MennoCross

The first half of the season concludes with MennoCross, presented by Brian Reimer Audio this Saturday at CMU. The racing starts at 11am with the C Race.

Read the Race Bible for the basics. And please fill out the entry form and waiver in advance to help keep the registration line flowing smoothly.

For all other details, see the official race website.

Learn To Clinics

Cross Lab - Thursday September 29

Come out to learn and hone cyclocross skills. Free clinic with skills and drills for all abilities.

Canadian Mennonite University - 500 Shaftesbury Boulevard (site of this Saturday's MennoCross event)

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (dropping in midway is fine)

*What's a cross lab, you ask? We'll play some games that involve cornering, bike handling and dismounting/remounting. It's pretty informal, more about working on technique than about working out. Bring your bike, your helmet and a bottle of water.

Up To Date Category Lists

I don't mind saying it was not an easy task, but we had to spread things around a bit if we wanted to continue racing. Please read this first. The categories are not a reward or penalty system, but simply a matter of placing riders where they will be the most competitive. There were many variables to take into account, including results this year and last. In short, notwithstanding mechanicals if you were lapped in both of the first two races you probably changed categories. If you were lapped in one you either moved or were on the bubble. Since organizing completely sucks the energy out of volunteers that was also taken into account. By necessity, there will be further adjustments as we go along. Although we have always resisted pulling lapped riders, that is still a possibility. You are all riding so well. The categories are getting faster and faster. We will have three very competitive races.

The men's categories are here.
The women's categories are here.

The cross committee will hold a cross clinic on Sunday before the race (from 12:30 till 1:00) to help with essential cyclocross skills like dismounting and re-mounting. Meet behind the backstop at the baseball diamond. Note: please DO NOT ride on the baseball diamond.

DarkCross Results

Here. See the website for photos, etc.

The Barrier

Next up is LaBarriere Park. This race is organized by the cyclocross committee. We require volunteers to help with set-up Sunday morning, registration, and everyone will need to chip in for teardown. Please bring a rake.

If you can help with registration or set-up please email mca_cross at mts dot net

Race details are on the MCA site

Rider Category Changes

Due to the large number of riders in the B race, certain changes need to be made. We've attempted to give riders a chance to try out categories to see where they best fit in (see the Updated Categories post just below), but now we must act on that information.

Accurate Results
We are sticklers for accurate results. The B race is becoming too large for the commissaires to effectively manage. Other jursidictions sometimes have larger fields, but they use electronic chip timing which we can't afford and they generally pull riders as soon as they're lapped*. You might say let me race in the B race, I don't care about my results, but the other riders whose results you may adversely effect will not share the same view.

Interference With Other Riders
Lapped riders, no matter how careful, eventually interfere with the front of the race.

Safety
Safety is our foremost concern. You must be able to dismount and remount your bike at high speed in order to race in the B and A races. Dismounting is an essential skill. Not being able to dismount at speed creates especially dangerous situations for other riders. There were several very dangerous close calls on Saturday. If you need to work on your dismounting that's fine, but C is the race to do it in. We will organize a cross lab or two to help people with their skills, perhaps Thanksgiving weekend. Check back here for an update.

We re-balance categories regularly. All the races will be extremely competitive. As skills and fitness improve we move racers up.

Once the official results from Dark Cross are available I will post the uptodate category lists. If you have a question about your placement contact mca_cross at mts dot net.


*In the past, we have tried not to pull lapped riders. Without a re-balancing of the categories that would have to happen. It may still become necessary, but we are trying to avoid it. If you were pulled in the B race you would almost certainly have a much shorter race than if you rode 30 minutes in the C race.

Updated Categories

There's some stress in trying to decide which category to ride in (and therefore which race). Keep in mind that cyclocross is a short intense race, not a long, slow endurance event.

The cyclocross committee is trying to be flexible for the first couple of events with the B and C races and where there is doubt (and sometimes even when there isn't) allowing riders to pick the B race to start the season. We will, however, make changes by the 3rd race.

If you were lapped 2 or 3 times at St. Adolphe we strongly recommend that you move to cat 4. The experience will be much better. As your skills improve to beyond the cat 4 level you can be moved back to cat 3 again.


Here is a link to category FAQs that is a little easier to read than the post below.