FLCX Summer Chatter

On June 12, 2013 by Christian

Judging by all the comments and general carrying on over on the FLCX facebook page, people are getting pretty excited about the upcoming season, and it’s hard to blame them. Lots of new races, promoters, and racers are stepping forward, there are already some training races popping up, and we haven’t even reached the first official day of summer yet. Keep checking back with us here, or on the book of faces, for all the news you can use.

As a reminder, the Clermont Short Track event is happening tomorrow night at the National Training Center. That’s the same place that the Clermont CX is held, but it’s a much different course- lots and lots of climbing, a little bit of descending, and no running, unless you show up even earlier and do the CrossCountry 5k. That’s a whole lot of uphill, too. Anyway, that starts around 7, more info is here.

Up in Mt. Dora, Rich Dybdahl is running a CX practice at the Mt. Dora trailhead on Tuesdays, give him a shout at his shop, Pure Cycles, for times and dates.

The Gainesville crowd at Swift Cycles are running their Summer MTB Series, check out their website for more info on fat tired sweaty summer fun in the dirt.

Let us know if you have an event to add to the list!

Category :
Chatter
Tags :
,

2013/14 TENTATIVE FLCX SCHEDULE

On April 2, 2013 by Super Rookie

Here is the tentative FLCX Schedule for the upcoming season.

The final schedule should be uploaded by May 1st, 2013.

Category :
News

#louisville2013foamparty

On January 28, 2013 by Super Rookie

The idea started here in Florida.

We will now take it to the World Championships and share with all our friends.

For more information head to the official #louisville2013foamparty website.

Category :
News

Florida State Championship Results Posted

On January 17, 2013 by Super Rookie

We have posted the results to the Florida State Championships on our Results Page.

We would like to extend congratulations to all of the champions and a big thank you to Dan Millstead and the Little Everglades Ranch for hosting another fantastic race!

Category :
News

State Championship Racer Data

On January 16, 2013 by Super Rookie

Yes, we are a bunch of nerds, but we love looking at cool stuff.

This past weekend 124 total racers showed up to the Florida State Cyclocross Championships. This got us thinking about how the largest race of the year in the Sunshine State compares to those across the country. We then decided to scour the internet and seek out the total number of racers at the other State Championships across the country.

Naturally, some parts of the country take their State Championships very seriously and these races are among the best attended in their respective series. Minnesota is an example of this as the participation at their event is head and shoulders above the rest in their series. Florida is also an example of this. We then have some states in which the State Championships don’t seem to be a very big deal. An example of this is the New England Regional Championships of Mass., NH, ME and RI. The combined total for that race is far below what you see at some of the larger regional races, such as, The Gran Prix of Gloucester.

Super Rookie took time away from his calculations to pose for a picture. (Photo: Google Search)

These numbers were mostly pulled from USA Cycling Sanctioned events, but we did have to venture to the “dark side” and get the numbers for the Oregon race from the OBRA website (we assure USA Cycling that we have since washed our hands multiple times). There’s also that weird situation in California of two championships and one being combined with Nevada.

There were a few states that didn’t host State Championships and that is reflected below. There were also a few states that don’t have the results from their State Championships anywhere remotely rational for someone to look on the internet. How hard is it people? Seriously.

In addition, these numbers are calculated using the ‘Total Racers’ method. This is not ‘unique racers’ so these numbers include racers that doubled up. This was due to the fact that we didn’t want to look at results for riders that doubled up. It should also be noted that we decided to combine the totals of a few races that had age-group and category racing on the same weekend, but on different days.

We are fairly confident in the numbers provided below as we pulled it from crossresults.com because that site is amazing. For those states that refuse to get with the 90s and submit their results to crossresults we went to USA Cycling to get it (this required a calculator, uggh).

The numbers out of Wisconsin seemed a little fishy using the USA Cycling website as they seem to have multiple championships for the same category–both a Wisconsin and a Regional championship. For this we went with the Wisconsin Cycling Association championships held on Saturday and not the “Midwest Regional Championships” held on

Finally, the best flyer for a State Championship goes to the folks from Montana that provided this gem: HOT CHEETOS AND TAKIS CYCLOCROSS

State Championships Total Racers:

Nebraska: 39
Montana: 41
Arkansas: 43
Oklahoma: 55
South Carolina: 69 (two days combined)
New Mexico: 75
Arizona: 92
Idaho: 107
Tennessee: 113
Missouri: 122
Florida: 124
Virginia: 126
West Virginia: 126
Michigan: 143
Kansas: 144
Indiana: 154
Southern California District: 162
Pennsylvania: 164
Georgia: 183
Iowa: 183
Texas: 208
Utah: 209
Vermont: 211
Connecticut: 226
Northern California District: 229
New Jersey: 233
Oregon (OBRA): 233
Ohio: 244 (two days combined – age/category)
New York: 280
Maryland/Delaware/DC: 299 (MABRA Championships)
Wisconsin: 315* (See notes above)
Mass/Maine/NH/RI: 372
North Carolina: 382
Washington: 395
Minnesota: 400 (two days combined – age/category)
Wisconsin: 563* (two days combined)
Colorado: 632
Illinois: 681

Data Unavailable:

Alabama
Hawaii

State Championship Unknown:

Kentucky

No State Championship Held:

Alaska
Louisiana
Mississippi
Nevada (Held in conjuntion with Northern California)
North Dakota
South Dakota
Wyoming

Category :
Editorial, News

Neutral Corner: A View From The Pits – Clermont CX Gran Prix

On January 12, 2013 by VeloChamp

Ed: The addition of Velo Champ and their sponsorship of the FLCX Series was one of the most successful additions of the 2012/13 season. They helped out countless racers and even provided quite a few heckles to all of the racers involved. Makes sure to stop by their shop the next time you are in the Tampa area and say hello!

View from the Pits – Clermont CX Gran Prix

If I am to judge how much fun was had at last weekends race, only by the mechanicals that came into the pit, I would say Clermont Cyclocross Gran Prix 2013 was one hell of race..!

Considering the location of the race, I suspected the normal combination of flats, punctures, and other dry/sandy course issues I have seen all season. With some confirmation of this from our fearless race promoter earlier Saturday morning, I expected a trouble-free, fast course. I am still amazed with how quickly this expectation was blown out of the water!

The Velo Champ wheel pit was in a perfect location to view the racing in Clermont. (Photo: Jordan Miller)

Day 1 of the Clermont CX Gran Prix started of mostly trouble-free. The cold weather, massive run-ups and overall rad course design seemed to keep speeds low, and riders spent plenty of time off their bikes. The day was spent addressing mostly minor issues including some wheel swaps, brake cable re-routing and general cable-stretch related shifting work. To my amazement, the number of tire/tube punctures were quite low and not a single rolled tubular tire. I truly expected the more technical features of the course to help roll at least a few tubulars. Oh, does separated shoulder/clavicle/AC separating count as a mechanical..?

The off-camber turns made for fun spectating at the pit. (Photo: Jordan Miller)

Day 2 proved to be be strikingly different from the previous days race. Before lunchtime (beer time) we were alarmed by the how many catastrophic mechanicals/crash-related failures came into the pit. Punctures and pinch flats were far more prevalent. This seemed in line with the course changes that took place for Day 2 that took the riders into the rough, ridge areas surrounding the previous days course. Only two rolled tubulars made their way into the pit. Wheel swaps came into pit throughout the day. Among the flats and failed cassette bodies was a Lightweight Meilenstein rear wheel with broken spokes. This wheel damage came along with one of many broken derailleur hangers. It seems crash-related, rear derailleur issues were one of two trends we noticed on Sunday’s race. The other being a surprising number of similar, front derailleur shifting issues. These came in the form of stretched cable/compressed housing, derailleur impact and even a loose, drive-side crank arm.  We certainly noticed a number riders having issues with dropped chains throughout the weekend. In our opinion, chain-guides/chain-keepers are a worthy upgrade for any cross bike. In addition, improperly adjusted rear derailleurs proved to be the death of more than one bike.

Keeping watch. (Photo: Jordan Miller)

Our constant presence with pit/spare bikes proved useful again last weekend.  A few riders from several categories hopped on our pit bikes to finish their race(s).

All in all, Clermont Cyclocross Gran Prix proved to be one of the most challenging races all year and we were ecstatic to be able to support such great race. We are excited for this year’s State Championships. See you in Dade City!

Category :
How To, News, Race Report, View From The Pits

Dade City State CX Championship Course Preview

On January 12, 2013 by Christian

UPDATE

20130112-175401.jpg
Probably as close as I’ll get to one of these: The medals for the FLCX State Champs

20130112-175449.jpg
The Start/Finish line

The Start Finish area is in the same place that it’s been for the past few years, with a long grassy entrance and exit. The one sided pits are here as well. Head along the flat top of the hill, then down the hill, into a fast, long left hander…

20130112-175505.jpg
The holeshot dumps into this fast downhill left hander.

20130112-175523.jpg
After the fast downhill left hander, the course heads right back up the hill, and then down again.

…Which eventually points you back up the hill to lose all that precious momentum, before a hairpin at the top sends you back down along the horse track fence, across the dirt road, and into a fast, gravelly, muddy corner, which then gently climbs into a single barrier, some tight corners with big scary wooden poles, and then into some lumpy grass. Then a sharp left, a short straing, and the off camber hairpin with the swamp/bog awaiting anyone who doesn’t stay to the inside. Even if you do stay to the inside, the ground is quite lumpy in this section, as it exits the bog and climbs out of the swamp. As the ground levels out, you enter the dirt road, gently downhill, and the long run down to the barn. This is a pretty decent recovery section. There’s a tricky 180 with a three foot tall lump on it, and then you have to bunnyhop over the door sill as the course enters the barn. Another bunnyhop to exit the barn, then a gentle bend to the left, an esse turn through a couple of fence gates, and a slog onto the horse track, which is all false flat and not nearly as fast as you want it to be.

20130112-175539.jpg
The exit of the horse track portion of the course, into the corral, and then up the stairs.

There’s an extra little section that loops around and ends up pointing you right at the stairs, which are two sets of 5 stairs, then remount, and then down a gentle hill.

20130112-175552.jpg
A gentle descent into a hairpin.

At the hairpin, you go most of back up the hill, hairpin at the top, and then down into a fast, flowy section of corners.

20130112-175616.jpg
Out of the hairpin, up the hill, and around another hairpin, leading into a fast complex of corners.

That leads to the other recovery section of the course, a flat section of dirt road, and the short paved climb, and then a long section of grass, a hairpin, and the double barriers. They are tall. Dan swears they are only 40cm. I forgot my ruler. After the barriers, you finish off the paved climb, and then sweep onto the grass, a bit of mild off camber, a short enough climb to screw up a sprinter, and then the line. 1.6 miles of fun.

Here’s my Garmin track of the course. Bear in mind that I will hopefully be going at least 45-60 seconds a lap faster than the pace I was going here. We also changed one of the corners after the horse barn to make it flow a little better, but it isn’t a huge change from what you see here.

Overall, it’s a power course that suits roadies to a certain extent, as the technical sections aren’t overly technical.

I’m taking all of these from Dan’s Millstead’s facebook, so you may have seen them, but you’ve never seen them all on the same page before, so GET EXCITE.


The Barriers with the Kung Fu Panda.


New climb section on the back of the start/finish area.


Off Camber hairpin with mud/swamp water at the exit. Technical and probably messy.


When you see this sign just north of Dade City on US 301, TURN.

We’ll be out riding the course this afternoon, and come back with more pictures and maybe even some video.

Category :
Course Preview

FLCX Series Points FINAL

On January 11, 2013 by Super Rookie

GAINESVILLE, FL-

The Florida Cyclocross (FLCX) series ended on a high note this past weekend in Clermont after a long twelve race season that saw a record number of participants in the fastest growing segment of Florida racing. The final point totals have come in for the 2012/13 FLCX series and heading into the State Championships this weekend in Dade City we would like to congratulate the following series winners:

  • Men Cat 1/2 Eric Stubbs (352 Racing p/b Bikes and More)
  • Women Cat 1/2 Laura Parsons (Rose Bandits)
  • Men Cat 3 Ed Dunne (Cycle Logic)
  • Men 35+ Jack Rich (Infinity Bike Shop)
  • Men 45+ Michael Scotty Graham (West Coast Cycling)
  • Men 55+ Paul Schwartz (Orlando Road Cycling)
  • Women Cat4 Katherine Adams (U/A)
  • Junior 10-14 Jackson Mehr (Outspokin)
  • Junior 15-18 Alex Meucci (U/A)
  • Singlespeed Christian Ahrens (352 Racing p/b Bikes and More)

The full point series results can be found here.

Category :
News

Clermont Cyclocross Gran Prix Video

On January 10, 2013 by Christian

Crosscopter comes through for us again, thanks Graham!

Clermont CX from @CrossCopter on Vimeo.

Category :
Race Report

FLCX Power Rankings – State Championship Weekend

On January 9, 2013 by Christian

We have reached the final race of the year and it is the Great Granddaddy of them all the Florida State Cyclocross Championships!

The final weekend of racing in the FLCX Series showed us who is hot and who is not heading into Dade City. Like most things in the world the Power Rankings are constantly in flux and one bad weekend can change the rankings lickety-split. It is also important to remember that the Power Rankings are based on individual performance within your respective category. So, just because you are a fast cat 1/2 doesn’t mean you will always be high on the most important list in Florida Cyclocross. Last week’s ranking were all about series standings. This week’s standings are all about who’s gonna win at States, but bear in mind that we have to assume that some crazy sandbagger action doesn’t happen, which is, of course, completely delusional- it’s a State Championship Jersey, there’s always going to be sandbaggers.

So, without further ado, here are your Power Rankings/Prognostications for the State Championships:

2012/13 FLCX Power Rankings: State Championship

Cat 3 | Ed Dunne (Cycle Logic) |

Ed completely dominated the most competitive field in Florida Cyclocross with two impressive wins, handling everything 352 Racing could throw at him on the toughest courses of the season in Clermont with relative ease. Super smooth, and deadly efficient, Ed should be your winner on Sunday, and an immediate force in the 60 minute race next season.

W123 | Laura Parsons (Rose Bandits) |

Has a state championship waiting for her, assuming that Brooke Rich hasn’t been in her fortress of solitude, doing secret training, meditating and gathering her evil forces to make one huge push to salvage something out of the wreckage of her 2012/2013 season. So far, no other woman has even been close to beating Laura this year, so I’m thinking that this one is a reasonably safe bet.

M35 | Jack Rich (Infinity) |

We haven’t seen Jack since Day 1 at Swamp Cross, other than some at-work hijinks…


image stolen from Jack’s facebook.

…so it’s anyone’s guess how he’s riding at the moment, but it’s hard to envision a scenario where he doesn’t win on Sunday, assuming, of course, he shows up. He’s been completely dominating this season, winning every race he showed up for.

M45 | Scotty Graham (West Coast Cycling)

Won by a clear 3min on Saturday and 25sec on Sunday. Favorite for the title. Has actually been training, I’ve seen him getting what he thought were secret training miles in, so he’s peaking at the right time. Is racing a category that is pretty susceptible to crazy fast dudes coming out of the woodwork, however.

M55 | Dan Sullivan (West Coast Cycling)

Dan’s been pretty dominant this year, and Dade City isn’t too far from his Tampa Bay area home, so as long as he shows up, he should win. Having said that, M55 got more competitive every week, with more and more racers almost every weekend, so there’s no telling who might show up.

Cat1/2 | Josh Thornton (St. Pete Bike and Fitness)

Thornton finally made his FLCX series debut, and dominated everyone as comprehensively as Eric Stubbs dominated the previous 4 races. Josh is a favorite for the title on his home turf, maybe the surest bet of the weekend, although if Ryan Woodall (Team Top Gear) or Drew Edsal (Felt MTB) show up it could get interesting, and Stubbs should provide more of a challenge on the presumably less technical course in Dade City as well.

Single Speed | Eric Stubbs (352 Racing)

Single Speed has been all over the place this season which is probably how it should be, so this race is difficult to pick. Stubbs won 3 of the races, so he’s probably as close to a favourite as exists, but there’s no telling what will happen on Sunday, who will show up, who will take it seriously, and who will screw it up for the rest of the guys. That there will be at least one guy from 352 Racing on the podium is all but a foregone conclusion, however.

Women 4 | Amy Plotkin (Rose Bandits)

I’m going out on a limb on this one, as Amy has only done one cross race in her life, but that race was the very difficult Clermont CX Gran Prix Day 2, and she won that one, leading it from wire to wire. This gives me confidence in her.

Men 4 | IMPOSSIBLE TO PICK

The Cat 4 race at States could be won by literally any sandbagger, and the guy who wins it will almost certainly be a sandbagger. I’d be stoked if a legit Cat 4 guy won it, believe me, but I don’t think it’s happened in several years, so I see no reason to believe this year will be any different. We’ve had almost 100 different guys race in the 4′s this year, which is tremendous, hopefully ALL of them show up in Dade City and we have a huge battle royale.

Junior 10-14 | Lochlan Hovius (AAA)

A Stone Cold Lead Pipe Take it to the Bank Certain LOCK to win the Junior 10-14. Lochlan is lethal on the race course.

NOTABLE RIDERS WITH A SHOT AT WINNING

Graham Partain (352 Racing p/b Bikes and More) | Cat3, SS, 35+

Wins the Single Speed race on Sunday and does the Cat3 race for the first time all year. Has been on the M35 podium quite a bit this year. Hard to say what category he’ll race in Dade City, but he’ll be competitive no matter which one it is.

Taylor Norton (Orange State Cycling) | M3, SS

Taylor might be the thinking man’s outsider bet this weekend. A course that’s not super technical that requires decent power is right up his alley. Of course 352 will be throwing the kitchen sink at him, but he’s riding very well right now.

Chase Tennyson (352 Racing) | M3

Chase Crash from @CrossCopter on Vimeo.

OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW. Still, you have to respect his speed and finesse. Well, his speed, anyway.

Jennifer Talley (U/A) | W4

Hailing from Destin, FL and making countless seven hour drives with her gang of gulf coast friends she has dabbled in the 1/2Open fields and has shown to be a racer for the future.

Katharine Adams (U/A) | W4

Katharine has a long list of podiums this season in her first season of CX, maybe Dade City will see her break through to the top step.

Category :
Power Ranking
Pages:1234567...12»