This weekend, November 19th and 20th, top-notch cyclocross will touch
down and burn up picturesque Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, NY, for
the Super Cross Cup Cyclocross Races.
Cyclocross, for the uninitiated, is bike racing. A zany offshoot of
what you may think a traditional bike race looks like. It’s kind of
a steeplechase on two wheels, where road racing bicycles with knobby
tires are the ride of choice and racers have to get off their bike
and run in the middle of the race. The courses are designed not only
to break legs and burn lungs, but also test the racers’ ability to
think and turn and decide when it’s faster to run rather than ride.
Smart course design is supposed to force riders to go fast in
sections, slow in sections, and negiotiate difficult terrain. It’s
crazy and fascinating to watch, and since the riders are doing
multiple circuits of short courses in races lasting less than an
hour, it’s easy to watch a race from start to finish and, because of
the layout, watch most of the race from a single vantage point. As
bike racing goes, this is one of the most spectator-friendly
disciplines; it’s easy to get close to the racers on the course, and
it’s easy to chat them up both before and after the race.
Last year, a staircase was part of the course. Most riders ran. A
few rode. If you’ve never seen anyone ride up a set of stairs, this
alone will make the experience worthwhile.
The Super Cross Cup entails two days of racing, with categories from
beginner to pro, and races for young and old. The races make up the
final two events of the Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Cup series, which
means that not only will top regional racers be toeing the line, but
so, too, will national-class racers as well as a few overseas
professionals all chasing individual glory, series points, team cup
standing, and cash prizes.
The race weekend comprises also comprises two rounds of the Mid
Atlantic Cyclocross Cup Series aka MAC series. This is a season-long
(September to December) race series that brings out the best racers
in the northeast as they race for pride, for results, for cash
prizes. Over $8,000 is on the line across all races, and that
includes juniors, masters, and collegiate categories.
Not insignificantly, the Whitmore’s race is following a trend in
cyclocross to award equal prize money to the elite men’s and women’s
fields. Elite are elite regardless of sex. As for the rest of the
day, there will be raffles for cool stuff and plenty of wicked prizes
throughout the day. Cross is fun and the rewards are fun, too.
The racing begins Saturday November 19th at 9am and runs through
4:30pm. Sunday’s race program runs on the same schedule, but
utilizes a different course. There will be an announcer, music, and
plenty of food and drink. One of the expected food vendors is the
New York City-based Wafels&Dinges.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Myles Romanow, ilovetoracecross@gmail.com, (631)287-2087
J.P. Partland, mugwump@partland.net, (212)316-1582
RELEVANT LINKS
Race Site
http://www.hamptonvelo.com/
Kissena Cycling Club website
with race info:
http://www.kissena.info
Race Registration page:
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=14481
take a look at last year’s images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/groovylab/collections/72157625346857445/
Wikipedia on Cyclocross
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclo-cross
Active.com on Cyclocross
http://www.active.com/mountainbiking/Articles/Cyclocross-101.htm
Videos showing Cyclocross racing
http://www.crosstube.net/
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Parks/wheretogo/active/eisenhower.html
