It's definitely autumn in Whitehorse and that means it's time for cyclocross! This Sunday, September 28th, CMBC is hosting a cx race at Mt McIntyre. What is Cross, you might ask? It's a style of bike racing that has "traceable roots" back to 1902 in France. Back then, road cyclists raced through farmers' fields, jumping fences and all obstacles in an effort to get to the next town first. Now it's a hugely popular sport in North America as well, with a race season traditionally running through the fall/winter months.
The idea is that riders complete many laps of a short course featuring a variety of terrain and obstacles that force the cyclist to get on and off his bike in order to get through the course. Sound fun? Ya, we think so.
Maybe you're thinking: "but I don't have a cross bike." No worries. Do any of you remember our Dawn of the Tread race in 2012? Bring whatever bike you have. Nobby tires are highly recommended; a road bike with slick racing tires is not ideal. You will be happier with a lighter bike if you have a few to choose from, as you will need to carry it over a few sections.
Sunday's schedule is as follows:
Register between 11:45am and 12:30pm. Come to the wax room at Mt Mac. Pre-riding the course (which is highly recommended) starts at noon. Race starts at 1pm. The course is a 2.5km loop that will begin in the stadium. Newcomers and spectators welcome! The wax room (including showers and the sauna) will remain open during the event.
We will have "sport" and "expert" categories with the sport riders racing for approximately 30 minutes and the expert riders racing for approximately 60 minutes. It will cost you $5 to participate if you are a CMBC member, $10 to play if you are not. Yukon Brewing is sponsoring the event so you know we'll have some good prizes to give away.
We still need volunteers so please get in touch via email or on our facebook page if you can help with course set up on Saturday afternoon, registration/timing on Sunday or with taking the course down after 3pm on Sunday.
PLUS - don't forget that our Alaskan neighbours (er, neighbors) are having a Halloweird cyclocross race on October 11th in Skagway.
Update Sept 25: Somehow cyclocross says costumes to us so there will be a prize for best "animal" - however you interpret that. Maybe it means you come as a muppet, perhaps dressed as a real animal or maybe you take the animal theme metaphorically and you just come to rip up the course. Heck, skip the animal theme if something else speaks to you. We'll call it the "best cape" award. Looking forward to seeing lots of folks out on Sunday!