Rumor had over 14,000 spectators for the second annual Cross Vegas Cyclocross race last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. After walking and talking much of the day away during the trade show, the wheelers and dealers came out to the race to have some fun. With sweet live race action commentary by Dave Towle, plenty of food and beverage and a soothing sunset, backed by the bright sports complex lights, the race was sure to be a hit. Lance Armstrong was the main show as a field of cameras followed his every move. He was not the only big name however, Thomas Frischknecht, a super duper long time racer, and World Champion MTB’er was celebrating his retirement with Cross Vegas being the finale. Durango racers Matt Shriver 11th, Todd Wells 12th, Troy Wells 18th, Chad Cheeney 66th and Brendan Shafer 67th of 96 starters. Shannon Gibson was Durango’s lone lady and finished a strong 13th. Full results Cross season is now on, so get ready.
Post race sillyness with the legend Hans Rey, Chad Cheeney and Brendan Shafer
“I did a race a couple of weeks ago in which I skied 10 K, mountain biked 40K, Kayak 12 K, and ran 16K. It just about killed me, but I got second. I won a Gortex jacket which was perfect as it has replaced the one that was stolen from the house. I took Jack skiing the next day and fell asleep laying down with my skis on in the snow as he ate his Choripan and Alfajor. Wasted.” DEVO founder Sarah Tescher
Sarah has been in Argentina this year exploring the country with her family. She is due back in Durango after the new year.
The athletes and coaches of Durango DEVO would like to thank all Schwag-Fest 2008 product suppliers. Schwag-Fest is an event that takes place at each DEVO team race the night after the cross country race. Left over cycling clothing and related items are passed out in a manner that closely resembles a mother bird feeding her baby birds a worm, with them all squawking at once, each wanting a bite of the worm. If there is a discrepancy in who should receive the item, group dynamics take over and a recipient is named. The event is open to all parents, athletes, and coaches who take part in the camping, condo or team dinner action. Local superstars Travis Brown, Kristen Johnson, Mountain Bike Specialists, Matt Phillips, Kricket Lewis, Chad Cheeney, Anthony Colby, Chris Wherry, Matt Shriver, Elke Brutsaert, Greg Herbold, Todd Wells, Jon Bailey, Dan Bowman and Shonny VanLandingham have all contributed stuff to the young athletes.
“All it took was once.” said coach Anne after athlete Avra took a wrong turn on the obstacle course and ended up covered in bark chips. Lucky for the team, the chips were not of the same local as the infamous quick bark chips which have been known to pull young children into the depths in a mere hour or two. Several teammates were on hand for the rescue and had this to say, ” that was soooo weird,” and “it was like…sooo weird.” DEVO is currently looking into whether or not obstacle courses are safe to do.
Project Rwanda work bike next to tiny folding bike
Surly Pugsly with roady tires for smooth sailing
Jill Kitners’ killer Olympic BMX
Speedvagon cross bike, one of many amazing looking cross bikes at the show
Bradley Wiggins World Champion track bike
Sweet Raleigh cross steed
There are so many bike to take pictures of at the show. Everywhere you look, there is another. These are just a few that we took from one short day of spectation.
Annie testing the Santa Cruz Blur on the 4x course
Eric Porter says “tricks are for kids” and “Park City has amazing singletrack from town.” Eric is one of three former Durango cycling professionals that transplanted to Park City and are loving it. Nice
Aaron Chase’s prototype ss/dj bike. Top Tube is a lefty, gives 3 inches.
2008 World ATB Champ Christoph Sauser was everywhere, he’s nice
Tons of swag everywhere. Stuff We All Get
Branden Semenuk’s tasty slopestyle bike
Annie helping Chris Van Dine get his seat height adjusted to the right level. Those downhillers are going to hurt their knees if they keep running low. Chris is another former Durango ripper now living in Park City. He travels the world for Cannondale and rides in all kinds of events from world cup dh’s to Jeep 4x to judging events.
Camelback makes sweet hydration dreams come true
Crazy. So many hair-brained ideas at the show. They seem like a waste of time, but they make the good stuff look good. This guy could have talked to me all day about how amazing this thing is. Look closely and you will see more than you think.
Boulder City, Nevada has amazing trails at Bootleg Canyon. Winter seems like the time to be their.
Q: Who did you talk to on the start line of your Olympic xc race, and what did you talk about?
A: I talked to Olie Beckensale(might be spelled wrong) from the UK. I don’t remember what we talked about other then it being hot and the fact that it was pretty cool we were about to race the Olympics.
Q: What was the techiest thing you saw on your competitors bikes in Beijing?
A: The bike I raced at the Olympics was pretty similar to the bike I raced the rest of the year. The only differences were cosmetic. I would have to say the Blackbox carbon fork crown/steerer tube on the new SID World Cup. There are only a few of those made right now so it was pretty cool to have one.
Q: You hang out with teammate Burry a ton. Is he cool and what are his strengths and weaknesses?
A: Burry and I do spend a lot of time together. I’m on the road almost all year and so is he so it’s really important we get along well. He is super cool. I would say his strengths are downhills and steep short climbs. He raced DH Worlds as a junior so he has tons of skills and goes uphill fast too.
Q: Who was the coolest athlete you met in Beijing and if you could be another athlete, which sport would you compete in? (you cant pick an endurance sport or BMX)
A: I met Jenny Finch of the US softball team before the Olympics at a pre Olympic event. She is probably the most famous athlete I met. If I could do any sport it would be the 100 meter dash. It would be cool to be one of the fastest men in the world.
Q: You and your US World Cup teammates are getting pretty sweet results as of the last two years. There were like 10 years where a top 20 at a WC for a US rider was rare. Are you guys training more or are you just getting smarter with your training time?
A: I think there are a few things going on. 1. There is much more drug testing now so I think the sport of mountain biking is very fair right now. I’m sure there are some people cheating but for the most part I think racers are clean. 2. A lot of us have been racing World Cups now for quite a while and we are finally figuring it out. It takes time to get to that level. You can look at guys that race on the road in Europe for a long time before they are good. Guys like Levi and Vandevelde raced in Europe for a long time before you ever heard of them. I think it’s the same with the mountain bike, it takes a long time to increase your level at the very top of the sport.
Q: You finished 5th in Austrailia, a top finish for you, when you stood on the podium, did you almost cry? Describe the feeling.
A: The feeling is amazing. There is so much hard work that went into that and so many low points that it makes it such an incredible feeling. It felt even better since I had just had my worst race of the year at the biggest event in 4 years, the Olympics. I didn’t cry at that race but I did a few months before in Andorra when I got 6th place at the World Cup, my first really high World Cup finish.
Q: When you think back to racing as a junior, what was the biggest misconception you had about racing in the pro class and making a career of it?
A: I was racing BMX when I was junior but I think the biggest misconception I had as a young mountain bike racer was how easy it would be to make the transition from amature to pro. As a semi-pro I could compare my times to the pros and they would be close but when I actually made the jump to the pro class I got smoked. Then, racing well in the US against some World Cup riders I thought it would be easy to make the jump to the World Cup but I got smoked. It is amazing how fast everyone is at each next level of competition. But what is more amazing is the fact that a person can push themselves over time to become competitive at ever higher levels. Rock Out!
This past weekend, Devo Alumni Nora Richards’ raced for the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team at the Collegiate Track National Championships in Colorado Springs. FLC a relative infant to the track, and Nora a total rookie, took fourth place overall in the Team Omnium Competition.
Division 1 Team Omnium
1 Marian College Cycling Team 899 pts
2 CSU Rams Cycling 842
3 Lees-McRae College Cycling 743
4 Fort Lewis College 622
5 Penn State Cycling 549
6 CU Cycling 342
7 Midwestern State University 233
8 Portland State University 171
9 Univ of Washington Seattle 151
10 UC Davis 148
11 University of Pittsburgh 143
12 UCSB Cycling 137
13 Depaul University 126
14 Georgia State University 64
15 UGA 56
16 University of Delaware 38
Nora placed 22nd in the 2k individual pursuit. Nice Nora, Nice!
Nora climbing at Snowmass in 2007
The U-19 ladies team took it to the state this year and finished 1 through 3 overall in the 12 race Mountain States Cup Series. Junior Expert, Alica Rose Pastore lost one race of the eight she entered and finished 3rd overall. In the jr. sport/beginner class, Kaila Hart raced a consistant season and took the top spot, with teammates Joan Walker and Hannah Madden taking the next two steps on the podium. Other DEVO ladies in the overall were; 7. Summer Ellefson, 10. Amy Katz, 13. Elyse Massone, 15. Kaylee Blevins, 20 Avra Saslow and 20. Sarah Autry. Nice work ladies.
If you are planning on freezing your buns off this December, you best register for the CX National Championships asap. It seems the whole register online before the field is full has become a race in itself. So get on it. Here it is.
U-19er Chase Orrick took the seires overall title for the second year in a row. In a field that draws the biggest field, Chase raced a consistent season to lead all juniors. His 3rd place at the Wildflower Rush, in Crested Butte, was a highlight. He also finished 6th overall in the cross country series. This multi skilled cyclist, also is the mind behind all of DEVO’s video media found on IDTV channel fifteen and You-Tube. Look for his latest film Never Forget The Feeling sometime during sweet Durango October.
“Last fall, I found this frame in a friend’s basement. I recognized it as one of the Team Evian Schwinn Homegrowns from about 1994. Sure enough, its owner had picked it up at one of Ruthie Matthes’ yard sales.” Durango 1990’s ATB Race Bike Restorer Mike Wilk
DEVO U-19 Joan Walker rips by as Coach Kricket rubs her hands together to stay warm, Joan went on to finish 7th.
Breckenridge has been good to DEVO thus far. The team is staying in a pretty nice condo just across the street from the circuit race. Fifteen athletes/coaches fill the place with not much room for any thing else. The team did really good and expects to do well tomorrow during Sunday’s cross country race.
Coach Chad tells jr experts, Gino and Howard that the course is super sweet
DEVO alumni Tad Ellott is 20 years old. Coincidentally, the Colorado native finished out his sophomore season on the NMBS circuit in 20th position. 2007nmbs, 2008nmbs
The Jr. DEVO sign-up meeting went well as we average 7 riders per group, with the biggest being the tuesday 20inch group with 14, meaning only 2 spots remain. The Thursday 20inch group has plenty of room. The final day to sign up is Sunday the 7th by 12am. Last min paperwork and payment can be hand delivered to the mailbox at 3169 w. 3rd ave, (near Animas Mountain.) Rides begin the week of monday 9-8. We are very excited as the trails are amazing right now. Each ride will be led by coaches Anne, Chad and Jon Bailey. And will cover a different skill each week. So parents, make sure to ask questions post ride, as the information is the key to fun.
The DEVO U-14 and 19 teams are in the last week of their summer season. The program ends this weekend, with the last team race, and final MSC Cup race, The Fall Classic in Breckenridge. The team will be leaving this friday to stay in a team condo on the mountain. The team will pr-ride together of Friday to prepare, as Saturday is the circuit race, and Sunday is the cross country. It has been one heck of a season. Thanks for sending us super positive vibes. These kids rock.
DEVO will be graduating one rider this Fall, U-19 Mens teamer Daniel Walker. This is his second year on the team. Daniel has had one of the most radical improvements in the history of DEVO. His Telegraph Time Trial record has been whittled down from 30:17 to his pr on the last TT of the season, 22:57. His consistent practice track record and his enthusiasm to improve, have been a great model for both his teammates and the younger teams. Daniel is a mountain biker. Daniel is enrolled at Fort Lewis College this fall and is taking on the dorms. Wish him luck as he ventures down the road to collegiate cycling. Nice work Daniel.
Daniel Walker shredding his way to victory at Durango Sports Club STXC early this summer
Rumor had over 14,000 spectators for the second annual Cross Vegas Cyclocross race last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. After walking and talking much of the day away during the trade show, the wheelers and dealers came out to the race to have some fun. With sweet live race action commentary by Dave Towle, plenty of food and beverage and a soothing sunset, backed by the bright sports complex lights, the race was sure to be a hit. Lance Armstrong was the main show as a field of cameras followed his every move. He was not the only big name however, Thomas Frischknecht, a super duper long time racer, and World Champion MTB’er was celebrating his retirement with Cross Vegas being the finale. Durango racers Matt Shriver 11th, Todd Wells 12th, Troy Wells 18th, Chad Cheeney 66th and Brendan Shafer 67th of 96 starters. Shannon Gibson was Durango’s lone lady and finished a strong 13th. Full results Cross season is now on, so get ready.
