It’s cyclocross season, and to show our love and appreciation for Bill Schieken of In the Crosshairs and his new book Skills, Drills and Bellyaches featuring Jeremy Powers (which we got to preview at Interbike), we’re collaborating on this little collection to introduce the Cyclismas fans to Bill’s genius #SVENNESS videos. We like to call it #CYCLISMASVENNESS. We’re starting at the very beginning of the series so you can get the whole backstory and get to know the cast of characters. Hope you enjoy. ~ Lesli
Hey there Cyclismasses! Bill, here, from In The Crosshairs, to introduce a little video series we produce. It’s called #SVENNESS and in it we break down the week’s Euro-pro cyclocross races to give you some play-by-play of key moments. We also know that many #SVENNESS viewers are racers, too, so we sprinkle in some tips and techniques to help you in your own cyclocross battles. In a nutshell, #SVENNESS is a mix of ESPN’s Primetime (that was a show about a ball sport, cycling friends) and VH1’s Pop Up Video.
Sounds great, Bill, but why is it called SVENNESS? Good question. It’s named after arguably the best cyclocross racer of our time, Sven Nys. To my ears, when the broadcasters on Sporza pronounce his name it sounds like Svenness. He has one of those names that you must always say the first and last together. At least it sounds better that way. So #SVENNESS became this way of describing the sublime in cyclocross. Clinical tactics, a beautiful pass, when done masterfully, it was #SVENNESS.
Oh, here’s a fun takeaway for you: the series could easily have been called “A moment of Sven” or even “Everything Sven,” but #SVENNESS, for whatever reason, stuck. I think we made the right call.
Thanks for watching.
#SVENNESS 2.12 from In The Crosshairs on Vimeo.
For episode 2.12, #SVENNESS travels to Kalmthout, Belgium, for Vlaamse Industrieprijs Bosduin. The race is held at night, under the lights. The course is flat and fast with three short sets of stairs and one set of planks. Lars van der Haar sets the pace from the start and Kevin Pauwels emerges from his early season anonymity to animate the race. We briefly focus on three hotly-debated topics: riding vs. running barriers, saddle position when carrying, and remount technique. Then it’s on to the final laps, and some exciting tactical riding between the leading pair.
Also included is a bit of bonus coverage highlighting the last lap of the U23 race. It is safe to say that the future of world class cyclocross is in a good place.
Hat tip to John Verheul @Jverheul and @JBVCoaching for the Albert start line tip.
This episode is brought to you by Skills Drills and Bellyaches: A Cyclocross Primer. It’s never too early to start drilling for next year. This book gives you the know how. Available at www.cyclocrossbook.com.
The episode is also sponsored by CrossVegas. Come to Vegas September 10, 2014, for the 8th annual CrossVegas cyclocross race. See the stars under the stars. Visit www.crossvegas.com.
Footage via Vier http://www.vier.be/tags/cyclocross
Music:
Take Me To Church~Hozier: https://soundcloud.com/hozier/take-me-to-church-1
Follow My Feet (Elephante Remix)~The Unlikely Candidates: https://soundcloud.com/iamtheelephante/unlikely-candidates-follow-my-feet-elephante-remix
Pacifier~Catfish and the Bottlemen: https://soundcloud.com/catfishandthebottlemen/pacifier-radio-edit
Dirty Sheets~The Orwells: https://soundcloud.com/the-orwells/dirty-sheets
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