The Bitter Cold Showdown Relay Cyclocross race AND my first cross race!

It’s been a while since I posted on my blog so I figured my first cross race would be a great opportunity to start posting again!
 

It all started with a goal of wanting to ride in a cyclocross race before 2012. Well, with the setback of a heart problem in August, the chances of me racing in 2011 were slim. I started talking to a few racers about options, and Andy Huff and I came up with an idea of a relay-style cyclocross race.

There would be mixed teams of novices/newbies and current racers racing on a fairly quick cross course. Riders would carry a baton, do a lap and pass it on to the next rider. Teams would complete as many laps as possible within 45 minutes. The top three teams would move on to the final round, during which they would have to ride two laps each and the team who completed all their laps in the shortest amount of time would be the winner.
 

I was expecting maybe 10 to 15 riders... 

The turnout was amazing! We had 40 riders show up 8 teams of 5, and the race was great! People loved the idea, and we converted some new folks into cross. A really cool thing about this race was that newbies and beginners could try their hand at cyclocross with real cross racers and race as a team. Before, if anyone wanted to try a cross race they had to either jump in the 4s and worry about killing them selves or jump into a costume race, which I found out by talking to many new people who wanted to try cross were turned off by the costume race idea and thus racing cross in general.

 
We wanted to make sure that this race would be tough enough for hard-core cross racers, but easy enough for new people. Everyone had to wear a cycling kit i.e. Jersey and lyca/spandex bibs/shorts/tights or a skinsuit, and no costumes allowed. Everybody came together to make the race a tremendous success! Racers got to train and introduce new people without sending them to the hospital after.. And new people got to race, and learn from real cross racers, race on a real course, and feel like cross racers. Top that off the racers could try their had at a new style of cross, that turned out to be quite challenging for even the most seasoned racer.

 
Best of all… I was one of the new riders! That’s right… I finally raced in my first cyclocross race, and it was great!

Below are some photos & videos of the race.. Enjoy..

Video

 >>The Bitter Cold Showdown - By Nick Gilroy<<

Thanks Nikolai Kaizer Gilroy for the video and Racing!

Photos

>>Ernest Gagnon Presents The Bitter Cold Showdown - REMY Photographic - Tiffany Remy<<

 Thanks Tiffany Remy and REMY Photographic for the excellent photos...

Here are more photos that Tiffany Remy, Thomas Flanagan and Myself took of the race.... Btw thanks Thomas for taking pics with my camera..