Spooky Cross in Dead Moines

A muddy time was had by all at Spooky Cross. The course was extremely hard, with copious mud and soft, wheel-sucking turf, not to mention a bear of a climb. Some partial results by Nebraskans: Troy Krause easily won the Masters 45+ (and beat the other 40 odd riders in the heat, cat 3 and 35+, by over a minute); Randy Crist finished in the money in cat 3, placing 4th. Matt Farnham, Kevin Murray, John Vondracek, Craig Schmidt, Fr. Robert Tucker and Rich Anderson joined in the fun today as well. Update: Matt finished 2nd in the open race on Saturday and on Sunday, while Troy finished 4th both days in the open (I apologize if I missed any other podium finishes). Some photos from Saturday's action:

CX Wednesday

Norfolk Cross Results and Photos

EVCC did a terrific job hosting the Skyview CX Race. Course was a great change of pace from other courses in the Midwest, but brutally hard and fun, just the way cross courses should be. A report on the race is here. Results can be found at this link. Some exceptional photos by Lucas Marshall can be found here. More photos from the EVCC are hosted here. Another set of photos is available here.

CX practice WEDNESDAY

Hey folks, sorry on the short notice but I've got to push CX practice back one day to Wednesday. We're doing inventory at the shop tomorrow so I'll be tied up all day. Hopefully some of you can still make it.

Daylight savings time starts Saturday night so it'll be dark by 5:45, yay! If anyone knows of a park that is lit well enough to ride under the lights we can keep it going. Otherwise we'll just have to postpone it until next year. If that's the case I'll try to do a better job of getting it started earlier in the year so we can really benefit from it. Or...I won't be racing the next two weekends so we could try to get something going Saturday or Sunday.

Anyways, see you all Wednesday.

Love from the MSM

A Chicago Tribune article on cyclocross. There's a nice photo essay that goes with it.

Bring a Moist Towelette to Norfolk

The Skyview CX Classic is still on with Mother Nature bringing us some good old-fashioned 'cross weather.

It promises to be a hoot, but you may want something to dab the mud off before going home. I do plan to have a hose and running water available.

Skyview CX Classic is this Saturday

More cowbell!

The inaugural Skyview Cyclocross Classic is coming October 24! Approval has been granted for the use of Skyview Park in Norfolk for what should be a fantastic event, and the first CX race to be held in Norfolk, ever.

The course features lots of elevation change, a barrier section, and what may be a tough run-up. We have worked hard to make this a course worthy of the trip to Norfolk, and hope to see you all there!

Check out the race flyer http://docs.google.com/View?id=df6khx64_30cwjdw7hf and course map

View Skyview CX Classic in a larger map

CX Practice Tonight-Omaha

Finally, good weather for cross practice. Seymour Smith Park @ 5:30.

Nebraska Riders Take on Kansas

This is just a quick recap of the weekend in Kansas - comment with more/missing results and details.

Boulevard Cup

Good day for Nebraskans in KC. Sydney Brown won the open womens race, Craig Schmidt won the master 40+ cat 4 race (23 riders-heck of a number for that class), and Randy Crist won the cat 3 race.

Capital Cup

There were a number of Nebraska riders in attendance. Vaughn Pierce and Rich Anderson were in the cat 3 mens race and rode well; Mark Savery, Troy Krause, Nate Woodman and Matt Tillinghast raced 1/2/3, with Troy finishing on the podium in 4th; Craig Schmidt had a great result in cat 4, finishing 2nd. Randy Crist was 2nd in Cat 3.

On the women's side, Sydney Brown duked it out early with Catherine Walberg but took over the lead on the second lap holding on for the win.

CX Tuesdays???

Who's up for CX practice on Tuesday nights? I've got a good practice course at Seymor Smith park by the soap box derby track. The course includes a paved climb, gravel climb, gravel/sand trap, and we can get a high speed barrier section too. I'm thinking 5:30ish. Two lap, five lap and three lap mini races.

All levels are welcome, don't be shy.

OCW Day 2

Sean Weide has written a very nice summary of the second day of OCW here. Thanks to everyone that came out. The next leg of the CXNE Series should be a blast-EVCC always puts on quality events. John Peterson has added a photo gallery here.

Regional Cross Races

I was going to do this, but John beat me to it (and I appreciate it). He has a great summary of the cross races in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas/Missouri here.

Omaha Cyclocross Weekend Day #1

The first day of OCW is in the books. The weather was excellent, with the right touch of cold (temps hovered in the low 50s), and the course was in great shape. The 3/4 race was fast, with Matt Farnham (Kaos) dominating the field. Matt took off half way through the first lap, never to be seen again. Randy Crist (Velo Veloce) finished second, and Ryan Legg (Lincoln Industries) finished third. The Masters race had a similar feel, with Dan Hansen (unattached) taking off and blitzing the field. Rich Pearson (Kaos) rode and excellent race to finish second, and Pete Duryea (Velo Veloce) couldn't quite reel Rich in and had to settle for third. The open womens race was won by Janna Vavra (Team Fire), who looked very smooth on her single speed. Cat 4 was a tight race, with Ted Lechnowsky (Velo Veloce) dueling with Mike Miles (Kaos), and Ted pulling away at the end for a 10 second win. Junior men was won by Jacob Gottberg (Bike Way), and cat 4 women by Barbora Hanusuoa.

The cat 1/2/3 mens was an exciting race, with small gaps between places 1-5. Troy Krause (Lincoln Industries) led out the opening lap, with Nate Woodman (Monkey Wrench) in 2nd. Nate took the lead on the second lap in the 60 minutes race and held it all the way through. The battle for 2,3 and 4 was fought by Matt Farnham, Jesse Peterson (Monkey Wrench) and Troy Krause, with Troy in 2nd during the early part of the race, Jesse taking over for a few laps, and Matt, doing his second race of the day, finally putting in a surge that brought him as close as 10 seconds to Nate. By the time the last lap rolled around, Nate had a 20 second gap over Matt, with Jesse 15 seconds behind Matt, and Troy another 10 seconds back. Matt Tillinghast in 5th rounded out the mens podium.

Chris Cross Next Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Chris Locke

PHONE: 816.468.4831

EMAIL: chrisdlocke@gmail.com
<http://www.kansascitycross.com>

Kansas City Cyclists Race and Donate
October 3, 2009 – KANSAS CITY, MO – Kansas City Cyclists will come together for the second race of the De Stad Cyclocross Van Kansas Series presented by Paceline Products <http://www.pacelineproducts.com%20> on October 11, 2009, 10am to 2pm, at University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas.

The 6th Annual Chris Cross Cyclocross race moves to a new venue that has been dubbed one of the best cyclocross venues in the Kansas City area. The course will be a 3 kilometer loop that includes uphill start, a 700 meter section of cobbles, grass, dirt roads, steep run-ups, flowing and off camber turns all within the beautiful setting of the University of Saint Mary Campus.
Cyclists from all over the Midwest will come together to race for awards, merchandise and cash prizes as well as donate much needed supplies for the Forest Avenue Women’s Shelter in Kansas City, MO. Participants and spectators are encouraged to bring donations to the race. Raffle tickets will be given away for each item donated and a raffle will be held at the awards ceremony following the race.

Please join us for this exciting family-friendly Fall sporting event and help support a worthy cause. For more information about the race, directions and a list of donation suggestions, please visit www.kansascitycross.com <http://www.kansascitycross.com/> or kansascitycross.blogspot.com <http://kansascitycross.blogspot.com/> .

Omaha CX Course Update

I paid a visit to Swanson Park and the city has mowed the park to perfection. Just a little trim work on the climb tomorrow and the course will be in perfect shape. There might be a few soft spots if Bellevue gets more rain, but what is cyclocross without a little bit of mud?