Go!

Started off the Cross racing season for myself this past weekend with the Bavarian CX Championships in Mindelheim on what was more an XC than a CX course. Dominated by a splintered climb to the top of a hill, the course had quite a bit elevation gain in it with a fast downhill that was singletrack at the top before opening up onto an open green field for the rest of the descent. All in all the course was boring, too bad because they could have laid out a much nicer course given the terrain they had to work with...

For me I was just trying to ease myself into the pain-cave for the first time this season. With a strong field on hand, my goal was mid-pack to kick start things. Starting from the back, I picked a few off in the super loose first few gravel corners, then had to dismount the only time over the double barriers since everyone else was fumbling just to get through them. The best came when we hit the fly over the first time, couple people got tangled go up the ramp and with out carpet or some sort of texture, the ramp face became a slide for those with not enough momentum to make it up. Seeing a hole on the very left side I dismounted at the bottom, grabbed the railing and dashed up the side before remounting at the top. That was another few spots in the plus.

From there I just put down the hammer and tried to make steady gains with out blowing myself up. In the end I landed just outside the top 10 with an 11th, a respectable result to start the season. One thing that I enjoyed a lot was disc brakes, given the speed and length of the descent, I was able to descend faster than the others with my extra stopping power.

This weekend we have a double header on tap, Mannheim and Lorsch. Mannheim will be a mere tune up for Lorsch, but I still have a ways to go fitness wise to be able to ride with the front guys. Will have to look at races further down the road to be in the mix up front...

Afterglow

it was the perfect weekend. cool, clear and crisp autumn air, gathering of like minded souls and golden fall foliage pitted against a storybook Alpen backdrop.













Thanks to everyone who made the journey and shared in a memorable weekend with us!

Crosstoberfest Flickr page

Photos: Gerrit, Martino, Michalis, Dirk & Ulf

In case you forgot how to...

Crosstoberfest

a weekend dedicated to cyclocross...


www.cremacross.com

CD 2011

Part of me was at the 2011 edition of Critical Dirt, a hardcore 'cross stage race across former Eastern Germany, 480+ kilometers of body punishing roads, forest trails and other obscure pathways that the Harry Otter Punk Society cooked up over four days. In my absence we still fielded two of our CremaCycles Rasenmähers piloted by two of our good friends, Henri Lesewitz and Stephan Geiss. Henri will be doing a write up on the bike in an upcoming issue of Tour Magazin here in Germany, Stephan will spread the Crema love via ProCycling. Stephan also became our one-man team for Biciclista and CremaCycles and did a stand up job in the process with a 4th, 1st, 2nd and 2nd place on all four stages and being a contender for the overall. Our buddy Benno from Switzerland rightfully nabbed the overall from Stephan, but both came away with mutual respect and best of all fond memories from their experience.

Big Thank You to Stephan for representing! Here are some snapshots from his journey, we will post more photos and links as they come available.

Barista

Chris King paid us a visit during EuroBike. Check it out here

just a year ago a group of 80-some riders rode across sun-scorched roads, gravel, cobbles and other un imaginable pathways as part of a 4 stage cross race from Dresden to Leipzig. It would be one of the most memorable events I have had the privilege to take part in. This year Critical Dirt will play host to another cyclocross stage race, this time 4 days and 500kms... Sure to be a memorable one!

Freshly Brewed Goodness

Freiburg retrospec

STXC Freiburg

STXC racing has a appeal for its simplicity. Not just for the format, but the courses you can create out of simple layouts. Freiburg provided us with a great venue to put a super rad event - part dirt jump park & part crit. This combo made for some fast paced, 'man did I just pull that double?', elbow on elbow racing. What looked like an event tailored to the dirt riders (they did dominate the qualies with each of the 3 heats being won by a dirt jumper), turned out to be a battle field that saw the XC guys with skills come back late in the game to take the win. Stephan Geiss beat out series leader Arne Thoma for the win (taking home a starting spot in this year's edition of the Critical Dirt). 3 races thus far - 3 winners. The table is set for Willingen - another bmx-style course for what is sure to be a sweet weekend of racing! David G & I will line for the STXC - while David & Basti will rock the enduro. Ouch!

In the meantime here are some pics from this past weekend:

11XC004

It is not the first CremaCycles frame that we built, but it is the first to be ridden. This sweet pearl-white 29er went to a good friend in Colorado and is now on tour through the southwest part of the US riding various single tracks during Mike & Soph's spring break. Soph was in the need of a new bike to replace her old Litespeed soft-tail so I was stoked when she let me build a 29er for her and even more glad to hear that she loves it! Thanks Mike & Soph - looking forward to hearing about you adventures from the road! And good luck on the expansion of Aemono (great local food spot in Telluride).

Re-Cycled

we are rapidly approaching our first Freiburg Collective show, and things have come together nicely. Still plenty to do, but things look good. A nice, and I feel very fitting addition, to the weekend is the Fahrstil Classic MTB Ride, a mountain bike ride on vintage mountain bikes from Freiburg to Kirchzarten, site of the 1995 World Mountain Bike Championships, which I happened to be at with my buddy DG. He had his YoEddy and me with my Brodie Expresso milling around the living legends of the sport. Besides taking in the races, we hung out with guys like Brian Lopes, Mike King, H-Ball, Frischi and others. It was all so accessible and laid back - the same atmosphere we wish to instill for the FC.

We love classic mtbs too, they are not only asthetically appealing, the are the renaissance of mountain biking when designs were clean and simple. The parts were mostly machined, rough and industrial yet still beautiful and elegant. They oozed style.

But what old is new again. Looking and the handbuilt sector there is a number of companies with healthy demand and production schedules, and niche's like cross and 29er's keep ferrous metals in demand. We have been building not only what I would consider modern, high-performing machines for customers (ie SSR road bikes and Ti 29ers with Lefty's), but have done (with more in the que) more classic style bikes with a modern flair. Take this Deluxe 29er for instance. A classic frame and fork of steel transformed into a more modern 29er, relaxed geometry accompanied by a parts list that reads like it is from the golden era of mtbing - Avid, Chris King, Paul, Phil Wood, King Cage...yet all of which are modern, finely machined and precise component choices. Mix in some new names like Enve, Fizik and you have a stealthy modern classic.

we are looking forward to building more rides like these while also pushing the perceptions of what was previously thought possible. Our customers challenge us to create dream rides and the companies we have the pleasure of working with help us in this endeavor. The Freiburg Collective will show what other builders are coming up with in the department of dreambikes, we are looking forward to all of the inspiration and stoke on hand!

Lines

One of the things I have always loved about racing, all forms of racing is line selection. The search for the perfect line. It is an experimentation that starts when reconing the course and continues through to polishing the lines out during the race. Each lap is cleaner than the last, you are faster and feel more on top of it. And when you have the course dialed, it is such an awesome feeling, flowing around the course with ease.

We were given a challenge this past weekend to build our short track on what seemed to be less than average facilities. Basti & I ended up putting together a really nice 3 min lap that had super tight turns, a couple dismounts, a difficult and tight maze through a stand of trees and topped off with a spiral thru some very loose gravel. So finding the fastest line was a process of trial and error. Already when warming up I was experimenting with the various lines, first inside then outside and trying all variations in between.

First and foremost I was proud to have been able to stoke people with the course we laid out, second I was amped to get to actually race it and ride with others trying to rally the ideal line. In my warm up I was able to pull the nose wheelie into the trees (which was the key of nailing the hairpin without dabbing), but was unable to do the same in the race. Next time. There was so much to enjoy on around the course, but the sweeping high speed corners were so sick. Full speed leaning the corners was a blast. It is amazing how fast you can take some of these corners.

Looking forward to more races and dialing in the perfect line this season.

Happenings

As CremaCycles rolls on for 2011, we have a lot happening to include our own Short Track Series that has started to take on a life of its own. Originally we had planned four events, then Bike Magazin came along and asked us to add a fifth at their Bike Festival in Willingen, of course we couldn't rufuse. This coming weekend is the second round of the series at FeldTest in Leipzig. Good reason for me to go an visit one of my favorite cities in Europe, not too mention we will be demoing some of our IF's up there.

We have set up a 'micro-site' around the series and for future events, CremaCross has all of the info one needs to get in on the STXC 2011 and be looking for more events in the future!

Another event we are helping put on is the Freiburg Collective on May 7 & 8 in the southern part of Germany. It will be an outdoor exhibition focusing on handmade bike, components and apparel. The will be a myriad of activities and events surrounding this great weekend in the Black Forest to include demos, Rapha Road Ride, guided mountainbike rides, evening exhibition and of course our Short Track race - which may be the most challenging of the series. We will also be giving away a coveted start place to this year's Critical Dirt stage race.

Besides putting on our own events we will be hitting several other festivals, races, events and shows this year.

Bavarian Riviera

Cross bike out the door from my house, over picturesque farm roads, through villages being drenched by sunshine - ah, spring! Rolled over the foothills to the Alps, the hills were glowing an emerald green, before beginning my ascent up the Vilstal direction Tannheimer Tal. The climb was playful full of short sharp ascent and descents, winding with the river through the valley, gaining overall altitude at a conservative pace. In the shadows it was moist to where the cross tires sounded like tearing velcro, and even met some snow along the way. On my final ascent I was met by a nearly 1km long snow field, partly rideable the other part requiring 'cross shoulder carry. Up the last steep pitch was a fight against gravity, mud and snow. Once over the top, an aw-inspiring snow covered Alp panorama greeted me as the warmth of the sun was my companion rolling down the other side into the valley of Tannheim. Scurrying along the valley floor, my bike was aimed towards Graen, a light ascent the whole way, the back roads sometimes were covered by the remains of a nordic season that has slowly disappeared. I even road a section of groomed trail that was somewhere between ice and a slush cone, a section on which I could actually get really motoring down. In Graen, made left and turned back towards Germany, as fast mountain road descent that sent spray up from the occassional snow melt streams that criss-crossed the road way.

Back in the Freistaat, I started exploring new back roads weaving together a sweet rolling route of pave, gravel and even double track through the fields back to Fuessen.

Yes it was a good day.

Annette's SSR & Paul's Ti Deluxe

Here is our most recent builds, the first an amazing looking SSR for one of our lady customers. Rapha inspired paint, Enve road fork, Campa SR11, Lightweight wheels, Thomson stem and post make for the perfect accessories to the Columbus XCr frame.

 

Next up is Paul's Ti Deluxe, a solid mix of SRAM XO, Fox Talas, Chris King, Thomson and a custom Ti bar.

This Ti Deluxe is so svelt with the polished logos, blasted finish and nice blue highlights courtesy the King, Nokon, crankbrothers and Fox anno bits. The Fox Talas provides some versatility to the ride, 90 mm for around Paul's home in Belgium and a full 120mm for when he hits the Alps in the summer.

Thanks guys, enjoy your rides!

Groove

Mother King

Now Serving

After a solid winter of snow, skiing and playing I am ready for a small sampling of spring followed up by a healthy course of summer. My recent trip to NAHBS in Austin only furthered my hunger for a warmer climate change, as I basked in the warm sun while soaking in mid-70's temps. It was a feast for the eyes and soul what all of the frame builders there were dishing out. Anyone who believes that handmade bikes are lagging in technical advances need not look further than what was on display in Austin. A broad swath of builders were showing off all sorts of ideas: integrated headsets, internal routing (even disc brake routing), disc brake cross bikes, mixing of materials and advancement of materials - it was all there. No doubt why some of the bigger companies like Mavic, Easton, Enve had booths there and why I saw reps from many other big names roaming the show as well.

Part of my mission was to introduce 3T to the world of frame building and to show off some products I have been helping them with. We were showing builders the new disc-cross fork and the new Ergoterra cross specific bar, talked about the new 29er fork along with many other of 3T's vast offerings.

Back home I was quickly getting ready for the following weekend in Berlin, our first show of the season and the first stop on the STXC series. The show was a big success, lots of visitors, interest in Crema & IF. We showed off some new wears we did with Biciclista, soon available in our online shop.



The short track was very well received as we had a very cool and funky indoor/ outdoor track in Berlin. Riders started in the show halls rode outdoors through some whoops, some dirt ups and downs, then back inside for a trip down some stairs, through the halls around an indoor pump track to complete the lap. SofaKing (aka Arne Thoma) rocked the field fresh off winning the CCC Dresden Cross Cup to take the win with Stefan Geiss (Nicolai) and Stijn (Stijn Cycles) in tow.

We served up some of our great espresso all weekend over conversations of the coming year. Everyone is definitely ready for more, I say serve it up!