote on the bill and move it to the house. At that point all representatives vote on it. If you care about biking and walking in America you should contact your Representative. You can do that by CLICKING HERE and sending an email.
You can attend the National Bike Summit to make your voice heard and meet your Representative.
You can join your local Bicycle Coalition and learn more about what is going on in your own community.
Finally on the same day that Congress seems to believe that American people do not want more access to bikes the Washington DC Bike Share has announced an extension due to overwhelming demand. Figure that one out?
On Thursday Feb 2nd the House Transportation committee will take the first vote on the new Transportation bill called the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. This bill shockingly eliminates all federal funding for biking and walking. This is a $260 billion bill that will support all federally funded transportation programs for the next five year. Not only has the bill removed mention to key cycling projects it actively eliminates programs that most cycling funding come from including Safe Routes to School and the Transportation Enhancements program.
America Bikes have prepared a list of the Top Ten Problems with this bill:
Transportation Enhancements is gone.
Safe Routes to School is gone.
The Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program (CMAQ) is less likely to support pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements because air quality is no longer the operative measure.
States are no longer required to maintain safe bridge access for bicycles.
Rails to Trails are no longer eligible for funding under the Surface Transportation program.
Pedestrian and bicycle coordinators in state DOTs are eliminated.
Pedestrian, bicycle and Enhancements clearinghouses gone.
Eliminates the requirement that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled.”
Eliminates language that specifically includes traffic calming and improvements for ped-bike safety as eligible HSIP projects.
Transit Enhancements is gone.
This proposal would roll back over 20 years of infrastructure spending growth, which has resulted in a huge increase in cycling across the United States. Compare these two charts on cycling spending and cycling participation.
For anyone who rides a bike or walks for transportation of commuting to work this is terrible news. For anyone who has children in school this is terrible news. For recreational cyclists who want safe roads and bike lanes to get them out of town this is terrible news.
There is only one way to stop this bill from going through in it’s current form and that is to make our voices heard and talk directly to the members of the House of Representatives and then our Senators and tell them what we think.
If you Representative is on the Transportation Committee (you can check HERE) call their office and ask them to put funding for cycling back in the Transportation bill.
If you can go to their local office or the office in Washington DC, do that. If not write and letter or send an email.
The League of American Bicyclists has an excellent link which will allow you to write directly to your Representative. Do it now by CLICKING HERE.
Even if your Representative is not on the Transportation Committee send a letter to them telling them why cycling is important to you and why you want to see this funding preserved.
To find out more about this very important issue please see what the League, America Bikes, The Alliance for Biking and Walking have to say.
Today is a key day in the future of bicycle funding in the United States. The House Transportation Committee has released their proposed version of the new Transportation Bill and it’s very unfavorable to cyclists and walkers. This bill is over two years late and continues to focus on cutting costs.
Over the past 20 years the federal government has grown the support for cycling and walking related transportation projects. Currently biking and walking represent over 12% of daily trips in America, but receive only 2% of the funding toward transportation infrastructure. Since 1992 the growth in funding has been tremendous, as has the growth in Bike / Ped projects. Riders and walkers have responded in kind with a 40% increase in cycling from 2000 to 2009 according to the League of American Bicyclists.
What does this all mean to cyclists? If you commute by bike and use a bike lane you’ve benefitted from this work. If you ride on a separated cycling / walking path you’ve benefited from this. If you lock you bike up outside school, work or your home you’ve benefited from government spending on cycling. The touch points for cyclist and the safety of our streets continue to grow and without the support of our government we risk losing that benefit.
As cyclists we should care about safe streets, better ways to cross busy freeways, better access to our schools, workplaces and homes. We should look at the work the League of American Bicyclists and Bikes Belong are doing and offer our support.
The first step in continuing to make our cities and town safer for cyclists is to tell your member of congress that you support this. When cycling and walking receives less then 2% of all funding and the Transportation Committee want to cut that we know we are in for an uphill fight.
Take a simple action and write your local elected official. Here is a link from the Bike League to help. Make a start and let your voice be heard: TAKE ACTION.
Follow Bikes Belong and get updates by signing the People for Bikes pledge. We love bikes and support this mission. So should you. Take the pledge at: www.peopleforbikes.org
In cyclocross there are three levels of UCI races. In order of importance it goes World Cups, C1 then C2. Results and points are important because they dictate where you start for each race. The more points the closer to the front. The World Cup hasn’t started yet so C1 races are the most important. There are only 10 C1 races in the USA and this weekend there were two on the same day – crazy I know. The second stop of the USGP series had a C1 (Saturday) and C2 (Sunday) in Fort Collins while on the East coast the long running Providence cyclocross festival had the same C1 (Saturday) C2 (Sunday) schedule.
With some money on the line for USGP overall the vast majority of top US cross racers headed West to Fort Collins – leaving at lot of points available in Providence.
USGP thoughts
A cold wet muddy day saw Ryan Trebon take the win – no real surprise there – he’s great in the bad weather and with Nationals this year in January in Madison, WI the more practice he gets racing in the bad, cold weather the more a favorite he has to be. Not surprising the top 10 was full of mountain bikers with Geoff Kabush 2nd, Chris Shepard 6th, Troy Wells 7th and ex US National mountain bike champ JHK finishing just outside in 12th. J-Powers did better then expected with a strong 3rd place Saturday and Tim Johnson and Christian Heule did worse. Heule did crash hard last weekend so is obviously still not back up to speed. Other surprisingly bad races came from Brian Matter (19), Chris Jones (21) and Tristan Schouten (27). The ride of the day Saturday was definitely U-23 rider Yannick Eckmann who finished 5th overall… crushing the other U-23s Zack McDonald and Cody Kaiser by 1 minute and 3 minutes respectively.
Sunday was back to fast dirt – again a bit more like a dirt crit and as usual J-Powers took to the front and if he hadn’t had a slight crash with 5 to go would have been long gone. As it was he chased back from about 10-12 sec down to catch Trebon and take the win. Trebon was 1sec back and way clear of the rest. No real surprised on Sunday except Tim Johnson is still struggling with the fast start of these races. He was was back in about 15th place after one lap and took the whole race to claw back to 4th only to get passed by Schouten on the final lap for a 5th place. Chris Jones was back in his element – dirt crits – and did what is expected from him. Launch off the front by lap 3 and get caught 2 to 3 laps later. He hung on for a top 10 finish and shouldn’t be counted out for a podium at any dry fast races coming up.
Providence thoughts
It’s hard to get excited about a race that is missing all the top cross guys but as expected the race was still extremely well run and provided some exciting east coast racing for guys who either can’t afford to fly west or don’t care about USGP overall points. Plus a bunch of Canadians came down to mix it up in preparation for their National Championships in only three weeks.
Justin Lindine won both days – and is in a good position with UCI points when they re-set after next weekend for the 2011 / 12 season. A couple of Canadians – Evan McNeely (on Saturday) and Derek St. John (on Sunday) picked up podium finishes. Nice to grab a few UCI points before Nationals.
Next Weekend
The first UCI World Cup of the season is next weekend in Plzen Czech Repulic and after today’s Belgian domination at the first SuperPrestige look for a very, very, very fast race as they try to take Stybar down in his home country. A few American’s are heading over (J-Pow, Tim Johnson maybe and Jamey Driscoll) its going to be a tough day out there for them based on how the Belgians rode today.
Here in the USA there are more UCI races with Spooky Cross in Irvine, CA and Granogue CX in Wilmington, DE. Those are all C2 but expect Trebon to get some easy point in the west and probably Lindine back est.
Here are my thoughts on the top 10 guys in the USA right now…
USA Cyclocross Power Rankings after three weeks:
Ryan Trebon – he got caught on Sunday by J-Pow on the fast dry conditions, but when the weather gets rough there is no one better in the USA
Jeremy Powers – clearly the man to beat on fast dry conditions. If the rest of the season stays dry he’s going to win a lot more races
Geoff Kabush – strong results in Fort Collins with 2nd in the mud and 3rd in the dry conditions
Jamie Driscoll – solid performances in all races with a pile of 4th, 5th and 6th place finishes
Tim Johnson – terrible day on Saturday but a 5th place finish on Sunday shows he’s continuing his way back up to the front
Yannick Eckmann - Awesome result for the U-23 rider in the mud on Saturday to finish 5th in the Elite men’s race
Zack McDonald – also U-23 and finished ahead of Eckmann on Sunday. Consistently top 10-15 in Elite races
Christian Heule – had a bad crash last weekend and a 9th place finish on Saturday before dropping out Sunday
Ben Berden – a long time pro in Belgium who’s spending this season racing in the USA. Lots of podiums on the east coast and now racing with the rest of the top guys.
Tristan Schouten – had a very bad Saturday race, but bounced back for 4th place on Sunday. Couple that with some good results back East and he replaces his fellow Wisconsinite Brian Matter as my 10th best guy right now.
Check back later in the week for a look at women's cyclocross right now in the USA...
You wanna see some FAST cross action – check out this:
Madison Wisconsin kicked off the National USGP series with a double-header of racing. Perfect September cyclocross weather greeted racers on Saturday and classic cyclocross rain and mud rolled in Sunday. With almost all the major US cyclocross racers in attendance this race solidifies the kickoff to the season.
Men’s Race Summary
Who looked great:
Ryan Trebon (9 of 10) is definitely for real this season. After driving the case for almost an hour at Cross Vegas we knew Trebon was in good shape, but after riding away from Jeremy Powers and two time world champion Bart Wellens he proved he is fit, serious and ready for this season. First on Saturday and third on Sunday prove he’s just as good in dry fast conditions as he is in wet, muddy ones.
Bart Wellens (9 of 10) is a two time world champion for a good reason. He’s also consistently one of the top Belgian cyclocross racers in a country that has a lock on the top of the UCI standings. That Bart only won three of the five UCI races he did on his USA tour is a testament to the quality of racing in America today. When he won on Sunday in the mud it was proof that when conditions are bad the Belgians excel. The huge efforts he made on Saturday chasing down Jeremy Powers opened the door for Trebon’s win – but an off-result for Bart still put him in second place. Not a bad trip to the USA for him.
Who looked great on Saturday:
Jeremy Powers (6 of 10) is going all-in on cyclocross this year. His road season was simply a prep for this fall and he’s made it clear the National Championship is his goal for January 2012 with an eye on 2013’s World Championship in Louisville, KY. On Saturday his attacking style may have cost him the race as he went to the front every time they pulled back an attack. He still finished a solid 3rd on the back of a Wednesday night win and 4th last week at Cross Vegas. On Sunday he was never in the race. He’s going to have to get better in the mud if he wants to compete in the World Cups and rest of this season.
Jamie Driscoll (7 of 10) was consistent both days hovering just inside or outside of 5th place. He finished 5th and 6th and was definitely solid on both days in the fast dry and slow mud. Driscoll is also all-in on cross this year and should be set to take some solid wins later this season as race conditions worsen.
Who looked great on Sunday:
Jonathan Page (6 of 10) finally put together a good race on Sunday. After a terrible CrossVegas and Saturday race in dry fast conditions Page immediately went after Rob Peters' lap 1 attack in the rain on Sunday and rode a technically perfect race. His results will be better in muddy and sandy European races then American dry and fast races like last year’s USGP races. Bend in December and nationals in Madison should favor him. His speed is still off – he lost time on the flats and made it back in the technical mud sections. He’ll need to get that back up to contend in Europe and at nationals.
Rob Peters (7 of 10) put in a huge attack mid race on Saturday and to start the race on Sunday – trying to losen things up for Bart – by the mid-point of both race the top five were Peters, Wellens and Heule (all Euros), Jonathan Page (huge Euro experience) and only Trebon left of the regular American cross racers. Peters couldn’t maintain either of his huge attacks on Saturday or Sunday to win – but with 4th place finishes each day he’s solid for the rest of the season.
Christian Heule(6 of 10) rode really well Sunday in the rain and mud, but was completely out of the race Saturday. He’s been travelling a lot since his 2nd place finish at Cross Vegas – so the incredibly fast start Saturday may have been a shock to him. It’s a rude awakening mistake that he won’t make again. No matter what the conditions in Fort Collins in two weeks look for Christian to be ready.
Who’s having a rough start to the season:
Tim Johnson (6 of 10) looked good at Cross Vegas until he crashed and chased back to 5th place on Saturday after the early speed put him into trouble.
Todd Wells (5 of 10) has had some bad luck so far this season – a tough 10th place at Cross Vegas and a broken chain on Saturday put him into last place at the end of lap 1. He chased back through more then 40 guys to finish 20th but with a limited season this year to focus on making the Olympic mountain bike team next year Wells is going to only have a few more chances to notch some wins this season.
Geoff Kabush (5 of 10) rode well enough for top 15 in Vegas and top 10s both days in Madison but isn’t anywhere near the CX form that saw him winning races last year. He’ll need to get his starting speed back up to content in future races as he’s been on the chase from the start in both wet and dry races so far this year.
Who’s missing:
Chris Jones from Rapha-Focus hasn’t started his season yet. With his fast starts and road fitness he should be a good rabbit to take some pressure off Jeremy Powers in dry races – but his wet racing skills aren’t the best and he’ll need to have top fitness to stay away from a fast starting Trebon this year.
USA Cyclocross Power Rankings after three weeks:
Ryan Trebon – fast when it’s dry, faster when its wet
Jeremy Powers – good when dry, terrible when wet
Jonathan Page – good when wet, terrible when dry
Christian Heule – good in Vegas, flat race on Saturday, better on Sunday
Jamie Driscoll – solid performances in all races, good attack in Vegas
Tim Johnson – bad luck has seen crashes in 2 of 3 races
Todd Wells – good fitness but doesn’t have the fast snap of the front 3-4
Geoff Kabush – consistent top 10 but never in the top 5
Yannick Eckmann - the top U23 rider on Saturday and 2nd best Sunday in Madison
Brian Matter – local boy and Chequomegon 40 mtb winner had a great pair of races with the big boys in Madison. Can he keep it up all season?
