Cyclocross Racing - Urban Cross

So Urban Cross is this weekend.
Despite hearing how awesome it has been in the past, I'm still not sure what makes it urban. Is it mostly on cement and have stair run ups?

Not mostly cement, but does have a stair run up (or did last year). The sand pit last year was amazing and they raked it between every race. Super good course and fun venue. I think the 'urban' part is that it takes place around an old abandoned factory.

looks like i'm going to be there.

Yah bryan

im skipping this and possibly going to NJ instead.

I think I'm going. All depends on if I can get myself out of bed early enough to make the drive.

I'll be there. If we're lucky with the license, we might have a Belgian beer bar. That may swing it for some of you. They are also building a Super Prestige style staircase, if the rumours I've heard are true. It's urban cross because it's deep inside Charlottesville in the old Ix silk factory. The course runs around the grounds of the factory and car park. They don't have a lot of space to work with, but last years course was great. Lot's of short, steep climbs, two sets of barriers, some deep gravel and a sand pit. There's really not a lot of cement and tarmac.

i cant believe this is part of the mabra series

i cant believe this is part of the mabra series

Why not? It's in Virginia, and Virginia is a mid-atlantic state according to USAC.

Sounds awesome. Someone please post pictures.

also, anyone from charlottesville want to house three folks the night before?

pictures from last year are here:
http://flickr.com/photos/ryandudek/sets/72157602433717951/detail/

Why not? It's in Virginia, and Virginia is a mid-atlantic state according to USAC.

because its so much further away from every other race in the series.

Yeah, but for people from VA, its a lot closer than every race in the series.

I thought MABRA was MD/DC/DE though, and that MAC included VA and PA. VA has VACX and PA has PACX as their local race series. I thought MABRA was supposed to be the local series of MD/DE/DC, but I could be wrong. I was also surprised to see Charlottesville listed as MABRA instead of VACX this year, but it was a pleasant surprise for me, because I was at a wedding in Southern VA the same weekend as Urban Cross last year, and decided to go. I thought the course was awesome and haven't stopped talking about it since.

Does anybody know the real difference between MAC and MABRA?

i dont know but MAC has races in NJ and NY too.

Yeah, those are also Mid-Atlantic states.

Like I said, I thought MABRA was the DC/MD/DE local series like VACX in VA and PACX in PA, and that MAC was the larger series for the whole Mid-Atlantic region.

Not positive, but it was just my take on it.

Just to muddy the waters a bit ...

According to the flyer, Urban Cross is a MABRA and VACX race.

how can she slap?!

ry... i'm doing your race rather than the masters as it gets me an extra hour of sleep.

william... wanna join us?

That's not a bad idea.

i'm doing the c and the b - got myself a hotel room for saturday night.

also, anyone from charlottesville want to house three folks the night before?

My small apartment should have some space. Are you NC State folks? Hope you like floors :) PM me if you want digs at my gaff.

I'll PM you - I raced for NCSU last year, it'll be me and two others. Floors are more than fine! thanks
i might do the B race, depending on how I feel. Someone should call me out on not doing it if i don't line up.

this race was pretty brutal, but awesome.

god i love that course.

i still think they shouldn't do cash for c races. socks and clif bars should be considered 'good' c race prizes.

That course was rough. Got pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/picturesoflily/sets/72157608801498078/

man, nothing better than having my kid and gf around to make sure i have a terrible day or racing. :)

had a nice lunch in c'ville and then got ritas before heading home so all was not lost.

god i love that course.

i still think they shouldn't do cash for c races. socks and clif bars should be considered 'good' c race prizes.

Ditto on the course. Definately my favorite course I've been on yet.

Cash for C races is fine by me:D

I shot some video of the Mens Cat 3,4 and Cat 1,2,3 race in the afternoon. I am going to edit it down this evening after work and I will post it up here.

man, nothing better than having my kid and gf around to make sure i have a terrible day or racing. :)

had a nice lunch in c'ville and then got ritas before heading home so all was not lost.

My daughter podiumed in the lil belgians race. There were only 5 entrants. Throughout our 3 hour drive home she periodically reminded me that I've never been on the podium. Ahh, kids.

god i love that course.

i still think they shouldn't do cash for c races. socks and clif bars should be considered 'good' c race prizes.

I agree it is a really bad idea, for a variety of reasons. it encourages racing down or blatant sandbagging, rather than rewarding the better riders, and encouraging people to race up.

also- watching the start of the B masters, it was pandemonium on the first lap, with a ton of crashes and plowing thru the tape. I think it's better for everyone if people just chill a little and realize it is a long race (I don't know if this was an event with a big prime- but it was mayhem)

that prime money was given to each promoter, and I think the understanding was that it would be used for elite classes (though maybe that was never spelled out) - many promoters think it's a bad idea to give cash out to lower categories, and I agree.

Yeah, but for people from VA, its a lot closer than every race in the series.

I thought MABRA was MD/DC/DE though, and that MAC included VA and PA. VA has VACX and PA has PACX as their local race series. I thought MABRA was supposed to be the local series of MD/DE/DC, but I could be wrong. I was also surprised to see Charlottesville listed as MABRA instead of VACX this year, but it was a pleasant surprise for me, because I was at a wedding in Southern VA the same weekend as Urban Cross last year, and decided to go. I thought the course was awesome and haven't stopped talking about it since.

Does anybody know the real difference between MAC and MABRA?

and races in portland are closer for people who live in oregon...

technically, I don't think charlotteville is in the mabra region, although northern VA is:

http://www.mabra.org/php/uploads/phpCGNXaK_2006MOUwithUSACNov21.pdf

while I liked the course after all, I do think the drive is a big downside, and I think it's better in principle to keep the races clustered in the same area. Va has it's own series, but it doesn't seem to be getting the same growth as the MABRA and MAC races, so Urban CX was looking to tap into a bigger rider pool.

while the course was fun and challenging, I think it was a very good thing that the fields were fairly small by current mabra standards. I think larger fields would have created a lot of problems and would have made some of the "features" of the course a problem (tables in the starting/finishing stretch, essentially a single track/bottleneck lead up to the first stairs, chairs holding tape on them being blown onto the course, a very small starting are, etc.

I do think they made a interesting use of that space, and with the size of event they had it seemed to go really well

as for the series differences- I think they are essentially promoters who decide to band together to be part of a series rather than just a standalone race. the mac is old and more established, and tends to attract more national caliber elite racers. the Mabra has some very fast guys, but a large proportion of "b" and "c" racers. The MAC has gotten really spread out (long island to reston) and has lots of double race weekends- which suits people who are full on elites or have a lot of free weekends just for racing. the single race weekend and shorter drives of most mabra races (for people in the mabra region) is more family-guy and not-ready for prime time friendly.

marc

for Schiek-

U4 Women's World Champion:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/3020240941_138944f613.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/3020243645_b4b287f69d.jpg

full set of urban cross photos here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryandudek/sets/72157608828122702/)

Glad you all had a good time. The course was a lot of work to take down. I can only imagine what it was like to put up!