Hyattsville CX, the fourth race in the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series, takes place October 10 at Magruder Park in Hyattsville, Md. This race features flat power sections broken up by fun technical sectors. The City of Hyattsville is 100 percent behind this race so the atmosphere and amenities are top notch. Bleacher seating, indoor restrooms, moonbounce and playground, huge parking lot adjacent to the course. And it’s all 10 minutes from downtown DC.
For those that did the race last year there are a couple changes discussed in the course preview video. For those that are new to the venue, get prepared for no hills, two dismounts, and some good fast ‘cross racing.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge was held this year at a new location, moving from the Hagerstown Fair Park to Fort Ritchie in Cascade, Md. The week before the race it rained. Really rained. That made conditions on the course thick and slow. With long flat stretches and not much technical riding necessary, other than the ability to drive your bike through slop, racers with big engines definitely had and advantage.
We are going to take a look at a full lap plus a little more of the BCA course. It’s a bit bouncy, a bit frenetic and a bit crazy out there. For music to match that atmosphere, we are stoked to get the green light to feature Baltimore’s own Double Dagger. This trio has been around for a while but have now gone and got themselves all blown up with a new record out on Thrill Jockey. We have some older jams on tap for this video from Ragged Rubble, an album from their days with Stationary (Heart) Records. To see what they are up to now, and you should, check out there killer site.
Winchester Apple Harvest ‘Cross takes place October 3 in Winchester, Virginia. In its second year, and first in the MABRAcross series, the Apple Harvest ‘Cross offers a nice hilly course in a scenic locale.
Here is a rough outline of the course set up:
Winchester Apple Harvest Cyclocross
We enlisted Kenny Morris of race organizer the Winchester Wheelmen to run us through the course. And joining us again to provide commentary is Ken Woodrow (Squadra Coppi), who is the MABRAcross technical advisor for Winchester Apple Harvest Cross.
UPDATE: We had a question in the comments about barriers. They will be located behind the registration/podium area. On the video, this is at 10:11. The right hand turn behind the shelter.
The 2010 edition of Charm City Cyclocross included two days of gut-wrenching, chest-burning racing. The festivities kicked off early Saturday morning with a new course layout at historic Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Md. More twists and turns than the usual set-up but no less demanding or fun. The course still included Charm City Cross landmarks such as the staircase, natural barrier and double-sandpit.
Here at CXHairs, the 2010 game plan is to again try and record the races we attend using two cameras. One camera is on the helmet and a second, rear-facing camera is on the seat-stay. Instead of trying to fit both camera views onto the screen at the same time, as I did for a handful of races last year, I am going to post two videos. They will be close to identical in music and length. The only difference is that one will be the forward-facing view and the other the rear-facing view.
For music this year I hope to once again tap into the great bands supported by Mid-Atlantic labels. If you hear something you like, check out the labels website and buy some music.
Charm City Cyclocross had me diving back into the archives for a couple of my favorite tracks from Exotic Fever Records alums. For this race we have tracks from Pash and Eulcid. Not to highlight my dumb mistakes, but you may notice on the video I had a 2:00 a.m. typo and misspelled Eulcid. My apologies to the band. My goal is to get that changed and reloaded soon.
The start of the Charm City Cyclocross Masters 3/4 race on Sunday, September 19, was chock full of controversy and intrigue. Helmet cams were confiscated, disqualifications for false starts were threatened and people were doing all kinds of crazy things up the road. Not having the forward-facing helmet-cam, it’s hard to say exactly how the race developed. But the rear-facing camera remained in place (for about thirty seconds) to capture the race as it unfolded. All over the road.
They say the start is the most important part of a cyclocross race. The conventional wisdom is that getting up front and in a good position will not necessarily win you the race but it should keep you clear of the bottlenecks and early race crashes. The conventional wisdom is not always right.
Full Video of Saturday’s race still to come. Thanks for watching.
Frattini and Myerson battle at the front of the 2009 Charm City Cross
Charm City Cross goes off September 18 and 19 for a full weekend of cyclocross goodness. Always a crowd favorite, the addition of a second day of racing gives race organizers C3-Athletes Serving Athletes more latitude to tweak an already amazing course. Run it backwards? Add some new sections? Only the promoters know for sure at this point. Fields are filling up fast and a couple on Saturday have already closed. So if you want to be on the line with 124 of your closest friends, go here now and register.
Last year at CXHairs.com we introduced helmet-cam footage to great success. Now that we have a healthy library of race footage to pull from, we are ready to unveil a new feature on the site. I think you are going to like it. The plan is to release a new video roughly a week before a selected race. The new video will include the helmet-cam footage with the addition of full race commentary. A rotating cast of cyclocross insiders will walk you through the ins and outs of the course as the video rolls.
Where is the best line? How should you set up for a barrier? This is the type of inside information we hope to provide with these videos.
So let’s get started. Charm City Cross is the traditional season opener for many in the Mid-Atlantic. Especially for those that travel North to the race. The event makes up the second and third round of the MAC series and is the dress rehearsal for the MABRAcross series that starts the next weekend with the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross race. Your commentators for this race are Chris Mayhew, associate coach with JBV Coaching, and Dan Tille, head coach at Fulcrum Coaching.
Thanks for watching. And as always, your feedback is important. Drop us a line at CXHairs@gmail.com or on Twitter or Facebook.
Jeremy Powers Demonstrates the Dismount at the JBV & Fulcrum Clinic
Last Friday afternoon a group of Mid-Atlantic CX diehards welcomed Cannondale-Cyclcrossworld.com rider Jeremy Powers to the DC-region by hitting the single-track trails at Maryland’s Rosaryville State Park. Normally a favorite destination for the area’s MTB crowd, Rosaryville’s smooth and fast trails turn out to be ideal on the ‘cross bike.
Powers, in town for the JBV Coaching & Fulcrum Coaching Cyclocross Clinic that went down August 28, was coming off a 30 hour training week and a couple hours of sitting on a plane. Needing a little extra time to get his legs going meant that I was just about able to hang on his wheel for the easy first lap and get a little helmet-cam footage. The other folks in the group were Steve Fife (Bike Doctor), Rusty Williford (Fulcrum Coaching), Bruce Buckley (The Bike Lane), Dan Tille (Fulcrum Coaching) and Kate Graham (BioWheels).
A couple caveats before we get to the video. First, what you see is more or less a warm-up lap. Sure, seeing JPow ripping through these trails would be sick footage, but by the time he was doing that, I was hanging off the back and running into trees. Next time, I’m giving the camera to Rusty. Second, my filming skills are still in pre-season form and the camera angle is not ideal. Too many treetops and not enough action in the center of the frame. Finally, stick around for the end of the clip to see a little bonus coverage of JPow taking some time out of the ride for a session on one of Rosaryville’s skinny sections.
For those of you out there that race ‘cross first and foremost, this time of year is typically referred to as the offseason. Many ‘crossers are racing on the road to keep sharp but others are just starting to come out of hibernation to pack on the base miles. For me, it has always been a combination of the two. Lots of saddle time on the road with the occasional “who cares” race thrown in for good measure.
Little did I know there was a whole other world of cyclists out there that do it a little differently. You may have heard about these people. They ride around on bikes with fat tires and squishy forks. They call these contraptions “mountain bikes.” From what I understand, folks have been riding and racing these “mountain bikes” for quite some time and having “fun” while they do it. Intrigued but unconvinced this was no more than mythology and old wives’ tales, I set out to learn more.
Now this whole “dirt riding” concept isn’t completely foreign. I spend plenty of time “off road” on my bike in the fall and winter. Granted that riding is on a well-groomed cyclocross course in which there are usually clean smooth lines that spare my supple yet fragile tubular casings from too much wear and tear. Rarely are there the roots, divots and rocks that seem commonplace on the trails these mountain bikers or “MTBers” like to ride.
I was intrigued by it all but a little concerned as well. Egged on by teammates that partake in this “MTB” scene and claim to have “fun,” I got myself a bike. It has 700c wheels on it. The same as my ‘cross bike. That left me more at ease. But then I was told that I was supposed to call the wheels 29ers. That got me feeling a little uneasy again.
I have now ridden this rig, conveniently named the “Rig,” a handful of times and there’s no denying it, the “mountain bike” is “fun.” Dare I say “a blast.” You can get a great workout at threshold, work on the handling skills and break up the monotony of the road. That being said, I still don’t understand why you need a visor on your helmet if you are riding in the woods while wearing sunglasses. So much to learn.
I guess you can call this my MTB conversion story. For kicks, I strapped on the helmet cam for today’s ride and below is my video testimonial. Set to a song about having a well-stocked pantry. This, of course, has nothing to do with mountain biking, but what can I say, riding makes me hungry.
Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post this video because without anybody else in the frame it seemed like it could get a little boring. It is definitely not a CX race vid. In fact, Mrs. CXHairs watched for about ten seconds, and then mockingly said “look … around that bend … it’s … more trees.”
Understandably, after that exchange I was even more concerned about the boredom factor so I also showed the video to Jim, The Unholy Roleur, a lifelong MTB guy. He liked it and thought it would be interesting for all the fat tire folk out west to see what the East Coast terrain was like this time of year. Jim also mocked me for riding a mountain bike like a roadie. For now, I’m going to take that as a compliment.
Here’s the video, roadie skeelz and all. It was shot at Rosaryville State Park in Maryland. Home of the 2010 Tacchino Ciclocross. Thanks for watching.
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.
Races 1 and 2 of the North Carolina Cyclocross Winter Cup took place January 9 and 10 in Salisbury and Mooresville, North Carolina. The CXHairs.com helmet-cam was in attendance for the event. Thanks to Chris Carraway (NCVC) for strapping on the hardware for the races and giving us a good look at the NCCX series.
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. Continue reading »
This race features flat power sections broken up by fun technical sectors. The City of Hyattsville is 100 percent behind this race so the atmosphere and amenities are top notch. Bleacher seating, indoor restrooms, moonbounce and playground, huge parking lot adjacent to the course. And it’s all 10 minutes from downtown DC.
