Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Barrier

Could there be a more fitting location for a 'cross race than a place called The Barrier?

Race Bible. Note that an incomplete draft went up on the MCA site initially. The correct version is now up.
Registration Form
Waiver
Save a tree and print on both sides of the same sheet.

A Race seeding
B Race seeding

Seeding is based on finish order within race with every participant receiving points. Therefore, higher seeding depends on both performance and participation. In the event of a tie, the first tie breaker is highest finish in 2010 races to date, the second is higher finish in the last race. A and B seeding use different point values and are NOT comparable.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Oct. 3 LaBarriere Park

News Flash

This weekend's race is confirmed for LaBarriere Park on Sunday, Oct. 3rd.

B/Citizen - 40 min
Children - 10-20 min
A - 60 min

Racing tentatively scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.

More details to follow shortly.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Menno Cross Results

Here.

Thanks to everyone who came out. That was a lot of fun.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

CMU Update

MennoCross was indeed awesome. A very muddy, tricky technical course greeted the 100 plus riders.

Chris will post the results here soon.

Thanks to Chris, the FGBC guys and gals, and Canadian Mennonite University for an excellent event.

Next up event #3 (we're still awaiting our permit) and then there's a week off for Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Oct 2 Schedule Change

The organizer's permit request for Omand Park was rejected by the city. As a result there will be no race on October 2nd at Omand Park. We had previously held a meeting with city park officials and this comes as a bit of a surprise.

The cyclocross committee will attempt to arrange another race on that weekend. It may occur on either Saturday Oct 2 or Sunday Oct 3 depending on the availability of locations and commissaires. Stay tuned for more news.

UPDATE: The most likely date is SUNDAY Oct 3rd. We are working on a couple of venues to cover our bets and will update as soon as we have a permit.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Menno Cross


The 2010 Manitoba cyclocross season continues this Saturday (Sept. 25) at Canadian Mennonite University with Menno Cross. It is also the second race of the Manitoba Cyclocross Cup Series.

No race license is required for this race. If you've heard the buzz about cyclocross and want to give it a try, this is a good opportunity to try it out and see if you like it. We are pretty sure you will.

The course is located at CMU's North Campus at 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. (Grant and Shaftesbury). Parking is available to the north of the main building.

Once again, the course will be a fast one, with flowing hills and a number of fun, swooping corners. The bunker will be back to serve up some entertainment for the spectators and the stone pit will leave you wondering where you speed has gone.

Faspa (a traditional Mennonite light meal) will be served to all racers.

Race prizing (for A and B races only) to be awarded after all races are complete. You must be present to accept your prize. Kids prizing will follow immediately after the kids race.

Registration opens at 10 am in the courtyard on the far west side of the main building. All racers must be registered 30 minutes before their race begins.

Cost - $15, CMU alumni - $10; novice riders, CMU students, and kids under 16 race for free.

The racing starts at 11 am.

C Race - 11 am (20 min.)

Kids Race - 12 noon 10-20 minutes depending on age - modified course

B Race - 1pm (45 min.)

A Race - 2:30 pm (60 min.)

Entry form here. Waiver here.

For more information as well as highlights of last year's race, visit mennocross.ca

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Saturday Update

Brilliant start to the season!

About 80 racers. Awesome weather: 13C and sunny. Great job by Olli, Tim Woodcock, and all the volunteers.

Sold a bunch of season passes. They'll also be on sale at CMU next week. If you forgot to bring enough money today and you paid the regular race fee, you can still get in on the season pass next week (we'll deduct what you paid today from the cost of the pass so you still get it for $90). And don't forget all season pass holders get a chance to win TRP EuroX brakes courtesy of Unicity Eye Clinic.

Next up: Menno Cross. It will be awesome!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Race Registration

Note that all 'cross registration happens on race day at the race. Those who buy the season pass will be pre-registered for every race. Otherwise, there is no advance registration.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

First Race of the Season

Woodcock Cycle Wildwood Cyclocross, CX series #1

September 18

The first race of the Manitoba Cyclocross series will be held at Wildwood Park, 271 North Drive, Winnipeg, MB.

Race course is the tested lung burner/leg buster in Wildwood Park along the Red River. Races will be fast and furious, the perfect way to get up to cyclocross speed. This is also the first race of the CXMB Cup series.

Light food, fruit and water are available for all racers.

Race prizing to be awarded after all races are complete. You must be present to accept your prize.

Registration from 1:30pm - 3 pm at the Wildwood Community Club, washroom facilities located here. Parking on the North Drive gravel shoulder.

Registration $15, novice riders and kids under 16 race for free.
Races starts at 2pm

B Race - 2pm, 30min + 2 laps

Kids Race - 3pm, approximately 15min + 1 lap (modified course)

A Race - 3:30pm, 45min + 2 laps

Forms: entry, waiver.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Cross Update

Please note the 2010 bike equipment rules.

In order of importance, bike regulations are in place to:
1) ensure safety
2) create a level playing field
3) prevent an increasingly expensive competitive 'arms race'

Some wild and unsubstantiated rumours are flying around. As noted previously the only changes are noted in red in the equipment table.

The table clearly shows that in Manitoba in 2010 there are only two changes:
1) disc brakes are now allowed, and
2) In the A category only, tires are now restricted to a maximum 1.5" width (1.38" or 35 mm for 29"/700c).

That's it. The wheel rules (rim height and minimum number of spokes), two brake rule, and no bar ends rule are safety rules and have always been in effect in every category.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Crosslab Updates

21 people out on Wednesday's crosslab and 7 for this morning's last minute pick-up lab. Awesome! Great to see Dave Larsen, Leann Friesen, and Dave Dorning who were all passing through at one time or another and stopped for a chat.

Note that this week's midweek lab takes place on Tuesday not Wednesday.

Note the updated crosslab schedule.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Season's Pass


Get 1/3 off!

The economics of running a cyclocross race are poor, in fact they're miserable. Cross races are the most expensive of all to stage. So pretty much every cyclocross race last year lost money.

Some events such as MennoCross, Bourkevale, and CrossTastic were designed as big parties and were anticipated to lose money. I don't have access to the financials of the others, but CrossTastic for example lost $1231.20. That's on the extreme end, but even the events that were intentionally run with the idea of balancing costs as much as possible had organizers digging into their own pockets so people could race cheaply. I won't bore you with the details, but this year things are even more expensive for oganizers (about $3.37 per racer).

As organizers we're determined to let citizen racers race for free again this year. Come out and try it on our dime. We know you'll be back.

Regular race entries will rise out of necessity. Oh, the big party events will still pay out of their own pockets to fund the extras, but fees will have to rise for every race just to cover the costs of the bare necessities. We're still crazy though. The people who organize the cross races just plain love having our 'cross friends come to the races and so we've created a season pass - $90 for all the races except Provincials (cash only please - separate cost would be approx $130). The pass will be available at the first three races. Not only that, but buy a pass and your name will be entered for a pair of TRP EuroX canti brakes!
Note: Sale of passes will end 1 hour before the start of the A races in order to allow volunteers to compete.
Cash only please.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Cyclocross Participation Series

First Prize:
Choice of tubular or clincher cyclocross wheelset.
These are race worthy wheels - strong and as light as you could go without starting to break things! You'd have to buy a $3000 set of Zipp 303 Cyclocross to do better!
Both have Sapim bladed spokes; 24 front, 28 rear.
Tubular: 25mm rim, 1460 gm
Clincher: 30mm rim, 1530 gm

Decided by draw. 1 entry per race completed. Two bonus entries for those buying the season's pass. Further details to follow.

Donated by Cross-Tastic and Unicity Eye Clinic

Bonus Sunday Cross Lab

In addition to Saturday's 7:00 a.m. cross lab there will be a Wednesday style lab (skills and workout) on Sunday morning at Omand's Creek Park at 9:00 a.m. weather permitting.

2010 Cyclocross Cup

Who is the best cyclocross racer in Manitoba?

Who is the strongest, most consistent, cunning, powerful, and adaptable rider? Start in citizen, work your way up to and through the ‘B’ category. Vanquish the competition in ‘B’ and be promoted to ‘A.’ Train cross, eat cross, and sleep cross. Slowly claw your way through the ranks until one day you are the dominant rider in ‘A’ and you are the Cyclocross Cup Champion.

2010 Cup Races:
Sep 18 - Wildwood Park
Sep 25 - Canadian Mennonite University
Oct 3 - LaBarriere Park
Oct 16 - St. Malo
Oct 17 - Altona
Oct 24 - Whittier Park

Points awarded in A category. Best 5 results count.

Points structure coming

Information on categories