DCMTB Rockburn CX 08′
The DCMTB crew came out to Rockburn cross with high spirits after having hosted City Bikes’ DCCX cyclocross race the weekend before. Notable performances included Marc Gwadz finishing strong in 15th in the Elite Masters race, as well as Chris Clarke with a solid 23rd. Two good efforts were made by guys bouncing back from sickness: Raul Rojas finished 17th in the Masters 3/4 while Matt Donahue finished 19th in the CAT 3/4 race. Other team members: Dave, JJ, Wiggy, Pooch, and Mike S, represented the team with fine performances. Darren and Michael experienced some mechanical issues. Darren threw in the towel before the final lap due to his mech. issues while Michael earned the trooper award for continuing on after he got a new wheel he picked up gave him crappy shifting through the end of the race.
More pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lovedabikes/RockburnCX08#
DCCX Food Update
Forget racing, the food at DCCX is shaping up to be the highlight of the day. We’ve already induced mountain bike legend Scott Scudamore to man the frites tent and Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar to donate beer.
Now there is this: the DC Dutch Club has agreed to show up and make “poffertjes“! (Dollar size pancakes served with butter and powdered sugar.)
Granville Moore’s, Washington, D.C.’s best Belgian restaurant, has agreed to donate a horseradish sauce for the frites and Karen LoParco, a referee and former chef, has jumped in and will offer her own special, homemade andalouse sauce, too.
Frites, poffertjes, beer, Stickey Fingers baked goods and Drink More Water. Yum.
DCCX Gets Some Press
The Washington Post had a great article about cyclocross and the DCCX race this past Sunday called, “Hoist and Ride: Cyclocross Returns to DC.”
Key quote: “It’s technical, it’s hard, but it’s a great way for people to start, to get their feet wet.”
Check it out here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603290.html
Another great article is here, in VeloNews: http://www.velonews.com/article/84382/historic-venue-for-city-bikes-dccx-cyclocross-race
DCCX
DCCX, the only cyclocross race held in the nation’s capital, will be held on
October 26 on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in NW Washington, DC. Registration is now open on BikeReg.com.
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7143
For the second-annual event, race promoters DCMTB/City Bikes are building on
last year’s exciting, successful race and will offer improvements to an already awesome race experience — and provide even more extra-curricular fun for
racers, kids and spectators. DCCX joined the MABRA cross series this year.
Three ways the fun continues from last year:
- The race is held on a classic, European-style cyclocross course. It’s fast
with lots of transitions from grass to pavement to gravel and back. There are some tricky barriers and roots. Amateur archeologists from DCMTB uncovered a stone, Paris-Roubaix-style path before last year’s race, and that has become DCCX’s signature feature. The layout is great for first time cyclocross racers and a fast, challenging event for veterans. - The Armed Forces Retirement Home is the site of four National Historic
Landmarks, including the Lincoln Cottage. Lincoln withdrew to the
Soldiers’ Home each summer to escape the heat in the White House. It’s difficult to get on the grounds the other 364 days of the year; with a registration you can drive right in and check out the grounds, and schedule a tour of the Lincoln Cottage. - Beer. Yes, indeed: Racers will once again be able to enjoy a beer after
their race courtesy of Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar in Washington, DC.
Three ways the race will be so much better this year:
- We’ve upped our payout for elite racers. Whole Foods-P St. has expanded its sponsorship of the event so that the winner of the women’s 1/2 race will for the first time get the same payout as the winner of the men’s 1/2 race. City Bikes remains as the title sponsor of the men’s elite race, with both races paying $700 total, seven deep. Other category winners will get cool loot.
- Li’l Belgians will be sponsored by the Belgians. This year, as part of the MABRA series, DCCX is adding a race for kids, and we’ve pulled in as sponsors the Belgian Embassy, which will be offering all participating kids a special (and tasty) prize.
- Frites! Just adding to the Belgian ambience, we will be serving free — yes, free — frites (that’s Belgian for French fries) to riders and spectators. Oh, and there will be delicious, vegan cookies from Sticky Fingers bakery and Drink More Water for those opposed to beer and frites.
What you need to do:
- Register early at BikeReg.com. Last year’s race drew 240 participants, including a sold-out 80 for the Cat 4/beginner category. Given the great buzz that followed last year’s event, this year’s race is likely to be even more popular, and so register now to get into the race of your choice - and get a better call-up. (As of Oct. 2 there were already 51 Cat 4 racers registered.) http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7143
- Bring an ID on race day. You may be asked to present an ID upon entering the base; please be prepared. Also, there will be day-of registration, but it is guaranteed to be a royal pain in the neck. No money can change hands on the grounds of the Armed Forces base, and so you will need to drive back out to an undisclosed location to make your payment before you race.
- Remember that Oct. 26 is also the day of the Marine Corps Marathon. There may be traffic issues. I-395 is open to traffic from the south (except the HOV lane). Road closures can be found at:
http://www.marinemarathon.com/Assets/Street+Closings+Release+07.pdf - AFRH address: Rock Creek Church Rd, NW & Upshur St, NW, Washington, DC 20011
Other Notes:
DCCX is also sponsored by Cyclocross Magazine.
Course layout can be seen at:
http://tinyurl.com/4r6nve
Use the satellite view. Distance 2 miles. In last year’s dry conditions the top B and masters riders did 5 laps in their 45-minute race. The winning elite men averaged seven minutes a lap.
Photos from last year’s race: http://picasaweb.google.com/ou98dtbiggs/DCCX
The write up of last year’s race is here: http://www.dcmtb.com/blog/archives/222
Starting order will be based on the most recent MABRA 2008 CX Series standings, order of registration, and promoter discretion. The most recent MABRA-Cross standings will be used to call up the first 2 rows (16 spots), then racers will line up row by row, as determined by order of registration/bib number. There are no call-ups for the 9am/Cat 4 Men race. Racers will line up by row based on order of registration.
Iron Cross VI-Two Mark’s Views
39 Mark Drajem DCMTB/City Bikes 5:03:59.2
As I slogged up the big last climb of Hogshead hill, three-
quarters of the way through my third Iron Cross race, I did a quick
calculation and realized I was in good shape for a fast finish — at
least fast for me. “All I need to do is avoid a mechanical failure
or a physical breakdown,” I thought.
Cue the ominous music.
The race had gone well up to this point. I started closer to
the front, and was able to get into some faster groups on the road. I
handled the trail section better than I had before — even passing a
few tentative roadies.
Now, probably halfway up this 30-minute climb, there was a
short, fast descent on the gravel road. I must have nailed a sharp
rock because may back tire punctured. It wasn’t good, but thats’ just
par for the course on these rough roads and rocky trails. Then the
disaster: I pulled out a new tube from my bag to find the sickening
sight of a schrader valve. What a numbskill packing job on my part. I
had two spare tubes, but I might as well as carried rocks in my bag.
There were two guys stopped nearby but neither had a tube. I decided
to start hiking. After about five or ten minutes of walking a good
Samaritan offered help. He tossed me a tube and a few moments later I
was back on my way.
The last 12 miles of the race is through some fun single and
double track. It was fun riding, until the short climbs hit. My legs
were rebelling; they had no juice and were starting to cramp. It was
a slog up every uphill, but I redeemed myself by passing this DC Velo
roadie in the singletrack and holding him off when he took a slight
wrong turn on the final road section. In the end I finished in 5:04
to the cheers of my kids and parents.
Mark Wigfield was the other DCMTB rider out there, and he
finished just a few minutes later, looking strong and happy.
I’ve been singing the praises of Iron Cross these past few
year and love the mix of climbing, pack riding on the road and trail
sections. Those last few sections of hike-a-bike on the trail,
though, are incredibly miserable. I’m not sure I can bear it again
next year. Who knows, though. In another 350 days I may feel
differently.
49 Mark Wigfield DCMTB/City Bikes 5:18
The most fun part about this race for me is riding singletrack on the cross bike. You can find a good line most of the time, and it’s just a blast picking your way through it. Also gives mtnbikers an advantage because lots of people walk stuff or take it slowly. The first stretch of singletrack has a long downhill section threading through rocks, and the roadies were standing on the side of the trail watching. I’m not sure why it’s so much fun — it’s probably the trail itself, the novelty of it, and it takes me back to when I was a kid in pre-mtnbiking days and would sometimes take a sidetrip on a trail w/ my schwinn 3-speed. Didn’t work that well but was fun! Near the end, before you get to Drajem’s bane (a deceptively steep climb out in the sun on scrabbly, energy-sucking dirt trail cutting through what looks like some kind of reclamation site), the single track is fast and swoopy through the woods and I passed a lot of folks. Felt good. That said, I would say only about 10% of the course is singletrack, so you have to be ready for lots of fire road, gravel road and blacktop ridng. I was running 35s at 50 psi, which worked well enough for me.
There are also some screamingly fast road downhills on this course that are a blast, but watch that deep gravel on the back roads. I didn’t see too much blood this year from wipe outs on gravel, but one woman last year lost a lot of skin. The climbing is tough, no doubt. I was able to ride all the road/fire road climbs w/ a low gear of 28/39, but was off the bike a couple of times on the off-road sections.
I think my time was about 5:18 — though not sure. If it was, I was about 3 min slower than last year, but considering i didn’t train for or ride the SM100 this year, didn’t feel bad about the time at all. The everyman goal for this race is a sub 6-hour time. If you want to place, you gotta bust your butt.
Ed Sanders Cross
By Marc, Joel Gwadz and Darren
All the rain just put a different spin on Ed Sanders compared to the
dry, dusty 2007 campaign and didn’t cause any problems with the
general ride-ability of the course. my specialize tri-cross frame
was chosen in large part to avoid mud/grass buildup at races like ed
sanders (big clearance front and rear), and it worked great.
I got a front row call up as defending 35+ series winner and got a
good start, latching on to Mark Kutney’s wheel. Anthonhy von Lierop
worked his way up from somewhere back in the pack to take 2nd wheel,
and I made a decision not to try to match Kutney’s pace, which would
certainly be more than I could manage. About lap 2 as I sat somewhere
between the lead pair and a chase group, I slid out off my bike on the
2nd little drop in. I didn’t waste a lot of time, but a few seconds
and restart was enough to cost me several spots
although it is confusing to my near competitors who apparently know
how to ride a bike, I managed to mess this section up just about every
time, though I did my mess-ups differently each time to keep it
interesting. sliding out, falling, going left in weeds, right in
weeds- no bad method was left untried.
fortunately, I was feeling very strong on the flat sections that make
up most of the course, and was able to my way back past mike birner, a
cracked von lierop and finally dropped Chris Nystrum for good on the
last lap. Kutney was somewhere up the road out of sight, but I dangled
behind my crossreults.com arch nemeses randy root and bernie schiao. I
might have been only 10″ or so back, but was unable to close despite
my attempts on the last couple laps.
all in all a strong effort and a good start for the MABRA series. I
was 4th in the field, but 1st in 35+ - the other guys were 45+. so ,
maximum point in the 35+ subgroup, quirky though that might be.
Chris Clarke had a very strong showing - 8th overall in elite masters,
4th in 45+.
Mark Drajem, Raul, and myself were all lined up with the Masters B
we all raced pretty close together which made for an interesting race within the race
I worked hard to trail both Mark and Raul
eventually Drajem and I swapped spots
but I could not bridge the gap between Raul and myself
worked hard… but where I worked hard Raul must have been working hard too
because instead of me closing the gap Raul widened the margin
The B race was fast and furious and was a pretty packed field. Matty D represented DCMTB well had a strong first half and settled into his placing for the day. Darren had a bobble in the first lap, and then had a steady effort that didn’t make him DFL might as well have been in his book. He felt the effects of racing his second B race after racing the C’s last year.
In all turned out to be a good day to watch the races, and people were talking about DCCX even when they were at another cross race!
City Bikes/DCMTB Cyclocross Clinics - Wednesdays in September at Ft. Reno
DCMTB/City Bikes will be conducting a series of free Cyclocross clinics on Wednesdays in September at Ft. Reno in Washington DC from 6pm until dark. The clinics will feature basic cyclocross instruction from DCMTB team members and other experienced local racers. September 3rd will be a special women’s only DC-ChiX clinic with instruction by Melanie Swartz; September 10, 17, and 24 will be open to all. Space is limited, so email gwadzilla8@yahoo.com Just show up!
Check for updates, weather cancellations, and additional details on the DCCX page on dcmtb.com and the Gwadzilla blog.
Dates: 9/3 (Women Only), 9/10, 9/17, 9/24
Time: 6pm
Location: Ft. Reno Park, Northwest Washington, DC
Cost: Free; bring your USAC license is you have one, if not we’ll cover the cost of your 1-day license
Schedule:
6:00 pm - 6:10 - registration
6:15 - 6:45 pm - skills instruction
6:45 - 7:30 pm (light permitting) - unstructured skills work and ride on practice loop.
DCMTB-City Bikes: Clinic One DC-ChiX
Last night DCMTB-City Bikes hosted Clinic One in a four part clinic series at Fort Reno Park in Northwest Washington DC. This clinic was women specific and was lead by local racer Melanie Swartz of Velo Bella.
Lots of woman signed up for this event. In fact so many people signed up via email that I ended up turning people away in an effort not to have the first session become the last session. As it turns out, not everyone showed up and it was not the massive cluster of lycra that I feared would offend the usual park users at Fort Reno. In fact, it seemed that our athletic presence fit in just fine with the other athletes on the various fields in the park as well as not offending the people passing through or picnicing on the grounds. There did not seem to be any conflict with any of the other park users. Sure a leashless dog chased a rider or two and I would not be shocked if a headphone wearing runner was spooked by the approaching cyclists, but there appeared to be no real conflicts.
Melanie Swartz came prepare!
The clinic started off a few minutes later than expected as many of these cycling events do. Raul handled the registration of the riders while Marc Gwadz and Mark Drajem aided Melanie in course set up. One by one women started showing up with their bicycles. Once a good number of woman showed up the DCMTB men stepped back and the women stepped forward. Melanie lead this clinic as if she had done this sort of things before. She gave a good verbal introduction to the objectives of the evening then immediately flowed into a number of drills. It was not the adrenalin based cross practice that I had anticipated. It was Melanie’s intention to slow things down and get down to the basic comfort on the bike. In watching the riders I understood that Melanie’s approach made good sense as there is so much that veteran cyclists take for granted. Many of these women were comfortable on the bike but completely new to cyclocross. There was such a wide variety of cyclists that it made sense to start at the ground and build things up… even the seasoned veterans can use some review on the basic skills.
After the initial drills on cornering, balance, track stands, and sight lines the group moved to faster paced activities. There were laps around the grounds at Fort Reno Park that took advantage of the variables that the park presents. A set of barriers was set up to compliment the natural obstacles in the park. There was a wide variety of skill levels and fitness, everyone meshed together quite well. At the end of the evening as the sun set in the distance everyone was smiling and it appeared as if everyone left looking for more.
The DCMTB-City Bikes Cross Clinic Session Number One was a success!
I was pleased with the turn out… I regretted turning people away.
Things went so well that I expect a good number of the women from this Clinic to attend some of the clinics at this same park on Wednesdays in September.
special thanks to Melanie Swartz for leading this clinic
and thanks to everyone who showed up
this sort of gathering is exactly what the DC cycling scene needs to introduce more people to the sport of cyclocross
more images to appear on my page
www.gwadzilla.blogspot.com
Congratulations Marc!
BIKEREG.COM MABRACROSS DECLARES ITS CHAMPIONS
Wittwer, Shogren and Gwadz win Elite Crowns
Press Contact Information: BikeReg.com MABRAcross Cyclocross Series
Ken Getchell, Media Director: kenmacpr@yahoo.com; 610-397-1950
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 19, 2007, 2007; Conshohocken, PA, USA: The BikeReg.com MABRAcross series celebrated its most successful season ever in 2007, with average attendance at each event growing by over 20% for the fourth consecutive year. Excitement is already building for 2008 as at least two new races, DCCX and Rockburn Cross, are expected to join the series next year.
Of course, cyclocross is all about riders, and the most successful riders were the new Elite Champions: Greg Wittwer, Betsy Shogren and Marc Gwadz. Shogren and Gwadz won three races apiece to dominate the Elite Women and the new Elite Masters classes, respectively. Meanwhile, Greg Wittwer took the opposite approach and used consistency to squeak out the season title from Wes Schempf in the last race.
It was a season of transition for the MABRA men as, for the first time, world-class professional talent started lining up next to the regional stars. Former Italian National Team member and newly-crowned Verge MAC Champion Davide Frattini (Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light) opened the season with a win at the season-opening Charm City Cyclocross. Wes Schempf (C3-Sollay.com), the 2006 Verge MAC Champion and BikeReg.com MABRAcross runner-up out-dueled mountain bike superstar Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) for victory at the Ed Sander Memorial, while Bishop scored the victory at the Tacchino Cicliocross in November. But local talent Wittwer (FORT Factory Team) snookered all the outsiders by quietly scoring points in nearly every race. His third place finish on Thanksgiving weekend clinched the BikeReg.com MABRAcross jersey with just three points to spare.
While Wittwer won with quiet consistency, his FORT Factory teammate Betsy Shogren dominated the Elite Womens series standings to win her second BikeReg.com
MABRAcross championship. The three-time Verge MAC champion had previously dabbled in MABRA races. But the rapidly growing profile of the series, and its proximity to her home in West Virginia, made the championship an enticing target. The BikeReg.com MABRAcross championship capped-off an excellent year for Shogren, who also scored a perfect score en-route to victory in the pro/elite division of the heavily-attended West Virginia Mountain Bike Series and set a new course record while winning the Wilderness 101 ultra endurance mountain bike race.
Like Shogren, Marc Gwadz (DCMTB/City Bikes/Metro Gutter) scored three victories to win the new Elite Masters crown. Like many series in the East, the huge number of Masters participants was threatening to overwhelm courses and organizers. But unlike other series, MABRA elected to have their Elite Masters race for a full 60 minutes in conjunction with the Elite Men. Gwadz was a busy man this Autumn as, in addition to winning the series, he was also the promoter of the first year DCCX race on the grounds of the Armed Services Retirement Home. The DCCX was the first sanctioned cyclocross race ever held within the limits of Washington DC and Gwadz aspires to have his event join the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series in 2008.
Other riders to win BikeReg.com MABRAcross Championship Jerseys were:
Randy Root, of ABRT/Latitude in the Cat. 1/2/3 Masters 45+ division
Nunzio Dibiasi of Yellow Breeches Racing in the Masters 55+ division
Eric Linder of Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing in the Mens Cat. 3/4 division
Sam OKeefe of C3-Sollay.com in the MABRA Junior (U18) division
OKeefe also led a contingent of no fewer than seven BikeReg.com MABRAcross regulars who stood on the podium at this past weekends U.S. National Cyclocross Championships. Joining OKeefe (4th in the 13-14 age division) as National Championship podium finishers were:
Rob Lea, 2nd 65-69 age division
Wes Schempf, 3rd 30-35 age division
Mark Kutney 2nd 50-54 age division
Fred Wittwer, 1st 55-59 age division
Alicia Styer, 3rd 10-12 age division
Gunnar Shogren, 3rd 45-49 age division
Full standings for all classes in the 2007 BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series can be found in the cyclocross section of www.mabra.org. The Mid Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association would like to thank BikeReg.com for the continued support and streamlined registration for the ever-growing rider base in the MABRA region.
Capital Cross
This was the final race of the season for most of the team. DCMTB / CityBikes had a good turnout at the race. Marc Gwadz coming off his Marbra champinionship win where he was 1st for the Mabra series 35+ and 1st in the DC/Maryland in his age group. Marc was racing masters, but with the MAC confrence being UCI most of the masters that usual race elite raced in the regular Elite masters catagory. Marc still had a solid race, but one of his mabra rivals got the best of him again. From Marc,“I was in a 3 person group with berni shiao- we were able first to distance ourselves from a large chasing group (Chris scott, Roger Masse, Randle Root, etc), then on the last lap I made a push to drop the others as we hit the berm before the dam. Mike Birner fell off the pace but Berni Shiao counter-attacked got a couple second gap on me with 1/4 th lap to go and held it the line.” Chris Clarke was racing the Masters B race with Mark Drajem. Mark and Chris both road some smooth races and were competitive out on the circuit. Chris felt his legs were a little sluggish and he summed it with,“It’s hard to believe I could get so old without realizing I was so slow.” Ilanna Knopf was able to withstand the cold and finish Top 10 in the women’s B field. In the Mens C race there was the DCMTB / CityBikes Trio of Loren Mcwethy, Kent Baake, and Darren Biggs they had all registered the day of so had to start at the back in about 60th position. There were three different stories brewing there, Kent riding the mt. bike with cross tires doing his first CX race, Loren the young buck coming into form and riding his new $$$ cross bike, and Darren deciding to race at the last minute on pure skill, not his form. Kent was the only racer in the C field to go over the log on the run up. Doing that got the crowd fired up, so he went for broke and tried to bunny hop the barriers which wasn’t as successful but got the crowd fired up none the less and he achieved his goal of having a good time. Darren got a fast start and Loren was able to bridge to him and the DCMTB / CityBikes Duo was able to drop two pursuing riders. In the finishing straight Loren was about 200yds in front of Darren, and Darren was able to catch Loren at the line. Some might say Darren punked him, but Darren believes he gave Loren a lesson on always finishing strong even when you think you got the gap 
For More details on Darrens race and Pics check his blog
Elite Masters
13 Marc Gwadz
B-Masters
12 Chris Clarke
32 Mark Drajem
B-Women
10 Ilanna Knopf
C-Men
7 Darren Biggs
8 Loren Mcwethy
14 Kent Baake