Christoph Sauser

Bigger is better

Published:

April 5, 17:02,

Updated:

April 5, 17:10

By:

Christoph Sauser

Cape Epic winner says 29-inch wheels are superior to 650b

Millions of rocks, thousands of corners and climbing twice as many feet as Mount Everest is tall! This is the annual Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race every year for thousand of riders. It draws riders like you and me and women, former rugby players, pros, wannabes, 100kg guys, flyweights, Formula One drivers, Africans, Europeans, Asians... The whole world meets to ride and race bikes.

Some things have always been and always remain the same. Tires are black and round.

But what has changed dramatically over the last two years is wheel size.

2012 marked the first time ever that every UCI-registered Cape Epic rider raced on a 29er, and I guess that was true of most of the amateur racers who had bikes not older than one year.

It must be confusing for some riders to see the new 650B wheel size now becoming available and under discussion. Not to mention what will bike shop owners think if they have to start stocking three standards of frames, shocks, tires, wheels and forks. How can you still recommend a bike and not confuse your customer?

In that case, I would focus totally on a concept bike shop with only 29ers because I totally believe in the biggest wheel size. I think it would work for 95 percent of bike shop customers just as it works for myself.

Would you like to drive a Formula One car when going shopping and going to work?

In cross country racing, it is all about accelerations, stiffness and having the lightest bike. I even race cross country events with one chainring (34-tooth) only.

So yes, that kind of racing might call for the creation of very different bikes, but tires are still black and round.

Luckily we Specialized racers are fortunate that our bikes' geometry is perfectly adapted for the big (29er) wheels. All of us - even a small Burry Stander - can ride stock frames and still find the perfect position. Plus our bikes fly around tight corners. We wouldn't want to give up the great rollover ability of the big wheels, their stability at speed or their extra traction. Even in cross country racing.

Every smaller wheel size is compromise.

Reflecting on the first part of the season

Published:

May 5, 2011, 15:35,

Updated:

May 5, 2011, 16:46

By:

Christoph Sauser

Tales and tidbits from the Cape Epic and other races

As always, I spent almost the entire winter in Stellenbosch South Africa. However, I also enjoyed some of the Swiss winter in February.

I get asked a lot why I go home and leave the African summer, but I love winter, too, and there is nothing cooler then a backcountry ski trip in combination with a ride home, or night riding through fresh snow. Although fresh snow was pretty rare this winter, it was still like Disney Land. I had a "door" into spring when I went riding at the low elevations or winter when I climbed mountains. The snow was sometimes so hard-packed that I could ride my bike for hours on it.

I started racing at the beginning of March with Grape-Escape, a three-day stage race in Cape Town, South Africa, where a 70km bed of thorns awaited us on the first day. I never ever had to fix so many flat tires! I was very thankful to all the tube donors plus Bobby Behan's big pump and support.

That was a slow start into my racing season, but the Tour de Boland and Cape Argus (biggest timed road race in the world with 35,000 riders) went really well, and I was always racing in the mix at the front.

From there, it was onto the ABSA Cape Epic which is like the Tour de France for mountain bikers. It was a huge goal for (teammate) Burry (Stander) and myself to finally win it, since we have been trying for the last three years.

As you might know, we are riding for charity Songo.info which I started four years ago. We have now established a BMX and MTB program in the township of Stellenbosch. The two weeks leading up to The Cape Epic were some of my busiest ever, especially with 36ONE, an asset management company, signed up as title sponsor for the next three years. During that period my phone was glued to my head and the computer to my hands...

I was so happy once the race started and we could take off. It was a huge success for us! Winning five out of eight stages plus the overall was just unbelievable, but almost more important we got so much coverage for Songo.info. A big thanks goes out to Specialized who is fully behind us, and allows us to ride in the special gear of 36ONE Songo Specialized.

We also had six Songo riders who took part of the race and put in strong rides. Azukile, 18 years old, was the youngest rider in the field, and together with his partner Sivuyile, they were the youngest team of all. They finished in 235th position with 52 hours of saddle time.

Here are a few 36ONE Songo Specialized insider tidbits from the Cape Epic:

* My best working breakfast is porridge boiled with water. I eat it with Nutella, and have an espresso one hour before breakfast.

* Wake up is 5:00 am for 7:00 am start, with the Grace Jones' song, "Walking in the Rain"

* I brought my big speakers which I connected to my Ipod. After two or three days, we find your Cape Epic song. Last year, it was "Imma Be" from Black Eyed Peas this year "Born Free" from Kid Rock.

* Burry got a mouth infection for the last three days. His temperature was a little higher then normal and his tongue turned into a blister plantation. His teeth hurt, especially the gums and all the different mouth washes he used burned off his whole mouth and he also started to smell like a hospital! His final evening celebration after winning was going to bed after taking painkillers.

* After we started Pieter, our soigneur, cleaned the whole camper inside out with the loud tunes of Beastie Boys, while mechanic Dylan had a much quicker, but dirtier job to do. He had to dump the camper toilet. After the first time, Dylan always wore gloves.

* We had a chef for lunch. Helene lives close to all stage towns and made us an incredible lunch buffet every day. Sure we would like to have her on the team again next year.

* Two punctures, one for Burry, one for me - that was it over a total distance of 1400km. We only had to re-inflate both tires. Our tire sealant "NoZisch" works wonders, plus our Specialized Renegade Control tires have some extra puncture protection, but are still light and super fast rolling.

* After crossing the finish line, things went absolutely crazy. Burry needed a time out and went to hide himself in the company of Pieter under two big trucks and ate soft cheese with soft bread. Whatever was soft was easy on his gums.

Following the Cape Epic, I took one week super easy, and after a few days back on the bike, I started to feel like all the hard racing with the break afterward had kicked in. The first World Cup in Pietermaritzburg was waiting, and I was looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, I had a super bad start off the line at the World Cup and ended up back in the 50th going into the first trail. After three laps into the race, things calmed down and I started passing which brought me up to 13th place. At least, I'll get a second row start for Dalby World Cup, the next round of the World Cup.

I definitely had to get used to my 26-inch Specialized Epic for the World Cup again. I had only been riding and racing the Epic 29er for the last two months. Cross country is such a racing-specific discipline, which basically is 1.5 hours on and off sprinting. For that, I need the most responsive and light bike and not the 29er, which is much more forgiving, stable, comfortable and better rolling. Overall, the 29er is just easier to ride. In my opinion, you can compare a 26er vs. a 29er to a racing car vs. a Mercedes S Class.

By the way, we also invited Theo, a Songo.info kid, to the World Cup. He is the biggest downhill fan, and it was the weekend of his life to meet the whole Monster-Specialized Team. He watched the downhill and got to ride around on some cool bikes of his heros!

Check out the pictures in this diary and find more on www.songo.info.

Freeriding into the off season

Published:

September 17, 2010, 20:38,

Updated:

September 17, 2010, 23:32

By:

Cycling News

On the road with Hill and Stander

The big races are over. At World Cup finals (in Windham, New York), it was great racing from the first moment until the very end, but I am still very bummed that I crashed out in last downhill. My mistake!

One week later (at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec), my world championship early flat was just bad luck! I was in good company though, since many top riders punctured, but my puncture was only realised after I had passed the tech zone. So I ended up being a jogger for more then a third of a lap, which meant game over for the top positions.

Sam Hill, Burry Stander and I went for a road tour afterwards, which turned out to be an awesome time. First of all, we should have visited a Specialized concept store in Montreal. Somebody arranged it for Monday after the race, and later somebody again figured out it was a public holiday (Labor Day) on that day.

So we made our own public holiday in the city until our flight to Switzerland on Tuesday evening. Montreal is an incredible, cycling-friendly city! I loved the Bixi e-bike system. At every corner, there are stations. Swap credit card ($5 for 24 hours) take a bike and bring it back to any station anywhere.

Before "The Specialized Days" in Madrid, we had two days at my home. We did not want to sit down and give jetlag the ability to get hold of us, so we went for a big freeride day at my home. I hope you like the pictures!

Sam and Burry enjoyed it, too, although not so much for Sam's legs at some moments since we had to "kill" a lot of uphill metres, too. But hey, his name is "Hill" and that can stand for down and up-Hill!

The next day, we found ourself traveling again, jumping on the train at 8:30 am towards the airport. For most of the time, the airport Starbucks do their job helping with morale and staying awake. Normally, I order an extra hot mocha, adding an extra double shot espresso in it. I don't like coffee that's too milky.

At the Specialized Days, we did a mountain bike ride on Saturday and a road ride on Sunday. Everybody was welcome to join. For both rides, we were about 350 riders.

Wonder why (Alberto) Condador did not do the mountain bike ride on Saturday too? Well, it seemed like the road ride was already too much, since after halfway, he took a ride back home in the car.

On the other hand, it was great to see Matt Hunter and Sam Hill doing their first road rides ever. Sam, with flat pedals and baggy pants and Matt with a way-too-high saddle for the first 60km.

Deadly Nedly (alias Ned Overend) and I didn't have anything better to do than start racing with the front group on the last climb. It was definitely a lung cleaner for me. By the way, the Spanish are incredibly good fans! Taking our pictures and autograph cards meant a lot, and that was great to see. Many thanks to the great hosts.

One thing, though, that I could never get used to, were those late dinners. Going to the table at 9:30 pm and finishing off with the last course just before midnight is a little too late for my Swiss style.

I am now staying at home for the next weeks. Hopefully, we will now have a rocking autumn. My Enduro bike is ready to go for planned freeride days in Italy and the east of Switzerland.

Chocolate, tea and eggs - how to eat your way through the World Cup circuit

Published:

May 20, 2010, 15:02,

Updated:

May 20, 2010, 15:17

By:

Christoph Sauser

Sauser examines the food habits of his Specialized teammates

I have to keep up with Andy Schleck! His Cyclingnews diary is the one I read regularly. Every time one is posted, I know it is about time for me to get behind my keyboard.

We are in the middle of the racing season, and so far Mr. or Mrs. Luck has not been on my side. I am sure it will come around soon. The next World Cup round is in Offenburg, Germany - one of the best racing venues to visit.

In recent weeks, Iceland's volcano Eyjafjalläeülnà+*, or whatever it's name is (note: I would erupt as well with that name), affected our travel plans like those of many thousands others.

It took us 40 hours to travel from San Francisco after the Sea Otter Classic to the World Cup opener in Dalby Forest, England. The flight over the ocean was a piece of cake, but then the kak began. In Frankfurt, we got stuck and had to make plans. It took us six hours to figure out what is the best - or the least worst way - to keep on with our travel. We ended up hiring a VW transporter and a Citroen Picasso and drove all the way to England including going via the Calais-Dover ferry.

For me, the worst moment of the whole trip was getting into that Picasso at the airport and heading out into rush hour, knowing I was going to sit in it for the whole night. We ended up having lot of fun though. In the morning, when we finally arrived at our hotel, the car could have told a lot of stories with all the rubbish, magazines and left-over food, etc, which were spread all around in the car.

Talking about food, all of us at Specialized Factory Racing has our own eating habits or traditions. We come from eight different countries on three continents. Each of us is brings something to the table, but at the end of the day, we are all "carved out of the same wood", all bike racers or in the case of the staff, ex-bike racers.

Our Mechanic "Dirty Dog" (meant in good way) Sandy (Gilchrist) and our soigneur Claire (Rushworth) drink black tea whenever they can. Both are English. Oh sorry, Sandy is actually Scottish! Tea is their national drink, and it definitely makes them happy. But I have also seen Sandy traveling with a bottle of whiskey, although he tries to keep that a secret.

Dylan (van der Merwe), our South African mechanic, regularly has days when he eats everything sweet he can find. I mean you could leave one kilogram of plain sugar at the truck, and it would be gone before noon time.

Benno (Willeit), our German, who is originally Italian with Austrian blood, does not really know where he is from, but can make the best looking hotel salad buffet look even better in his plate. I am always jealous when he comes back from the buffet. My plate is a mess from the beginning, and after a meal, the mess around my plate is even worse.

Lene Byberg loves her oats with fruits and yoghurt for breakfast. Most of the time she travels all over the world with her Norwegian oats.

Chocolate drink is Burry Stander's favorite. I think he has tasted every single chocolate drink from all around the world, and he loves all of them. I would guess his intake is more then one liter a day. If the packet says milk and chocolate on it, there it's empty pretty quickly!

I would not be Swiss if I didn't have a chocolate craving to satisfy. I always travel with a container of 100 percent dark chocolate powder. My favorite is Green & Black‘s, which is not available in Switzerland. Claire is my dealer. It's strange that English are making the best chocolate powder, but they don't know what's good to do with it.

My hot chocolate is so thick that the spoon stands in it. Most of the time I fine-tune it with some pieces of Swiss chocolate and a double espresso. I could die for it.

Todd (Wells) gets credit the award for my favorite, most unusual food habit. There is no evening where he does not order four hard boiled eggs and bring them up to his room. What a midnight snack!

Last but not least, we have Bobby Behan our Irishman, who is a real gourmet... not. He wants his steaks well done, 110 percent dead, yet he does not eat seafood on principal. What the potato farmer does not know, he does not eat. Bobby is a three-in-one ingredient type of eater. One piece of meat, some potatos and a little bit of vegetable are pre-loaded on the fork, and it all goes goodbye into his mouth at once.

I have just finished a big training week. The weather forecast has been so negative lately. Luckily, it has been wrong most of the time, so I have been riding in beautiful sunshine, always adding a little bit of extra training time because I fear the next day's weather truly will be bad and then I can cut the extra time. But now I might have to take off for the next three days to compensate with recovery.

Thanks for reading!

From skiing in Switzerland to road racing in South Africa

Published:

March 18, 2010, 15:47,

Updated:

March 18, 2010, 16:07

By:

Christoph Sauser

Swiss racer looking forward to Cape Epic stage race

During whole month of February, I was at home. No wait! I went to visit the Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Morgan Hill is a small town south of San Francisco, which is big into cycling. No wonder why! It was only a very short visit, during which I tested some new, exciting products.

I am always amazed at how the Specialized technology progresses. Products are getting topped year after year. Last season you might have thought this is the best thing you can have, and a year later, it seems almost rubbish compared to the new thing.

Normally February is always one of the hardest training periods, especially for the head! I have to do my "love-hate" intensity sessions in the cold, the races are still far away, and I have only been training since mid-December. But this year, it felt very short and ever changing, plus I felt very good on my bike, too.

Sure I had some days that I was not motivated at all. Going out two hours later than I planned can make me feel shitty, but as soon as I am pedaling, it is ok, and I always do the ride I aimed to do.

I feel particularly bad if I come home way later, and my lunch was eaten on the bike instead of at home. I usually make myself a sandwich "to go", or I stop at a bakery, buy a pastry and eat it while I am sitting on my bike's top tube.

The weekends have been great. I went backcountry skiing with my mom and friends. I used to Alpine ski all the time, but I think when you get older, you appreciate more the walk up to the top of the mountain rather than queuing up in front of the lifts. The view from up top is amazing and to ride down in what is hopefully fresh powdery snow is thrilling. After a coffee refill somewhere in the valley afterwards, I usually ride back home with my bike.

All those winter stories feel like they happened so long ago already, although I have only just arrived here in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a little more than one week ago. Since my arrival, I have done five road races. First the Giro Del Capo, a four-day stage race, then the Cape Argus, the biggest timed cycling race in the world. 35,000 riders were racing or riding around the beautiful Cape Peninsula. For this entire road racing period, we formed a Specialized South Africa team, and it was great to be part of it. Burry Stander raced super strong, and he always finished top four, plus he wore the Giro's leader's jersey for two days!

The Sunday's Argus was pretty hectic with Lance Armstrong racing, too. It was new to me, seeing bodyguards guiding a bike racer to the start of a race. The Argus is always the coolest road race of my season. We start in darkness, then there's the sunset along the beach, amazing scenery and all the spectators and breakfast at Camps Bay afterwards - which all makes it so special. Luckily the wind this year was only half crazy compared to last year, where sunglasses started to fly, riders were blown over, Toi Toi portable toilets fell flat on the ground, and lonely bikes slid over the roads!

Now I am really looking forward to Cape Epic mountain bike stage race! I wish we would have more stage races, which create as much hype as the Cape Epic. Also, it will be very special to race in the Songo.info jersey, the charity I formed with a friend three years ago. Basically we started a BMX and mountain bike program in the township of Kayamandi, located near Cape Town. We definitely changed the lives of many young kids, who do not have the opportunity for play that we sometimes take for granted. More information can be found at www.songo.info.

Special thanks must go to Specialized, for donating so many bikes and allowing Burry Stander and myself to race in the Songo.info jersey. It is a special motivation not only to race for your fans, sponsors and yourself, but for the kids and a positive story of good.

Thanks for reading,
Christoph Sauser

A month in Stellenbosch

Published:

January 27, 2010, 17:28,

Updated:

January 27, 2010, 17:30

By:

Christoph Sauser

Sauser tests tires, practices being a film star and fights mosquitos

It's already been a month since I left my Swiss home and travelled to my second home here in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

As always, I was rushing over the last few days before my departure. I think all of this happens because my brain starts to spin about with what still needs to be done. With all that thinking, too much turns up, especially the "not so necessary stuff", but when I am in that "has to be done" mode, it feels important and I start rushing around.

Yet, as soon as I made the train toward the airport, all was cool, and I forgot about what I forgot to do at home!

Just before my departure to South Africa, I was involved in tire testing and development with Specialized. We were a small team of engineers and mechanics, so everything was super productive. I was glad the snow melted off the trails just a few days before testing kicked off!

We compared some of our Specialized tires against those of the company's top competitors on the trail and on the gravel plus on the road using a Power Tap to measure wattage. Three clincher setups were tested, and they felt great with low pressure over wet rocks and roots.

Sure you will not trust me to write anything here about the test outcome, since I am a Specialized baby. But all in all, you can believe that our tires showed awesome results, especially the Fast Track SLK and LK, plus my favorite one, our Renegade 1.8.

At the beginning of February, it was time for the Total Sport Challenge. It is a seven-discipline race, along the Indian Ocean's coast. Unfortunately, due to gusty winds the surf, ski and swim had to be cancelled. My start for the mountain bike leg kicked off close to a beautiful golf resort with a great bar equipped with awesome sofas, a good view over the ocean, plus it served strong, good coffee. It was the perfect place to hang out before my turn. The only problem was that I didn't have a designated start time, and I was depending on a phone call to tell me when to head over.

I never trust those guys behind the phone, since they like to get me out for my start time early, and they love to see me waiting in the transition zone. Waiting is better I suppose than being late. I've been late before!

I felt very good during my one-hour bike race, although Kevin Evans was still a bit faster then me. In the end, we won by a few minutes. No wonder considering our "all star" team name and team members including Burry Stander, Olympic triathlon champion Jan Frodeno and running legend Warren Petterson.

Last week was a little bit hectic, but nevertheless, very cool. We had a Specialized team camp, and that means lot of pictures and filming had to be done. During that period, I also flew up to Johannesburg to meet the "DCM mining and minerals holding" company, my personal sponsor.

For the team camp, Todd Wells flew down here from US with his wife Megan, though they left their dog behind. We filmed a movie clip, which I promise will be superb given all the filming we did. It will be online soon at the i-am-specialized.com webpage. The footage will show a lot of behind-the-scenes action and will give a very good inside view of us athletes training here in Stellenbosch. Scenes included breakfast time, exercising in the gym, performance testing, running, etc.

Why did it take me so long to buy a mosquito net here? My friend and apartment-mate Silvio Bundi and I were fighting every night with those little buggers. The fan did not really work, the special electrical plugs were a little bit too sketchy, and anti-spray plus ear plugs only kept them off for a few hours.

However, now my net rocks! Close it and sleep in it. Don't think now we are sleeping under the same net, though. Of course, since we bought the nets, we rarely see any more mosquitos in the apartment. While we were serving as their power food every night, they seemed to increase like popcorn.