Race Cyclocross!

…or has it?

Can you believe it? The first domestic cyclocross races of the season were underway last week!

Getting started early in a long season of suffering and humility was the Labor day Cyclocross Championships near Seattle followed by the DFL cyclocross series #1 on Wednesday the 5th in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco!

The success of the early season races banks on them being low-key and fun. Training races if you will. And many will. The PRO roadies are tired but still fast and can put in a great early season cx ride. The PRO mountain bikers are on form but, after the brutal punch in the gut the USA took at VTT Worlds are Adam, Barry and Todd going to be out looking for revenge or relaxing with 18 holes and a beer?

The UCI season opener is on the 16th this month in Erpe-Mere, Belgium. But that does not matter to us mortals. A Sven will dominate, setting the stage for a string of race victories this year and into next. We can geek out over the winners and losers of the Steenbergcross or focus on more important matters.

There is hype…

Starcrossed (on September 22nd) has been a cyclocross mainstay since I knew what cyclocross was. The slick corners and grassy off cambers at the Marymoor Velodrome have been the initial throw down for the real renners and with UCI ranking this year the kid gloves are off. A double category 2 UCI weekend is in store with the bastard of all cyclocross run ups at Steliacoom park the next day.

And then there is hype.

CrossVegas is billing itself as the highest quality PRO field in the US! Domestic and International riders oh my! A mere 3 days after the first UCI weekend in the states we will have an idea of who is riding well and who is hurting. Being held on mostly flat and grassy soccer field, I am calling it out as a brutally fast and hot clusterfuck. With jet lagged Euros and anxious domestics gunning for the mere 10 spots of UCI points and glory. First lap crashes will abound and I expect a US victory over a gracious Belgian patron.

Then the season is ON! Or is it?

The weekend of the 30th was set to provide a chance for the East and West coast renners (respectively) to snag some “easy” UCI points with a single C2 race in Vancouver, BC and a double C2 weekend in Vermont/New Hampshire. Tim Johnson took the honors last year in Vermont setting the tone for another dominant season. Vancouver did not hold UCI status last year though Geoff Kabush rolled out of bed and took it handily. (I think I remember that right…)

But not this year.

A city wide strike in Vancouver has paralyzed the city. All city offices (including parks annd rec) are closed up and well, it is hard to put on a UCI event if you cannot get a permit to use the venue. Bad luck for a potentially cool first year UCI race.

A similar yet different story from New England. I’ll let a grizzled dirty old race promoter explain:

“Vermont had no sponsors, and New Hampshire had venue issues. There is nothing but local (non-UCI. ed.) races on week 39 anywhere in the US I think. That’s the bad thing about all these guys trying to go UCI- they fight over dates like mad, then a bunch of em drop out and we’re left with weeks of conflicts and weeks of no racing. USAC needs to tell these new promoters (though VT was 2nd year) that they have to have an established race before they go UCI. It’s the only fair thing to the riders at this point. Shit, those podunk Colorado races could move to week 39 and actually have people from outside of Durango come…”

And there you have it. A hiccup to the season start. He has a point. A few top renners will make the trek to Colorado but, who likes racing cx at altitude? Not this writer. The Colorado promoters put on super excellent races besides not being on either coast. Colorado is home to some of the top cx talent and maybe if all the promoters were better communicators we could have seen a now vacant slot on the UCI calendar filled.

The UCI rankings do not get updated until the day after the first World Cup (October 21st, Kalmthout, Belgium) leaving the US riders plenty of time and a good handful of races to solidify their start positions and UCI world ranking.

Morituri te salutant.