Pipes, Maxwell and Kuliecza at the 2009 Urban Cross

The BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series for 2010 is turning it up to 11. Eleven races, that is. With three new venues joining the ranks, the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association’s cyclocross series, MABRAcross, will have ‘crossers toeing the line on almost every weekend from September through November.

New to the MABRAcross series are the Winchester Apple Harvest Cross, Hyattsville CX and All Hallows Cross in Hughesville, Md.

Along with the new venues, MABRAcross continues to feature some of the most exciting cyclocross events the East Coast has to offer. Kicking off the series is the eighth annual Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross, MABRAcross’ longest continuously running race. That race is followed by a Western Maryland weekend featuring the Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge and the Winchester Apple Harvest Cross race. The show then heads back to the DC metro region for Hyattsville CX.

After a two week hiatus, MABRAcross comes out swinging with DCCX. Featuring the largest fields in the series, the only cyclocross race in the nation’s capital is not to be missed. Starting off November, the long running Tacchino Ciclocross is back to put some funk in your trunk, along with a heaping helping of hurt. Riders can expect a “typical Squadra Coppi course”—fast, a little bit technical in a few places, and a stiff test of fitness and resolve. The show then moves south to Charlottesville, Va., for Urban Cross. This technically and physically challenging course features the “Stairs to Nowhere” and the scenic ruins of the Frank Ix & Sons silk mill.

The Howard County Double Cross represents “go time” in the MABRAcross series. Points leaders look to secure their position and challengers look to move up the rankings. The HoCo2xCx weekend starts out fast and furious at Schooley Mill Cross and finishes up with dirt trails and technical goodness at Rockburn Cross.

The MABRAcross finale once again takes place in Taneytown, Md. The Turkey Chase is a make or break race. Not only is it the MABRAcross Championship, but it also the state cyclocross championship event for Delaware, Maryland and D.C.

2010 MABRAcross Series Schedule

9-26     Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross (NCVC)

10-2     Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge (Antietam Velo Club)

10-3     Winchester Apple Harvest Cross (Winchester Wheelmen)

10-10   Hyattsville CX (Route1Velo)

10-24   DCCX (DCMTB)

10-30   All Hallows Cross (Patuxent Velo)

11-7     Tacchino Ciclocross (Squadra Coppi)

11-14   UrbanCross at Ix

11-20   HoCo2xCx: Schooley Mill Cross (Team BBC and Kelly Benefit Strategies/LSV)

11-21   HoCo2xCx: Rockburn Cross (Adventures For The Cure)

11-28   Turkey Chase/MABRAcross Championships (T.E.A.M. Fuji)

To get the latest info on MABRAcross be sure to follow the Twitter feed: MABRAcross. The series is also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MABRAcross.

Two days of Granogue? That could be beyond epic.

The 2010 MAC Cyclocross schedule offers up some intriguing opportunities and disappointing omissions. On the positive tip, we get an additional day of racing at Charm City and Granogue. Who says you can’t have too much of a good thing? The downer for those of us in and around D.C. is the absence of Capital Cross, our traditional season closer. We hope that this is only a brief hiatus for that race and the Potomac Velo Club boys and girls have us racing at Lake Fairfax in 2011.

For the rest of the details on the MAC series rollout, I give you the time-honored journalistic cop-out known as news by press release. Full schedule after the jump. Thanks for reading.

 April 19, 2010; Conshohocken, PA, USA—It’s that time of year when cyclocross series start announcing their autumn programs.  And, as usual, the well-organized MAC Cyclocross on America’s Eastern Seaboard is one of the first to publish a confirmed race schedule; a schedule sees the biggest makeover in many years for the venerable organization.  

The biggest news on the MAC tour this year is that two of the best-attended races in the east, Granogue and Charm City, have both added a second day of racing to their events this year.   They join the season-ending Super Cross Cup in Long Island in offering a two-day UCI experience at a single venue.  A full program with all MAC classes will compete each day at each of these two-day events. 

In other news from MAC’s schedule announcement, the Nittany Lion Cyclocross at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (a.k.a. T-Town Velodrome) is the new season opener, taking over from Charm City to accommodate Charm City’s expansion to two days.  Nittany Lion stands alone as the first UCI-sanctioned cyclocross race in the world this season.  And, as the only UCI race anywhere in the world until the following weekend, the winners of the UCI classes at T-Town will be guaranteed a World #1 ranking for at least a week. 

MAC also welcomes another race this year as the rapidly-growing Whirlybird Cyclocross makes its MAC debut.  Held on the beautiful grounds of Pennsylvania’s Bryn Athyn College, the race has proven it’s quality after several years as part of Pennsylvania’s PA Cyclocross Series and now moves up to the big leagues as MAC’s newest addition. 

Returning this year is the traditional Halloween doubleheader weekend in New Jersey, featuring the HPCX in central New Jersey and the UCI Beacon Cyclocross and its “Amphitheater of Pain” in the southern part of the state.  Also returning is another staple of the MAC schedule, the race at the fairgrounds of Maryland’s mountain bike Mecca known as Fair Hill. 

Altogether, MAC 2010 will see eleven races at eight venues in five states.  Eight of those races will be UCI sanctioned.  For more information on the MAC, see www.MidAtlanticCross.com. 

2010 MAC Cyclocross Series

September 11  Nittany Lion Cyclocross (UCI); Trexlertown, PA

September 18  Charm City Cyclocross Day 1 (UCI); Baltimore, MD

September 19  Charm City Cyclocross Day 2 (UCI); Baltimore, MD

September 26  Whirlybird Cyclocross (USAC); Bryn Athyn, PA

October 16      Cyclocross at Granogue Day 1 (UCI); Wilmington, DE

October 17      Cyclocross at Granogue Day 2 (UCI); Wilmington, DE

October 30      MAC New Jersey Weekend Day 1 — Beacon Cyclocross (UCI); Bridgeton, NJ

October 31      MAC New Jersey Weekend Day 2 — HPCX (USAC); Jamesburg, NJ

November 6    Wayne Scott Memorial Xross (USAC); Fair Hill Natural Resources Area, MD

November 20  Super Cross Cup Day 1 (UCI); Southampton, NY

November 21   Super Cross Cup Day 2 (UCI); Southampton, NY

"Carry Your Bike Around The Park 2010" Photo by Demoncats.com.

Kevin Dillard of Demoncats.com was there to capture the mayhem. You can check out his galleries here.

According to Rez, here’s how the day’s festivities went down:

Stage 1 ended up being a downhill for distance race mostly. We raced the course afterward but it ended up being mostly trudging through the snow carrying our bikes.

We improvised to make Stage 2 a Calvert St Bridge crit including a running section around the bus station. Pretty fun.

Stage 3, as expected, was the crown jewel. We rode up the 15th St hill, entered the park from a side entrance that led us to the bottom of the long stairways, and then raced down the hillside and winding stairways to the bottom. Totally sweet!

I’m sore in all new places today. Thanks to everyone who came out and made it a fun time!

She totally chopped him.

I had intended to join in the fun, carrying my bike around in the snow for a couple hours and maybe doing some helmet-cam footage, but it wasn’t to be. So instead I hung around the neighborhood and captured the locals putting on their own ‘cross race down my street. That was some good action.

Stay tuned for coverage from the rescheduled Super Bowl of Singlespeed and Cross My Heart race p/b Proteus Bikes that takes place this Saturday.

After that, we hope to have photos and video interviews from the North American Handmade Bicycle Show that takes place at the end of the month in Richmond.

Be back soon …

Snow? That's not snow. The pits at Capital Cross.

Proteus Bikes’ Super Bowl of Singlespeed may have been pushed back a week but that does not mean there will be no cyclocross racing in the Nation’s Capital this Sunday. Tim Rugg (Battley Harley/Sonoma) and Justin “Rez” Resnick (District Velocity/The Bike Rack) are not going to let the forecasted 36 to 360 inches of snow stop them from racing.

Before we get the details of what these guys have planned, I have to say I’m a little worried that Rez is spearheading this effort. As we saw way back in September, slippery surfaces are not always his forte. For those that may have missed it, here’s a recap.

And now for deets on this Sunday courtesy of Tim and Rez:

WOOH SNOW CROSS!! Spread the word, this is gonna be AAAAWESOME.

We could use some extra orange sport cones to set up the courses so please bring some if you have them!

Newbies, spectators, hecklers, snowball throwers, and photographers welcome!

Route: here

Schedule:
09:45am – Optional breakfast at Open City Cafe.

11:00am – Meet-up at Rock Creek Park exercise area, set up course, do preview lap.
Stage 1 – Rock Creek Park exercise area start at 11:30 SHARP.
Race TBD laps until 11:55 or so.

12:15pm – Meet-up at Calvert St Bridge park, set up course, do preview lap.
Stage 2 – Calvert St Bridge park at 12:30 SHARP.
Race TBD laps until 12:55 or so.

2:15pm – Meet-up at City Bikes to ride over to Malcolm X Park.
2:30pm – Meet-up at Malcolm X, set up course, do preview lap.
Race TBD laps until 3 or so.

Carraway at DCCX

Race #2 of the NCCX Winter ‘Cross series took place January 10 in Mooresville, North Carolina. Chris Carraway (NCVC) once again strapped on the CXHairs.com helmet-cam and had a cracker of a race. Until he didn’t.

Chris gives a great view of what it is like to be at the front of the field for most of the race. An ill-timed mechanical spells doom for young Chris and a guaranteed top five finish is replaced by a DNF. Because, as we all know, nothing is guaranteed in ‘cross.

Included in the video are the first three laps of the race and then the final half lap that includes the mechanical. It’s hard to tell when the race jumps from third lap to last lap. But if you keep an eye on the two lead riders at about the 12 minute mark, they magically disappear. That’s when it happens.

Music for this installment is by request and features Richmond, Virginia  hardcore  legends Four Walls Falling and the cute and lovable Misfits.

Although the 4WF boys have long since called it quits, you can still get their debut LP, Culture Shock, from Jade Tree Records. It may be the best music you never heard. Perfect for those rollers sessions in the basement.

Here’s the video. Thanks for watching.

We also caught up with Route1Velo’s Thori Wolfe who traveled from DC to NC for the weekend’s races. Before getting to the video, here is Thori’s race report of how things played out at the front of the Masters 45+ field: 

Wolfe At The Front of the Salisbury Field. Photo by Demoncats Photography. www.Demoncats.com

“Somewhere into the second or third week of undisciplined gluttony following Capitol Cross and the end of the ‘cross season, my R1V teammate Danny Koniowsky suggested the North Carolina Winter Cross Series. I was starting to feel like a slug, so I checked the calendar and Google map and decided to commit to at least the first weekend. I made the trek last weekend and wasn’t disappointed with the trip. Both races on Saturday and Sunday were low key, local races with relatively small fields and some very talented racers still willing to get out in the 20 degree temps when the only other ‘cross racers taking the discipline seriously live in Northern Europe and are named Nys, Albert, and Stybar. The accents were heavy Carolina. The juxtaposition of Ridley bikes, tubulars on carbon rims, and the southern accents you might otherwise expect at a NASCAR event was pretty awesome. It reminded me of surfing in Cape Cod with a bunch of dudes with heavy Massachusetts accents wave sliding on long boards. In both cases, seemingly incongruous, but it didn’t matter once they got down to what they were there to do. 

Jay Morali Stringing Out The Chasers. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

Saturday’s race was held in a community park nestled up against a pine grove, which added some dimension to your standard taped-off-municipal-park affair. Fast and flat, the ground was frozen with the low temperatures and a fairly steady wind. I raced B Masters 45+. The race coordinators allowed the 35s to go out first with about a 45 second interval start to ahead of my group (the 45s), then followed by the 55s. No need for call-ups, so I jumped up front for the start and off we went. I got settled in with a group of 5 and stayed there for the rest of the race. Two or three teammates from a local road racing club, and a singleton from Inland Construction were controlling the pace, which I was able to handle for a couple laps. Eventually, I was starting to feel the lack of training, and the preceding day’s drive, Negra Modelos and crappy Mexie food and got gapped after we passed a 35 in the single-tracky wooded section. I finished that race 5th and felt pretty good about getting back out and racing after a month off without any serious riding except some sketchy mountain bike rides in the ice and snow. As an aside, Danny (R1V) and Chris (NCVC) showed up, as did C3 stalwarts Jay Morali (C3) and Kevin Dillard (C3). Jay did well in the 35s getting a third place in that race. Not sure how the other MABRA guys did that day. A couple of the local racers commented that they were happy to see some of us from DC down there to support their series. 

Carraway Assumes Helmet-Cam Duties for NCCX. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

Sunday’s race was held in Mooresville (race city USA according to the race schwag). It was based around some playing fields, a gravelly parking lot and a short, windy (wine-dee, not win-dee), pine needle-strewn section with one long stretch of stairs as a run up. The same crowd was there from the previous day. The course was relatively short, but with more elevation change from the prior day’s race, plus a long stair run-up. Away we went again, the same five or so guys got joined up in a small pace line and things were moving along pretty comfortably – I felt better this time out after getting out and racing the day before. I knew who the ringers were and figured the only variable was how I was going after getting one race under my belt. About half way around the first lap the Inland racer that was looking very solid the previous day rolled one of his high-end tubulars off his higher-end carbon rims. One less guy to worry about. Then just before the end of the first lap the other ringer (the winner the day before) flatted. Two less guys to worry about. At that point I went around with a small, but steady gap between me and the two front-runners – both of whom beat me the day before. Stayed that way until the end, but I wasn’t able to completely close the gap to 2d place. The group of 35s that started in front of us actually were a factor (again) as you would have to execute some kind of sketchy maneuver to pass while staying in contact with the group you were racing. Seemed to hit me at a bad time both days, but not enough to swing the whole race, so not a big deal. Ended up third on Sunday and feeling better because of the preceding day’s warm up/race. Also there was no mud, and therefore, no chain suck or similar mechanicals I seemed to suffer during the last couple MABRA races. So despite the cold, I certainly welcomed the dry, fast conditions. 

This is a pretty cool series. I won’t be doing the five-plus hour drive down again this time around, but it was fun, well-organized and definitely worth at least one weekend’s worth of travel.” 

Danny Koniowsky Showing Off Some PRO Embro Technique. Photo by Demoncats Photography.

And now for the video. No soundtrack except for the extremely loud wind. My suggestion would be to fire up the iTunes, locate your favorite 20 minute playlist, sit back and enjoy the first several laps of the Salisbury race. Watch at the beginning of video for the late entrance of Danny K. He explains what happened here. The way he starts as a speck on the horizon made me think of this. 

Video for race #2 should be up later in the week.  For now, here is race #1 from Salisbury.

Thanks for watching.