Tour of California Clean up

Today I was cleaning up for the Tour of California stage 1. The part of the stage we cleaned was on Highway 1 outside of my house. We picked up all kinds of recyclables and used an old bike trailer to carry them back to the recycling station.
Björn

Eckmann brothers strong in German Nationals

Brothers Robin (age 15) and Yannick (age 14) Eckmann returned to their homeland of Germany for the holidays and participated in the German National Cyclocross Championships on Saturday.

Showing the impressive form and skill they maintained during the fall in Colorado through US Nationals last month, the brothers made up for a back-row start by charging all the way into the top 10.

Switching their finishing places from US Nationals, this time Yannick took 4th place, and Robin 6th place.

Race reports and photos from their trip coming soon.

Zack Gould's Language Arts class speech

What is global cooling? We all know what global warming is. Today I am going to tell you about global cooling. Global cooling is mostly trying to stop global warming. We can start global cooling by riding our bikes or walking to school, instead of taking a car which releases pollution into the atmosphere decreasing the ozone making it hotter.

Who likes snow? I sure do! So by starting global cooling we can have more snow days. Another way to start global cooling is to recycle and compost. By doing this we can reuse our natural resources instead of dumping it into a landfill and have to use up more energy to create paper and bottles. To help global cooling we can put solar panels on the top of our houses to get energy from the sun instead of Xcel Energy.

I ride for CLIF BAR Development CX Team (a cycling team) which promotes global cooling. CLIF BAR is one of the sponsors which supports global cooling.


-Zack Gould, age 12

Summerhill in Boston Sunday Globe, 10/14/07

Finally posting a JPG of this...before the Gloucester race weekend, Danny Summerhill, Josh Liberles and I were fortunate enough to be able to meet Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe photographer Stan Grossfeld for a unique photo shoot opportunity at Walden Pond, in Concord, MA, for his Sunday Boston Globe photo feature, "What They Were Thinking."

Loenhout

Loenhout was a pretty sweet race. All of the usual euro features. Fly overs, mud pits, tight corners, you know, the usual. The start went well, with both Danny and I in the top 20. Bumping elbows with euros is great fun because they always fight back. I felt like my legs were actually coming around a little bit. My lungs still weren't there. I drilled it so hard on the 2nd to last lap so I wouldnt get lapped. I made it by about 5 seconds. The last lap was funny as all the Pro's were warming up behind me. I just had to finish the lap to get whatever place I got. Nobody was gonna catch me and I couldnt see anyone in front of me. Lots of spectators were out. Even for our race there were plastic cups littering the course from spectators dropping them. The BMX whoops section was fun. It was even covered in astroturf this year. 2 big fly overs too. Danny's back isn't doing so hot so he is gonna skip out on Diegem tomorrow and rest up for our last race on Wednesday.

Today around the house was nice. Slept in a little bit. Got some breakfast consisting of corn flakes (2 bowls), toast with jam, yogurt, and some juice. A little checking the email and surfing the web for sweet stuff like titanium bolts for my bike. Then I headed out for a short little spin. The sun was out full blast. The most I have ever see it here. 8 deg C too. It was a little breezy though. Got back, ate some lunch. Massage time at 2pm. Then lots of computer time all afternoon. We have a good time hassling the juniors too.

Off to bed. Gotta get ready for the cobbled climb in Diegem tomorrow.

Brady

P.S. - Danny is addicted to MTV's The Hills. In the past 2 days I think he has watched almost every single episode of every season. Oh Toast...

Just Soap

A really cool company that utilizes the bicycle and minimizes its impact on the environment in making an all-natural product is Western Massachusetts-based Just Soap.

A unique bicycle-powered blender mixes large batches organic ingredients creating amazing blends of affordable and long-lasting soaps, like Sage-Fir, Lavendar-Rosemary, and Oatmeal-Honey. Check out Just Soap online.

Salsa team bikes featured on Cyclingnews.com

Cyclingnews.com Technical Editor James Huang paid a visit to the CLIF BAR Development Team home base following the Portland USGP weekend, and recently featured the team's Salsa Chili con Crosso bikes and other equipment on his Pro Bike feature for Cyclingnews.

Read the full story, and check out photos, here.

Rough Day in Hofstade

Danny and I had a rough day in Hofstade. I started on the back row but somehow managed to move way up on the start. Danny got stuck behind a big crash and was forced to chase. The sand was killer as usual. The both of us have been sick for the past few days. Nothing horrible, but stuffed up noses and sore throats. Just that little bit off your top game will kill you over here. I was really feeling bad when I was out there. My legs seemed good, but I just couldn't breathe. Danny had some bike troubles and I'm sure being sick did not help him either. Oh well, we live to race another day.

Today was a nice relaxing day at the house. Easy rides, massage, laundry, bike shop and store runs. Lots of lounging around, almost too much. We will be out of the house tomorrow though. Its a GVA race in Loenhout. Its a fun course from what I remember. BMX whoops section, fly-overs, long start straight, and stop lights are used for the start. Hopefully I will remember to take some pics.

Brady

Update From Belgium

Oh the joy of travel. My adventure to Euro Cross Camp VI started out at in Denver on the 19th. My initial route had me going from Denver, to Chicago then to London and finally to Brussels. That plan didn’t last long. My flight out of Denver was delayed because a de-icing part needed to be replaced. I missed the connection in Chicago because of this. So, I’m not too worried, there has got to be some other flights out of Chicago that I can get on. Nope. I get there and go over to the customer service desk. They are closing so I get sent to the one on the other concourse. Sure enough, they are closing too. I try the self-service kiosk to no avail. I call the 1 800 number for United. They can’t do anything but put me on some flight for tomorrow. I try to get on a Lufthansa flight to London that’s was supposed to leave in 5 min. That was too big of a hassle for them to do at the gate. Well, I guess I’m staying in Chicago. I got a room for the night and tried again in the morning. I got on a flight to Washington DC, then to Brussels.

I finally made it to Belgium, the cyclo-cross capital of the world. Which really means nothing when your bikes and bag don’t show up. I finally got my bag yesterday, the 21st and my bikes showed up today. I raced (or tried to) on Ryan Trebon’s training bike in Zeddam today. I made it around 3 laps before my back couldn’t handle it anymore. A 61cm top tube plus a 120mm stem was just too much for me. The course was really fun though. It was slick in the corners but fast everywhere else. There was a nice big fly-over as well. The most interesting feature was the 100-stair run-up. The first lap through was totally crazy with guys yelling in all different languages as we came to a complete halt at the bottom. It was pure euro racing fun. Hopefully I will feel better after a couple days of training on my own bike then Wednesday is a big World Cup in Hofstade. Wish me luck.

Team, sponsors featured in Mountain Flyer article

Check out the latest issue of Mountain Flyer magazine, for a feature article on eco-friendly companies making a difference in the cycling world (and outdoor industry), including team sponsors CLIF BAR, Pedro's, Chris King, and Patagonia. The CLIF BAR Development 'cross team is featured as well!