We are lucky in the Mid-Atlantic cyclocross scene to have several professional photographers shooting our races. Two of these guys, Jay Westcott and Darrell Parks, have spent years behind the lens and bring the sport of cycling to you in unique and stunning ways. Both have published works this year that are must haves.

Jay Westcott is a staff photographer for Politico who spends his days jockeying for position in the U.S. Capitol, among other places inside the beltway, to photograph politicians and other notable figures.  He’s also shot more than his fair share of NFL games. His love of the bike drew him to cyclocross and he immersed himself in the scene this year. The result of full Sundays taking in the racing and the cyclocross party-down atmosphere is Red Right!, a visual diary of cyclocross, which chronicles the 2011 MABRAcross Super 8 series. Although Red Right! captures just one region of the U.S., it is a book that can be enjoyed by anybody familiar with cyclocross, bike racing, or just good photography.

To order Red Right! visit www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2771187 Cost is $49.

Darrell Parks is a local Vienna, Virgina-based cyclist and photographer who works for PEZ Cycling News. Along with shooting the pro peloton for PEZ, he also has his cycling photography featured in this year’s VeloNews Calendar alongside notable photographers Graham Watson and Casey Gibson. The 2012 Darrell Parks calendar features images from the two largest U.S. Stage races, The AMGEN Tour of California and The USA PRO Cycling Challenge. Along with the cycling action, Darrell captures beautiful scenery and vistas. The landscapes that pro cycling races through are breathtaking and Darrell captures it all in this 2012 calendar.

The 2012 Darrell Parks Cycling Calendar is $14.95, plus shipping and handling, and can be purchased at www.darrellparks.com/Calendar.html 

Sample Pages from Red Right! by Jay Westcott

Sample Pages from the Darrell Parks 2012 Cycling Calendar

Stunning, right? Now go buy Darrell’s calendar and Jay’s book. And if you have a couple shekels left, maybe a shirt or some socks for yourself?

New T-Shirt Boy (Photo © Jay Westcott)

Hey everybody! We’ve got all new shirts with an all new design.  A design we are confident will appeal to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a brain trapped in the body of a game show hostess, an aspiring kickboxer who doesn’t want to sell anything bought or processed or buy anything sold or processed, or if you are just hanging out in the parking lot of the Gas & Sip, this shirt is for you.

If you have absolutely no idea what any of that means, it’s okay. I’ll explain. It all started in 1989 when a young Cameron Crowe directed John Cusack and Ione Horovitz in a coming-of-age teen dramedy called “Say Anything.” We first meet our protagonist, the off-center but lovable Lloyd Dobler as he … Oh, just go watch the trailer and meet me back here. I’ll wait.

So that’s the inspiration and here’s the shirt. These came out looking sweet. Black American Apparel short sleeve tee shirts available in men sizes S/M/L/XL and women sizes S/M.

Dobler Approved.

Cost is $20 per shirt plus $3 more for shipping. If you are interested, you can PayPal a gift or donation to CXHairs@gmail.com. Just make sure to put your shipping address and the shirt size(s) in the comment box. If you want more than one shirt, shipping is still only $3. And don’t forget we still have socks, too! Super cool 5″ cuff SwiftWick socks with the classic Public-Enemy inspired CXHairs logo on the back. Socks are $15 per pair. Throw a pair in with your shirt order. Shipping will still be just $3. NO LARGE SOCKS IN STOCK

Socks!

Pretty stoked with this year’s gear and hope you will be too.

Thanks for reading and see you at the races.

“bunny-hop”:

“riding barriers”:

The more you know …

Thanks for watching and see you this Sunday at Winchester Apple Cross!

Your 2011 Cross Clinic Instructors

The MAC is up and running and already has over 1000 registrants, MABRAcross will open its doors for business this weekend. We know you can’t wait. But does that mean you’re ready?

Are you faster around the cyclocross course this year than you were last year? Did you know that using proper dismounting, remounting, carrying and cornering technique can make you ten, 15, or even 30 seconds faster per lap? Think about that. If your race is four laps long, that can mean you are a minute or even two minutes faster than you were last season without any improvement in fitness.

Do you ever practice your race starts? Are you confident you know the best way to approach this important part of a cross race? If you have the proper technique and strategy you will be better equipped to be in that first group as it hits the inevitable chokepoint in every course. Being up front means a smooth ride and faster times. As your competition bottlenecks behind, you will be in your rhythm creating gaps on those poor souls in your rearview mirror.

I know by now you are thinking, nay saying out loud, “Wow, all this sounds great! I too want to learn how to take minutes off my lap times and get to the front at the start. But how? How do I get there?”

That part, Mid-Atlantic friends and neighbors, is easy. You get yourself to the top cyclocross clinic in the area. The Fulcrum Coaching and JBV Coaching Cyclocross Clinic with Jeremy Powers.

It all happens Labor Day weekend starting with a Saturday, September 3, cross talk and meet & greet at Bike Doctor of Waldorf. Rapha-Focus pro cyclocrosser Jeremy Powers will be on hand to answer your questions about his racing career, tricks of the trade, training advice and anything else you care to ask. Joining Jeremy during this session will be Fulcrum Coaching’s Dan Tille and JBV Coaching’s Chris Mayhew. Dan and Chris have years of experience racing and coaching cyclocross. Come out and pick their brains on the latest gear and training techniques. The Saturday night portion of the clinic is free but you still need to register.

On Sunday, September 4, we get down to business. It’s a full day of on the bike training at Rosaryville State Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, venue of the MABRAcross Super 8 opening race, Tacchino Ciclocross. From 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Jeremy, Chris and Dan will be joined by instructors Marc “FatMarc” Vettori and Rusty Williford to make sure every attendee receives one-on-one instruction. Also on hand to help out will be Gunnar Bergey, who spent part of last winter in Belgium at USA Cycling’s elite level Eurocross Camp, racing against Europe’s top talent.

Throughout the day, the full group will receive demonstration and explanation of a certain skill and then break into smaller groups based on skill and experience level. These smaller groups will work on the skill and receive instruction from the coaches.

As if that wasn’t enough to convince you to sign up now, Fulcrum coaching will also provide individual video analysis of each attendee using Dartfish motion capture technology. At the end of the day when the group has reviewed and practiced the essential cyclocross skills, each attendee will be filmed dismounting, carrying and remounting. Detailed, written feedback on form and technique will be sent out within a week of the camp ending.

Finally, did we mention the FULL RAPHA KIT Jeremy Powers will be raffling off Saturday night at The Bike Doctor of Waldorf? Seriously, a FULL RAPHA KIT. You have to look good racing and training and you can’t not do that in Rapha. It’s an extra added incentive to get you to this clinic. Everybody is going to come away from the weekend faster. One of you will also come away just a bit cooler and more fashionable than the rest. (All registrants for the free Saturday evening session will be eligible for the Rapha giveaway. You do not need to sign up for Sunday to win.)

This clinic is truly the best way to get a leg up on the field. Many attendees are coming back for their second and third years, and it’s not just for the complimentary Chipotle lunch. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you, too. Come on out and join us.

To register, please visit http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13780. Space is limited to 50 attendees and last year’s clinic sold out.

Check out photos from last year’s clinic here.

Also be sure to follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Fulcrum-Coaching-JBV-Coaching-Cyclocross-clinic/112506545463716?ref=sgm.

If you have any questions about the clinic please do not hesitate to contact Chris Mayhew at chris@jbvcoaching.com or 724.413.7441.

DC Bicycle Film Festival August 4-6

If you live in, or are thinking about traveling to, the DC-metro area this weekend, do yourself a favor and check out the Bicycle Film Festival. My frequent partner-in-crime Sean O’Donnell and good friend Nick Barkley (DC BFF Director) have put in huge days to make sure this year’s festival is bigger and better than ever. Nick and Sean take the DC BFF reins from last year’s director, Chris Carraway, who built a strong foundation with the 2010 festival before deciding to spend this summer, at altitude, preparing to bring the pain to you Mid-Atlantic cyclocross cats.

The festivities for the 2011 DC BFF kicked off Thursday night with a cash-for-cash sprint competition on the streets of your nation’s capital. After that prologue it is Friday’s program when things really get rolling. Programs start at 7pm and 9pm at the beautiful Gala Theater in Northwest DC. When the final screening ends but before the projector is even cool, the after party will be hotting up at nearby Wonderland Ballroom.

On Saturday there is so much going on it just gets silly. The party starts with a 1:30 Hold Fast and B-More Fixed “Fixt Trix Jam” at the Bridgespot Skatepark. Word has it an alleycat race will be taking place about that time, too. After that, get ready for four separate programs of the best bicycle films the world has to offer. And it doesn’t end there. Saturday night becomes Sunday morning with a blowout after party at DC9. If you make it that long, please do me a favor and buy Sean and Nick, or one of the other volunteers that make this event possible, a beer. They truly deserve it.

And, oh by the way, we here at the CXHairs have a short film playing Friday at 7:00 pm. Would love to see all of you come out. Every film in that program is solid. And one (ours) is about a cross race. In a junkyard. Oh, the shenanigans. You won’t want to miss it.

So come on out and play. Cross is still more than a month a way. Enjoy yourself.

Buy tickets here.

Bilenky Junkyard Trailer #1

Bilenky Junkyard Trailer #2 (The Outtakes)

Fulcrum Coaching's Rusty Williford gives one-on-one instruction.

The 2011 event kicks off September 3 at 7 p.m. with a free Jeremy Powers Meet & Greet and Q&A at the Bike Doctor of Waldorf. The clinic takes place the next day, September 4th, at Rosaryville State Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. A short drive from Washington, D.C., and the site of MABRAcross’ Tacchino Ciclocross, Rosaryville’s varied terrain gives clinic participants the opportunity to learn and hone their skills on most surfaces found in East Coast cyclocross racing.

Attendees can look forward to a jam-packed day of technique, tactics and skills, as well as one-on-one instruction from JPow and professional coaches. “Everyone learns something which is my number one goal with this camp,” Powers said after last year’s clinic. “The coaches make our best effort to get everyone nailing the techniques the correct way,” he added. “We hit on the fundamentals of cyclocross so all participants have the tools to get a result in their upcoming races.”

This clinic is designed to help the beginner and accomplished cyclocross racer. With four coaches in addition to Jeremy, every attendee will receive individual instruction tailored to improve their technique, tactics and training. Participants will be divided into groups by experience so beginners are not left behind and experienced racers are constantly challenged to improve their skill set. All coaches, including Jeremy, will work with each group several times as the day progresses.

Jeremy Powers (Rapha/Focus) Addresses 2010 Clinic Attendees

Where most clinics give you a couple hours or a half-day of instruction, the Fulcrum Coaching and JBV Coaching clinic goes all out. Not only do you receive a full day of instruction on all facets of ‘cross racing, a Chipotle lunch, and an end-of-the-day mock race to put all your new skills into practice, but you also get the opportunity to pick Jeremy’s brain at the Friday night ‘cross talk session at The Bike Doctor in Waldorf, Maryland.

Friday night’s cross talk event at The Bike Doctor of Waldorf is 7 to 9:30 p.m. Although the cross talk event is free, you still need to register to attend. Saturday’s clinic at Rosaryville State Park will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To register, visit http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13780. Space is limited to 50 attendees and last year’s clinic sold out fast.

Check out photos from last year’s clinic here

If you have any questions about the clinic contact Chris Mayhew at chris@jbvcoaching.com or 724.413.7441.

That pair on the left is yours. Really.

Give me your tired, your poor, your muddied feet. It’s sock time once again at the CXHairs and this time we have something pretty sweet for you to sport for the upcoming ‘cross season. The all new, five-inch cuff, In The Crosshairs sock. Featuring our iconic … thanks to Public Enemy and Sarah Palin … logo on the back, these socks will go with any kit and shoe combo you have planned.

Swiftwick makes some of the best socks out there. They are super comfy, well-built compression-type socks tha are a joy to ride in. And I have two enormous boxes of these things that I want to share with you.

So here’s what we are going to do. You want socks, I need a little bit of change to keep the lights on at the CXHairs HQ. If you go to PayPal.com and send an $18 gift to cxhairs@gmail.com, I will send you a snazzy new pair of socks. Shipping is included. (Want more than one pair? Each additional pair is only $15.)

This part is important: When you use the gift option on PayPal, shipping information is not provided. I need you to include in the “Note” section two things:

(1) sock size (True story: I typed that wrong the first time. Hilarity almost ensued. Spell Check is not a substitute for proofreading, kids.)

(2) mailing address

Thanks so much for your support! Lots of cool projects percolating around here and none of it would be possible without socks. And electricity.