Time to Practice for Cyclocross

It's hard to believe but cyclocross season is almost here. Our first cyclocross race at Bear Creek is on September 13th. The 2nd race is on November 22nd.

Some good news for this year is we'll be using the Penrose Event Center's parking. The last couple years we've spent a lot of time directing traffic to the Bear Creek parking lots. Although a little of the course will be the same as last year, a lot of it will be new as you can see if you click the course image.

If you've never given cyclocross a try, you really should. If you live in the Colorado Springs area, people are meeting informally at Bear Creek on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 PM to practice. Some barriers will be set up and there will be a 20 minute practice race at 7 PM. This isn't organized by any group and you participate at your own risk.

In addition to the informal practice sessions, Bicycle Village is putting on a cyclocross clinic on September 6th. It will be from 10 AM to 2 PM and costs $40. Registration required by 6 PM on September 4th.

Redline Conquest Pro Cyclocross Bike Price: $1402.99

Redline Conquest Cyclocross Bike Price: $892.99

Maxxis Locust CX Foldable Cyclocross Bike Tire Price: $34.95

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross

Disappointing Day for Katie Compton

As I posted on Friday, Katie Compton, a local cyclist, was racing the 2008 Cyclocross World's today. She had been having muscle problems and had been seen limping.

According to a report on VeloNews, Katie started today and was going to see how she felt. She ended up pulling out after the 1st lap. It had to be a big disappointment after all the training she has put in. Unfortunately no one gets to choose when they have bad days.

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Michelin Cyclocross Mud 2 Tire Price: $48.99

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Local Cyclist in 2008 World Cyclocross Championships

Local cyclist Katie Compton is scheduled to compete in the 2008 World Cyclocross Championships this Sunday in Treviso, Italy. Until a couple weeks ago she was favored to win it.

Last year she won the silver medal as a relatively unknown rider. Althouugh she has been winning the National Championships since 2004, she wasn't doing any UCI races. She had been piloting a tandem for a blind rider for the Paralympics. Racing UCI races would make her ineligible to compete in the Paralympics.

Last winter she made the decision to move on from the Paralympics and do Cyclocross Worlds. Since she didn't have UCI points she had to start near the back and it took most of the race for her to work her way to the front. This year she became the 2nd US woman to win a World Cup cyclocross race and went of the win a 2nd one. The other woman to win a World Cup cyclocross race is another local cyclist, Alison Dunlap.

Unfortunately the last couple weeks haven't gone well for Katie. I haven't been able to find much information but there was a bit on Cycling News earlier this week. She didn't race last weekend and said she having some musle problems. She's struggled with leg cramps in longer races but hasn't seemed to be a problem in the shorter cyclocross races.

Katie is still on the start list that was updated today. I'm hoping that she has a great day on Sunday and pulls off the win.

Our local paper did a good article on her last week if you want to read more about her.

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Truvativ Cyclocross Ring Price: $30.99

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Technorati Tags: cycling | cyclocross | Katie Compton

Pikes Peak Velo Cyclocross #2

Today was our 2nd cyclocross race this fall at Bear Creek Park. I showed up at 7 AM to help with the course set up. It was a bit chilly but not bad for this time of year. Another warm day was forecast and it didn't take long to warm up. In fact it got up to 68 degrees.

Since yesterday's Red Rocks cyclocross race in Denver was canceled, I think a lot of racers came that probably weren't planning on it. I don't know the final number of racers but one of the guys doing registration said he thought it was the biggest turnout for a cyclocross race in Colorado Springs. I'm not sure that there's been any cross races in the last 15 years that I haven't raced, volunteered or both and the fields certainly were the biggest I remember.

I roamed around the course quite a bit to make sure everything was Ok. Once there was more traffic, I spent time helping direct traffic since we had the road to the parking areas down to 1 lane. We were using the other lane for part of the course.

I was able to get several pictures when I was roaming around in the morning. I was gone for a couple hours during the early afternoon. My kids wanted to go watch the race and play in the creek so I also got some pictures of the Women's and Pro Men's races.

Both Velo Soiree and Two Wheeled World bloggers were there racing. Unfortunately I wasn't around when Matt was racing. Although he's been mountain bike racing for years, this was his first cross race. Velo Soiree posted several great pictures a couple weeks ago of the Boulder Cup race that you should check out it if you haven't already seen them.

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Francais Des Jeux FDJ Team Winter Cycling Bib Tights Price: $89.00

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Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross

Cyclocross this Sunday at Bear Creek Park

Update: 2008 Pikes Peak Velo Race Info

The 2nd cyclocross race this fall at Bear Creek Park is this Sunday, November 18th. Although I've been riding a little more lately, I'm still in no shape to race but I'll be there in the morning helping out. My teammate, Matt, from the old Schwinn grassroots team says he'll be there for his first try at cyclocross. He may take a beating on the barriers but I still expect him to be fast.

I took several pictures of the September cyclocross race. The results for the last raceare posted on the ACA website.

Michelin Jet Cyclocross Tire Regular Price: $45.99 $40.99 on sale

Michelin Cyclocross Mud 2 Tire Price: $48.99

Michelin Cyclocross Jet S Tire Price: $48.99

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross

Local Paper has Cyclocross Article

Thanks to a link from Mad Dog, I found that The Gazette, out local paper known for not covering cycling, has an article in today's paper about cyclocross. Although the article is about cross in California, it does mention our upcoming race on November 18th. You can also look at my pictures from our September cyclocross race.

Spooky Cyclocross Brakes Price: $109.99

Truvativ Cyclocross Ring Price: $30.99

Michelin Jet Cyclocross Tire Regular Price: $45.99 $40.99 on sale

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross | Pikes Peak
Velo

Results for PPV SuperCross Race #1

The results for Saturday's Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross race have been posted on the ACA site. The next race will be on November 18th.

Related Links: Race Flyer | Saturday's Race Pictures | 2006 PPV SuperCross pictures

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Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross | Pikes Peak Velo

Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross #1

Yesterday was the first of 2 cyclocross races that Pikes Peak Velo is putting on this fall. The next one is on November 18th. It seemed like we had good turn out although I haven't seen the number of racers.

I got to Bear Creek Park at 7 AM to help get the course set up. We had the course set up in an hour which gave us an hour before the first race. The course had some different section than we've used in the past and it seemed like people liked it.

The morning started out cool and foggy but by afternoon it was sunny and hot. It was also dry so we had dust instead of mud like last year.

The plan was for me to roam around the course during the races but I spent most of my time doing traffic control. We had a section of road down to one lane since we were using it as part of the course. There are 2 pavilions along that section of road and the plan was for them to not be used during the race. Somehow 2 large groups got them reserved and so we had a lot more traffic than we expected. Although it made extra work for us, I think things ran pretty smoothly.

Velo Soiree did the race. He recognized me and introduced himself. I got a couple pictures of him in the pictures I took. I think this is the best one of him.

Related Links: Results | 2006 Pikes Peak Velo Supercross pictures

Michelin Jet Cyclocross Tire Regular Price: $45.99 $40.99 on sale

Michelin Cyclocross Mud 2 Tire Price: $48.99

Michelin Cyclocross Jet S Tire Price: $48.99

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross | Pikes Peak Velo

Cyclocross Race This Saturday

The Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross race is this Saturday. The race flyer is on the website and has start times for each category. The categories and times are the same for the race on November 18th.

Last year we had perfect conditions. There was rain the night before which gave us plenty of mud but we had sun during the race. Last year I wrote a post about the cyclocross race. I also took several pictures of the races.

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2007 Ridley Supercross Cyclocross Frameset Price: $1402.99

2007 Ridley Crosswind Cyclocross Frameset Price: $934.99

Technorati Tags: cyclocross | cycling | Pikes Peak Velo

Cyclocross Season

It's hard to believe that cyclocross season is almost here. This year Pikes Peak Velo is putting on 2 cyclocross races in Colorado Springs. The first one is only a few weeks away on September 22nd. Dennis has been working on the course layout. The 2nd one is November 18th.

Related Links: September 2007 Race Results | September 2007 Race Pictures | 2006 Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross pictures

Spooky Cyclocross Brakes Price: $109.99

Truvativ Cyclocross Ring Price: $30.99

Michelin Jet Cyclocross Tire Regular Price: $45.99 $40.99 on sale

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs | cycling | cyclocross | Pikes Peak Velo