In The Crosshairs

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.

The 2011 Rockburn Cross took place this past Sunday in Elkridge, Maryland. Full fields, sunny skies and Howard County Parks & Recreation’s first beer garden highlighted a day of racing on a demanding course. The sand was fun, the single-track is always a blast, and a new run-up let the superior bike handlers show their skill as they rode the steps with ease. The video covers mainly the elite men but starts out with some clips from the masters elite and men 3/4 races. Music is by Rancid.

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.

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.

Belgian flags and weather at Charm City

Despite being in existence for seven years, Charm City Cyclocross went out and did a couple things it never had before. One on purpose, and one predetermined by nature. For the first time, it actually rained a little bit on race day at Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. Not a nasty drenching rain that leaves you cold, shaky and trying to believe that “this is what cyclocross is supposed to be like,” but a cool drizzle that turned an already technical Saturday course into one fraught with serious slippage. Little mud sections popped up and the thin mud was just the right consistency to get into the crevices of your tires and stay there until you hosed it out.

By the time the UCI race started, the rain had stopped and the course dried up a bit. It wouldn’t have mattered either way for these guys. They are just good at what they do. Amazingly fast on all features and riding the off-camber and technical sections as if Baltimore’s long dormant streetcars once traveled the same terrain [that was a metaphor for the way these cats scream through the turns like they are on rails; not sure it works, but it has some historic poetic flavor, so it's staying in].

On Sunday, the second first occurred. [Can you have a second first? Can you have too much editorial interruption?] The traditional Charm City course was run in reverse. The prologue remained the same but then you did all those things you normally do at the end of the lap at the beginning. It didn’t make the natural barrier any lower, or the nasty little climbs any flatter, but it did set up to be a super fun course.

Shot lots of video both days. Most of it is from Saturday, so that was a bit easier to compile. Sunday is still a work in progress. If an edit passes QC we will release that clip into the wild. Until that time, here’s what we put together from Saturday. And although it is Baltimore, and he was invited, Omar was a no show.

Thanks for watching.

DFL came down to a photo-finish at CourierCX

CourierCX is in the books. Good grass roots racing, great after-party at DURKL and a ton of footage to sort through. About 25 brave souls lined up to race and made it through DC and Virginia unscathed. Despite my anonymous commenter’s fears, no dogs or rollerbladers were adversely affected on the Mount Vernon Trail. Things predictably spread out fast so there was no unruly peloton of misfits and outcasts rolling down the trail.

The folks that put this event together are right now buried in a mountain of video. As soon as they dig themselves out you are going to be treated to some sweet moving picture eye candy. Until that time, here’s a little teaser we put together from the race start at Red Derby. So heartwarming to see the courier-class and lycra-clad race boys come together for this event.

Keep an eye on CourierCX.tumblr.com for more goodies. Also, if you missed this race, fear not, there’s a similar one just around the corner. Clear your calendar for the evening of June 10 and check out midnitecritDC.tumblr.com for the deets, the 411, or both. (Pssst, there’s nothing there, yet, but should be soon).

Thanks for watching.

The CXHairs Zank

And with this post I hereby declare that the unavoidable doldrums that follow cross season are officially over. There is no debate, there is no appeal. Here at the In The Crosshairs we have had a productive off-season. Lots of new projects on the horizon I can’t wait to share. We’ve been out filming bike-related content every week since January. Testing new gear and new ideas in an attempt to bring to this site something different and exciting come next cross season.

On top of that, there is a new bike in the CXHairs stable and this one is special. Mike Zanconato is a Massachusetts-based frame builder that has quickly become one of the most respected and sought after names in the hand-built bike business. He’s also a super nice guy. Go check him out at bikesbyzank.blogspot.com.

The bike Zank built is beautiful. And rides like a dream. (It’s also really really big.) Before landing in my ink-stained hands it spent a week in Austin, Texas in the Zanconato booth at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. But its life as a NAHBS show bike is now over. I can’t wait to get it covered in mud and crud. But before that happens, I had to document the beautiful frame and Keith Anderson paint job before it got put through the paces. You can check out photos here. And as an extra added bonus, there’s video, too. You can call it sappy or reverential but that’s what makes a good love letter pop, right?

Thanks for watching. Talk to you soon.

Listen to her. I do.

Not much explanation or set up needed. Just watch the video from your friends at MABRAcross and CXHairs. Especially if you have been racing as a cat 4 for several seasons. It’s time. Time to step up to the plate, take the plunge, lose the training wheels, the floaties, the safety net.

It’s time to upgrade.

Do it.

Do it now.

What more can I say? Watch the video.

Thanks.

Blair Saunders fights the mud at the 2009 MABRAcross championship.

The final race in the BikeReg.com MABRAcross series takes place this Sunday in Taneytown, Md. The MABRAcross Championship race, also know as The Turkey Chase, is historically a sloppy affair with muddy conditions being the rule rather than the exception. The course is fairly straightforward with some tricky off-camber sections and one short run-up.

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the course previews. It was a fun project. Many thanks to Chris Mayhew, Dan Tille, Ken Woodrow, Matt Donahue, and Marc Gwadz for helping make these possible. We will be back next season with all new previews that will include updated course designs and new races.

Thanks for watching.

All Hallows Cross went down October 30 at Oak Ridge Park in Hughesville, Md. The park features two equestrian rings, which gave the MABRAcross ridership the biggest sand pits they will see this year. In 2009, this course was one for the power set. This year, organizing club Pax Velo mixed it up a bit. They broke up some of the longer stretches, added turns in the sand and an extra horse ring, and kept the rooted single-track section. In most races throughout the day, the field strung out pretty quickly and remained that way until the end. That’s what happened in the Masters 3/4 race, as you will see on the video.

For your listening pleasure, we have another kickin’ hardcore band, 400 Years. Sadly, these Richmond via Tucson transplants are no longer together. But their record label, Lovitt records is. Check out the catalog at lovitt.com.

Thanks for watching.

Padam cruising to gold at DCCX

For most promoters, a full slate of MABRAcross racing is plenty. But the go-getters at DCMTB wanted more so they added races for rookies, single-speeds and tandems to the DCCX slate. For those that stuck around late in the day, these races were some of the most entertaining on the schedule. 

The tandem race, in particular, did not disappoint. Twelve teams signed up and eleven were brave enough to toe the line. Many of the racers were lining up for their third race of the day.

Looking at the start list, it was safe to say that the race favorites in the tandem class were familiar names to MABRAcross prognosticators.

Jared Nieters, MABRAcross series leader, and Joe Dombrowski, the winner of the day’s elite race, looked strong on paper as they squeezed their Haymarket Bicycles-SEAVS rig onto the front row. But a slow start and nagging mechanicals seemed to dog them along the way. 

Lined up next to Nieters and Dombrowski was the Adventures for the Cure tandem piloted by Adam Driscoll with Pat Blair as stoker. If you don’t know much about these guys, let’s just say they spend way too much time together. They have ridden across the country together on fixed-gear bikes, completed the two-man Race Across America, and are pretty much inseparable if the activity has anything to do with bikes. In fact, they get mistaken for each other so much at bike races that I believe they just take on the other’s persona when someone can’t tell them apart. 

I point this out about Driscoll and Blair because their communication on the bike is incredible. You can hear it on the video in the turns and through the barriers. 

Another team that does a nice job communicating is the TOMS Shoes p/b Kindhuman Sports team of Matt and Chad Bartlett. The brothers have more fun on a bicycle then should be allowed. We get to hear them discussing the set up to their big air moment and also heckling the other TOMS Shoes rig. Needless to say, these guys also get confused for each other. Maybe that’s the key to tandem cross success. 

If you like what you see and want to try it out for yourself, you can do just that at Rockburn Cross, day two of the Howard County Double Cross. Early word is that this is going to be an epic rematch of the top three teams, with other strong challengers on hand to make it spicy. 

For the video we went into unchartered territory. Three helmet cams, one camcorder outside the tape and a whole lot of footage. I’ve edited it down to about 13 minutes but I’m sure there is a whole lot more to go through that was left on the cutting room floor. 

Thanks to John Cutler for the background music and thank you for watching.