I have been fortunate enough to ride with several mountain biking pros over the years and each time has been a new learning experience. Riding with different styles ranging from cross country racers to downhill racers, you learn a ton with every pedal stroke as you try to keep that rear tire in sight throughout the trail. The stability and control of a pro cyclist is mind blowing, and so much so that you feel uncoordinated and awkward in comparison. Every motion and power transfer is fluid as they move with the bike without working against it. It is really poetry in motion…

But…when it comes down to it…they are just another rider on a bike. Some of the best times I had over the weekend was walking through the pits and listening to conversations between riders. Just like our local races and rides, the riders joke around and have a great time as they get ready for the days events. At one point, Ted King came up to George Hincapie and said, “Yeah…I heard you were racing today through Twitter!” When it boils down to it…they are all just out doing what they love…racing and riding their bikes.

Training To Be A Pro

I’m not that’s for sure! For some of us…we like just enough competition throughout the year to get our feet wet, but the amount of training and dedication it takes to be a pro cyclist (forgetting that you need some natural talent) takes up your entire life. To perform at the level these athletes do…you really have to give up everything in pursuit of a podium spot, and that is not a sacrifice that 99% of us can make. It takes a special breed to get to that level and most never even get to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but…for the rest of us…we get to watch all of their hard work over the years pay off with the hope that we can pick up just a little bit of that knowledge to become just a tad bit faster on our local trails and roads.

A big congratulations goes out to George Hincapie for winning his 3rd US Pro Championship over the weekend (and his 2nd US Pro win in his hometown of Greenville). James Thomas from Bicycle Design was able to get some great shots at the end of the race since I had to leave early to get back to Atlanta. The shot of Hincapie hugging his dad is priceless, so head over to Flickr and check out his shots.

You can find the rest of my US Pro shots on Flickr by clicking here.

Race Preparation for Non-Racers

The following tips are a sequence of events that I go through to get ready for one of my few races during the year. I have found that serious racing takes too much training and hard work to be seriously competitive (and I am VERY competitive), so I stick to bringing my head above water only a couple of times a year. Since I am not training for race season all year long, I do this mini preparation for the big event.

Several Weeks Before the Race – Starting several weeks before the race, I will start to put in a few more miles during the week. If you have your regular local ride that you hit every Tuesday, do a couple more hill repeats and put in the extra mileage. It will help build your endurance up for the main event while still being able to enjoy your regular rides as you normally do. After all, you are out there to enjoy your spin time on the bike…so there is no use killing yourself. I will also look for more mountain rides on the weekends to get in the elevation change. Again, this is to try to build up a little bit of extra endurance that will be very beneficial for the race.

The Week for the Race – The follow tips are ones that I take starting around 9 days before the race. A lot of this is just general race preparation that most racers do all year long.

1. Diet – No…I do not join Weight Watchers, but I do start watching what I eat and cut out all of that high fat, high calorie gas station food that just makes my mouth water. During this time period, I am making sure that I get the most bang for my buck when it comes down to food consumption. Your body is going to need a base to pull nutrients from during the race and starting 48 hours before just is not enough. By taking a close look at what I am shoving down my mouth during the week preceding the race, my body feels better and I am able to hammer more power to the ground.
2. The Bike – If you are riding a road race or event, make sure you get the road bike out several times before the race that week. If you are doing a mountain bike endurance event, ride the bike you are planning on running for hours on end. The idea here is to get out whatever bike you will be riding for the event and get some spin time in. Not only does this get you comfortable on that bike for the event, but it also lets you diagnose any mechanical mishaps before you are getting down to the start time pressure point. The night before the event, go over your entire bike and make sure everything is torqued correctly, greased up and ready to run the next day. Nothing will ruin a day more than a mechanical that could have been avoided with a little bit of extra preparation.
3. Your Body – When you are in the 72 hour window of any event, you are not going to gain any extra endurance for the race, so do not push it hard during this time. You do need to get out and spin your legs on the bike, so go on easy rides that do not peak your heart rate. You want to keep everything fresh without creating lactic acid buildup that will kill your chances of having a great race. It is also a great idea to stretch during this time to keep everything flowing correctly. Loose, limber and ready is how you should feel the night before…not soar and beat.
4. Shopping and Laundry - I try to have all of my pre-race maintenance tasks done 48 hours before any event. This involves my pre-race checklist of required nutrition, race apparel (don’t wash it the night before…what if something happens!), shoes, etc. By having all of this done 48 hours before the event, I am able to relax the night before and get a good nights sleep without having to rush to get anything done.

Now that everything is done and ready for the big event where I am going to lay the hammer down and get my ass handed to me, I am able to get a great nights sleep, wake up early, enjoy a light breakfast and head out to the race. Every now and then, I get lucky and my preparation pays off with a podium spot, but it it doesn’t…it’s all good because I am just out there to participate in the event.

Biking related events are a great way to get involved with the sport and meet new riders along the way. You do not have to be a hardcore racer to enjoy the events and there are multiple classes to fill the needs of everyone attending. Get out there and get your feet wet…you will be glad you did. Hopefully, these tips will help with the overall stoke and let you perform at a level that you expect from yourself.

Now…I’m off to go get ready to play with some roadies in Greenville, SC on my Blue Competition Cycles Nx7.

The US Pro meet-up will take place at Barley’s Taproom at 3:30pm on Saturday, August 29th following the time trial. A few other bike bloggers will be there including James from Bicycle Design, Byron from Bike Hugger, Robb from Mountain Biking by 198, Josh from Pro Bike Wrench, Briggs from Euro Peloton, Frank from the Tour de France blog, and others. Feel free to drop by and say hi if you are in Greenville for the races.

So come on out if you are in the area and hang out. On Sunday, I will also be participating in the Stars and Stripes challenge that benefits the Lance Armstrong foundation. The Stars and Stripes challenge is a great way to raise money for cancer awareness and get a chance to ride the pro course before the road race championship. If you are watching the S&S race, look for the guy with hairy legs and tread on his shoes riding a Blue Competition Cycles Nx7. It starts at 7:30am and runs 50 bones to get you in. All of the proceeds go to the foundation and after you ride…you get to watch the pro’s show how its really done.

For more information on the USA Pro Cycling Championships (and the S&S ride) visit www.usacyclingchampionships.com or hit me up via the contact form on this site. If you are going to be in the area, let me know!

Race organizers confirmed today that three-time U.S. Pro Time Trial Champion David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream), and two-time U.S. Pro Road Race Champion George Hincapie (Team Columbia-HTC) will be among the star-studded fields for the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships, to be held August 29-30, 2009. Other top pro cyclists who have confirmed are Craig Lewis (Team Columbia-HTC), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream), Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream), Tom Zirbel (Team Bissell), John Murphy (OUCH presented by Maxxis), Floyd Landis (OUCH presented by Maxxis) and Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team).

More than 100 professional cyclists are expected in Greenville to compete for both the Individual Time Trial and Road Race Championships.  And more than 30 elite handcyclists will compete in a Time Trial and Criterium, for the finale of the 2009 US Handcycling Series, presented by Paralyzed Veterans of America.  Many of the top handcyclists are U.S. military veterans who were recently injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Joe Beimfohr, of Winchester, Tenn., and Latseen Benson, Washington, D.C. Also competing will be 2008 Paralympian Matt Updike of Denver, Colo, and two-time World Champion Scott McNeice of St. Petersburg, Fla.

“We anticipate thousands of spectators from around the country for both days of racing and spectator events here in Greenville. Fans should expect some excellent competition, with some of the best cyclists and handcyclists in the world. The City of Greenville and Greenville County have done a fabulous job to host this event for a fourth year. If you haven’t been out before, don’t miss it,” said Chris Aronhalt, Managing Partner of Medalist Sports, the company that produces the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships.

On Saturday, Aug. 29, the 20.7-mile Professional Individual Time Trial Championship, presented by Duke Energy, will return to the Clemson University-International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).  This 20.7-mile race against the clock will begin at 11:30 a.m. The USA Cycling Professional Road Race championship will take place on Sunday, August 30, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in downtown Greenville.  Over 100 competitors will battle on a 110-mile course, won last year by Boulder, Colorado resident Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing). Hamilton retired earlier this year, leaving the Stars and Stripes Jersey up for grabs. This is the 25th anniversary of the one-day road race championship. Past winners include speed skating Olympic champion Eric Heiden (1985), Lance Armstrong (1993), Hincapie (1998, 2006) and Freddie Rodriguez (2000, 2001, 2004).

Salt Lake City, Utah native Zabriskie returns in search of a fourth consecutive title in the ITT; he’s never lost in Greenville.  He’ll have plenty of challengers this year. 2009 second place finisher Zirbel, who was just five seconds behind Zabriskie, has been riding consistently well and is the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar individual points leader (through Aug 10, 2009).  And three Garmin-Slipstream teammates return who will look for the top spot on the podium, Vande Velde (3rd in 2008), Steven Cozza (4th in 2008) and Danielson (5th in 2008). Danielson just won the individual time trial at Vuelta a Burgos in Spain, and youngster Brent Bookwalter, who lives in Chattanooga, Tenn., just won the prologue at the Tour of Utah.

In the U.S. Pro Road Race Championship, Hincapie is the local favorite and is looking to add a third Stars and Stripes jersey to his collection.  He is recovering from a broken collarbone that occurred at the Tour de France, but is healing quickly.  With the retirement of Hamilton, and second place finisher Blake Caldwell recovering from a spring injury, all three podium spots are wide open.  Seven of the Top 10 from last year’s road race are coming back, including Hincapie’s teammate Lewis. Murphy, who lives in Athens, Ga., did not finish last year’s road race, but this year he is coming off a win at the U.S. National Criterium Championship.

New for 2009, the dual championships will also host two races for the U.S. Handcycling Series, presented by the Paralyzed Veterans of America.  The handcycling races will feature 10 disabled veterans, including five who were injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Time Trial will begin at 8:30 a.m at CU-ICAR and the Criterium will begin at 1:35 p.m. from South Main and Camperdown in the West End.

“”The community of Greenville, Greenville Hospital System, Medalist Sports, and USA Cycling are really setting the bar for integrated cycling by including a handcycling race…it’s a great way to showcase the athleticism of our paralyzed veterans and Paralympic cyclists,” said Ian Lawless, Executive Director at U.S. Handcycling.

The final fields for both the Individual Time Trial and the Road Race will be posted on the event website on race weekend. Professionals will compete for prize money, and more importantly, the right to wear prestigious Stars-and-Stripes jerseys for the 2010 season.  The events are sanctioned by USA Cycling, Inc., the governing body for the sport of cycling in the United States, and managed by Medalist Sports.

In addition to the dual championships, there is a full schedule of activities and events for the weekend in Greenville. The Stars and Stripes Challenge, fundraiser bicycle ride for cancer research, has engaged thousands of recreational cyclists and raised over $400,000 for GHS’ Oncology Research Insitute and Lance Armstrong Foundation. A Health & Wellness Expo will be part of the Sunday festivities with the Road Race, taking place along Main Street from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. And for children and families, there are two free bicycle events on Sunday, the Family Fun Ride (10 a.m. Falls Park) and the Duke Energy Kid’s Races (11am – 1pm registration in Expo).

Cannondale brought out their demo trailer to show off some new rides. A few guys even raced them. I got to get my hands on a new Rize and was surprised to see all of them with QR Fox forks. All of the preliminary shots showed these bikes with a Lefty installed. I have to say, I was glad to see the Fox forks instead of the Lefty.

Local riding legend, Bobg, took care of the time recording duties and it was off to the races.
I got to the event late and only ran one lap. My time was 24 minutes and 20 seconds. I was extremely happy with this for several reasons.

• My warm up was the ride from the truck to the starting line. This basically means I hit a sub 30 minute race with cold legs, lungs and not prepared.
• The bike had never seen dirt before…so this was the break in ride. I was on Ham’s new Ibis Mojo, and this ended up being its “break in” run.
• I am really out of shape. Too much time working and in front of a computer lately…I really need to get to riding more.
• I haven’t ridden a sub 30 lbs bike in awhile (several months). The steeper geometry still really has me a little sketchy…

The winner had a time somewhere in the mid to low 19′s and most of the really fast guys were ranging in the 20-high 22′s, so my 24.20 with all of that stuff going on wasn’t half bad.

The bike got me that time basically. There will be a full out review after I really put it through some paces today, but that bike climbs like a mountain goat. I felt like I was flying up the hills. It was also pretty good on the downs thanks to it being Push’d on both ends. It will take a couple of rides to get used to the more cross-countryish geometry (I know what most of you are thinking right now…xc? it has a 140mm Pike on it!).

The component list also helps the bike out a lot….full ’08 SRAM X.0, Hope M4′s with braided lines, Push’d RP23 and Pike, carbon bits galore, Industry Nine’s on Stan’s Flow rims, XTR cranks and FD….the list goes on and on…

Great job RAMBO on getting this together for the 2nd consecutive year…maybe I’ll be in better shape for the next one!

I’ll continue to update this post as the information comes in…stay tuned…

Results and Pictures from the Event