After Josh Liberles recently emerged from the Redlands Bicycle Classic battered and bruised (literally – he t-boned a car during the road race and snapped his bike) he climbed on board his backup rig, a cyclocross bike, for the Cherry Blossom Classic stage race weekend.

The change of steed didn’t seem to slow Liberles down in the criterium where he was very active, got into several breakaway attempts, and still had enough gas in the crazy-fast mad final dash to the line to take 3rd.

“The Hagens Berman team hit the front the last couple of laps but once Land Rover Orbea’s train took over, the pace really ramped up,” recounts Liberles.

Evan Elken (Land Rover/Orbea) took over for the last two corners, pushing everyone’s limits. “We were definitely going through the corners a few miles an hour faster than at any other point during the race,” says Liberles. I fought my way into a good position and just held on for dear life.”

Roman Van Uden used the leadout to perfection for the win, Steven Beardsley (Gentle Lovers) and Liberles were able to match the pace and join him on the podium. There was a small gap back to the rest of the pack.

Velo News recaps Cherry Blossom.

Video coverage of the Crit finale here.

Photos via flickr by Oregon Cycling Action.

Get that hole shot!

Racing cyclocross is probably the most dynamic athletic experience I’ve had yet. Every moment is intense: cornering through mud, sand and rocks, hammering in every straight-away and out of each corner, hovering in the balance between complete pain and a steady rhythm, it’s a far cry from the roadie experience. A few laps into my first real ‘cross race this season I found myself wondering why the hell I was there, only to be overwhelmed afterward with a craving for more.

Sunday’s race was the first ‘cross race I’ve done in Santa Fe. It was a surprisingly challenging and refreshingly different course, with two stair run-ups, lots of tight, technical turns, a rocky descent and some fast single track. I opted to do the Men’s B race since it was a bigger field and longer race, but as it turned out I was racing against five other strong women racers.

In keeping with my m.o. from last year’s ‘cross season, I went hard from the gun, using my sprint to open up little gaps right away. For the first lap or two I was in the top five, trying my best to be smooth in the sandy, rocky corners and keep the pace high in the straight-aways. By the end of lap two I was caught by a pro woman mountain biker who showed me a thing or two about cornering at speed in loose terrain. As the race started to wear on me I began reminding myself of the basics I should focus on: looking for the exit in the corners, weighting the outside pedal, breaking smoothly and not wasting energy in mounting or dismounting. More than anything, I knew I just needed to race more often and practice those skills.

In the end, I finished 3rd of the women and 8th overall. I’m planning to keep ‘cross racing as a secondary focus in my training this fall, but really, all I’m thinking about right now is the next race.

What do you do when your new adopted hometown cycling community has a sick love affair with cyclocross? Well, you dive right in of course!

The scene in Portland, Oregon is beyond belief. In New Mexico, we were accustomed to decent ‘cross races having maybe 100 participants total in all categories. As the second biggest US cross destination, New England would see maybe 5 or 600 at the biggest UCI events. The inaugural 2008 Cross Crusade? 1,300! Every field was huge, most notably ALL of the womens fields (a rarity- which is awesome!) Singlespeed categories are very popular, and there’s even room for some more, um, extreme categories. Like unicylces (or “unicross”).

Cyclocross Portland-style was just what the doctor ordered to rekindle my racing spirits. The sheer exuberance of the boisterous crowd, the good-natured support and cheering from all sides throughout the race, and a positive vibe untouched by any other sport has gotten me excited to be a bike racer once again. I’m ready to embrace the gray skies and frequent drizzles, learn how to keep my desert-accustomed body as dry as possible in sloppy conditions, and discover the secrets of careening down off-camber descents into 180 degree turns towards the barriers on peanut-butter-mud without falling. Every darned lap!

Want to get a feel for the Cyclocross scene for yourself? Grab the nearest cowbell and check out one of my now-favorite websites, pdxcross.com (responsible for the two shots posted here). The slide shows are black-and-white artistic documents that capture the amazing energy and vibe of the races. Open a Belgian trippel, mist yourself with a spray bottle for ambiance, make some noise, and enjoy.

Portions reprinted, with permission, from Josh’s write-up for Cyclo-CLUB.com. Photo courtesy of PDXCross.com.