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This past week in Vegas was a cycling lover's dream. Every morning we headed out onto the mountain biking trails at Cottonwood Valley and the Cowboy trails for some brisk riding with spectacular views. Despite riding trails like Black Velvet and Three Mile Smile a couple times a year for over a decade, I never get tired of them. From there it was on to Interbike with all the eye candy and a boatload of cycling's best known personalities. At night there was the new Cross Vegas Race, the USA Crit Finale, and more parties than you could actually attend.

It was really weird that the Mr. & Ms. Olympia competition was going on at the same time as Interbike. There were lots of elevator rides with skinny cyclists and pumped up hulks. Even the women made me feel puny. What a sight!

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2007 Interbike
Cross Vegas Race
USA Criterium Finale

Cross Vegas was really a blast. Several thousand people showed up at the Desert Breeze Soccer Complex a few miles west of the strip to see some great racing. All the top Americans were there and a few notable Euros showed up as well. The course seemed long especially since you could see practically all of it from a vantage point near the start/finish. Over 6000 feet of steel barriers had been used while constructing the course. The Bouder, CO guys should be commended for pulling off this race, especially for negotiating with the city and Park to make it happen.

The front of the Women's Race was impressive. Katie Compton, the reigning USA National Cyclocross Champion (and World Silver Medalist) was joined by Lynn Besette (curent GP Champion), Katerina Nash (NMBS Short Track Champion), Georgia Gould (NMBS Cross Country Champion), Mary McConneloug (USA National Cross Country & Short Track Champion), and Kelli Emmett (World Singlespeed Champion). Yikes....this was going to be a shootout!

When the gun went off Compton and Bessette opened a gap within 1/4 of a lap and never gave it back. From that point on they would trade leads but stayed together like there was a bungee cord between them. Behind them was Katerina Nash who generally can bridge up to the leaders like a knife cutting through butter. But this time she was relegated to a distant third place for the entire race. The unfortunate thing for the Luna women is that for most of the race Georgia Gould raced 50 yards behind Katerina. I felt that had they been able to work together they might have reeled in Compton and Besset. But that never happened.

Behind Gould was a workmanlike group containing Wendy Simms, Mary McConneloug, and Kelli Emmett. They worked very hard together but never could move up. At the finish Emmette would outsprint McConneloug to take fifth place. I had never seen Kelli race cross before and was impressed.

With a lap and a half to go, Bessette attacked Compton on a slight uphill and never looked back. She slowly grew the gap as Compton faded a bit. I have to admit I was shocked to see anyone drop Katie on a power course like this one. But, everyone has good days and bad. And after all, it was still September!

Interbike
With 20,000 bicycle industry people visiting hundreds of trade show booths. Interbike can be quite intimidating. After entering the main exhibit I decided just to stroll around to get the lay of the land. That took about three hours due to frequent non-scheduled stops to lust over shiny new bike parts and glistening paint jobs on hundreds of bikes.

Every manufacturer was showing new carbon bikes and parts, each claiming some “proprietary” process that was much better than their competitors. With the exception of Trek (who was not there) and Specialized, virtually all of the carbon is coming from plants in China. Bike industry engineers told me that China has both the best and worst carbon parts being made today. How the consumer is supposed to sort out the difference I do not know. The biggest increase in carbon was on wheels with every major manufacturer showing an "ultralight" version.

Another innovation that seems to be gaining traction is the tubeless road tire. More manufacturers are making tubeless wheelsets. Since we have already lived through this phenomenon with mountain bike tires, it all seems familiar. First there is doubt, then grudging acceptance, then a wholehearted embrace. Again Hutchinson has lead the way with it’s Fusion 2 Road Tubeless system. At the moment there is just one tire choice, a triple compound tire that weighs 290 grams. It uses a proprietary (until everyone copies them) carbon bead to hold the tire more firmly than kevlar can. Recommended tire pressure is 80-100 psi, but they admitted that long-time roadies were using the upper limits.

In the battle for the best Gruppo, the consumer is certainly the winner. SRAM Red is hot stuff, especially since SRAM Force just won it's first World Championship in the Time Trial. SRAM hasn't rested on its grip shift cash cow, but has continually pushed the design envelope. The XO Components I have been using now for two years are virtually flawless.

Likewise, Shimano has introduced the Ultegra SL Gruppo.....and it is gorgeous. It incorporates many Durace features, a new gun metal color, and shaves an impressive 100 grams off the regular Ultegra line. As a long-time Ultegra user, I have often wondered why anyone needed anything better.....but with Ultegra SL being spec'd on the new Madone's, I am sure to upgrade. Shimano R&D staff is in a league of it's own. For instance, they have a design group that works only on chainrings. They constantly are modifying tooth profiles, shifting ramps, pick-up pins, materials, and a host of other variables. Unlike many American companies, they are not just a bunch of ex-cyclists who design rather than engineer a product.

Campanolo was truly disappointing. Their only new product was the carbon crankset (which had already been introduced). Ho hum.....they were also the last crankset company on the planet to go carbon. The only other new products in the whole line were different paint colors on wheels. Give me a break.

If I had to pick one company that is the most innovative right now, it would be Scott. In addition to making beautiful, light equipment, they have introduced lots of cool designs such as carbon drop-outs, their one-piece Pilot SL carbon bar/stem, and seat-masts for their mountain bike line. Their Spark LTD mountain bike is the world's lightest full-suspension rig. I saw Cody Peterson ride it this year and it helped produce his best results ever. Their Addict LTD road bike weighs as little as 13 pounds. Crazy. One of the things I like about their bikes is that there are no "house brand" components. Instead they use top-of-the line stuff from Mavic, Shimano, Rock Shok, and Ritchey. Impressive indeed.

I saw an 8 foot high Jeramiah Bishop, and a ten foot high Julien Absalom. But, this 25 foot likeness of a muddy Barry Wicks could be seem from anywhere at Interike!

Mario Cipollini certainly got the crowd excited by racing in the Industry Cup. With Phil Liggett and Bob Roll on hand it seemed like a big deal. Unfortunately a couple guys took Mario out in a crash with one lap to go. (Click to enlarge)

Photo Galleries
Cross Vegas Men
Cross Vegas Women
Interbike People
Interbike Products
Industry Cup
USA Men's Crit Finals
Kona Bowlathon Luau

The Men's Race had an even more impressive field with US Cyclocross Champion Ryan Trebon, Mark McCormack (former US Cyclocross & Road Champion), Jon Page (2nd at the World Championships), Christian Huele (Danish National Champion), Adam Craig (US Cross Country Champion, World Singlespeed Champion), Barry Wicks (former US Short Track Champion), Tim Johnson (former US National Cyclocross Champion), and Olympian Todd Wells.

This race was a slugfest. Tebon won the start and just kept the hammer down. Staying with him were Johnson, Heule, Wicks, and Powers. Ryan led for quite a while before various riders took turns at the front. Halfway through the race Johnson attacked the group and opened a sizeable gap. I could not tell whether the group behind did not feel threatened by the attack or could not respond. Within half a lap I got my answer as Barry Wicks seemed to sacrifice himself to bring Ryan back to Johnson. Somewhere on the far sid of the course Powers had slipped off the back. With a couple laps to go Wicks also started to dangle.

What happened then was quite remarkable. Not only did Barry bridge back up to the three leaders, but he then went right by and attacked them! While all this was happening Jeremy Powers was visibly riding faster than anyone on the field and caught the leaders while all hell was breaking loose. After this group had been softened up a bit by Wicks, Trebon counter-attacked and it was "lights out" for everyone else. Heule took second and Powers beat Wicks in a sprint to take third. This was exciting stuff.

"My Carbon is better than your carbon"
Virtually every bicycle and wheel manufacturer was showing new, lighter carbon wheels. Unfortunately, some of them looked "scary light" (including Shimano) amd none have the braking power of metal rims. The Cane Creek wheel pictured above seemed well constructed.

Only in Las Vegas do you get Elvis hamming it up with race winners. Actually, Miss Nevada stood just to the left of this photo but was to shy to jump into the scene. From left to righ: Katie Compton (2nd), Lynn Bessette (1st), & Katerina Nash (3rd). (Click to enlarge)

I have seen US National Champion Ryan Trebon race many many times. I have seen him more dominating but he never raced better than at Cross Vegas. He gave up the lead at times to let others work, knew which attacks to go with, and counterattacked with a vengenance Some of Ryan's success goes to teammate Barry Wicks who brought back a Tim Johnson attack, and for softening up the field with an attack of his own with two laps to go. (click to enlarge)

The first 90 degree corner was the scene of several crashes(click to enlarge)

The USA Crit Finals were held in the massive back parking lot of Mandalay Bay. While the six turn course was a bit bumpy and a couple turns were tight, most racers said it was decent racing. Several thousand spectators came out to see the races while Bob Roll and company broadcast it live over the internet.

The Industry Cup was arguably the most entertaining race of the evening due to the presence of Mario Cipollini in the field. Mark McCormack set the early pace with an impressive attack that left the whole field behind. If a few riders had gone with him the final result might have been different. It was amazing to see Super Mario hold onto the fifth wheel spot just like we have seen him do countless times on TV. Unfortunately a rider ahead of him who had just sprinted for a prime sat up unexpectedly and crashed out Mario and a couple other riders with one lap to go. Kenny Williams got off the front with Joao Correia with a few laps to go, then soloed in the last four laps for the win.

Laura VanGilder (Cheerwine) won the Women's Race in a sprint. Her teammates looked like a well-oiled machine in the last couple laps as the Cheerwine "train" formed at the front.

Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) looked uncharacteristically docile during the men's race but had enough to win the final sprint. He commented afterwards that he had 'just one match to burn" and obviously had to save it for the end. In one of the most exciting moments of the night, Martin Gilbert won a $5000 Gamblers Prime! Only in Las Vegas.