6, October 2008

Greetings -

This past weekend was a bye for me and several of the folks on the Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team.
There were a few local races in New England, and the closest event to the Chester White House was
three hours away. I made the decision to stay home and get some work done (i.e., having many nosh
moments, moping around aimlessly, and also spending 24/7 arguing on the Internet) and waiting just
one more week until a flurry of long, on-the-road weekends begin.

For this week's team bullshite, I'm going to be a cut and pasting fool. Firstly, I want all who read these
updates to be well versed in tires, specifically the high-end race tubulars from Challenge Tech. There
is a new model that we'll be racing (and winning) on in 2008 and it's called the Fango. I am pasting in
two links here so that you can read about the tires and what Donn Kellogg from Challenge had to say
about them. Read these:
Challenge in Mud and Cowbells
Challenge in VeloNews

For the rest of this email, I will add texts from Matt Kraus (with one "S") and from Alie Kenzer. These kittens
were the lone RS 'Cross Team racers who made it to a start line this past weekend. Here's some gossip:

From Pookums -
Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name….

This Saturday I hopped across the Tappan “Sinatra” Zee Bridge over to a local race put on
by Westwood Velo in Mahwah, NJ. Its odd for a NJ race to be local. I am used to local being
MA, NH, CT, etc. A little background to that…about four months ago I left the Boston area
after a 10 year run and moved in with my galfriend to Pleasantville, NY…which is upper
Westchester County. So hopping across Sinatra’s bridge reincarnate fifteen minutes from
my house is a new and novel concept. Well, so is showing up at a local race and knowing
(almost) nobody. After racing cx in New England for close to a decade, a fresh start, is, well,
fresh. But it also feels quite solo in comparison. Not only was I the only RS rider there, but I
felt an aura of anonymity – which is an oddthing to feel at a cx race lately.

Since I had a racing-lite but training-heavy end of summer, my fitness base was solid but a
little dull to begin the season. Each of thelast four weekends I have been feeling more and
more adept at speed changes and attacks. Since the New England Worlds are next weekend,
I decided to double up on the racing today. Masters 35+@ 11:45 and the “A” race @ 1:45.
The course was a lot of track packed into not so much space. A fun track with a million turns
and only a few places where one could even get up to speed.

I holeshotted to get myself away from the Masters field of thirty before the course got twisty. I
lead the race for the first two laps at a comfortable pace and recognized that I had brought a
group of five riders away from the rest. Soon that number was three, and then it was just me
and Roger Aspholm. For the last 3 laps or so we each tried to get away, but the course would
not allow the space for attacks. Attacks were often nullified by lapped riders, whom I found quite
fun like a video game asteroid field dodgefest. Roger got command before the last technical
section and took the sprint, leaving me in second.

The “A” race was a small field of about 15. Again five of us got away but this time I let Roger's
teammate drag us around for a few laps. About halfway through, badda bing, it was Roger and
I off the front. As we crossed the start/finish line for the bell lap Roger outsprinted me for pole
position. He was able to hold that all lap and again take me at the line. Winning is always nice,
but I don’t feel bad about loosing to Roger, he’s podium worthy with a V8 under his hood. I felt
better about my form, as the pencil is getting sharper.

In staging, one of the cats commented on my RS bike; he had only seen pictures of it in the
magazines. I had to wipe his drool off before we started. In the parking lot I was talking to this
bearded courier cat from NYC who was in second place in the “B” race on a fixie until he flatted.
He also dug on the bike/components. I let him ride it around the parking lot. I swear the kid was
walking on water after that, with about much emotion as a NYC courier would show. As I packed
up my stuff, I realized how grateful I am for all the solid equipment we got to use and how I love
the team time in the schtetle*. I used to do a lot of solo travel and don’t miss those days anymore.
Next week in Gstar the schtetle is ON!
* jewish ghetto

From Alie -
Hey folks,

Since I'm not out there on the east coast racing beside you, I figured I'd shoot ya'll an email to
let you know how racing at 9,097 ft went for this girl :). Honestly, it hurt, but its not like it hurt any
more than trying to catch up to the Wallace at ANY sea level 'cross race! On the way to Frisco,
CO on Saturday, I was informed that this was just a "little" local 'cross weekend and not to be
worried about the altitude, there probably wouldn't be many folks out there. It seemed like it would
be a great opportunity to get myself back in the 'cross groove, even with the slight margarita-
induced hangover. Anyway, we pulled into Frisco, and low and behold, it was as packed as any
major race I've ever been to. There was Katie Compton, racing on the course with the Cat 3 men
(her version of a warm up), showing them how it’s done (as always). Oh boy - I was in for a treat.
Needless to say, the women's race was actually really fun, and out of a rather large field of 37, I
was 14th! Comfortably mid-pack and I was psyched. (Saturday Results) We spent the rest of the
day walking around a very ghostly Vail village, ate Mexican food from a bus station (yeah, kind
of bizarre, but not half bad!), and then went to a hipster art show opening that included some of
our host's screen prints. Sunday's race was at the same Frisco, CO venue, but with a completely
different course. It was a bit less technical and no run-up like Saturday's course that had a brutal,
deep dirt run-up - similar to the Putney 'cross run-up but thankfully only 3/4 as long). Both day's
courses had a long grinding paved uphill section, but Sunday's was complimented by a lovely
long dirt downhill bit that gave us ample recovery time. Some fun twists and turns in sandy
gravel, some log barriers...you get the picture. Anyway, I felt even stronger on the second day
and was SOOO close to top ten, but unfortunately kinda bobbled in the end and had a neck-in-
neck sprint with a girl at the line for 11, and literally lost to her by about an inch. No worries
though - I'm pumped for next weekend and for the weekends to come. And for those of you who
don't already know, I will be seeing you in Delaware on the 17th!! I AM SO PSYCHED TO BE
REUNITED !!!!!! P.S. I had numerous folks come up to me and ask to touch the sacred Richie
frame...the red beast held up well this weekend, and got many compliments!!

Miss you all!!
xoxo
Alie


Our next big event is the Gran Prix of Gloucester in Manhattan, Kansas oops I mean in Gloucester,
Massachusetts. I hope to see you all there. I plan to make the podium in my event so bring your point
and shoot thingy.

Thanks for reading.

e-RICHIE©™®
www.richardsachs.com
http://rscyclocross.blogspot.com
Richard Sachs Cycles
No.9, North Main Street
Chester, CT 06412 USA