James Reeder said:

SCCX flat power track with a short rooty mtb section. barriers and some grassy turns at one end, short rooty mtb section at the other, long grassy/gravely sections linking the two ends together. too much pavement last year but there's supposed to be less of that this year.

a video of SCCX from last year https://youtu.be/V_BIUtLxK4g 

Slowly coming up to end of season, these are the races I am hoping to hit:

• Sunday Nov 20 Falkorburg Cross in MD 
• Thursday Nov 24 PPTC Turkey Trot (5Miles) in Prospect Park
• Saturday Dec 3rd The Ice Weasels Cometh in Southwick, MA (New England Worlds Y'All)
• Sunday Dec 4th The Governor's Guard Rodeo in Avon, CT
• Friday Dec 9th USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship in Hartford, CT
  

Let's go race bikes!

Is the team considering renting a tent like the last time Nats were in Hartford? How many people are going/racing?

PatrickGrehan said:

Is the team considering renting a tent like the last time Nats were in Hartford? How many people are going/racing?

Yes, but it is more expensive this year, and appears only 3 of us racing (James, JP, and me) So we are still on the fence about the tent.

i'm a No for a tent at that cost

@eloy @James Reeder

What if we got a tent, but w/o the walls/flaps?  

And then, recruited a few other people?

My query on the NYC CX FB Group has gotten zero responses thusfar.

I see that Paul DeBartolo, is racing with James and me.  And Juergen Beneke is racing with Eloy.  Juergen's wife, Stacey, is racing Thursday.  

Question about riding at Cunningham:  What's it like on cold weekend afternoons?

I don't think I can take the long drives necessary to race this weekend, so I think I need some off-road training on my 'cross bike.  Considering going out to Cunningham Saturday afternoon.  

layers for sure because you'll warm up quickly in the woods.

wet leaves made it slippery today, but wasn't muddy.
it's dry and sunny the rest of the week so trail conditions will be pretty good by saturday afternoon.

As James said, Cunningham, and trails in general, will be warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. I usually bring extra jacket/vest/gloves that I carefully stash/hide behind a tree while in the trails, but that I wear on my way to and from.

Thanks for the dressing tips.  something I should be concerned about on cold days.

I was more interested/concerned in the number of people already out walking/riding the trails.

mugwump said:

Thanks for the dressing tips.  something I should be concerned about on cold days.

I was more interested/concerned in the number of people already out walking/riding the trails.

Generally other trail users are not a major concern. You'll mostly be on your own at Cunningham. 

Be mindful as you approach the East side entrance, as many gather there, and the central trail (to/from the bridge) that goes in both directions. Else, if you see someone, use common sense, approach slowly, "hi, passing on your left/right, thanks!", sometimes, I let people know if they are riding in the wrong direction.

It is an MTB park, so most hikers, dog owners, etc, know to defer to bikes.

Hope this helps!

FWIW, I expect to be on the trails of Cunningham for an hour or so Saturday November 19..  Probably leave here at noon, get there at 1:15-1:30.  Spend an hour or so riding dirt.  

Made it out to Cunningham.  It's been so long that I wasn't sure of the way out, the way back, or what to do when I got there.

It felt like I did ok when I was there.  But I'm sure there were far more trails to hit.

https://www.strava.com/activities/8146201965

James and I headed back to North Baltimore for Falkorburg Cross on Sunday.

Sweet race, super well attended, full on packed with Juniors, a permanent cyclocross course with oh so many turns. The vibes and stoke was on full on high for every one there, which was awesome, specially considering how cold and windy it was.

A quick but super long Falkorburg Cross report:

• We reserved tent space, altho we brought no tent (who has the Kissena tent?) we get a prime parking spot, next to reg start/finish line, foods, etc...
• We do a couple of laps around 7:40am, before the first race, cold, frost in the ground, etc... how much will it change before and during our 9am race?
  
• Track has 3 dismounts: a crazy tight downsy uupsy 180 turn, that looks super rideable, but infinite tries suggest it is not, fast guys are dismounting too  there's also a set of TALL barriers and later a set of 5 Belgian stairs
• Line up with James and about 40 racers to the Masters 40+ 3/4/5 race
• Second row, James is 3rd row
• Have a solid start
• Strava suggests this is my best 20 and 10 seconds power for the past 8 weeks, but this crew is full of bangers, so really I am still 15 ish
• We reach the first pinch point -- a weird 180 turn up and down a munch/wood chip pile. I knew on preride we might want to run this on lap one (it'll be trivial(ish) on other laps)
• Group slows down, and voice A says "this is the spot, run it" but voice B "nah you can ride it" -- I'm still wondering why I listened to voice B, my theory is that no one had put their foot down yet
• A rider 2 or 3 spots ahead fucks it up, and now a bunch of us are straddling the bike (sloooow)
• James and a few others fly by 
  
• I recover, start riding, at least it wasn't just me, a few of us got held up
• I'll make no other mistakes 
• Keep on keeping on
• Turns appear to have a real speed limit, but the straights are awesome to go full blast rocketship LFG!
• Eventually settle with a group with Michel Chainey, Greg Lavalle, and Ron Edwards
• -- Michael is staying behind and is the first to kinda drop
• -- Ron appears stronger and generally leading the group
• -- Greg is clearly a mountain biker and ripping the turns, still he makes a mistake and slips in front of me. I am able to ride around him but this allows Ron to gap us...
• I am in full chase mode, Ron is keeping me at bay
• Greg MTBiker is able to eventually catch back up, and gets ahead of me, but his turning post crash is all over the place -- voice A and B agree: "Eloy, pass this guy" 
• In trying to pass him, which I do, we catch back up to Ron
• Greg drops back, suggesting that his chase put him deep in the red
• Ron and I get the bell and a shout out from the announcer "Eloy from Kissieeenia" 
• I use the start/finish straight to push ahead and open a small gap to Ron
• He is just about a quick turn behind, 4 or 5 seconds, but I am able to ride cleanly and keep the gap
• Cross the line in 9th place
• Wish I would have dismounted on that lap 1 pinch, but ultimately:
• A good day out!
• James would finish a minute or so later

After sharing battle stories, we enjoyed amazing food truck quesadillas, hang out for a bit, and while it is cold out, the warmth and stoke of everyone makes it a really awesome time! So many juniors too!

Highly recommend. Cyclocross is alive and well in the Mid Atlantic. 

Let's go race bikes!

MVDP Red bike is hot, good to see he is human(ish) -- he appears to be the most recognizable name the fans cheer for... then, also, what's going on with Ineos' gear?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8tTm8OfQXY

That seemed like a freak accident , seeing as MVDP
and Pidcock ride the exact same  wheelset
those run ups😢

I think the racing gods are exacting some sort of payback.

Part of me was glad to see MVdP riding so sloppily on the last lap.  He used his left hand to push down on his left leg on the wall walk-up.  Part of me wondered how much worse everyone else would be if he was riding like that.

mugwump said:

I think the racing gods are exacting some sort of payback.

Part of me was glad to see MVdP riding so sloppily on the last lap.  He used his left hand to push down on his left leg on the wall walk-up.  Part of me wondered how much worse everyone else would be if he was riding like that.

Racing gods?

The crashes during the women’s race were awful. One woman seemed to slam into a wood pole with her face. Hope they were all okay

Went to Southwick MA last saturday to race The Ice Weasels Cometh.

This race, and a few other weasel cx events, has been promoted by Colin Reuter, who famously created crossresults.com and gave us something to really obsess about. 

A quick but stupid long report The Ice Weasels Cometh:

• Ah the absurdity that is cyclocross, here we are 300 to 400 racers in a sandy motocross venue under heavy cold December rain, a portion of the venue converted for one day to be a cyclocross track
• Colin clarifies we barely touch the actual motocross course
• The ground is crazy full on sandy, altho we do go through some deep Massachusetts woods.
• I wake up to misty rain, it will get progressively strong
• There are so many things that I love love love about this course:
• The track is stupid crazy wide
• In the woods, where it is less Sandy but very muddy, there are, Euro style, trees in the middle of the track: Pick your own adventure, there are portions of the track that have 3 or even 4 muddy lines
• Which looks faster? is it still faster this lap? did you take the corner too fast? 'cause now you are in another line
• If you pick right you close gaps no effort, if you pick wrong well, see you later baby
• The rain pads down the sand, which is most of the course, and makes it crazy fast for the first few laps until the wet ruts appear
• Everyone's brake pads last about 3 laps, but we race 6
• Can we ride this muddy track without brakes? c'mon c'mon!
• Oh how about wet sand everything else on the bikes? everything!! 
• After the line we all joke that we should just put the bikes in the trash and go buy new ones, cause omg WTF!?!
• About 40 of us line up for the Masters 45/55+ (one start, one set of results, two podiums)
• Including bangers Matt Zarotny, James Davall, and fellow new yorker Kevin Molloy, they'll take the tops spots, shared somehow with an XO series duckie straight from Belgium 
• I am lined up 3rd or 4th row, cant' remember, wont make a difference
• A set of barriers, including the skinny, and two logs that look unrideable on videos but were totally rideable during the race (Thanks Mark Taylor and Cunningham!)
• For most of the race I am in constant battle, so it isn't until the last few turns that um... am I the last rider on the lead lap? DFL. Whatevs, I'll take it!
• Officials keep me on the course for 56 minutes, and I loved loved loved the fight of every one of them

You reading this, I seriously, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, missed you.

Let's go race bikes!

NATZ LFG! 

Photos with the weasels logo by Angelica Dixon, others by Peter the photographer.

Puck's previews are the talk of the season - turn on the caption to auto translate to english... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDo0Q98_0Vs

The women’s WC race in Dublin was amazing!

Just announced: Nationals 2023 will be at Joe Creason Park, Louisville, KY 

In that case Louisville is on my calendar 

PatrickGrehan said:

In that case Louisville is on my calendar 

Already looking if it is better to drive or to fly -- bring all the bikes! bring all the wheels!!

I'm not in the video, but this is still the hotness. Ice Weasels Cometh!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYz4liWP9ck

Puck Pieterse’s preview of the Val di Sole course just reinforces how having a cross race on snow is not an idea that will gain traction (see what I did there?) and gain entry into the Olympics. I still hope that tomorrow’s race will be entertaining and that no one gets seriously injured. While the risk of serious injury was higher at Holst, there is a greater likelihood of losing all control of the bike tomorrow 

https://youtu.be/C5QnsFWrktI

Cyclocross might be in a down swing in the US, but the quality of the races in Europe and the crazy town size of the crowds is totally amazing!! OMFG the races the last two days have been out of control, more tomorrow!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA87azk-H-A

Drew Dillman diégem scrub zone!!!!https://youtu.be/yZwjXI3bHpU