Ed Raket posted a 3 1/2 minute account of the 2nd Superprestige in Sint-Michielsgestel on YouTube:

the cyclocross course porn group on flickr is shaping up nicely.

People have been getting really excited about the proposed rule change that Tom Simonson has proposed be added to the Cyclocross legislation. The proposed changes are as follows:

Page 13 of 24 Draft legislative packet – fall meeting 10/20/2006

UR06.22 5A Cyclocross obstacles – submitted by Tom Simonson
Last year we passed legislation permitting more than one set of barriers events. This legislation clarifies that this should be the exception rather standard practice, and gives some examples for obstacles and “acrobatics”.
Cyclo-cross
5A11. Races which are not UCI events, national championships, or used riders for national teams or international competition may have two additional temporary artificial barriers (3 total). The barriers must meet the specifications
5A10 and the total number of obstacles may not exceed 6. The additional temporary barriers should be done only in unusual circumstances (e.g. local tradition at a particular event or the lack of suitable terrain); the standard cyclo-cross course should have at most one set of temporary barriers.

5A12. The course may cross bridges or footbridges provided that they are a minimum of 3 meters wide and that there is a guard rail on both sides. A non-slip surface (carpet, wire mesh, or special anti-slip paint) shall be used on bridges and footbridges. A separate footbridge shall be provided for spectators.
5A13. No acrobatics on the part of the riders shall be required to overcome obstacles. This includes such items as excessively steep or slippery run-ups and steps so high that riders have difficulty climbing them.
5A14. Having consulted the Organizer, the Chief Referee may decide that artificial obstacles shall be removed if the circuit is unusually slippery.

Honestly, I’m all for it. It doesn’t force promoters/course designers to only have one set of barriers but it definitely encourages it more strongly. I’m all for having some barriers but it’s nice to have a good amount of other obstacles mixed in too.

So it was the 2nd BASP race on sunday. The course was really good. Lots of fast sections but technical in the corners too. There was also a runup with a lot of sand and a turn at the bottom that i really liked too. My biggest mistake was completely forgetting to check the lap count which was pretty silly. The race just seemed to go really quick because by the time I thought about it, as I saw the number the bell started ringing. I fel like if I’d checked earlier I could have hung onto the group of 4 that was 20seconds ahead of me. However, I managed a better result than at Hellyer park. 17/44 and 2:19 down vs. 21/43 and 3:16 down. So a nice improvement, almost a minute closer to the leader. Here are the photos:

Ps I really wanted this but now it’s ended:

Pps Nathan Spear has put some of the 06/07 cross races on his website! So far he has the Grote Prijs Neerpelt (which you have probably already seen on Google Video) and the first Superprestige in Ruddervoorde.

This was really awesome and totally marks the start of fall cooking.

Last night I made yorkshire puddings and for some reason they came out really bad. They just seemed to take forever to cook and were still not really cooked enough in the middle after over 20 minutes (the recipe said 10-12mins). So i had to make something good to make up for it.

Tonight’s dinner went something like this: Half the squash and remove inside (saving seeds for roasting). Roast at 350 degrees with 1/2c water in the pan for 1/2hr. Meanwhile dice 2 apples and mix with 3T brown sugar, some roasted pinenuts and some grated nutmeg. Take out the squash and sprinle with salt, pile on apple mixture and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Put back in the oven for 30 mins. The rice was plain cooked rice mixed with 4 cloves garlic and a diced tomato that i sauteed in olive oil for a while with salt, pepper, oregano and parsely. Totally good and totally seasonal!

The first indoor cyclocross race has been proposed for January 17th 2007, just 10 days before the World Championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium. The event will take place at the Nekkerhallen arena, whose usual purpose is horse shows, in Mechelen, Belgium. The idea was proposed by the top cycling agent Paul de Geyter (of Cielo sports management) with the original intention that there would be a showdown between Bart Wellens, Filip Meirhaghe, Sven Nys and Tom Boonen(??!). Sounds crazy to me especially since it is scheduled for January (hardly Boonen’s fitness peak) and it makes me wonder exactly what the course would entail since he wants Boonen involved.

However, the idea has received mixed reviews. So far Sven Nys, Niels Albert and Sven Vanthourenhout have confirmed but Hans Van Kasteren (manager of the Fidea cycling team) is not so happy about the timing of the event. Upset that the event will take place so close before the Worlds, he is not allowing any Fidea riders to take part due to fear it may be too risky at such a critical time.

So it looks like there won’t be a showdown quite like the one first imagined but it does sound interesting nonetheless. Although it leaves me wondering, if you take out the cold, rain, wind and snow from cyclocross what do you have left? Cyclocross in california I guess.

More info at cyclocross.info (in Dutch).

i just found a short documentary on the Three Peaks cyclo-cross race that was broadcast on the Countryfile tv program. Couldn’t spot my dad though.

…but i still got a laugh out of this top 1o reasons to race cyclocross in New England post on kerrylitka.com

after running around three riders after the start/finish run up, i launched my attack on the bell lap of DFL #4.

photo stolen from joshuaofcalifornia.