les américains à l'étranger

With the resurgence of cycling in the US and the fact that we now have, I believe, 17 Professional cycling teams registered here in the States I thought it would be a good time to introduce you to a couple of friends and former teammates of mine who took the path less traveled and pursued a professional cycling career in Europe, not as Americans on an American team but instead Americans on Belgian teams.

The first cyclist I would like to introduce is Seth Pelusi. Seth is from Texas and spent some time on the US National Cycling Team and his last race as a Pro was the World Championships in Portugal 2001. Because Seth still lives in France I sent him some questions via email and he responded. I was excited to get in touch with Seth and get some of his insite. Most of the questions came from any interested friend of mine and Rivet Cyclesport on Facebook.

The next cyclist I will interview is Pauly Burke. He raced on 3 different teams in Belgium and I am looking forward to what he has to say as well.

RC- Seth, thanks so much for answering these questions. My first question is What is your athletic background and what got you involved in cycling?

Seth- I've always been a cyclist and it was my father who got me involved. he and his riding buddies would drag me around on all of their rides, I was 13.

RC- As a Texan what was the cycling scene like when you began racing?

Seth- Much better than it is now. I don't live in Texas any longer but I know there are alot fewer races available than there are when I was racing there.

RC- I remember racing every Spring weekend in Texas, criteriums, road races, and tt's. It was great

RC- What steps did you take in your journey to turn Porfessional?

Seth- I went through the national team as a junior and espoir. In 1998 when I was racing for a French amateur team, Rene Wenzel the director for team Saturn gave me a call and thanks to my friend Levi Leipheimer, who gave good word to Rene that I was a good rider to hire, I turned pro with Team Saturn.

RC- What did a typical training week consist of? Did this change as you went to Belgium?

Seth- Depends completely on the week, but usually between 20 and 35 hours of riding. In Belgium it was the same except we had much shittier weather to do our 20 to 35 hours in.

RC- What was the major difference in racing as a pro in the states and Belgium?

Seth- I really enjoyed racing for Saturn. It was a great team, great staff, and great teammates. Mercury was a good team as well. But as a pro in the states all we did were parking lot crits. That is what I didn't like. In Belgium I raced for a division2 professional team called Flanders-Prefetex, it was a poorly organized team but we did some amazing races! Because of our division2 status we got into all the Belgian classics, some of the best and greatest races in the world.

RC- Where in Europe did you compete?

Seth- All over Europe, all of the Belgian Spring classics except for the world cup events.

RC- Did you have a specialty on the team?

Seth- Nope, I was average at everything.

RC- Who of the "famous" pros have you raced against? beaten? Lost to?

Seth- I got my ass kicked by all of them! But I was always happy to when I could do some ass kicking of my own at some of the smaller races!

RC- How were your arrangements in Belgium? Where did you live?

Seth- I had an apartment with a few of my teammates but I went back to France as often as possible to be with my wife.

RC- Did it take a while to adjust to life in Belgium?

Seth- I'm adaptable and because I was traveling so much adjusting was not a problem.

RC- While racing did you hang out with mostly english speakers?

Seth- In Belgium everybody speaks english but in France, you absolutely need to speak french.

RC- There are alot of new methods to training and alot of new cyclists tend to want gadgets to help them train. As a professional was the team ever concerned with watts or heart rates?

Seth- On a professional team they don't care what you do as long as you perform.

RC- Do you have any secrets to riding in cold wet weather?

Seth- Nope, but I wish I had some.

RC- Some people who ride bikes are really concerned with what type of tires they ride whether it be a clincher or a tubular. They are also extremely concerned about what types of nutrition will help them perform the best. So, do you have a favorite tire?

Seth- No, it never mattered to me. Either one is fine. However, tubulars can be a bit lighter so better for hilly racing.

RC- How about nutrition? Did you have anything special?

Seth- Nope, not at all. We ate what the sponsors fed us.

RC- Seth, what do you do now? Where do you live?

Seth- I live and work about 30kms north of Nantes and I work as a slate and zinc roofer.

RC- Do you still race?

Seth- Absolutely! I still race as an elite amateur on a team called CC Chateaubriant. I cannot live without racing!

It has been about 15 years since I last spoke with Seth. He is a couple of years younger than me and was always very fast. It was very cool to see his career go the level it did. He was never a household name but believe me the challenges and efforts he endured to race even at a division2 pro level in Belgium is just as admirable as the efforts of the "famous" pros. Unfortunately in America we are fans of only the stars and guys like Seth never get the respect or notoriety they duly deserve.

The Dutch and their bikes

Called Fiets in Dutch, the bicycle is a tremendous part of the Dutch culture. With around 14million people living in the Nederlands, there are around 12millions bicycles. Just about every person in Holland has a bike. Pretty impressive. It was in the late 1800's when the Dutch truly began their love affair with the bike and they haven't looked back. It has provided them an inexpensive, reliable and efficient means of transportation. But being the utilitarian culture that they are, the Dutch weren't happy with just having bicycles for transportation, they wanted bicycles for work, play, and bicycles that were going to provide them an exceptional tool for whatever need that may arise.

I truly wish that we as a country could find the same appreciation of the bicycle as the Dutch have. Unfortunately our country is huge and extremely vast and our cities haven't been set up to accommodate the bicycle. Some cities are trying and others not so much. So how can this change? How can the American perception of a bicycle as a toy change to a legitimate tool? I hope to show as many people as possible the many possibilities of a bicycle. A bicycle doesn't have to be a toy or a race machine, it CAN be transportation and a tool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3gIVGFTk4&feature=fvw

rain rain go away..........

........well not anytime soon. So here are a few of my rainy day ride tips.

We all know that riding in the rain can be a bit miserable and at the same time it can take us to great places of our imagination. Imagining riding the rain soaked streets of Belgium bouncing over the slick cobbles with mud and grit in your face is definitely fun. But riding in the rain takes a little bit of skill. So here are a few of my tips for getting the ride done comfortably and as safely as possible.

1. Wear the proper clothing. As with any inclimate weather you need to be prepared. If it is a cold wet wintery day you'll need at least a base layer, jersey, warmers and a rain jacket. If it isn't so cold you will at least need a base layer, jersey and the jacket. If it is just a little spit of rain you may not need the jacket but pack it in your jersey pocket just in case. For your legs I recommend a good smearing of some great warming embrocation if it is a cold rainy day, covered with a thin layer of vaseline. This is a great way to get the muscles warm and the vaseline layer help keep the heat in and shed the rain water. If it "San Diego cold"(below 60 and above 40) at least wear a pair of knee warmers. Keeping the thin skinned, no fat, unprotected knee joint as warm as possible is crucial. For the feet, it isn't a bad idea to smear a little warming embrocation on them as well, with a little vaseline. I typically wear standard cycling socks and my tube sock shoe covers. This works well for our "cold" days. If you happen to be living in the Midwest where it can be unbearably cold rain you may want to consider a nice pair of neoprene shoe covers and legwarmers or tights.

2. Decrease your tire psi. I like to ride at least 15psi lower when it's raining. so for me that is about 95psi. I am not a big believer in high psi is better so I ride with a lower psi in general and even lower on rain soaked roads. This provides a bit more deformation of the tire in the corners and allows a slightly larger contact patch at the tire pavement contact point. This is always nice. Also, do your best to avoid the painted lines as they are typically very slick when wet. If you happen to be making a turn at an intersection and there are the big white crosswalk lines, slow down appropriately, start your turn, STAY OFF OF THE BRAKES WHILE ON THE PAINTED LINES, say a small prayer and then you should have no problem.

3. Anticipate your braking distance. In the wet it is possible to take a little longer to stop because of the water accumulation on the rims. So if you can anticipate where you'll need to be stopping or using your brakes, stop lights, stop signs, a crash, or something else, give your brakes a light squeeze, just enough to allow the pads to touch the rims surface this will get the excess water off of both the rim and the brake pad and then when you continue your braking to a stop the braking surface will be relatively free of water and other debris and your braking will be safer and almost as quick as on a dry day. But you need to allow a little extra space do do this.

4. Post ride warmth is critical. Alot of people shy away from riding in the rain because they "might get sick" well, you won't get sick from riding in the rain unless you ride by a feces and rain covered road, and that case just keep your mouth shut. But you will get sick if you hang around the bike shop or living room in your wet clothing. You need to get warm as soon as possible. So either pack a bag of warm clothes to take with you in the car while you drive to the ride start, change as soon as you finish riding. Dry off, take off all the wet clothes and put the warm fresh clothes on immediately. At home it isn't a bad idea to get in a hot shower with your wet, grimy cycling clothes on. Rinse your clothes out and get warm all at once. You may need to run this technique by your spouse. If they happen to need the same warm shower, like any shower they are best in tandem. Obviously after the shower get warm clothing on as soon as possible.

5. Watch out! As the rain falls heavier sometimes puddles occur. Which one of those puddles is a hole filled with rain water instead of just a puddle? So approach some puddles with caution. Sometimes it is easy to see that a puddle is only a little deep other times not so much. Also avoid riding into rain filled drain grates as these will eat your front wheel for breakfast, lunch and dinner, these meals are ones that will leave YOU worse off.

Those are just a few of my tips for riding in the rain. Stay safe, smart, healthy and as road rash free as possible.

Tres Belle!

This beauty was built up for a Capo Clothing photo shoot.  Cyfac Absolu, Sram Red. 

www.veloeuropa.com

http://www.uplandsg.com/

INTENSE!! Day 1 RAAM

RAAM has gone by now and I have yet to truly put words to my thoughts.  If I could summarize my experience in one word it would be intense and that is exactly what it was. 

I missed the start on Saturday as I had other commitments to take care of prior to meeting up with our crew chief John and picking up Ryan and Larry.  With all of those done team #3 of Team ViaSat was on our way to Blythe California for a midnight start of our leg. By the time we were done with that it was 24 hours of no sleep for me with a 4 hour drive ahead of us. That was day one.  Ryan and Larry road very well and I was thoroughly impressed at how the whole race across the country was unfolding.

Team ViaSat will be starting on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. My shift with Ryan and Larry will start at midnight Sunday AM in Blythe California. 

You can follow live feed here  http://www.viasat.com/raam

And our good friends at AmateurEndurance.com will have some coverage as well.

When I am able to get onto the internet I will also be posting things here on my blog.

Oakley Jawbone

The performance piece by Oakley, the Jawbone is finally in stock. The same glasses worn by the majority of Oakley sponsored cyclists. A review will follow shortly.