Dialing in the shortcuts at Bilenky Junkyard Cross. Photo by Shira.

After the success of last year’s Bicycle Film Festival short film based on The Bilenky Junkyard Cross, it was a bit surreal going back for this year’s race. But once we got there, it was the same junkyard, a different course and a whole lot more people. This edition was nuts. Jam packed with racers and revelers, multiple heats in multiple categories and about the most fun you can have in a junkyard without matches or a wrecking ball. The special features for this year’s course included a conversion van run-through, car hood ride-over, wooden boxes, and a sweet session area for the BMX and trials guys. It was a spectacle. It always is. Here’s the video. See for yourself.

Thanks for watching.

Luray Caverns CX promoter Chris Gould does a great job putting on top notch road and cyclocross events in Page County. The drive is under two hours from the DC Beltway. There’s no excuse not to go. In fact, here’s what you are going to do. In a couple weeks, When you unwrap that calendar that Aunt Marge is going to get you for Christmas, you know, the one with the puppies on it, the first thing you are going to do is mark Luray Caverns CX on the second Sunday in December. In pen. Easy.

Okay, not much time to shoot video today. But here’s what I got.

Thanks for watching.

What does this button do? Photo © Sean O'Donnell

About this time last year I went up to Philadelphia to play around with my new video camera at the Bilenky Junkyard Cross, a holiday party masquerading as a cross race or vice versa. This event is nuts and if you have the time, you should definitely check it out. The course winds its way through a working junkyard and includes flyovers, teeter-totters and fluids. Lots and lots of fluids. I shot all day and threw some raw footage of the race up on the Internet. Many, as in tens of thousands, curious people checked it out. That was really cool.

I went back to Philadelphia earlier this year to interview some of the folks who raced and also to talk to the event’s host, framebuilder Stephen Bilenky. After going through dozens of edits, I ended up with an eight minute short film that I submitted to the Bicycle Film Festival. Out of the hundreds of submissions, the Bilenky Junkyard Cross was chosen to travel the world as part of the BFF’s shorts program. That was also really cool.

The one drawback to being part of the Bicycle Film Festival is that I agreed to delay posting the video on the Internet for everybody to see. This bummed me out a bit because I really want to share it with all of you.

With the BFF 2011 winding down and the 2011 Bilenky Junkyard Cross race scheduled for December 18, I figured now was as good a time as any to post the short for all to see.

This was my first attempt at making a short film and it was a ton of fun to make. It was made a whole lot better with the help of several people. Sean O’Donnell and Ryan Dudek strapped on helmet cams for the race, put in a full day of helping with and participating in interviews, and gave great feedback during editing. Linda Mattioni and Kris Molendyke were great sports and added sooo much to the story. For the two festival showing of the film I saw, Kris pretty much stole the show. Stephen Bilenky allowed us to invade his shop for a day and share the story of how Bilenky Cycle Works was started.

I also owe a huge thank you to Peter Nicoll and Bruce Buckley. Peter is a filmmaker by trade and could not have been more giving of his time and expertise. Bruce is a pro photographer who continues to give me tons of insight on what makes a good photograph. I trust his eye more than most anybody else I know. Both of these guys willingly sat through close to 20 edits of this film and helped improve the final product each time.

I hope you enjoy the film and thanks for watching.

That Dam Bridge at Cap Cross

Capital Cross Classic goes down this Sunday in Reston, Virginia. It’s the finale of the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Super 8 series and a race not to be missed. This venue has been hosting cross races for well over a decade and sets up awesome for a fun yet challenging event. Unless something drastic happens between now and Sunday we will not have the “epic” conditions encountered in 2009. For the sake of the park, that’s probably a good thing.

Not many changes in the course from in the past other than the removal of the dicey off-camber section on the descent after the run-up. But fear not! It has been replaced with an equally dicey yet more fun roller-coaster ride down the hill.

It’s all here in the preview.

Thanks for watching and see you Sunday. Come say “hi.” Buy a shirt.

Thanks for watching and see you in two weeks at Capital Cross Classic. If you are not attending, you should be. No excuses. It’s Cross. And it’s Classic.

Okay. Now watch the video.

DKeg and Todd Man The Preview Camera

This Sunday is Rockburn Cross, race #7 in the MABRAcross Super 8 Cyclocross Series, and the Mid-Atlantic mountain bikers’ favorite course. Rockburn is known for its long single-track stretches and punchy terrain. Word has it that the Adventures for the Cure crew is going to plot out the course a little different than in the past. But for the most part it will capture the same features as previous editions. One big change to the event is that it will have a beer garden. Yay! And if you are going to serve beer, I believe there is some unwritten rule stating that you must do so near or adjacent to the barriers. This means that the placement of the barriers, as seen in the video below, is different than last year, so just disregard the no longer on point commentary that accompanies that part of the course.

In addition to the preview, course designer Mike West put together this a animated Google Earth video that takes you through the course. This will help you better figure out what has been changed from last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at this handy clip until after I recorded my commentary.

Okay, so watch the videos and we will see on Sunday. If you want a shirt or socks, please do not hesitate to ask. I will have plenty at the race.

Mario Bros. Course Preview (with real time commentary–if you listen closely–by Todd Bauer and David Kegley)

Google Earth Preview

Thanks for watching and see you at the races.

Tandems At Ed Sander Memorial Cross

NCVC broke the mold and started from scratch on this year’s edition of Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross. A bold move, especially when you have one of the longest running and most popular cyclocross events in the Mid-Atlantic. I’m sure there were those that raced who missed the long gravel stretches but they were few and far between. The new course, with big flowy turns, a nice drop in and a fast ride through the lily ponds, still demanded lots of power but was overall a joy to ride. And the long uphill finishing stretch? Brutal at the end of any race. Even more so if you’re in a dog fight.

The video features four races from the day’s MABRAcross Super 8 Series festivities, including the tandem. The aquatic park combined with the time change made for some really nice shooting conditions by the end of the day.

Thanks for watching and we will see you this weekend at Schooley Mill.

Check out the map for details on the new course (click on it for a larger image).

Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross new course design

And if you just want to see what the grounds look like, or reminisce about the past, here is the video preview for last year. Again, this is NOT the course you will ride on Sunday. For all of those who do not read this and just click the video, I’ll patiently await your Monday morning e-mails telling me the preview was wrong.

See you at the races!

So here’s some video. It features the stairs, the “big air” section and the new off-camber U-turns. And for the record, I did not come anywhere close to getting in the way of Ryan Dudek (He has a history of crashing when I’m around and have a camera). If he can’t take his eyes off me and ends up bobbling I can’t be blamed. Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful, Ryan. Okay, that will soon make sense. Go watch.