Greaining in Canada

CXO: Welcome back to Canada Greg and congratulations on your win today (in Aurora). Did you come back just to go to the nationals? Do you have to do the nationals - or is it a good way to get to the worlds?

GR: Thanks. Yes, I came back for the nationals. The CCA selection criteria is based almost entirely around the national championships, it also includes the top Canadian on the UCI list, the winner of the nationals and the number of UCI points, but you still need to attend nationals. Several people qualify, but since it's not a funded trip, not everyone usually ends up going who makes the criteria. So I came back essentially to do nationals. It's important for me to do worlds, it's also important for my team Stevens to have national champions on the team.

CXO: There has been some info from Stevens cycling disintegrating - can you say anything about what's happening?

GR: We're putting together a press release where we'll talk about the details, so everyone finds out at the same time.

CXO: How did you get to Stevens?

GR: There are 2 brothers that own the company, Stevens, the biggest bicycle company in Germany, which is based in Hamburg. Twenty years ago, a guy from Ottawa, Peter Matuzals, went to Germany to race bikes and he met these guys racing, became friends and stayed in touch. In 2005, when I was looking for a team to race with, Peter called his friends in Germany and it went from there. I rode with the team in the Tour de Beauce in 2005 and everything worked out, so I went over there that September and spent 6 months racing with Stevens in Germany and went back there again in September of 2006 and started the cross season.

CXO: Did you always want to be a pro rider?

GR: It has always been a dream of mine. Since, I think, the middle of university, 1999, or 2000 I started to realize it was a possibility as I was progressing well in the sport. But you never know how it will go when you go from a high level of racing in Canada over to Europe. I was lucky I knew some people and was able to do it.

CXO: How did you get so involved in cross?

GR: Some of the first racing I ever did was cyclocross racing in the OBC series in Ottawa. I raced mountain bikes for I don't know how long, including 4 years with Gear's from 2000-04, racing mountain bikes professionally, but through that time I wanted to race on the road more & more. I always did cyclocross in the fall, just because it's a hell of a lot of fun, but it also helps to stay in shape and improves bike handling. So when the opportunity came to get on a cyclocross and road team based in Germany, I decided to go for it. I went to Europe the first time to race cross in the '04/05 season in Belgium with some other Canadians, Dave Coughlin, Benoit Simard, Bruno Lafontaine and Peter Morse. That really got me hooked on the European cross scene having actually been there and seeing how popular the sport is there, how much fun it is and how much you can learn.

CXO: In one of your recent blog postings, you described your progress as in being lapped, not being lapped, to being a half lap back; how do you compare Ontario cyclocross with what you get in Europe.

If you want to compete in Europe, you can't race here, you have to go and race in Europe

GR: There is no comparison; the level is so unbelievably high over there. If you want to compete in Europe, you can't race here, you have to go and race in Europe. Today, there was like myself and Dan - you have in all of Canada, maybe 3-4 guys, if they get together and race the same day, that are close to the same level. If you go to any one of 4-5 UCI races on the same day in Europe, there are 20-30 guys that are in that bracket of strength. So you have to race all of the time, have to be really smart, can't make mistakes. You have to ride everything really fast and you need learn how to be good, because otherwise there is no other way, you just get dropped.

CXO: Is it because they are specializing in cross that they're getting so much better? Or because they have a longer season? Or what?

GR: I think it's a bunch of reasons. One is the longer season - they start in the middle of September and race until the middle of February. The fact that there are so many guys doing it, that everyone pushes each other a little bit more in every training ride and every race. Specialization has a lot to do with it also, most of the top guys will race road in the summer, but they don't usually do a full season and they don't race very hard all summer. So they get this massive base of speed and fitness over the course of a 4-5 month road season, then they go straight into cyclocross, full bore in the middle of September - all the way through February.

CXO: You go there in September for the season and spend the rest in Canada or have you pretty much moved to Germany?

GR: I spent half the year in Germany, starting in March, the Stevens training camp in Majorca, then we did road races for April, May and June, the Tour of Ireland , the Tour of Norway, before I came home to do work with the national team. I did the Tour de Beauce, road nationals in Quebec City and then Tour of Qinghai Lake in China with the national team. I spent pretty much all of August burnt out and went back to Europe at the start of September for our cyclocross training camp. Taking the August off was a pretty hard way to get back into cyclocross season, but I had to take some time off.

CXO: Do you think it's necessary, if you want to be good in cyclocross, to make an early break in the road or mountain bike season, get well rested and train and get ready for cross?

GR: Pretty important. I think ideally you should break from the road season in the last two weeks of July. Then in August, come back into it, but without any stage races. Do shorter road races, criteriums, that kind of thing. If you have already got a good base of fitness built up over the first half of the year and you can start bringing your speed back up before you have to start racing in cyclocross in September.

That was the main problem when I started racing in September again - I had a great diesel engine from all the stage races I did in the summer, but no top end. The first month was really painful when I was back over there, but now it's starting to come together.

CXO: Do you mostly race the Deutschland Cup - or do you go to Belgium and Holland to race?

GR: For guys at my level - I'm sort of at the middle level of the team; we focus mainly on the Deutschland cup races which would be the equivalent of the Canada Cup if we had one, or something like the USGP series. Most of the races are UCI sanctioned, but it is a middle level of racing. There are 3-4 guys at the top level of the team. Christian Heule, the Swiss Cyclocross champion, Camiel van den Bergh who used to ride for Rabobank, Tim van Nuffel from Belgium and those guys focus on doing the world cups and Superprestige - and they are all capable of doing very good rides in those races. Then for us on the second level, we mainly do the Deutschland Cup races and German UCI races, and when we have a free weekend we'll go to Belgium or Holland to do some C2s, or sometimes a World Cup.

CXO: So on a free weekend it is up to you if you go to these?

GR: No, they tell us pretty much what to do, but when I come back here I get to do what I want.

CXO: How much teamwork do you guys get to do in a cyclocross race?

GR: It really depends what happens on the race - at the World Cup level, there is not a lot I can do to help Heule or van Nuffel, but when we're at some smaller C2 races, because there are so many guys at a high level, there tends to be a lot of group racing. It is typical stuff, you don't try to cross a gap when you've got teammates in the group ahead. If you've got a couple of guys in a group, when it comes to the right point in the race you can start one/two'ing. There a lot of little tactics you can do - it's not as important as in road racing, but there is always something you can do to help your teammate come out front.

CXO: Teamwork does exist?

GR: It does exist and it's pretty important. You can see with Sven Nys and Vanthourenhout when they're racing together there are usually good tactics, and this year the Fidea team has been very strong and they are riding team tactics in any race they're in.

CXO: Do you get to do any of the Superprestige races?

GR: I haven't done any yet this year. Hopefully when I get back at the end of November, I'll get to do some Superprestige, there are also the GVA Trofee races in Belgium, almost Superprestige and I'll get to do a few of those. It's crazy - it's usually like a World championship race - so fast.

CXO: At Aurora today, it started with more spectators than usual, people were excited, but at the end of the day, there were only hard core fans left - How popular is cross in Germany?

GR: It is definitely more popular there, but I wouldn't say it is exceptionally popular - not like Belgium. For example for the people who don't know, on a course like Aurora, in Belgium at a big race, everywhere where there isn't tape on the course, there would be people. If you were to look from overhead, you'd see a strip of grass where the course is and everywhere else would be people. Some of these races you get 10-15,000 spectators, coming to see and it is just insane.

CXO: Do you have a favorite race or course?

GR: I haven't done a lot of races twice at this point. I think there's only two C2 races in Belgium and Holland that I've done that I really like, one of them is in Harderwijk, in Holland, which is completely flat, pan flat, very, very smooth grass almost like putting greens, smooth, so it's super fast. Very windy and lots of curves, so it's very tactical racing, which is good for me. Also, there is a race, the Grote Prijs De Star, in St. Niklaas in Belgium, which is usually January 2nd or 3rd that is really good for me too. Again pretty flat, a bit of off camber stuff, some sand, wind, mud - a good all around cyclocross course.

CXO: Do you still feel you have room to improve?

GR: Definitely - I think it's almost too late for me to get to the same level as the top guys. They have been doing this since they're 8 years old and their technique is unbelievable. Size of the engine aside, I wouldn't be able to stay with Wellens, or Nys or any of the other guys in the top 10 in the world - just by virtue of their technical abilities. The best thing you can do is ride with these guys and ideally training with them, but because I live in Hamburg most of the year, it's hard to get out and train with them. These guys are amazing in the corners.

it's just really having a good equipment setup and having a really good feeling for the bike in the corners

CXO: No fear?

GR: It's not that they have no fear - it's just really having a good equipment setup and having a really good feeling for the bike in the corners. They know exactly where the limit of traction is to be able to ride through. They set the line up right, match the speed on the way in so they don't brake too much on the way in and then pedal on the way out. And all the time riding on that line of staying upright and crashing. They're able to put so much power down through the corner that usually they'll make ground on you in a corner.

CXO: Do you have a team mechanic?

GR: When we go to a race weekend, we'll have team mechanics, keeping your bike running smoothly, but during the week we're responsible for keeping our equipment in good running order. We have to show up to the race with a clean and functioning bike, then when we're there everything is taken care of for the weekend. This helps a lot, it means there is one less thing you need to worry about on race day, like cleaning your bike after warm up laps and things like that.

CXO: Are your teammates also your roommates in Europe?

GR: Yeah, there is a team house in Hamburg, now there are 3 of us living there and typically we'll be training together twice a day and we'll leave from there with the team busses to go to races. It's a perfect setup, we have a shop there for all the parts we need and we have places to work on our bikes. Pretty much an ideal situation.

CXO: Can you talk a bit about the tactics you used to win today(Aurora C2)?

GR: In the race today when neither of us was obviously stronger than the other, you just have to look for weaknesses. For the course of the race, you saw we came into the last lap together and neither of us had found a weakness, in the other guys' race, and it came down to me being in the front which is the right place to be in this course.

CXO: Did you feel before the sprint that you had him?

GR: I was reasonably confident, given the finishing straight here - well - given the fact that it isn't very straight or very wide and it's not a very good surface ie. It is not pavement. So it's not necessarily going to be a sprint as much as who gets onto the gravel first - If you're in the front when you get onto the gravel, you're probably going to take it to the line.

CXO: Finishes in Europe are often on pavement?

GR: Typically the finish is on pavement or on a running track. So it's usually fairly well surfaced. At the big races anyway. So this was a bit of an interesting finish here in Aurora. But this is stuff, you've got to really look at the course in terms of picking your tactic for the finale, if you can't drop someone, you have to know where to be in the last lap in order to put yourself in the best position to win the race.

CXO: We saw you yesterday spend a couple of hours pre-riding the course, is this something you'd normally do?

GR: Not typically. Usually we travel on the day of a race and only get a couple of laps, so I spent more time on the course yesterday than I normally would. When you have that option, it is always a good thing if you go, bearing in mind that it is probably going to be different when you race it. It's good to ride it to get the rhythm of the course and look at some of the corners, but you also have to look at it before your race, because sometimes the lines change a lot in the corners, especially when you have 3 races before.

CXO: Last year you had something like 15 pairs of wheels for this race?

GR: Last year I brought a lot of wheels, it was a little excessive, especially when I didn't use or even try out most of them. You see guys like Sven Nys or Groenendaal, or any of those guys come to the race and they have many sets of wheels, mainly because they're all tubulars and you can't just change the tire. You have different widths of tires, different tread patterns and usually 2 bikes, so you have to duplicate all of those since you have to have a set for each bike. It gets to be a bit excessive.

CXO: Has it happened where you have done 1-2 laps and you knew you made the wrong choice of tires.

GR: Not this year, but in the past it's been that way. I've started races and I felt I really blew that tire selection, but now it's getting better. As we race the courses more frequently, you sort of know what tire is going to work. Also as technique gets better, you learn how to ride independently of tire selection.

DC(Dave Coughlin has joined us): On the start line, of the top 5 guys, every one of them has a different tire and they all go the same speed. Sven Nys is infamous for having 34mm file treads, then Vervecken will be there with 30mm knobbys, in the same race and they're going the same speed - neck in neck the whole time.

CXO: Now, that you've spent some time in Europe, any thoughts on how to improve the popularity of cross here?

GR: I don't know - I think about that all the time and never come up with many answers.

I think it is starting - I mean in the Eastern series (OBC) and the Southern series, you often get over 100 riders out, so it's a start. I think what you guys are doing, starting a website and getting more people aware of the sport helps a lot, getting more people aware of the European aspect of the sport and being able to link to videos from European races and giving access to the equipment and knowledge - it will gradually become more popular. Of course having races like Aurora, on really good cross courses, real euro cross course helps. And always, if you can get races in town centers, or town parks, where local people can easily come and watch it. I don't know how many people today asked riders 'what's going on here today?' - and were excited to see it was a bike race. So promote it more within the community - so people know what's right in their back yards.

CXO: A park rather than a farm?

GR: Whenever you hold bike races away from the general population, people aren't going to watch it because it isn't a part of the general culture here, but if it's in Toronto and its exciting, like a cross race?..

in Europe, the courses are designed for the spectators - riders come second, where here they try to make it fun for the riders

DC: It's interesting that in Europe, the courses are designed for the spectators - riders come second, where here they try to make it fun for the riders. There it is viable entertainment - here it is a pastime.

CXO: Did you ever have one of those funny moments, riding through a beer tent or a restaurant?

GR: Lots of those in Belgium, but now they've banned beer tents. There used to be in every big race, a beer tent or a ride through a barn, or usually some feature that makes it interesting for the crowds.

DC: Drunken Belgies heckling us "You suck"

CXO: If someone told you that you had to choose one discipline? Would it be cross?

GR: Tough call, probably end up choosing cross - I really like it despite how cold it is.

CXO: Is that the main reason you're not 100% sure? The weather?

GR: It's hard to say. I've had a lot of fun racing on the road the last couple of years, and I've always had fun riding cross.

DC: I like how cross can be the hardest sport in the world, but it's over in an hour, whereas, if it's the hardest sport it takes 6 hours.

CXO: Do you find they complement each other well? Road and cyclocross?

GR: Definitely I think to race at a high level in cross you have to race on the road in the summer. Mountain biking develops good power, but not the speed you need at a high level in cyclocross. The speeds are so high, you can't get by just on mountain biking. Some road guys will say they don't have the bike handling skills to race cross and obviously it's a learned skill, so with that respect having ridden a mountain bike a lot when you were younger helps so that when you make the transition to cross, you already have some knowledge of how to ride a bike off-road. But in terms of the engine and the type of fitness you need to race cross at a high level, it definitely comes from racing on the road. Then the bike handling skills you develop in cross will help you on the road as well - especially in the spring when it's slippery - I know it's saved me from going down on occasion.

CXO: Have you raced cross a bit in the states?

GR: First time was a few years ago, I did the USGP races in Gloucester, MA, and last year I did 4 Verge New England races last year.

CXO: Planning on doing some this year while you're out?

GR: Planning on doing the North Carolina GP races - they're C2 races, but not part of either the Verge or USGP series. The weekend after that I'm planning on going to Sterling, MA for a race in the Verge series.

CXO: If more sponsorship money came to make Aurora a C1 race for next year, is that something that would bring more people up from the states - you can't expect people from Europe, but it would be a good opportunity for some Americans to get points, right?

GR: Yes, and of course nothing motivates a bike racer more than money, so clearly the bigger the prize list you have, the more people you get. UCI points, given how important they are for planning start positions at world cups or any UCI races are important.

But you have to make sure there isn't a scheduling conflict with any races in the US, because for example this weekend there is a Verge New England series double weekend and the USGP has a double weekend in Colorado as well., so that's a bit of a problem. None of the big American racers will come up because their sponsors will need them racing in the Verge or USGP series even if they can get more points in one race at Aurora. Getting two top 5's there is better than winning one C2 in Canada, by the time you figure travel costs, travel fatigue and all that - if it's scheduled on a free weekend though, you'll get guys coming up.

CXO: The US schedule is getting pretty full though?

GR: Yeah, and that's the problem.

CXO: Do you think it would be important to get more double weekends?

GR: Especially for UCI weekends - if you can double up on a UCI weekend, it's more justifiable for someone to come a long way because they've got two races in which to get points and money. That's important, but scheduling is too. If it's going to conflict with a UCI race, hopefully it will be on the West Coast, so the East Coast guys can decide instead of flying out to the west coast to go to Canada for a double race weekend and pick up some points. So finding a free weekend and a double weekend if that could be done.

CXO: In our interview with Peter Morse, he mentioned that he didn't think people in North America could live from CX - in Europe, obviously people can live just on riding Cx.

GR: At a high enough level, they could, particularly because travel costs aren't as high - if you're somewhere in Belgium, you can go and race a lot and you don't have to fly to each race. It's so expensive to race bikes in North America, just from a travel point of view, that you need a sponsor paying for those travel costs if you're going to try and make some money. The other difference being in Europe, when you get to a reasonably high level, they'll pay you start money to go to a race, so you get prize money as well as start money and you don't have to pay entry fees, and you don't have to travel as much. In North America, everyone pays an entry fee, nobody gets start money and prize money is ok, but it isn't going to cover travel costs and day to day living costs. That's why you see most of the guys are mountain bike pros in the summer, though some of them are road pros, but the road season is pretty demanding now in the summer in the US, so you don't usually see that many guys who race for the big US pro teams racing cross season. Most are mountain bike pros that have sponsors who are interested in seeing them do well and pay them for the season.

CXO: Based on the years you've spent in Europe, would you recommend for others to go to Europe and try it and give it a go?

GR: Absolutely, I think Dave Coughlin here was one of the first of the new generation of Canadians cross racers to go over there - 2 years ago after nationals. You just have to go and learn, even if you go there for a month, you'll learn so much from that month. And whether you race road or cyclocross, it's important to just go there. It sounds a little bit easy to say just go there and race, but it is surprisingly easy.

DC: At the end of the day it's easier to fly over there for 2 weeks and do a whackload of races than it is to try and get around North America and do the same races.

GR: The hardest thing is getting the plane ticket, once you do that, it becomes so much easier, People are genuinely excited to have North Americans come over there and race cyclocross, especially in Belgium, and Holland.

CXO: Do you get announced as a rider from Canada?

GR: Yeah, they love it, especially since we get our asses kicked so much.

DC: Because of that too, but also when you get lapped you're following the leaders, so you get to go home and you see yourself on TV getting lapped by Sven Nys. Not something to aspire too, but? (laughing)

GR: The announcers love it, Canadians come over and race and you know you'll always hear your name on the loudspeaker, and the more races you do, the more they know you and the fans too.

DC: I did a race and these school children made a song up about me, and they were chanting my name in the song. I didn't know what the rest of the words were, but I heard David Coughlin - otherwise, they could have been heckling me, but I thought it was great.

CXO: Thanks guys for your time - good luck at the Nationals.