In The Crosshairs

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.

Killer Bs work the stairs at the Ix factory

Urban Cross at Ix 2009 took place on November 15 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The course takes place on the grounds of an abandoned factory and features a ton of elevation change, good power sections and on this day, unseasonably warm temperatures. The video is from the first ten minutes of the Masters 3/4 race. Pay special attention to the rear-facing camera at about the 45 second mark. The race comes to a standstill as riders start piling up on the muddy off-camber turn. Good lesson in why a decent start is important. You don’t need to win the hole shot, but being near the front is the best way to avoid the bottlenecks.

There was a lot of running on this course. The heavy rains leading up to race day made the normally ridable hills unridable. There was also a staircase and one set of barriers. As you will see, these barriers jumped up and got me on the first lap.

Music this week is by The Burdens. Check them out at www.theburdens.com.

Thanks for watching.

What you do before you start a race most likely will affect how you finish it. Here is an article I wrote for CXMagazine.com last year. It’s an off-the-cuff look at an important part of your race day, food. Originally published December 20th, 2008 here.

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Like Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks, I am six-foot-five-inches tall. Yet, I can say with a high level of certainty, earned through years of middling results, that extraordinary height alone does not guarantee cyclocross success. I will never step foot onto the podium of an elite level race and I’m okay with that. But what about reaching the top five of my regional series? If I put in the time and summon the motivation, shouldn’t that be possible? We’ve all read the articles, watched the videos, and digested the free online coaching tips. Is that all there is to it? VO2 max intervals and smoothly suitcasing your bike? To find out how to reach the top, I went to the people-the electrician, the accountant, the stay-at-home dad-to see what it is that they did to get on their regional podium. Continue reading »

With the beginning of the season right around the corner I have decided it was time for ‘In The Crosshairs’ to do its first ever clip show. So pretend we have just accidentally locked ourselves in the cellar and are spending the time reminiscing about last season until somebody realizes we are missing. We are going to start the flashback sequence with some advice for the newbies. A standard interview question asked on this site concerns missteps of the new cyclocross racer. Here’s a look back at the knowledge handed down from podium finishers.

What is something you saw a newbie do that made you think “I really need to have a friendly word with that guy.” This could have been in a race or in the parking lot or waiting in line to register, etc.

URBAN CROSS.

STEVE FIFE: I see people roll to the start line cold all the time, and think it would really be helpful for them to know the benefit of a good warm up.

Technique. Tire Pressure. Layering. All are important in CX.

JULIE KULIECZA: I think I am still a newbie so if someone sees me doing something dumb please tell me. Pumping tires up to more than 50 psi. I did say something and they thanked me.

LINDSAY BAYER: I AM that newbie. People are always kindly pointing things out like, “Your number is on backwards,” or “You’re on the wrong type of bicycle” or “You should lay off the brakes in those turns.”

NOAH BELL: A guy ran through a ridable sand pit every lap and on the last lap a guy rode past him and he lost a podium spot.

CJ CONGROVE: I am a noob. I didn’t wear my kit to the podium. Maybe someone needs to have a word with me. Continue reading »

The MABRA and VACX series collided in Charlottesville this past Sunday. We’ve surveyed several podium finishers to give you a view from the front. Some quick takeaways from our interviews: (1) The venue and the promoters rocked, (2) sand pits are good, (3) brick walls are bad, and (4) animal sacrifice may be the answer.

CJ Congrove shot some incredible video of the race. It is available here and here.

Want to see photos? Go here (Bill Schieken) and here (Ryan Dudek).

Even more photos here (Ruth Stornetta) and here (Mike Powers).

We hope you enjoy our interviews. Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think. If you have a question you would like to see us ask for next time, or any other suggestions, send them to cyclocrossnews@gmail.com.