Stop and Spin: Checked out the cyclocross scene

Checked out the cyclocross scene

I drove out to the Pennsylvania countryside today to watch the Wissahickon Cross UCI C2 cyclocross race. It has been raining here for the past 2 or 3 days straight so I was excited to see the condition of the course and watch some strong elite riders duel it out.

I used to race cyclocross as a junior and I have been flirting with the idea about giving it another go. It is not in the plan this winter but come this time next year things may be very different. I spoke with the legendary Chris Kelly (founder of Kelly Bicycles) last week and lets just say there are some people who are interested in seeing me back on the cyclocross scene. Kelly reminded me that as a junior in 1996 I won the overall Surf City cyclecross series in Northern California. This was an epic series that had some amazing courses and was sooo much fun. While mountain biking was what originally got me hooked on cycling, cyclocross underlined how much fun racing you bike should be and also introduced me to the strong Nor Cal cycling community that supported me through my days as a junior.

As for today's race, Ryan Treborn of Kona won the race easily ahead of his teammate Barry Wicks. I raced Wicks back at University Road Race in California this past August and was surprised how quickly he was off the back in that race. Today was completely different and it was cool to see him in his element putting the pain on some top domestique road pros who were out giving the dirt a try. Just goes to show what special skills are required in cyclocross.

Final thoughts- Big props to the Kona 1-2. Kona bicycles was a huge supporter of mine as a junior and it was good to see them dominating. As a junior mountain bike racer I was partially adopted by Kona one summer and have some amazing memories traveling around the country in the back of their truck from one NORBA National to the next. I got to do everything from visit the company headquarters in Washington state to take the factory team on a ride in my hometown of Marin prior to the UCI World Cup in Napa (which I went on to win!). I don't know who is still around from back in the day but I still have a lot of fond memories and it was great to see them go 1-2! (Jake would be proud!)