6 November 2008

Greetings -

Whoa am I behind on this or what atmo*. It's Wednesday evening and I'm just now getting around to
blogging about this past weekend. The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team spent two lovely days
in Northampton Massachusetts at the 195th Annual Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross at
Look Park. This race predates the actual conception of 'cross by at least a century and then some,
and I'll wager that this fact is lost on the great minds who follow the sport, and is as equally unknown
by the scribes who report on it every Monday morning. One thing is for sure, the race, the venue,
and the experiences we share each weekend never get old. Adam et al, you all put on a wonderful
weekend. We all look forward to the next forty iterations. The team had a very successful two days
of racing. Will "Just Du It" Dugan was once again on supreme fire as he won the U23 Men's
(doh...) contest and returned his own self to the lead in the season-long NEECS Verge Point
Series. On day two, we had an iota less of luck, as Will came home second and gave the Leader's
sweater back to Nick Keogh with whom he's dueled since September. No matter - Will has good
legs and an even better head. We all look forward to more lng weekends and seeing him at the top
of the podium again very soon. Amy and Pookums also had a good two days of racing. The pair
came in 16th and 19th on Saturday, and bettered these finishes to 9th and 15th on Sunday. Atmo I
would wager that Issimo and Pook had their best day of racing this year on that Sunday as they
were each extremely motivated and looking send a message about their fitness for the upcoming
USGP in two weeks, and for the National Championships coming up in mid-December. Racing-wise,
all is where it should be. Justin, a.k.a. Rotundo, also had a great result on Saturday finishing 10th,
but a mishap and then a mishap redux ended his chances halfway through Sunday's race, and he
went to the showers early. Better to save it for another day.

This coming weekend is a bit of a buffet for us. I think I'll drive down to Bridgeton, New Jersey with
Matt and race at the Beacon 'Cross, and then high tail it back to Mercer County and meet up with
Amy and Justin so we can all do the Highland Park Cyclocross Race in Jamesburg near my old
Peddie stomping grounds in Hightstown. Last year, both events were UCI C2 status but this year
only HPCX has it. Quelle dommage (french for "what cheese").

I also want to mention that I have been zealously ( I love that word - zeal - and all it's derivatives)
adding to the team Flickr galleries. Don't forget the two links which are dedicated to 2008 so far:
Gallery One (filled to its limit)
Gallery Two (in progress)

What with my new camera and so may pals taking great action pictures, I expect to fill at least three
galleries by Thanksgiving. As the images come to me and get pasted online, I'll remind you about
them here. In the meantime, here is one of my favorites of 2008:



I also received an email update from Alie Kenzer-For-The-People from the People's Republic of Boulder.
As most know, Alie moved west this past Spring but still represents for the RS 'Cross Team. This past
weekend was the Boulder Cup, and here is a first person account:

Home Away From Home:
This weekend, I decided to subject myself to some of the most excruciatingly fast Elite (with a
capital E) Women's racing at the Boulder Cup. Though I was aware that the races would be
tough, I don't think I fully comprehended the extent to which I would need to have my mental
game just as dialed (if not more) than my physical game (which is slowly but surely coming
along.) On Friday, I met up with a few Boulderites to do some "openers." Now - in most towns,
this would be a group consisting of a few racers who want to spin out their legs and maybe
add in a few hard efforts. Needless to say, we ended up riding with a few of those Elite (with
capital Es) cats and though I had a blast trying to hold on to any wheel I could, I should have
probably seen this as a sign of what was to come. It was great to meet some new faces though,
and be reminded that no matter how intimidating these folks look when they're racing, they're
actually very friendly and welcoming. Saturday's race venue was out at the Boulder Reservoir
and was filled with sandpits, loose gravel, off-camber turns, and more sand. My one briefly
redeeming moment on Saturday was during my warm-up when I rode behind Tim Johnson to
see what lines I should attempt to take. We entered the pit at full speed and made it about half
way down to the beach when he had to dismount. I thought I could keep going so I pulled around
his left side and gave him a little friendly goading. My glory lasted about 1 second though, and
as I was about to dismount, he ran up next to me and pushed me so I could keep going. I
proceeded to watch him gracefully mount his bike mid sandpit, and ride away from me just as
my front wheel got stuck and I did my own graceful endo. Sigh. One day I'll learn this game.
But for now, its nice to know I have so much support, even if my "e" in elite is still lowercase.
Which brings me to Sunday's race. This course had a lot of grass, some sand, and a LOT of
pedaling uphill. And even though it was no New England race scene, I was astounded at the
abundance of cheering on every corner. I was determined to stay in the race on Sunday, as a
few mistakes and lack of mental toughness caused me to not finish on Saturday. I had my best
start of the season, riding the entire first lap with the top ten women. It was incredibly fun and
exciting. I settled in to my own pace after a bit, but the cheers kept coming as if I were still up
front. The familiar faces and friendly cheers certainly brought up the racing morale. As the
race wore on and Georgia Gould - one of my racing idols - was about to lap me, I turned to
the crowd and said, ''Hey - I'm beating Georgia Gould!" Might have said it a little loud, as I
could hear her chuckle while riding past me. She then gave me some words of encouragement
and the crazy part was, she wasn't even out of breath! I told her "great job" as I pedaled a
little harder to try and keep her in view. We took a slick grassy corner a little hot, and as I slid
my rear wheel out, I watched her as solidly handle her bike and take off like a speeding bullet.
Congrats to her on a stellar weekend of racing! I'm looking forward to some low key local
races next weekend. Time for a little confidence boost!

Thanks, Alie. We miss you like you cannot believe.

Lastly, I want to remind all who read here about the sidebar to the Whitmore's Landscaping
Super Cross Cup that will be held in another three weeks or so. I have this pee are puff piece to
paste in courtesy of the promoters:

Entire Atmosphere up for Grabs at Whitmore's
Myles Romanow is giving the atmosphere to a lucky cyclocross racer. The promoter of the
Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup in The Hamptons has announced that he will be
giving away the atmosphere as part of the event's "Ready, Set, Race" raffle. Romanow had
previously announced that one of the raffle prizes will be a complete, custom-built Richard
Sachs Team Cyclocross bike, complete with wheels, SRAM components, shoes and helmet.

Now, Romanow has teamed up with Richard Sachs again to give away the "ATMO-sphere",
a baseball personally autographed by Sachs himself. "It's a really lame prize ATMO," said
Sachs airily, "not nearly as good as all the other s**t Myles is giving away." ("ATMO", short
for "according to my opinion", is Sachs' signature catchphrase.)

The raffle will also award a set of Dura Ace 7850 SL scandium tubeless clincher wheels and a
complete SRAM Rival group set as prizes. Non-UCI competitors at the Whitmore's Landscaping
Super Cross Cup will automatically receive one free raffle ticket for every race they enter.
Raffle Tickets can also be purchased through the event's registration page on BikeReg.com.

"People always knew I had balls," said Romanow, "now I'm giving one of them away."

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

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

*according to my opinion