Surf City - NCNCA Cup Round 3

This Sunday, the event of the Halloween season: the VeloBella Spirit of Surf City race at Soquel High School. This will be the third round of the NCNCA Cup presented by Sycip. Read more about the Surf City event here - there are parking restrictions to be noted.

Note: the Costume Cross will not, repeat, NOT be scored for NCNCA Cup points. I don't want any emails on this subject!!

Best Calendar Ever

Yep that's right - if you wanted to race every weekend day from now until the end of 2007 you would not have to leave the NCNCA District (with a notable exception of this Saturday, but you'll need that day to put your costume together for Sunday's VB Halloween extravaganza!) . Anyhow, Bob Liebold of Velo Promo stepped up and added 4 more races (2 East Bay, 2 Southern Mines) to the Calendar, filling out just about every opening for the remainder of the year.

I think this is the fullest our calendar has ever been. There are only 4 weekend days from Sept 1-Dec 31 with no race scheduled, how cool is that? And there's more in January...

BTW apologies for being MIA lately, especially to those of you trying to reach me for posting info - I should be more reachable from now on.

Joy in Mudville

Howdy 'cross fans,

With three CX races on calendar for this weekend - Reno, Candlestick and Livermore - we're really hitting the meat of the season now. The legendary Surf City Halloween race is just a week away (and the third round of the NCNCA Cup) and the national US Grand Prix kicks off soon as well. By all accounts this has been a breakthrough season so far, with more races earlier in the calendar than ever before, and higher participation numbers as well. Great stuff.

If you've checked the weather rock outside, there's other good news to report: more rain in October than most of us can recall in the recent past. There might be actual mud for this weekend's races, or at a minimum some fine tacky conditions. Maybe too soon to break out the Mud Index, but we can dream, can't we?

Note for those racing at the Candlestick Point SuperPrestige - the promoter has announced new restrictions on pre-riding the course for warmups due to the huge turnout at the first round. Tom Simpson notes:

Prior to Round 2 for the 2007 BASP Series we wanted to review the new protocols that will affect on course warm-ups.

We have allowed free access for warm-ups on race courses during pastseasons (except for Golden Gate Park when we were part of Crank Bros.series). As long as competitors did not cross the finish line and gumup the works for our very efficient and hard working judges and scorers (they score EVERY rider on EVERY lap, you know) we had no issues with on course warm-ups. This style required recognition by riders warming up of racers and willingness to vacate the course when racers approached. Every riderwho pins on a number deserves the best chance to compete and when traffic jams occur with riders warming up, when WU (warm-up) riders refuse to clear the circuit for oncoming competitors - then the system is broken and we need to change it.

In order to provide the best racing experience for all entrants we will make the following changes to our warm-up protocols.

1) In order to allow every competitor their best racing chance, No warm-ups will be allowed on course during anyone's event. As always please bring stationary trainers to your Team Tent and use them to reach the start line with heart rates at the right level. You can get on-course as often as you want during official Warm-up periods following each event. We hope this change in previous regulations will be greeted with the recognition that your Warm-up is important - but not at the expense of any other competitor's racing opportunities.

2) On course warm-up periods will begin the moment the current event winner has cleared the finish line. We will provide a clearly marked "Warm-up Staging Area" beyond the finish line where competitors may enter the course as soon as the winner has cleared the arch - that signals the start of Warm-up period. On course Warm-ups will end with the start of the next event.

By the way - Candlestick got an inch of rain last friday - there will be no dust and there could be some nice, soft sections to roll through. After Sierra Point we now have Top-10 grid call-ups for all categories.

Tom Simpson, Pilarcitos Cyclesports

NCNCA Cup Round Two - On Grass!

Howdy 'cross fans,


This Sunday brings the second round of the NCNCA Cup presented by Sycip, this time around hosted by Rich Maile and Sacramento Cyclocross on Sunday, Oct. 14.


One of the things we heard consistently from racers as we developed this series concept is the desire of riders in the 831 area code to check out the Sacramento scene for one of the races so this is your chance, and we have a special course for you. If maybe you have come to expect dry dusty conditions this time of year, this Sunday's race offers up a tasty treat not often seen in NorCal: a course with a generous helping of fresh grass. Rich notes in the Sacramento site:

The race will be located at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova. This venue is a grass only location. The race course is expected to be very fast with very high traction. Locals will recognize this park since it is right off the bike trail and has miniature train track running throughout. This race is also the second race in the NCNCA Cup. We are expecting a larger turn out and stiffer competition as a bunch of racers will be coming from out of town in their chase for the Cup.

For local Sacramento racers, please note the event schedule for this week's event is slightly different from the other SacCX races. Check the flyer for details. Rich has also provided an area for team tents and vendors so bring the whole gang out for a great day of racing in fine fall weather.


At the other end of the region, Central Coast will be holding their third race on Saturday. Note the location will be Fort Ord, not Salinas as previously announced. Check their site for details.

Pilarcitos Kicks Off at Brisbane

Howdy 'cross fans, and welcome to October....Following on the heels of last week's well attended NCNCA Cup opener at the Lion of Fairfax, this year's Pilarcitos Bay Area SuperPrestige kicks off Sunday at Sierra Point in Brisbane.

The SuperPrestige race is a location change from the previously advertised Hellyer Park location due to construction at the track. The course in Brisbane is nearby the US Grand Prix race of a few years ago, but a new course for this year.

Tom Simpson says:

What's the course like? - net comparison is, "If you like Candlestick Point, you'll feel right at home at Sierra Point." Both are former land-fills with some modest bumps that we take advantage of 3 times at Sierra Point. We'll have a set of triple barricades leading to a short run-up, a Fish hook cut into the weeds, some resident jack rabbits to chase, a couple off-camber sections, a final set of double barricades - and a remarkable Swoop-Dee-Doo where modest air time is possible. Overall length is about 2,400 meters with maybe 400 meters of pavement overall in a couple sections.

For race times and details see the calendar or the Pilarcitos site.

Regarding the NCNCA Cup, results for all races are in the Results blog, and the first round of NCNCA season points will be in the NCNCA Cup blog shortly.