• Joe Foley has pictures from throughout the day at DCCX
• Mike Stoll has pictures from the 10am, 11am and 12:15pm races at DCCX.
• DCMTB put up a Facebook photo album from DCCX.
• Gwadzilla has a few pics up from DCCX
• Bruce Buckley’s DCCX photos
• Darren from The Bike and More has his version of the DCCX up
• Kevin KMAX has his tale of a SS ride from DCCX

First up is a video made by CJ Congrove of the Men’s Elite race. [Not only did he spend the day working on this, but he also pulled of a 5th place finish in the Mens 3/4.]

2009 DCCX Cyclocross Race, Elite Men from CJ Congrove on Vimeo.

and up next is a great helmet cam take on the start of the Mens 35+ 3/4 race from In the Crosshairs.

Arley Kemmerer of Hub Racing and Ryan DeWald of Battley Harley-Davidson won the elite races in the third annual DCCX cyclocross race in Washington, D.C. The race, which is run by the DCMTB biking team with Family Bike Shop as the title sponsor, had a record 533 racers on a course carved into the landscape of the seldom seen Armed Forces Retirement Home.

Arley Kemmerer (Hub Racing) go through the barriers

In the women’s race sponsored by Whole Foods Market, Kemmerer powered up the opening blacktop climb to take the head of a lead group, and then pulled away from her chasers Lenore Pipes and Julie Kuliecza at the tricky uphill dismount on the first lap for a convincing win.

“I dropped them by the barriers, and put down the hammer,” Kemmerer said. “I didn’t let up after that.”

Kemmerer takes the victory in the Whole Foods Market Womens 1/2/3 race

To be fair to the her competitors, Kemmerer knew the twists and turns of the DCCX course well after leading a clinic for novice women riders the afternoon before — in a rainstorm — on the tricks of remounts, off cambers and starts. At least for this race, none of her pupils could best her effort.

DeWald leads the front group through the barriers in the Mens 1/2/3 race

DeWald was part of a group of three, including 18-year-old phenom Joseph Dombrowski, which established a gap over the rest of the elite men’s field early on. With three laps to go he powered up that same blacktop climb, riding away from both Dombrowski, who raced cross with the national team in Belgium last winter, and Greg Wittwer. He then rode solo to the finish, putting on a show for the crowd with a spectacular wheelie after the finish.

By the end of the race DeWald had an impressive margin over his chasers

“DeWald is so strong on the road, it’s hard to even sit on his wheel,” Dombrowski said. “He started ramping it up; the gap got big and then it just exploded.”

The race was held again this year on an awe inspiring sunny day following a heavy rainstorm, leaving the course gooey in parts for the first racers of the day. Those early races included a field of 125 racers for the Cat 4 race, and nearly the same for the Cat 3/4 masters race. The sunshine and big fields hammered the course firm by the time the 1/2/3 racers started in the afternoon.

Frites were available through the day for free to racers and spectators

In addition to the racing, riders were treated to fresh pancakes from the Dutch Club of Washington; bananas, all-natural peanut butter packets and other treats from Whole Foods Market and liquid refreshments on tap. Blue Ridge Restaurant, the vegan bakery Sticky Fingers Bakery, Ledo Pizza, the Embassy of Belgium and Family Bikes all donated swag to race winners in the lower categories. In addition to the swag, Family Bikes of Crofton, Maryland donated the purse for the men’s field and Whole Foods donated the purse for the women.

Team Captain Matt Donahue was only one of the DCMTB racers who had a great showing at their home event

Three of the main architects of the race at DCMTB, Matthew Donahue, Jonathan Seibold and Marc Gwadz, each also racked up great results for the day. Gwadz was fifth in the Masters 1/2/3 race. Riding a single speed with flat bars, Seibold was fifth in the masters 3/4 race (earning a prized kiss from the lovely podium girl Sarah Seibold, his wife) and Donahue was 13th in the smoking-fast men’s 3/4 race.
In the end Gwadz credited the volunteer efforts of riders such as Kemmerer and the folks from the Dutch Club for turning the race into cycling social event of the year.

DeWald, who owns Skyline Bicycles in Reading, Pennsylvania, agreed. “It’s a great race. I came down last year for it, and I’ll come back next year,” he said.

Men’s Elite Top 10:

Mens 1/2/3 Podium (L-R: Driscoll, Dombrowski, DeWald, Wittwer, Weaver)

1 Ryan DEWALD Battley HARLEY-DAVIDSON
2 Joseph DOMBROWSKI Haymarket Bicycles/Home Visit
3 Greg WITTWER ALAN North America Cycling Team
4 Adam DRISCOLL Adventures For the Cure
5 Dave WEAVER ALAN North America Cycling Team
6 Jeffrey BUCKLES ALAN / Radio Shack Pro Cycling
7 Jared NIETERS Haymarket Bicycles/HomeVisit
8 Mark BROADNATZ C3
9 Jordan KAHLENBERG Breakawaybikes.com/Giant Bicycles
10 Collin BECKER Walt Works/Fuentes Design

Women’s Elite Top 10:

Womens 1/2/3 Podium (L-R: Sheldon, Kuliecza, Kemmerer, Pipes, Maxwell)

1 Arley KEMMERER (Hub Racing)
2 Julie KULIECZA (Alan North America Cycling)
3 Lenore PIPES
4 Libbey SHELDON (T.E.A.M. Fuji)
5 Jennifer MAXWELL (ATAC Sportswear p/b The Bike Rack DC)
6 Beth MASON (Verge Test Pilot)
7 Elizabeth HARIOW (C3 – Athletes Serving Athletes)
8 Terri SPANOGLE (NCVC/Inova Health System)
9 Lindsey HILLESHEIM (Squadra Coppi/IM Saab)
10 Heidi VON TEITENBERG (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes)

Complete 2009 DCCX results.

Thanks to everyone who came out to race or cheer at DCCX! Also a huge thank you to all the volunteers that make the race possible.

The officials were a bit short-staffed and had to deal with some huge fields. They made a desicion to limit the scored riders to the first 80 in some of these large fields. DCMTB/DCCX apologizes to any racers who finished the race, but are incorrectly listed as being DID NOT FINISH (DNF).

The race promoters rely on the officials to provide the scoring, and this was a decision the officials felt they had to make. Please also be aware that the protest period is over and no changes can be made to official results.

We will discuss with officials in the future about how we can more completely score large races.

Thanks to all who came out today, and please accept our apologies if you were not included in the scored riders.

DCCX/DCMTB

Updated just this week: All podium finishers win a free pizza from Ledo’s Pizza. More details here: http://www.dcmtb.com/blog/dc-cx

Traffic update: The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday. Be prepared for road closures. Closed streets: http://marinemarathon.com//Assets/Street+Closings.pdf
Marathon route: http://map.mapnetwork.com/event/dc/marinecorpsmarathon/

For registration, see: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=9416#

Now newbie female crossers can bone up on their skills the day before.

Hub Racing’s Arley Kemmerer, the 2009 Ed Sanders elite winner, will host a free clinic for women racers on Oct. 24 at 2pm. The clinic takes place on the Armed Forces Retirement Home — on the DCCX course. This will give those women signed up to race on Sunday a chance to go over the course in advance with a seasoned pro.

Topics for the 90-minute women’s clinic will include mounting/dismounting, cornering, line selection and starts.

Any woman who is registered to race can sign up for the clinic at no extra cost. To participate, you must first pre-register for DCCX and then send an email to clinic@dcmtb.com. The clinic is free, but riders must email to the address above in advance in order to be able to get on the grounds for the event.

——-

DCCX – Presented by Family Bike Shop – is Washington, DC’s only cyclocross race. The third-annual event will be held on October 25th on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The historic venue near Georgia Ave. in the heart of Washington is off-limits to the general public the rest of theyear.

The race, sponsored by the DCMTB team, is part of the nine-part series of the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association. DCCX registration opened last month and there are already 263 pre-registered racers. Proceeds from the race are donated to help veterans living at the facility.

To register for DCCX go to BikeReg:
www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=9416

Just as it was last year, the kids race is being organized again this year by Joel Gwadz, author of a famous bike blog Gwadzilla, father of two boys and a man not afraid to race in a cheerleader’s outfit. Unlike last year, the Belgian truffles and Cote d’ Or chocolates, which are donated by the embassy, will be shared with a few lucky winners of the men’s and women’s races that day. Other swag for winners includes beer from Blue Ridge Restaurant on Wisconsin Ave, bike gear from Family Bike Shop in Crofton, Maryland and gift certificates for Stickey Fingers bakery in Mt. Pleasant. Elite men and women top finishers earn cash from Family Bike Shop and Whole Foods Market, respecively.

——

DCCX – Presented by Family Bike Shop – is Washington, DC’s only cyclocross race. The third-annual event will be held on October 25th on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The historic venue near Georgia Ave. in northwest Washington is transformed for the race into a festival celebrating biking and the sport’s northern European roots.

The race, organized by the DCMTB team, is part of the nine-part series of the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association. DCCX registration opened last month and there are already 334 pre-registered racers.

Proceeds from the race are donated to help veterans living at the facility, which is off-limits to the general public the rest of the year.

For more information on DCCX, see the web site, http://www.dcmtb.com/blog/dc-cx
To register: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=9416

More Info here

The Official DCCX 2009 Poster. Designed by Jason Marcella, Photo by Joe Foley. Look for it at races and bike shops around the area soon.

The team did well out there with good rides by Jonathan with his 2nd place, Joel getting 18th, Alex top 25, and Raul holding his own in the Masters Elite.

Racers race entries below:

Category:  1/2/3 Masters Men 35+/45+

33                                   Gwadz             Marc

48                                   Rojas             Raul

61                                   Poochigian        Brian

70         45+                       Rogers            John

Category:  3/4 Masters Men 35+

2                                    Seibold           Jonathan

18                                   gwadz             joel

54                                   twyman            corey

71                                   Vannier           Dave

74                                   Foley             Joe

Category:  2/3/4 Men

21                                   Ebright           Alex

87                                   Scardaville       Michael

Marc G.

As the dutch like to say- “Een goed begin is het halve werk”
(a good start is half the work)
unfortunately, I had a crappy start (desptie my decent 3rd row starting
spot) and had to work twice as hard to try to make up for it! overall I
felt pretty good and passed a lot of people for a few laps. by the last
lap or so my legs were worn out and I lost back a few spots, settling
for 33rd.of ~ 90 in the elite masters.
I had a good time though- charm city is a great race, and with huge,
fast fields. it was fun to have a good number of guys racing.

Joel G.

My legs are tired… I am tired… it is hard to believe that a less than one hour effort on the bike could make a person so sore and so tired.  Yesterday was what many consider to be the season opener for the 2009 Cyclocross Season in the Mid-Atlantic.  Like so many others I approached the day with a flurry of excitement and anxiety.  My arrival to Druid Hill Park offered just enough time to suit up, register, do a quick up and back on the road/half a lap pre-ride and then line up for the start.  I was pleased with how the pre-registration gave me a slot in the third row My goal was to maintain my position at the finish It was a tough day on the bike with some drama with three laps to go.  Even with a mid-race glitch I was able to achieve my goal which had me finish 18^th our of 125 racers!   YE HA!  I have not finished that far up since back in the day when there were 25-40 racers.

John R.
My goal for the race was to keep the rubber side down and not get hurt, not get lapped, and not be DFL, in that order.  Mission accomplished, but it was a wild ride.  Each year I wonder why I do CC, given that it is not a MABRA race, and given my bad history of starts at CC.  Every year the start at CC throws up something interesting.  This year, someone else went through the tape in the prologue, yet I managed to get the tape wrapped around my tires, head tube, down tube and seat tube.  It took about a minute to clear and I was completely DFL by at least 100 yds b/f I could get moving again.  I tell the C-3 guy marshaling the course and looking upon me with pity that I didn’t even leave the course, he manages a consoling smile and shoulder shrug that somehow made me feel better.  Anyhow, I’ve been in that position b/f at CC, so off we go. 
I finally make my way back to the field, when I realize that I have no front brakes.  Hmm…I touched every bolt last night…nevertheless, the cable hanger bolt slipped…ok…who needs brakes.  Then I got to feeling pretty good, as my crossresults.com arch nemesis from B Masters a couple years back was just ahead.  I spent a couple of laps chasing him, and actually managed to pass him once.  Cool. 
By this time though, the terrible sand from the sandpit was ready to take its toll, as a case of no-unclipulitus occured right before the barrier by the start/finish.  Hmm, I think…voluntarily stack it or run into the barrier…Oh yeah, I’m moving while thinking this, and I end up splitting the difference with the dismount and ground surfing in a manner bringing laughter to those who saw it.  Having brought mirth to the onlookers, I was thinking the gods might favor me…no…my shfiter had shifted position on the handlebar b/c of the wreck, caclunk, caclunk, caclunk…good-bye arch nemisis and group around him. 
Oh well. on the last lap I spied a guy in a kit I didn’t recognize about 200 yds ahead and set off in search of him.  I finally caught him on the asphalt climb and then pipped him at the line for 81st (or something like that–I have no idea where I finished)!!!  Woo hoo!!!
Seriously though, I had a great time and I’m psyched for the start of the MABRA series.
I also think I’ll keep doing Elite Masters b/c I can sleep in and still race (a great thing since I have  high schooler and am up at 5:30 every morning).
Finally, thanks to all the DCMTBers for cheering me on (way cool)!

Pooch

That was one strange start from row ten or so.  I didn’t even hear a whistle.  My goal was to simply finish higher than my starting position.  I’ll make the assumption that there were 77 starters in front of me, plus another 20 or so behind.  Things got moving quickly enough though, and I probably advanced 20 or so positions after the first few slow corners.  Pre-riding definitely helped there.  The dust was pretty overwhelming at times.  Once we all got in line, to my surprise I could see Marc followed by Raul probably 5 seconds/positions ahead and thought that if I could maintain this pace, I’d be really happy.  Well, that didn’t quite work out after I made the mistake of glancing at the “3 laps to go” sign.  The Marc/Raul train was pulling away.  Then Evan passed me, and I felt stronger for a few seconds…  Then I just decided to try be silly and ride the sand pit – almost made it.  It felt like less effort than running and didn’t cost any positions.  Sometime late in the last two laps Joe Fritsch passed me and 13 others – talk about late race surge.  Except for the final lap, I was pleased with my riding.  My bike behaved nicely too.  Think I finished 61st.  I might dabble in the A Masters again.

2009 DCCX Presented by Family Bike Shop and Fueled by Whole Foods Market

With Support from Blue Ridge,  Sticky Fingers bakery, Gam printers, BikeReg.com, and GAMJAMS.net

Oct 25, 2009 at the AFRH

DCCX- Presented by Family Bike Shop-  DC’s only Cyclocross race!

register at Bikereg.com

(We expect some classes to fill and registration order affects race-day staging)

Questions can be directed to race directors Matt Donahue (mattydonahue@hotmail.com) or Marc Gwadz (dc.cyclocross@gmail.com)

Family Bike Shop of Crofton, MD and Whole Foods Market are sponsoring the Elite race purses- $1000 each. DCCX will also have a $250 purse for the Elite Masters race.

Other sponsors: Glover Park’s Blue Ridge Restaurant, Sticky Fingers Bakery,  The Embassy of Belgium, and Bikereg.com.

DCCX – Presented by Family Bike Shop is Washington, DC’s only cyclocross race, held on October 25th on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The historic venue near Georgia Ave. in northwest Washington is transformed for the race into a festival celebrating biking and the sport’s northern European roots. More than a race, the DC Mountain Bike Team, which sponsors, has crafted an event celebrated by participants and spectators for good food, beverages and fun.

Whole Foods Market will be on hand to distribute some goodies, host club DCMTB will be cooking up frites, and the DC Dutch club will make special mini-pancakes, all free of charge. Other sponsors include beer from Blue Ridge restaurant, yummy vegan baked goods from Sticky Fingers Bakery,  and the Embassy of Belgium. There are no food concessions on site, so bring a lunch and enjoy the free refreshments while watching the premier afternoon events.

The 2009 race is the third annual incarnation of the event, which is part of the nine-part series of the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association. Last year’s DCCX, with more than 400 racers, was the largest race in the MABRA history. Proceeds from the race are donated to help veterans living at the facility, which had been a summer retreat for Abraham Lincoln.

Cyclocross is a unique biking discipline which was initially contrived as a way to allow road racers keep fit as cold weather took hold in the northern European autumn. Riders use bikes that look like road bikes -those used in the Tour de France — but with thicker, beefier tires to handle the grass, trails and mud of the course.

The races at DCCX will run from 40 to 60 minutes over loops of the course. The course sports barriers — for which riders must dismount and run — and lots of sharp turns around trees, a special cobblestone path as well as tough climbs and open grass.

Racing begins at 9am with the entry-level class and culminates with the Women’s Elite race presented by Whole Foods Market at 1:30 and the Men’s Elite race presented by Family Bike Shop at 2:30.

Announcer Sean “Bega” Blumenthal, director  Hub Racing

We had guest instructor Mike Birner come out and do some good drills for those less, and more experienced.  Next Wed is the 4th and last clinic with MAC, Mabra, and defending(2x) DCCX champinion Wes Schempf of C3- Athletes Serving Athletes

free for USAC -licensed riders.
$5  for unlicensed riders. (for one-day USAC event fee)

6:15-7:15

Fort Reno Park NE DC