Saturday, January 26, 2008

CX Women's World Champs less than ONE DAY AWAY


In celebration of the Women's Cyclo-Cross World Championships tomorrow in Treviso, Italy, below is the article I recently wrote on Rachel Lloyd for the Marin Independent Journal. She is one of the riders who will be competing in the race. Along with Rachel, the other USA gals who have a chance of a high finish are Katie Compton and Kerry Barnholt.

(Photo by Dave McElwaine)

On a side note, it was amazing to watch Niels Albert just destroy the U23 field. For the first seven minutes, there were a couple of guys who were within ten seconds of Niels. But when you look at the body language of all three guys, it was clear that Niels was running at 95% while the other two were at 150%! By the tenth of fifty minutes of the race, Niels was still running at the same speed but the others started pedaling backwards to pay for their efforts for the first seven minutes. Jamey Driscoll was our top finisher of USA. Not to take away from Driscoll's great performance (he is an incredible athlete), it's great to see that USA CYCLING supports their young men rather than the women or even elite men, who clearly have an actual chance for podium.

Here's the Rachel Lloyd article:

Christine Vardaros: Lloyd is back on the scene and making a big splash

IT HAS BEEN almost four years since I shared a hotel room in Italy with Fairfax's Rachel Lloyd, as part of the U.S. national team in preparation for cyclo-cross world championships. But I will never forget the look on the coach's face when Lloyd showed up to dinner wearing camouflage military combat pants when everyone else was dressed rather conservatively.

Her non-conformist maneuver not only summed up her individuality but her unconventional cycling career.

Her affinity for bikes began in 1994 with a very ambitious cross-country ride from her previous hometown of Bellingham, Wash., to Virginia Beach, Va., to visit a friend. While a trip like that would discourage most people from ever mounting a saddle again, Lloyd was energized by it. Cycling became her newfound passion.

Within a year of the adventure, on her 20th birthday, she tried her luck at competition. Initially participating in road races, Lloyd quickly made the switch to dirt - mountain biking and cyclo-cross, both of which proved a better fit for her relaxed attitude. She flourished instantly and by the next year, she qualified for a professional license.

With an upgrade to the professional ranks, Lloyd raced year-round for the next seven years. Every springand summer was spent on the mountain bike (both cross country and downhill) for big pro teams like Gary Fisher, while fall and winter were reserved for cyclo-cross. She was a threatening force on the pro circuit, making regular podium appearances in all three cycling disciplines.

But in 2004, at the top of her career, Lloyd walked away. While typical post-career protocol includes overindulgence in food, drink and socializing, Lloyd simply carried on as normal - minus the racing. She continued working as a massage therapist, riding her various bikes on local trails and roads, running errands on her BMX bike, rock climbing, trail running and taking her motor-cross bike out for periodic spins.

Even though Lloyd was content with retirement, her friend Nicola Cranmer of Fairfax, manager of a new cycling team called Proman-Paradigm, had other plans. A few months ago, Cranmer put her plan into action by succeeding in luring Lloyd back to racing with a very enticing offer. In exchange for free bikes, Lloyd simply had to compete in a few events. Living on a modest salary, she couldn't pass up the opportunity.

As promised, Lloyd competed in a handful of races. Much to her excitement and surprise, she easily achieved success with a U.S. national super-D championship (a new style of off-road racing that combines cross country with downhill) and a Northern California/Nevada District road criterium championship.

Not wanting Lloyd to end her cycling career there, Cranmer offered more bikes to Lloyd so she could compete in the upcoming cyclo-cross season. Her plan not only succeeded but far surpassed any reasonable expectations. Lloyd contested the full U.S. national series as well as many key international and local events.

"After a bit of gentle urging, I was back into racing before I even knew it," Lloyd said when asked about her return to full-time racing.

Posting multiple wins and podium spots against the best this country has to offer, including a second place at the U.S. national championships last week, Lloyd was named as one of only five women to represent USA at the world championships.

Her hiatus from racing proved to be successful in rejuvenating her love for competition, but there was also an unexpected drawback.

"I've been racing the longest of all my competitors and nobody even knows who I am," she said. "People forget so quickly."

To those of us who remember her pre-retirement, she simply picked up where she left off - her usual podium placing at national championships followed up with a trip to world championships.

At the end of January, Lloyd will be back in Italy, where the event will again be held, having dinner with the U.S. national team. I wonder if she will bring her legendary pants this time around. I hope so because she remains just as rare as those pants were many years ago.

To follow her travels or to donate funds to help her pay the $1,500 participation fee charged by USA Cycling Federation, visit http://proman-paradigm.blogspot.com. When making a donation, specify that the funds are for Rachel Lloyd.

23 comments:

bikesgonewild said...

...GO, RACH, GO !...GO, RACH, GO !!
...GO, RACH, GO !!!...

...i'm all excited & stuff...if rach can both get & stay anywhere near the front, that steep run-up could be to her advantage over the last number of laps...
...while lousy conditions might better suit her preferences, it looks like the conditions are gonna be good w/ a fast course...the run-up & the off-camber technical aspects may play to her strengths...

...HUP HUP HUP !!! GO, RACH, GO !!!...

GCDavid said...

Good on New England's own Luke Keough on a 10th place in his first worlds.

Whatever happened to that article you were supposed to write on Wellens? Hope he beats the motorcycle demons from last year.

PEANUT said...

Hey GCD: The Wellens article was written a long time ago for Cyclo-Cross magazine. It will appear in their next issue. Go to cxmagazine.com to get a copy! Thanks for asking.

Big Bad Wolf said...

Hanka got it, and deservedly so.
Marianne might have gotten it had she not make a steering mistake, throwing her back in the middle of the race.
I had counted on Katie C but the impression I had for a few weeks now that she was be over her top proved to be correct. I'm glad Laurence clinched third, I remember her from a Paris Roubaix race a few years ago, she was a strong contender then and even now at 36 y/0 she still has what it takes.
The Belgians nearly missed the podium with the Men's but Sven Nys proved once more to be the best of the Belgians. Bart Wellens had tough luck but he wasn't giving me the impression he could have beaten Boom, who was the strongest in the field in what proved to be a fast race after all.

GCDavid said...

I haven't seen the race yet (I was doing my own race), but good for Boom. He looked absolutely ridiculously good in the last World Cup race. Where did Stybar come from?? Good results early on, but I haven't really seen him on the podium. And good to see Nys hang in there despite looking lousy last week.

Two World Championships in one year for Boom, and in two disciplines. Anyone do that before?

PEANUT said...

Marianne Vos - in one year, World Champion CX, World Champion Road, Dutch National Champion and European Champion - 2 yrs ago.

bikesgonewild said...

...well, a podium spot wasn't in the cards for rach, but we welcome her home knowing she gave it her best shot...

...tough course, tough competitors, tough day (tougher day for katie compton)...leave it behind you & ride on, rach...HUP HUP HUP !!!...

GCDavid said...

Vos = the best cyclist you've never heard of? Probably.

Nice to see Page had a decent result after a very tough year. Also, looks like Powers and Johnson rode together! Can't wait to watch the replay.

Now what are we supposed to do till September?

PEANUT said...

It was great to see rachel make a top ten after her first top ten many years ago! Very impressive.
GCDavid: To keep you occupied until september, you can read my blog. haha.

PEANUT said...

Oh, and from watching the mens race live, it seems Page had some sort of mechanical because he was in the lead group of top 10 or so but then dropped back many many spots in a very short period of time. He was even behind tim johnson and jeremy powers. Next thing i saw was page running into the pits. I suppose he had a flat. Anyway, he put in a very impressive chase to pass johnson and powers as well as all the other guys who passed him to catch back up to the lead group. Hey, and to finish only 41 minutes behind the winner is quite impressive.

GCDavid said...

I mean BESIDES reading your blog. Where else am I going to learn 101 kitchen uses for a pumpkin? I thought they were only good for Halloween and candle scents. Shows what I know.

PEANUT said...

pumpkins are also really good in burritos and tofu quiches.

GCDavid said...

Of course they are.

http://neighborsgo.beloblog.com/archives/
NA_22GreatPumpkin.JPG

I couldn't get the link in one comment line, but you might want to take a look. You're not the only "Peanut" with a think for pumpkins.

gewilli said...

"41 minutes behind the winner is quite impressive."

man 41 minutes behind is impressive?

;-)

Top 10 used to be a pretty huge accomplishment for any USA cyclist at CX worlds. no?

gary, you can haul your CX bike down this way and do some 'racing' on the local course here! No need to wait till september to get the throwdown going with the cx bikes..

Anonymous said...

How does USA Cycling support the U23 riders???
If you mean euro cross camp, you are wrong because usa cycling does not support that and it is 100% athlete funded and a common misperception.
It seems that USA cycling does very little to support ANY of its cross riders.

PEANUT said...

HAHAHAHA! Yeah, 41 SECONDS! haha.
Oh, and it seems to me that USA CYCLING goes out of their way to promote the boys more than the girls because they seemingly get all the attention. I have never seen usa cycling start any active effort to even organize a camp for women OR mention us in any of their press releases. I have been watching it for years and this is simply how i personally see it. And yes, i am aware that they pay about $100 a day to participate in the camp.

bikesgonewild said...

...usacycling is too busy designing 'beautiful' usa team kits like this years version & the last spidey iteration...

...'ms paint' is a powerful artistic tool in the right hands...doh...

PEANUT said...

I thought their best recent version was the one before the spiderman kit. It was simple red, white and blue. The only drawback to that one was that people were mistaken us for the czech folks.

bikesgonewild said...

...i've got nothing specific in mind, but i find the american team kit to be indistinct, uninspired & bland...

...to paraphrase gertrude stein's softly barbed cast at oakland:::american team kit, it's got no 'it' to it...(oakland, there is no 'there' there)

...the belgians, dutch, italians & french always look belgian, dutch, italian & french...usacycling's designs look like they're either not trying hard enough (this years) or else they're trying too hard (spidey suit)...

GCDavid said...

Enough of this! Time to get the Vanderkitten designers on the case! Chop chop. We'll hear no excuses. If Hilfiger can use Old Glory for boxers, Vanderkitten should be able to put something together worthwhile. It's your patriotic duty.

gewilli said...

gary,

but would they listen to a woman's biased clothing company to dress the "MEN" and juniors (how many Junior women are there racing at Worlds?)

Sure they've got some women working at USAC...

they probably have some old masters aged folks there two. But both groups seem to get a bit... shafted.

*shrug*

as long as we have unbreakable spirits like Lloyd Peanut and the rest of the female gang, we'll be okay. Heck we've got a MASTERS world champ hailing from new england. How much press has Kathy Savary gotten?

I dunno, lets not think about USAC. There are obviously no models for them to base a successful national organization on.

Big Bad Wolf said...

Boom has 3 world champinoships in 1 year..
2007 WC -23 in cyclocross
2007 WC -23 in Time trial
2008 WC Elite Men in Cyclocross

GCDavid said...

Hey G, I don't expect any large organization to do anything reasonable. I am after all a sociology prof. I KNOW BETTER!

I do have to confess, once I had my first daughter, I made a point to take a greater interest in women's cycling. Women always have had a strong presence in the triathlon scene. I am pretty sure they get equal prize money. I know they get equal face time and coverage in the mags. Contracts I couldn't tell you. But, they are in many of the ads in the mags.

What's the difference? Perhaps when the sports were born and their roots? Dunno, but that would be my first guess.

Seems for women cyclists to get noticed, they gotta posed nearly nude in some calendar (not that I have anything against "art").

This is giving me good stuff for my classes!