Thanks for watching.

The Elite Men

The Elite Women

U23 Men

I had the pleasure of calling the action throughout the day, which is always a ton of fun and made forgetting my own less-than-optimal effort on course easy. The one downside of announcing races is that it doesn’t leave much of an opportunity to shoot video. I was, however, able to sneak away for about twenty minutes or so and shot enough to get a look at the “chute,” the run-up and a couple other sectors of the Cap Cross course.

Although the Super 8 season has ended, there is still cross racing to be had in the Mid-Atlantic region. Next Sunday is the 2nd annual Luray Caverns CX. This is a phenomenal venue and course and a race worth attending. Even if you think your form is gone, I guarantee you have at least one more race in you. Come out and have some fun. No pressure. Just race to race. Beer garden, drumline, caverns, what more can you ask for?

After Luray, we will be heading up to Philadelphia for the Bilenky Junkyard Cross and then in January it’s off to Madison to be a fan at Cross Nationals. Lots of cross left this season!

Okay, here’s the video. Thanks for watching. And, Erin, heal up fast. We expect to see you racing the Super 8 in 2012.

Dee Dee Winfield and meat.

Tacchino Cyclocross, the first race in the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Super 8 Series, is this Sunday and I’ve been told several times by Jim “Unholy Promoteur” McNeeley that a course preview wouldn’t be worth the ones and zeros it was recorded on because the course is unrecognizable from last year’s edition.

We know that the course Squadra Coppi has in store for us will be run in reverse, there will be a run up on something called “Hup Hup Hill,” which is one of those things that sounds more pleasant than it actually is, and it’s supposed to be hard. On the plus side, when you’ve finished racing, or if you come out for the spectating, the run up will have a party tent featuring DJ Adam Austin. And, as always, there will be sausage premes (with Tofurkey), and a kitted out turkey, who may or may not have fallen off the wagon.

Instead of trying to go through last year’s video and point out all the things that are different, I will merely post the image stabilized helmet-cam from the 2010 race and let you enjoy the sunny pastoral environs. Because if the weather gods have their way, sunny is not in the cards for tomorrow. Make sure to pack your Wellies, a poncho and two pairs of shoes (you will thank me for this extra pair of shoes when you get back to your car for the drive home). Also bring a couple large plastic trash bags to throw all of your muddy things into. Seriously, after you finish racing, strip down throw it all into the bag—kit/shoes/gloves/helmet/glasses/towels/regrets—tie it up and throw it in the car. Bring some baby wipes for you (using a couple on your poor muddy bike after hosing it down won’t hurt either), and then go enjoy the races. When you get home, dump the contents of the plastic trash bag out on the lawn or driveway, hose it all down and then throw it in the wash. Just make sure you don’t forget about that muddy, grungy Hefty bag of ick sitting in the car for too long. Discovering it as you pack your car for next week’s races is not recommended.

Here’s the 2010 Tacchino video. Thanks for watching and see you tomorrow at the races.

It's Sometimes Sunny in Baltimore

There was this ice cream truck, no doubt drawn by the crowd of seemingly undernourished folks in the middle of Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park, who spent most of the day course-side at Charm City Cyclocross. It’s a free country, and I’m not one to turn away from a good ice cream sandwich or drumstick, but the music, oh, the music. It was an eight hour barrage of “If Your Ears Hang Low,” on a loop. I don’t want to think what the guy in the truck did to cope with that inside his skull all day, every day. So for him, and all of you who parked near that truck, this video is dedicated to you.

As for the racing? It was phenomenal. Sunday in Charm City was the perfect autumn day. Moderate temperatures, sunny skies and a kickin’ cross course. The big guns put on another great show and the seventh year of racing in Druid Hill Park goes down as one of the best.

Next week is Tacchino Cyclocross in Upper Marlboro, Md. If you are there, come say hi. I’ll be the guy with the microphone.

Until then, here are more sights and sounds from Sunday’s race.

Thanks for watching.

Steevo clearing the Charm City natural barrier.

The seventh running of the Charm City Cross happens this weekend in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. What started as a one day event with around 300 total riders has quickly grown into one of the premier East Coast events with two days of UCI and non-UCI racing and over 1000 cyclocrossers pinning on numbers. We stopped by race sponsor, Twenty20 Cycling Co., last night to record a course preview with Twenty20 co-owner and C3 bossman, Kris Auer, and C3 stalwart Bad Andy Wulfkuhle.

The preview covers the Saturday race, which according to Bad Andy, will be set up “as close to last year as we can manage, in the dark, at 4 a.m. on race day.” Sunday’s race will be the traditional Charm City course in reverse. Crazy! I know. Keep in mind it is not 100 percent backwards. You will not climb down the steps and the finishing straight will remain the same as last year, absent the asphalt climb.

So you can follow along while watching, here is a rough map of Saturday’s course (click on map for large view).

Saturday's Charm City Course

And here is the video commentary with Kris and Bad Andy.

 

This is what you are looking at for Sunday’s race (click on map for large view).

Sunday's Charm City Course

To get an idea of the set up for Sunday, here is last year’s course commentary with Fulcrum Coaching‘s Dan Tille and JBV Coaching‘s Chris Mayhew. Keep in mind THE COURSE WILL BE REVERSED.

 

Thanks for watching and we will see you at the races.

P.S.-if you see me this weekend and want the super sweet In The Crosshairs SwiftWick socks, recently donned by Jeremy Powers, don’t be shy. Ask. I have PLENTY. They will also be available at the Team Money ‘n’ Stuff tent.

Almost Too Many Sponsors

CourierCX is happening this Sunday. What’s that you ask? Courier Cross? Here’s the deal. It’s an alley cat, it’s a cross race, it’s a one lap jam through DC in a free-for-all racing experience. But that’s not to say it’s all fun and games. There is some serious swag on the line from a boatload of super crazy sexy cool sponsors. For all the details on the race and the after party check out couriercx.tumblr.com. But before you do, take a peek at the course preview below to get a better idea of what you will be getting yourself into.

See you Sunday bike people.

And thanks for watching.

Setting up for interviews in the junkyard. All photos ©2011 Sean O'Donnell

Last December we traveled to Philadelphia to film the Bilenky Junkyard Cross race. An incredible event that is as much a Bilenky Cycle Works open house and holiday party as it is a race. The race footage from that day got a lot of play on the Internets, which was really cool.

About a month ago we decided it would be even cooler to head back to Philly, hang out at Bilenky Cycle Works for a day, grab some shop footage and some interviews, and put together a more developed short film on the annual race. We spent a super fun day talking about the race and playing in the junkyard.

Stephen Bilenky was nice enough to come to the office on a Sunday.

The completed short film is now in the hands of the Bicycle Film Festival. Hopefully, they will deem it worthy to be included in their shorts program.

Sean O’Donnell, who races for TOMS Shoes p/b Kindhuman Sports, was a huge help in putting the film together. He is also a talented photographer who is turning out a ton of sweet bicycle culture photos for his Smoke to Ink Photography mark. Check out the nice set of shots from our day up in Philly here.

Courier Cross. DC. May 15.

And, hey,  if you’re not doing anything May 15 and want to  try your hand at some urban cyclocross/alley cat mayhem, Sean is promoting the first annual DC Courier Cross. We will be out there filming the chaos. You should come out, too. All the details are here.

Talk to you soon.

Coach Mayhew rails the off-cambers at the clinic despite the bad wing.

JBV Coaching and Fulcrum Coaching hosted their second annual cyclocross clinic with Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com rider Jeremy Powers at Rosaryville State Park in Maryland, August 28th.

Over fifty participants joined JBV Coaching associate coach Chris Mayhew and Fulcrum Coaching president Dan Tille for a day of drills, instruction, entertaining commentary and friendly competition. Tille, Mayhew and Powers were joined by Fulcrum Coaching’s Rusty Williford and C3-Athlete Serving Athlete’s Marc Vettori.

In the coming days we will have some great posts to share with you from this clinic. Until then, here are some photos to give you an idea of how the day went. Check back every couple days as the set is sure to grow.

The full set of photos will eventually be available here. Below is the appetizer. Thanks for viewing.

Update: My gallery app that should be below doesn’t seem to be working great. You can click here and check out many more shots from the day.