NorCal Nevada Season Continues with Rockville
1 January 2016
Updated
The 2016 portion of this cyclocross season continues starting this Sunday (3 January) with the Rockville Bike CycloXross Series. Racing begins 9am at Solano Community College, Fairfield. The late-season cyclocross takes place weekly on Sundays until 31 January. John Silva and Esther Pryor report the series “will run pretty much as in years past. AND, if this current weather continues, we will probably have a few wet races!!!” Certainly a “chance of rain” is in the forecast for the first event of the series.
The long-running Central Coast series also extends into the new year. Two races remain on that calendar with both at the Fort Ord venue. Race days are this coming Sunday (3 January) and Sunday, 17 January.
Karen Brems Racing at Fort Ord
Your Thoughts Wanted
2 December 2015
Marty Woy and the GHETO CX/NorCal CX/WSCXGP syndicate are running a survey to check the affinity of NorCal Nevada’s cyclocross community for events that earn USAC-points. Though currently they are Sacramento-centric, the efforts of Woy and Co produce good vibes at WSCXGP, Gheto mid-week pick-ups, Rodeocross mid-week night racing, and SacCX. Their influence has moved east over the big hill toward Reno’s Sagebrush Series. They wish to contribute to the entire community-at-large and help grow the sport further. Click on the image or link below to go to the latest survey. An earlier survey remains open and is available through the second link below the photograph.
2015 NORCAL CX Survey #2 USAC Specific
First survey: 2015 NorCal Cyclocross Association Series Survey
Brush and Dezendorf, Right-Angles and Smoke
14 November 2015
The 2015 Santa Rosa Cup CX got off to a great start yesterday with its Friday Night Race. The Sonoma County Fairgrounds venue is a mostly grass course crammed into a small area of less than 10 acres. The start-finish straight-away is paved. The terrain was mostly flat with plenty of turns separated by long straights. A couple of off-camber embankments and a pair of plank barriers offered up their difficulties. It was a good course to establish a rhythm.
By far the barrier of import was a right-angled flyover the height of a freight container. With ramps on both angles, it spilled out into an array of kegs forcing riders to control their speed on the down ramp and choose between going to the right or left. The whole section was corralled by two large, inflatable tubes, each in an arc, arranged to allow only one outlet. It was a small maze of sorts with smoke to foil the vision and lasers to add to the spectator’s entertainment.
Although the kegs were set up as a wall near the bottom of the ramp, riders soon understood dismounting and jumping over the barrels could earn them seconds and a position or two. With a short, fast course, and the finish line so close after the flyover, getting through this barrier first, on the last lap, was tantamount to a win.
A Quite Unique Barrier for ‘Cross at the Santa Rosa Cup
Santa Rosa Cup CX to Head Another Busy Weekend
9 November 2015
This coming weekend’s cyclocross racing, in the NorCal Nevada region, will take place far and wide. The Sagebrush Cyclocross Series holds its event at Davis Creek Park, New Washoe City on Saturday, 14 November. Both the Surf City Cyclo-X and Sacramento Cyclocross Series hold races on the Sunday.
Another big event is the 3-day Santa Rosa Cup CX. In part to find a formula for providing an attractive event for cyclocross racers, and following the lead of other 3-day events such as Jingle ‘Cross, the race for the Cup begins on Friday, 13 November. Juniors kick the weekend into gear with a 5pm start at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Racing continues into the night with the last start for All A Men at 8:15pm.
Saturday sees the same County Fairgrounds venue but with a course change. The finale on Sunday moves to Spring Lake Regional Park, a return for the venue last used for cyclocross in 2011. Racing on the Saturday and Sunday begins at 8:30am. Series crowns go to entrants of all 3 days with the tie-breaker going to the highest placing on the last day. The recent rains will dampen the dust and bring in new conditions for terrain and traction. This will be more so as the locales are certain to receive a good share of the rain.
Ron Riley at Spring Lake Regional Park
Photo Gallery: Vallejo Day Race
25 October 2015
It’s SuperPro CX. It’s Murphy Mack. One should expect the challenges of a hard course from any ‘cross race with the mark of Murphy Mack and Frank Shoemaker. And today’s “Vallejo Day Race” proved again the wicked bent from the pair. From the carnage of transitions between terrains and over concrete curbs, to odiferous stream crossings, to a tough climb within a long course, to “features” that should have warnings that only 5’4″ and below need register, the racing today at SuperPro CX was simply severe. There had to be an exceedingly high percentage of tired and pained faces or racers coasting for any respite late in the races.
There were big wins for Caroline Dezendorf (Rock Lobster) in Women’s A and Ryan Rinn (Viva La Tarte) in Single Speed A. To win in Men’s A, Keith Hillier (Herbalife p/b MarcPro-Strava) came from behind to put himself in a position and pounce on a flat for early leader Max Judelson (Rock Lobster). Murray Swanson (Pen Velo) was another racer to race to a win from a few places back early in the race. Swanson’s steady grind up the long climb was one of the key reasons he would take first place away, in Master Men A, from early leader and battling Eric Hill (Vive La Tarte).
The Low Over-Hanging Tree Trunk
In-Brief: This Weekend’s Busy Calendar
23 October 2015
Coming Soon
The upcoming weekend is busy with four events from across the region’s east to west span. Sagebrush CX rolls in on Saturday (24 October) with their at-altitude Truckee Bike Park venue. USAC points are available. To get the festivities off well, there is a free ‘cross clinic in the morning led by Dave Eastwood. Registration opens and the clinic begins at 9am with the first race underway at 10am. The course will include more grass should the frost stay away!
Also this Saturday, SuperPro CX returns to Dan Foley Park with the Vallejo Day Race. The course runs closer to Lake Chabot than last week’s night race but will clamber up long uphill sections. There is plenty of green along the course and, going by last Saturday’s event, some of that grass is spongy. Last year saw the course run through massive swaths of water but this year the forecast is dry and mostly sunny.
Vallejo Day Race at Dan Foley Park
Photo Gallery from the JPM
12 October 2015
The SuperPro CX race at Joaquin Miller Park started out under a proverbial and literal fog, with last-minute changes to the course occurring under the heavy cover. Eventually, the sun forced its way through for the terrific views promised at Lookout Point to add to the hard ‘cross racing throughout the day.
Early Morning at Joaquin Miller Park, SuperPro CX
Fit and Filthy 