Bessette retires from cycling

MONTREAL (CP) -- Cycling star Lyne Bessette said injuries -- and the fear of further crashes -- moved her to announce her retirement on Wednesday.he two-time Olympian and 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medallist is coming off a stretch of nasty falls and injuries that caused her to pull out of this year's Commonwealth and abandon the prestigious Tour de l'Aude in France.

"I wanted to go until 2008, but I always said I'll go step by step and if one day I don't feel like it, I'm going to stop," said the 31-year-old from the T-Mobile women's cycling team.

"Of course, the injuries in the last couple of months accelerated my decision. I'm really thinking about my body now and I've crashed a lot and I'm scared. Once you've crossed that line, it's impossible to keep going."

Bessette, of Knowlton, Que., has been a fixture on the Canadian national team and on the women's pro cycling circuit for nearly a decade, winning 18 major national and international races.

In 2001, when she won two stage races in the United States as well as the Canadian road racing and cyclo-cross championships, she was named Canadian cyclist of the year and was tabbed as North American cyclist of the year by Velonews magazine.

She also competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won bronze in the time trial at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

But the past four months were a nightmare.

In February, Bessette suffered a severe concussion and had vision problems after a bad fall at the Tour of Geelong in Australia.

She fell again while mountain bike training a month later and was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with a dislocated shoulder.

After two months of rehab, she returned for the Tour de l'Aude, a race she won in 1999, but the pain from her previous injuries returned and she pulled out.

After discussing her future with her coach, Eric Van Den Eynde, her parents, and friends such as speedskater and former cyclist Clara Hughes, she decided to call it quits.

"To stay in the top 10 in the world, you have to be able to push hard and not be afraid of injuries," said Bessette, who estimates she had eight concussions in her career. "Up at the front, the elbows are up and the risk of a crash is very high.

"Usually, I don't think about it. I just go. But lately, I've thought about it more and more."

With her retirement, the first event she'll miss is this weekend's World Cup race in Montreal, where she placed second in 1999 and third in 2001.

Her departure marks a changing of the guard in Canadian women's cycling. Hughes, of Winnipeg, had given up cycling for speedskating in recent years, while Genevieve Jeanson of Montreal is contesting a two-year suspension for a doping violation that could be the end of her career.

Bessette said there was plenty of talent among the young riders, including Audrey Lemieux of Alma, Que., and two-time national junior champion Joelle Numainville, of Laval, Que., to take over. There are also Gina Gain and Erinne Willock, both of Victoria, who placed fourth and 11th respectively in the Commonwealth Games women's road race.

Van Den Eynde said Canada is losing an accomplished road racer whose speciality was stage races.

"Lyne was a grand prix racer, not really a one-day racer," he said. "She was consistent.

"The ones who win big tours are often not good at one-day races. Most of her victories were in combined events, where endurance and recuperative qualities came into play. If she had one weakness, it was probably in the sprints."

Bessette was in a festive mood when she arrived at her retirement announcement and even brought some of her home-baked cookies, but tears came as she thanked her family for their support and spoke of her future.

"I want to cycle for fun now," she said. "I want to bake cookies and spend time with my friends and family.

"And eventually I want to have children."

Bessette, who is married to American cyclist Tim Johnson, lists cooking as a hobby and mused about perhaps owning an inn and restaurant one day.

She said an emphatic "no" when asked if she would become a coach.

For now, she will work on a cycling program with one of her main sponsors, the Quebec-based Energie Cardio chain of fitness centres.

And she has not ruled out getting back on the bike for cyclo-cross, a combination of cross-country cycling and obstacle course.

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Bikes + Art = Le Tour de Fantasy

(By: Vance Edwards-Orr, Bostonist.com) :: Last night Bostonist found ourselves at the Massachusetts College of Art Senior Show, an art opening featuring pieces from graduating seniors.The idea of spending a few hours in a room with a group of undergraduate art students had us a bit apprehensive, but we were a bit disappointed by the distinct lack of existential angst emanating from those present. In general, the crowd consisted of very nice students who seemed entirely relieved to be done with it all. By far, the most dramatic figures at the show were the professors.

A piece by Mark Vann had drawn us to the event: Le Tour de Fantasy. Being a fan of art and bicycles, we were eager to witness Vann’s blending of the two. The piece consisted of a large scrim on the floor, onto which was projected a video of the most recent Tour de France. Upon this big-screen carpet sat a bicycle on rollers being pedaled by the artist, decked out in full cycling regalia like those in the video. Behind this was a slim display case with a Discovery Channel jersey (like Lance Armstrong wears) and a number of other items.

Bostonist, not being a particularly sophisticated art-viewer, found the spectacle pleasant if unprofound. During a break, we approached Vann and asked him about the piece. He encouraged us to notice a pendant in the shape of Texas (Lance’s home state) in the display case; it was handmade by a colleague of the artist. What struck us most, looking at this lone cyclist puffing away in a crowd of pleased but somewhat uncomprehending onlookers, was the dramatic difference in popularity the sport of bicycle racing enjoys between Europe and the States. The projected video showed crowds of screaming fans, worshipping and exhorting their favorite athlete superstars. In America, it’s one guy riding bike at an art show.

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Mountain Flyer Signs Barnes & Noble, REI Deal

MAY 23, 2006 -- GUNNISON, CO (BRAIN)—Mountain Flyer, the regional home-brewed magazine intent on defining the Rocky Mountain cyclist, signed two big nationwide distribution deals.In July, cyclists throughout the United States will be able to read about cycling in the Rockies when Mountain Flyer’s next issue is distributed at over 500 Barnes & Noble stores, as well as in select REI stores. The distribution was made possible through an arrangement with Ingram Periodicals.

“The Rocky Mountain region is a hotbed for cycling,” said Brian Riepe, Mountain Flyer’s founder and publisher. “Cyclists across the U.S. dream of riding or living here. This new publishing arrangement is huge for us and shows that a targeted regional magazine can grow distribution beyond its immediate geographic area.”

Mountain Flyer covers cross-country, downhill, cyclocross, road racing and adventure riding in an easy-going, entertaining style that is colorful to read and look at. With a focus on regional cycling events—including the Mountain States Cup, 24-hour races and 100-mile epics—Mountain Flyer fills a void by providing perspectives and points of view from riders of events both fringe and organized.

Mountain Flyer was established in 2004 and currently is published twice a year.

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The next cycle: Supporters believe their sport can build on buzz created by Lance Armstrong

(By MECHELLE VOEPEL, Kansas City Star) :: LAWRENCE — Members of the University of Colorado cycling club often wear yellow uniform jerseys. That represents the school color. But to many observers, it means only one thing.(“School kids will yell, ‘Go, Lance!’ when we ride by,” cyclist Adam Blanchard said. “Noncyclists always ask about him, because that’s their connection to the sport. There’s a lot of association there, and it’s obviously increased the popularity of the sport.”

Indeed, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong made people who never before paid the slightest attention care about watching him conquer the world’s most famous bicycle race.

Armstrong was just on the cover of the May 8 edition of Sports Illustrated. The story focused on how Armstrong, now retired from cycling, is putting his energy into the fight against cancer. That battle he won was a huge reason, of course, that he’s become so famous in what remains an obscure sport in the United States.

But is that changing? Are more and more young people in this country becoming involved competitively with the sport? And at this weekend’s USA Cycling Collegiate Road Championships in Lawrence, is it possible that the “next” Lance Armstrong was racing?

Ask some of the visitors here who live and breathe cycling, and the answer to all those questions is: “Absolutely.”

“Culturally, cycling has never been embraced here the same way other sports have,” said Kam Zardouzian, USA Cycling’s national director of collegiate cycling. “We’re seeing that change slowly. It all goes back to the idea that every kid growing up has a bike. This is a viable competitive option for a lot of people.

“And we view the genders the same; we’re equal in our support of both. It’s very important to us to keep growing our number of women in the sport. I think it’s a fact that the next Lance Armstrong — and the next great female American rider — is out here competing.”

The world of collegiate cycling, though, is arcane in comparison to a lot of other sports. It’s a club sport and is not governed by the NCAA. The governing body’s acronym is similar, though. It’s the NCCA: National Collegiate Cycling Association.

The NCCA is a part of the national governing body, USA Cycling, and traces its roots to the early 1960s, when it was founded as an East Coast organization. The first official national collegiate championships, as defined by USA Cycling, were in track cycling in 1987.

Now, there are collegiate championships in road racing — that was the event here in Kansas — track cycling, mountain-bike racing and cyclo-cross, in which riders must navigate obstacles over difficult terrain. At times, they have to carry their bikes.

All forms of the sport are high-tech and can be expensive to participate in. Cycling also can be dangerous. You are going to wipe out sometimes.

“I just try not to ever think about that,” said Amy Mackey, part of the California-Davis team that won the women’s time trial here Friday.

It wasn’t long ago that she never even thought about cycling. Mackey was a competitive swimmer in college. When she ran out of eligibility, she went looking for something else.

“I hadn’t even ridden a bike much,” she said. “I lived in the pool.”

Mackey’s experience is part of why many involved in collegiate cycling really wouldn’t push for it to become an NCAA sport. As it is, the only eligibility requirement for competitors at these championships is that they must be full-time students. Thus, there are many graduate students who can either continue competing or pick up the sport for the first time, like Mackey did.

Cycling competitors tend not to begin reaching their peaks until their late 20s anyway.

Another advantage to cycling’s club status is that it engenders a type of “entrepreneurial spirit” among riders. They’re usually responsible for setting up their local races, and that’s a lot of work. It means getting permits, negotiating with law-enforcement and transportation officials to close off sections of road if need be, setting up the courses and dealing with businesses to secure possible sponsorships and get discounts on equipment.

Many riders hold down jobs while training and going to school. They must pay for their equipment (many have at least two types of competitive bicycles), travel and race-entry fees. Some schools are able to provide some help financially for club sports, others provide nothing at all.

“That’s the biggest difference between us and (varsity sports) at schools,” Blanchard said. “Our sponsors help us out, but it’s mostly just with discounts.

“But the hardest part is the time commitment. It’s an endurance sport. The top riders will do 15-20 hours a week. I’ve (trained) up to 25 hours a week at times. A typical professional who races in Europe would do 35. I also work in a research position part time and am a full-time student in aerospace engineering.”

The competition in Lawrence this weekend was road cycling. But the aforementioned other disciplines are also under the broad umbrella of USA Cycling. And the newest to become an Olympic sport is BMX — like motocross on bicycles — which will make its debut in the Beijing Games in 2008.

In all, there will be 18 medal events in cycling in those Olympics: 11 for men and seven for women. Both genders have two events in road cycling and one each in mountain biking and BMX. The difference is in track cycling, where the men have seven events and the women three.

Armstrong was a three-time Olympian, winning a bronze medal in the 2000 Games. The Olympics certainly were not where he achieved his greatest fame. Yet the Games are the focal point of USA Cycling, and events such as this weekend’s are likely steppingstones for some racers toward making an Olympic team.

This collegiate competition was also in Lawrence last year and will return next year. Event director Mike Vickers, a board member of the Lawrence Sports Corporation, said it’s a huge undertaking that requires year-round preparation. But he added that area businesses, Douglas County law-enforcement and emergency medical personnel and the Kansas Department of Transportation all have worked together to make the championships run smoothly.

“There’s a lot of merit to having it in the same place year after year; it’s so much easier,” Vickers said. “The competitors seem to love Lawrence; we have almost all 50 states represented here. This year is bigger than last year, next year will be even bigger. We’d love to have it for 10 more years.”

Realistically, it’s probably not fair to say any rider who competed here — or anywhere else — can truly be the “next Armstrong.” Some athletes are one-of-a-kind. But there’s no doubt much of the present and future of American cycling spent the weekend battling the Kansas winds and peddling through downtown Lawrence.

Some of these athletes will keep racing competitively for a while. All of them, though, are likely to ride for as long as they possibly can. The aim of USA Cycling isn’t just helping produce champion riders, but also encouraging people to get on their bikes.

“I think I’ll ride for my whole life,” Blanchard said. “It’s so good for you from a fitness standpoint. It’s something I’ll never give up.”

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Specialized Tricross Comp Review (DIRT RAG)

(By: Brad Quartuccio, Dirt Rag, Issue #121) ::
Tester: Brad Quartuccio
Age: 24
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 165lbs.
Inseam: 34"Vital Stats
Country of origin: Taiwan
Price: $1700
Weight: 21lbs. (without pedals)
Sizes available: 49, 52, 54, 56, 58 (tested), 61cm
Contact: www.specialized.com

Freeroading.

Specialized touts the Tricross as a freeroad bicycle, capable of fast paced road riding, light singletrack and everything in between. That in between gives ample room for commuting; rarely a pure road riding or consistent dirt endeavor and exactly what Specialized is going for in the freeroad market. "Freeroading" itself is a term made up at Specialized seemingly to describe what many of us are already doing, much like the "freeride" label it borrows from. The Tricross is made for people who can't settle on one surface for a given ride.

When going from a mountain bike background to the road, a cyclocross bike is seen by many to fill the gap between the two disciplines. Road bikes can be twitchy, fragile machines to the usual off road cyclist whereas 'cross bikes sit higher with less aggressive handling characteristics but nonetheless feel like rockets compared to mountain bikes. The Tricross is a further adaptation of the cyclocross concept more tuned for what riders are using these bikes for, exploring and commuting, rather than the traditional Euro roots of 'cross. The goal is a lightweight, comfortable package utilizing the best technology available for the price. The 3.5lb. aluminum frame, carbon fork, lightweight wheels and vibration damping Zertz components make an interesting total package.

The inaugural ride on my test Tricross was exactly the situation us seasoned riders tell folks to avoid racing on fresh, unfamiliar equipment. Alleycat racing is far from sanctioned, but racing it is, on open city streets and this particular one was held at night. Bikes such as the Tricross are well suited for the task of racing on the roads, rail-trails and through the city parks that this race consisted of. First impressions were that the Tricross is a very stable machine capable of keeping pace over varied terrain exactly as Specialized intended.

The majority of the miles for this test were logged commuting both to and from work and on errands around town. Early on I switched out the supplied 32c tires for something a bit more svelte at 25c, which helped to speed up the on-road ride. Fender clearance isn't an issue, which is clutch for commuting. This bike is sporty, though it definitely has a relaxed feel as compared to a modern road bike.

Specialized has always been adept at pushing the boundaries of what most people consider normal. The frame features an integrated headset and a beautiful top tube that flattens out just before it meets the seat tube and provides a nice shoulder shelf for those inclined to hoist their bike so. This double-butted aluminum frame is mated to a carbon 'cross fork featuring Zertz inserts. Zertz is an elastomeric material that Specialized has pioneered for use in bicycles to damp vibration before it reaches the rider. On the Tricross, the carbon fork and seatpost, along with the aluminum handlebar, feature Zertz inserts or wraps. Frame geometry also differs from the norm, as the Tricross frame has a relaxed head angle when compared to contemporary road bikes, a bottom bracket height comparable to a cyclocross bike and chainstays that are 450mm long, nearly touring length. Numbers-wise, this adds up to a bike with parallel 72.5 head/seat angles, a 575mm top tube and a relatively long wheelbase at 1028mm in the tested size.

Besides the aforementioned Zertz equipped components, spec consists of 9-speed (12x25t) Shimano 105 and Ultegra components, Shimano cantilever brakes, a 48x34t FSA outboard bottom bracket crankset and house brand Roval wheels. The Roval wheels are stunning in appearance, with five spoke high flange hubs, v-section rims and a low 20/24 spoke count for a total weight of 1815g for the wheelset. Those who know wheels know that large flanges, v-section rims and radial lacing all contribute to a stiff feeling wheel combining all three creates a strong, yet harsh ride.

This brings me back to the overall ride of the Tricross. For all of the efforts to create a comfortable ride with a carbon fork, Zertz inserts and even gel-backed bar tape, I didn't find the Tricross particularly forgiving. In fact, even with the supplied 32c tires the Tricross seemed more harsh than any of my personal steel frame and fork 700c bikes. I attribute much of this to the Roval wheels and the aluminum frame if vibration damping is paramount, it seems counterintuitive to spec ultra stiff wheels that thus transfer more of the road feel to the rider, not less.

On the road, I found the Tricross slower than my road bike due to the lower top gear and less aggressive geometry; on light trail it seemed as capable as any other 'cross styled bike I've ridden. Singletrack riding will have you wishing for a larger max cassette for a lower overall gear, as the 34x25t granny sometimes doesn't cut it. Like a Swiss-Army knife, the Tricross is a capable performer of many tasks yet not a standout at any one of them. Such is the nature of compromise this bike is best suited for those looking for a second bike to do a bit of everything on rather than someone looking for a true road or cyclocross machine.

The Tricross achieves what it set out to do in terms of being capable of handling varied surface conditions in a single ride. I think that with a more traditional wheelset and larger range cassette, the Tricross could be a much more comfortable and versatile bicycle. As it stands, this bike is a looker worth consideration for the commuters and do-it-all riders out there.

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