2008 Zipp OVCX Cyclo-Cross Tour

ZIPP OVCX TOUR ANNOUNCES 2008 SCHEDULE

Highlighted by Rare Three-Day International Weekend and USGP

Press Contact Information: SpectaSport LLC
Ken Getchell, kenmacpr@yahoo. com; 610-397-1950

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 5, 2008; Conshohocken, PA, USA: Highlighting the Ohio River Valley’s new-found reputation as one of America’s best cycling destinations, the Zipp OVCX Cyclocross Tour has announced its most ambitious schedule ever, highlighted by a USGP weekend and the only three-day UCI sanctioned cyclocross festival in the world apart from Belgium’s “Christmas Week”. The 13-race Tour, sponsored by Zipp Speed Weaponry wheels and components, will also feature some of the finest domestic races in America and no fewer than three open state championship events.

Four of this year’s Zipp OVCX Tour events will take place in Louisville Kentucky, home of the famed Kentucky Derby thoroughbred horse race and recently honored by Bicycling magazine as one of America’s Best New Cycling Cities. In the June 2008, which hit newsstands on May 1, the editors of Bicycling say that “The mayor embraced cycling” and the bike summit he called “created a visionary goal – the Louisville Loop – that has inspired the whole city”. The article concludes with a brief overview of last year’s USGP races, part of the Zipp OVCX, “The reception was so enthusiastic that locals are now talking about building a cyclocross park.” This year’s USGP races in Louisville take place October 25 and 26.

The complete 2008 schedule is below. For more information, see OVCX.com or e-mail OVCX director Mitch Graham at mitch_biowheels@ yahoo.com.

Continue reading 2008 Zipp OVCX Cyclo-Cross Tour…

UPGRADE FOR OVCX’s BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers CYCLOCROSS

UCI Elevates Cincinnati Area Race to C-1 Status

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 31, 2008; Conshohocken, PA, USA: “Harbin Park’s a C-1, baby!” That’s how Mitch Graham, promoter of the annual BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Cyclocross in suburban Cincinnati Ohio, announced that the UCI had granted an upgrade for the race. Last year’s C2 race drew a who’s who of North American racers, punctuated by Barry Wicks and Katie Compton, who won the featured UCI races. This year, the race will be held on Sunday, October 12 as the capstone to a planned three-day weekend of UCI-sanctioned OVCX cyclocross racing in Ohio. It is the Midwest’s first-ever UCI C1 level cyclo-cross event.

The BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers is part of the Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series. Taking place in major Midwestern cities, the fourteen-event OVCX series is one of America’s largest series. And, with no fewer than five internationally sanctioned races (including the Louisville USGP weekend), it is also one of the most prestigious.

For more information on the BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Cyclocross Race or the OVCX, the Midwest’s remarkable racing series, contact Mitch Graham at (513) 861-2453.

An Open Letter To: The eight year old girls who came to watch youth soccer on Sunday at Loveland’s Miami View Park and ended up watching a grown man nearly blow chunks.

Dear ladies, I’m sorry you had to witness me crying for mama between bouts of the pukes. It happened on the 2^nd lap of the Masters 35+ cyclocross race. You were innocently standing and cheering near the course, about 100 yards after the double barriers. I was desperately trying to ride my bike as fast as possible to stay in contact with the tail end of the race. To put it in your terms, I was totally sucking and didn’t want to be a total loser. You probably didn’t even notice me as you texted your friends. Or, maybe you were using your cell phone camera to film your latest You Tube epic, “Barf On Bike.”
To refresh your memory I was riding a pretty green, blue and white bike with a matching outfit. I was in dead freaking last place, right behind the guy on the mountain bike. For future reference, if you every get into bike racing and are riding a custom made lightweight cyclocross bike in a cyclocross bike race, you should always be in front of people on heavy mountain bikes. Put it this way, if Barbie is driving down the freeway in her Jaguar, she should always be in front of her friend in the pick-up truck.
You see girls; I ate an egg burrito about two hours before the race. I thought the hour and fifteen minute bike path ride to the park would’ve speeded digestion. But, apparently there was a little eggy left in my belly that didn’t want to go down. You know how your mommy tells you to wait a little bit after eating before you go swimming? Yeah? Well, it’s the same with bike racing. Listen to your mom, or you’ll totally barf in front of strangers and embarrass yourself.
So, I hope I didn’t gross you out to the max by hacking, snarfing, wheezing, drooling and spitting in front of you. Since we’ve spent the last six weeks buying a new house and moving, I am a little out of cyclocross shape, mistimed that burrito and probably shouldn’t have rode my bike 20 miles to the race. Not to mention, riding in dead freaking last place doesn’t quite sit that well with me after staying in contact with those fast Kentucky guys the last two years.
So, little ladies, please know that I am grateful that you came over to cheer for the bike riders. Your shouts of “go go go” were encouraging. Thanks to you, I nearly caught that guy on the mountain bike on the last lap and kept some the 45+ guys behind me too.
Most of all I’m soo glad that you found cyclocross racing more interesting than watching your sister’s soccer game.
Joe Bellante
Bio Wheels Racing
Dead Freaking Last Masters 35+ at 2007 Loveland CX

236 Riders Hit UCI Harbin Park

UCI Elite Men’s Results

1 Barry WICKS Kona - Your Key Mortgage Team 1:04:57
2 Joachim PARBO CCV Protek 1:05:39
3 Brent PRENZLOW Alan North America 1:05:48
4 Ryan LEACH GPOA-Cannondale 1:05:48
5 Molly CAMERON Vanilla Bicycles 1:05:48

UCI Elite Women’s Results

1 Katie COMPTON Spike Shooter 0:40:08
2 Kelli EMMET Giant Bicycles 0:40:32
3 Wendy WILLIAMS River City Bicycles 0:40:48
4 Sue BUTLER River City Bicycles 0:41:31
5 Melissa THOMAS Team Maxxis 0:41:44

See full results and race report here!

Harbin Park UCI Cyclo-Cross!

Sunday, October 14th is the big day for UCI cyclo-cross racing at Harbin Park! That’s just over a week and a half away. This is about as big a bike race as we get in Cincinnati.

For those that haven’t been to a cross race before, it’s an extremely spectator-friendly event. We want those that come to be loud. We’re handing out 100 cowbells at the event to registered racers, we’ll have drummers down at the sand pit, and we’re asking people that are coming to spectate to bring a plethora of noise-makers. We don’t want those that are traveling here from out of town to forget Harbin Park, and Ohio Valley Cyclo-Cross. There will be food served to raise money for the Aubrey Rose Foundation, all kinds of kids races and events, music, 2007 and 2008 Jamis mountain bikes to demo on the trails there, and all kinds of other things going on.

Some of the female pro names we’ve gotten to fly in this year include a few past and present United States and Canadian Mountain Bike National Champions. Topping the list is Katie Compton, three time U.S. National Cyclo-Cross Champion and the 2007 World’s Silver Medalist. Katie used to be a member of the Trek team that used to dominate the 24hrs of Canaan back in the late 90’s. Now she’s racing cyclo-cross and track, and kicking butt at both. Giving her a run for her money will be Wendy Simms, former Canadian Mountain Bike and Cyclo-Cross National Champion from British Columbia. Two U.S. Master’s National Cyclo-cross Champions, Wendy Williams and Susan Butler, will be here from Portland, Oregon - and Wendy already has one UCI win under her belt this year. These ladies are tough; they’ve all raced ‘cross over in Europe - and will put on quite a show.

The men’s pro race may almost be as exciting as the women’s. This will be the most stacked men’s field we’ve ever had as well. The first rider we had signed on was two-time Danish National Champion Joachim Parbo, who is doing a tour of the States before heading back to Europe for the World Cup season. No doubt he’ll have his work cut out for him though with California’s Barry Wicks, 2006 U.S. National Mountain Bike Short-Track and 2005 U.S. Grand Prix Cyclo-Cross Champion. His teammate from Oregon Erik Tonkin will be up towards the front, as well as Colorado’s Brandon Dwight, U.S. Master’s National Champion Ryan Leech (State College, PA), New Zealand’s Mark Legg, and another Oregonian, Molly Cameron. Phil Noble (Xenia), Brandon Jessop (Cincinnati), and Shawn Adams (Akron) will be there representing Ohio mountain bikers - looking to crack the top ten. Louisville pro Anthony Slowinski will be representing KY mountain bikers - looking to do the same. It will be an unforgettable race.

There are categories for all ages and ability levels, so if you’re wanting to give cyclo-cross a try, you won’t find a more fun course than at Harbin. Registration info can be found here: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=5042

Local sponsors making this happen: United Dairy Farmers, Reece-Campbell Construction, Wyoming Steel, Legacy Stoneworks, Wellington Orthopaedics, and MSA Architects. Also, Jamis Bicycles, Hammer Nutrition, Ritchey Design, Endura, QBP, and www.procyclocross.com.

More info:

http://www.biowheels.org/Home/Article.asp?ArticleID=5891

NC Cyclo-Cross Racing 2007

Want to have fun while maxing your heart rate for 45 minutes? Want to ride a funny-looking road bike with knobby tires on dirt, grass, pavement and whatever else is in your path? Want to dismount your bike to run & jump over barricades? What to improve your bike handling skills and keep your fitness up going into winter?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then a cyclocross race may be for you.

Check out the series info here: http://www.nccyclocross.com/

4th Annual UCI Cross Race Coming Oct 14th to Cincinnati

Elites ripping around the pavilion

Brand-new ‘07 course

The Ohio Valley promoters are already pumped for the upcoming fall season. Talk of a first-ever World Cup in the US has come and gone (there’s always next year…), but hot damn if we’re not going to have a killer local series next year. 15 OVCX races this year, each with a minimum $1500 payout - 4 UCI races - and 2 US Grand Prix races in Louisville!

For Cincy this fall, we have our first ever UCI DOUBLE. This means more talent flying in from all over to mix it up with our locals. Firm confirmations are yet set in stone at the moment for some of these guys, but some potential names that’ll be ripping around Harbin Park this October - Kona’s Erik Tonkin and Barry Wicks, Danish National Champion Joachim Parbo, Vanilla’s Molly Cameron, and last but certainly not least 2006 World’s Silver Medalist and 3-time National Champion Katie Compton! We’ll let you know when the riders are confirmed. Bar none this will be by far the most world-class field we’ve ever had in 12 years of racing at Harbin Park.

Sept 9 - OVCX #1 - City of Heath Festival Cross - Columbus, OH
Sept 16 - OVCX #2 - Darkhorse Racing - Burlington, KY
Sept 30 - OVCX #3 - Todd Tour of Louisville - Louisville, KY
Oct 7 - OVCX #4 - John Bryan Cross - Yellow
Springs, OH
Oct 13 - OVCX #5 UCI C2 - Java Johnny’s - Middletown, OH
Oct 14 - OVCX #6 UCI C2 - BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers - Cincinnati, OH
Oct 21 - OVCX #7 - Riverside Cross - Cincinnati/Loveland, OH
Oct 27 - OVCX #8 UCI C2 - US Grand Prix Louisville #1 -
Louisville, KY
Oct 28 - OVCX #9 UCI C2 - US Grand Prix Louisville #2 -
Louisville, KY
Nov 4 - OVCX #10 - Gun Club Cross - Cincinnati, OH
Nov 11 - OVCX #11 - Brookside Cross Cup - Indianapolis, IN
Nov 18 - OVCX #12 - Promotion Cross - Lexington, KY
Nov 25 - OVCX #13 - Ohio State Cyclo-Cross Champs - Columbus, OH
Dec 2 - OVCX #14 - Kentucky State Cyclo-Cross Champs - Storm the Greens - Louisville, KY
Dec 9 - OVCX Final - Wendell Moore Cross - Louisville, KY

Harbin Park cross practices to start in one week!

Wednesday, August 8 will be our first cyclo-cross practice at Harbin Park in Cincinnati. That’s 1.5 weeks from now! They will be every Wednesday from Aug 8 until daylight savings.

Typically in years’ past what’s been happening has been we’ve set up shorter 3-4 minute loops around the park using a lot of the UCI race sections. After a couple of warm up laps, we’ve done various intervals using the loop. Everybody starts together, and after the interval rest enough to get everyone ready for the next one. One to two sections of dismounts are out on the course.

Also in years’ past there wasn’t a whole lot of instruction for beginners. We are looking to change that this year. We have partnered with Fulcrum Coaching’s Dan Tille this year to have 1/2 hour of instruction for beginners available each week starting at 6:30. Those wanting instruction will be taken through proper dismount and remount for barriers, turns, starts, and equipment tips. From there they can jump into some of the course work with everyone.

For the seasoned vets, we will begin the first interval right at 6:30. Please get to the park at 6 to get warmed up and ready to go. We’ll meet in the same place at the north parking lot.

The most we’ve seen at practice is around 30 - let’s try and break some records this year. It’d be great to see 40-50 this year. Bring some newbs along this year!

And don’t forget about the great clinic coming up Sept 15th in the area by one of this country’s premier cyclo-cross coaches, John Verheul.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions dealing with Wednesday nights, feel free to email me off-list.

Hope to see you out there,
Mitch
BioWheels