too much of a good thing

(Maybe should have published this on Tuesday when I wrote it.  Seems less interesting now in light of the UCI/USAC fiasco going on)

We got what we asked for in New England.  Lots and lots and lots of cx racing.  So much racing that people are burnt out.  Did we bring it on ourselves?  15 UCI events in New England, as many as 40 races, including a new phenomenon in New England, the midweek night race!  We talk cx 7 days a week on twitter, facebook, the blogs, and via email.  All the talk, all the action, all the options seems to have worn us down more than ever before.

Some people race a bunch during the summer, entering cx season after a brief break, or maybe without one at all.  It's not surprising to see these people pulling the plug early on cx.  But I am surprised at the die hards who've hung up the tubulars early or even reduced their racing schedule from years past.  I suspect the total number of registrants this season was higher than previous years but it also seems the total number of races was greater.

We got what we asked for, but now racers are dialing it back, being more selective in when and where we spend our racing dollars.  Big events that shelled out big dollars didn't draw enough to break even while smaller events had their greatest numbers to date (I think).  What's the formula for success?  Is it historic performance? location? timing? cost?

What needs to change, what needs to give in 2011 to sustain 40+ events?  Nationals will be in January so people are calling for a longer racing season to support those who plan on attending.  Given the current registration numbers for an event in mid December, it will be interesting to see how New England (and other regions) copes with stretching the race season through the holidays into the new year.  Will the number of races in August decrease as events push back into late December and January or will the experiment of holding nationals in January leave most racers with a 3-4 week gap in their race schedule leading up to the main event?  Will the overall attendance of Nationals drop due to the timing?

I don't know the answers.  I do know I love gluing the tubulars, pinning on a number (not shoulder numbers, those are fucking pain in the ass), and putting myself deep into the red as often as I can with 15 or 150 other racers.  Come winter time, after 20 cx races though, I love the mountain bike, long base mile rides, and not loading a bunch of gear in the car to spend an entire day for 45 minutes of racing.

2010 cyclocross race review: Sterling Day 1

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58494777

Score: B

Pros:
- fun course with power sections, challenging run up, tight turns, and off cambers
- reasonably accessible from CT, NH, RI, and anywhere in MA
- neutral support from Mark

Cons:
- staging by order of registration.  Tom, what do you have against using a predictable metric like crossresults.com?  It seems to work well everywhere else
- the exposed course always feels 5 degrees cooler and windier than the surrounding area, making it less than pleasant for spectators
- no kids race
- this race didn't feel like it had the same level of energy associated with the other Verge events making the high race fee (consistent with all Verge events) feel even less worthwhile

Observations
- small turnout for the elite fields despite being the NACT finale.  7 of top 10 men didn't show.  3 of top 5 women didn't show
- 83% of women finished in the money, 76% of the men finished in the money
- surprisingly few places to pass on the course

2010 cyclocross race review: Cheshire CX

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57672676
         http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57672679

Score: A-

Pros:
- fun course, great use of available terrain
- challenging elevation changes
- sand pit, muddy bridge crossing, hard climb, hill people
- twisty but fast singletrack, old school feeling
- single speed race adds a second option (as long as you are not also racing cat 4 at the same time)
- fair entry fee: $25 plus $10 for second race
- enthusiastic promoters and announcers
- good spectator course with fanatical fans
- sponsor support helps provide nice prizes

- kids race
- free and inexpensive food available on-site

Cons:
- a bit far for a day trip from Boston and further northeast in New England, but well worth it for anyone in CT, RI and western MA (I-91) residents
- no neutral support, though I saw very few people having mechanical issues
- if you lose control in many of the corners, you will hit an immovable object (baseball backstops, trees, corner of a shed, etc)
- the park is not entirely closed to others so there were a few instances of dog walkers or hikers on the singletrack

I'm hoping more people make the trip to this one next year.

Breaking Away

I use Campy.  It's overpriced and it's not easy to source at the lbs.  I don't like that they moved to 11 speed for the higher end ranges but I've got enough 10 speed stuff to last me a few more years and when (if?) shifters wear out, they are rebuildable. 

Those who use SRAM seem to be blowing through shifters at an alarming rate this fall.  I thought it'd be fun (laughing at you, not with you) to try and count how many have broken their SRAM shifters this fall.  Leave a comment with your experience.  Are you sticking with SRAM in the future?  I know their warranty is great/fast, but it's not instantaneous so you're out at least a few hours/days if you need to rely on it.  So far I've got:

Colin Reuter: 4 shifters
PVB: 2 shifters
Ryan White: 1 shifter
Joy Stark: 1 shifter
Jordan Winkler: 1 shifter
David Montes: 1 shifter
SBZ: 1 shifter
Drew: 1 shifter
Greg Whitney: 2 shifter
Curtis B: 1 shifter
Gary David: 1 shifter
Ryan Kelly: 2 shifters
Mike Wissell: 2 shifters

who else?

2010 cyclocross race review: Cycle Smart International GP of CX, day 1

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/56348585

Score: A-

Pros:
- Fun course that is modified a little bit each year. Good mixture of power sections, fast sweeping turns, and then a technical section in the upper wooded area
- Big, competitive amateur fields
- Close enough to NY and NJ to draw some different competitors than usual
- Northampton is a fun town if you want to stay for the weekend
- Typical, tight Verge series organization keeping events on time
- Races were staged by series points and then crossresults.com ranking (except UCI races)
- There were kids races on both days
- There was a specified area for vendors so it was easy to find food or product options to buy

Cons:
- It's 2 hours from Boston so it's a lot of driving to do one day only (NoHo is fun for staying overnight though)
- Look Park charges $7 for one day access (last year was $5, years prior was $3 I think) or $10 for 2 day access which isn't the race promoters fault
- The course layout on Day 1 was such that very few spectators ventured to the upper part of the course even though it is the more technical, exciting area. This may have been exacerbated by the introduction of tent row and the vendor area, giving people less reason to spread around the course. In years past, NoHo has had great cheering sections spread all over but not as much this year

Did I miss anything?

2010 cyclocross race review: Granogue Day 1 and 2

Day 1
Day 2

Stats: Day 1: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53732685
Stats: Day 2: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53732677

Score: B+ (would be an A if the race was closer)

Pros:
- Fantastic courses in a scenic, private estate
- Wicked off camber turns and challenging course design without being ridiculous
- Fun to race against a whole new group of people
- Fun to cheer for the few other New Englanders in attendance
- Fair price: $30
- All attendees got a reusable Granogue bag
- Some seriously fun swooping turns that felt better and better with each lap

Cons:
- Horrible drive from Boston: Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, New York, Philly, ugh
- Local accommodations are not great if you're traveling from far away and want to be social at night (I was lucky enough to stay only 3 miles away with friend of friend)
- Charged for parking ($3)
- Staged racers by series standings (fair) then by registration order (crossresults.com anyone?)
- On-site PA was horrible, causing many many people to miss the staging
- Registration people mixed up my number causing me to stage in the last row instead of mid field (100+, it makes a difference)
- This place would be horrible in the rain/wet due to the amount of off camber
- The MAC seems to be dominated by 3 or 4 teams yet the teams did not have cohesive social gatherings. Quite a shame given what we accomplish socially in New England at our events and look at the huge start/finish area, perfect for tent space!

2010 Cyclocross race review: Providence Day 1

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53732694

Score: B+

Pros:
- great course, using the available terrain perfectly
- good venue for spectating
- fun infield area with vendors and side show to entertain spectators
- getting to ride the 2005-2006 cx national championship course
- reasonably close to Boston, Hartford, New Haven
- course would be fun in the dry or the wet

Cons:
- staging a non Verge series event by Verge series points hardly seems fair (lazy maybe?)
- no neutral support
- conflicting info about parking and reserved area for teams
- poor signage in the park to direct people to the course (not an issue if you've been before)
- took a long time to get results posted for participants
- a lot of people suffered flats from glass and broken pavement on the course (lack of neutral support was salt in the wound for some)
- would be nice if this race re-entered a major UCI series (Verge, USGP, NACT) to draw more top caliber riders or stopped trying to be a UCI (more expensive) event and focused on the expo and amateur riders

2010 cyclocross race review: Grand Prix of Gloucester Day 2

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/51686098

Score: A-

Pros:
- Day 2 was back to the uphill start
- Day 2 was reminiscent of Gloucester courses from years past: fast, open, and fun
- The seawall runup (I like it, others hate it)
- It's Gloucester, it's the biggest race in New England. Great turnout, great vendors, electric environment
- Big fields means racing some of the best in your category
- The venue has plenty to entertain (or overwhelm) the non-racers
- Course was well marshaled by friendly volunteers
- The pre-ride opportunities were plenty
- Day 2's course was not quite as long as day 1 which meant one extra lap for all (most?) fields
- I knew about the gigantic bag of Haribo gummy bears at the Pedros lounge at the beginning of the day
- Gigantic "sample" of Bob's Red Mill oatmeal
- "Tent row" along the start/finish stretch

Cons:
- Why exactly did they not make use of the sandbox? We rode right around it!!!
- Pricey entry, though you get more for your money than you do at the typical Verge event (same prices)
- I had to split immediately after my race (not the promoters fault, though I did beat the traffic)
- I got beat by Chandler Delink